(( HOLY FIC UPDATE, BATMAN. THIS AUTHOR POSTED SOMETHING. Yeah. I'm on something of a hiatus. As it turns out, college takes a lot out of you. But I promise to at least keep writing on my mind when I can. I know for a fact I'm interested in this story, once more. As for the others? One's a maybe, the other is on a definite hiatus. Review and favorite if you like this, though! Free entertainment isn't easy. ;D ))

(( Update 4/11/13: To the thirteenth reviewer. I did and I didn't forget about Rise. I did forget to put in her excuse, but I haven't forgotten her in context of the overall story. Thanks! ))

Of Facades and High Fantasy

Chapter Four: The Harmless Innkeeper Act.

How long are we going to be trapped here?

My train of thought snaps as the carriage comes to a halt, the nord signaling for the four of us to get off. As I hop off of the vehicle of sorts, I look to the sky, the remnants of orange that remain are faint and quickly crawling away in order to make room for the night sky. Dunjar once again takes the lead, walking past the gates of the village we head towards. The brutish man waves a hand at the small town, looking to us. "Welcome to Riverwood. This was the first place I came to after I fled from Helgen and the dragon attack that had ensued."

I adjust the strap of my sheath, as the villagers once again give us awkward stares and questioning gazes. "I see. The person who took the horn is supposed to be here, yes?" We pass by several buildings, and the faint hum of conversations and sawmill providing the ambient noise. That, and Yosuke's teeth chattering at the cold.

The nord nods, and turns to his left, he looks up to the sign, and walks up the small steps that lead to the dock that held the building above the ground. He opens the door, holding it open so that we could all walk inside.

The inn, from the look of the place, is warmly lit. Hues of orange, brown, and stony gray meshed to match the sudden shift in temperature to fit the atmosphere. A man playing a lute and singing a jaunt tune provided the new ambience. Yosuke lets out a sigh of relief. "Finally. It's not so cold anymore. I was freezing my balls off, man."

Chie smacks him across the back of his head, Yosuke letting out a short groan. Dunjar rolls his eyes once more, and looks to the innkeeper, a modest looking woman. The bearded man gives a short smile before speaking. "I would like to rent the attic room." He takes out a sack of coins, counting out ten and holding his palm out.

The woman takes the money and responds in a deadpan tone. "We don't have an attic room, but you're free to take the room to the left." She nods politely and walks towards the kitchen, patting the man she passes by behind the counter.

Yukiko blinks, and tilts her head. "…The note said the attic room, right"

Dunjar shrugs. "It did. But I suppose we will have to find out what that even meant, later." He walks towards the room and opens the door, walking inside. The rest of us follow, and set down our weapons.

Chie sits on the bed and crosses her arms. "What the hell is going on? Why would the person write for us to rent the attic room here if there wasn't any? Is this like some sorta' prank? 'Cause it isn't funny."

I shake my head. "It's weird. Maybe that's the clue that…" And we were cut off by another person entering the room.

"So you're the dragonborn I've been hearing so much about." Says the female innkeeper. She's standing at the doorway, eyeing Dunjar up and down. She then takes out a horn, and tosses it his way. "I think you're looking for this."

Dunjar widens his eyes, catching the horn. "Wh… why would you go and take the horn?"

She crosses her arms. "We need to talk. Follow me." She turns and leaves the room, the nord man following her.

Yosuke shoots his gaze to me, a brow quirked. "Okay…?" He shrugs, and trails the both of them. Yukiko, Chie, and I head to the room the rest enter and look to the two Skyrim natives.

The woman looks to the four of us, and scowls. "I wasn't expecting you to have a crowd of people following you around. I want this to be a private matter. I must ask the four of you to leave."

The four of us exchange looks among ourselves, and head outside of the room, closing the door. Yosuke shakes his head and throws his hands up into the air. "That's a load of crap! Man, we had to deal with the zombies, too."

Chie lets out a small sigh. "I know that feeling. But we can't exactly just tell her to screw off, either." It was after Chie spoke, that we heard a faint rumbling sound.

I blink. "What was that?" I ask, as I step to the door and press my ear to it. "I can't even hear them anymore."

Yukiko blinks. "Maybe someone should check it out?"

I shrug. "It's worth a shot. Maybe something happened." I slowly open the door quietly to peek inside. There's no one in there! I slowly open the door, and see the dresser open with nothing inside. I look to the others. "I'll check it out. You guys stay here." I walk inside, and make my way to the dresser. There's an opening at the back, like there's a wall panel that opened. I look inside and see steps that lead downward. I start to hear the conversation on the other side. I decide to keep quiet and stay where I am.

"I'm not your enemy. I gave you the horn, I'm actually trying to help you. I just need you to hear me out." The innkeeper says, though I could barely catch it from how softly she spoke.

Dunjar gave a slight pause before speaking as well. "Go on, I am listening." He was much easier to hear, thankfully.

The woman speaks once more. "Like I said in my note, I heard you may be Dragonborn. I'm part of a group that's been looking for you… well, someone like you, for a very long time." She pauses. "That is, if you really are dragonborn. Before I tell you any more, I need to make sure I can trust you."

The nordic man grunts. "Yes. But how I can I know to trust you?"

The innkeeper took another deadpan tone. "If you don't trust me, you were a fool tome come down here int the first place." Well. She has a point.

"Well, why did you take the horn from Ustengrav? He asks.

"I knew the Hreybeards would send you the if they thought you were dragonborn." She pauses once more. "They're nothing if not predictable. When you showed up here, I knew were the one the Greybeards sent, and not some Thalmor plant."

The nord pauses for a moment. "…You said the Thalmor were after you?"

"Yes, we're very old enemies. If my suspicions prove correct, they might have something to do with the dragons returning. But what's important is that you may be dragonborn."

The nord speaks once more. "And why are you looking for a dragonborn?"

The woman speaks in a slightly more audible tone, it seems even she's getting more comfortable under the veil of privacy. "We remember what most don't – that the dragonborn is the ultimate dragonslayer. You're the only one who can permanently kill a dragon by devouring its soul. Can you? Can you devour a dragon's soul?"

The nord speaks. "Aye. 'Tis how I learned I was dragonborn."

Whoa. That's kind of freaky, knowing that this man can devour souls of things that fierce.

"Good." The innkeeper starts. "You'll have the chance to prove it soon enough."

The nord pauses, for a while. "…So. What's the part you aren't telling me?"

The woman softly replies. "The dragons aren't coming back. They're coming back to life. They weren't gone somewhere for all these years. They were dead, killed years ago by my predecessors. Now something's happening to bring them back to life, I need you to help me stop it"

The bearish man snorts. "Do you know how crazy you sound?"

"I once said that myself to an old colleague of mine. And now he was right, and I was not." She says.

"So. What makes you think they're actually coming back to life? Any proof?" Dunjar asks.

"I know they are. I've visited their ancient burial mounds and found them empty." She answers. "And I've figured out where the next one's going to be."

So she really is serious, these things are just coming back to life for some reason. Though, I shouldn't be too shocked. It's a game, and people wrote this.

She starts again. "We're going to go there, and you're going to kill that dragon. If we succeed, I'll tell you anything you want to know."

Dunjar lets out a hearty laugh. "So! Where're we going? It's been a few days since my last dragon kill, and I've been itching for another."

"Kynesgrove. There's an ancient dragon burial mound near there. If we get there before it happens, maybe we'll learn how to stop it." She replies.

"Let's get going, then. I can't wait." The nord says. Wait.

Crap. I need to go. NOW. I quickly walk as silently as I can towards the open door, slinking around it and closing it, turning the knob before it reaches the hinge for a silent contact. I lean against the wall and sigh in relief. "Well. That was a close one." I say.

Chie blinks. "How much did you get?" She asks. The others lean in and look to me expectantly.

"All of it. But they're on their way back here so I can't exactly say what right-." The door opens, the nord and innkeeper emerging from the room, quickly cutting me off.

Yosuke gives a short wave. "How'd the uh… meeting go?" He asks.

Dunjar shrugs. "We have our next mission. We're going to our next dragon." The woman walks towards the exit.

But as the woman passes the person behind the counter, she looks to the man in regular looking clothes and says. " I'm going out. The inn is yours."

The new innkeeper nods. "Right, then. Happy trails."

She then looks to the dragonborn. "The five of you are welcomed to rest, here. I suggest you do so, and meet me at Kynsegrove. If the dragonborn is going to have his entourage, I don't want them being a hindrance by being weary. Name's Delphine, by the way."

The bearded man groans. "Bah. I suppose she is right. Dragons are not something to face with heavy eyelids. Dunjar is my name, it is a pleasure to meet you."

I bow my head politely. "Yu Narukami."

"Chie Satonaka."

"Yosuke Hanamura."

"Yukiko Amagi. It's very nice to meet you!"

Delphine nods. "Likewise. I will travel to Kynesgrove. Meet me there tomorrow afternoon." She walks out the door, and closes the door behind her.

Dunjar shrugs, and walks to the inn room that he had rented earlier. "Well. You all can go and get some food. Just bring me back some mead and maybe a roasted rabbit's leg."

Yukiko frowned at the mention of eating a rabbit. The four of us walk up to the counter, Yosuke resting his arms on the tabletop. He taps his chin and looks at the selection of foods.

The man behind the counter stares at us, and crosses his arms. "What'll you have?" He asks gruffly.

Yosuke shrugs. "Just get me some of the spiced beef. You guys want any?"

I shrug. "Sure." He takes money from a pouch in his pocket and lays out the gold coins.

Chie slams coins on the bartop. "Mammoth steak." She grins. "That sounds pretty good."

The man strokes his chin. "Well. Someone has coin to spend. Not often I get people here ordering the exotic stuff. You're lucky we still have any."

Yukiko sets a few of her coins down, as well. "Just some fish." He smiles, and bows her head.

The cook nods, and takes the coins from the counter. He turns and heads to his cooking area to prepare our food. Yosuke leans on the bartop and looks to the three of us. "Y'know. For a Viking fantasy world, the food here isn't half bad."

Yukiko nods. "It certainly isn't the things I prepare at the Inn, but I guess these people have to get strong with something rather substantive in their stomachs."

Chie nods, and sticks her hands in the pockets of her sweater. "Yeah. They really know how to kill an animal and make a mean steak out of it."

I shrug. "I'm just glad we somehow managed to get this far. We may have faced the TV World, but this world seems to suck to just live in. Dragons coming back to life-."

Yosuke interrupts me. "Whoa. WHOA. They're coming back to life?! Is that one of the things they didn't want us to hear?"

I nod, looking to the kitchen briefly, before turning back to Yosuke. "So. We're not just facing dragons. We're facing zombie dragons. That's… that's kind of messed up."

Chie rolls her eyes at Yosuke. "Oh, c'mon. I'm pretty sure that's not how zombies work. You're just overreacting, like usual."

The cook comes back, with our meals. I take out a few coins and hold out my palm. "A bottle of mead."

The man nods, and takes the coins. "Hm. Figured you lot to be a bunch of milk-drinkers. But it's nice to see one of you appreciates a good mead."

The four of us give quizzical stares and quirked brows, but ultimately we shrug off the thought given to us by the innkeeper. He places the bottle down, next to the plates. We pick up our respective meals and head towards the room. I open the door and walk inside, placing the bottle next to the bed, which Dunjar was sitting on. "Thank ya'." He says, as he opens the bottle and starts taking swigs.

I nod, and sit back against the dresser, putting the plate on my lap. Yosuke, Chie, and Yukiko find their places on the floor and start eating their meals. I look up to the dragonborn and take a bite out of my beef, chewing and swallowing before speaking. "So how long have you known you were dragonborn?" I ask.

The nord shrugs, and takes another gulp of his mead. "Not that long, a week or two now. Can't say it's changed my habits, much. I've always been making my living as a warrior, all this has done is directed my skills towards some sort of cause that's supposedly greater than this world."

Chie stops tearing into her steak for a moment, and looks up. "What do you mean? What've you been fighting before this whole dragons thing happened?"

The bearded man lies back, and shrugs. "Made my living as a soldier, in Windhelm. The Stormcloaks, we're called. We seek to drive the imperials from the land, making sure the native inhabitants aren't stomped out by the imperials who only see our land as a means to an end."

I blink, continuing to eat my food as Yosuke perks up with a question. "So wait, you guys are really going to try and go through with this civil war thing?"

"Well, of course." The nord begins. "The only way you show a mighty power any sort of discontent, you have to raise your blade. Any force that can easily pwer its way through an obstacle will take that route, regardless if you try to throw your words, your papers, your ink, and your quills at it. The Sons of Skyrim will show the Imperial forces that the only way they'll take our land away, is to tread over our lifeless bodies."

The room was silent for a moment, before Yosuke shrugs and speaks once more. "It makes sense, I guess. It'd suck if some bully tried to come to my house and tell me that they owned it, now."

Dunjar smiles just slightly under his bushy mustache, before taking another few swigs of his mead. "I'm glad you understand. Though, what I don't understand is where you kids are from."

I blink. Explaining this will be difficult, especially since trying to explain that someone you're talking to is a fictional character in a world someone made up. "Well. We're from another world. We're not sure how we got here, but we do know that we're going to try and find a way out."

He nods, and sets his bottle down. The hollow clink that resonated hinting at its emptiness. "So here's the more important question. Why did you guys stick around? You have your money, your means of combat, and enough experience in this world to make sure you don't die. But you still seem to be following along. No offense, of course."

Yosuke shrugs. "Well. You're a part of some big, badass destiny that calls upon the gods and stuff. I'm sure if we stick around, we'll find out why we're here, too."

I tilt my head, and take another bite of my beef. Well, it was a better explanation than I had.

Yukiko nods. "Indeed. Besides, it has not been an unpleasant experience traveling with you, so far."

The burly man stifles a chuckle. "Well. At least I know I am given the highest honor of 'not unpleasant'. But I do wonder if that makes it worth the dragon that we'll be willingly visiting the corpse of."

Chie shrugs. "Well. It's better to face them with the guy who apparently is supposed to be some badass dragon slayer." She stuck her tongue out, and set her plate on the dresser, empty.

I give a short nod. "Not to mention the fact that while we can fight, you're the only person here who knows anything about where to go."

The bearded man quirks a brow. "Thanks." His eyelids start to droop downwards, and the man's breathing becomes slower. "Until then, good night. We'll need to be rested for the journey over to Kynesgrove."

"Good night." I say, as I start to take a more relaxed position against the dresser.

Yosuke curls into a ball, and closes his eyes. "Night, guys."

Chie leans back against the door, and starts to drift, off into sleep as well. "See ya' in the morning."

Yukiko spreads out across the ground and lets her eyes close. "Good night." She mutters softly.

My eyelids start to drop, the weight finally becoming apparently as I yawn quietly. Hopefully at some point Teddie will come home, but we still don't know just how long a day is here, compared to home. We'll either have to wait this out, or find our own way home. Maybe a long the way, we'll find clues as to how this all happened.

Hopefully soon, we'll reach out to the truth once more.