Garland paced around the stone floors of Castle Dour. His silvery armour clinked as he traversed the floor. Kuja rolled his eyes and shook his head at his ally. He sighed loudly and crossed his arms over his pale chest. Kefka watched the flames dance in the torches and tried to manipulate them. He hissed as the fire almost burned his fingers. He wiggled his fingers and then went back to trying to control the flames. Kuja let his legs dangle over the edge of the table as he shook his head again at Garland.
"Garland, please stop pacing. You're doing my head in." Kuja said and tossed his fluffy silver-lavender hair behind his shoulder. Garland sat down in a chair and sighed. Kuja sat on the table behind him and continued to play with his hair. Kefka sat down next to Kuja and ran his hands through Kuja's hair. Cloud leant up against the stone wall and Tifa sat cross-legged at his feet. She cracked her knuckles and then leant back up against Cloud's legs. Cloud smiled and crossed his arms.
"Happy now?" Garland asked with a low grumble. Kuja nodded with a hum. Tifa looked up at Cloud and yawned loudly, stretching her arms above her head. He shook his head at her and smirked.

The small mage went back to playing with his hair. Kefka watched Kuja's movements, making sure not to let the genome know that he was touching his hair. His hand touched Kefka's and Kuja slapped his hand away. He let out a displeased sigh and frowned.
"Don't touch my hair!" Kuja exclaimed and got off of the table and took a few steps away from Kefka. He crossed his arms and huffed angrily. The clown cackled and pranced over to a pouting Kuja. He flicked Kuja's hair feather and grinned evilly.
"Sephiroth told me the exact same thing." He mused with a smirk. Kuja's eyes widened with surprise as he turned to face Kefka. Cloud rested his hand on his forehead as Tifa let out a chuckle. Garland rolled his eyes and tried to block out their talk about hair.
"I wonder how he gets it so straight..." Kuja said.
"And soft." Kefka replied with a smirk. Garland grunted and shook his head.

"Stop talking about hair and tell me anything you know about the Stormcloaks." Garland snapped at Kefka and Kuja. They looked at him with distaste and shook their heads at their ally in silver armour.
"Ulfric escaped Helgen." Kuja said.
"Lightning, Terra and Yuna joined the rebellion." Kefka added with a mischievous chuckle.
"Is that all?" Garland asked.
"I don't think Sephiroth has joined any side yet." Cloud replied. Garland looked at her and nodded.
"We need to get him on our side. We don't want him joining the rebels. The more of us, the better. Do I make myself clear?" Garland asked his band of warriors.
"Yes Garland." They replied with a nod. Garland stood and let out a smile.

"Good. I'm glad that you understand. Remember, after the Stormcloaks are crushed, we will take over the Legion and destroy the Thalmor, then make Skyrim ours." Garland said.
"Such a devious plan, Garland..." Kefka exclaimed and wiggled his fingers with delight.
"Can I please keep that Imperial soldier? He was at Helgen and survived. Now, what was his name? It was something starting with 'H'." Kuja said and bit his nail, deep in thought.
"Hadvar?" Tifa asked in reply. Kuja's eyes opened with glee as he remembered that name.
"That's him. I'll take extra special care of him. I promise." Kuja replied with a pleading glare. Kefka cackled madly and danced around, waving his hands in the air.
"Ooh! Kujee-coo! That's so devious!" Kefka exclaimed.
"You are a sick man, Kuja." Cloud said with a shake of his head. Kuja shrugged off Cloud's comment and got back onto the table. Tifa stood up and nudged Cloud in the ribs. He shot her a cheeky smirk and she smiled sweetly. Garland cleared his throat and everyone turned to look at him.
"Yes Kuja. You can have your little soldier as soon as Skyrim is ours for the taking. Any other questions?" Garland asked. Everyone shook their heads.
"Good." Garland replied.

Legate Rikke walked into the room, her heavy Imperial armour clinking with every step. She heard Garland's booming voice and hid behind a wall as she listened to his words.
"Remember the plan." Garland said. A group of grunts followed. Rikke stepped out from behind the wall and placed her hands on her hips.
"Plan? What plan? Tullius never said anything about a plan, Garland." Rikke said. Garland crossed his arms as the others turned around to look at the Nord woman.
"We are organising our own attacks against the Stormcloaks." Garland replied. Rikke cocked an eyebrow and hummed in suspicion.
"You shouldn't be doing that without Tullius' knowledge." Rikke said.
"Tullius knows. I told him about it before I told my fellow warriors." He replied. His armour hid any signs of his smirking expression.
"Alright. I'll have to ask Tullius about it to verify." She said and eyed Garland before turning on her heels and marching towards the strategy room, where Tullius usually stood over a map of Skyrim. The warriors turned back to Garland and he nodded to them.
"Trick the other warriors into telling you information, then dispose of them. Understood?" Garland asked.
"Understood." They replied. The group left Castle Dour and traversed through the crowds of Solitude and left through the large iron doors at the entrance of the city.


Cloud and Tifa returned to Jorrvaskr. They sat on the porch and drank mead with the rest of them. The mead hall was extremely quiet, except for the cursing of a certain brown haired Nord.
"Watch it you idiot! You almost lopped my head off!" Vilkas exclaimed. By the time everyone turned to see what had happened, Vilkas smacked his twin on the back of the head and stomped off, shaking his head.
"You got in my way!" Farkas yelled in reply. Farkas put his greatsword on his back and sighed. Aela shook her head as Vilkas slumped down on the bench next to her. Farkas sat on the ground next to the training dummies and stared at the ground like a child in time-out.

Cloud shook his head at Vilkas and called Farkas over. Farkas looked up at Cloud and then back down at the ground. Vilkas shot Cloud an unamused glare as he stood up and headed inside. Torvar sipped his mead tentatively as he felt the awkwardness of the scene before him taint the atmosphere. Once Vilkas was inside, Farkas got up and stepped towards the patio and sat down next to the blonde swordsman. Cloud passed Farkas a bottle of mead. He picked it up with a nod and drank it. Aela and Tifa watched the moody male drink from his bottle. The air around them was extremely silent, so silent that Hiemskr could be heard from the Shrine of Talos near Dragonsreach. Everyone looked at each other with an awkward expression on their face.

Vilkas headed back outside and stared down at Farkas. Farkas looked up at his twin and grunted.
"Hey, has anyone seen the Shrine of Azura? It's a sight to see." Tifa said, trying to break the silence. Farkas and Vilkas turned to stare at the raven haired brawler. She lowered her eyes and sighed.
"It is rather breathtaking..." Athis said. Everyone turned to look at him. Tifa looked toward him and gave him a happy smile. He shrugged and stared back at everyone.
"What? It is..." He replied. The others looked down and Tifa nodded to Athis in thanks. He let a smile touch his lips. Cloud cleared his throat and Vilkas took a seat next to his brother. They looked at each other briefly and then went about ignoring each other.


Legate Rikke walked into the strategy room and General Tullius was staring at the map underneath him. He heard her coming and looked up at her.
"General, has Garland told you of his 'plan'?" Rikke asked. He stood up and faced her with his arms crossed.
"Of course." Tullius replied. Rikke looked down at the ground with embarrassment.
"Oh." She said. Tullius shook his head at her.
"Garland is trustworthy. I do believe that." Tullius replied. Rikke shook her head and sighed.
"Well, I don't. I really don't trust him. He seems shady." Rikke said.
"Rikke... Don't worry. We will save Skyrim. Garland and his band of warriors will assure our victory. Trust me Rikke, I know what I'm doing." Tullius replied. He stood back over the map and continued to study it.
"I never said you didn't, General." Rikke whispered and took her spot adjacent to him.

The poll is now closed. Thanks to all who voted, I appreciate the time you took to help me out.