Unhanded

*Awwoooooooooooooooooooooo!!!!*

...

A Silver Hand recruit shifts uncomfortably at the howl and glances at his partner that was helping him guard the wall of the reclaimed fortress. "Y-you think we should worry about that?"

...

"Mayhaps... 'Dem two-legged dogs'll be lookin' for where we stashed the shards. Keep ya' eyes peeled..."

"Could just be a regular wolf though, right?... Or the wind?" the recruit continues, drawing a sigh from his partner.

"Boyo, why did you join up? Ya' so scared of a mutt tearin' ya apart ya're makin' me feel nervous..."

"I joined to fight Werewolves but... I didn't think I'd just be handed a spear and some amour and sent to patrol. Aren't we supposed to receive training or something!?"

The older man snickers at the boy's dismay, "You've had it easy so far, haven' you boy? We ain't no heroes, 'am just here for the gold myself..."

"But-" the recruit starts but pauses when the duo hear something move through the thick underbrush not far from the wall. Both their heads shoot in their direction, ears twitching as they stare intently into the dark forest.

"J-just an animal, right?"

...

"Likely... Ay! You over there! Yeah! You! Come out, we've spotted ya' already!" the older man shouts into the darkness, he hadn't seen anyone but this might scare off anyone who was there.

Surprisingly, a woman steps out from the treeline wearing strange-looking loose grey robes with a sheathed curved sword on her hip.

"Ay, boy. Look's like you'll get to grow up tonight..." the older man chuckles, licking his lips as he looks the purple-haired woman up and down, his eyes lingering at certain places.

"W-what?... Y-you're nothing thinking of touching her, are you!? We're supposed to be protecting the honour of our ancestry! Not, this!" the boy gesticulates erratically, horrified that his partner would even consider something like this. Both seemingly forgetting the peculiarity of an armed woman turning up here in the first place.

The older man growls, grabbing the boy's shirt with a scowl, "Boy, stop being naive or shut ya're mouth. 'Dat lass there is the first woman A've seen in weeks, first one that looks like 'dat in my whole life..." he lets go and is about to make his way out of the fort and towards the girl, only for bells to start ringing out, indicating that an attack was occurring.

*RING!RING!RING!RING!*

They both turn towards it, then back at the girl as the sound of movement draws their attention. Both are shocked to see the woman running towards the wall at ridiculous speeds, hand on the handle of her sheathed blade as she rushes forward.

Just as the woman looks to be slamming face-first into the wall, she shifts her feet and shoots upwards, running vertically along the wall with a fierce look in her eyes.

"S-SHIT! FUCK YA' OBLIVION-SPAWN!" the older man roars as he thrusts his spear down at the woman, his eyes widen as she slashes her blade and cuts his weapon into many pieces.

"BOY! DO YA'RE JO-"

*SLASH!*

The man's words are cut off as his head flies off of his neck and from the wall, his partner pisses his draws and falls backwards in fear, pushing himself backwards as he sends a glance at where the other patrons should've been... Only to realise just how fucked he was.

He and his partner had seemingly got off lucky compared to the others, Oblivion-damned Werewolves were scaling the walls and tearing the Silver Hand members to pieces. Ripping arms off, goring them with their claws, crushing their heads with their grip strength alone... It was a complete massacre.

"What should I do with you then, 'boy'?" the woman asks as she flicks the blood from her blade.

"S-Spare me, milady!... P-Please! This is my first day here, I-... I realise my wrongdoings!"

...

She sniffs humorously, "If you were any older I'd have dealt with you like your friend... Go, run, and never speak of this again."

The boy nods erratically, throwing his weapons away and quickly fleeing the fort...

Saeko watches him go, unsure if she sparing him was the right decision, but sticking with it regardless... Perhaps Tiffania had spread her softness to her? Probably not. Even for her own sensibilities, killing a young teenager of around fourteen was a bit too much. Especially one so naive and clueless.

A Werewolf stomps over to her, resting its freakishly large claws on the battlement of the wall, "Silver Hand has been eradicated, no signs of the shards."

"Did you find anything at all useful? I'd personally rather not waste too much time with this." Saeko replies, thinking of the dinner plans she'd made and missed with Tiffania and a few of the Eredar the elf-girl had befriended.

"We did find the leader of this place..." the Werewolf says with a fanged grin.

"Let's see if they can howl with the best of them then, Aela."

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

"So," Michael starts, crossing his legs as he sits across from Korir, Savos, and Irarus, "That crazy bitch has decided to do it then..."

"Aye, Imperials march here from Dawnstar as we speak." Korir confirms with a grim face. "I called you all here to confirm that we are working together on this. Winterhold may have more guards than before, but it isn't nearly enough to be called a 'fighting force'."

Irarus smiles down at them all from his larger-than-average chair, "We Eredar will defend our new home. The odds are not so against us this time."

Michael chuckles at that, the only way the odds would be that bad again is if all the Daedric Princes banded together and invaded Winterhold simultaneously... "Just remember that you're all the last of your people Irarus, losing a single person would be a huge blow to your long-term survival."

Irarus nods, "We know, but from what we have observed, the average strength of people in this realm is far lesser than the foes we previously faced. It would be an overestimation to expect one death among us."

"You're very confident..." Korir drawls before looking to the Arch-Mage. "What of you? Will you honour the agreement we made?"

Savos nods, "We will to the letter. I've even been training some eager Apprentices in the arts of magical warfare. I believe they'll be a fine addition to Winterhold's forces.