Another update for all y'all readers! I'm deviating once again, but I promise - this is all important... kinda...
Anyway, I've been procrastinating lately, and figured I'd write up this chapter - don't know how long it'll take me to do it, but I plan to upload it tonight (starting at 11:30pm UK time).
Reviews...
TheIceCreamNinja - It's good to be back... hope you enjoy this one!
SirAC - Well, figured I might as well use him... enjoy this Heist sequence!
Well, yeah - he was left for dead by him - tends to rub people the wrong way... at least it does in my experience.
Haha... if only everyone could understand the plotlines and ideas twisting around in my head... it must be so relaxing not being me.
Shout-outs to:
Farani
Cloudy09
for favourite-ing.
Anyway - there is lots of APPLICATION TIME appearances in this - I've been toying with this scene in my head for quite a while now. Hope you guys enjoy it.
So, APPLICATION TIME winners of today are Quill and Brush and Catdragon513
I stood, clad in my hooded cloak with Brynjolf. We stood in a doorway of an abandoned residence on the upper deck of the canal on a late evening, waiting for the night to fall and cover our heist into Mistveil Keep - the residence of Jarl Maven Black-Briar.
"Any ideas?" I asked Brynjolf uncertainly, my eyes fixated on the masses of Imperial guards. Brynjolf opened his mouth to speak, only to close it quickly and drop his gaze onto the deck as a patrol passed us by. I quickly followed suit and remained quiet until they were out of ear-shot.
"Front door is too direct - it leads directly to the feast she's having tonight - you'd be spotted in a second."
"So, what do you suggest?"
"There." He gestured with his head towards the top of the castle. "That balcony leads into Maven's personal bed chamber."
"And you know this how?"
"Not important." He replied cavalierly. "I'd suggest that'd be your best shot."
"I'm the one climbing?"
"Trust me lad, me and heights aren't the best mixture." I grinned.
"You're scared of heights?" Brynjolf nodded.
"So, you get to play spider today." He clapped a hand on my shoulder with a wink. "We both need some rest before we work." He murmured, then went back inside the abandoned house to sleep. I nodded and continued to linger in the doorway, watching the guard movements. If they knew how I was, they would've let me through the doors with no questions asked, but no one could know that I was here, stealing from Maven Black-Briar. Besides, who'd believe me?
I heard commotion and an Imperial voice, alerting me that I should make myself scarce - I must've looked suspicious. I stepped inside the house, closing the door behind myself and climbing the stairs up to the top floor, where I untied my sword belt and lay it beside me, wrapping myself up in my cloak for a few moments sleep...
A sudden bang awoke me to an intruder. The door was slammed shut and small footsteps creaked amongst the floorboards. I heard a scurry and then panting behind the wall on the first floor. I looked over to Brynjolf, who was awake too, and we moved over to the caved-in floor, to see a small figure pressed up against the wall, trying to breathe as silently as possible. I looked back to Brynjolf, who was staring at the door, which slowly pushed open.
In walked a pair of hooded figures, one a Khajit with red-brown fur, the other a scrawny and ginger-haired Nord - if it was not for his long hair and pale skin, I wouldn't have been able to tell, since the hood was low and the dark mask was pulled up to his nose.
"This one smells her." The Khajit purred. "Mouth-watering." She looked around the room. I glanced back to the figure, now made out to be a girl - only about 16 years old. Brynjolf grabbed my shoulder and we both crouched, pulling our hoods up as we crept around the top floor, watching this unfold on the floor below us.
"Come out little girl, now don't be shy," The Nord said in a soft childlike nursery rhyme. "The bad man's here, he's going to make you cry." He then proceeded to pull out a set of knives, twirling them with anticipation.
"This one hears her." The Khajit said. "Her heart." She began to advance around the room, gradually getting closer to the girl. "Beating so fast..."
"Ba-bump. Ba-bump. Ba-bump." The Nord began to walk around the other way of the room. I looked over to Brynjolf to give me an answer on what we do. Brynjolf looked over towards the window as means of escape. I contemplated it - this wasn't our fight. The duo looked to be Dark Brotherhood from the attire, and we had an arrangement to stay out of each other's way. I shook my head at Brynjolf.
"Listen lad, we cannot save everyone." He whispered to me.
"We can save her!" I hissed back. "You want to - you know you want to."
"I have to think about the Guild." I stopped, trying to satisfy my conscience.
"We can't just sit here and let her die."
"So what, we'll go down and invite the pair of them out for supper?" I shook my head.
"Brynjolf, what do we do?" He looked back to the window, then down to the girl. He cursed lowly under his breath and muttered to me.
"Get her and hide her." I nodded and crept along the floorboards until I came closer to the girl. I dropped from the top floor and landed on the ground soundlessly. I then proceeded to move towards the girl, who was unsheathing her axe as she took deep breaths - she was about to fight. Before she could turn and face her assailants, I grabbed her, and pulled her close to me, wrapping a hand around her mouth. She looked at me with panic as I pushed her against the wall. I held a finger up to my lips, signalling for her to stay silent. I pulled us both behind a dresser, and waited. I heard the footsteps, and the Khajit purr - she was in the same room as us. I clenched my hand into a fist, ready to fight if I had to.
In a flurry and a flash, the duo bounded out of the house, slamming the door behind them. Unsure of what had just happened, I pulled the girl along with me, my hand still firmly clad on her mouth. We moved into the front room, and I saw Brynjolf swagger down the stairs.
"So, who's our house guest?"
I felt a high degree of pain register in my palm, and yelped as I let go of the girl, who scrambled away from us, her axe held out towards the both of us.
"She bit me!" I shouted, grabbing my hand, examining the faint trickles of blood. Brynjolf simply laughed in response. "This isn't funny!"
"I'm sorry lad, but I'm not kissing it better. You don't need a wet nurse, remember?"
"Oh, shut up." I said, frustrated at Brynjolf finding my frustration funny. "Who bites a hand?" I muttered, tending to my palm.
"I have an axe!" The girl shouted. We both looked towards her - she was indeed quite young, with light blonde hair and pale skin - a Nord. A skinny Nord at that.
"Aye, you also have a brain lass - now we're both stating the obvious." I shook my head.
"I'm going to have to climb with this hand..." I muttered to myself.
"Don't mind him lass," Brynjolf nodded towards me. "He'll, ah, he'll warm up to you eventually." He gave me a wink. I responded with a mocking chuckle.
"Ha, that's cute - is that meant to be funny?" Brynjolf grinned and looked back to the girl, who still held the axe up at us.
"Oh, put the axe down lass - it's not polite."
"Yeah, neither is biting people." I chimed in.
"Are you still moaning about that?"
"Hey, you'd be moaning too if a vampire took a chunk out of your hand."
"I'm not a vampire, I'll have you know!" The girl said, offended.
"To be fair, you did put your hand on a stranger's mouth." Brynjolf said to me matter-of-fact-ly.
"You cannot be taking her side with this?" He folded his arms, shrugging. "Unbelievable." I muttered, turning away from the pair of them.
"Put the axe down lass, we're not going to hurt you."
"Why should I trust you?" Brynjolf sighed.
"If we wanted to hurt you, we would've let those assassins do it, and save ourselves the trouble."
"Yeah, you're welcome for that by the way." I snapped at her.
"I can take care of myself-"
"No doubt there lass, but it never hurts to have some friends eh?" He stood between us, holding up both hands. Eventually, the girl placed the axe back on her belt. Brynjolf smiled, and turned his body to face her. "I'm Brynjolf, and this is Tenebraeus."
"Excuse me if I don't shake your hand." I said sarcastically.
"I'm Kata."
"Stole those furs from a Stormcloak lass?"
"I am a Stormcloak." She said defiantly. I shook my head - Stormcloaks. The rebellion that had been crushed years back. I had thought the remaining few had dropped their banners and become civilians. Apparently the most stubborn and brainless Nords still thought they could win against an Empire.
"Great..." I muttered to myself.
"What's wrong with your sidekick?" Kata glanced at me.
"Sidekick?" I repeated, taken aback.
"He had an incident."
"An incident? Is that what we're calling it now?"
The door kicked open and in walked the fatal pair from mere moments ago.
"Ah." The Khajit purred in a hungering tone. "Not just food, but a feast." Her lips spread, revealing her feline fangs. Kata took a step backwards - she was quite clearly scared.
I moved my hand down to my side, only to realize I didn't have my sword - it was still upstairs. I looked towards Brynjolf, who was in the same position.
"Should I get them?" I asked him. We looked back at the pair; the Khajit had pulled out a long glass sword and an elegantly-crafted gold mace in the other hand. The Nord, meanwhile, had pulled out a pair of long, narrow swords which were mounted on his back.
"By all means, enjoy yourself." Brynjolf said, launching a foot into the Khajit, and then sprinting up the stairs to get the swords.
I rushed into the Nord, rolling under his swipe of a sword and jumping back up, ready to fight. The Khajit had, meanwhile, advanced on Kata. I leant back a lunge that would've impaled me, and threw out a fist at the Nord, with all my concentration behind it. The Nord skidded backwards, grabbing the floor with one hand to maintain balance. I looked over to the Khajit, who now had Kata on the floor, and was salivating over her face.
"Hey!" I called out to her, getting her attention. "I thought most house cats were trained now days!" She gave me a small snarl, then dropped Kata and began to advance on me, the mace looming across the creaking wooden floorboards.
"This one will savour your body." She hissed, pointing her mace at me. I took an offensive stance with my feet shoulder-distance apart and opened both hands to reveal flames sitting in each, brightly lighting the rest of the house. The duo stopped short of me for a few moments, eying the fire carefully.
"Pyromancer." The Khajit snarled, gripping her mace tightly. She bounded towards me as I threw several fists of fire towards her, all landing where she had just been. She leapt agains the wall and then soared through the air towards me. I held my hands out, wrists parallel to each other, and a swell of fire conjured from my wrists, propelling towards the feline creature. It hit her fur directly under her neck, and she fell onto the floor, screaming and rolling around, desperately trying to put out the flames.
I turned back to the Nord, who had made his way up the stairs to deal with Brynjolf, and was doing so quite successfully; Brynjolf's sword had now been tossed over the railing and landed on the floor a few feet in front of me. I held out a hand and the sword flew towards me. I then sprinted up the stairs and flew at the Nordic assassin before he could react. I landed on top of him and buried the sword deep into his shoulder. I looked up at Brynjolf, who tossed me my sword belt and ran down the stairs. I pulled out the blade and punched the Nord for good measure, then ran down the stairs to see Kata being helped up Brynjolf.
"Brynjolf, we need to get to-" I was cut off by a deafening roar which shook the entire house.
"What the hell was that?" Kata asked frantically.
"Oh no..." Brynjof murmured, a look of terror casting across his face. He looked to both of our confused faces. "We need to get out of here."
"Why? What is it, thunder? Magic?"
"Worse-"
The top of the roof caved in, and almost flattened the four of us on the ground floor, but I raised my hands in instinct and held up the debris of the roof. A moment later I groaned and shifted all the weight I could feel onto the side, throwing it into the wall.
"Let's go!"
We ran out of the house, and onto the streets, where other rooftops were being demolished. I looked up to see the legends were true - with black, leathery skin and ten foot tallons, a dragon soared down above the houses, and the sheer force of it's flight was caving in the shoddy buildings that made up Riften.
"Back to the Ratway!" Brynjolf ordered.
"What about Mercer?"
"If we both die, we won't be able to find him!"
"I'm not giving up!" I shouted.
"Tenebraeus!" I ignored Brynjolf and pulled up my hood, running through the panic of the city until I came to the stone castle of Mistveil Keep, which now had guards flooded out of it. I dodged past them and ran in through the open doors, where one guard noticed me.
"Hey, you should get to shelter! There's a dragon on the-" I cut him off as I threw a hand towards the wall, sending him crashing into it and falling motionless.
I sprinted up the stairs until I came to the largest bed chamber I had ever seen. Inside the bed was (what I could assume to be) a naked couple. They pulled up the covers in embarrassment and shock. I simply remained silent and moved past them, thinking about where Maven would hide any secrets or documents about Mercer. In a safe probably, but none were in sight. I walked back towards the door, thinking as the couple eyed me questioningly. I felt a creak - a raised section of floorboards.
I raised a hand over the floorboards, and telekinetically tore them off, revealing a small iron door with lock combination. The roars outside alerted me that I didn't have much time left in here.
"Wh-what was that?" The man in bed asked me, horrified by the noise.
"Dragon." I answered simply, as I telekinetically ripped off the door and threw it into the wall. I looked inside the safe to see a couple of purses and a series of envelopes and folded parchments. I pocketed a few, then held up one - a report of Mercer Frey's bail from Solitude prison. I looked at the signature - General Tullius.
At that moment, I felt a surge of pain to the back of my shoulder. I groaned out in pain, and looked behind me to see a hooded figure holding a miniature crossbow; instead of wearing leather armour, the figure was clad in a series of dark and earthy fabrics, with a large leather belt tied around his waist, just under his chest.
They unleashed another crossbow bolt at me, which I stopped mid-flight, sending it flying back into their chest, and making them groan. I advanced on them, breaking off the bolt in my shoulder. I was angry, but also curious as to who they were. Were they a rival Guild? More assassins? Mercer Frey himself?
The side of the bedchamber was ripped open, and I saw the safe began to tip out. I sprinted back towards it, reached out a hand and fumbling with the last few documents. However, my fingers began to spark, and the last few papers were burnt to cinders.
I cursed under my breath, then looked up through the hole in the wall, to see the large, reptilian creature's head rear up to me. It opened its mouth and released a trembling roar. I clutched my ears in pain, and glanced down at the drop below me. I looked back up at the beast to hear the rumble, and the cracks between its torn scales light up - I realised what it was about to do.
I dived out of the way just in time, but some of the fire caught onto my cloak. It began to spread quickly - quicker than any normal fire, so I ripped it off and began to try and stamp it out, but to no avail. I held out a hand and moved it away from me, towards the corner of the room. However, this was another mistake, as it immediately lit the curtain above it on fire. In next to a second, half the room was on fire!
I looked up to see the figure turn and run. I shook my head defiantly - he wasn't getting away from me. Not even a dragon was going to stop me. I began to run forwards, ducking underneath the steady jets of flames, and followed the figure out onto the balcony, where the large wooden roof had been torn off. They stood there on the edge, looking at the drop.
I lit one of my hands with flames as they turned around.
"Who are you working for?" They responded by unsheathing their crossbow. I held out a hand and summoned it towards me, pointing it back at him. "Whatever Mercer Frey has promised you, you won't get it. He only ever works for himself." They eyed me carefully under the hood - I could see their piercing blue eyes glint under the darkness of the hood. "Last chance to talk." I said, aiming the crossbow at their chest. Before I could loose the bolt, the building collapsed slightly, making me and my assailant stumble momentarily. I dropped the crossbow, which fell to the floor, the bolt flying off into the wall.
The dragon perched on the roof of the castle, above us. It eyed us carefully, and me in particular. It then began to ignite its belly again. I held out my hands, ready to repel the flames from me - I was strong enough.
The whirlwind of flames spiralled towards me, and I held out my hands, trying to generate some form of barrier against the flames, but as I felt the fire burn through my defenses as if they were mere wraps of cloth, I was shot off the balcony: the crossbow-man had tackled me off of the balcony, and we were both speeding towards the ground. I soared down past the banners that hung on the side of the castle, then my entire body jerked back upwards - the man was holding onto my heel and also the banner. For a second anyway, then the barrier ripped and we began to fall - very slowly mind - towards the ground. I eventually landed with a slump, causing me to cough violently and gasp for air. The man looked over to me and then ran. I positioned myself on my knees and began to crawl my way towards where he had been, but he was gone without trace.
I looked up to see the Dragon continue to wreak havoc on the town, and managed to stumble through the chaos to the old graveyard, where I made my way into the small tomb, pressing the button on the stone coffin and falling down the stairs of the secret passage that had now opened. I yanked the chain down, closing the passage and collapsed through the trap door, landing face first on the stone floor of the cistern. People rushed towards me, trying to tend to me, but I couldn't make sense of what they were saying.
I made out the knotted hair of Brynjolf, and dug out the note from one of my pockets, handing it to him. I managed to cough out a word to him.
"Solitude."
I then collapsed into darkness.
Hope you guys enjoyed this six-and-a-bit-page chapter - bit of a surprise there huh? Anyway, a couple more volunteers in APPLICATION TIME would be nice, and erm... please leave a review thanks. Next update should be... well, I'm writing it now so... yeah. Peace.
