Disclaimer: I do not own Elder Scrolls and Yu Yu Hakusho. They belong to their respective owner.

Chapter 4: Before the Storm

As they walked away from the town that just became a ruin, Kurama took the opportunity to ponder on the situation at hand. Since the crisis in Demon World, he never thought to see another adventure. In fact, he was enjoying his life as a botanist in a prestigious research center in Japan. He often found himself spending 24 hours in the lab, doing what he loved, which was finding benefits from many plants for many fields of science and industry. Or sometimes he got to dissect some newly discovered flowers and fungi from Southeast Asia and South America, learning its properties. Money was never a problem, the government had been pouring millions of dollars (or billions of yen) to fund the research. He also found a colleague to be quite charming and the two began dating ever since. Her name was Mariko, a microbiologist who often received samples from the plants that he studied. They lived together in a nice apartment for two years now and the marriage was not far ahead. Life was good and he needed to remind himself that he was a demon from time to time because part of him started to think he was human.

His pondering session was cut when Hadvar signalled them to get down. Apparently, the same dragon that laid waste to Helgen was passing above their heads. After he was sure the dragon was far enough to see them, the group continued their journey.

"So where are you leading us? Do you have an idea where to go, Hadvar?" This time it was Botan asking.

"We're going to my home town of Riverwood. My uncle Alvor is a blacksmith there. You guys can take a shelter in my house if you want to," he answered the Spirit World assistant.

"Oh, finally, I can have a nice warm bath and give my feet a deserved rest. I can't hardly wait," she responded excitedly.

"How about you, Ralof? Are you coming with us?" Yusuke asked the Stormcloak.

The young Nord grunted, "I only need to eat something there, to replenish my strength. Then I'll be heading to Windhelm to join Jarl Ulfric where I belong." He looked at Hadvar who was at the front, "This doesn't change anything. I could've escape from that place by my own. If anything, your friends was the reason I'm in this state," he said as he walked past Hadvar.

Kuwabara couldn't contain his curiosity, so he came up to tell Hadvar something, "What happened between you two exactly? Did you steal his food or something? Because I'll be mad if Yusuke steal my food."

"Hey, I can't believe you still remember that! We're like what, seven when I did that. Can't you just let go?" Yusuke cried.

"I was starving from playing football, you know. It took my mom another hour to make a new one, you punk."

The whole group was trying not to giggle watching their bickering. It was relieving to see their friendship still intact after a decade apart.

Hadvar raised his hands to calm them down and bring their attention back to him, "The quarrel over food was history. I see you are not from around here, are you?"

The Spirit Gang responded by shaking their head or stared in silence, confirming their ignorance. Then Hadvar continued, "Hmm, where do I start? Ah yes, let's start from the geography. The land you are standing on is called Skyrim, the northernmost area of the continent Tamriel. Does any of those names ring a bell?"

"Not at all, kid. But please elaborate, I have a feeling this isn't even Earth we know," Genkai answered sharply.

Hadvar looked very confused after that statement, "What do you mean by Earth? Is that the name of your nation?"

Yusuke stepped forward to speak, since he felt the conversation was taking too long, "No, you silly. Earth is our planet, we live in a country called Japan. Where is Japan? We just want to go home."

"There is no Japan or whatever, I'm not sure I'm following you."

Kurama gasped at the end of his sentence, attracting the group's attention.

"What is it, Kurama? You've been awfully quiet. You must have been thinking hard," Hiei said, looking at the fox demon.

With all pairs of eyes looking at him, Kurama tried to explain, "Have you ever heard about the multiverse theory?"

"Let's just assume we haven't. What is it?" Genkai answered.

"It's a theory that says that our universe is actually one of many others. There are infinite amount of universe, some of them are very similar to our, but some are very different. It varies from the one where I am just an ordinary corporate worker or maybe the one where Hiei has a bachelor degree. Sorry, bud." That last bit made Hiei glared at him intensely, then suddenly the short demon got bored again.

"Anyway," he continued, "this world is apparently one of those universes. This is amazing because the scientists haven't even come close to prove it, yet we're in one."

Kuwabara couldn't take it anymore, he screamed with all his might, "WHAAAAATTT? Are you saying we are stranded here in the middle of nowhere with no hope of coming back? I HAVE TO GO HOME! I CAN'T LEAVE MY LIFE BACK HOME!"

"Oh shut up, Kuwabara! I have a life too, you know. I have a good career and now it's all gone, thanks to your reunion!" Keiko retorted him.

"Don't blame me, how do I know we're gonna sucked by those blasted portals?!"

"ENOUGH!" Genkai shouted so loudly, silencing them all.

"Do you think screaming at each other would solve your problem? It would only give me a headache, and I hate it." Then she spoke to Hadvar, "Sorry for the interruption, kid. Please continue."

The Nord nodded and cleared his throat, "Thank you. Believe me, I am as surprised as you when I learn that you are travellers from another world. So, as I said, this continent, Tamriel, sits on the planet Nirn which exists in the mortal realm of Mundus. And as for your question earlier, we are in the middle of a civil war in Skyrim. I took a side with the Empire who wants to keep Skyrim as one of their provinces. But Ralof there chose Stormcloak, a group who wants to liberate Skyrim from the Empire. It creates complications as you see here. We were best friends since we were little. Yes, we have differences. He is always the muscle, I am the brain, but we did everything together. We played together, we went hunting together, we even pranked the elders together. But ever since the Stormcloak Rebellion, he never saw me as his friend anymore. I don't like having to fight him, but I have to be honest with my heart."

Yusuke and the others fell silent, unsure what to say. That until Kurama decided to speak, "Have you two talk about it?"

Hadvar shook his head, "Oh, believe me, I have. But he never use his reason even for a second, only his pride as a Nord."

Yusuke had enough. "Alright, that's it. We are trapped in this world, and dragged into your war is the last thing we need. So do you know how we can get back to our world?"

"Sadly, I don't. But you can ask around for help. Perhaps some mages with good conjuration skill can help you with that. For now, let's continue to Riverwood, shall we? Besides, it's not safe hanging around in the wild like this." Hadvar answered him confidently.

So they walked some more until they arrived at a turn with three monoliths on the left side of the road.

"Um, Mr. Hadvar, what are those?" Botan asked curiously.

Hadvar turned around to see what she was asking, "They are standing stones. Three of thirteen ancient standing stones that dot Skyrim's landscape. It will give certain power if you touch it. Why don't you try touching one, miss?"

Botan shook her head, "Nope, I don't want touch some old stones that may give infection, besides I'm not a fighter."

Kuwabara look at the stones, thinking about the possibility it may bring, he came closer to study it. One of the stone has a carving of a warrior wearing armor and holding a sword and a shield. Another has an old man with flowy robe, wielding a staff. The last stone showed a hooded figure with a knife, probably a thief or assassin. He stepped forward and put his hand on the warrior stone. Soon, a stream of light shot upwards to the sky from the stone and he felt a strange sensation.

Kurama couldn't contain his curiosity and examined the stones as well. After thinking for a moment, he finally chose the mage stone. Yusuke followed Kuwabara's example and touch the warrior stone.

Shizuru saw the boys told each other about how they felt after touching the stones, but one of them was still with girls. "Hiei, don't you want to take your part? Why don't you go there like them?"

Hiei responded her without even looking at her, "I don't need some power up to help me, human. I can restore my power to my former state just fine."

Shizuru rolled her eyes at the demon, feeling a bit of regret asking him.

Then Hadvar called them, "If you are done with stones, I suggest we get going. Riverwood is still two hours away, so let's go. The walk was long quiet for the most part, aside from one-liner exchanges between Yusuke and Kuwabara. The girls were admiring the tundra of Skyrim, how the mountains were still pure and pristine. Genkai was trying to sense more of her spirit energy for something only she knew. Kurama was busy picking local plants from the roadside, namely straberries, juniper berries, and grass pods. He was fascinated of how similar they looked to their Earth counterpart.

Finally two hours passed and they were greeted with the sight of the gate of the village. It's a quaint place with a small number of people. Some were tending the farm, some were washing their gardening equipment after a hard day's work, and some children were running around, playing with a dog. Seemed like something out of a postcard. But when they saw Kuwabara and his friends, they stopped whatever they were doing and looked at them as if they were trolls in human clothes. They tried to pay no attention to them and followed Hadvar who brought them to one of the houses to meet a man who was working in some kind of a forge.

"Uncle Alvor! Hello!" Hadvar called him.

The man called Alvor turned while still holding a tong and a hammer, "Hadvar? What are you doing here? Are you on leave from... Shor's bones, what happened to you, boy? Are you in some kind of trouble?" He put down his equipment and gave his nephew a warm hug and laughed.

Hadvar released himself from the hug, "Shh. Uncle, please. Keep your voice down. I'm fine. But we should go inside to talk."

Alvor felt puzzled, trying to figure out what his nephew was trying to do, "What's going on?" he said to Hadvar. Then he looked at a bunch of people who filled up the space of his forge, "And who are they?"

Hadvar put his hand on his uncle's shoulder to ease the tension, "Oh, they're my friends. Saved my life, in fact. Come on, I'll explain everything but we need to go inside."

Alvor eyed them with suspicion, then said to Hadvar, "Okay, okay. Come inside, then. Sigrid will get you something to eat, and you can tell me all about it."

He headed to his home just next to the forge and let Hadvar and his new friends in. Inside his wife, Sigrid, was just finished preparing for dinner when she saw her husband walked in with her beloved nephew.

"Sigrid! We have company!" Alvor called her.

"Hadvar! We've been so worried about you! Come, you two must be hungry. Sit down and I'll get you something to eat." Sigrid saw him and embraced him like her own son. Hadvar was a special one since her mother died due to illness when he was a wee lad and his father died as an Imperial officer in Cyrodiil during the Great War.

Hadvar introduced his friends to his uncle and aunt one by one, of course without spilling the fact that they were tourists from another world. He knew his uncle would see them as daedra and try to finish them off right there. Not that he worried about Kuwabara and the others, he worried more about Alvor.

With the introduction finished, Alvor get them back to the topic, "Now then, boy, what's the big mystery? What are you doing here looking like you lost an argument with a cave bear?"

Hadvar looked at his bruises and cuts, "I don't know where to start. You know I was assigned to General Tullius's guard. We were stopped in Helgen when we were attacked by...a dragon."

Alvor almost choked on his mead, "A dragon? That's ridiculous. You aren't drunk, are you boy?"

Sigrid folded his arms, she knew well her husband's habit of not trusting anyone, "Husband. Let him tell his story."

Hadvar continued his explanation, "Not much more to tell. The dragon flew over and just wrecked the whole place. Mass confusion. I don't know if anyone else got out alive. I doubt I'd have made it out if not for my friend here. Without their help, there'd be more blood on my armor here."

Alvor felt relieved knowing these strange looking fellows saved his nephew from Helgen. Skyrim was a tough place to live, but still, losing Hadvar would hit him like an orcish warhammer.

"I thank you all for saving my nephew. I... We are forever in your debt, strangers. Please accept this as a token of gratitude," he reached a drawer behind him. He opened it and took a coin satchel which contained 100 septims.

"Here, this is not much, but I hope it's enough to spend on whatever you need," he said as he handed the satchel. Suddenly, out of nowhere, Keiko was there and grabbed it from his hands.

"Oh, thank you, mister Alvor. Thank you for your kindness." Yusuke was stunned to see her so quick.

"Hey, how did you get there? I didn't see you move, Keiko. And... No, forget that. The thing is, we were the ones fighting, why do you have to take the reward?" Yusuke asked her and he was clearly quite upset.

Keiko replied to him with a smile before saying, "I'm sure you all are very skilled fighters and all that, but since we're going to be stuck here for a while, we need some cash, and women can manage the money better than men," she gave him a wink while showing the satchel to everyone.

Alvor cleared his throat to grabbed their attention back, "Well, it seems the women where you're from are not so different from here, hehehe," he laughed nervously after seeing Sigrid giving him a death glare.

With everyone started to get relaxed and the day's getting dark, Hadvar decided to give them what they really wanted, "Uncle, it's getting dark now. Do you mind if they stay for the night here in Riverwood?"

"Of course! Any friend of Hadvar's is a friend of mine. I'd be glad to help however I can. Some of you can stay with me and Sigrid, Hadvar, or you can go to the inn. Delphine will be pleased to get some guests," Alvor told them and then paused a bit. This made them aware there was a 'but' in there.

"I know you've been in trouble enough, but please allow me to ask you one more favor," he continued. "I need you help. We need your help. The Jarl needs to know if there's a dragon on the loose. Riverwood is defenseless. You need to get a word to Jarl Balgruuf in Whiterun to send whatever soldiers he can. If you do this for me, I'll be in your debt."

They thought long and hard about his request. Agreeing to help him meant they had to leave the small town and who knew what would happened if they did. The next word they said must be considered carefully. Feeling the responsibility again after all these years, Yusuke stepped forward.

"Don't worry too much. We know exactly how terrible the dragon really is. We won't let Riverwood have the same fate as Helgen. We'll do what we can to help you, I promise."

Alvor smiled happily, "Thank you, young lad. I appreciate that." Then they dispersed to their respective place.

But before going, Hadvar made a stop to speak to Alvor, "Thank you, uncle, for everything. If you please, I need to get back to Solitude and let them know what's happened."

Alvor watched him as he rested his hands on the waist, "Going so soon, eh? Can't you just get a rest a little bit?"

"Oh, come on now. Don't worry about me. I can stop at any village in Whiterun or Markarth. By the way, did you see Ralof before we came here?" Hadvar asked him.

"That man, I saw him talking to Gerdur. I overheard a few words about dragons, but I didn't believe him. I thought he drank too much mead," Alvor said.

"Is he still here?"

"I'm afraid he left shortly before you came. To Windhelm, I think. He's a true Stormcloak."

Hadvar rolled his eyes at his friend's stubbornness, at this rate he really had to kill him the next time they met. "Well, I guess I should get going then. Thanks again, uncle."

They grabbed each other's arms to show their care. Hadvar was taking two steps before turning back, "Oh by the way, I told them they can use anything in my house, so can you make sure they won't light my house on fire or something?"

Alvor was taken aback at such question, why did they do something like that?

"Why are you asking that, son? Are they mages?" he asked.

Hadvar waved his hand to reject such notion, "Nothing, just a hunch, maybe. They're a rowdy bunch, you know," he said with a grin.

After that, he opened the door to face the long walk to Solitude in solitude, trying to find his way to stop this war. But his mind was still thinking about the dragon. Were there others like it? If so, why did they come back? So many questions flying in his head. He decided to put them aside at the moment to get to the nearest resting place so he could end the day in peace.


"Hooray! A warm bed, finally. Oh, I miss you so much!" Botan jumped onto the bed with glee. She, Keiko, Yukina and Shizuru were staying at Alvor and Sigrid's house, while Yusuke, Kuwabara, Kurama and Hiei shared Hadvar's house. Genkai decided she was going to stay at the inn. The barkeeper, Orgnar, was nice to charge her 15 septims for a room and a free dinner for the night.

While watching Botan resting her head on the pillow, Shizuru reviewed their situation, "So it seems we're stuck here for who knows how long. Do we really have no way out of here? This place is nothing like Japan."

Keiko felt concerned too because she feared for her safety and future, "I hope Genkai and the boys come with something. We have to admit we are useless at this sort of thing."

She fell silent for a moment, remembering how Yusuke had to save her multiple times, then she grabbed the sheet in anger, "Why? Why are we so weak? Why do we become burdens for our friends?"

Botan sat straight quickly after hearing those harsh words, "Keiko, why are saying something like that? They may be strong heroes and they may face many strong opponents, but we help them along the way, remember?"

"Except me, Botan! You have your gizmos and connection to Koenma. Genkai is a master of spirit energy. Yukina is an ice demon and she can heal injuries, no offense. Even Shizuru has a sensitivity to spirit energy. But when can I do? I'm just a damsel in distress, waiting to be saved. What can I do to help, Botan? I don't really know." Keiko couldn't hold back her tears anymore. The thought of being the weakest of them all was indeed depressing. Few could escape from it, many ended in tragedy.

Shizuru hold her shoulder to comfort her, "Keiko, I don't know if this helps, but... When we were kids, Kazuma was always and still is the one with high level of energy. I could never keep up with his activity and it made me down. Frankly, that was the reason why I started to smoke to relieve the stress. But my mother used to tell me this. She said that everything has a purpose in life no matter how small they are. Even the tiniest ants have their role to play. I know you just started to live a full life with your own career. Getting thrown into this mess do sucks, but try to see the big picture. I'm sure you will find your place in this world, if we can't go back."

Keiko turned around to see one of her best friends. Usually people were just throwing mediocre advices to her, even Yusuke. That man were not known for being romantic. But getting it from Shizuru was kinda different. That woman seldom spoke a lot, she was more of an observant. But when she did, she really meant it and that's why her words calmed her down.

Then she felt her hand being touched by none other than Yukina who gave her a gentle look, "Don't be afraid, Keiko. We are your friends and we will never abandon you. We're in this together and we will face everything as one."

Her heart melted as she hugged Yukina with love. It was a very good time to have friends that supported you. Then Botan told them something unexpected, "Actually, Keiko, your rant just reminded me. I still have one of my gizmos here."

She reached through her pocket and took something out of it, "Tada! The communication mirror! Since you said ee are stuck here, I can try to contact Koenma using this. So... oof," she couldn't finished her explanation because Keiko yanked her collars.

"Why didn't you say so?! If you were not so dumb, we wouldn't have to get caught by that army and face the dragon that almost burned us alive! Come on, what are you waiting for? Just call your boss!"

Before Botan could reply, they heard the door knocked three times and Sigrid's voice was heard behind the door, "Is everything alright, ladies? I heard shouting and I am worried. Are you okay?"

Yukina quickly tried to convince her that nothing happened, "We're fine, Mrs. Sigrid. It's just uh... We have a problem with the wardrobe."

The door was opened and Sigrid took a peek, "Should I come in, girls? I can give a fashion advice if you need one..."

"No, it's not something like that. The wardrobe is stuck, it won't opened. That's all," Shizuru cut her quickly, preventing her to see the strange device in Botan's hand.

"Oh, I know that thing is broken for too long. I asked Alvor to fix it, but he keeps avoiding it. Don't worry, I'll get him to help you," Sigrid suggested.

"NO!" The four girls yelled at the same time, then Botan explained, "We managed to opened it now, Ma'am. With our strength combine, nothing is impossible, right? Right? Hahahaha..."

Accepting their answer, Sigrid slowly closed the door and started to leave them, "Alright then, but you better turn in for the night. It's getting late."

"Okay, Mrs. Sigrid, good night," Botan shouted gleefully.

Sigrid walked down the hallway and muttered to herself, "Hmm, maybe this is what it's like to have daughters. I wonder how Alvor reacts to this." As she climbed to her bed and laid beside Alvor who was fast asleep, she thought of their guests. She knew almost nothing about them, but somehow deep in her heart, they were no ordinary people. Maybe the Divines whispered to her, or perhaps it's just her imagination again.

A/N: I'm sorry, everyone, if I took too much time to update. For a couple of months, I just lost the will to write. But do not worry, this story is not discontinued. But I will give you the next update after I update my other story, The General & The Priest, please check it out if you want. Thank you for your patience.