Chapter 9: Hunting Grounds
It was early in the morning. The group had begun to wake up, get ready, and see what they needed to do today.
Subaru yawned as he stretched. "Everyone still got their stuff?"
While the party checked their belongings, Emilia took out the map of Dragon Shrines since that was the only thing of value she had besides her clothes.
"Okay... let's see what shout we need to get today…" Emilia said, looking at her map.
"Really? At this time of day?" Patches yawned.
"There's one at a mountain east of Whiterun. It says it's the "Throw Voice" shout." Emilia said.
Siegmeyer gave her a perplexed look. "Throw Voice? What could that be?"
"It says it allows you to create a false voice on any surface, drawing the attention of nearby enemies," the silver-haired Half-Elf explained.
"Sounds like it will be perfect for distractions or stealth." Erik commented.
"Very well, let us go get it," Solaire said, putting on his helmet.
After taking a cart to Whiterun, the group begin to head east to the mountain Emilia specified.
"At least it has a nice view…" Erik remarked.
Emilia's pointed ears perked up as she turned around. "Huh?"
Subaru's eyes picked up on that. "What, you see something?"
Emilia shook her head. "No, I... I thought I heard something. I guess it must be my nerves acting up."
Patches gave her a funny look. "Hmm… maybe someone's hiding?"
"If there is, then don't do anything," Subaru whispered to the two of them. "Make it seem like we know nothing, and if they try anything, we can surprise them."
"Right, then I'll act like you," Patches joked.
The group ignored Patches, and continued to hike up the mountain, before making it to the Dragon Shrine. It was… oddly quiet. There were no monsters, no traps, nothing.
Emilia was about to touch the shrine, when Subaru grabbed her hand.
"Wait… Emilia, don't touch it," he said, his eyes steely.
Emilia looked at him, confused. "Huh?"
Subaru pointed to a coffin near the Dragon Shrine, which began to slowly open on its own, and out comes a masked, robed man, or Draugr, floating off the ground.
"You know, this did feel too easy," Solaire sarcastically said.
The floating Draugr telekinetically pulled out a staff from his tomb, which it pointed at the group, and began to conjure a fireball, and then shot out said fireball at the party.
"TAKE COVER!" Erik shouted.
The group scattered, which caused the fireball to explode upon the ground.
BOOM!
Suddenly, the Draugr… spoke?
"Kroooo…. Siiiiissss…"
That word… Emilia somehow understood what it meant. "Sorrow"...
"Speak English!" Patches shouted back at the Draugr.
Ignoring him, Subaru turned to everyone else. "Alright, here's the plan! Melee fighters, distract him! Everyone who can use magic, snipe this Skelator wanna-be!"
Erik and Emilia try to fire El Humas at the Undead, but with a wave of its staff, it turns the ice attacks into steam.
Emilia couldn't help but be shocked. "What?!"
"Got any other elements?!" Patches yelled out.
"Subaru! Try your Lightning attacks!" Emilia asked her friend.
"Got it!" Subaru said, before summoning, "LIGHTNING SPEAR!"
Before the lightning hit it, the Undead struck its staff into the ground, redirecting the lightning into the earth.
BOOM!
All that did was simply annoy Subaru.
"Okay, I'm gonna try a few other things… WRATH OF THE GODS!"
BOOM!
Suddenly, the undead was pushed back over the cliff, not unlike the Unrelenting Force Shout.
"Did… did we win?" Siegmeyer cautiously asked.
"ROOOAAAR!"
Instead, a Dragon rose from the cliff, with the Undead on its back, riding it.
"Uh… did I make things worse?!" the Japanese man asked, scared.
"Oh no! It's the fake death cliche!" Patches cursed.
"Patches!" Siegmeyer shouted. "Use your spear!"
The bald Undead tried throwing his spear at the Dragon's eye –
BOOM!
…but it was deflected by a fireball from the undead's staff.
"Alright… how about you suck on this, bone boy?!" Subaru shouted. "AL MINYA!"
Three large pinkish-purple rings appeared above the Dragon, with energy being built up in the middle. Everyone was both amazed and concerned by the sudden spectacle.
"Subaru, is that your doing?" Erik asked.
"Yeah. Al Minya basically works like a bomb being dropped," the nasty-eyed Undead answered, with a mischievous smile. "It can turn an entire castle into glass! Well… whatever Minya crystals are made out of."
"Amazing! Give 'em hell!" Siegmeyer exclaimed.
BOOOOOM!
Once the Yin energy was done being built up, it was released in a condensed blast. The Undead tried to protect it and the Dragon by using its staff. While the Undead did stop the attack, the resulting struggle destroyed the staff.
"WE HAVE AN OPENING!" Patches shouted.
And with that, everyone got to work.
"LIGHTNING SPEAR!"
"KARMIC JUSTICE!"
"UL HUMA!"
"AL HUMA!"
Those who could blast magic launched a barrage of it towards the Dragon and the undead, until finally —
The resulting magic attacks obliterated the Dragon, launching the Undead off of it and on the ground below, unmoving.
"HA-HA!" Subaru laughed. "HOW DO YA LIKE US NOW?! UP YOURS! HAHAHAHA!"
Emilia smiled at the result. "We need to do combined attacks more often."
"Yes, they were truly magical," Patches agreed with the Half-Elf.
Erik just looked a bit annoyed. "Oh yeah, what did you do?"
Patches shrugged in response. "I'm the team's moral support."
"Uh huh…" Erik's tone made it clear he either didn't believe it, or didn't take it seriously.
"What? It's an essential job," the bald Undead said.
With the group distracted, none of them noticed the Draugr slowly moving. It raised its hand and formed a single ice spike, aimed at Emilia, but before it could fire the attack –
"HOOOOWWWWWLLLL!"
In front of the group was a bipedal wolf, with notable muscles and a fierce glare.
"OH MY GOD, A FURRY!" Subaru screamed in comedic horror.
"Worse... a Werewolf," Erik said in actual fear.
"Should we pull out our swords?" Solaire asked.
Suddenly, the Werewolf rushed forward on all fours straight to the group, and right when the group were ready to fight, but...
...the Werewolf jumped over them?
Instead of attacking the group, the Werewolf went to finish off the undead, who was unable to fire its attack off in time and missed. The Werewolf quickly tore the undead to shreds, with its mask being tossed over to the group in the (contained) chaos, which Emilia picked up.
"I'll take that as a "no"..." Seigmeyer noted.
Once the undead had ceased movement, the Werewolf stopped its assault. Before turning to the group.
Subaru held up his hands, unarmed. "Um… we come in peace?"
Instead of attacking, the Werewolf began to shift and shrink in muscle mass. In its place, stood a woman with ginger hair, blue face paint, and a rather... revealing outfit…
Erik could feel his face heating up at the sight. "Oh… oh, my…"
"I figured you were new around here, but going off and killing Dragons on your own? You must have a death wish," the ginger-haired woman said.
Subaru laughed at that. "Joke's on you! Half of us can't die!"
"Regardless, it does draw my curiosity why you came to this location in particular. This shrine is cursed for a reason... or rather was, I suppose. Either way, why come here?" The woman asked.
"I'm the Dragonborn. I need it." Emilia explained.
The ginger-haired woman stared at the Half-Elf. "The Dragonborn?"
To prove it, Emilia walked up to the shrine, and absorbed the ethereal energy emanated from the Word of Power.
"Do you require a demonstration?" Emilia asked.
"That... should be sufficient," the stranger said.
Emilia steadied herself, chose a nearby pillar as her target, and shouted her most used Shout.
"FUS RO DAH!" Like always, the shout emitted a powerful shockwave, which gave the woman the proof she needed.
The woman merely let out a small huff at that. "Impressive trick."
Breaking the tension, Patches asked, "By the way... who are you?"
"My name's Aela," the Werewolf in human form answered.
Upon hearing that, Erik let out a fangirl scream. "AAAIIIIIEEEEE! She's one of the Companions in Whiterun! Hi, Aela, I'm Erik! I've wanted to join the Companions ever since I was a boy, but I never got around be being able to join and –"
GRAB!
Subaru covered Erik's mouth. "Slow down, slugger. You're talking a mile a minute."
"Yeah, who are these "Companions" you're talking about? Are they clerics?" Patches asked, confused.
"We're a guild operating in Whiterun. In fact, our headquarters was there before the town itself was built. We take jobs no one else can, and protect the people of Gusteko," Aela said.
"So, you're heroes for hire?" Siegmeyer asked for clarification.
Aela nodded at that assessment. "That is one way of putting it."
"What were you doing out here?" Solaire asked.
"I was on a job, looking for a suspicious group seen around Whiterun. When I saw you leaving Whiterun, I thought you might have been my target, but it appears I was mistaken."
"Suspicious? How so?" Subaru asked.
"This is a Companions matter, but if you're willing to help, I see no reason to turn you down."
"What's in it for us?" Patches asked, rubbing his hands, greedily.
"I'm willing to cut my pay, fifty-fifty," Aela said.
Everyone nodded at that, and Emilia said, "Alright… What's this job of yours?"
"A few days ago, a woman came to us, asking for help. She said that people from her home were trying to take her back against her will, and me and my Shield-Brother, Farkas, took up the job. We split up to cover more ground, but we've had little luck finding them." Aela explained the situation.
"So, we're dealing with potential kidnappers, if understood correctly," Erik said.
"I would assume so, considering she had to go undercover just to remain hidden from them."
Emilia nodded. "Lead us to the town, we'll follow."
Aela led the group back to Whiterun, leading them to the Companions' base: Jorrvaskr.
The outside of it, in Subaru's opinion, looked like someone had flipped Noah's Ark upside-down, and added some Dragon statues underneath the hull. Or, well, now above it.
The inside of the actual building was a lot nicer, and fancy. Red carpets with golden patterns decorated the floors and halls, and the center of the place had a nice large fireplace, surrounded by tables from all sides, and hunting trophies hanging all around.
It kind of reminded him of Gaston's pub in Beauty and the Beast.
"Nice place you got here, real cozy," Subaru said.
"Make yourselves at home for the moment. I will need to see if Farkas has returned yet." Aela said as she made her way downstairs… With Erik unable to take his eyes off her.
"Don't mind if I do!" Patches said, already raiding the liquor cabinet.
Emilia, after a few moments,decided to ask the biggest question on her mind. "So... are we not going to mention that Aela is... you know?"
"A woman?" Solaire asked innocently.
"Insanely hot?" Erik asked not-so-innocently.
"Some sort of merc?" Siegmeyer asked, somewhat worried.
Emilia shook her head at all of those. "I mean... a Werewolf?"
"Well, unlike Elves and Half-Elves, I've never heard of Werewolves being real," Subaru said, as he poured some of the alcohol Patches stole. "I always thought they were still fictional beings."
"Really, Subaru?" Patches gave his fellow Undead a funny look. "You stumble upon a land of pure fiction, and you still end up believing that some things just don't exist?"
"So if I told you that there were Pokémon and Kaiju living in the magical land of Equestria along with SpongeBob SquarePants, would you believe me?" Subaru asked, sarcastically.
"Stick to the right genre, at least!" Patches laughed, drinking.
"Still, just because magic, gods, demi-humans and creatures like Dragons exist, doesn't mean everything else does," Subaru said, before eyeing how everyone looked at him. "What?"
Siegmeyer was the first to ask. "Uh… what's a SpongeBob?"
"The greatest sea creature to ever be conceived in fiction."
"Uh-huh…" Solaire nodded at that answer. "And what is Equestria?"
"Basically a magical land for sentient ponies to talk about friendship and stuff like that."
Erik simply gave Subaru a concerned look. "Right… What kind of drugs are you on?"
"Hey, I don't make the rules," Subaru said, nursing his drink.
"Right… I'll just ignore you, then." Erik said, as he returned to his food.
"Wisest decision you'll make today," Patches said, finishing off his.
"Oh, up yours, Patches," Subaru hissed, giving him the finger.
Aela walked up to them. "Alright, I got the location."
"Excellent timing, heh-heh!" Seigmeyer laughed.
Aela, almost as if on cue, returned. "One of the members was caught by the guard, and agreed to give us the location and leave forever in exchange for his release."
"And what is the location, hmm?" Solaire asked, stroking his helmet.
"A cave west of Whiterun. Normally, I'd take it alone, but these are supposed to be skilled fighters, so I'd rather not go alone on the off chance they get the better of me." Aela said.
"Well, then it's settled!" Emilia said. "We rest up, and infiltrate their base tomorrow!"
"I suppose you might be right. A full night's rest should be sufficient in regaining our strength."
"Excellent!" the sun-loving Undead exclaimed, clapping his hands. "After visiting three different shrines in such a short time, some rest for all of us would be wise!"
And so, the group rests up, and prepares for the Trials ahead of them.
Author's Note: And with that, yet another new member has joined the party!
For those of you who don't play video games, Aela is from Skyrim, and for those who don't understand subtly and or secondary plot points, we have plans for her and Erik. But don't think that they're the only ones! We've got more new members coming soon!
(For those who did play Skyrim, I'm sure that this chapter will bring up at least three Questions. 1. Will you be doing the Companions Questline? 2. Will the next chapter be the Quest "In my Time of need"? 3. Will any of the Party beside Aela become a werewolf? Well, I want to get them out of the way. 1. No, we will not be doing the Companions Questlines, but there will be some elements from it present. 2. Yes, but Saadia and the Alik'r will not be the focus this time as it's still debated on who you should side with. 3. No. We have no plans to have anyone else in the Party besides Aela being a Werewolf.)
Now, with that out of the way, it's time to respond to this week's comments!
Wicked A: Glad you found the last few chapters nice. We were worried that they would come off as somewhat boring due to the whole "fetch quest" theme. (Personally, we're ready to get it over with.) Hope the future ones are even better!
5queso: Yeah, we try our best to write about the places and the atmosphere, but the thing is, we start with the dialogue and action first, and then try to fill out everything else. And given how busy both of us are, and the speed we write and release these chapters on a weekly basis, some things are bound to be forgotten. (Unfortunate, but we try to make it as detailed as we can come up with.)
Kifhjoofff: Yes, the gang will eventually have to deal with the Witch Cult, and the Sin Archbishops. (It'll be a while, but they are on the way.)
Anyways, that's all the comments we have for this week!
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That's all for today, thanks for reading, and we'll see you next time!
- Ernalore and Infinite the Celestian