Empire Rising
Knock-knock
"Hey."
"What?"
"What are we doing?"
"What do you mean? We're standing guard in case the Orcs attack."
"No! I mean what are we doing here? We're in the ass end of nowhere where its cold even in summer, everything out here tries to kill us from bugs to livestock and people, and no night life for entertainment."
"No kidding? What did you expect when you joined the army? Some easy guard duty for some no-name noble?"
"No way! Too much standing around doing nothing."
"Like what we're doing now?"
"No, what we're doing now is standing around and bullshitting while pretending to do our jobs for the army."
"Hmmm…. Fair point. Maybe you should look that way for a bit while I look this way so it looks better."
"I knew you'd come around to my way of thinking."
"…"
"…"
"…"
"Nice sunrise today."
"Yeah…"
"…"
"Hey, now that I'm looking at it, the Orcs could attack us while we're blinded by the sun. We'd never see it coming!"
THUD!
Looking down from their platform to see a large red bolt from a siege weapon sunk deeply into the wooden gate. The two shared a look as the projectile began to smoke. They backed away slowly even as other soldiers began to yell about it piercing the gate.
"Y'know what? Screw this shit."
"Yeah, run and live to fight another day sounds good to me."
"Run and live? Sure. Fight? I'll pass."
"Run on the count of three?"
"Okay" He begins moving.
"One…Two...Three!" He turns and starts running away and notices his friend far ahead of him. "Oh, son of a bitch!"
The red bolt explodes sending shrapnel, splinters, and entire logs that once were a gate flying in all directions. Nearly the entire upper half of the right gate door was now gone with the remaining half and the other door burning in some places.
The dual cry of "Son of a bitch!" could be heard moving away from the blast zone.
"You idiots! What're you running away for? Today is a good day to die! Griffon! Up front on the double!"
"Screw you Sarge!"
Sarge chases after the two with his crossbow ready in hand.
While mass confusion engulfed the camp near the gates, Orsimer archers and mages prepped themselves for the first volley. Nearly two dozen Breton and Redguards poured out of the gate dodging the small fires or stomping them out. At the same time another red bolt landed in the recently vacated watchtower. Anyone who had seen the first bolt began fleeing the area leaving men trying to put out the fires when the second bolt exploded, sending a wave of heat and debris onto the men who were barely dressed in clothes or armor. What was left of the ruined door fell to the ground nearly landing on some of the people outside. More of the army emerged and Jaune gave the signal.
While many of the arrows in the first volley didn't hit their intended targets, three men were felled, two more impaled by spears of ice, and four were caught in a fireball.
The hornet nest was kicked and now soldiers with shields were pouring out by the dozen, quickly arranging themselves in a defensive line that began to creep forward as more men and women accumulated in front of the burning gates with shields raised to block the now constant rain of arrows. Some of the magically gifted raised warding spells to mitigate the spells discharged at them.
Another red bolt streaked through the air and flew wide of the gate, striking the wall far to the left. Even when it exploded there seemed to be little reaction from the growing army. Small fires burned in the hole where some men were quickly responding and began to put out the flames.
It was then that the shield wall burst into motion, surging towards the Orcs despite the constant barrage of arrows and spells. Quivers emptied and the archers dropped their bows in favor of shields and drawing swords, maces, and axes.
Jaune gave a second call and the Orc army sprang from behind their cover and catching the enemy troops in multiple pincer attacks as the archers had served as bait to draw them into the killing field. With nearly all of the shields near the front of the lines there was little actual defense on the sides when the Orcs attacked.
Dozens were felled before the shock wore off and desperation for survival lit the fires in the Breton and Redguard forces. Their true advantage that was helping them were their sheer numbers over the Orcs as even now they matched the Pariah Folk three to one with more of their army still coming. The back half of their lines, who had been behind where the pincers had closed in, retreated and joined the ranks of more fresh troops as they still emptied out of the fortifications. The sight of their enemies overwhelming their scattered allies served to strengthen their resolve.
Behind the line of soldiers, several explosions could be heard, one of which had an obvious source as part of the wooden barricade erupted outward spewing flame and debris. Panicked yells came from all through the encampment even as more joined the ranks at the gate.
Inside Denko had found a few catapults, some still under construction and all no doubt to be used on the Orsimer gates. A stockpile of ammunition was nearby.
"Ain't that convenient? This should be interesting." She laughs lightly to herself as she begins to drag the ammo to the siege weapons as quickly and quietly as possible.
An explosion rent the main gate before the Bosmer could load the first catapult. The panicked yells could be heard ringing through the fortification, most of it concentrated near the gate but spread fast. Especially when dead bodies began to be found. Luckily the catapults were a bit away from the tents but not far enough away that she couldn't be easily seen.
With three catapults loaded and ready to fire and by now all three explosive bolts had been fired by Ruby, it was time to add some more chaos to the mix. A gout of flames lit the projectiles and a second burst lit up the firing mechanisms. Confident that they would fire on their own, Denko ran off to hit the back lines.
As soon as the first explosion rang out across the camp, Ren kept relatively still in the shadows trusting his innate ability to go unnoticed. That didn't stop him from eliminating anyone who came too close to his hiding spot. By the time Ruby's opening volley had ended he had five bodies neatly lined up nearby.
Just as he was considering moving to the ledges that ran near the top of the walls for patrols, Ren stopped to watch as three fireballs arced over the camp from the west. The first landed just short of the wall where it rolled into the structure and badly damaging the logs even as the enveloping flames spread everywhere around it.
The second smashed through the upper section of the wall leaving burning debris and a large hole. The third hit the bottom of the logs and broke through, it's flaming exit was small nonetheless. Ren quickly decided to vacate the area but stuck close to the northern wall. Bodies fell to the ground occasionally in his path.
In the quiet before the battle, Blake's ears perked as the low rumbling to the north. Dismissing it as thunder at first, its continuous rumble seemed to gain a pattern. Like a song.
Nora. The crazy girl must have gotten the Ogres to start singing somehow. Too bad that no one else was likely to hear it. The ensuing chaos brought on by the explosions drowned out the music.
Taking cover under a wagon, the cat-girl watched as three fireballs arced overhead. Judging the trajectory and that she could hear the creaking of the catapults, whoever did that was nearby. And given that the wall was hit she figured that it was a safe bet that it wasn't from their enemies and that Ren should be in that direction. So, Denko probably launched them. Couldn't see the wall from her position to see if or how much damage was done.
But now she should do something to take the pressure off of the Orcs. Setting fire to the food stores would be bad, the Orcs could use them to get through the winter. There was a small forge and armory nearby…
With no guards around, removal of the various weapons and armor was easy, anyone nearby was busy dealing with an atronach that Denko had summoned that she'd caught a glimpse of. Denko was likely nearby but out of her line of sight. For now, everything she could find and carry was loaded up in a cart and covered with a tarp. Even taking the time to secure the cart with some rope and stakes to make it that much harder for her enemies to claim it.
A soldier sneaked around a tent with the hope that his arrow would put down that Bosmer for good. He'd already saw her kill two of his friends, one of them owed him gold. The woman was engaged with three Bretons and a Redguard at the same time, her odd polearm in constant motion as she deflected strikes with apparent ease, even as she scored multiple hits against them leaving cuts from the blade or contusions from the shaft.
One of her opponents overreached and paid for it by losing his hand. He was quick to retreat and another soldier ran up to take his place, attempting to skewer the Bosmer with her spear. That spear was swatted aside and into the Reguards stomach, and in her shock she never had the opportunity to process her actions as she lost her head. The mace wielding Breton took a deep slash across his chest leaving the woman with daggers as the currently only remaining opponent.
The bowman drew and took aim, the Bosmer was catching her breath and watching the others that surrounded her. He never noticed the black sword approaching until it pierced his back. The arrow was released but flew over all combatants in the area and into the shadows. The blade withdrew and as he fell, the last thing he saw was the swish of a black furred tail as its owner attacked his allies.
Between the atronachs icy blows, Denko's whirling weapon, and Blake slipping in and out of shadows, the remaining thirty or so soldiers didn't last long, either killed or too injured to fight.
Despite her aversion to killing others, Pyrrha couldn't deny that combat was her element. Her shield deflecting attacks from mace and sword, her sword was a blur of red and gold as it stabbed, slashed, and parried. Occasionally she'd envelope her blade in magicka as she was trained to form the Aedric Spear. Said spear filled her area with it's golden light as she thrust and spun the deadly creation, throwing the glowing weapon at an enemy before reengaging with her physical blade.
The rush of excitement, the smell of sweat, the grunts and cries of exertion, the testing of her skills… she practically lived for it all.
The screams of pain and anguish, the smell of blood, the sight of those who'd never fight in this world again… she could do without. But for those she cared for, she'd do almost anything. So she killed when she had to and when possible she killed her enemies quickly so they wouldn't suffer any longer than needed.
Surrounded by enemies, dispatching them all quickly with her sword, spear, and shield and donned in armor, she may well have mantled Trinimac. Something that a few Orcs took notice of.
Meanwhile Weiss was acting as a force of nature itself, lobbing fireballs, occasional bolts of lightning, her sword moved through the air like a cold north wind as it found gaps in armor and bit into flesh. Spears of ice were launched at more distant enemies, others frozen to the ground leaving them vulnerable for the ice atronach and twilight matriarch to attack while their summoner moved other targets. Always keeping on the move, weaving spells and steel as if she were dancing.
She may have preferred more intellectual pursuits but there was no way she could deny that she had a talent for combat. And here she was, a Spellsword dancing through the battlefield to the tune of war. A tune that only seemed to grow louder. While she matched her pace with that of the song it didn't mean she wasn't confused where the song was coming from rather than the tune withing her own thoughts.
Jaune found himself lucky to be with an Orc Chief. If only because he was so used to having teammates that he could count on in both skill and raw power. Chief Koralg may not have Nora's surprising strength or Pyrrha's skill but he could give both a run for their gold. And so the Breton was able to fall back into his usual engagement position- in the middle where he could watch the front lines and issue orders to bolster one side or another. Periodically casting healing spells on the Orcs and preventing any enemy from going any further if they slipped through.
He was the last line of defense between the injured and the few reserves helping them. Koralg had yet to move from the lead, he showed little signs of slowing down any time soon as his twin axes beheaded a Redguard and smashed through a Breton's shield and into the man's shoulder in a few seconds time.
A Redguard woman with a pair of swords slipped through and Jaune moved to intercept. His heirloom shield bashed against her swords held to block his charge and she staggered back from the force. She had to dive to the left as his blade stabbed for her chest, leaving only a small scratch in her leather armored arm.
Her retaliation was a dance of blades that had him completely on the defensive with his shield taking nearly all of the attacks, one had to be parried by his own sword before she leapt back to catch her breath. If Jaune didn't regularly train with Pyrrha he'd have been impressed by her skill but she had little to offer in comparison.
That realization gave him all of the incentive he needed as he closed the gap between them and readied his blade. Jaune may not have any fancy sword tricks to use against her but his basics were swift and sharp, experience allowed him to chain them together in an unending series while his mind studied how she moved. Any counters from her blades were absorbed by his shield or deflected by his sword.
Their deadly dance continued until she tripped over a dead Orc and her arms flung to the sides in an attempt to regain balance. Her opponent lunged and his blade pierced her chest by the heart. As he drew it back, she barely had time to notice that she was falling. When she hit the ground, she was gone.
Once the Nord saw the third explosive bolt detonate against the wall she paused in her little song and yelled loud enough to be heard over the Ogres song- also referred to as her normal volume by her friends. "Alright boys! Ruby knocked on the door for us! Now let's get down there and break some legs!"
With a roar of approval, the warriors picked up their weapons and followed the redhead down the mountain where the battle had already started. Their pace was brisk yet they found in their anticipation of battle the energy to restart their song. Soon their pace matched the music, their footsteps pounding the ground like drums, and making the song that much more enjoyable to them and intimidating to their enemies.
Once they hit the valley bottom, everyone broke into a jog, still singing. The battle before them was nearly a stone throw away. That gave Nora a 'brilliant' idea.
"Hey Chief! Throw me!" The Nord calls out as she jumps at him. Bronzongi for his part was as confused as anyone else who heard her but still reacted, scooping the short girl from the air in his massive hands. Without breaking stride, he whipped around and threw her in a high arc, soon after commanding his clan to throw their own projectiles.
While in flight, Nora managed to cast Stoneflesh, Lightning Cloak, and Surge before raising her hammer in preparation. Even then she didn't miss that her brief flight was accompanied by dozens of large stones, several spears, and a live angry badger.
That was the sight that both frightened and confused the Breton and Redguard army. Nora came crashing down hammer first on a commander, neither he or his horse survived the crushing blow. At the same time the rocks and spears bludgeoned and stabbed many soldiers, those that missed broke any formations as the targets scrambled to dodge. The badger landed on one mans unarmored chest and immediately began tearing at him with tooth and claw, it's growls and hisses only heard between his screams.
By the time the last stone landed, the Ogres were on them with Chief Bronzongi in the lead swinging in with a crude club that was made from a rock tied to a tree, and a leather glove adorned with claws made from swords on his other hand.
What was the northern flank of the army had now become a new front line. One that was quickly being overrun as the large beings plowed through the ranks with large shields and hammers swinging. The only human among them was wreathed in lightning and cackling madly as she smacked away men twice her size with ease.
A small group led by Krunra broke off to attack the wall weakened by the catapults. The few soldiers manning the walls had to turn from the burning wood to the oncoming Ogres. Some were weaponless, having dropped everything to fight the fires. A few of the people had bows or skill with magic and used them to counterattack. At the same time, the Ogres had their own magic, walls of rock burst from the ground and blocked the spells and arrows shattered on contact.
A few thrown rocks kept the defenders moving and slowing their attacks. That ended when Krunra broke from cover and ran for the wall, his massive size meant that he covered the distance quickly at the cost of being an equally large target. Arrows pierced his leather armor and fire scorched it but nothing fazed him as he made for his goal.
Two paces away from the wall, Krunra brought his hammers to the ground with a crash that rivaled what Nora had done with each. A surge of magic pulsed through the ground along with the tremor he caused, moments later a pair of stone spires burst up from the base of the wooden structure, smashing through the softer material with ease as they rose to nearly twice the height. The remains of the wall between the spires were crushed to splinters or fell away in chunks that left an open gateway into the encampment. A gateway that was quickly used by the ogres before the defenders could regain their bearings.
At that point all that the humans could do was attempt to slow the ogres down with ranged attacks as they ran away. Any who tried to fight in melee range were lucky if they lasted five seconds before their bones were shattered and screams of pain rent the air, if they could, marked their path.
On the southern mountainside, if one watched carefully, one would see what looked like a slow-motion landslide. In reality, it was dozens of goblins descending to the valley below where they joined dozens of others along with their animals, spiders, rats, skeevers, snakes, chaurus, wasps, durzogs, and giant scorpions.
The three tribe leaders and a blonde woman led the mass of beings over two hundred strong to the battle in front of them. Their small army growing antsy in anticipation.
"Bezoar," The lone human calls out to a Chief. He gestured to let her know he was listening. "Take a bunch with you and hit the camp through the hole in the wall."
The Venom Fang Chief responded with action, he and his massive durzog quickly marshaled thirty of the nearest goblins and their pets and making a beeline to the breach in the fortifications. The few men that had stationed themselves outside of the hole never stood a chance as they were overwhelmed by numbers. Unobstructed, the goblins rushed through the hole, taking out any soldiers in the vicinity. The shouts of alarm from within told Yang plenty of their success in the task. By now the Breton-Redguard southern flank had hastily assembled into a defensive position.
The blonde could only laugh at that, too many times in her young life where her opponents thought that their defenses would stop her, few of them lasted long. A bolt from Ember Celica from each arm certainly sent the message as the explosions destroyed the shields of two men and caused them to fall, their nearby comrads flinching away from the shrapnel.
Not to be outdone, the goblins began using their own ranged attacks, fireballs lit up the early dawn battlefield, arrows flew in swarms, vials of toxins were thrown, and small rocks slammed into bodies. The men in the front had their work cut out for them in their attempts to keep their shields in position. But when the goblins got close enough the men fell to their numbers, those who survived their blades were trampled as the horde pushed their advantage.
Yang was practically unstoppable, more than one weapon broke under her maces, their wielders bashed away soon after. A few soldiers tried to gang up together but she was nearly as agile as she was strong, so they barely delayed her. She was so wrapped up in the battle that she almost didn't notice the Warhammer on her left.
The steel block rang when it hit her gauntlets and throwing the girl away. She managed to roll to her feet and shook her head a bit before looking at who hit her.
The warrior before her was a mountain of a man, similar in size and build to Orc Chief Granog. His long wild hair and beard blew in the light wind as he stalked forward while adjusting his grip.
A dive to the side saved her skull from being caved in from an overhead swing. Her immediate retaliation swing found her mace stopped by his weapons shaft.
He apparently wasn't able to get any armor beyond arm and leg guards of solid shining steel but that just made it easier for him to move out of reach when she got past his guard. Yang was put on the defensive by his series of broad sweeps with his hammer that she managed to avoid but in the process a pair of goblins, a spider, and one of his own fellow Redguards were killed.
She found an opening as he over-reached and she rushed in using her far smaller size to her advantage and delivered a fierce backhanded swing into his ribs. Yang spun under his arm and used the momentum to kick the back of his knee and smashed her mace into his back as he stumbled.
That stumble was all she got for her troubles as he roared and nearly caught her head with a wild swing of his fist and was forced to jump back as the hammer swung where she was. While in her dodging attempts her maces were knocked from her hands from a block.
She soon found herself inside his guard again and gave a quick jab to the inner thigh on his right leg, an uppercut to the same ribs that had met her mace, and a straight punch into his stomach that bent him over enough for a cross to the jaw.
Even all of that barely brought the man to a knee, let alone relent his grip on his weapon. Surprisingly fast, his hand shot out to grab her neck as he slowly rose, easily lifting Yang off the ground where he seemed content to watch her choke as he squeezed.
Yang was getting desperate as she fought for air, her allies were busy enough fighting off far superior numbers, her maces were somewhere on the ground and out of reach. Pounding on his arm was doing nothing but encouraging him to squeeze tighter, making her glad that her choice of armor covered her neck so he had to work that much harder.
She still had magic as an option! A small fireball at his feet was enough of a distraction that his grip loosened allowing for her to take a deep breath. Now able to concentrate better thanks to fresh air, usage of Burning Hands on his own hand and arm provided plenty of reason for him to let go. Her body burst into flame as she took another deep breath from her anger induced and instinctive use of a Flame Cloak.
Sensing that this would be the final round the man swung his hammer only for her to duck under and with Burning Hands still active, landed several punches to his body, burning his torso where ever she touched while her cloak scorched the rest of his face and limbs. The pain of the burns and force of her attacks were enough to force him to drop his weapon to try defending himself better.
Channeling her flames and frustration into a last attack, her burning fist flew upwards. The flames changed form during the strike into a trio of burning claws that left burning gashes deep into his flesh like talons of a massive beast. The Redguard gasped in shock and pain as he dropped to his knees before falling to the side.
Yang could only stand in shock at what she did, it was the first time that had ever happened. Sure, she had punched people with fists aflame before but had never resulted into flaming claws. Few knew that she preferred the mace to a sword or axe was because she didn't like the idea of cutting someone open, their blood splattering all over. She was no stranger to blood, no one who fought for a living was, but being the one to cause it just unsettled her. Her sister and closest friends used blades to fight but not her and Nora, but the Nord just liked a big hammer. The mace was like an extension of her fists and caused similar damage. Busting skulls with a mass of metal was something that she could reason that the victim no longer could feel pain without an intact brain.
A goblin nudged her shoulder, bringing her back to reality. Looking down she saw him holding her weapons for her to take. She shook her head to clear it.
"Thanks big guy. Now let's finish this!" Yang took her weapons and leapt back into the fray with the goblin watching her back. She'd deal with the issue later, now there was a battle to win.
General Beau Muroah, from all of the reports he could gather, was the current ranking officer of the Siege of Orsinium. General Gateau had apparently died in his sleep, the man was too old for the campaign but his experience was invaluable and his troops were fiercely loyal to him. General Luxly was killed in battle when the Ogres joined the battle, the man owed him enough gold to buy a new house. Anyone else was either dead or unable to be found, presumed dead as far as he was concerned given the state that the joint army was in. His army was barely ordered in any definition as it was currently and he couldn't help but appreciate the enemies plans.
The infiltration of the fortifications by a group of assassins who silenced several officers and dozens of enlisted men and women without being caught. The destruction of the main gate had forced their hand to defend the weak point while the assassins continued their work on the opposite side of the compound.
The Orcs had baited the first responders at the gate into attacking. His troops were ambushed by the Orcs and divided into various groups caught in pincer attacks. Then the assassins found their catapults and used them, causing more distractions before openly attacking the troops, further dividing their efforts to squash the attack.
Then the Ogres barged through the wall, smashed through his army, and helped the Orcs. Now the beasts were demolishing almost anything that wasn't an Orc on the northern side. To the south a horde of Goblins breached the wall and wreaked havoc in both the camp and among his troops who were dealing with the Orcs.
He appreciated the strategy as much as it irritated him since it was being used against him. Reports from the runners weren't looking very good either, the assassins within the camp were especially skilled and so far few who fought them survived, even when deployed in units. Not only that but their numbers were unknown. The only known identities thus far was of a Bosmer woman who was summoning daedra, and a female Khajiit. At least one other was intercepting his soldiers. The Bosmer was obviously skilled to fight for as long as she did against so many soldiers, even if she was dividing their attention with atronachs and dremora.
Despite his army outnumbering the Orcs and their allies several times over, they had been divided, confused, and unprepared. His men going to fight with most still in their sleep clothes, any armor and weapons they used were whatever that was available to the first man or woman who laid hands on them. They were confused, underequipped, unprepared, and demoralized. And yet they fought on and he couldn't help but be proud of them for that but now he had to salvage what he could of the situation.
The call to retreat was a welcome one for many of the troops, though those on the front lines were forced to continue the fight to keep their enemies at bay so the others could run. The fortifications were quick to evacuate, the invaders made a pretty good incentive to leave. The men and women outside filed their way around the wrecked gates and walls and fled west as fast as they could carry the injured and whatever little they could carry off as they ran by.
It wasn't long before the full retreat was noticed by the Orcs and their allies, only continuing to fight the Bretons and Redguards who insisted on continuing while others cheered at their apparent victory. Any remaining combat was swiftly ended.
"Kree!" Koralg shouted once the last fight ended nearby, the Goblin yanking his massive sword from the Reguard's body. The scout arrived as fast as he could, some blood splattered across his face and armor with some minor wounds of his own.
"Follow them until you're sure they're not going to double back. If you find a courier, send them here and I'll have a letter for them to deliver.
"I'm on it." With that Kree left with a few others who soon disappeared into the wilderness following the trail from the retreating army.
Blake, Ren, and Denko emerged from the ruined gate from having just taken their time to stroll through the camp and briefly search around for anyone left behind to ambush them. The goblins and ogres were doing their own sweep of the camp so they weren't too concerned at the moment.
"I take it that we're good then?" Denko asks lightly as she tosses away a bloody rag that was used to clean her blade.
"Yeah, go gather your little group and get back to the stronghold. I need to get things taken care of out here. Oh, and if you run into Breezik, tell him to get his men out here for cleanup duty."
"Sure thing Chief!" The Bosmer chirps as she removes the Bender Ring and returning to normal.
"And stop playing with that damn ring! It freaks me out!" Koralg yells only for the Bosmer to grin cheekily and slip it back on long enough to induce the change and remove it again before pocketing the artifact with a laugh. The Chief spewed curses under his breath in response.
"Damn it!" Echoed through the longhouse that served as a medical staging area. Several young Orcs who were considered too young to join the battle had to nearly tackle a man back onto his cot to help another remove the warriors' armor. That was made much more difficult by the sword that was broken off in his shoulder and his thrashing certainly didn't help.
The Healer in charge almost casually smacked him upside the head, a smack that also carried a calm spell. She had done that while still working on another man who looked like he'd taken a dagger to the gut. Next to him lay a woman who'd taken nearly a dozen arrows, most in her back. Her decency was maintained by a blanket while she lay on her stomach while another healer did what she could to heal while removing the projectiles.
More than a few died of their wounds while in the Healers care. For their part, the Healers were efficient, only taking those who needed their treatment if they were to live to the next day. Still it was first come, first served and those who were unable to survive were made as comfortable as they could be with their armor on and weapons in hand. Many of them insisted on dying on their feet and were helped up by their fellow warriors, most of which escorted their fallen brethren back to the battlefield.
Back in the storage building that served as their quarters while with the Orcs, the group of nine were mostly quiet as they worked to remove their armor. All of them letting out small grunts and whines as injuries made themselves known from the sight of bruising, exposing cuts to open air, the strain on their muscles leading to stiffness and cramps. The loss of the battle rush that allowed them to ignore the pain and move beyond their normal limits was something they did not appreciate.
"Ow… that's gonna bruise for sure." Yang complains as she probes her neck. As sore as it was now she was extremely glad that her armor surrounded her throat.
"Looks that way Sis." Ruby chips in as she passed by as she took on the duty of collecting everyone's weapons and armor and setting them to the side so they could be cleaned and repaired later. A loud pained hiss spread through the crowd of friends, originating from Denko who'd just removed the armor from his upper body to reveal a pair of deep gashes in his back. Both of which began bleeding anew from the movement.
Yang rushed over to help, taking the clean wet cloth tossed to her by Ruby who carried the basin over. The cool water eased the pain for the Mer over the cuts. A second cloth began cleaning his back of the fresh blood before it got all over everything. A healing spell manifested in the blonde woman's hands as she maintained the pressure on the cloth.
"Thanks." Denko says through gritted teeth. Slowly he relaxed as the restoring magic closed the wounds and even began closing the number of smaller cuts on his arms and legs.
"How's it feel?" She asks after her magicka ran out.
The Bosmer flexed his limbs carefully. "At least they are closed." He comments before gesturing at his back. "Feels like that'll leave a mark."
"A few scars aren't too bad." Yang quips in response before moving to remove her boots as Ruby took care of the bloody water.
"How're you Ren?" Nora was curious. The Normally energetic Nord was almost as exhausted as everyone else. A small stack of crates served as a screen to remove her armor and change into 'after battle' clothes with some privacy. The clothes were only a few uses away from being rags but they fine as a little blood wouldn't matter and better than staining their better clothes. All but Weiss were changing into something similar, the resident Ice Queen having a grey robe that had seen better days but had a long life ahead of it yet.
Ren was interrupted from answering by a knock on the door. A moment later Krilin walked through and looked them all over.
"Seems you kids really do know your way around a fight. Glad my confidence in Malacath's choice for a champion and his allies wasn't misplaced." She stated with a mix of pride and relief. "Good thing you can patch yourselves up too, our healers are running themselves ragged taking care of our own."
"Need any help? I'm a pretty good healer myself." Jaune asks, rising from where he'd spent the last few minutes working on Pyrrha's arm. A blade had gotten lucky and left a deep cut into an exposed part of her sword arm, hindering her near the end of the battle.
"Thanks for the offer but let us keep our pride. Same for the Goblins and Ogres. They have their own healers for times like these. That's not what I wanted to tell you lot anyway." She paused long enough to let confusion rise. "We warmed up some water so if you need to wash up you can go now. Just don't take too long or use it all up, the Chief's and their wives normally get to it first but they're busy yet."
The old Orc could only laugh as she left the shack as the occupants began a mad rush for their cleaning supplies and finish removing their armor. Energy that was thought to be long spent was suddenly found at the mere hope of a warm bath. She wisely stood out of the way as Nora and Yang led the way.
Nearly an hour later Krilin caught the freshly bathed youths as they were leaving the bathhouse. Even their wounds looked better but that's the result of a good cleaning. Granted, calling the building a bathhouse was being generous but the Orcs know how to build things well for practicality.
"You brats go back to your lodge and rest up. Be ready for anything tomorrow."
"That's it?" Ren asks, no one else seemed find the words to answer in their tired states.
"Where's the fun in things if I have to explain everything? We're celebrating our victory so you'll need your rest." With that the elder wandered off laughing.
"Food!" Ruby couldn't contain herself when she opened the door and next to the firepit was a large pot full of hot stew with some loaves of bread and fruits next to it. Nearby were some bottles of ale, mead, wine, water, and a large box with a wide range of tea blends.
As those with the most hair, Yang, Weiss, and Pyrrha sat by the fire to brush their still damp locks. Jaune and Nora began ladling out the stew with a chunk of bread on the side while Red and Denko started on the drinks- notably making tea for themselves, leaving the others to put away their supplies and those of their friends.
"This is so good!" Nora yells after her first spoonful of stew, something that was far more quietly agreed on by the others.
"A lot of this must have been taken from the supplies that the other guys left behind." Denko comments before taking a bite of bread.
"That's how many wars go. To the winner goes the spoils. They were forced to abandon their supplies in order to survive." Ren explains as he sips his tea.
"Do you think that all of the people we have to find will have stuff like this going on?" Yang laughs before taking a swig of mead from the bottle.
"Doubt it." The Bosmer scoffs. "The Snow Elves have been in hiding for thousands of years, Lilmothiit created a pocket realm in Oblivion back in the Second Era to escape the Knahaten Flu, Falinesti apparently went for a stroll through the planes of Oblivion… should be no problem."
"See! I told you this would be easy Weiss! Now pay up!" Nora pointed at the white-haired girl with a grin from her seat on a crate.
Weiss sighed, not even bothering to look at the Nord. "First of all, I never made a bet with you." Nora was about to respond. "Ever." The Nord deflates. "Second, we're tackling some of the biggest mysteries that Tamriel has ever known. Mysteries that have eluded countless scholars for hundreds of years. Do you really think that we could do better than them, even with the Aedra and Daedra backing us, in a short time?"
"Maybe we'll finish next year!" Nora's response prompted laughter from the sisters and blonde males. Weiss dropped her face into her hands.
"How am I even friends with you?" The Ice Queen mutters.
Unfortunately for her sanity Nora answered, "It's simple really! I'm tons of fun and you're no fun at all! We balance each other!" Even Blake was broken from her book to laugh at her friends' expense.
AN: In case anyone was watching the news in the US, the badger was added months ago in my written draft, not something to make fun of the Cheeto-in-Chief. But it works.
Now we've seen how war works with RWBY and JNPR being involved along with odd allies. Next time will be full of celebrations.
I'm still looking for input if anyone would like me to rewrite the first chapter as it doesn't flow like the rest of the story. Also if anyone would like to be my Beta reader, please pm me.
As always, I'd like to make sure that the Elder Scrolls lore is maintained with known canon so if I messed up anything please let me know so I can fix it.
