[IC] The Elder Scrolls: Souls of Many Shades [Jake & Cronic]

[Jakeozzy]

"I hear that," Aria yawned as she shut her eyes again. The stray cat stretched his front legs out on Cronic's chest, sleeping on him in the form of a lazy sphinx. "...See you in the morning, buddy. If not Oblivion or whatever..." ----- Daylight shone through the shop windows by this time in the morning. It was dim, probably not even 7AM yet. Aria was out back, practicing with a wooden variant of her Akaviri blade. She kept her laboured breathing as quiet as she could, but coupled with breaking the air so quickly and powerfully, she could be heard by Cronic at least. It was the first day of the working week again, and this was routine. It was freezing out this early, and in a shirt more so, but the young warrior was keeping herself warm by swinging that sword again, and again, and again... The stray was still sprawled out over Cronic's chest, stretching every time Aria's breathing found it's sensitive ears and woke him up.

[CronicCrystalis]

Cronic naturally awoke slowly, noticing the cat sprawled out over his chest. Picking the stray up carefully and setting it down beside him, Cronic then immediately noticed Aria... Or more accurately, the lack of. This naturally set Cronic's brain into panic mode... Until his brain kicked into gear enough for him to hear an all too familiar sound from out back. "...Well, we're not dead. That's a start." Cronic said, yawning as he slowly got to his feet.

[Jakeozzy]

"Lucky Whiterun is built on high ground, otherwise it would be flooded by now. We're all good up here, but I'm not so sure the farmland is..." Aria said as she strolled back inside, tossing the sturdy wooden blade into the stack of random junk under the stairs. Now as the sun weakly shone on central Skyrim, the risk of some Dark Brotherhood assassin showing up diminished greatly. As for Vampires, they would be exposed in daylight. Heck, maybe today wouldn't be that eventful after all! After Aria got dressed properly, she took her sheathed katana from it's place rested against the desk and fixed it onto her belt. "I'm gonna jinx it and say this is gonna be a really peaceful day for once. We should see what we can dig up on your girl, maybe it'll turn into a little adventure!" ----- Meanwhile, in the open plains west of Whiterun... "I didn't mean to offend them! The fire was so big, I merely thought it was communal!" Yuki rather calmly yelled as she legged it after Serena. Being unfamiliar with giants, the girl typically judged that it might be a good idea to creep away from camp while her guardian slept to go see the 'towering Nords' over by their own campfire. They looked friendly enough, but clearly that wasn't the case! Every step that pounded into the ground caused everything to shake. Yuki didn't bother looking behind her, she could tell when the giants were getting closer from how hard the shockwaves got. It didn't help that everything was muddy and drenched after last nights storm, either. But there was a hold capital in sight. Raised up, safe from any land-based attackers. To Yuki it was a sight to marvel at, as was everything in Tamriel. But for now the focus was on getting there without being flattened by the club-wielding giants trampling after them. "Maybe if we compensate them with gold coins they will leave us alone?!" Yuki suggested.

[CronicCrystalis]

"...I hate it when you do that." Cronic said, rubbing one eye sleepily as his stomach growled. "...Must've slept longer than I thought." ---------- Serena was naturally in full blown panic mode at this point. "Giants are very, VERY, territorial! Get too close or harm their mammoths and they will knock you into the heavens! Bribing them with gold will not stop them at all!" Serena shouted out, running as fast as she could. "No choice now, we need to run for the nearest civilization and hope the Giants won't pursue us further!" Serena shouted to Yuki as she directed the young girl towards Whiterun.

[Jakeozzy]

"I'll head to the battlements, see what the long-range forecast is like. If we end up going on an epic journey I wanna know if bad weather's gonna ruin it!" Aria chattered along as she slipped out the front door, grabbing her rope and scarf as well before departing. The stray cat hopped out the window and ran off, probably on the prowl for an unsuspecting bird or rat. Fortunately it never brought the things back to the shop like it would to an owner's home...! ---------- "What's that... It's like a castle, but with more houses." Yuki wondered as she ran. It was sort of like the Akaviri city she came from, but there everything was made from stone, it was built to last. Whiterun looked cozy, but lacking in that cultural flare Yuki was used to. Still it was amazing, this would be her first town stop in Tamriel - if they made it, and if they were let in... By now the guards were scrambling around the gates, presumably setting up a defence. Giants would smash through any patrol with ease, but a few well-aimed volleys of arrows would send them packing. There was also the two humans to consider... Shooting arrows at the giants at range could be very dangerous for the people being chased.

[CronicCrystalis]

Serena however, was naturally assuming the worst was going to happen. She had no idea how proficient the town guards were in archery, and she wasn't exactly able to take cover without leaving Yuki in the hands of fate. The only thing they could do now was pray to the divines that the guards' arrows found their intended targets. "If we survive this, don't ever go wandering off again!" Serena shouted to Yuki as she ran. ---------- After a few minutes of getting ready for the day, Cronic set off down to Warmaiden's to use Adrianne's forge there to sharpen his sword and make a fresh batch of arrows using some steel ingots he dug up the ores for and smelted himself. He'd had a creeping suspicion he'd likely need both things, though he isn't sure what purpose they'd serve at this time, which he explained to the blacksmith herself. And the man's hunches are usually somewhere on the mark.

[Jakeozzy]

"I promise!!" Yuki screamed as the child realised the sky was darkening. All those arrows, and all the duo needed was one of them. Heck, Serena might be able to tough through one depending on where it hit, but those things were like spears for the little girl! The giants thankfully absorbed the whole volley; the archers were smart and aimed high.

The towering creatures slowed, pulling the pathetic little darts out of themselves before continuing after the trespassers. But by now they were spacing apart... The lead giant decided to lob an oversized club at the two in favour of getting any closer to the swarm of guards on the town walls, but it went too far and landed in Serena's path instead of making contact. Angered by this, the larger giant started bounding forwards at a remarkable pace, followed closely by the one still wielding its club. It caught up to Yuki in no time, bringing it's foot over her in readiness to stomp her into mush...

----------

"NOPE," A woman's voice rang out. Yuki knew she was doomed, but she stopped running at the sound of a slam above her. Looking up expecting to get crushed any second now, she was stunned to see a red-haired girl with both her boots planted firmly in the giants' face as it toppled backwards, cross-eyed and confused. That was one hell of a kick!

"Miss Serena...?" Yuki muttered as her focus was now solely on the suicidal character who just entered the fray. Redhead hopped off the giant's mug before it crashed into the ground. The arrows had stopped flying. The guards knew this was handled. "What is that person doing...?"

[CronicCrystalis]

Serena was literally about to reach for her sword as she turned to engage the Giant, when the redhead planted both feet into the Giant's face and sent it reeling. Naturally, this caught Serena off guard just as much as it did the giant.

"...I have no idea." Serena said, just as confused as Yuki was, as a pair of arrows came from a different angle to the guards, targeting the other Giant that didn't have the good fortune to be dropkicked into the face. Instead, said arrows struck the Giant in the eyes. Wasting no time, a brown haired figure rushed into the fray, sword drawn, as he promptly darted behind said giant and ran his blade across the backs of it's knees, forcing it to drop onto all fours, and he promptly clambered onto it's back.

"Don't just stand there! Get the girl to safety!" The brown haired male shouted, and once he'd gripped hold of the Giant's shoulders, he had to resort to holding his sword between his teeth as it started trying to shake him off.

"Y-yes!" Serena shouted in response, before hauling Yuki over one shoulder and running towards the guards.

[Jakeozzy]

"I so jinxed it! I knew that'd give me a reason to kick something today!" Aria chuckled as the giant behind her made a confused groan. He just got missile-kicked out of nowhere! Meanwhile, Cronic's giant hadn't even the chance to be dumbstruck, it was doomed! Not that his boss particularly cared; they needed to be stopped by any means necessary - there was yet more favour and reward from Jarl Balgruuf to be had! Reward being the more appealing gain.

The giant wasn't moving anymore, but still groaning. Aria must have given it the worst headache imaginable...

Yuki exhaled heavily and relaxed once the ground shaking had stopped. They were finally safe, and the Whiterun Guards had met them to offer aid to the two. They were just exhausted. If either of them really had been injured, it would've probably been fatal. ...That, or they might have become a part of the Nordic Space Program. Regardless of anything, Yuki was glad her adventure to Tamriel hadn't ended so soon. She couldn't help but notice out of the corner of her eye, the young, red-haired woman. Her facial features looked somewhat.. familiar. Akaviri?

[CronicCrystalis]

Gripping hold of his soon-to-be victim, once the Giant's struggling began to ease up a little due to the prior injuries sapping it's strength, Cronic took hold of his sword and plunged the blade into the back of its neck, sending it sprawling onto the ground, struggling a bit, before it's life was ended. Wiping sweat from his brow, he turned to look at Aria as he stepped off and away from the giant's corpse.

"Dragons, Cultists, Vampires, and now Giants... We're going to have killed a handful of just about everything in Skyrim at this rate." Cronic said, wiping the blood from his sword before he sheathed it, having his large and unusable bow slung over one shoulder, and a standard hunting bow which he'd borrowed from a guard over the other.

"I'm gonna go check up on the people who would've been knocked heavensward were it not for our timely intervention. I'll leave the other Giant's fate to you... And next time warn me before you decide to dropkick one in the face again. You might not get so lucky next time." Cronic said, before turning to walk towards the pair.

"...You two alright? You're not hurt, are you?" Cronic said, and Serena was the first to respond.

"Exhausted, mostly... That and my feet are sore." Serena said, looking up at Cronic after having caught her breath... Only to realise who he is.

"...Small world, isn't it?" Serena said, as she stood up straight.

"...Black clothes, blue eyes, brown hair, great sword... What was her name again...?" Cronic said, folding his arms, one hand gripping his chin as he tried to remember her name.

[Jakeozzy]

"You can't remember the love of your life's name, Mr. Crystalis?!" Aria barked over from on top of the giant's head. It's first movements when it came to were flipping itself over, and trying to crawl away. Some were stupid, some knew when to back down. After hopping off the giant, Aria dusted her hands down and strolled over to the others. The guards kept their bows trained on the giant as it pulled itself back to its feet and groggily made a run for the plains.

Yuki couldn't take her eyes off the other Akaviri. She wanted to be noticed. They had something in common, and the little priestess liked the feeling. She chirped something in her native tongue, to which Aria raised an eyebrow at and replied in the same language. The two seemed happy to trade words while everyone around them couldn't understand anything they were on about!

[CronicCrystalis]

Aria's remark made Cronic naturally go red in the face and briefly took leave of his common sense.

"I ONLY MET HER ONCE BEFORE! I DON'T EVEN KNOW HER THAT WELL!" Cronic yelled out at Aria, before catching his breath. Serena couldn't help but chuckle at the turn of events, but thankfully no-one heard it.

It was only once Aria and Yuki began speaking in Akaviri tongues that Cronic and Serena turned to look at each other, confused, opting to give them a little room to speak in private, not that it mattered since it's unlikely the Whiterun guards would be able to figure out what they're saying anyway, the two heading back up to Whiterun's gates.

"Serena." Serena said, looking at Cronic as he leaned against part of the wall, looking out over the plains.

"Ah... There it is. Now I remember. Sorry about that by the way, the whole, forgetting your name thing." Cronic said, as Serena stood beside him and did the same as he was.

"It's fine. Like you'd said, we'd only met the one time." Serena said, a sigh of relief being let out soon after.

"So, who's the girl you bought with you? She doesn't appear native to these lands." Cronic said, turning to look back down at Aria and Yuki for a moment.

"You guessed right. She's a former Akaviri priestess named Yuki. I saved her from a Thalmor "Escort" group, heading in the direction of either the Embassy or Northwatch. Were it not for a little quick thinking and fast aim, she might not be here." Serena, clenching her hands into fists as that hated word left her lips.