//------------------------------//
// 3: Mighty Whiterun 
// Story: Sombra visits Skyrim 
// by Blackdrag-rose 
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	"You want me to do WHAT now?" Sombra shouted, wobbling on his legs as he stood on the ground near a lumber mill.

"I said that I want you to run at this log," Raika repeated herself, for what seemed like the tenth time that morning, "and swing your sword at it like your swinging at a bandit or a wild animal."

Gerdur and Raika had spent the last three hours teaching Sombra how to walk again, demonstrating exactly what they meant by walking from one spot to another. Raika showed him exactly how to move his legs, the proper way to walk normally, how to jog and run, and, more importantly in her eyes, how to properly hold a weapon. Gerdur mostly tried to show him how to walk up a steep incline, using the ramp of her lumber mill as a practice area while she produced more wood.

It had taken two long, excruciating hours, filled with Sombra falling into the river, tumbling down the wooden ramp, slipping over the wet ground, and tripping over his own legs before he managed to get a handle on the basics. When he took hold of the weapon given to him, a steel sword he was told, he nearly dropped it under the sheer weight of the metal used to make it. Raika held a similar sword in her right hand, which happened to be the sister blade of the one he was holding, and she spent the third hour showing him how to swing it. Of course that meant that she spent a good portion of that hour testing and disarming him before she made him pick up the sword and start again.

Now Sombra stood there, sweat running down the side of his face, staring at the log that had been propped straight up for him to use as a test dummy. He wasn't even sure that he could manage a run at the log AND swing the sword before he dropped it.

"Raika dear," Gerdur said, leaning over one of the rails as she watched the nord, "I know your planning on taking Sombra with you, but how long do you think he'll last in his current state? Be truthful with me."

"Honestly I don't know," Raika replied, tearing a piece out of her sweet roll, "I'm hoping that some of our training will restore some of his memories, if even a little bit, so that he'll remember something useful to him. In his current state I think he'll last until we reach Whiterun, where I'll deliver the message to Jarl Bulgruuf the Greater that there's a dragon on the loose. He's bound to send some guards here, but once he's done so I'll be making my way to Windhelm to join Ralof and Ulfric in the war effort. I'm fairly sure that neither one of them will want someone who is weak on his knees, cannot hold a sword straight to save his life, or even cast a healing spell to aid his allies.

I'm sorry Gerdur, but I personally don't think that Sombra is what the Stormcloaks are looking for in a fighter."

"It would be best if he wasn't involved in the war anyway," Gerdur sighed, watching Sombra run towards the log and completely miss his swing, tumbling into the water yet again, "at the rate he's going the war would be the death of him. And I do believe that it is your turn to drag him out of the river this time."

Raika threw the last of her treat into her mouth as she walked down the ramp, turned the corner, and approached the area where Sombra had fallen in. She bent down on her knees and grabbed his left hand, pulled him out of the water before making sure he hadn't swallowed any of the river water. Once she got some of the water out, and making sure that he was breathing normally, she turned around and picked up the sword she had given him.

"That...that was an impossible task," Sombra groaned, spitting out what was left of the water he had swallowed, "You can't expect someone to run at an enemy and just swing at them like that."

"Actually, I can." Raika replied, helping him onto his feet, "Bandits will attack fleeing enemies like that if they're certain they had win, so will the guards of any of the nine Holds. I've had to do it several times against bandits who thought that they could escape. You just need some more practice before you master all of the maneuvers."

"Enough about practicing," Sombra moaned, feeling all of his muscles scream with just the thought of additional practice, "I'm tired and the thought of continuing is making my muscles ache. Please tell me we're leaving so we can start the adventure you wanted me to accompany you on."

"Aching to kill something are we?" Gerdur asked, joining the two of them for a moment, "Look Raika, I know the guards that protect the gates might be unreasonable, but I have found an excuse that will get you past them that is not related to the dragons."

Gerdur pulled a piece of paper out of her pocket, one of the many wanted posters that the guards distributed to all the inns within their designated Hold. "Bulgruuf's steward has placed a bounty on the bandits of White River Watch, which happens to rest just to the east of Whiterun. You go to their camp, slay the Bandit Leader and his underlings, claim whatever treasure you find, and get back to the gates with the excuse that you've cleared that bandit lair out and have come for the reward. The guards will be sure to let you in."

"I like the way you think Gerdur," Raika smiled, accepting the paper while pulling out her own map, "Its a small detour, but it will make it better than coming up to the gate and saying that we have news about Helgen and a dragon."

Sombra was terribly lost during their conversation, but what he gathered from it all was that someplace called Helgen had been attacked and destroyed by a dragon not too long ago. Apparently Raika was at Helgen when the ordeal happened and during her escape she had found and rescued him from a cave. He didn't know much about the guards of the Holds, whatever those were, but he would have thought that something as violent as a dragon burning a village to the ground would be worth letting them past the gates. But if Raika wanted to waste time dealing with some bandits so they'd have a better excuse to enter the city then he would follow her decision and not speak against it.

"When you get to Windhelm I want you at my brother's side," Gerdur said, watching Raika gather the rest of the weapons she had Sombra using earlier, "I would like it if you could make sure that the both of you made it out of the war with your hides intact."

"Don't worry so much Gerdur," Raika replied, wrapping her arms around Gerdur for a moment, "Ralof and I will make it to the end of the war and then we'll all get to relax at long last."

"You have best get going dear," Gerdur said, releasing her friend as she stared at Sombra, "Make sure that Bulgruuf get's the message before you do anything else. And see to it that your friend finds something else to do that's not involved with the war."

"Come Sombra," Raika said, shifting her gaze to the gate at the northern entrance to the village, "Its about time that we get that message to Whiterun."

Sombra moaned and followed Raika down the road, across a stone bridge, and down another road that curved around a hill three or four times. He noted that she still carried the two steel swords with an even larger two-handed style one hanging off of her back, but she had been unwilling to share with him. He assumed that she would be giving him something to defend himself with once they dealt with whatever bandits were guarding the entrance to their lair, White River Watch she had called it. He knew that he wouldn't be of much help if he just stood back and watched, but there had to be something he could do to help her when they reached their destination.

As they came along the last curve in the road they were stopped by three men dressed up in light brown armor, each of them baring an angry scowl on their faces. The men said something about interfering with their Imperial business before they drew their swords and lashed out at them. Raika was ready, drawing her two blades in under five seconds and parrying the two closest to her, pitching them backwards before planting her foot in the third man's chest. She put down the two men who had attacked her first before firmly planting both blades in the third's chest, ending the fight before Sombra could even move.

"Foolish Imperial milkdrinkers," Raika said, sheathing her own swords before she collected the dead soldier's weapons, "every time they see one of my brothers or sisters they draw their weapons and attack without reason."

"Wait, they do this all the time?" Sombra asked, kneeling by one of the bodies, "Why do they attack you like this?"

"Because I'm a Stormcloak," Raika replied, shaking her head as she mentally counted the weapons she had collected, "The Imperial Legion is here in Skyrim to force the rest of the Nords to obey the White Gold Concordat, the treaty that was signed years ago when the Empire was nearly destroyed by the Aldmeri Dominion. The elves made the Emperor forsake the man turned Divine that founded it so many centuries ago, the mortal named Tiber Septim. According to legend he became the Ninth Divine, Talos, who was worshiped by the nords as the God of Man.

The Aldmeri Dominion couldn't stand for a mortal to share a place with the eight other Divines; Akatosh, Arkay, Dibella, Julianos, Kynareth, Mara, Stendarr, and Zenithar. So they decreed that Talos was not a Divine and that all worship of him was forbidden, which also meant that those caught worshiping him were punished. Ulfric Stormcloak would not stand for the nords forsaking Mighty Talos and siding with the elves that made the Empire too weak to rule themselves. And so the Stormcloaks were born, which brought the Imperial Legion into Skyrim and split the region between the two forces."

"How did you fall in with them then?" Sombra asked, not really finding anything that could help them.

"I was born in Windhelm and I was raised by the Stormcloaks," Raika sighed, raising to her full height, "so when I call them my brothers and sisters I mean it more than anyone else. I truly believe that Tiber Septim was invited by the Eight Divines to join them, making the Eight into the Nine and becoming the being known by others as Talos. I will gladly fight side by side with my brothers and sisters, so that we may free Skyrim from the taint that is trying to take us down with it.

Here, I can't have you walking around without something to defend yourself, nor can you expect me to continue fighting all of your battles for you."

Sombra looked towards her and saw that she held one of the soldier's steel swords in her hand, placed in the sheath so he wouldn't cut himself whenever he was running around. He smiled and accepted the weapon from her, fumbling around with it as he wondered where he should put it until he decided to just leave it on his left side. It felt strange for him to have a weapon now, seeing how Raika was hoarding all of the weapons from every person that she was putting down.

Finding their way to White River Watch was easy after they reached a fork in the road, seeing how Sombra could easily see someone walking somewhere on the eastern mountain. All they had to do was fight their way through a gauntlet of bandits, not to mention the path through the entire cave. As they approached the cave Raika pulled out her swords, already prepared to take down whoever stood in their way, so Sombra followed her lead. It became all to clear that there were some guards outside waiting for them when one of them fired a warning arrow their way, one that landed just a few inches in front of Sombra's right foot.

"Skyrim belongs to the nords!" the bowman shouted, pulling out another arrow while his partner got closer to them, "Your kind doesn't belong here cat!"

"You deal with this guy," Raika said, beckoning to the bandit that was approaching them, "I'm going to give that blasted bandit a piece of my mind."

Before Sombra could react Raika ran towards the bandit and dived between his legs, causing him some confusion, before continuing to where the other bandit was. The bandit held his iron axe at the ready, clearly expecting Sombra to attack him and was already prepared for whatever was coming. When he saw that Sombra wasn't really going to make a move he lowered his guard and swung at him, causing Sombra to jump back before he was injured. Just as he was about to raise his sword to fight back the bandit swung his axe and cut a faint line through the shoulder piece of his armor, giving him a light wound.

"So the strange nord can't even lift a sword to save his life!" the bandit happy said, noticing that the blood on his axe was black and not red, "Black blood? What gives?"

There was a spark in Sombra's eyes as he dropped the steel sword he was carrying, aimed the palms of both of his hands at the bandit, and let whatever was happening happen. Not a moment later black lightning leapt from the palms of his hands and struck the bandit hard in the chest, knocking him right off of his feet. The bandit hit the wooden ramp, that Raika had ran up moments ago, hard against his head and his body went limp. A few seconds past before whatever had come over Sombra faded away and the lightning that had been gathering around his hands simply vanished, leaving him with a killer headache.

"Sombra, you okay?" Raika asked, rushing to his side the moment he fell to his knees, "I thought you didn't know how to cast any magic spells."

"Ugh...I'm fine...somewhat anyway," Sombra moaned, shaking his head as he wondered what had brought the headache on, "and I didn't know how to even use magic."

"Well, whatever that bandit did to you I guess it brought out some form of memory," Raika replied, pulling out some wrappings so she could easily cover up the cut on his shoulder.

"Wait," Sombra said, something dawning on him, "whatever happened to the bandit you were fighting?"

"Oh, him?" Raika asked, pointing back up the ramp, "I put him down moments before your bandit managed to deliver this cut to you. Had I known you were going to actually let him hurt you I would have cut his knees out so it would have been an even fight. And if your feeling a headache from using magic it means that you used up too much of your magicka and either need to drink a blue potion or just let it pass on by."

"Do you happen to have one of those potions with you?" Sombra asked, pulling himself onto his feet before moving to pick up the weapon he had dropped.

"Unfortunately I don't." Raika replied, pulling herself up, "Neither do most bandits, so I guess you'll have to wait it out. Now, let's go clear out the rest of these bandits before they come to investigate where their friends went."

Clearing out the bandits meant that they had to deal with a blind guard as soon as they entered, three more in what could have been their commons area, and then four more of them that were trying to tame a feral wolf to their will. Raika hacked, slashed, and bashed her way through the enemies that got close to her, while Sombra stayed behind her and dealt with whoever tried to run away. It wasn't easy fighting two bowmen near the wolf, but Raika proved that she was as skilled with a bow as she was with a sword. By the end of it all she had three more steel swords, two iron axes, an orcish bow, two hunter's bows, sixty golden coins, and a string of steel daggers.

"Why are you collecting all these weapons?" Sombra asked, just as they finally found the exit they were looking for, "I know you can use two at a time, but I don't see the reason behind all the ones you have in that backpack."

"Some of them I'll sell to the shopkeepers when we reach Whiterun," Raika replied, seeing a nord, dressed up in full steel armor, waiting for them in a chair, "and other pieces I'll keep for myself in case one of mine breaks. Plus I could always help armor up the rebellion by simply gifting them all to Ulfric or Ralof the next time I see them."

"So you're the fools who have been killing off my brigade," the bandit leader said, raising to his full height as Raika drew her new bow, "I must say, it is impressive that you managed to wipe out every single one of my men before reaching my summit. Many of Whiterun's guards would have fallen before they even entered the cave, if they had the guts to come here and take us down for themselves. But nooooo, they send out wanted posters of us and drag innocent soldiers into their own battles, giving me and my men plenty of time to hone our skills.

The two of you have proven that there are still capable warriors in this land that are worthy of a fair and decent fight to the death, where the winner claims whatever the loser has on them. After our fight I'll have to scour the countryside, spending my time searching for new recruits to fill the holes that you have put in my operation. Its a shame that you aren't bandits yourselves, then we would have welcomed you with open arms and brought in more plunder for everyone. Oh well, I guess its not important anymore. Not when there's a fight to be hand between the three of us."

During his little rant and speech the bandit leader had turned his back on them, allowing Raika the time to silently pull out two of her newly acquired steel arrows and nock them on her bow. By the time she had the string pulled back she was waiting for the most appropriate time to loose the arrows, but then considered waiting until the foolish bandit simply turned back around. Once he turned back to face them she let the arrows fly, one of them piercing his left shoulder while the second tore through his armor and his heart. The force of both attacks was enough to send him stumbling backwards, where he promptly fell off the cliff.

"Well, I guess that's that," Raika said, not sure what just happened, "I've hunted bandit leaders down before, but that was the first time that one of them actually took the time to speak to me. Well, let's see what this big chest has and then we'll head back towards Whiterun."

As it turned out the chest had fifty golden coins, a dozen iron arrows, a plain silver necklace, another iron axe, and a steel sword that was glowing red.

"A fire enchantment!?" Raika happily said, slipping the items into her backpack, "Now if I could find another enchanted weapon that compliments it nicely then I'd be in business. Come Sombra, we must make haste to Whiterun's gates."

They spent the next hour retracing their steps through the cave, emerging where the two guards had been before they were greeted with the fallen body of the bandit leader. Raika quickly searched his body, snatching the arrows she had used before removing the steel armor and light blue glowing steel sword he was carrying. Whiterun was surrounded by large wooden walls, old pieces of wood that must have been standing for centuries and hadn't fallen apart after so much time had past. Sombra couldn't see much of the city thanks to the walls, but from the parts he had seen it seemed like the entire place are huge.

Before they even got the chance to get closer to the city Raika drew her bow as she spotted three warriors trying to take down what appeared to be a giant. She didn't recognize the warriors, but she readied one of her arrows, pulled back the string, and let an arrow fly right into the giant's left shoulder. The moment it was dazed by her arrow the warriors cut out its knees before the third warrior, an archer, put the beast out of its misery.

"Hail friends," one of the warriors, the archer, said, "What brings the two of you to fair Whiterun?"

"We just cleared out the bandits at White River Watch and killed their leader," Raika replied, approaching the fallen giant and ripping her arrow out, "so we're here to turn in the bounty to the steward."

"You defeated Hajvarr Iron-Hand?" the archer exclaimed, "That bandit has been nothing but trouble for Whiterun, so it's good to hear that someone's finally dealt with him and his lot. Jarl Bulgruuf will want to hear about this immediately. Follow me."

Before either Raika or Sombra could object the woman began walking towards the ramp that would lead up to the gates of Whiterun, causing them to walk fast to catch up with her. As they walked under two different arches, one of which had a large wooden bridge for them to cross, Raika could feel the eyes of the guards watching her every move. When they reached the gate they found two guards waiting for them, one of them standing in front of them.

"Aela, what is the meaning of this?" the guard asked the woman, "You know that the Khajiit are forbidden from entering Whiterun as per the stewards orders."

"You might want to recheck that guard," the archer replied, gripping the guard by the neck of his armor, "This khajiit has defeated old Hajvarr Iron-Hand and his bandits. The Jarl must be told this news."

"Hajvarr Iron-Hand? Defeated?" the guard said, clearing sounding as if he was already persuaded to let them in, "Your right, the Jarl must be told. Carry on then."

The archer smiled and set the guard down, who must have been used to dealing with her so much as to not raise a weapon against her and returned to his position.

"Friends," the archer said, pushing open the gates, "welcome to Whiterun."