Case 1:Skyrim

Section 1: Civil War

File 1: Whiterun

The team transported to Tamriel to the country of Skyrim, after catching wind of a contract from Jarl Balgruuf of Whiterun by use of one of Engineer's more mysterious machines. They appeared just outside of the Honningbrew Meadery. A location that they had to forcibly drag Demoman away from.

"Get ahold of yourself you drunk we will get you a drink after we talk about the contract." Spy said as Heavy and Soldier struggled to pull along the drunken man. "Told ya we shoulda appeared closer to the town." Scout gibed with a smirk.

They walked toward the city gates ignoring the strange looks they received. After a quick talk with the suspicious guards they were allowed in and directed to dragonsreach.

They were fairly impressed by the size of the palace but overall unfazed. They had seen much bigger things. "Okay gentlemen. This man is royalty and must be respected as such. Scout. Don't talk. At all. Keep your mouth closed the whole time." Spy ordered.

Scout rolled his eyes. "Ah, screw you Spy. I know how to hold my tongue." He replied.

They all walked into the large palace. It took all of two seconds for Scout to completely dismiss Spy's warning as he walked up to a woman in steel armor.

"Hey there pretty lady, what's your na- WHAAA!" Scout gave a high pitched screeched as the woman suddenly drew her sword on him.

"Lydia." She replied simply.

Scout calmed his nerves. "Y-yeah. Well that's a nice name. Fits. I'm Scout." He said.

She looked him up and down clearly unimpressed with his short height and skinny stature. "So you're supposed to be one of the mercenaries who will complete the contract? In what way do you serve your team… bait?" She asked arching an eyebrow.

Scout huffed furiously. "Ya know what? Screw you too. Here I was just trying to be friendly." He said. "Just cuz I'm small don't mean I'm weak." Scout said glaring at her.

She grinned and began to laugh. "Well you have spirit. I'm sure you have ways of defeating your foes. I just wanted to see how'd you react." She said sheathing her weapon.

Scout was visibly taken aback. "R-right. Well then again. Nice to meetcha. Call me Scout." He said holding out a hand. She gripped his hand tightly and shook it. He had a strong grip for someone of his size.

"So, you got any ideas as to what this contract is?" Scout asked curiously. Lydia's lips tightened angrily for a moment before she sighed. "No, I did ask him about it but he seems determined to keep it from everyone. Even his own housecarl." She said.

Scout arched an eyebrow. "Housecarl?" He asked. She looked at him. "Do you not know what a housecarl is?" She asked a little surprised. She knew that these men were from far away but just how far had they travelled to get here?

"Houscarles are tasked with the duty of protecting people of significance to a hold. Irileth is the Jarl's housecarl." Lydia said.

Scout held onto her words. He could pay attention from time to time. "Really? So bodyguards for important people." He simplified her explanation. "If you like." She replied.

"Will the mercenaries please gather?" A woman asked commandingly.

Scout cocked his head in the direction of the voice. He saw a woman with red eyes and very dark skin. She had pointy ears and wore leather armor. "Let me guess… Irileth?" He asked his eyes glancing back over to the woman he was talking to. She nodded in confirmation.

Scout yawned. "Alright. Guess that means things are gonna get rolling." He concluded walking across the wooden floor and up the stairs toward the woman putting his hands comfortably behind his head.

He had been caught up talking to Lydia and was therefore the last one in the group to get to her. "So you're the last one of the group?" Irileth asked looking at him.

"Yo. Name's Scout." He answered casually waving at her with his right hand before putting it behind his head again.

"So… you called us here," Sniper began, "That mean we're about to learn about the job?" He asked.

Irileth shook her head closing her eyes in annoyance. "No I don't know what it is. The Jarl is unavailable at this time. He will see you tomorrow." She informed them.

"Hold on now." Engineer said. "We just got here. If you don't mind me asking, where does he expect us to sleep? That inn you call the Bannered Mare, it doesn't have room for a party of nine." He pointed out.

She opened her eyes and looked at him. "The Jarl has asked the companions to allow you to stay in their hall for the time being." She replied. "It is evening so for now you are free to explore Whiterun. The Bannered Mare will provide you with free drinks during your stay. However, if you cause trouble you will still be subject to the same laws as everyone else." She warned with glare pointed directly at Spy.

"Hah. Told ya Spy. People don't trust ski masks." Scout smirked. "Oh be quiet." Spy said.

With the knowledge that they would not be seen until tomorrow the mercenaries left the palace and went off to do their own thing. Demoman, Soldier, and Heavy travelled to the Bannered Mare for the free drinks that were mentioned. Medic and Engineer stayed in Dragonsreach to take a peek at the collection books owned by the court wizard. Pyro went to the skyforge to watch the burning forge at work. Scout headed to the Companion's Hall to take a look at their accommodations with Sniper and Spy was god knows where.

Heavy looked around the city. It was smaller than some cities he'd been to but it was by no means small. The air was clean, the sky was blue, and the air's bite reminded him of his home in russia. He smiled feeling a wave of nostalgia.

He, Demoman, and Soldier approached the inn known as the Bannered Mare. "Alright. Are ye ready lads. Tonight we drink like gods." Demoman yelled with triumph.

"Da!" The russian giant replied.

"HOORAH!" Soldier yelled walking into the bar.

They were met with stares from the other patrons. The clothes they wore were immensely different from what everyone else had on. The woman at the bar counter looked at them.

"Hello, make yourselves at home. I'll be right with you." She said cleaning a mug with an old rag that looked as though it had been to hell and back.

They all sat at a table and she walked over to them. "Hello. I'm Hulda. I run the place. You needing a place to rest your head or just a drink?" She asked in a friendly manner.

"Aye a drink." Demo answered. "We was told that yeh'll be serving us for free." He said. "We're those mercenaries that the Jarl told you about." He closed his eye and smiled proudly.

Hulda's expression went from friendly to sour and then back to friendly in an instant. "Right. Of course. How could I forget. I'll get you your fill of mead. Just give me a moment to get some mugs." She grinned. But it seemed forced.

Demoman and Soldier didn't notice. The former was too excited to drink and the ladder was just too dumb to tell, Heavy rubbed the back of his bald head closing his eyes and giving an apologetic smile.

"Heavy understands, This is place of business. Does not do well to give free drinks… we are mercenaries but we also fair people." He told her in broken english. "We have no problem working off pay you should be getting."

Hulda's forced grin was slowly replaced with a real one. "Well if you're sure than I accept your offer. But I warn you, I'm going to work you to the bone. There's a lot I need done." She warned arching an eyebrow.

"HAH! NOW THAT SOUNDS LIKE A CHALLENGE! AND I WHOLEHEARTEDLY ACCEPT!" Soldier yelled

Demo sighed a bead of sweat running down his forehead. "Can't ye just appreciate free alcohol lads?" He asked taking a huge swing of the mead that was placed before him.

Scout and Sniper didn't have to walk far to reach the Companion's hall. A large, wooden, dome building called Jorrvaskr closely resembling a ships hull. It was actually very close to Dragonsreach. Scout walked up to the doors and pushed them open. The entrance was a spectacular mead hall that filled up most of the top floor.

"Are those two at it again?" A voice said as two people seemed to get into a fist fight.

Scout and Sniper stepped in looking around. A pretty woman with green war paint on her face and rather revealing leather clothing on her body approached them. "Two strangers have entered Jorrvaskr. Why are you here?" She asked.

Scout smirked and opened his mouth but Sniper held his hand out in front of Scout as he stepped forward. He'd take the lead on this one. Her composure, the way she was dressed, almost everything about her just screamed the word hunter.

"G'day. They call me Sniper. This here is Scout. We're two of the nine mercenaries who'll be staying her tonight." The australian assassin said taking off his hat respectfully.

"I see… I was told to be prepared for a varied cast but I never expected anyone to be so… small." She said looking at Scout.

Scout's eyes narrowed and his glared at the woman. Sniper chuckled. "Yeah, but I think you know better than to merritt someone on just their size. After all, small and fast prey is the hardest hit." He remarked.

"Ah… you speak like a hunter. I like you already. The woman said. "I am Aela The Huntress, and I'm the damn best archer in this whole country." She stated proudly.

Sniper arched an eyebrow and smirked folding his arms. "Is that a challenge?" He asked. She stepped closer to him. "Maybe you think you can do better than me." She said with a smile.

The two hunters looked at eachother fondly. "YUCK! Get a room!" The Scout said sticking his tongue out in disgust. "Seriously, ya think I wanna see that?" He asked closing his eyes putting his hands behind his head.

Now the entire mead hall was staring at the pair hearing Scout's outburst. They all had perplexed expressions. These two didn't have the look of battle hardened warriors. The short one with the strange hat looked particularly unimpressive. Scout opened one eye and looked around the room.

"Whaddya staring at?" He barked at them.

"So he's one of the mercenaries?" A dark elf man in hide armor said. "Don't look like much to me. He's a bit too short." He said.

Scout clenched his teeth angrily. "I swear if one more dumbass makes a comment about my height I am going to whoop that person's ass." He mumbled.

"Well he's not wrong." Another woman said walking up to Scout. "You're short and weak looking." She looked down at him condescending.

"Oh yeah. And who the hell are you?" Scout asked looking up to meet the woman's eyes,

"Njada Stonearm." She said. "Now I believe I heard something about you kicking my ass." She challenged folding her arms.

Scout glared at her his hands dropping to his side. He balled his right hand into a fist and sighed. "I ain't getting paid to deal with this. I have nothing to prove to you." He said relaxing his hand.

He walked past her toward the table before he felt pain in his back. He stumbled forward and fell on all fours. He looked back to see Njada's foot raised. She booted him in the back. "Beneath my boot then." She said challengingly.

"Oh bloody hell," Sniper lamented knowing that Scout wasn't going to just take it.

Scout growled and stood up raising his fists. "Beneath your boot? Lady, you can take your boot and stick up your- WHOA!" He ducked dodging the fist the Njada threw at him.

Scout sidestepped at punched her in the kidney. She gasped. "Well what do you know. I actually felt that. You're mistaken if you think a hit like that is strong enough to slow me down." She said stepping toward him and aiming a punch at his stomach.

Scout jumped back a bit and punched her in the jaw with a right hook. She looked back at him and spat some blood with a smile. "Now this is a fight." She said.

The other companions had gathered around to watch the fight. They cheered on Njada. "Show him a real fight!" "Make him beg for mercy!"

Scout looked at the surrounding people. Now getting out of it now. Njada punched Scout square in the nose. There was a sickening pop that signaled to Scout that his nose had just been broken. Despite the stinging pain he focused on the fight. He punched her in the head giving her a black eye.

The fight went on for some time with each of them sustaining cuts and bruises. "Not bad. You've held on much longer than I expected." Njada panted.

"You ain't so bad yourself." Scout complimented with a smirk. "But it's time to end this." He said.

She lunged forward throwing a clumsy fist. Scout sidestepped and tripped her making her fall to the floor. He placed his shoe on her back. "Who's beneath who now?" He asked with a satisfied smirk. He got off of her and she rolled onto her back.

She was met with Scout holding out his bandaged hand. "Tch." Njada slapped it away and got up herself.

Chapter one of what I hope to be a long running series.