Skyrim - A Story

Chapter 3

The next morning I woke, before the others. All the Companion whelp women slept still, the woman who punched the elf guy, the woman who helped me find Aela... pretty sure there's another lady but I've never met her. I dressed, into my armour, and grabbed my gear. I opened the note, and read through it.
I was to head to the Bannered Mare, and talk some sense into a certain Mikael, who was the bard in the Inn. I hate bards with a passion.

I grabbed a slice of cheese and bread, and ate on the way to the Inn, which was in the marketplace. I pushed open the door, and scanned the room, searching for the pain in the ass I was to deal with. He stood beside the firepit, trying to flirt with a woman who wasn't very interested, but was trying very hard not to be rude. I walked up, and stood there, hands on hips.
"Are you Mikael?" I asked flatly.
He looked me up and down and smirked.
"Aye, which lovely lady wants to know? Would it be you, by chance?"
My eyes narrowed. One thing to be complimented. Another to be coming from a fucking Bard. Especially this sleazy one in front of me.
"I've been sent to talk business with you," I snapped. "You know what you've got to do,"
"Oh please, I've got nothing to do," he scoffed, "Unless its you, but I highly doubt that its you so I'm not going to,"
"Don't make this turn ugly," I warned him. He picked up his lute, and strummed it, ignoring me.
"Oh, lass, the only thing turning ugly here," he hummed, "Is you..." he sang the last bit. That's it.
I yanked the lute from his grasp, startling him. I proceeded to clout him over the head with it.
"Ladies and gentlemen, this is a new one," I announced, "It's called The Age of Aggression. I apologise, I don't remember half the words,"
I swung the lute at the bard again, smacking him with it.
"Down with Mikael, the ruiner of bards," I sang, "When you finally collapse, we'll drink and we'll sing! For the age of aggression has just about come!" I sang more, savagely beating the bard with his own instrument. The crowd clapped and cheered.
"Now," I bent down to the blubbering mess at my feet. "You know what you have to do,"
"O-Okay, okay, just leave me alone," he sniffled. I dropped the lute, which was cracked in places.
"Good day, everyone, I'm now in retirement as a fellow 'bard'," I farewelled everyone. They all clapped and cheered, as I left the Bannered Mare.

~
"...and you proceeded to smash his lute over his head multiple times, whilst singing a crude rendition of The Age of Aggression. He definitely went and did what he had to, the client already sent word of their satisfaction," Farkas commented, raising an eyebrow. "Certainly a different approach, but you didn't kill him so job well done," he said, handing me a coin purse. I forgot about this part of joining the Companions.
"What, did you forget about getting paid for jobs?" He chuckled, "Oh well, there's more work if you want it. Go talk to me or Aela, then once you've made a name for yourself, Skjor and Vilkas may have some work for you to do," he said, "But first, before you ask me or Aela for stuff, I think Skjor was looking for you,"
"What does he want?"
"Just go find him and ask for yourself, he never said why," Farkas shrugged, "He's outside at the table waiting for you,"

~
Skjor was leafing through a heavy bound book. He seemed distracted, to me, but he spoke as soon as I shut the door.
"There you are, you're quite the rockstar, I hear,"
He was referring to the bard incident.
"I hate bards..." I said sheepishly.
Skjor hummed, and shut the book. "Is that so? Well nevertheless,  I have a task for you," his eyes met mine. I couldn't read them even if I tried. He reached down and opened the book, showing me a diagram of a long handled axe.
"This is Wuuthrad, the personal weapon of Ysgramor himself," he said. "It broke over the many years, and the pieces scattered equally so,"
"It looks very cool," I commented.
"It was a very honourable weapon indeed. Your task is to go and collect a shard of the blade, a scholar dropped in and told us of its location,"
He must've sensed some apprehension because he said, "Don't worry, Farkas will be going with you, so please, try not to get anyone killed, and don't leave the place without the piece. Even if it means you have to comb the joint with a fine tooth comb,"
"Y-yes sir," I didn't entirely enjoy the idea of combing every nook and cranny of probably, some god forsaken barrow either filled with bandits, crawling with the undead or really dark musty yuckness.
"You leave tomorrow, get prepared whelp,"
"Yes sir," I nodded. He went back to reading the book, basking in the sunshine. Heh. Even old warriors enjoy the sunlight once in a while, I figured.
I walked inside, and sighed. This was going to be fun.  Note the sarcasm. I was okay that Farkas was coming with, it was me I wasn't so okay with. I steered well away from any sort of barrow, ruin, undead bearing place, mostly because they almost always crawled with bandits and rapists. I walked back to the sleeping quarters, brooding over what this location could possibly be and hold within it.  I readied my pack, a fur coat to sling over my armour, and some dried food and two water canisters. I didn't drink much usually, so I figured two was enough for me. I had a small dagger, for emergencies, it was Des's that the village elder gave to me before I left. I sighed, breathing a quick but silent prayer that I didn't end up how she did. It was very sad, and unfortunate. But then again, now that I think of it, it was very foolish of us to do that, and karma had the last laugh there. I was very lucky to be sitting here, brooding over past events.
Once I'd finished, I walked upstairs to get something to eat before going to bed for the night. The inside was quiet, seems everyone was outside enjoying the evening air. I sat at the large table, and stared into the flames as I ate.
"I hope you're ready," a voice startled me. I almost dropped my leek into my cup, and I looked up to see Farkas taking a seat to my left. He selected a lamb shank with a delicate hum, and tore into it. Graceful, yet ferocious, I noted.
"Yeah," I swallowed, not quite chewing that bit of leek properly. "Skjor says you're coming with me, is that so?"
"Look, I just do as I'm told. If Skjor says I'm going with you, then that's what I'm doing," he said, finished with the lamb shank. "I'll lead the way, so just follow me and try not to fall behind,"
I nodded. I reached for a boiled cream treat, they were my favourite when I was little. "So, where are we off to?"
Farkas reached for a whole bottle of Honningbrew mead, uncorked it and took a few mouthfuls.
"Somewhere just out in the Whiterun plains, called Dustmans Cairn. It's not too far away, when you think about it. You could probably see the city from there,"
I nodded again. "Well I better get some sleep, if I'm to find this fragment," I stood up, brushing any stray crumbs away. Farkas nodded, and waved, mouthful of mead.
"See you in a few hours,"
~

It was slightly dark still, and I had just woken, maybe ten minutes beforehand. I got out of the bed, being mindful of the other ladies, and the men sleeping across the hall. I pulled on my leather armour, it didn't make as much noise as the other armour did, but it wasn't very protective. I reached for the pack I'd prepared earlier, and set off up to the dining table.
Farkas was already there, rummaging in his own pack.
"Oh, hello," he said. "Grab something and we'll head off, hm?"
I grabbed a piece of bread, and cheese, and we set off.
The streets of Whiterun this early of a morning were still sleeping.
The sun was barely glowing around the horizon, and I figured, by the time we got out of the gates, I'd see the almost sunrise glow.
"Alright, follow me," he said, and started jogging lightly. He held a good pace.