In the Pratice of Keeping Order
A few days had passed since the wedding in Solitude. Marcus had received no word from General Tulis or Legate Rikke to mobilize, so Marcus was still stuck in Fort Snowhawk. Still, as the commanding officer of the fort, Marcus still had to do his duty in keeping order throughout the hold. He ordered his a number of his men to form a legionairy force to deal with some trouble within Hjaalmarch hold.
"This is 'all' the men you should muster?!" complained Marcus to his captain.
"Sir, this is a quarter of our men, just like you asked for." replied the captain.
"Fine it will have to do..." sighed Marcus, "And what are those two lazying around for?" demanded Marcus pointing to the two men sitting on a bench, eating some sweetrolls.
"Apologies sir, they just woken up." explained the captain. "They haven't had breakfast. Frankly half of us were forced to wake up after you ordered us, sir."
"Don't complain, soldier. We have an urgent mission here." stated Marcus.
"Of course not sir." replied the captain. "May I ask where we're headed?"
"I received a letter from Thane Bryling in Solitude, poor mistress, her mine has been taken over by some Stormcloaks." replied Marcus.
"She begged me for help, as I am in charge of maintaining order around here." continued Marcus, proudly.
"Yes, sir." said the Captain. "But weren't those mines taken over by bandits?"
"Oh, bandits, stormcloaks, there is no real difference who took it, soldier." shrugged Marcus, "As long as we clear it, I will have Bryling's undying gratitude..."
"And besides, this will give our forces a bit more practice." continued Marcus, "Divines know you lot need it..."
"Ofcourse, sir." replied the captain. "The men are all set to go."
"Right then..." said Marcus. "Tell captain Hadvar to watch over the fort while I am gone."
" The rest of you, MOVE OUT!" Ordered Marcus in a voice loud and clear.
Training Interrupted
It was a few day pass since Joruun had been promoted. Though his men revered him even higher now, he saw no difference. To him it was already an honor being given the trust of commanding his brothers and sisters to free Skyrim of the Imperials.
The capture of Fort Neugrad gave him time and resources, with them he used to train his men and care for their needs. He often trained them personally. Today he had tasked himself with training a proud young man who had asked to be trained. Joruun set up the training dummy just outside the walls of the fort, giving them more room to work on practice.
Joruun watched his fellow Stormcloak train on the dummy, and closely inspected his movements.
"Put more effort into your swing, use the force to slash, not to cleave." advised Joruun,
"Yes, sir." replied the soldier, training hard to be a good fighter.
"I may be a general, boy, but I'm still a brother Stormcloak like you, just call me brother." laughed Joruun with a reassuring smile.
"Yes, brother." responded the soldier again, slashing the dummy as fast as he could.
"No, no. Don't try to make as many slashes as possible, that will make them inconsistent, hurt less. Try slashing only one particular area, preferably any arteries." advised Joruun.
"I'll try..." said the soldier, who, not long after, managed to slash through the dummy's leg.
"Good, good. Keep that up and you'll be ready to defend yourself as well as us, eh?" said Joruun.
"Thank you brother, you know, when I asked to be trained, I didn't realize it would be you to train me. Being a general and all." stated the soldier.
"Nonsense! I always take the time to train my men. Get to know them, make sure they are in the fighting spirit." replied Joruun cheerfully, "Ready to take out that training dummy then?" he laughed.
"Alright, brother." said the soldier take a big step back and charging at the dummy, suddenly he looked back and hit the dummy's shield face first.
"By Ysmir, are you alright boy? What happened?" asked Joruun.
"Brother, look." said the soldier, pointing to a sister Stormcloak wounded.
The Stormcloak sister was limping slowly towards to fort. Her head bloodied, and her arms were covering a wound she had on her stomach. Joruun looked at her terrified in shock as she slowly made her way towards them. When he snapped out of his momentary shock, he rushed to her side.
"By the nine!" cried Joruun, rushing to aid her. "Are you alright?! Brother, go get a medic, and a healer!"
"Yes brother!" said the soldier, running back inside the fort.
Joruun helped her lie down slowly, trying to keep her out of pain. The blood was still bleeding out, but he tried his best to keep calm.
"General...I *cough*.. We... were ambushed, by some imperial *cough* soldiers.." staggered the wounded sister.
"Talos help us... and the others?" asked Joruun desperately.
"They're all... *cough* dead sir..." sobbed the soldier.
"Talos preserve them..." sobbed Joruun, "...but right now we need to get you back to health."
The sister started to feel more pain, she winched a bit, holding her stomach.
"Keep calm, sister. It'll be alright, I'll carry you." said Joruun while carrying her carefully in his arms. "Are you alright?"
"Yes, *cough* thank you sir..." she replied.
"Please, sister. I am your brother Stormcloak. Now come, we must get you to the healer." said Joruun, while carrying her slowly into the fort, making sure she did not feel any pain.