User blog:Eilonwyn/Planning

Err it hasn't been too long since the last one! B-but here!

It is rather long! F-forgive me! D:

Reunited.
Tiberionus stood in his office with his arms folded. The King stared at the woman who should be his queen. Julie was leaning against the wall, not looking in his direction. Instead she looked to the floor and held her hand on the pommel of her silver katana, which she still carried. She was Julie. Tiberionus knew that, but as he continued to scrutinize her, he could see something was different about her.

Julie glanced over, the silence clearly making her awkward.

“Aren’t you going to ask why I’m here?” She finally asked, breaking the silence.

Tiberionus sighed heavily through his nose, like a bull getting ready to charge.

“You are here to help me with my little Fallen problem, why else would you come?”

Julie nodded sombrely, folding her arms herself now.

“Not just the Fallen in general, Tib. I’m here because I need to kill the new Blighted Knight. I have to kill Landyt.”

Tiberionus looked surprised. He stepped forward and stood right in front of Julie. Placing his hand on the wall next to her right ear, Tiberionus leaned forward, noting the look of panic in his old flames eyes.

“Why do you have to kill Landyt?” He whispered, his eyes narrowing.

Julie’s heart pounded and she began to breathe more rapidly, she tried to duck out of the way but Tiberionus got in her way and pushed her back against the wall.

“Because…” Julie hissed, looking to the floor again. “I want to be the one to cause her some turmoil for a change.”

Tiberionus shook his head and stepped back, refolding his arms. He disregarded Julie’s obvious lie and replaced his frown with a smile.

“Well then, that’ll have to do. I can send you to Bru-.”

“No!” Julie interrupted. “I want to scout and explore first. I work better like that.”

“Are you sure?” Tiberionus asked, raising his eyebrow.

Julie nodded, her gaze returning to the utter…sadness that was in them before he leaned in.

“At least until you are ready to move into Skyrim properly. I can gather supplies and track reasonably well. Jaryl showed me…”

“Mhm.” Tiberionus mumbled, with a shrug. “Very well then. Head to the basement Jules and report to Nish. There is this one cave I’ve been needing scouted for some time but I’ve never had the numbers for it.”

Julie nodded and pulled open the door. She was about to step out of it before Tiberionus interrupted her.

“And Julie?”

“Yeah?”

“It’s good to see you again.”

“I…” Julie sighed. “You too Tib.” She whispered before she headed out his office, closing the door behind her.

It’s been a long twenty years without you, JJ…

-

Julie kept her hand on her katana as she walked down the steps to the basement. She could hear people talking and guessed who they were before they came into view.

“…I know all this shit already! You don’t need to tell me what to do!”

“It’s protocol. Have you ever faced a Fallen before?”

“No. But if they bleed, they die! And I sure as hell know Fallen ain’t lost their blood!”

Julie shook her head. She reached the bottom of the stairs and watched the argument for a little while.

Eric stood in front of a skinny Breton with short brown hair and piercing blue eyes that one could lose themselves in. He himself bore a few scars and wielded a pair of what seemed to be ebony daggers from Julies position.

“How a brute like you can help me, I’ll never know!” Nish grumbled. “Clearly Tiberionus has made a poor decision. I’ll have to go and speak to him about it.”

“I ain’t no brute!” Eric shouted back. “I just know how to handle myself out there! Done it on my own for my entire life! Fallen are meaningless when it comes to my aim and skill!”

Julie stepped forward, purposely scuffing her boot on the ground, making the two men jump and turn to face her.

“Fallen are relentless…” Julie whispered, ignoring the look of surprise the pair gave her as her voice echoed in their heads. “If you get cornered by let’s say…three of them, what would you do, Eric?”

“Erm I…I would grab whatever I had at hand and beat them to death.”

Julie shook her head again, placing her hand on her hip. “And if you had your bow, where would you shoot them?”

“Anywhere I could to slow ‘em down and get away! Legs, arms, shoulder. It don’t matter as long as I survive.”

“We aren’t here to survive Eric.” Julie said seriously, staring at the Wood Elf with a serious gaze. “We’re here to kill. So, where would you shoot?”

“I’d shoot ‘em in the heart!” Eric stated proudly, getting a quiet snicker from Nish.

“You truly haven’t fought one before have you?” The Breton chuckled, only to be quickly silenced when Julie’s stern look turned on him.

“If you want to kill a Fallen.” The Dunmer began. “You have to strike them in the head. Get them in the brain. You hit them anywhere else and they will keep on coming. They will not stop until they are dead, or…” Julie paused and looked down, an aura of sadness around her as she mumbled:

“Or you become one of them.”

-

Tiberionus came down the stairs during Julies explanation of how to kill a Fallen. He leaned against the doorframe at the bottom of the stairs and took a good look at the woman he loved.

What happened to her? Tiberionus thought sadly. He looked at her short hair and the scars down her face.

She never really told me what she’d been through.

The King sighed internally, his face was a picture of worry.

The way she holds herself today is so different to how she was before.

“You have to hit it in the head. Shut down the brain and the body follows after.” Julie repeated herself. She sounded devoid of life. Emotionless. Tiberionus’ head snapped up in realisation. He took another step forward as Julie continued her explanation.

That’s it! She is here on her own. Which must mean…

“How do you know so much about the Fallen then?” Eric asked, interrupting both Julies and Tiberionus’ trains of thought.

Julie hung her head and scowled at the floor. It was clear from how tightly she held onto the pommel of her katana, how angry she was getting.

Tiberionus cleared his throat, making Eric and Nish jump. Julie seemed to be unphased.

“She has a lot of experience in fighting them directly, Eric. As have I.”

Eric looked to the floor and nodded.

“Understood.” He muttered, rubbing the back of his neck and leaning against the wall.

Tiberionus sighed before motioning to Nish. “You have a place that needs checking out, don’t you?”

The Breton nodded, growing more eager now that the atmosphere between Julie and Eric had calmed down.

“Y-yes sir, I do!” He replied, walking over to his desk which was a cluttered mess of scrolls, maps, diagrams and daggers. He cleared some of the clutter away and spread a detailed map of Cyrodiil across it. He motioned to the three other people in the room, prompting Tiberionus and Eric to move across. Julie responded several awkward seconds later, looking like she had just come out of a dream. She wandered over, her eyes glistening.

“There is a cave not too far from here.” Nish began, pointing to a position on the map that was labelled:

Fingerbowl Cave

“There have been reports of moaning and the sounds of skeletons coming from within.”

“And?” Eric asked, rather rudely.

“Well…” Nish said through gritted teeth. “Initial reports and research have found the cave to be more than just a cave. It is a crypt filled to the brim with coffin, potions, money and weapons.”

“I’ll take it from here.” Tiberionus offered. He walked around the desk and stood next to Nish, folding his arms.

“While I absolutely despise the thought of taking from the dead, our supplies are running low and I am growing desperate.”

Eric sighed, interrupting again. “Well if you are so loathed to doing that, why not just get your supplies from your country, Dunmer.”

“My money is for my people, Eric. My country is not going to suffer whilst I am away. Prime Minister Xervish will be looking after the people and the funds.”

Julie looked over in surprise at the mention of Xervishs’ name, but she remained quiet, content to observe.

“As I was saying.” Tiberionus continued. “We need the supplies to help the people who are fighting at the front lines in Bruma.” Nish nodded in agreement.

“There is more.” The Breton added. “Another member of the S&E team went ahead to check the potential of the place. The message she sent back to us confirmed that there is indeed zombies inhabiting the crypts. And what’s more…” Nish paused, placing his hands on the desk and growing serious. “The zombies appear to be missing several chunks of flesh.”

Eric snorted. “Ain’t never seen a zombie before have you?” The Bosmer asked, only barely containing his laughter.

“Let him finish…” Tiberionus sighed, rolling his eyes.

“Whilst you are correct, Eric, in most cases the flesh falls off naturally as the body decays over time.”

Julie closed her eyes and held her necklace, thinking deeply as she continued to listen.

“However, from what has been reported, the flesh removed in this case appears to be from the bodies being bitten.”

Eric gagged and Julies eyes shot open.

“You mean…” Eric asked.

“Yes Eric. The cave appears to be inhabited by cannibals and there also sems to be evidence pointing to necromancers residing there as well. What’s more, a strange force is hidden within the depths. Our agent reported her will being trained. ‘I’m sorry.’ Was the last thing she wrote in her letter.

“Now.” Tiberionus said. “What I need are people to go in and clear the cave so the rest of our S&E team can scavenge sup-.”

“I’ll do it.” Julie stated, stepping forwards and speaking for the first time in a long while.

“J…” Tiberionus mumbled. “It’s too risky for you.”

“I can handle myself Tib!” Julie snapped. “I ain’t letting a zombie get me.”

“That’s not the point Julie.” Tiberionus said sternly. “It’s too big a task for one person to handle alone.”

“I’ve been alone an incredibly long time Tib…” Julie warned, ready to defend herself.

“I don’t care what you say!” Tiberionus commanded. “Eric will be going with you! As will Sean.”

“But!”

“Julie!”

Julie scoffed and looked away. “They’ll just get in my way.”

“Oh, thanks for the vote of confidence cupcake.” Eric muttered. He scowled at Julie and Julie glared right back.

Tiberionus shook his head and smiled. “You will leave in the morning. Tonight you can rest up. You’ve all had a long day.”

“Whatever.” Eric grumbled, stomping upstairs and slamming the entrance shut. Nish shook his head and left the room as well, leaving the two Dunmer alone together.

“You know I can do this on my own Tib!” Julie protested, throwing her hands into the air. “Why slow me down with those two? They have no idea how to handle themselves!”

“Everyone needs experience JJ.” Tiberionus reasoned, walking around and standing in front of Julie. He placed a firm hand on her shoulder and felt her body stiffen in response. The King sighed quietly and spoke softly to her.

“And you need to learn how to trust people again…” He murmured before walking off and leaving Julie alone with her thoughts.

How can I Tib? Julie thought sadly. Trusting people caused me to lose…

Julie sighed and wiped a tear from her face before heading out herself.

Set…

~EoC~