A/N: To the best of my knowledge, this is the first MR/Elder Scrolls crossover. Enjoy. telepathy, 'thinking', "emphasis", "shouting", "other language", [Dovahzul] (Shouts/ translated dragon speech)
Disclaimer: Yet another awesome thing I don't own.
Unbound
Oxygen deprivation and hypothermia lead to truly bizarre dreams. Take the one I was having in the snow cave a few hours ago. I mean really, being kidnapped by robots and being taken to Miami? A category five hurricane in winter? Sounds like something out a bad children's story. 'Now, to get Fang to stop ogling Doctor Dwyer…' Try kissing him Max, Angel thinks to me, causing me to jump slightly. 'Don't do that!' I think back. The telepathic six year-old just smiles angelically. As usual. 'And at this time of the month, we'd probably need to start making maternity preparations Ange.'
As Angel and I mentally discus Fang, a faint roar reverberates through the research station. Gather the Flock Max. You will need all of them for what is to come, murmurs the Voice. 'Great. Cryptic messages and a mysterious noise that sounded suspiciously like a dragon.' The door to the room opens, accompanied by the distant sound of battle. Fang blinks, the only sign that he noticed the sourceless noise. Another roar and the sound of steel clashing on steel brings a certain red-haired doctor to the room. Before she finishes opening her mouth an arrow slams into her shoulder, sending her staggering back out. Realizing that something bad is happening, I shove Angel through the door as the room fades into a snowy, forested mountain pass. Before I can get my bearings, a sharp blow causes my world to go dark.
I awake bound on a cart. Several things register at the same time. Firstly, my warm pants and sweater have been replaced by a not-at-all warm tattered linen dress. Secondly, Fang is across from me, clad in a similarly tattered linen tunic and pants. Finally, the surrounding area appears to be set up for an execution. Never a good sign. "Off the cart prisoners!" shouts an unpleasant looking woman wearing what looks suspiciously like Roman armor. Dizzy from the blow to my head, I clumsily climb down from the cart. A guy in lightweight leather armor asks "Who are you two?" Rubbing my sore head I reply "I'm Maximum Ride, Mr. Tall-Dark-And-Silent is Fang." The man starts going through a ledger then glances at the woman. "They're not on the list," he states. Miss Armor, as I've decided to think of the woman as, waves her hand saying "Forget the list, they go to the block." List Guy gives us an apologetic look. "I'm sorry lass. Tell me where your family is and I will make sure your remains get to them." Glaring at him I growl "Fang is the closest thing to family I have left." "Hadvar! Get those prisoners in line!" bellows Miss Armor. The newly identified Hadvar leads us to the group of other captives and mutters "Again, I'm sorry. I pray that the Divines show you mercy and General Tullius catches this injustice before it's too late."
A bald man wearing ornate armor steps forward. That must be that Tullius guy Hadvar mentioned. How to get his attention… "Ulfric Stormcloak. Some here in Helgen call you a hero. But a hero doesn't use a power like The Voice to murder his king and usurp his throne." Ignoring Ulfric's muffled grunting, Tullius continues his speech "You started this war, plunged Skyrim into chaos, and now the Empire is going to put you down, and restore the peace." At this, the roar from earlier echoes through the town. The general seems to shrug it off and calls for the executions to begin. Miss Armor then says something to a woman dressed as some sort of priest.
"As we commend your souls to Aetherius, blessings of the Eight Divines upon ye, for you are the salt and earth of Nirn, our beloved—" she starts before being interrupted by one of Stormcloak's guys. "For the love of Talos, shut up and let's get this over with!" Miss Armor shoves the captive down as he continues with "My ancestors are smiling at me Imperials, can you say the same?" Seconds later, his head is lying on the ground.
Miss Armor calls "Bring the Imperial girl!" At that Tullius turns towards me and Fang. Two soldiers drag me over to the chopping block, not bothering to remove the head of the last guy. Desperate, I strain against the hide stripes around my wrists. As I'm forced down I manage to snap my bindings. Another draconic roar switches me to autopilot and my wings flex against the back of my dress. I throw off the soldier holding me, grab the axe from the startled headsman and whack him with the haft. Before anything else can happen, a huge black dragon lands on the tower behind the headsman.
"What in Oblivion is that?" yells Tullius. The dragon roars again, this time something other than just noise exits the creature's mouth. A wave of energy rushes outwards, forming a barrier around the town. Another roar is followed by meteors raining down upon us. Hadvar calls out "Maximum, Fang, follow me if you want to live!" The soldier then leads us through a maze of burning buildings to what he refers to as Helgen Keep.
Before Hadvar can start arguing with a blonde Stormcloak, I grab him by the shoulder, say "We need to move," and drag him into the barracks. Fang quickly searches the chests scattered about the room, finding a partial set of armor similar to Hadvar's. The Imperial soldier hands both of us iron swords, which I hand back saying "I have no skill with these things. I'd probably hurt myself." He looks at me and asks "Are you plan on using your fists against armed opponents?" Instead of answering, I focus on my memories of cold from the blizzard and on an odd tingling sensation in my chest. A ball of icy blue energy flashes into existence in my cupped palm. At the same time plates of pale blue-white frost start growing across my body. Frostbite and Frozen Armor, the Voice informs me. 'Magic. Nice.'
As Fang is changing into his newfound armor, the barracks door opens again, revealing Miss Armor and a half-dozen Imperial soldiers. "Hadvar, why are you helping escaped prisoners?" she growls. "Captain, they had no weapons when we found them. And going by the fact that the lad over there has wings, it's unlikely that they would side with the Stormcloaks." Miss, no, Captain Armor strides forwards and places her sword at my throat. The tattered fabric on my back and the crystalline plate covering it break apart as my wings finally force their way through. The spell coating me immediately goes about enshrouding the newly revealed limbs. I have to say, feeling ice encrusting my wings is really weird. Captain Armor shoots Hadvar a glare "They're Daedra soldier. That's worse."
Thud! The woman slides down the wall which I threw her against. "Don't compare me to any kind of monster, human," I snarl. Noticing that one of the Imperials is aiming an arrow at me, I create a shield of ice and put it between me and the archer. When he tries aiming at Fang, my friend vanishes. A surprised yelp a few seconds later reveals that Fang has one of the other soldiers in a headlock. Another roar shakes the keep, but this time I hear distinct words. Fus Ro Dah. Force balance push. The power radiating off the dragon seems to have woken something within me that allows me to understand it. [I am coming for you Dovahkiin. You cannot hope to defeat me little hero,] rumbles the huge beast. 'Dovahkiin? What the hell is that thing talking about? Why didn't it translate?' Because it doesn't need to, replies the Voice.
[Yol Toor Shul!] bellows the dragon, incinerating the door and three soldiers. Glancing around I yell "If you want to live, run!" Me, Fang and Hadvar exit the room at speed, followed by the surviving Imperials minus Captain Armor. At the far end of the corridor is a gate made of iron bars. Voices with the Scandinavian accent of the locals carry through. As soon as I open the gate, the Stormcloaks attack. Very rude. One swings an axe at my head, forcing me to duck and I bring him down with a sweep kick. Angry now, I blast another Stormcloak with a jet of freezing, icy air.
Grabbing the blonde Stormcloak we had run into earlier, I yell "Why the hell are you people fighting each other when there's a friggin' dragon trying to bring down the keep?!" I then notice that he's the only Stormcloak left. "Damn faithless Imperials," he mutters. Looking up at me he asks "Why are you with them lass? They tried to kill you." Glancing at the soldiers, I shrug and reply "They followed me." Then the dragon's head smashes through the wall above us.
Shattered rock and mortar rain down, a large chunk hitting the blonde Stormcloak's head. 'Damn that thing is persistent.' As Hadvar hurries to unlock the far door, I start blasting the dragon with Frostbite. [Do you really think that pathetic spell can stop me?] it laughs. [Oh shut up!] I yell at the black monster. The humans and Fang stare at me. 'Did I just speak Dragon?' I can practically hear the Voice sighing at that. Focusing two Frostbite streams at its eyes, I force as much energy into freezing them as I can. This pisses off the beast, but provides enough of a distraction to facilitate our escape into the underkeep.
By the time we've made it to the bottom of the stairs it's just me, Fang and Hadvar; the dragon collapsed the stairwell behind us, killing the remaining three Imperial soldiers. A Stormcloak farther down the hall notices us and fires an arrow in our direction but is blocked as the ceiling falls. Spotting a clear door, I direct the others through it. Inside there are two Stormcloaks. "Imperials!" one yells. I punch him in the gut. Glaring at him, I snarl "Do you need a new brain human? Or are the wings not enough for you?" The other Stormcloak swings a giant hammer at me, forcing a painful, for him, response. He gets a blast of Frostbite in the face. I then find myself ducking a sword swipe by the first guy.
Screw this. No more miss nice girl. Dispelling the freezing magical energy in my hands, I draw upon my memories of the snow cave. Instead place of the cold jet of Frostbite, I fire a roiling blast of icy blue energy. How? You can't go making up spells… Well that's a first. I actually confused the Voice. Three Frostbolts later and the room is clear. "Grab all the potions you can," instructs Hadvar. "Red potions heal injuries, greens give an energy boost and the blues… replenish something for mages." I collect all the blue bottles and snag a small rucksack, which turns out to be much bigger on the inside. Fang quickly grabs another for himself.
Hadvar leads us down another flight of stairs that opens into a torture chamber. I double Frostbolt the torturer in the face. "What—" Hadvar beings to protest before I cut him off. "We don't tolerate torture. You wouldn't either if that's what the first ten years of your life was." Meanwhile Fang, having searched the room, starts picking the lock on one of the cages. Seconds later he's passing me a book, the dead occupant's robe and a dagger.
Hadvar and Fang move to scout ahead as I change into my 'new' clothes and adapt them. After donning the rode, I open the book Fang gave me. As I read, knowledge streams into my head. The book is about the casting and use of the spell Shock; a torrent of magical electricity that will deplete an opponent's magicka. 'This'll be useful against casters.' Sliding the spell book into my bag, I hurry after the others. I find Fang and Hadvar standing by an open cell. "The corundum ones are septims," explains the Imperial soldier. "Silvers are called uriels and gold, medes." Fang just nods, almost imperceptibly, and says "Let's get moving."
Down another hall and through a gate is an apparently natural tunnel. Through that is a cave full of spiders. Big spiders. The size of bears. "What next?" groans Hadvar. "Giant snakes?" "I really hope not," I mutter. Regular snakes I can deal with, so long as they aren't slithering all over me. But giant ones? The Imperial Norseman then glances at me "I don't have a bow and frostbite spiders can spit venom. Mind picking them off lass?" Putting as much power into my attack as possible, I loose a Frostbolt at the nearest spider. The creature rears back, foremost legs scrabbling at its eyes. Two more spells drop it. Unfortunately, my attack attracts the attention of the other arachnids. 'Well. Crap.' You have more abilities than just magic Max, the Voice comments. 'I don't think that flying at high speeds would be of any use right now,' I mentally retort. Just… Deal with the spiders Max. At that moment one of monstrous creatures spits a stream of venom at Fang. An instant before the toxic liquid could hit him, I put up a wall of ice. Angry now, I start lobbing Frostbolts at the monstrous things.
New Spells List
Frozen Armor: an elemental spell that encases the caster in light-weight frost plates, equivalent to basic Elven Armor. The spell, upon being cast, will not fade until overwhelmed or canceled by recasting. Resembles Ancient Nord Armor.
Frostbolt: an apprentice level Destruction spell that deals 27 damage and, in universe, freezes the affected area. This spell has reduced effectiveness on automatons.