"

"Esil, stop. That's not going to help." Marcurio said as Esil hung from the top of the cage. She looked at him upside-down and shrugged.

"I do what I want." She said, scuttling along the length of the cage roof.

"Esil, get down. It's annoying." Ulfric told her.

"How about I scream? Would that be better? Because I need to do one or the other." Esil told him.

"Great. Locked up with someone about to go off like a bomb." Galmar muttered.

"I'm like a small explosion. In a wooden shack." Esil said to no one in particular.

"Yes you are." Marcurio said. Esil looked over at where Ondolemar was sleeping.

"Wake up!" She shouted. The Altmer jumped, looking around.

"What the hell, Esil?" He asked blearily.

"Pay attention to me!" She said.

"You've got three people who are doing that already." Ondolemar groaned.

"Marcurio!" Esil shrieked.

"Oh gods, what?" Marcurio rammed his head against the bars.

"Lock picks!" She fell onto the ground and began kicking the door.

"What about lock picks?" He asked.

"Everything!" Esil screamed. Her eyes were wide and she was running into the bars of the cage, leaping around as best she could. Ondolemar curled up into a ball, covering his head. Galmar threw a skull at the dark elf in an attempt to shut her up. It simply hit her in the back of the head and she began laughing uncontrollably, falling to the ground and rocking back and forth.

Three Thalmor soldiers and Elenwen entered the jail, and stopped as they watched Esil trying to control the mania.

"Stop her before she breaks something." Elenwen ordered.

"If I knew how to do that I'd have solved the problem a long time ago." Ulfric told her. "Just let her burn it off." One of the Thalmor opened the cage to try and grab her, but Esil darted out from under his arm and launched herself at the ice column supporting the ceiling. She began scrabbling up it until she was roosted at the top, in a small alcove between the column and the ceiling.

"Get her down from there!" The other Thalmor began trying to find a ladder while Elenwen slammed the empty cage's door shut. "Get Galmar. He's next." She snapped, striding away. Esil was singing as Galmar was dragged away, leaving just the one soldier to deal with them. Esil grinned and dropped down onto him, slamming him into the ground.

"Help!" The Altmer shouted as Esil punched him, her eyes wide, her sharp teeth stretched in an insane grin. Two Thalmor ran in, pulling her off of him. She was flung back in the cage and the door was locked.

"Are you insane? You could have escaped!" Ulfric asked as the soldiers took up posts along the wall, watching them suspiciously.

"What?" Esil asked. Ulfric looked confused.

"You had an opportunity, why didn't you take it?"

"Opportunity… there's a shit load of Thalmor in the other room!"

"I forgot about that." Ulfric sighed.

"He'll be having a massive black eye soon, though." Marcurio said.

"Good." Esil laid face down on the ground, not moving.

"How long has it been?" Marcurio croaked from his corner.

"Days. A week. Several months. I don't know. And we can't tell time by Esil." Galmar said angrily. Esil stuck her tongue out at him, earning a stone thrown at her.

"Elenwen's pissed. Something's gone wrong for her." Ondolemar muttered from where he lay in a heap next to a skeleton.

"I think we're not giving her fresh information." Esil said.

"I bet the Stormcloaks aren't such a pushover as she assumed." Ulfric said proudly.

"I think a dragon ate everything." Esil said flatly.

"Either way someone's coming in here." Marcurio said. They watched as footsteps approached them, and a figure entered. It was hard to make out because of the darkness, but as it approached it split into two. Then a brightly coloured jester began running towards Esil.

"Listener, you are alive! Cicero knew you could not have died!" Esil watched in shock as Nazir bent down, unlocking the cage.

"How the hell did you find me?" Esil asked as she crawled out.

"Babette, actually. She did some searching when you hadn't sent us anything for the past month like you usually do."

"You send the Dark Brotherhood letters?" Galmar asked incredulously. Esil took the offered key and busied herself with unlocking Marcurio's cage.

"Someone's got to give them the contract information." She said as the cage door swung open. Galmar's door was unlocked as well, and soon the other two men were free as well.

"Cicero, go make sure Babette's still alive, all right?" Nazir ordered.

"You brought Babette." Esil said.

"Yeah, how else were we going to get through all those Thalmor?" Nazir asked. Esil shrugged. A small blurred form charged in, wrapping its arms around Esil's leg.

"You're alive! We told Nazir you had to be." Babette detached herself from Esil's leg and grinned, her pointed teeth glinting.

"We can say hello later. For now I'm getting us out of here." Nazir said bluntly, motioning for the prisoners to follow him.

"What happened since I disappeared?" Esil asked.

"Windhelm got attacked, Solitude's under Thalmor control, and Falkreath has been under siege for a week. They've got some fight, I'll give them that." Esil stepped out into the cold on a hard, rocky beach surrounded by glaciers. She shivered slightly, eyeing the glaciers.

"I can see Winterhold." Marcurio said.

"Yup. We're right on the edge of the border here." Esil told him. "I'd suggest we head inland."

"I assume you have a good knowledge of Skyrim's jails." Ulfric said.

"Of course. Where are we going, Nazir?" Esil looked a the Redguard.

"Feel like glacier hopping? We couldn't get the boat past the ice once we hit Winterhold." Nazir told her. Esil nodded calmly.

"I just want out of here." Galmar said right behind Esil, causing her to jump. She ran at the ice, leaping onto it, sliding, and then kept running.

"Does she do this often?" Nazir asked Marcurio.

"Yeah." He sighed and chased after his wife.

A/N: Of course she's done it before. Side note: I based Esil's manias on her… cycle. And finally a longer chapter is put up.