AN: Here I'll explain something about the previous chapter, regarding the "Farkas was wearing steel armor, not wolf armor" matter. As some of you might know from playing (vanilla) Skyrim, it is an oversight/glitch the game company left, where it is quite funny that in the Proving Honor quest, a Silver Hand can recognize Farkas's identity from a set of common armor that it totally unrelated to the Companions. TBH, there are quite a lot of such instances in Skyrim…
Why did the bald man knock Farkas out? Were they not on the same team?
Kvorsen was so confused at the scene that he halted his attack dead, so did all of his comrades. Well, most of his comrades…
One of them, Auddar, was still charging towards the fallen werewolf and the bald stranger, as if not noticing the change of situation, probably because of his poor eyesight.
Shouldn't have brought Auddar along, was the only thought occurred in Kvorsen's mind, as the uneasy feeling towards the bald stranger rose again in his guts.
However, it was too late for Kvorsen to take any other action, even if he could come up with any, and he could only watch Auddar hurled the silver sword from above towards the bald man's head.
What happened next surprised Kvorsen even more.
The strike from Auddar landed spot on, while the bald man did nothing to avoid or counter it. The edge of the blade collided with the stranger's head, but did not manage to cleave through. Instead, it bounced away as if hitting a rock, slipping out of Auddar's hands due to the unexpected impact, and flew all the way across the chamber until hitting the wall.
Moreover, Auddar himself was still driven forwards by his own impetus, crashing towards the unmoving man. The head of Auddar met the head of the bald man, and the outcome was predictable.
Falling backward with a painful grunt, Auddar ended up sprawling on the ground.
The chamber turned silent again.
Many unanswered questions lingered among the Silver Hand members except for Auddar, who was as senseless as Farkas. Who was this bald man? What was his relationship with the Companions or the Circle? Why did the man attack Farkas, who seemed to be the man's comrade? What kind of strength did the man possess?
Most of all, what in oblivion was going on here!?
"What's going on here?" The question came from, strange as it might seem, the bald man.
"What's goin…" Kvorsen found it ridiculous that the bald man asked that. "You just knocked out two men! What do you mean you don't know what's going on!"
"…" The stranger paused, staring at Kvorsen blankly as if hearing something absurd. "But I didn't knock out anyone… I knocked out a werewolf. And your guy basically knocked himself out…"
That actually makes some sense, thought Kvorsen, before realizing that was not the point… at all. Perhaps he better started with getting the explanation of some simpler facts, such as…
"Who are you?" Merlla asked before Kvorsen.
"Saitama."
Umm… Maybe that question was a little too simple, in the sense that its answer was not helpful. They needed more specific information to determine the nature of the situation.
"Fine…" Kvorsen shook his head slowly. "Are you a Companion?"
"A companion of whom?"
"No, that's not what I mean." Kvorsen started to feel frustrated at the conversation. "I mean… Are you one of the members of the Companions… in Jorrvaskr… at Whiterun City?"
"Ah, that Companions. Why didn't you say so earlier…" The stranger muttered before continuing. "Actually I am not sure if I succeeded in joining them. Those Companions people are acting weird and their words are quite confusing."
A man who might or might not be a Companion… That was just great. Kvorsen rubbed his forehead. "But you came here with Farkas… Why did you smack him?"
"Wasn't that obvious? He was losing control." The Breton, Saitama, answered expressionlessly.
And Kvorsen thought those with the Companions would insist the Circle members all retained self-will in their beast form. Which side was this man on anyway?
Then Kvorsen noticed the bald man threw the limp werewolf onto his shoulder as if it weighted nothing more than a sack of… uh… air, and began to walk away towards the entrance of the catacomb.
"Wait, where are you going?" Merlla called out. "The fragment of Wuuthrad is in the other way!"
"Yeah, right!" The bald man halted at Merlla's sentence.
Throwing a stern look at Merlla, Kvorsen resisted his urge to facepalm. They were the Silver Hand, the enemies of the Companions. They were not here to help the foolish man, who had gotten his direction wrong, to finish his mission!
"The fragment of wood thread! That's the quest target!"
Wait, what? This was what the bald man getting from the remainder? And what in oblivion was wood thread? It was called Wuuthrad… Kvorsen was utterly wordless at the Breton's careless attitude and odd behavior.
Speaking of odd behavior, the bald man started moving again at the same direction, seemingly intended to carry Farkas out of the cave.
"Stop! Where are you going?" Kvorsen shouted, now considering the possibility that the man was retreating to seek help.
This time the man did not stop, but dropped a statement that was unsuspected, almost astonishing. "To cure the lycanthropy."
To cure… Did Kvorsen hear it right? Why had not Kvorsen known lycanthropy was curable before? That would change… everything…
Castle Dour, Solitude City
"… The report from Windhelm indicates Ulfric and his men held their end of the bargain, but I would suggest we keep a close eye on their future movement. Ulfric Stormcloak has many traits. Compliant is not one of them. And the embers of rebellion might …"
King sat on the throne inside Castle Dour, listening to the situation report from General Tullius, while trying his best to look intent and not to doze off.
Frankly speaking, King had absolutely no clue on the current political circumstances in Skyrim and Tullius might as well be talking to the chair King rested on.
"… While Maven Black-Briar is known to be a supporter of the Empire, her personal interest always comes first when there is a conflict. I worry that the Thalmor may take advantage of it. On top of that, Maven is the one pulls strings behind …"
Fortunately, the Imperial Officer seemed to be a man who knew his mind. Usually when he brought up a question, he would also provide an answer. Hence, what King did was simply pretending that he understood the full picture, occasionally nodding with approval and, if the above were all unsuccessful, replying to a question with another question. Such strategy had not failed King so far.
King's mind was not currently on the government affairs, however, and it resided on the matter of Alduin, which was the reason he had decided to return to Castle Dour. A regrettable decision as it appeared now…
Where were Delphine and Esbern when he needed them?
King stared unfocusedly as the General carry on his monologue.
"… Our agent in Markarth reported her investigation was impeded. It's certain that the Silver-Blood family has a hand in this, and their influence in Markarth makes most searches come to a dead end. We have to withdraw her just like our last agent due to the exposure of her identity …"
It was at this moment two figures showed up in the throne room – one was an elderly Nord with full beard, and the other was a mid-aged woman cladded in leather armor.
Just in time.
Esbern and Delphine were finally back.
For the first time in his life, King felt relieved at the presence of these two. Hopefully, he could get some useful information on Alduin from them, so it would be possible for Saitama to stop the World Eater. King, for one, did not want this world to end.
The briefing from General Tullius was already about to be done, and he finished it concisely in less than a minute, so that King and the two Blades could talk about this important news the duo had brought back, in private.
After Tullius left the room, Esbern cleared his throat and spoke up, excited. "We've located the entrance of the Sky Haven Temple."
"Sky Haven Temple?" King got confused at the opening of this conversation, being quite confident he had never heard of that place before.
Delphine turned her harsh gaze towards the enthusiastic old man. "Esbern, let's start from the beginning. Together with the significance of Alduin's Wall."
"Yes, yes…" Esbern paused for a bit, organizing his thought. "Sky Haven Temple is where Akaviri built Alduin's Wall, to set down in stone all their accumulated dragonlore. A hedge against the forgetfulness of centuries. A wise and foresighted policy, in the event…"
"What Esbern was getting at is," Delphine interrupted the babbling of the elder. "The ancient Blades recorded all they knew of Alduin and his return on Alduin's Wall, both history and prophecy. So it might tell us how to defeat Alduin."
This was good news to King. In fact, this was exactly what he wished to get – some practical information on Alduin. Who would have thought he could get such intelligence so easily?
However, there was always a but.
"We found the Sky Haven Temple, cleared the enemies in its exterior and disabled all the traps around." Delphine continued. "But we couldn't gain entrance to the Temple."
"The gate is blocked." Esbern explained to King. "There is a blood seal. Another of the lost Akaviri arts. No doubt triggered by... well, blood. Your blood, Dragonborn."
"We request your presence at the entrance, Dragonborn," said Delphine.
So it required the blood of a Dragonborn to open up the gateway inside Sky Haven Temple? This was not good… As far as King knew, he had never even met a Dragonborn! How was he going to open that seal?
Racking his brains, King could only think of a response at the moment. "Mark the place on the map. There are some other businesses I have to tend to in other cities… alone… immediately. So I'll go there afterwards… alone. Don't wait for me."
"But I think it would be better if we go there together." Esbern voiced his objection, wanting to see the interior of the Temple as soon as possible. "Perhaps we can…"
"No," King interrupted, stopping shortly to come up with a good excuse. "The other things I have to do is quite urgent, and will take up some time. In the meanwhile, I need you two to… reconstruct the Blades to its former glory. Important as you two are, you should not waste time waiting in this dire period. The future of Tamriel depends on not only the Dragonborn but also the people around. I will inform you after the seal is opened."
Esbern's intention to further protest was disrupted by Delphine.
"Dragonborn is right." Delphine said. "While Alduin's Wall might be a crucial piece of the puzzle, we cannot put all the eggs in one basket, not when the whole world is at risk. In order to face the ultimate threat, we must become as prepared as we can. Rebuilding the Blades will provide us with more edge."
And that settled it.
After a few more unnoteworthy exchange, Delphine and Esbern left the throne room, leaving King to his own devices.
Relieved at last, King realized all he had to do was to send a letter to Saitama asking for a meeting, in which they could figure out how to open the seal of the Sky Haven Temple.
King just hoped there was a method to unseal the gate without using the blood of the Dragonborn… oh… and Alduin would not be showing up soon.
Somewhere east of Whiterun City
"For the last time, we are not bandits!" Kvorsen all but yelled. "We are the Silver Hand! Werewolf hunters!"
Saitama stared blankly at the overreacting Nord. But these Silver Hands around Saitama did dress like bandits, act like bandits and hide in the cave like bandits…
Bandits or not, they kept following Saitama ever since in the catacomb. According to the leading man, they wanted to see if it was true that lycanthropy could be cured. If it was, they might change their policy towards werewolves from "kill-on-sight" to "cure-on-sight".
That was the reason why half of the Silver Hand members inside the Dustman's Cairn, Kvorsen's team of five included, had chosen to chase after Saitama on this cure-Farkas journey.
"Fine, whatever… Not-bandits, it is still not alright to kill someone just because they are sick…" Saitama said. "That's barbaric…"
Sighing deeply, Kvorsen decided to ignore the appellation in Saitama's statement.
"How exactly are you going to cure the man?" Kvorsen asked, gesturing at Saitama's shoulder, where rested the still unconscious Farkas, who had returned to his human form a while ago.
"I remember there is a cave." Saitama explained. "A priest inside can cure him by blessing him or something."
A blessing from a priest. Sounded easy. A little too easy. Once more, Kvorsen doubted the credibility of the bald man. "That's it? Do you have to prepare anything for the ritual?"
"No, I don't think so…"
Kvorsen found it hard to believe but chose to remained quiet, not wishing to start a pointless argument. This bald man was unquestionably tough, Kvorsen knew from the previous three instances where the man had displayed his capability – tearing off a metal gate, knocking out a werewolf and making a sword bouncing off his head. If it had only been one, Kvorsen could say it was an accident. But three? There must be something to this man beyond his appearance.
Kvorsen's thought was interrupted as the sound of groaning came from Farkas, who was apparently regaining his sense.
Saitama noticed it as well, and dropped Farkas on the ground instantly.
Propping himself up from the floor, Farkas tried to pick himself up. "What happened? Where is this place? Who…"
Suddenly, recognition lit up in Farkas' eyes, as his fuzzy mind identified the people around him.
"Silver Hand!" Farkas gritted out. "I don't know how did you knock me out in the first place. But you will regret not killing me when you got the chance."
With that being said, Farkas jumped to his feet and attempted to transform into a werewolf.
Or at least that was what Kvorsen believed the Companion was doing, since Saitama knocked the man out before any fur showed.
Well… At least they were already half way to their destination, and Farkas probably would not wake up again before their arrival.
