Calm Before the Storm
The sun had began to set over the distant mountains when the two apple sisters and Ulfgar began their way back from a long hard afternoon of apple picking. Even though Ulfgar did not have another 'episode' during that time. That did not keep from the two sisters from keeping a close eye on him. With the sun going down, they began their way back to the farm house for dinner. The last rays of light began shining down on the orchard when the farm house came into sight. Lights could be seen inside beckoning them as the stars slowly began dotting the eastern horizon. Applejack and Applebloom soon broke out into a race towards the house. Ulfgar continued his slow pace as a few thoughts ran through his head. The two largest of the thoughts circled around how Sithis had personally contacted him for a contract. Secondly was that strange white box that this family called a 'refrigerator'. He had personally seen nothing like it at any point of his life. What even prodded him more was that these people seemed to take this magical box for granted. It surely would have taken a very skilled mage to be able to just enchant such a box, not to mention keeping the spell going day and night to keep the food cold inside. This thought was one of the many that pestered him since he had been shown that this is not his own world. He turned his head up to the newly appearing stars of the night. The stars did little to comfort him as they were as foreign to him as the town just outside the farm was. He forced a smile as he thought about how willingly they had opened up to them. The small thought eased him a bit but he still wished he had not dented his helmet to 'pacify' the drunk earlier that morning. He walked into the light shining in from the open door of the house and casually looked around. There were no lanterns or torches to be seen, only strange bulbs hanging from the ceiling and small pedestals. Ulfgar wanted to go investigate the strange light; but decided better for both him and his hosts if he acts somewhat 'normal'. The family was once again gathered around the wooden table in the kitchen, seemingly eager for him to move along.
"Come on now sonny, we don't have all day!" Granny Smith insisted as she pointed with a fork.
Ulfgar took his seat as he attempted to figure out this family he was with. They seemed like a good hardy group that reminded him of his fellow Nords. The only problem was that they seemed fine in a world with nearly controlled by magic. The idea of magic being acceptable, other than the restoration arts, seemed unthinkable! He gave a quick glance at the white box over on the other side of the room before refocusing on the family in front of him. A short second passed before they began eating away. Ulfgar shrugged off his concerns and began digging into his own meal as well.
"So are you two boys ready for Tomorrow evening?" Granny Smith asked after talking to the two girls about recent events.
"Eeyup!" Big Mac replied
"Just another day on the job." Ulfgar stated before taking another bit his mash potatoes.
"I heard that you used to be a guard up in... Solitude was it? What was an average day there?" Applebloom asked after taking a sip of her glass of milk.
"There was a lot of things that went on, but to put it simply I usually dealt with petty thievery and drunken brawls." Ulfgar replied.
"Sounds like you have to be tough to live in Solitude?" Granny Smith inquired.
"If anything, Solitude is one of the calmer cities in the territory. If you want, I can share a tale or two while we are here."
"Just as long as there’s nothing too nasty for the table." Granny Smith replied as she seemed to grin about hearing some tale outside of Equestria.
"Ok, now where to start. How about the tale of the Beggar Prince."
With that he began telling the tale of Wheedle, the prince of beggars.
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Applejack watched out the kitchen window as Ulfgar walked into the shadows within the barn. He seemed to be carrying some heavy pack even though all he had now was just what he had on. It was obvious that she was curious about him but she didn't know yet if she should feel safe with him or afraid of him. He seemed nice enough and had already stood up for her family that day. Even with that his past life in Skyrim seemed all but nice and peaceful. If there was anything for sure, Ulfgar did seem to have a certain way with words. Being able to make them flow like a river on a hot summer day. Just the two stories he had told today made her feel like she was watching everything over his shoulder. She tried to shrug off the feeling but something kept nagging at her. This feeling was trying to tell her something but she couldn't tell what it was saying. With all of the dishes washed up and the table cleared, she went off to get ready for bed. As she did, the feeling still poked at her. With the stars lighting up the night sky, Applejack moved off toward her room. She moved towards the window in her room and looked over the large span of apple trees that her family owned. The cool night breeze brushed her face as she began thinking about the last few days. Not only Ulfgar, but how she had helped her friends stop Nightmare Moon from bringing her eternal night. She thought about having Twilight over some time to help out with harvesting apples sometime after apple-bucking season. Even though it wasn't the prime harvest time for the apples, she would be the only one still able to work after apple-bucking season was over. It was rare for anyone there to be able to walk away and still do a full day’s work the following day as if nothing happened. Farming definitely made for a tougher person, but not a one-man army. Thinking about the various other things in the world, other than the mysterious man from Skyrim, she did not hear her sister walk into her room.
"Applejack, can you answer a question of mine thats’ been gnawing at me?" Applebloom asked after lightly rapping on a nightstand.
"You scared me there Applebloom, but yes I can try to help you out." Applejack replied after recovering from the sudden pull back into the world.
"What do you think of Ulfgar? He’s nice and all but also reminds me of one of those Royal Guards." Applebloom asked as she looked up to her sister.
Applejack was going to answer right away but stopped herself to think. After some time she gave her answer. "I just don't know Applebloom. I guess we will have to find out for ourselves.”
With that Applebloom said good night and hurried off towards her room and closed the door. This left Applejack alone in her room with the cool breeze from outside still softly blowing. She shut the window and headed over to her bed.
"I guess we will have to get to know Ulfgar just the same as Twilight. I just hope nothing goes wrong." Applejack whispered to herself before getting into bed.
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Dinner had passed and Ulfgar had showed himself back to his loft in the barn. Even though this world seemed at peace, the peace made him feel like something big was going to happen. Like the calm before the storm as the sailors on the docks have said before. This uneasy feeling grew up to the point where he found himself sharpening the blades of his sword and two of his own daggers. The daedric blade he left alone because the powerful magic seeping from the blade made him uneasy about touching it. Even with the magic, it seemed to be calling out to him to just pick the dagger up and give it a little attention. Ulfgar ignored the silent call as he focused on sharpening the weapon in front of him until it was better than when it was created from the fires of the blacksmith's forge. The task at hand allowed him to slip away from the world and all of his troubles, past or present. The moon and the stars had found their place in the night sky when Ulfgar was finished with his work. From the small window behind him, his work shined in the soft night light. His work brought him comfort as he placed the weapons back by his bag while he lay on the pile of hay he had slept on the night before. He laid on the pile of hay with just his pants, letting the night breeze brush against his scarred chest. Like the night before, he was quickly pulled away into a deep sleep. Only to find his dreams were missing and the visions of another man playing through his mind. At first things were distorted and distant. After things began to clear, Ulfgar did not care. In front of him sat his target, sitting upon an empty shelf. He was filled with rage but was stopped quickly when the person turned and viewed three others tied up with bags on their heads. He had seen this before; this was a way of bringing in people of interest into the family if they had killed one of their targets. Whomever he was watching went up and began interrogating the targets to see if they were the one with the contract on their head. After a few minutes of pushing them for information, the only ones left alive in that shed were the mercenary, Astrid, and the person he was watching through. As Astrid began talking to the person again, he could hear a voice calling him from all around him.
"Here begins the undoing of the false leader of the last of my children. Initiating this new child of mine will bring order back to the brotherhood and start a new revival. This newest child is the Listener that we have been waiting for. One that will purge any traitors from the order." The voice explained as Astrid placed a key into the gloved hand of the person.
With that the vision dissolved away until he found himself starring up at the wooden roof of the barn. There was a freezing touch on his shoulder as he moved into a better position. Looking over at his right shoulder, he saw a hand-shaped mark emitting a blue light. Within a few seconds the light died down until all that was left was a black hand. The skin was so smooth that it would almost seem that he was born with it.
'I guess I might have one of the mages here check that out for me. The one thing I hate more than mages is being cursed by one of those mages.' Ulfgar thought to himself before he moved into a different position and slipped back into the darkness of sleep. Only when the darkness laid its heavy blanket on him did he begin to begin to relive his life. The empty slits of his helmet watched as he was tormented through the night with his past actions.