AN: Yay, update! Here ya go guys. And there's a change in who writes what. I write group interactions and when I'm by myself. Brianna writes when she's on her own, and Dick writes when he's on his own.
Previously: "Either way, we need to get out of here. So suit up and let's move."
The armor itched and smelled of the dead. The weapons were heavy and strange in their hands. Brianna took the bow from Hadvar, the only bow they had. This was more familiar to her, but was still strange. To big, too bulky. Not enough cord and no gears. Alauna had a sword in one hand and a simple fire spell in the other. She'd knew she'd end up using the spell more than the sword. It was practically useless in her hands, and she'd rather have a shield. But there wasn't one so she had none. Dick held the other sword in his hand and looked completely lost. What was he supposed to do with it? He had no clue how to use it! He missed his pocket knife…
It'd been surprising to them, when they found out they could do spells. Of course, it made sense because the beginning character always had two spells, but still. The realization that they weren't even on their own planet anymore couldn't hit them in the face because it'd done that with Alduin. No, it was more like a steady reminder that they got with every step they took in their new bodies, and every swing they gave of their weapons.
Needless to say, it was getting old fast.
"Are you all ready to go?" Hadvar asked.
"As ready as we'll ever be." Dick said. Ralof nodded and moved forward, pushing past Hadvar aggressively. They moved into the hallway, taking the stairs down, and heard talking at the bottom.
"Stormcloaks…" Hadvar growled. He moved to grab his sword, but Brianna set her hand on his shoulder, making him pause. She pushed Dick forward with her other hand, and he turned to her, confused. She motioned to his Stormcloak armor and realization flashed across his eyes.
"Oh!" He said quietly. He looked at the Stormcloaks and swallowed nervously before moving forward as quietly as he could. His new body made it difficult, but he managed. Brianna and Alauna made Ralof and Hadvar crouch against the wall with them and Ralof tried to force himself past Brianna. Alauna clawed his face and he glared at her. She raised her claws threateningly. He backed down. They turned to watch Dick.
He'd just reached the Stormcloaks.
"Um… Hey guys." He began. They turned quickly, startled, their weapons seeming to fly from their sheaths, and Dick put his hands up in the air, palms out. "Whoa, whoa guys. Calm down. Not a threat here! I just wanted to know if we could help each other escape."
They lowered their weapons slowly, suspicious. "I've never seen you in the ranks before. Who're you?" One of them asked.
"Well, I wasn't in the ranks. I got this off a dead Stormcloak in the entrance room. He didn't need it anymore, so I figured I could use it. My name's Dick, and I was one of the prisoners who got captured in that ambush." Dick replied. There was a moment of silence. Dick suddenly found himself wishing he hadn't taken the Stormcloak armor. Brianna was a lot better at this than he was.
"Oh yeah! You were that one that got shouted at by that damn elf and khajit." One of them said. Dick nodded.
"Yeah, that's me. The elf and khajits names are Brianna and Alauna. Their over there behind that wall." Dick motioned over to them. The soldiers looked confused.
"Why didn't they just come over here themselves? Don't tell me they're cowards."
"No, no it's just that… well, they're wearing Imperial armor so… They just didn't wanna die. You get it?" Dick said.
"Aye, we understand."
"Okay. There's also two other people over there. One's a Stormcloak and the other's a Imperial." Dick said. The Stormcloaks yelled and rushed over to the wall. "I meant race not faction!" He yelled after them. They stopped and turned to him.
"Well why didn't you say so?"
Behind the wall Alauna and Brianna desperately tried to change the way Hadvar looked using the dirt and dust on the ground. They then all stood up and walked out from behind the wall. The Stormcloaks saw them and didn't attack. Dick let out a sigh of relief. After a happy reunion between Ralof and the other Stormcloaks, whose names are apparently Maron and Dile, they look through the room for anything they can take. Ralof hands the three friends bags.
"Here, take these." Brianna is reminded of the old Legend of Zelda meme, and wants to laugh, but then feels bad about wanting to laugh because now is not the time to make jokes.
"Thanks dude." Alauna says. Ralof seems confused by her language and moves off to find more bags for the rest of them. Alauna sticks some eggs in the bag and watches as it seems to mold around them. 'Okay.' She thinks. 'Magic bag…I'm surprisingly okay with basic physics being broken.'
Brianna has similar thoughts when her bag expands, and Dick just starts shoving random stuff in it. They continue going, persuading who they can to join them in escape instead of fighting, and eventually make it to the bear cave. Their bags full of armor scavenged off of already dead bodies from fights between Stormcloaks and Imperials that they were lucky enough not to participate in.
"We actually made it out…" An Imperial woman by the name of Maras says. Several others nod, just as stumped, and others begin praising the gods.
"What do we do now?" A Stormcloak asks.
"Go home, spread the word." An Imperial answers.
The now large group disperses, heading every which way to spread the word.
"What the fuck just happened?" Brianna asks.
"I have no flipping clue." Dick replies.
"The last few hours are one huge and unsettling blank." Alauna says.
Ralof and Hadvar seem amused. They pat the three friends on their shoulders and guide them down the road.
"You three," Hadvar begins. "Just prevented a lot of unnecessary death through lying."
"You should be ashamed of yourselves, being able to lie like that. Why, I'd think you were swindlers if you all weren't panicking the entire time we were in there." Ralof says. Brianna hums in agreement, her eyes far away, and Alauna stares at the ground, letting the two men guide her. Dick watches for wolves, having acquired a dagger in the keep. It's not his knife, but it'll do.
When they reach Riverwood Brianna comes out of her haze. She looks around, taking in the thatch roofs and one story wood buildings. She begins to cry. It's too quiet here. She spent her whole life, all 16 years, in a city. The hum of electricity and chatter of people had become a comforting background noise. And now it wasn't there. And it was just too damn quiet. Alauna leans her head on her shoulder, offering comfort.
"Where do we go now?" Dick asked the two girls. Alauna shrugged her shoulders and Brianna sobbed harder.
"You'll be staying with me and my family." Hadvar says.
"No, you'll be staying with my family. I may be letting g you live Hadvar, but that doesn't mean I want you filling these people's heads with your Oblivion damned Imperial nonsense." Ralof says. The two glare at each other, and Alauna sighs.
"Shut the fuck up, you two. Brianna and I'll stay with Hadvar, Dick will stay with you. Okay?" She says. The two seems unsatisfied with the answer, but agree none the less. "Right now we're all going to the bar, because damn it I need a drink." She drags Dick and Brianna off, heading for the tavern.
Pushing the two friends inside, Alauna heads off for the barkeep, buying six bottles of mead. Dick finds a table while Brianna trails after Alauna. Once they sit down, and begin drinking, Brianna speaks.
"Your club." She says to Alauna.
"My what?" She asks.
"Your club quadrant. You filled it, all by yourself. I'm so proud of you." Alauna laughs.
"Now is the time for alcohol, not Homestuck jokes."
"It's always a time for Homestuck jokes." They laugh, glad to have a little calm, and continue drinking.
"What are we gonna do guys?" Dick asks. "I don't know about you, but I don't like it here."
"There's nothing we can do. I don't know about you, but I don't wanna be a cliché 'find a way home' story." Brianna says.
"I just wanna live somewhere where I won't have to worry about brainwashing or genocide." Alauna says. Dick and Brianna seem confused.
"What do you mean?" Brianna asks.
"Okay, well, our home brainwashed people to be stupidly loyal to their country. We've seen how well that works. And the Thalmor aren't gonna tolerate man for long. They'll eventually kill all man, and then they'll move onto beast races, and then other elves. You're really the only safe one here Brianna." She says.
They stay silent for a while, nursing their drinks and thinking. What can they do? Both places suck! They just suck in different ways.
"Guys… Let's take over the world." Dick says. Alauna and Brianna look at him incredulously.
"Dude, what the fuck?" Brianna says.
"No no no! Hear me out! We already know a lot more than most of these people do, and what we don't know we can learn. We're already used to pushing ourselves mentally. It'd be easy to get money too, if the standard in the game is anything to go by. Granted, it might be different but it's not like we're lazy. Fuck, at home we were resigned to being human work horses for the rest of our lives, we have the right mindset. And if we're careful we can get the best of both worlds if we succeed.
Education for all, safety, a long life, adventure, and magic. Think about it guys! We could do this!" Dick says heatedly. A smile has gone over his face, baring large teeth, and the alcohol has started to get to him if the heat in his face is any indication, but his words make sense in a fucked up way.
The two girls think about it for a long time, still drinking, but slower as they want a clear head for this decision. Finally, Brianna slams her drink on the table.
"Fuck it! Fuck yes!" She shouts enthusiastically.
"I'm all on board for that." Alauna says eventually. "See, Dick, this is why we kept you around. You get plans so crazy they just might work. You have all the plans. All of them." Brianna laughs at the Homestuck reference and drains the rest of her mead. "Just how do you think we'll accomplish this though?" She asks.
"Actually I was hoping you would come up with a plan." Dick says.
"Of-fucking-course. You have all the ideas, and I have all the plans." She says. "Lucky for you, I'm such a fucking nerd that I have a map of Tamriel in my tablet." She pulls it out and begins to search through her gallery. She scrolls through the hundreds of pictures, Brianna and Dick looking over her shoulder.
"Oo, I like that one!" Brianna points to a Walking Dead picture.
"Dude, you have so much porn on here." Dick scoffs.
"Shut the fuck up Dick. Acting like you don't have porn on your phone…" Alauna says.
"Why's it all gay?" Dick asks.
"Because I like gay porn. Stop looking over my shoulder and let me find the damn map."
She eventually finds the map, and pulls it up. They stare at the map for a while, contemplating what to plan first.
"Well." Brianna says. "If we're going to take over the world, we may as well start with where we're at. Zoom in. we'll start with Skyrim."
"Okay, let me just-Holy fuck."
"What is it?" Dick asks.
"We still have an Internet connection."