Sorry for the long wait. Yeah, two days is long to me, haha. Anyways here's chapter 5. I hope you like, cause personally, I loved it. I get working on chapter 6 when I can. Enjoy!
Disclaimer: I don't own Skyrim. Period.
The targeted fort was nearly a football field away and we hid next to a rock. The rock was big enough to cover all five of us.
"Well that took less than four hours. What time do you think it is Farkas?" I asked him while adjusting my battle axe.
He looked up at the sky towards the sun. "I dunno. Probably before noon, or past it. I usually leave that stuff for Vilkas. I'm usually just the guy with the muscle." I looked at Jon and quietly laughed. Just like the game. Jon laughed along.
"So what do we actually have to do? Arrest the bandit leader?" Steve asked in a serious tone. Farkas looked at him then back to me with a 'are you serious?!' type of face. I couldn't help a chuckle. I gave him a shrug.
He turned back to Steve. "No, we kill him." Damn, even I felt the recoil of that statement. I turned my head and I caught Steve's as well as Kev's gaze. They were shocked. Now I knew what they felt about ending lives, I should of thought this one through. Damn.
"Kill him?" Steve asked with a horrified face.
I had to think of something to convince him otherwise. "Look Steve, I know how you feel about killing, but let me tell you this." His expression changed from horror to a very annoyed face. I know that he hates when I talk in this tone. "These bandits are people without morals. They don't have any other reason to live other than to take money from people. They also kill for fun. Steve don't let those people get the better of you." He gave me another face like a 'shut the fuck up' type of face. He doesn't swear, same with Kevin, but I'm sure he says it in his mind. I have seen him type it down on phone though. Anyways, what would convince him?
"Let me ask you this Steve, and you Kevin." They both directed their full attention on me. Farkas was standing there behind me smirking with his arms crossed. "If we don't wipe out these bandits, what are the consequences for not wiping them out? Are innocents going to pay for us not taking action? I'm going to leave it at that."
They looked at each other then back at me. Kevin was in very deep thought. I knew that he had a very strong belief about trying to avoid killing if possible.
Steve looked back down at his hands, suddenly they formed up with bluish electric charges. "Fine. If it means that it saves people."
Kevin was still wondering if he should. I placed a hand on his shoulder. "Kevin, you won't be looked at as a killer if you do this. You will be looked at as a hero if you do. This isn't an immoral deed."
He brushed off my hand and took out his crossbow. He pulled back the string and placed a bolt in the crossbow. He looked at me with a very serious look, an expression that I don't see often with him. "You better be right about this."
"I hope I am. I'm pretty sure I am." I peeked over the rock and I saw a sentry leaning on the ledge on the second level of the dirt wall. It was a woman. I think she was a dunmer, or a dark elf. I croutched back down and looked at Kevin. "Kevin can you take out that sentry?" I pointed at the woman. He leaned up and saw the sentry. He came back down and nodded. "Take her out."
He got in a better position and set aim at the sentry. The dark elf was completely oblivious to what was going on. Kevin squinted an eye, eased up, exhaled, and squeezed the trigger. The bolt darted at the sentry and nailed her in the forehead. She fell forward and face planted in the ground completely lifeless.
"Good shot." Kevin looked at me with a straight face and placed another bolt in his crossbow. He didn't say thank you or nod. I understood why so I wasn't offended.
Farkas nudged me and Jon. "You two and I will go in first." Then he looked at Steve. "You will follow behind us and make sure that nobody gets our rear." Steve nodded. Then he pointed at Kevin. "Stay with your brother. Protect each other. But take any possible threats from long range." Kevin nodded and came to us. Damn, Farkas wasn't a dumb guy, he actually knew what he was doing.
We silently moved to the entrance of the fort. The bandits in the fort were completely oblivious to what was about to happen to them. We came across a downing in the wall and we climbed it. Thankfully there were nobody in sight to us, but we heard voices in the guard tower. Farkas motioned Kevin to come up to up. Kevin came to him waited for a call. "See that guy?" He quietly asked pointing at an orc that was on the other side of the fort. He was standing guard with a bow. Kevin nodded. "Take him out." Kevin placed a bolt in his crossbow and took aim at the orc. He squinted his left eye and exhaled. He squeezed the trigger and the bolt fired through the air. The bolt penetrated the orc in the back of the head and he dropped over the railing.
"Okay good. Bame and Jon come here. We are going to take out these guys in this guard tower." Jon and I both nodded and we followed Farkas. We unsheathed out weapons and waited for his call. He unsheathed his great sword and yelled out, "Charge!"
We sprinted into the guard tower and we saw four people, a nord man, a bosmer man, and two redguard men. The nord was very big, almost as big as Farkas. Farkas went after the two redguards and clashed his sword into the side of one of redguards. He fell the ground yelling and moaning. Then he clashed his sword with the last redguard's sword.
Jon darted at the bosmer, or the wood elf, and swiped his sword at the right side elf. The elf brought up his sword and guarded the attack but was staggered back from the mighty blow. Jon took advantage of the time and swiped at the elf's left side and his sword sliced right through the elf's leather armor. The elf took the blow and face planted into the ground.
I went after the large nord. He took out his iron battle axe and charged at me, screaming at the top of his lungs. I took out my battle axe and braced myself for a strong blow he was about to deliver. The nord brought down his battle axe on me, but I stepped to my left. The axe engraved itself into the stone of the fort. I had enough time to do my spin move and swiped my axe around and aimed for his neck. The nord ducked and took his hands of the battle axe. He stepped back a couple feet and pulled out a war axe. He charged after me with axe in the air. Suddenly a sword punctured right through his chest. Blood splattered in my face.
"You okay Bame?" It was Jon's sword. He looked at my face and he grimaced.
"Yeah I'm fine. Thanks Jon." He pulled me up from the ground and threw me a rag. I cleaned up my face. Bleh, I hate the taste of blood.
Farkas looked at me and chuckled. He's probably done this a million times and to see me just spat out a little blood, he probably remembers himself doing that for the first time.
We came out to the tower and saw Kevin and Steve sitting on the side of the stone railing. They were in deep thought. To be honest, I never seen them like that before.
"Come on new bloods. Let's finish this." Farkas headed down the stairs and we followed. We ran through the courtyard that was full of eroded rocks. The fort had to be around a couple centuries old.
We came to the front door of the fort. Farkas opened the door and we all went in. Then he took a big whiff of the air and smiled. "He's here, I smell him." Jon and I looked at each other and we laughed quietly only because we knew that he was a werewolf. Kevin and Steve looked at each other with face clearly saying 'This guy is off his rocker'. Obviously they didn't know that he was a werewolf. I don't understand how they didn't figure it out. He smelled like a wet dog. It was pretty distinct if you ask me.
He took another whiff and he raised an eyebrow. "There's a different scent here. I dunno, but I recognize that scent. Keep your eyes open." He gripped his sword tighter and he began walking down the stairs.
"Alright guys I'll stay in the back, go. I'll be right behind you." I knew this fort so I felt that I had to at least cover their rears. They ran down the stairs behind Farkas. The stairs were so long.. This was going to be a bitch to climb. I hope there are stamina potions lying around. That would do us a favor.
Finally the stairs stopped and we came to a landing. Farkas motioned us to stop and to keep quiet. I heard voices in the room on our right.
"What are we going to do with her?" Said one of feminine voices.
"The boss has a plan with her already, we can't do anything to her, yet." The voice sound like he was a dunmer. A very young voice.
"What does the boss have in mind?" Three. There's three people that I know of now. This male voice had a nord accent, however it sounded like he was young as well.
Farkas motioned us to come closer to him. We nodded and gathered up. "Alright. I'm going to let you four take care of this. I'll be here but I want to see if you four can do it on your own. I smell four bodies. One of them I recognized, so she is probably is captured. Can you do it?"
"How do you know it's a girl?" Kev asked him.
"Estrogen." Kevin, Steve and Jon all smirked. I have to admit, I did too. Farkas smirked along with us. "Any other questions?"
We looked at each other and we shook our heads. "We're ready." I declared. He nodded and motioned us to take action.
I moved to the opening to room and peaked in. There was a woman chained up to the wall, she seemed in pretty bad shape. Then there were the three others. The nord had a war axe and had leather armor. The dunmer had a dagger and a black robe on, so I figured that he was a magic user. The woman was a nord as well. She had a sword and iron armor. I moved my face away and thought about what we were going to do. Then I looked at Kevin. "He Kev, come here." He came up to me. "Take a quick peek." He peeked around the wall for a second and looked back to me. "You see the dark blue skin guy?"
"Yeah."
"Take him out."
"Alright." I knew that word came out like acid to him. He hated killing, but it was to save that woman.
I looked back to Jon and Steve. "Alright, here's what we're going to do. Jon, you and I are charging in after Kevin shoots the dark elf. Steve, you are gonna electrocute them with your magic, but watch so that the beam doesn't hit us." Steve raised an eyebrow and thought for a second.
"No Bame. Better idea. I'll go in as soon as Kevin shoots the dark blue guy and I'll take the rest out. I want to test my quickness." I didn't know if this was a good idea. Steve was new to Skyrim, but he's been acting like he's been here for a while. I guess I could let him.
"Fine. Be careful Steve."
He moved into position, looked back at me, and he smiled. A smile like 'watch this'.
Steve tapped Kevin on the shoulder and Kevin placed a bolt in his crossbow, then got into position, waiting for Steve's signal. The three bandits didn't even notice what was happening. Steve got into a position like tiger ready to pounce.
Then Steve tapped Kevin on the shoulder. Kevin pulled the trigger and the bolt fired through the air. The bolt hit the dunmer in the back of the head, which caused instant death.
I looked back for Steve, but he was gone. Then looked back at the scene. Steve was rocketing right at the male nord, who was wondering what the hell just happened. Steve had his glass dagger out and he pushed right through his back. He screamed in agony. The woman looked at her fallen comrade and unsheathed her sword.
Steve pushed the man off his blade and sheathed his blade. The woman had a horrified face but was standing her ground. Steve crossed his arms and looked her straight in the eyes. "Do you surrender?"
The woman hesitated and she shifted her stance into a defensive stance. Then her face became serious. "Never! I'll never flee from a midget like you!" That did it. Steve was beyond furious. His hands filled up with electric charges. He eyes had a flames in them. The woman made no change in her expression.
Suddenly, Steve brought his arms up and lightning bolted out of his hands towards the woman. The electricity hit the iron of her armor and she caused an electrical current from her armor, through her body, to her sword. She died instantly and she face planted into the ground completely cooked.
I never seen Steve so mad before. Did he really not like being called a midget? Or was it because it was a stranger that freely called him that? I have no idea.
I walked into the room and went up to Steve. "Are you okay?"
"Instead of asking me, ask her!" He pointed at the woman in chains. Farkas came in along with Jon and Kevin. He looked at the woman in chains and he slightly gaped.
The girl was unconscious and barely alive. Her head was down and her hands were chained up to the wall. I ran up to her and brought her head up to see her face. The face was very familiar, I know this woman.
"You three tend to her. Jon, Kevin and I will finish the job." Both Jon and Kevin nodded.
"Alright go. Steve and I got this." Farkas nodded and ran deeper in the fort along with Jon and Kevin.
Steve came up to me. "Is there a way to get her out of these chains?" I restlessly looked around for key. I checked the pockets of the dead bandits and there was none, except for lock picks. It was easy in the game, but I don't know about in actual reality.
"I got these. I can try to pick the locks. Here you try the right side. I'll do the left side." I threw Steve a lock pick and we both started to pick the locks. The lock was not very hard to pick. I twirled it around and it came undone. Steve then got it undone right after me. The girl went in free fall but I caught her in my arms. She was completely out of reality for the time being.
Steve placed his ear on her chest to see if she had a heartbeat. "She has a heartbeat."
"Steve, you wouldn't happen to have any water would you?"
"Yeah. Hold on." He pulled a canteen from his one of his holsters and he gave to me. I ripped off a piece of my shirt and poured a little water on it. I placed the water on her forehead and held it in place.
I didn't know much about healing. I dont think Steve would know the spell to heal her. Actually, I don't think the spell would help her at all. She needed nutrition, not healing. She was in deep malnutrition.
"Steve, what should we do?" He looked at me with that confused look of his.
"I don't know. I don't know much about medication around here. She needs food though. The only way is to wake her up." I agreed with him. But how was I going to wake her up?
Then I got an idea. "Steve, how well can you control you electrical magic?"
He looked at his hands. "I guess I control them pretty well why-"
"Good enough. Here, this is what I'm going to need you do." I took out another lock pick and directed the end of the metal on her skin in the middle of her chest. "I need you to make a very small current in this lock pick. Hopefully the electrical charges will pick up her blood pressure, which would cause her to wake up. Does that sound right?"
He gave me face saying 'I'm impressed'. "Yeah that sounds right to me. I'll try to think of something that makes me minorly annoyed." He placed his right hand on the pick and tried to think of something that would annoy him.
"Think of The Walking Dead cliffhanger at the mid season finale." As soon as I said that, an electrical charge formed in his head and the electricity made a current that through the pick, and into the girl's body. I felt her neck and noticed that her heart rate was rising. "It's working keep it there for a ten seconds then let go." He nodded and counted to ten.
He took his hand off the lock pick and waited. I sat there with her head in my lap. "Hey miss.. Please wake up.." I said quietly. Her hand twitched and she moved her head to the right a little. "Miss, wake up. Wake up please." Her eyebrows tensed up and grimaced a little.
Then her eyes, very slightly, opened up. They were barely open. She looked at me and Steve and she became confused. "W-who... are yo-u..?" Her voice was beautiful, even in agony.
"I'm Bame and this Steve. How long have you been here, miss?" She was having a hard time breathing but she attempted to regain her breath.
"For.. a while.." She needed to eat something with carbohydrates. I took out a bread stick that packed just in case that I got hungry and I gave it to her. She nibbled very weakly on the piece of bread, but she managed to swallow the bread piece. Then I took Steve's canteen and brought it to her mouth. She pretty much drank the entire canteen, which was roughly a liter. I through the canteen back to Steve and he placed it in a holster.
After a bit she managed to get her eyes open wider. Her eyes were gorgeous, to be honest. They were a bluish green color. I had to know this person. "What's your name miss?"
She looked up to me and said, "Lydia." No fucking way! It couldn't be her. She looked so much older in the game and so different. She had to be around our age, roughly eighteen or nineteen years old.
Steve looked up at me and smirked. I knew what he was thinking. He was thinking that I have a crush on her, just because of the amazed expression I made when she said her name.
"Well Lydia, we have to wait for the others to come back. And then we'll leave. Just sleep for now. I can carry you back to Whiterun." She looked up to me, her eyes flickering, and nodded. I'm sure she has many questions to ask me later, but for now, she was too weak. Almost instantly, she fell asleep.
Steve was no laughing his ass off, especially when I told her that I would carry her to Whiterun. Lord, I'm going to punch him! "Oh shut it Steve."
"Okay, whatever you say Bame." He still was laughing his ass off. Whatever, I had to deal with times like this back on Earth. Oh well I don't care.
I looked back to Lydia. She was weak. Very weak. She needed to get back to Whiterun.
"Bame!" I heard Farkas' voice coming back up from the interior of the fort.
"Farkas, we have to leave ASAP! It's Lydia." He walked into the room along with Kevin and Jon.
"I know. I'll carry her back." His expression still unchanged from that signature serious face.
"No no I got this. I can carry her." She wasn't very heavy, which wasn't good. "I need you guys to cover me on the way back."
"I got you Bame." Jon announced.
"Thanks Jon." I picked her up and got to my feet. I could carry her for four hours, thanks to my muscles. Damn, it really does feel good have jacked muscles, not to mention how helpful they are. Anyways, I got a good grip on her. "Alright let's go."
We started up the stairs and ran outside of the fort. Then we found the road and followed it to Whiterun. We were jugging down the road. This is a LONG road.
"You guys wouldn't happen to have any stamina potions, would ya?" I asked trying to catch my breath. It's been roughly an hour since we left the fort.
Jon took a stamina potion out of his backpack. "Here Bame."
"Jon, can you be my hands for a second?" He nodded and uncorked the bottle and brought it to my mouth. I chugged the whole bottle. It tasted bitter and a hint of a sweetness, but it's not my favorite.
"Thanks Jon." Instantly, I caught my breath and regained full strength in my legs and we went back to running down the road.
Three hours later, it was roughly eight in the evening and I was sweating bullets. I was loosing all my energy, only because of an extra ninety pounds on my shoulders. We came up to the Whiterun gates.
"Hurry, open the gates!" I shouted at the guards. They hesitated but when they saw Lydia, they immediately opened the gates. I ran through the gates. "Thanks guys."
I ran up to Wind District, which was actually very pretty, and ran to the Temple of Kynareth. I knocked on the door and waited for an answer.
One of the priestesses opened the door. "She's weak. She needs help right now."
"Oh absolutely! Hurry come in." I quickly entered the temple and waited for her to tell me to put her down. She shut the door and ran to me. "Over here!" She pointed to one of the beds and I quickly went to it and gently placed her on the bed.
The priestess looked at Lydia and she gaped. "Oh my Gods.. It's Lydia.."
"She needs nutrition and water." Seems like she's been at the fort a week, maybe more. The priestess studied her body and was shocked.
"Her body, in this condition, shouldn't be alive. What made her stay alive?"
"Well, here's what happened," I told her the story about the bandits and what Steve did to wake her up. I told her that I fed her and made her drink water.
The priestess's made a shocked expression. "Wow, that's amazing. I never would of thought of that. Good thing it was you and your friend that found her." She started tending to Lydia. "Oh I almost forgot. Go tell the Jarl that we Lydia is back."
"I will. I'll be back." I left the temple and started walking up to the stairs to Dragonsreach. I came to the doors to the keep and the guards stopped me.
"Halt. It's late, whatever your business is, wait until tomorrow. The Jarl is done for the day."
"No it's very urgent."
"I said no, the Jarl is-"
"It's Lydia!" I shouted. He stopped talking and looked at the other guard.
"You found Lydia?!" He asked in complete shock.
"Yes! I have to speak to Jarl Balgruuf right away!"
"Go. Hurry up before he gets to his chamber!" He opened the door and let me. I sprinted up the stairs and I didn't see Balgruuf on his thrown.
Then Irileth came in the room and saw me. She unsheathed her sword and walked up to me. "What's the meaning of this? The Jarl is not taking any visitors at this time!"
"Look Irileth, I need to speak to him now! I found Lydia!"
"Oh gods, follow me now!" She starting running up the stairs and I followed her up. When we got up there, Balgruuf was leaning on the table looking the map. "My Jarl! I have some news that you need to hear." He looked up at her then to me.
"What's the news?" He stood upright and walked over to us.
Irileth motioned me to speak. I bowed down humbly, "My Jarl, I found Lydia."
His face become in a state of shock. "By the Nine! Where is she?"
I wouldn't look into his eyes as a sign of respect. "She's in the Temple of Kynareth."
"I must go see her now. You, your coming with me." I was going to anyways but I still nodded. We ran down two flights of stairs and out of Dragonsreach. The guards saw Balgruuf running and they followed us to the temple.
Balgruuf opened the door to the temple and restlessly looked for Lydia. When he spotted her, he quickly ran up to her. He knelt down and placed his hand on her forehead. Then he looked up at me. "Where did you find her?"
"At that old fort in the west. She was chained to the wall and my friends and I saved her. I have to give the credit to my friend, Steve. He's the one that got her to wake up."
"Where is he?" He looked around to see if he was in the temple somewhere.
"No, he's probably in Jorrvaskr."
He raised his eyebrows. "You boys are in the Companions?"
"Yeah, we're recruits though."
"Doesn't matter, you saved a person very dear to me." He looked back down at Lydia. She was still in bad shape, but she was getting better thanks to the priestess. He looked back at me. "I didn't get your name, kinsman. What is it?"
"It's Bame. Good to meet you Jarl Balgruuf." I extended my hand for a handshake. He returned the favor and we shook hands.
I grabbed a couple of chairs and set them down next to Lydia's bed. I took a seat and Balgruuf did as well. We sat there waiting for her to wake up and for her protection.
"My Jarl, how long has she been missing?"
He turned his head and looked up. "Maybe two weeks, she said that she was going to Rorikstead to meet someone. She told me that she was going to be back in week. After a couple days went by, I started to get worried. My worst fear came true. But at least she's still alive."
Wow, two weeks.. That's so long.. How did she endure for that long? I had to ask him another question in order to help him be more hopeful. I'll start small. "Is she part of your family?"
"Not by blood, but I adopted her when she was very young. She came to Whiterun running from something and needed help, so I accepted her as my daughter. She still won't tell me where she was from."
I actually never knew that Lydia was Balgruuf's adopted daughter. "How old was she when you found her?"
"Roughly seven years old. It was a miracle that she got her in the first place." He was so worried for her. I could see it in his eyes. I caught in awkward silence as he sat there looking at her helplessly.
"My Jarl, she will be just fine. I know she will be. I know that I'm just some stranger to you, but trust me on this. She will be just fine." He repeatedly nodded and he wouldn't take his eyes off of her. Maybe it would be good to leave him alone with her.
"I'll give you some time alone with her, my Jarl." He nodded again and picked up her hand and kissed it. Geez, I never would of thought that Balgruuf had a soft side to him. I waved him goodbye and left the temple.
It was dark out. Must of been around ten. I climbed up the stairs of Jorrvaskr, took a deep breath, and went into the mead hall. I scanned the room to see who was still up. At the table, I saw Vilkas, Farkas, Aela, and Steve. From the looks of it, Steve and Vilkas were in a deep conversation. Farkas was listening to them talk and Aela was staring at the fire in the middle of the room.
Aela spotted me at the doorway and she gave me a friendly smile and a slow nodded. Farkas looked over and saw me as well. All he did was nod. "Bame, you're finally back." Vilkas cried out. Steve was looking me with an eager look. I walked down to the table, grabbed a seat and sat down. "How is she?" Vilkas asked me while leaning over the table.
"I hope she will be well soon. She seemed like a nice gal." I knew Lydia was a honorable person in the game, but she seemed a little different in reality.
Vilkas raised his arm."Steve told me the story." He started nodding and smiling like he was proud with what we did. "That was pretty quick thinking. I never would of thought of that if I was in your shoes. Both of you being there at the same time was a miracle to her. You guys saved a life today. That's what the Companions are about. I'm truly honored to have you four in our group."
"Thank you, it's good to be here," Steve said with a smile forming. Then he looked at me, his smile became wider.
I was speechless and dumbfounded. I was so happy to hear that. I had to say something. "Th-thank you. I'm honored to hear that, sir."
He rolled his eyes while laughing and put up his right hand. "Bame, you know everyone here is equal. Don't call me 'sir'."
"Fine I won't." He laughed even harder.
"Alright Bame, I gave Jon your reward. Now go get some sleep. You definitely need it after that four hour run with a girl in your arms." I wanted to decline, but I was extremely tired. My eyes were flickering here and there.
"Okay, I'll see you all tomorrow then." I waved to everyone and walked down the stairs to the barracks. I entered our room and free fell into my bed. I didn't even take off my leather. Ugh.. I need some proper sleep.
There you have it, chapter 5. I hoped you enjoyed it. :) Please review! Thanks :]