Jaime grabbed the handle of the mine door and turned the handle down before pushing it forwards. The decaying door squeaked open and light flooded inside the poorly lit mine. Jaime took a cautious step into the rocky man-made cavern and gently closed the door behind him, dimming the surroundings of the mineshaft immensely.

The mineshaft looked to have a sort of systematic lantern pattern, lanterns that did not look to be fueled by any kind of oil or coal. Jaime took a closer look at one, squinting his eyes at the nearly unnoticable light coming from it. “Huh, it has a crystal in it.” Jaime muttered to himself, guessing that whatever fueled the light’s source of fuel was likely magical.

Jaime ignored the lights now and crept onwards, keeping his steps light and carefully placed. The ground was rocky and despite the lamp lights Jaime could barely take note of where the dips and bumps of the floor were. After a minute or two of creeping closer Jaime saw a brighter glow of light up ahead. He pressed himself against the grey rocky wall and peered around the corner.

The large room around the corner was much more spacious than the mineshaft Jaime was occupying. There was a table in the middle of the circular room that had its own lamp on its surface. Several chairs were placed around the table and three men were sitting down on a few, laughing and drinking from some wooden mugs.

The first thug was one of the Weatherwalkers. He, like the other two Earthen of the little group, did not wear any armor. Instead they were all wearing raggy looking tunics and pants. It made Jaime wonder how they even managed to take a hold of this mine for so long, anyone with some armor and a good blade could probably kill them. The big difference between the winged guy and the other two was the fact he actually had a blade.

“So, it's the winged guy first then?” Jaime thought to himself.

Jaime debated on how to proceed, there were three guys in that room so he would not have the advantage in numbers. Surprise would be his biggest asset, if he could take at least one of them out then his chances to beat them increased. Jaime pulled his head back and looked around for anything that could be of use. He spotted a pickaxe lying unused on the ground.

Jaime reached down and picked it up, he took a heavy breath and swung it into the wall. The impact of the mining tool and rock make a very loud clanging noise, nearly instantly bringing attention to himself.

“What the hell was that?” Jaime heard one of the thugs say, he didn’t know which. Jaime swung the pickaxe one more time against the rock, the clanging noise filling the tunnels. Jaime set the pickaxe down and readied his sword.

“Oi! Is that you Meathead? Aren’t ya supposed to be guarding?”

“Meathead? Oh, that has got to be a nickname. No parent would be that cruel to their child.” Jaime thought to himself and rolled his eyes.

There was a pregnant pause until the same guy said, “Hey! Answer me dammit!”

A shadow slowly covered the light coming from the circular room. Jaime swallowed nervously and shifted his hold on his sword. He licked his lips just as the shadow reached its full height and a foot passed the entrance of the room. Jaime quickly stepped forward, his sword already being thrust forward.

“What the-” The Earthen guy was cut off, Jaime’s sword piercing his throat. He let off a strangled gurgle before falling to the ground, clutching his bleeding throat. The other two shot up from their seats, the winged man pulling out his sword and the other Earthen grabbed what looked like an iron mace.

Jaime flicked his blade to the side and twirled it, then placing himself into a basic stance. A stance he didn’t even know he knew, it was as if his body already knew exactly what to do. A fact that Jaime felt he needed to address once this was all over. The two opponents yelled and charged Jaime, hoping to overcome him all at once.

Jaime sidestepped to his left, putting the winged man between him and the other normal guy. Jaime blocked a sideways sword slash from the winged man with the flat of his blade, the Weatherwalker pulled back and swung down this time. Jaime parried, batting the blade of the other man to his right and quickly slamming the back of his left armored hand into the face of the Weatherwalker.

The man cursed and held his now bloody face in his hand, blood gushing from his nose. Jaime wasn’t able to take advantage though, he was forced to lean back and let the head of a mace swing past his face. The mace attack was overcompensated, the Earthen man putting way too much power into it. Jaime seized his arm and jerked the two of them together, his sword cleaning gutting the man.

The Earthen man fell to the ground in extreme pain, his mace forgotten, and crying out loud. He desperately grabbed his torn stomach as blood gushed from the wound. Jaime tore his eyes from the sight and focused on the other guy. Jaime slowly stepped to his right, circling his blade wielding opponent.

“Who the hell are you.” The Weatherwalker growled, eyeing Jaime in anger.

Jaime was silent before shrugging, “Jaime Lannister, maybe you’ve heard of me?”

The Weatherwalker took a step closer, adjusting his grip on his sword. “Can’t say that I have, must be a poor excuse for a knight then. You look like you belong in a brothel more than that armor of yours. How about you hand it over and then you can adjust your lifestyle?”

Jaime rolled his eyes, “Oh, well aren’t you clever. If your sword skills were as sharp as your tongue then you might even be able to compete with your dead friend over there.” Jaime jerked his head in the direction of the now dead man lying on the ground.

That comment seemed to anger the winged man enough for him to launch another furious charge. He swung wildly down with his sword, a move that Jaime easily parried. His opponents blade hit Jaime’s at a downward angle, causing it to skitter down the flat of Jaime’s blade and veer off to the side. Jaime took this as a chance, he immediately stepped forward at an angle and took a swing at the man’s side.

The winged man roared in agony, nearly dropping his sword as he fell to a knee and clenched his left side, smearing his hand in blood. Jaime waited for him to get back up, idly twirling his blade as the Weatherwalker shakily pushed himself back up and glared at Jaime.

“This guy has got a bit of tough in him,” Jaime thought, morbidly impressed. He nodded at the man and asked, “What’s your name?”

The guy, finally getting to his feet, held his blade in only his right hand now. His left hand was still at his left side, desperately trying to stop the bleeding.

“Cloudy,” he gasped, trying to hold himself up through sheer willpower.

Jaime nodded at the now named Cloudy, readied his blade and said, “Then let’s get this over with Cloudy.”

Cloudy fast walked to Jaime, slashing down at an angle that would’ve cut Jaime from his left shoulder to his right hip had he not dodged to his left. The sword passed harmlessly through the air, Jaime quickly counter attacked with a thrust of his sword into Cloudy’s chest. His sword sank deep into Cloudy’s heart, and Cloudy fell to his knees as Jaime twisted the blade and yanked it free. Blood now covered Jaime’s gauntleted hand that held his sword.

Jaime wiped his blade clean on the clothes of the winged man and checked for any money on Cloudy’s person. He found a pouch on all three men and dumped the contents into the money pouch he first got. Jaime tucked the empty bags into the pouch that came with him.

“Never know when I might need an extra pouch.” He thought.

Jaime looked around, trying to see if he could spot any other mineshafts. Jaime found one on the left side of the room, if you were heading in from the entrance. Jaime started forward, intent on seeing if anyone else was occupying the mine. He got three quarters of the way there when the door suddenly burst open. The door slammed into the wall it was attached to and splintered.

“What the hell is with all of the racket?! I’m trying to- The hell is going on here!? And who the hell are you?!” Yelled a burly looking Earthen man. He stood a good foot above Jaime and was clad in heavy looking armor sans helmet. The joints of the iron armor seemed to be only protected with leather and not chainmail like heavy armor wearers would usually use. He carrying a heavy looking warhammer over his shoulder.

“Maybe this is why they were able to take the mine.” Jaime thought, a bit worried now. “And it seems I’m facing a mountain on the same day I get to this forsaken world too. Maybe a bit of bravado will get him to surrender?”

“The name is Jaime Lannister.” Jaime said, pacing his left hand on his beltline then gesturing to the corpses behind him with a flourish of his sword. “And I’m the one that killed all of your men, with quite a bit of ease too.” Jaime pointed his sword at the newcomer, “I’d like to ask you to surrender, things will be a lot less messy if you do.”

The big man bellowed a genuine laugh, “Haha! You think a puny guy like you could win against me? You think pretty highly of yourself after killing a few grunts like those. What’s someone like you got against me?” The large Earthen gripped his warhammer tighter, likely preparing to swing it at any second.

Jaime got back into a ready stance before snarking back, “Besides my obviously superior good looks? Seriously, it looks your face went through a meat grinder.”

“What the hell am I getting myself into…” Jaime inwardly groaned to himself as the big guy silently lifted his hammer and swung down a heavy blow at Jaime.

Jaime jumped back, the massive warhammer slamming into the rocky ground. Actual cracks formed from the impact of the man’s strike. “Well fuck me, if that even glances me I’m done for. I’d be crushed like a tin can.” Jaime thought grimly to himself. He silently wished he was wearing lighter armor, like leather, right now.

The massive Earthen picked his hammer up like a toy and charged Jaime, he swung his hammer upward. Jaime jumped back again, noticing that he previously stood next to the table and chairs. The large Earthen’s hammer smacked a chair and sent it flying into a wall. The shoddy wooden chair exploded in a shower of splinters.

“Stay still and let me hit you dammit!” Yelled the Earthen warrior.

“Hah, like a meathead like you would even be able to hit me! Even when I’m standing still!” Jaime taunted, figuring that getting him mad would lead him to make mistakes.

“Meathead was my brother!” He roared as he lifted his hammer and charged like a raging bull at Jaime. He swung the hammer down, in a seemingly perfect arc, to hit Jaime in the head and crush him like he was a piece of fruit. Jaime jumped forward and just a little to his left side, he landed on the ground and skidded loudly behind the large muscle bound man as he heard the telltale crash of a hammer striking rock.

Taking this as a chance Jaime quickly got up and stabbed the large man’s right knee from behind. The steel sword easily piercing the leather protecting the back of his knee. The man screamed in pain, giving an even louder scream when Jaime twisted the blade for maximum damage and yanked it out. The man swung the hammer behind him blindly with one hand, Jaime ducked under the much slower strike and scrambled back out of his range.

“All right, I think I got this.” Jaime thought, smirking at the large man which only served to irritate him further. “Just have to be calm and calculative about this.”

“What’s your name anyway,” Asked Jaime, keeping himself in a ready stance even with the other man’s crippled state. “I don’t want to just call you Mr. Brute.”

The other man slowly pushed himself up, the head of his hammer was one the ground as he used his weapon as an improvised crutch. “The name’s Rumble.” He said, glaring at Jaime with undisguised loathing. “And I’m going to have fun stuffing your corpse when this is all over.”

“We’ll see about who will stuff who.” Jaime simply said. He carefully kept his eyes on Rumble as he inched his way to the dropped mace near the mineshaft’s exit.

“What? You running pretty boy?” Rumble growled out, now standing shakily. His right leg looked like it was about to give out any second.

Jaime chuckled, “Of course not. I just figured that if you get such a huge weapon then I should be allowed another.” Jaime reached down for the mace with his left hand, grabbing the handle. “Let’s continue our little tango.”

Jaime started moving towards Rumble slowly. He licked his lips and regarded the large man, twirling the mace in his left hand in a slow and mocking manner. Jaime ran forward like he was going to charge Rumble head first. Rumble took the bait as he scrambled to swing his hammer. Jaime stopped as the heavy weapon sailed way passed its mark, throwing the large man completely unbalanced when his wounded knee gave out from the strain.

The hammer flew from his hands and Jaime took that as his cue to strike. He raised the mace in his left hand over his right shoulder and crushed Rumbles wounded knee with it. Rumble screamed in pain and swung his right arm out at Jaime, backhanding him and sending him flying into the table in the middle of the room.

“Ugh, holy hell I’m glad I was wearing a helmet after a hit like that.” Jaime was practically seeing stars. Jaime staggered back up and said, “That was completely uncalled for.”

“Argh!” Rumbled cried, “You crushed my fuckin’ knee! It was completely called for!” Rumble was clutching his very bloody knee now, screaming obscenities.

Jaime ignored his screaming and walked behind Rumble, once close enough he swung the mace down on Rumble’s head. The head popped with a sick squelch, brain and blood flying everywhere from the impact. Jaime was better prepared now and forced his nausea down, he was still forced to look away from the head lest it returned. Jaime examined Rumble’s belt and didn’t see anything on it.

“Must be in his improvised room.” Jaime thought and walked through the now broken door Rumble came through. The tunnel was a short one and lead to a dead end, but that dead end was clearly being used as living space. There was a pile of hay and a blanket plus pillow, a large chair and table, and a chest.

“Well, I hope this has something in it.” Jaime said to himself and tried to open it. “Oh, it’s locked. No matter.” He swung his new mace down and destroyed the lock.

Now free of locks Jaime opened the chest and looked inside. Aside from a large bag of money and gems the rest of the chest was worthless. It mostly consisted of extra clothes fit for a large man like Rumble and an extra pair of boots that were about five sizes too big for Jaime. Jaime shrugged and took the money, setting it on the table.

“Money is money I guess.” Giving one more once over of the chest’s contents Jaime closed it and went over to the table. “Now, let’s see what the currency of this new world is. I probably should’ve done this first when I was outside.” He said.

Jaime rubbed his hand and opened the pouch. Inside of the pouch were dozens of golden coins, each a different size. Jaime whistled and picked one up to examine it closely. One side had a picture of the sun, the other had one of the moon. Both images had a number under it, likely corresponding to its value with each higher number belonging on a thicker coin. No other markings seemed to be on it.

“Hmm, just a picture of a sun and a moon? Anyone with the right know how can easily forge money for themselves like this. I hope this country has some sort of system in place…” Jaime muttered, shaking his head while closing the cloth pouch and stuffing it into his side pouch.

“Hmph, my pouch is getting a little heavy. I should get some sort of backpack when I get back into town. A knife as well.” Jaime said to himself, turning to walk back out of the mine.

A short trip back out and Jaime was greeted to the late afternoon, borderline evening, sun. He looked around and spotted an old fashioned water pump. “Good, I can wash out all of this blood off of my armor now. And replace this disgusting wine with fresh water.” Jaime said as he went to work on cleaning himself up for the meeting back in Baltimare.

It was late evening by the time Jaime got back in town and, aside from a few nearly unnoticeable nicks on his armor from scraping the rocky mine ground, he looked none the worse for wear. Jaime walked back the same way he went, quickly finding the town hall in the process. He saw that the secretary was still working inside so Jaime just let himself back in.

“Excuse me ma’am.” Jaime said, causing the woman to quickly looked back up. “I’ve finished with those thugs you wanted gone.”

She looked shocked, her jaw dropped and her eyes widened in disbelief, “B-But, you don’t even look injured! Their leader was a brute of a man and a wanted criminal!”

Jaime shrugged and leaned against the doorway, “Well what can I say? He was a tough guy yeah, but much too slow. You can send someone up to the mine if you want, I recommend soon. I sorta left the bodies where they were, I don’t know what you people here do about your dead.”

The woman looked a tad pale when Jaime mentioned the word ‘bodies’ and Jaime did not blame her for it. She nodded and said, “I’ll speak with the mayor, she’ll send out a party to confirm everything. It should be done by tomorrow, if you want I can show you to a tavern close by.”

Jaime nodded, “That would be most appreciated. But I should head to the nearest store first, I don’t have a backpack or any sort of clothes other than my armor right now.” Jaime winked at her, “I’ll see you tomorrow.”

Jaime turned around and left the blushing woman behind. He looked around for any sign of a store, not finding any he stopped a random stranger. “Excuse me sir, do you know where I can find a store that sells backpacks?”

The man pointed down the road, “Three blocks down that way, it’ll be the store with ‘Barnyard Bargains’ written on its sign.”

Jaime nodded at the man and patted his shoulder, “Thank you stranger. Have a good one.” He quickly walked down the road, making sure to try and get his much needed chores done. The street blocks went by and Jaime saw the store on the other side of the street. Jaime jogged the last stretch of distance and pushed open the door.

A bell jingled when the door opened and a happy voice said, “Hello! And welcome to Barnyard Bargains!” Jaime turned to the voice and saw that it came from an older man, if his wrinkles and greying hair were anything to go by.

Jaime nodded to him and said, “Hello, do you think you could tell me where I could find a backpack or something?”

“Of course Ser Knight,” The storekeeper said and motioned with an arm to an aisle, “It’s just down that aisle, you can’t miss ‘em.”

Jaime looked around the store, the walls were a boring brown and nearly every part of the store was a shelf of some sort, save the entrance area and the walking space between shelves. Items of every kind were on the shelves. Jaime wandered down the previously mentioned aisle and found the aforementioned area. He simply grabbed the nearest one and set about finding some much needed supplies.

The quick walk around the shop led Jaime to have around half the backpack to be full of supplies. Including a map of the country that Jaime was glad to be able to find. Even a simple set of dark green cloth clothes, a set that really needed to be replaced with something better, but it was certainly better than sleeping in armor. Jaime set the backpack on the shop’s counter and said to the old man running the place, “I’ll take the pack and everything I put in it.”

The old man nodded and began to look through the items and mutter under his breath the prices of each. The old man stopped his searching and nodded to himself before grabbing some paper and a quill. He wrote something down, looked up at Jaime and said, “That’ll be a hundred and six bits.”

Jaime nodded and pulled out his side pouch and counted out the money. “The highest coin seems to be a twenty.” Jaime thought to himself and placed five twenty bit coins, one five bit coin, and one one bit coin on the counter. The old man seemed satisfied and Jaime closed the bag and walked back out into the street.

“Who knew such a shop existed in any version of a medieval time period?” Jaime said. He sighed and quietly said to himself, “I suppose all that is left is a knife, I can get that tomorrow I suppose. A cloak and a horse too, I don’t want to carry all this junk all the time.”

He looked around for a tavern to spend the night in. Jaime spotted a sign over a building that had a picture of a mug on it and guessed that was a tavern. He walked inside and instantly knew he was correct. It was loud, and full of drunk people being rowdy and having a grand time. Jaime simply paid for a room, wine, and some food before retiring for the night. He would gladly have fun in a tavern some other time.

Jaime laid down in the bed, backpack away from the sights of the window and sword close at hand, and muttered quietly, “Right now… I just want to sleep all this away like a bad hangover. Maybe I’ll wake up tomorrow and find out that all of this was just a bad dream.” He rolled his head to stare out at the night sky and bitterly laughed out before closing his eyes, “Heh, I don’t think I’m that lucky.”

Author's Note

Here's another chapter. Can't wait to eventually kick start the real big adventures, but ya gotta start small first.