Once they were inside the two soldiers stopped arguing to look at the small dark elf that had dragged them into the keep.
"Why did you drag us in here? I can't work with a traitor like him" the imperial soldier said in disdain. Ano guessed that these two used to be friends, or at least close, because of the look of familiarity between them.
"Me a traitor?!" the blonde replied. "You are the who turned your back on Skyrim and joined those imperial dogs!"
"Hey, can't we work together! 'Cause, in case you didn't notice, there is a dragon attacking the town, and I don't think it cares for allegiances" Fjrgeir said, trying to break up their argument. When the two soldiers seemingly ignored him, he turned to Ano for help, but the mer wasn't there. He was standing on the other side of the room, looking at a table, with his back turned.
"Ano?" Fjrgeir called out to the Dunmer, wondering what he was doing. The mer ignored him.
"You dragged them in here, at least try help me to get them to work together." The mer ignored him again. Ano's silence had drawn the attention of the two soldiers.
"What's he doing?" the blonde asked to know one in particular.
"Ano? What are you doing?" Fjrgeir asked as he approached the mer.
Ano finally stopped ignoring them and turned, smiling ridiculously at them.
"What the- "Fjrgeir started but Ano cut him off.
"LOOK AT ALL THIS CHEESE!" the strange mer said as he held out an armful of different cheeses. The others just started at the Dunmer.
"Oh I hope I have enough room in my pack for all this CHEESE." Ano practically shouted the last word. He started to rummage around in his pack. He found a big piece of cloth to wrap most of the cheese in, however, he still had a wheel and a slice that wouldn't fit. A deep frown settled on his face. Fjrgeir asked the mer why he was frowning.
"Because I can't fit it all!" Suddenly Ano's face lit up. He grabbed the small slice of cheese and began scoffing it back.
The others just stared in disbelief. A dragon was destroying the town and the mer was just eating cheese, as if the threat of imminent death was nothing to worry about. He finished the slice of cheese and went to take a large bite out of the remaining wheel just as one of the gates into the room burst open. An Imperial guard saw the prisoners and pulled out her sword to attack them.
Fjrgeir readied his magic, the blonde pulled out his axe, and the imperial soldier went to speak, to try calm the situation down. They all went to act, when suddenly there was a loud SMACK, which was followed by a sickening CRUNCH that sounded like bones breaking. They stared as the soldier that had barged into the room was falling to the ground after being hit in the head with – none of them could believe it – a wheel of cheese. The trio stared at the scene for an impossibly long time trying to comprehend what had happened.
The intruding soldier had just been knocked down by a wheel of CHEESE! None of them could believe it. Where had the cheese even come from?! Fjrgeir thought, when it finally dawned on him. He turned to see a very angry Dunmer sitting on the ground. Fjrgeir had no idea why the mer was pissed off, but he didn't even need to ask before the mer spoke on his own.
"She made me waste my cheese!" Ano practically spat at the soldier lying on the ground.
"It's just some cheese…" Fjrgeir said a little sceptically.
"SHE MADE ME WASTE MY CHEESE!" the mer shouted. The walls seemed to vibrate, but Fjrgeir wasn't sure if that was just the dragon razing the town or not. Fjrgeir turned to the imperial soldier who had come into the keep with them,
"Go wake her up and see if she has a key to get out of here" he said. Just as the soldier turned to go check on her Ano spoke.
"That won't be necessary. She won't be waking up." No one knew what he was meaning until the soldier approached the still form of the woman. There was a large dent in her helmet, which was the exact shape of the wheel of cheese, and an alarming pool of blood that was growing under her, which was originating from the huge cave in in her skull.
"What the fuck?!" the soldier shouted in horror. It drew the attention of Fjrgeir and the blonde. When they saw the large dent in the head of the very dead woman, they wanted to be sick. Fjrgeir couldn't believe that a wheel of cheese had managed this amount of damage; it looked as though someone had taken a warhammer to her head. Ano walked over towards them, however, he ignored the body of the woman, and picked up the wheel of cheese. It practically disintegrated in his hands. He bawled his fist up and kicked the dead woman.
"YOU MADE ME WASTE MY CHEESE!" Ano shouted as he kicked the woman again. The walls seemed to vibrate again.
"Hey! Stop that!" Fjrgeir shouted, as he tried to pull Ano away from the dead woman. Ano looked at Fjrgeir, his eyes flashing dangerously.
"She made me waste my cheese! Why should I stop?" Ano spat at Fjrgeir.
"She's already dead."
"Exactly. This is more for me than to hurt her. Seeing as she can't feel this" Ano said as he kicked the woman in the shoulder. There was another sickening crunch. Fjrgeir wondered how hard Ano had kicked her to break her shoulder. It then dawned on him; how hard did he throw that cheese for it to kill someone?! Another sickening crack resounded through the keep as Ano stomped down on the woman's leg.
"Would you stop that! You don't need to desecrate the body of the dead!" Fjrgeir shouted at Ano. The sound of breaking bones were making him feel sick. He could tell by looking at the blonde and the Imperial soldier that it was making them queasy as well.
"FINE!" Ano yelled as he kicked the dead woman one more time. He then riffled though her belongings and found a key. He stalked over to the other gate in the room. Fjrgeir turned his attention back to the woman after watching Ano final stop abusing her body.
The Imperial soldier stooped down next to the woman. The damage that Ano had done was disturbing. Fjrgeir was just glad that she wasn't alive to feel that torture. The Imperial soldier slid the woman's lifeless eyes closed. He then moved her out of the way of the door. The blonde soldier helped him. Fjrgeir could tell that they were obviously on opposite sides, but agreed that no one deserved treatment like that. The sound of protesting rusted metal drew Fjrgeir's attention to Ano, who had got the gate open.
"Are you coming?" Ano asked with a smile, seemingly forgetting everything he just did to the woman. Fjrgeir stared in disbelief at the Dunmer. He was almost certain that the mer was insane. Fjrgeir wasn't sure if he felt safe travelling with Ano anymore. The two soldiers noticed Ano's elevated attitude.
"What the fuck? You expect us to travel with you? Especially after what you just did?" the Imperial soldier asked accusingly. He walked towards Ano, but stayed away from him, as he feared what the psychopathic Dunmer might do.
"You killed her! She didn't deserve that. We are all trying to escape that dragon!" the Imperial soldier yelled.
"And in case you didn't notice, she went to attack us first. It was self-defence. Even Fjrgeir and blondie there were going to attack her" Ano jabbed back.
"Blondie?" the blonde asked but he wasn't heard over the Imperial soldier.
"Fine! Yes, she did attack us first, but what gave you the right to desecrate her body like that! No one deserves treatment like that!"
"She. Made. Me. Waste. My. Cheese." Ano bit out slowly.
"For the love of Mara! It was a wheel of cheese, not a human life!" the Imperial soldier shouted. Ano's eyes grew dark. Everyone in the room took a step away from him.
"There are only a few things in this world I still care about. Cheese just happens to be one of them. What I did to her was merciful compared to what I normally do to those who cross me." Ano was barely audible, but they could still hear the viciousness in his tone. In his frightened state the Imperial soldier drew his sword and looked ready to attack Ano.
"If I was you I would think long and hard about what you are going to do next" Ano growled. Fjrgeir stepped between them. He faced the Imperial soldier.
"Put the sword away. Look at what happened to the woman. It's not worth it." The Imperial soldier hesitated and looked at Fjrgeir and the blonde.
"Hadvar, I would listen to the Nord" said the blonde. The Imperial soldier, Hadvar, hesitated before he sheathed his sword. The dark look on Ano's face lightened and the room seemed to finally breathe. But a long silence stretched through the room. There was something that needed to be said but no one wanted to say it. Fjrgeir, realising that the two soldiers were not going to say it, cleared his throat.
"Ah… Ano, um… I don't really want to travel with you… anymore" Fjrgeir said awkwardly, trying not to anger the Dunmer. Ano looked at him with surprise. There was a silent nod between the other two Nords.
"Ralof and I also don't want to travel with you" Hadvar said bluntly. Ano looked at the Nords. Everyone expected the Dunmer to become angry again but he just simply inclined his head and turned to Fjrgeir.
"Are you sure? You wanted me to take you to the College." Fjrgeir nodded his head in response.
"Thank you for bringing me to skyrim, even if we are in the face of imminent death. But hey, think of it this way, if you get out of this you can go back to doing whatever you were doing before I dragged you here" Fjrgeir said trying to keep the mood light.
"Very well then, I shall go enjoy my cheese and continue with my vacation. Since I'm already here, perhaps I'll explore Skyrim" Ano mused to himself. The elf gave them a short wave then sauntered back out into the mayhem that was the town of Helgen.
