sorry if this chapter seems a bit rushed, the original chapter got deleted (somehow) and I had to rewrite this chapter mainly from memory. It's a bit short but to make up for it, the next chapter *should* be posted later tonight. Also kudos to everyone who figured out the snow elf connection (which I'm not going to go further into in case anyone reading hasn't completed Dawngaurd yet)
The Elder Scroll was NOT just behind that Door,
nor was it "Just over that bridge",
and it certainly wasn't "right at the end of this windie pathway".
Jane suspected that it also wasn't "Behind that big gate in the distance".
Jane ALSO suspected that it would still be a very very very long time before they got to the elder scroll, she just hoped that Dok-Tor wouldn't drive her mad by then.
Despite his maddeningly inflexible principles, there was something about Dok-Tor that made her like him that she couldn't quite place.
Maybe it was because he saved her life, maybe it was because something about him reminded her of herself before she came to Skyrim, or maybe it was the impressive stubbornness that was currently picking away at her sanity, or possibly even the strange boldness that made him think it was a good idea to dash ahead of her, straight past two Falmer who were apparently guarding the gate. He was just lucky that the Falmer had become so skittish after... whatever had happened when she'd passed out earlier... or he would be dead several times over.
As the Falmer fled in the opposite direction, hopefully looking to find somewhere they could hide deeper in the ruins, heard snippets of their conversation as she started to slowly follow Dok-Tor up the stairs to the gate.
Something about "letting Roranicus take care of them"
That made Jane stop for a second, something about the name Roranicus seemed out of place...
Wasn't that an Imperial name? Why would a Falmer be using an Imperial name?
Jane pondered it for a minute, then decided that the Falmer might keep some of the poor fools who wandered down there as slaves as well as eating them.
Using Dok-Tor's "hunter" comparison, it even made a bit of sense, but something about it just didn't seem to ring true...
"Dok-Tor be careful, I heard them say something about a Roranicus, so they might have enslaved some idiot Imperial they found down here." She said with a sigh, knowing that in all likeliness he was probably going to ignore the warning and run around like a little kid anyway.
Dok-Tor seemed to be paying more attention to the gates than anything she was saying, because he waved vaguely in her direction and grunted.
"Imperials can be reasoned with easily enough"
"Hmm, Try saying that when one's trying to cut your head off"
Dok-Tor turned and raised an eyebrow, but didn't say anything.
Jane caught up to him just as he found a lever.
He grinned looked at her and grinned as he pulled it, and as the centuries old machinery groaned as the shining metal gate lowered into a slot in the floor, and Jane felt a mixture of fear and excitement as they walked over where the threshold of where the gate once stood.
There had always been something about dwemer ruins she'd liked. Even if they were annoyingly confusing to maneuver, and horribly hard to find, they never failed to be filled to the brim with dwemer spiders, spheres, and other contraptions. Her grandfather had collected pieces from thousands of these creatures, and hung them inside his workshop. He had spent thousands of hours in his workshop trying to figure out how they worked-
Jane shook herself and stopped thinking about that, she was in skyrim, not Hammerfell.
Everything was colder and harder here, and getting distracted would not only get her, but Dok-Tor killed as well.
Suddenly she heard Dok-Tor inhale sharply, she saw him looking up, and followed his gaze.
There was a statue as tall as a giant standing in an alcove to their left...
and it was moving
Not for the first time, the Doctor found himself in a situation that he hadn't anticipated, or prepared for.
He, of course, had expected there to have been a security system in place to make sure the elder scroll didn't fall into the wrong hands; but he had also expected the ruins to still be an occupied city, and all of the machines to be in perfect working order.
The Doctor quickly got over his surprise, and took a deep breath.
"So you must be Roranicus? Do you mind if I call you Rory?"
The Centurion, who apparently did not like being called Rory, made a swipe that knocked Jane clear across the room, and probably would have caught the Doctor as well if he hadn't stepped back a few steps when it had started moving.
That probably meant that it's targeting systems were damaged, which, judging by the larger than average amounts of steam coming out of it's exhaust ports, wasn't the only problem.
Something was probably wrong with it's central processing unit or recognition software that was impairing it's ability to recognize his dna. If he could only get up on it's shoulders, he might be able to jimmy the head casing loose, he might be able to fix what he could, and hopefully get it to recognize him again.
He glanced back to where Jane was lying in a heap, moving a little, which meant that her armor probably took the brunt of the blow, which was something at least.
The Centurion had apparently lost interest in Jane, and had now turned it's attention to him.
Probably because she was no longer considered to be a threat, meaning that the attack programming was largely intact... which he might be able to work to his advantage.
so another chapter ends. I'm really excited about the next couple of chapters, because it is going to be a lot of fun (hopefully) and optimistically I might be able to complete this story soon. :D
