Undyne & Papyrus
"Oh. Hell. Yes."
Captain of the Royal Guard, Hero of Monsters, Undyne stood in shock, her eyes widening as she stared in awe before her. Papyrus and Alphys both stood outside of her house, presenting her with a gift. A twelve foot long sword, just like that guy from the anime she watched with Alphys. It was a perfect replica. So big. So intimidating.
"D-do you... like it?" Alphys asked nervously. "Like it? I LOVE IT!" Undyne bellowed, wrapping an arm around both Alphys and Papyrus, pulling them into a very vice-gripped hug that left them both sputtering. When she let go, Alphys was blushing heavily as she stuttered out incoherent words to Undyne, who barely noticed, gawking at the sword.
"OH, UNDYNE. THERE'S ONE TEENY LITTLE DETAIL WE NEGLECTED TO MENTION." Papyrus included, and Undyne raised a brow, hoping there were more swords. "U-um... you'll need to be careful with it. I-It's uh... foam..."
"Oh." Undyne replied, finally grabbing the sword by its handle and lifting it into the air. It was incredibly light, and a poke against the blade confirmed that it was indeed foam. Her excitement ebbed away, but she smiled anyway, grinning down at Alphys. "That's okay! I love it anyway!"
Alphys beamed as Papyrus cleared his throat. "SO, ER- UNDYNE, YOU WERE GOING TO CONTINUE MY BATTLE TRAINING TODAY?"
Undyne felt a tinge of guilt as Papyrus brought it up. She still hadn't brought up her recent decision to him. The decision to cease his combat training and teach him something- anything else. Sure, he was strong. Hell, he even beat her at arm wrestling. At least until she actually started trying and nearly broke his arm. Still, he was way tougher than most monsters. The only problem was... his kindness. Sure, it wasn't a negative trait, but kindness wasn't very valuable on the field of battle. Against an enemy that wants nothing more than to kill you, kindness will always fail. He's too innocent. Too gentle. Too sweet. Too kind. He was dedicated too, which made this so hard for her to tell him. He'd be heartbroken if she told him he didn't have what it takes to become a true royal guardsman. If he was just a bit more like... her, or just more practical, then he was perfect material for the guard. Aside from Asgore and herself, she was certain Papyrus had the potential to be the third strongest monster in the underground.
It all just had to do with that sweet innocence of his. He'd get crushed to tiny bits in a real fight, all because he'd try befriending the enemy instead of capturing, or worse, killing them. Before the fish monster could reply, Alphys spoke up. "Stop b-by the lab later. I think I found some new anime that we haven't seen yet."
"Will do!" Undyne replied, waving as Alphys left, before she was finally forced to give Papyrus her full attention, who was grinning anxiously at her. "Look, Papyrus... I was thinking we should... try a different kind of lesson today."
"WOWIE! I'M GETTING PROMOTED ALREADY? MY DREAMS ARE ALL COMING TRUE!"
"Right, well... you ever cooked before?" She asked, and Papyrus pondered on that for a moment. "HM... WELL, THERE WAS THIS ONE TIME I ACCIDENTALLY BURNT SANS SOME WATER."
Undyne blinked. "You burnt-" Better not to question it. "Nevermind. I'm going to teach you how to cook today. And how to cook AMAZING pasta. Spaghetti, specifically."
"OH MY GOSH!" Papyrus squealed. "I DON'T KNOW WHY, BUT I'VE ALWAYS LOVED SPAGHETTI! I CAN'T BELIEVE THIS! ALL MY DREAMS ARE COMING TRUE! AGAIN!"
However, several minutes into the lesson (during which they both somehow managed to redecorate her ceiling with tomato paste), they were interrupted by a rumbling. At first, it went unnoticed. The underground was situated under a volcano, minor earthquakes weren't uncommon. But then the rumbling became more frequent. Increased in intensity. Became impossible to ignore. The whole house was shaking, forcing Papyrus to accidently drop the box of dry noodles, which spilled out onto the floor. "UNDYNE? WHAT'S HAPPENING? IS THIS WHAT IT'S LIKE TO BE THIS CLOSE TO A LIVE METTATON PERFORMANCE?"
"No, I don't know what's happening!" Undyne yelled back, the rumbling having grown so loud she could barely hear the usually loud skeleton. "Maybe we should-" She was interrupted as the ceiling suddenly came crashing down over their heads.
Undyne opened her eyes, slowly at first, before they widened in surprise. She was in the air, falling. She was... in the... air. "THE SURFACE!?" She cried, looking up to see a blue sky. It was... wow. And that warmth on her skin, what was that!? It felt so nice! But she was snapped back to reality as she remembered she was falling. Looking down, she found she was descending upon a city of some sort. It was... strange. It was like a mesh of different things, different styles, all combined. Almost as though whoever designed the city couldn't decide on a certain look. Some buildings looked like what she'd expected, having seen them in anime's. Then there were other buildings with neon lights, and strange technological designs to them, not to mention the strangely shaped, futuristic buildings that also took precedence.
Without much time to wonder about what was going on, the Captain summoned a spear, and imitated something she'd seen once on an anime. As she neared the ground, she aimed her trajectory to go right along the side of a skyscraper, which she jammed her spear inside. However, the force was more than she'd anticipated, and her spear was yanked out of her arms, nearly taking her arms out of her sockets, too. While this had somewhat slowed her down, she started to feel a sense of panic, and tried the tactic again, this time summoning a spear in either hand and ramming them through the glass. Her fall slowed to a stop after she tore through several floors. A look down told her she was only a few feet off the ground. Wow, that was... really close. Her spears disappeared as she landed deftly on her feet. Looking up, Undyne assessed the damage, before dusting her hands in satisfaction. "Now that's how-" Her voice caught in her throat as she looked to her left and saw a person staring back at her in a mixture of fear and confusion. Undyne's look in return was more of shock.
Humans. She tore her eyes from the woman to look around and saw dozens upon dozens- no, even hundreds of humans. Only a few were staring at her, but all seemed confused, looking around, a lot of them calling out names.
This was too much. She couldn't take on a hundred humans at once! How unfair was this? She took off at a sprint, trying to avoid every human she could as she looked for a place, somewhere, anywhere that she could hide and figure out her next move.
------
Sub-Zero
Icy wind razed through the air, a blanket of snow accompanying each gust. Barely a foot in any direction could be seen, the lack of visual increased by the night sky that went unseen above. In the dark snowstorm that ravaged the lands, a man sat on his knees, his hands joined at his waist. He sat upon a stone walkway, statues rising up into the sky on either side of him. Ancestors. Guides. Examples.
The last of the cryomancers meditated, the deathly cold temperatures beset upon him being paid no mind. He breathed in through his nose, before slowly letting it out of his mouth, the mist that drifted from his lips immediately tugged away by the strong winds. Hours must have gone by, the night lengthening, before the storm subsided into a gentle breeze, pleasant snowflakes drifting down to lay on the ground. Yet, Grandmaster Kuai Liang remained seated, ever vigilante in his meditation.
He was waiting. Now that the storm was gone, it was only a matter of-
Sub-Zero spun to his feet, a wall of ice erupting behind him in time to catch a spear-head, which became lodged in the ice. Attached to the bladed projectile was a chain, and at the other end of the chain stood the last of the Shirai Ryu, a spirit of vengeance, pain, and suffering. Hanzo Hasashi. Scorpion.
Despite Sub-Zero attempts to convince his rival that he had nothing to do with the death of Hanzo's family, no progress had been made in establishing a non-hostile relationship between the two. After all, Kuia Liang didn't have the proof he needed to convince Scorpion otherwise. Time and again, the two found themselves in conflict. Sub-Zero's older brother, Bi-Han, had initially killed Scorpion, who was brought back by Quan Chi and murdered Bi-Han in revenge. It was then that Kuai Liang took the mantle of Sub-Zero from his brother, who himself was resurrected as the evil servant known as Noob Saibot.
Since then, Sub-Zero and Scorpion had clashed endlessly, never truly winning any encounter. They were evenly matched, after all. Yet today, Kuia Liang had the strangest feeling that this clash would end badly for one of them. Personally, he wished that it would not be Hanzo's undoing. Despite their rivalry, Sub-Zero did not wish death upon his opponent. Only that he may one day discover the truth, and seek redemption.
"You will not escape me this time, Sub-Zero." Scorpion's voice hissed out from beneath his mask, his pale eyes glaring daggers at the ice wall that had blocked his initial strike. With a tug, he yanked his kunai out of the ice, the chain retracting back into his arm. The wall of ice lowered, dissipating as Sub-Zero turned to face his opponent. "I have never fled you, Scorpion." He replied, a sword made of crystalized ice materializing in his hand. "You have never won."
"That changes now." Scorpion stated, and in a flash of fire, he disappeared, before rematerializing behind Sub-Zero, brandishing his own blade- a katana, which he proceeded to slash at the cryomancer with, who brought his blade over his shoulder, the two weapons clashing before Sub-Zero kicked his leg out behind him, Scorpion stepping to the side as he lowered his mask, opening his mouth. A torrent of fire was blasted at Kuai Liang, who leaped back, raising his arms defensively, summoning a blast of ice to counter the flames, which locked against one another until both attacks ceased, and the clashing of swords resumed.
It was almost like a dance. A dance the two had performed countless times before. They'd take turns going on the offensive, pushing their opponent back further, before getting pushed back on the defensive. Having fought one another for so long, they knew each other's moves. Tricks. Strategies. But a grasp of their own abilities allowed them to evenly match themselves, never landing a single successful hit on the other.
Letting out a roar of frustration, Scorpion disappeared in another flash of fire, appearing in the air above, where he landed on one of the statues before he lunged with his leg at the head. The stone split, and the head shattered, only for the shards to be launched down at Sub-Zero with an accompanying blast of fire. A wall of ice separated the two again, catching the projectiles, only for it to shatter as Scorpion smashed through it and launched of flurry of blows against the cryomancer, who was barely able to keep up on the defensive.
Just as a blade was about to land, threatening to decapitate the Lin Kuei warrior, it suddenly became lodged in a sculpture of ice that perfectly mimicked Kuai Liang's appearance. The moment the katana struck the ice, the sculpture shattered, and Scorpion became engulfed in ice, freezing him to the spot, before he was broken out by Sub-Zero's fist slamming into his gut, launching him several meters away, where he swept back up to his feet. "Get over here!" He shouted, thrusting out his arm, his kunai launching out of his arm. The cryomancer acted too slowly, the kunai stabbing into his chest, lodging there, allowing for Scorpion to yank Sub-Zero into the air with a great tug straight at him, where he spun about, slamming his boot into Kuia Liang's stomach, knocking him back and dislodging the kunai.
Scorpion swung with his katana, attempting another decapitation, but was foiled once more as Sub-Zero suddenly sank into the gound, his whole body turning into ice, before he erupted out of the earth behind Scorpion, swinging his ice sword, Scorpion managing to block the attack. And again, they continued their charade of swordplay, dueling at the entrance to the Lin Kuei temple.
Suddenly, their entire world joined their conflict. The ground began to split, magma spitting up into the freezing air. The statues around them crashed to the ground, shattering apart.
Their battle halted as the two regained their balance, Sub-Zero looking toward Hanzo in shock. "Is this your doing?" He demanded. Scorpion didn't reply, instead lashing out against Kuai Liang once more, their swords connecting in the air. Then, the air around them began to split. Tears appeared in the sky itself as the entire ground began to shift and disconnect. Scorpion didn't allow Sub-Zero to take this in as the two dueled, trying to gain the upperhand over one another as the world around them was torn apart.
A sudden explosion of magma erupted between the two, a massive fissure splitting the ground. As the distance between them lengthened, Scorpion let out a war cry, and leaped into the air, a trail of fire following him, projecting him further. Seeing no alternatives, Sub-Zero did the same, a trail of ice and snow behind him. In the air, the two connected their blades once again before they began to fall into the fissure, which opened still into a pit of hell. Scorpion's foot knocked Kuai Liang's ice sword out of his hand, so in retaliation, the cryomancer slammed his elbow into the inner part of Scorpion's forearm, his grip on his katana relinquishing, allowing Sub-Zero to swat it aside.
Ignoring their weapons, abilities, and their fall, the two began connected punches and kicks, letting it out against each other as they continued to fall. The red light beneath them began to glow brighter and brighter, nearly blinding them, before-
With a cry, Sub-Zero found himself hurtling through the sky, making a beeline for ash-covered earth. He had no time to take in his surroundings or to figure out what had happened to Scorpion as he stuck out his arms, and began materiailizing a path of ice in front of him, catching him as he regained himself. Using this, he was able to slide safely down to the ground, where he stumbled to a stop, nearly racing head-first into a raging fire.
The Grandmaster took a moment, catching his breath before he looked about. Destruction was all he could see. Not like the kind he'd just left behind. This place had seen war, not natural phenomena. Craters pocked the land from explosions, an entire forest burnt to embers, the ground made entirely of several inches of hot ash. The sky hung clouded and gray above, leaving Sub-Zero to wonder what had happened, and if this all had been Scorpion's doing in his vain attempts at vengeance for something Sub-Zero did not commit.
------
Master Chief
Eidocide in its truest form. Entire planets blackened to a crisp, all to wipe out a single species for simply existing. He'd seen countless friends and allies die. He'd grown numb to the pain and loss. That didn't mean it still didn't hurt. He could still remember his mother. His real mother. Calling to him to come home from the beach. He'd been so young. So innocent. Unaware of the endless trials the future held. It was the only memory he still had of her. She was dead now. That whole planet was. Nothing survived the glassing.
Then there was his second mother. He was aware that she initially wasn't supposed to be such a figure, but it was unavoidable. When one kidnaps dozens of young children, they're going to look for those kinds of figures, even if they didn't get the love and nourishment they craved. Halsey had been like a mother to all of them. Mendez, like a father. The two of them had molded John and the others into true soldiers. The best of the best. He hadn't heard of their status in a while. Halsey was presumed dead, same as Mendez. Doubtful, though. They were tough.
He could remember making friends. Samuel, Kelly, Linda, Fred... he could remember the day Samuel had died. That fleeting look back to see his best friend holding off a pack of aliens to set off a nuke that would destroy the alien ship. John had lost friends before that. The augmentation... the training... it all took its toll. Their numbers dwindled until they were finally ready. Their numbers only continued to dwindle when the war started. How many other Spartans were left?
His mother's smile flashed before him. Then it was Halsey's. Then... it was Cortana's. Spartans were built for war. Built to sustain extensive physical, mental, and emotional strain. But the war had been going on for so long, now. Over twenty years... it took its toll, even on a Spartan. The trauma one experienced was less than that of a normal person, for obvious reasons, but it still wasn't easy to deal with. He'd lost countless hours of sleep, unable to shut his eyes. Even when he did manage to sleep, he'd wake to find himself already out of bed, breathing heavily, ready to kill the nearest person to him.
Cortana had been a crutch for him. Their bond had begun not even a year ago, but it had strengthened. It wasn't like the bond he had with the other Spartans. Their comradery, loyalty, and understanding went unmatched. It wasn't like with Halsey and Mendez. Cortana may have been the striking image of a blue-coated Halsey in her youth, but she was much different. She might have been an AI, disposable in the eyes of ONI and the UNSC, but she meant something to him. He cared about her. He'd regretted having to abandon her on High Charity, but he'd gone back for her. He'd saved her. He was there to protect her. She was his responsibility, after all.
But he couldn't shake the feeling there was more to it than that. The attachment he felt toward the AI was something he'd never felt toward anyone else before.
It was her voice the brought him back. She said his name, the words leaving her artificial lips, stirring his mind. It sounded urgent. His mind was foggy, but he tried to power through it. She needed him. He needed her. His eyes opened, but he could only make out blurry shapes at first as her voice came in clearer and clearer. "John."
'John'. She rarely said his true name. When she did, it was important. He willed his senses to adjust as he found his voice. "Cortana." He responded, and he thought he heard a sigh of relief from her. "Chief, get up. It's important."
He only nodded as his cryopod door hissed before flipping open, his vision clearing. He could make out the cryo chamber they were in, as well as her. She stood on the pedestal she'd been when he'd gone under. She was staring at him, her eyes betraying worry. She didn't need to say it, he could tell this was important. "How long was I out?"
"Not long." She replied. "Three months and eleven days."
The Master Chief shook his head, clearing the fog out as he focused his senses. "Status?"
"I- don't know." The AI admitted, making the Spartan look toward her, his head cocking slightly to the side in confusion. "A strange wave of energy has been bombarding Forward Unto Dawn for an hour now. It doesn't match any known signatures, and it has no known point of origin."
"What do you need me to do?" Chief asked. Cortana smirked, clearly enjoying his usual attitude. "The Dawn's forwarding sensors are offline, and it needs a manual reboot to return to operational capacity. That's where you come in."
The Spartan nodded, pulling the AI chip out of the pedestal. As he did this, her holographic form vanished, and he inserted the chip into the back of his helmet, upon doing so immediately integrated her into his systems. "I'll mark the position with a nav point. Good to see you, John."
Chief didn't reply to this as he immediately floated out of the cryo chamber, the zero gravity environment still as present as ever. Cortana needn't hear him reply, anyway. She knew the feeling was mutual. Instead, they were nearly halfway there before he spoke. "What are the energy waves doing?"
"I could be wrong, but they seem to be drawing a gravity well of some kind. Not in any particular direction, either. It's... difficult to describe. Beyond any type of technology I've ever seen." She answered. John frowned. That wasn't a lot to go on. He reached the end of the ship. Or at least, the end of this half. The blast from Halo's destruction had ripped the Forward Unto Dawn in two. The Arbiter had been in the front half, and hopefully had made it back to Earth in one piece.
Open space could be seen, including a full view of the Milky Way galaxy. They were a long way away from home...
He grasped some of the broken metal, using it to swing himself about to reach the top of the ship, before he slammed his boots against the hull, which magnetically attached, and he began to walk along the surface, nearing the nav point. "Uh oh." Cortana's voice split the silence. "What is it?" Chief asked, but she didn't need to answer. Space seemed to split apart before their very eyes, cracking like a spider web before it broke like glass, and immediately, he felt an immense tug on his body, the white light beyond the broken space generating a massive gravity well. "Lock your armor!" Cortana yelled urgently. It only took a thought for this action to take place as Chief's body went rigid once he'd crouched low to the hull, his armor locking, his shields flickering as the entire back-end of the Dawn was drawn toward the bright light.
"Readings are off the charts! Same energy as before, but stronger. Chief, hold onto something. The signature is akin to a slipspace rupture!"
The blinding light swallowed them whole... before suddenly, they were spit out. He could see again, but unfortunately, it wasn't a comforting sight. They were hurtling through the atmosphere of a planet, the space craft turning into a flaming ball of metal that hurtled through the air, bits and pieces flying off as it went.
"Brace for impact!" Cortana cried, a mountain range coming into view, before the Spartan felt his whole body jolt, and everything went black...
...
"John?"
His eyes fluttered open. He was staring up at a burning hunk of metal. His left arm felt sore, and according to his HUD, his suit was administering BioFoam along his left arm and his legs. "Oh good." Cortana spoke once John started to sit up. "Isn't this the third time we've gone through this? We crash, you black out, I say your name until you get up... Plan on doing it again any time soon?"
"I'll let you know if I do." Chief answered, getting to his feet, glancing down at his arm to find a bit of shrapnel stuck just under the armor in his skin. He grabbed it and tore it out, tossing the bloodied bit of metal aside as more BioFoam was administered to his body. Hopefully he could find actual medical supplements soon, considering BioFoam was a temporary treatment.
"Where are we?" He asked, glancing around at his surroundings. The ruins of the Forward Unto Dawn sat about them, small fires in every direction. Daylight struck them, however, as ahead was a massive hole in the hull of the ship, presumably where they'd entered from. His HUD displayed a wind current coming from it with low temperatures. The mountain range they'd crashed into... this must be it. "No idea, we're nowhere on any map." Cortana replied. "But if there's any locals, we certainly made quite an entrance on them."
Chief didn't reply as he jogged toward the hole, leaping up to grab the side, and climbed out, finding a rather spectacular view. Not the mountain range, nor the sky, but the strange, massive object floating in the sky in the distance. "What... is that..." Cortana wondered aloud as Chief stared at it for a few moments, before hopping off the ship's hull, snow flying in every direction as he landed on solid ground. More parts of the ship surrounded them, all burning, but some appearing more intact than others. "It's not of Forerunner origin."
"Whatever it is, it's probably dangerous." Chief stated. "So that means there's probably somebody who wants it." The AI pointed out as Chief nodded, leaping down to another part of the smoldering ship, finding a few scattered weapons, which he immediately began to collect. "Well, our break was fun while it lasted." Cortana sighed. "But I guess I can't keep you out of the action forever."
Equipped with a bubble shield, an MA5C Assault Rifle, and an M6D Magnum, the Master Chief began to descend the mountain, nearing the base before he found yet another part of the ship that had landed here. "Huh. Warthogs really are more durable than people give them credit for." Cortana stated as Chief's eyes landed on what appeared to be a fully functioning Warthog. He descended to it, flipping it onto its wheels, his HUD scanning it. Fully functional. Minor exterior damage. The turret was missing, but he didn't need it.
The Spartan climbed into the driver's seat, revving the Warthog to life.
With that, they were on their way, the all-terrain Warthog bumping along the mountain range as it went, powering through the snow and slopes, only nearly tipping over a few times. "So what happens if we meet someone you can't shoot to death?" Cortana asked. John was silent for several moments, before responding.
"Figure I'll just shoot some more."
------
The Dragonborn
What was there to do for heroes when there was no conflict left to solve? No guilds left to join? No kingdoms left that needed your support? The Dragonborn found himself... bored. He'd slain every bandit, ended the Skyrim civil war, slain Alduin the world-eater, controlled every guild in the province, and even had his own fan club. But he'd done everything. There was nothing left for him to do, and he suddenly understood how the ebony warrior had felt. Ah, yes. He remembered the ebony warrior. A battle-hardened veteran who'd claimed to have done everything. His accomplishments weren't on the level of that of the Dragonborn, and he had fallen to the Dovahkiin's axe, but still. He was more relatable now than ever before.
The Dragonborn found himself stomping through the marshes south of Solitude, having heard of something new. Yes, that's right. New. A new challenge, perhaps? A new ally? A new dungeon? He'd even settle for a new book, as he'd read through every other one he'd come across. It had been years, nearly two decades, since he'd slain Alduin and saved the world. He'd ended the civil war not too long after by aiding Ulfric Stormcloak in his rebellion against the Empire.
Obviously the next threat was the Thalmor. Especially since the Dragonborn had kicked Elenwyn out of Skyrim. But that was just too much for him to face, even with the whole of Skyrim at his back. So everyone just bid their time, gathering their strength. The way things were looking, this war wouldn't even take place in his lifetime.
Unless, of course, he decided to become a vampire permanently, as Serana had suggested when he'd expressed his frustrations to her. That reminded him, he needed to go pay her a visit at Castle Dawnguard soon, it had been a while since they'd last spoken, and was always one of the more interesting and entertaining of peoples in Skyrim.
His thoughts were interrupted by a strange cry. It sounded... like an elk. Yet at the same time, it wasn't. It made that same kind of whistle-like shout that the animals made, but this one sounded very wrong. Distorted, or perhaps like some kind of cruel imitation of the real thing. The sound sent chills down his spine, and he wasn't even sure why. He'd fought Daedric Princes and lived, for crying out loud. Truth be told, he wasn't even scared, but his body seemed to be trying to convince him otherwise, which only confused him.
It wasn't until he saw it. The being making the sound. Just beyond a hill, he saw a pair of antlers. Silently, the Dragonborn drew his bow, notching a dwarven arrow as he took aim. The head raised, and he frowned. The elk's face looked sunken and malnourished, yet at the same time it looked like it was melting, but stopped and maintain that partially melted look. Its snout was stained in crimson blood.
By the Nine. This wasn't an ordinary beast. It was an Old God, one of those that the Forsworn followed. The way they wore elk skulls into battle... this was one of their deities.
A smile crossed the Dragonborn's lips, which could barely be seen beneath his mane of grizzled gray facial hair. This would definitely make for a great new story. He slid the dwarven arrow away, now pulling out something far more lethal to such creatures. Sun-arrows dipped in Serana's blood. He had yet to meet a mythical creature that this couldn't harm. With his defenses ready, he began to slowly approach the Old God, before it suddenly stood, looking directly at him. He'd through the beast stood about the same size as any man or maybe an elk, but this creature was massive. It was bipedal, its body just as malnourished, sunken, and somewhat melted as its face. Its limbs were long, with massive claws stained just as its snout. It must have been at least fifteen feet tall. The Dragonborn was beginning to doubt that its head would fit in his living room. Maybe if he got rid of the ceiling and connected the living room to the attic...
His attention returned to the present again as the Old God made its terrifying call, which seemed to strike his very soul. He still didn't feel scared, but it was almost as though this creature was trying to make him afraid in some supernatural way. Like a tiny voice in the back of his head was urging him to run. He ignored it.
The arrow flew, and plunged into the Old God's chest- dead center. It let out an ear-piercing roar that rattled the Dragonborn's bones, the creature stumbling back, clearly in pain. Another arrow flew, sticking into its collar bone. Another roar. Another arrow.
This was boring.
Seeing that this strategy was far too easy and convenient, the Dragonborn tucked his bow away, grabbing his hand axe from his belt. This should be more fun. With a cry for battle that harkened back to the Nords of old, the Dragonborn charged forward, and took a leaping jump. The Old God made to swipe him out of the air, but was interrupted by a simple word.
"FUS!" A blast of vocal power slmmed into the Old God, forcing it to stumble back again as the Dragonborn lodged his axe in its neck, nearly cleaving it clean off. He yanked the axe out, making to strike once again, but its clawed hand wrapped around his middle, and flung him aside. He crashed into a pool of muddy water, submerging for a moment only to burst out, now covered in mud and water, and charged once again at the Old God, who let out a screech as it made for him.
It had only been a few minutes after, and the Dragonborn found himself sitting on a muddy hill, staring down at the half-submerged body of the Old God, its severed head lying on the ground beside him, thick black ooze leaking out of the base of its neck. That... hadn't been the battle he'd been expecting. He'd barely even been hurt during it, and the Old Gods were supposed to be a force to reckon with.
Oh well. He could always talk it up to be a bit more than it was, give the Old God a little more credit.
However, as he started to carry the head through the marsh, he encountered a problem. His leg was suddenly stuck while wading through the shallows. He tugged, but his leg remained stuck. He tried to move the other, only to find it immobile as well. That was when he started to sink.
"No..." He grunted, tugging harder, to no avail. The water around him began to rapidly swirl into a whirlpool, sucking him down further and faster. He tried a multitude of different shouts to aid his situation, but nothing good resulted of it. In an act of desperation, he even called upon one of his dragon allies, but it was too late. The last to sink beneath the surface was his free hand, which was clawing for the surface before it too disappeared from view...
And suddenly, the Dragonborn found himself sputtering, coughing up water as he laid on the ground, the warm sun casting its glow down upon him. Before he even opened his eyes, he knew he wasn't anywhere in Skyrim. The air was too dry. The ground was too warm. The smells in the air were of dirt. He wiped his eyes before opening them to find he was lying on red soil. He was in... a canyon of some kind. The sky was a clear baby blue, and the earth around was all browns and reds. It reminded him of the pictures he'd seen of southern Elsweyr. Except there were less Khajiit here, it seemed. He couldn't see a single breathing creature in sight. Obviously that didn't mean there weren't any. Slowly, the Dovahkiin rose to his feet, still dripping with water and mud as he straightened his iron helmet, and noticed the severed head of the Old God beside him. He grabbed it by the antlers and started to walk. After all, what else could he do? Sure he had his questions, but there was no one to answer them. His best guess was that his slaying of the Old God had somehow brought him here. Besides, stranger things had happened. This was just another adventure. But deep down, he did feel rather excited. It had been decades since he'd had a good adventure. Maybe this would be one to remember.
