Varan opened his deep yet dull blue eyes as the sunlight illuminated his face through the window of his room, he sat up and let his bare feet touch the cold wooden floor, though he seemed unaffected by it since he stood up and ran his hand through his long, matt-black hair, sighing as he did so. 'Another dream of that day.' Varan thought to himself as he equipped his armour.
Placing his helmet over his head he grabbed his greatsword and walked through the doors of his room, he walked down the stairs to the first floor and ignored the Bannered Mare's patrons as well as Hulda and walked out of the inn, not bothering with any form of greetings as most of them just avoided him entirely.
As soon as he stepped outside, he was greeted by the busy market of Whiterun. Paying the people no mind, Varan walked through the crowd, people moved out of his way as he walked, trying not to anger the mercenary out of fear that he may lash out. Varan just walked up the steps to the cloud district, he glanced at the large dead tree in the centre, one he was familiar with, the Gildergleam, a tree that was gifted by Kyne to the people of Skyrim and was a sign of her love and grace.
As he walked past the dead tree he felt a slight breeze blow past him, 'Mother Kyne, you honour me with your presence.' Varan thought as he bowed his head slightly as he walked, "You are one my children Varan, one a cherish greatly." A voice filled with motherly love said, though Varan was the only one who could hear it. 'Thank you for your kind words.' Varan said, once again bowing his head slightly.
Another soft breeze blew past Varan as he walked up the steps to Dragonsreach, Kyne had often spoken to him in this way, sending a soft and gentle breeze whenever she was with him, a way that she showed that she supported him. Varan opened the doors to Dragonsreach and was greeted by the still ever-beautiful hall, Proventus was standing there as he usually did. "Sir Kynor, I see you've come for another bounty." Proventus said, he still avoided Varan's gaze, something that Varan was unbothered by.
Varan just nodded his head, "U-unfortunately there are no bounties at this moment, but there is a quest if y-you are interested?" Proventus said with a slight shake in his voice, "What is it?" Varan asked the poor steward, his cold, deep voice muffled by his helmet. "A rescue mission of two brothers, they were taken by bandits on their journey back to Whiterun from the nearby town." Proventus explain, handing Varan a paper with the quest details.
Varan looked at the page, it explained where the two brothers were taken, and that the bandits are suspected to be at Swindler's Den. "Who issued the quest?" Varan asked, lowering the paper to look at Proventus, "Their older sister, a Nord woman that lives here in Whitrun's Wind district." Proventus said simply, but this caused Varan to stiffen slightly.
"I'll take the quest." Varan said, his voice calm yet serious which caused Proventus to jump slightly, "A-alright then, I-I'll leave it to you." Proventus said before rushing off deeper into the hall. Varan folded the page and placed it into his satchel before walking out of Dragonsreachs doors, his steps heavy and filled with subtle rage, something that rarely occurred, but promised a severe consequence.
.
"Where are the boys?" Varan asked the bandit who's neck he firmly held, "W-what boys?" The bandit struggled to ask, Varan's grip tightened to the point that the bandit struggled to breath, "The two boys who you took." Varan said, his voice filled with a mixture of impatience and rage. "T-those b-brats, we already k-illed the-" The bandits voice was cut off as Varan crushed his windpipe, with his neck becoming nothing but a small lump of flesh.
Dropping the bandit and letting its limp body fall to the floor, Varan stood still for a moment, his anger was rising to dangerous levels. Clouds now covered the once clear skies and strong winds threatened to destroy the landscape, Varan drew his greatsword and walked into the cave, for in it were savage beasts that needed culling, and he was the butcher that would do the culling.
As soon as he walked into the cave Varan was meet by the rest of the bandit group, all of them going about their business like they had not done something irredeemable in the eyes of Varan. Varan's heavy footsteps alerted the bandits of his approach but before they could do anything as Varan attacked with the intent to kill every single piece of shit in this godforsaken den of rats.
His blade cleaved through the bandits as they fell one by one, every time a bandit tried to attack Varan, he would effortlessly avoid their attack and respond with his own, the result was a dismembered corpse with blood flowing from it like a never-ending stream. Some bandits tried to run away but they never got far, Varan was faster than them and once he reached them, he would put them down like the rabid dogs that they were.
And this cycle would continue, bandits would attack Varan, and he would retaliate, some would try to escape but he would just cut them down. And once the culling was done, all that remained of the bandits was a river of blood that flowed through the cave, making it look like the Divines themselves enacted justice on these rabid beasts.
.
"I see... So, the two brothers are dead, how unfortunate." Proventus said with a sombre tone as he hung his head, "I will inform their sister, she needs to know about this." Proventus said as he turned to walk away, "I will tell her myself." Varan spoke up. Proventus turned around, eyes wide in shock before he closed them in acceptance.
Proventus just sighed, "Alright then, I'll leave it to you, her name is Elien Maria." Proventus said as he turned around and walked away, his hands folded behind his back. Varan turned and walked through the palace doors, a gentle breeze greeting him as he did so, 'Mother Kyne, why did those boys have to die?' Varan asked the Goddess, his tone was sombre but with subtle hint of rage.
"I had no control in the matter my child, if I had my way they would be alive and well." Kyne told Varan, she too was sad at the death of two of her children. Varan did not say anything further to Kyne as he made his way to the sister's home, his steps were filled with both regret and resentment, resentment he felt towards himself.
Once he arrived, he knocked on the door. After a moment, the door opened and a woman with dark brown hair and deep, but hollow emerald eyes looked up at Varan, "Can I help you?" She asked, her voice tired and devoid of joy, the disappearance of her younger brothers had clearly affected her, "Elien Maria? I have news of your brothers." Varan said, his muffled voice was soft yet lifeless.
The Elien's eyes lit up, "Are they alright?" Her voice was filled with hope, this only made it harder for Varan, "The bandits killed them." Varan said as he hung his head, Elien covered her mouth with her hand as she gasped, "W-what?" She asked, thinking she heard Varan wrong, "The bandits killed them long before I arrived at their camp." Varan explained again, his head still low as he failed to look at Elien.
"And w-what of the bandits?" Elien asked as tears welled up in her eyes, "I killed them all." Varan said as he raised his head and stared into Elien's tear-filled emerald eyes, "As soon as I found out they killed your younger brothers, I made sure none survived." Varan continued as tears now fell down Elien's fair skin.
"Thank you." Elien managed to say between her silent sobs. Rain had started to softly fall, it was if even the heavens were grieving the loss of Elien's younger brothers, something that happened often when young Nords died needlessly. "I'll take my leave now, I am sorry for your loss." Varan said before he turned and walked off, he could still hear Elien's faints sobs before she closed the door.
Varan knew that she would be grieving a long time, even though death was a common occurrence in Skyrim, it did not lessen the grief of those that were close to the deceased, something that Varan was very familiar with.