U.O.T.W. Chapter 298 Fighters Guild

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    As soon as they entered the hall, they heard the clash of steel and armour as an Argonian trained with an Orc in what looked like the training area. It consisted of a square that dropped down a few steps which clearly marked its boundaries. It easily took up half the large hall. In it were various targets and dummies, but Aela was a bit dismayed when she saw there were no archery targets.

     

    Upon seeing them enter, the Porter came over to them and greeted them warmly.
    “I see by your face you’re not impressed? We generally use swords, maces and axes, rather than shoot our enemies”. He then turned to Sasha and greeted her directly. “You must be Sasha, we were told to expect you. We thought that you might not come to be honest, due to your ermm… Shall we say, unique abilities?”

     

    Aela scorned him in her usual manner.
    “It’s not that unique, there’s a few of us about”.

     

    He turned to the others who had stopped their training and just stood there watching the conversation take place, neither fighter caring about their lack of discretion. The female Orc called out to them all.
    “Female Nord, obviously an archer. Painted scars and a viper’s tongue. That’s Aela, watch yourself there porter… She’s a killer, in more ways than one”.

     

    The Argonian walked over to them then prodded Sotek in the shoulder.

    “And who are you?”

     

    Sotek ignored the jibe and answered politely.
    “I’m Sotek”.

     

    By now the Orc walked over to them as well, she scoffed at his answer.

    “Sotek who?”

    Sotek smiled evilly then answered as hostile as he could.
    “He who don’t answer questions from green, foul smelling Orcs”

     

    The Argonian walked right up to his face and pushed his snout into Sotek trying to force him back. But Sotek pushed forwards just as hard. Sotek then pushed forwards with his foot taking the little floor space between them forcing the other Argonian back a little. Instantly the other Argonian broke off.

     

    He turned to Sasha and spoke abruptly.
    “You really want to join the Fighters Guild?”

     

    Sasha stepped forwards then answered clearly and as aggressive as she could.
    “Maybe”.

     

    The Orc sneered at her automatically.
    “What makes you think you’re good enough?”

     

    Sasha, who however was unprepared for the question, found herself somewhat lacking her usual confidence.
    “I ermm I...”

     

    The Argonian stood right in front of her, then laughed at her face. He hissed out at her while the others chuckled.
    “No, go home. Look after the eggss”.

     

    Aela went to step forwards but Sotek stopped her. He stepped away dragging Aela with him.
    “Stay out of it”.

     

    Sasha backed away unsure of what to do, until Sotek grabbed her viciously by the arm.
    “You great waste of a tail. Come on, we’re out of here”.

     

    He literally dragged Sasha and Aela outside then headed down the steps to the lower level. Once there he let them both go.
    “What the hell was that? I ermm I... Dither, dither, dither... Wake up Sasha”.

     

    Aela thumped him in the arm as she scolded him.
    “Hey, it wasn’t her fault. It was them, they don’t want her”.

     

    Sasha yelled back at Sotek as well, literally shouting at the top of her voice.
    “You arrogant prick. You were there, they don’t want to know”.

     

    Sotek laughed at the pair of them then shook his head.
    “Let me ask you both a question. Think carefully before you answer. How many women do I go around with? Now, before you answer, include Ebony, Kul-et, Sasha, and Aela. Ermm… Yes, we’d better include Ebony… At a push… So, how many women do I go around with?”

     

    Sasha looked oddly at him, but it was Aela that answered.
    “Four”.

     

    Sotek groaned loudly then flicked Aela on the forehead.
    “None, women stay at home. I go around with archers, fighters, Huntresses. There’s no women, no girls I travel with. Until now”. He then pointed at Sasha then turned around and started walking off.

     

    Sasha grabbed his arm spinning him around.
    “I don’t deserve that”.

     

    “No, that’s where you’re wrong. You do Sasha. You fully deserve the treatment they gave you. They were testing you and you failed”. He then started heading towards the main gate, Sasha and Aela however just stood there. Sasha looked back at the guild then shouted across to Sotek. “Well, what would you have done? What should I do?”

     

    Sotek stopped then walked back to her and stood right in her face. He grabbed her by the collar and forced her back into the wall as he snapped angrily at her.
    “If you want to join then we can fix it, but we have to move fast. Here’s what you do, and you do exactly what I say”.

     

    A few minutes later Sasha walked inside the Fighter’s guild and called out to the Argonian.
    “Can I have a word”. As he walked over to her with a big smile on his face, Aela and Sotek entered the hall as well, but they just stood at the side and watched.

     

    The Argonian walked right up to Sasha and stuck his nose in her face.

    “What? Have the eggs hatched?”

     

    Sasha looked over to Sotek who just nodded, then she did what he told her. She took a step back then punched the Argonian right on the nose.

    “Not exactly” She then drew her sword and headed to the training area. “You like swords? Come on then. Let’s see if the Fighters Guilds worth joining unless you all just shoot your mouths off”.

     

    The Argonian drew his sword then walked over to the training area dripping blood as he walked over.
    “You’ll regret that”. He charged at her swinging his sword at her, but she blocked and immediately countered. He was taken aback a bit but managed to block it himself. However, the next second her leg was kicked from under her and she fell to the floor. Both his swords were over her neck within a second threatening to slice her throat open. “You’re a waste of space. He’s right. What a waste of a tail”. He then got up after punching her in the face and walked off.

     

    Sasha spat out a mouthful of blood then called out to him.
    “Walking away?”

     

    He just sneered at her once more.
    “I put you down already”.

     

    Sasha laughed, although if the truth were told she was hurting from the fall, let alone the blow he struck.
    “Well, you didn’t do a good job because I got back up again”.

     

    He drew his sword again the walked up to her, she did what Sotek told her and stood her ground.
    “So, you’ve got some steel in ya after all. We don’t train girls, or women. Only fighters, remember that”. He then called over the Orc. “Show her where she can sleep and store her gear. You’ll start your training tomorrow, Welcome to the guild”.

     

    As Sasha was led off Aela spoke quietly to Sotek.
    “How the hell did you know that would work?”

     

    Sotek replied bluntly as he kept his eye on the Argonian.
    “It worked with you three didn’t it?”

     

    “No, you didn’t punch any of us in the face”.

     

    He wrapped his arms around Aela and held her as he whispered to her.

    “I paralyzed one, threw fireballs at the other, and shattered every rib in your body. It worked then didn’t it?”

     

    Aela pulled herself away from him slightly as she subconsciously felt the side of her chest.
    “Don’t, I still have nightmares about that”.

     

    Sotek lent forwards and kissed her forehead softly.
    “I know you do, so do I”.

     

    Aela instantly looked up to him in surprise, then kissed him.
    “Well, at least she’s in, and no one’s nearly killed”.

     

    Within a few moments Sasha came downstairs, but without her pack. She headed over to Aela and Sotek then gave Sotek a hug.
    “Thanks for all you help, if you need me you’ know where I am”.

     

    Aela was taken aback when Sasha gave her a hug as well, Sasha held her tightly as she spoke.
    “We’ve fought like two bitches in a ring. You’re the closest I’ve had to a sister, thanks for being there”.

     

    “Ermm, yea. I’m gonna miss having you around, I’ll have to shout at Sotek more often to make up for it. One thing I don’t like about this place though… There’s no step to sit on”.

     

    Sasha laughed as she looked around the hall.
    “No, I’ll have to use a chair, oh well. Take care of each other, yea?” Aela nodded then Sasha went off to join the Orc in a sparring session. Sotek noticed straightaway that the Orc was far more hospitable than what she was earlier.

     

    While the Orc put Sasha through her paces, the Argonian came over to Sotek and Aela to introduce himself properly.
    “Sorry about that. It’s a tough start but we’ve had so many people coming here looking for adventure and they don’t know which end of a sword to hold, let alone attach one”.

     

    Aela immediately started laughing and she pointed to Sotek.
    “Are you sure you never tried to join them before coming to Skyrim?”

     

    Sotek huffed to himself and tried to ignore his mate while he asked the Argonian to carry on.
    “Sorry about that. Do your best to ignore her. Aela, shut up!”

     

    “I’m Right Wind, the Orc’s called Bumph Gra-Gash. Sasha there, things will be easier for her from now on”. Then he spoke quietly. “Is it true she’s a ermm... Werewolf?”

     

    Aela smirked slightly as she answered.
    “Yes, you’re lucky she didn’t get too pissed off with you, you would be food laying in the gutter. Her werewolf forms called Quicksilver, she’ll have to eat every so often, say once twice a week, deer, wolves, the odd bandit”.

     

    “Yea? Really? Oh wow. Well there’s plenty of them running around”.

     

    Aela’s eyes lit up.
    “Yes? Lots of game is there?”

     

    He looked at her oddly as he shook his head.
    “Game? No hardly any, I meant bandits. When she changes, how do we deal with that?”

     

    Aela grinned then looked around the hall.
    “Like you would a child, basic commands. But try to coax her rather than order her. Would you like to see?”

     

    “Oh crap! You’re a werewolf as well, aren’t you? I forgot about that”.

     

    A second later Aela changed. Red stepped forwards making the Argonian step back quickly and nearly trip over.
    “Oh, bloody hell. Ermm…”

     

    Sotek laughed then tugged her arm.
    “Hey, girl you hungry?” He pulled out a piece of wolf meat and threw it on the ground just in front of her. Red dropped to all fours then started eating it rapidly as her hunger took over. “She’s called Red, but I get way with calling her Girl, as she’s my werewolves ermm girl basically”.

     

    “You’re a werewolf as well?”

     

    “Yes, but I can’t change, I’ve changed earlier. We can only change once a day. If Sasha don’t change over a few days, just let her have the scraps of uncooked meat from the kitchen. That’ll easily tide her over”.

     

    Red changed back to find the others all watching her, the Orc gulped then looked at Sasha with a keen interest.
    “Can you change?”

     

    Sasha turned to Sotek who nodded at her.
    “Go ahead, but don’t make a habit of it. After this time, you only change in your room, or out of sight. Cyrodiil isn’t ready, ok?”

     

    “Understood”. She then transformed into Quicksilver.

     

    The Orc stood back fascinated but just as equally afraid.

    “Oh crap, she’s big”.

     

    Aela frowned straight away.
    “She’s a typical size actually”.

     

    Sotek laughed and gently pushed Aela in the shoulder.
    “Let her have some spotlight, stop being jealous”.

     

    “I’m not jealous! Well, maybe a little”. Aela said as she glared across the room.

     

    She then took a piece of meat from her pack and threw it to Quicksilver who ate it rapidly. Then Sasha changed back.

    “There you go, Quicksilver”. Sasha suddenly found herself bombarded by questions from the other members of the guild. While she done her best to answer them, Sotek approached Right Wind.

     

    “What do you know of an Imperial in a grey cloak?”

     

    “Oh, that sounds like the Grey Fox, he’s the head of the Thieves Guild, No one knows what he looks like”.

     

    Aela happily argued.
    “Someone must know”.

     

    “Nope, he could walk past a group of people and each one would swear he looked different”.

     

    Sotek cursed out loudly then laughed.
    “That was him alright. We’ve met the Grey Fox”.

     

    After half an hour of talking to the other members of the guild, Sasha came over to them.
    “Sorry, I’ve been somewhat rude, ignoring you both. I’m staying, just until I get the feel of the place, but it’s feeling good. I’m gonna like it here. How did you know that would work? Me punching him?”

     

    “It’s a tried and tested method”. With that comment, Sotek laughed.

     

    As Sotek and Aela went to leave, Aela had one last word with Sasha.

    “Here, it’s a few gold to tide you over, just a few hundred. Go easy with it until you start earning”.

     

    Sasha held her hands up to her refusing to take it.
    “I can’t take that”.

     

    Right Wind butted in their conversation.
    “You might as well take it, we’ll spend a good few days testing you and training before you step outside Bruma’s walls. Although you won’t need to buy food or anything like that, you’ll want some money in your pocket”.

     

    She gratefully took it then gave Aela one last hug.
    “Thanks, thanks for everything”.

     

    Aela couldn’t help herself despite her tough image she was trying to show she found herself hugging Sasha.
    “Don’t forget, if you need me, Sotek or any of us, you know where we’ll be”.

     

    Once they said their goodbyes, Aela and Sotek headed outside. Aela stopped just outside the guild steps then turned around and faced the doors.
    “She’s going to be ok, isn’t she? I’m not asking you, I’m telling you! She’s really going to be ok”.

     

    Sotek nodded as he held her in his arms.
    “Yep, they’ll look after her. I’m not so sure about us though”.

     

    She looked up at him with a confused look.
    “Oh? Why?”

     

    “That Imperial we saw? He was the Grey Fox”.

     

    “We’ve been through that. He looked nothing like the guy in the inn”.

     

    “He was the guy in the inn. The scent was the same, but it’s an odd scent”.

     

    Aela groaned as she was getting tired of the disagreement.
    “He was totally different”.

     

    “He was the same person. Here, look”. As Sotek spoke he held out a pouch.

     

    Aela took it then opened it up, inside was about a hundred and fifty gold pieces.
    “What about it?”

     

    “It’s Sasha’s. I pinched it from that Imperial who bumped into me. I recognise the cord. It broke near a week ago. I fixed it. That’s my cord”.

     

    Aela instantly slapped him across the face. A second later she was shouting at him.
    “You did bloody what? You pick pocketed the most notorious pick pocket in the whole of Tamriel? You bloody moron”.

     

    Sotek winced from the yell far more than from the blow. He then pointed to the guard some distance away who was standing at the gate.
    “Shout a bit louder, the guard never herd you at the gate”.

     

    Aela looked over at the gate then quietened down.
    “Sorry, but. Oh, bloody hell Sotek”.

     

    He just gave her a quick hug.
    “Yep, I know”.

     
    Aela looked around for the Imperial but couldn’t see him anywhere.
    “Oh, this is useless. Come on, let’s look at a few shops then we’ll head back. Don’t tell the Harbinger, he’ll worry”.

     

    “Agreed, come on”. Sotek led her to a few different shops where she could try to take her mind off the whole incident. They visited a few shops where Aela bought the Harbinger a soft fur pair of shoes and A bottle of Cyrodiil brandy. Tilma had a new shawl. As to the others, they decided to buy bulk and get some various Cyrodiil drinks, except for Eorlund though, Aela managed to buy him a bottle of Cyrodilic brandy as well.

     

    The last shop they visited was the Nord Winds where they met a shopkeeper called Skjorta. Aela convinced Sotek into letting her buy a new shirt for him. The shirt she picked out was a fine cotton dark blue one, but she couldn’t help but laugh as he grumbled while he tried it on.

     

    Once they finished looking about, they stopped off at the other inn just to see what it was like. They stopped outside Jerall View Inn while Aela looked it over from the outside, but she clearly wasn’t impressed.
    “Oh, don’t it look lar de da?”

     

    Sotek laughed then opened the door.
    “Come on trouble”. Once inside it didn’t fare much better. It was spacious with fine dining utensils set out and posh wooden furniture. Fine tapestries hung from the windows and walls giving it a formal aura. On one wall was a bricked fireplace but both Sotek and Aela could tell that no one would be allowed to sit in front of it. Before Sotek even approached the bar, Aela was heading back outside.

     

    Sotek followed her down the street to the Tap and Tack. Once inside Aela sat once again by the fireplace while Sotek ordered two meals and drinks. He soon encountered a problem though.
    “That’ll be eight gold please”.

     

    “Oh crap, ermm… Oh Aela, I don’t suppose you’ve got any gold? You spent all mine”.

     

    Aela got up then threw him her purse.
    “We have really got to build your gold supply up, especially if your spending it on furs for tramps”.

     

    Olaf’s face however had a hint of recognition.
    “Ahh so it was you that gave him those furs. Don’t worry about the gold, it’s on the house”.

     

    Sotek thanked him then they sat down to eat. Once they finished their meal they said their goodbyes and left. Outside the Sun had started to set. Sotek considered about staying for another night but Aela had other ideas.
    “Oh no, we’ll be in Skyrim in a few hours. Four hours of Scarface running, and we’ll be well on the plains. I wanna hunt, Red wants to hunt. Move”.

     

    After Sotek mockingly rolled his eyes at her, they headed towards the gate with Aela biting at his heels. Within a few hours they reached the Gatehouse between Cyrodiil and Skyrim’s borders. Aela passed the guards a bottle of ale to each of them then smiled to Sotek.
    “Yes, I know, you’re skint. Ermm speaking of skint, where’s my pouch?”

     

    Sotek laughed then handed her the pouch she passed him at the inn. After a quick talk with the guards, they headed off into Skyrim once more. Sotek changed form then let Aela climb on Scarface’s back. Within a few seconds they were bounding across the forest, skirting Falkreath as they headed to the plains.

     

     

Comments

4 Comments   |   The Long-Chapper and 6 others like this.
  • ShyGuyWolf
    ShyGuyWolf   ·  August 4, 2018
    this was awesome.
  • Ebonslayer
    Ebonslayer   ·  July 27, 2018
    “Shout a bit louder, the guard never [heard] you at the gate”.
  • Karver the Lorc
    Karver the Lorc   ·  July 27, 2018
    Rough initiation for a Fighters Guild. They must have fell on hard times most likely.
    And so they're heading back to Skyrim now? Well, that has to mean that Gray Fox will for some reason follow them there, otherwise it wouldn't make much sense intr...  more
  • The Long-Chapper
    The Long-Chapper   ·  July 26, 2018
    Bumph! I love Bumph. Nice to see her again. She my Bruma Orc. If you want me to say more, let me know, I do have a few things, but I was pretty heavy last chapter.