[Skyrim Crossover] As if Skyrim wasn't already hectic enough, with its inhabitants fighting both the Aldmeri Dominion and the Empire. Now there's dragons, too, and Emmet finds himself unwittingly roped into the whole mess. What else could go wrong?
Lucy hurried away from the Embassy; the guards would be swarming the hills looking for her before too long. She made it as far as the farm before she had to stop, the tears blurring her vision too much to see. She dropped to the ground, thankful for the cover of darkness, and sobbed. She hadn't expected to be thrown for such a loop.
She sat there on the ground until she cried herself out, feeling drained but at least like she could focus again. The crunch of gravel underfoot caught her attention and she tensed, drawing her blades in preparation. The footsteps stopped. Lucy could just barely count five heads in the dim starlight. One of them moved, and she heard the unmistakable sound of magic being cast- a Candlelight spell, shedding light on the party. She relaxed; they were all familiar, and very welcome, faces. "Lucy!" Kitty cried, running up the path toward her, the light bobbing along beside her. "Are you okay??" Mayhem was close behind her, followed by Bruce, the Black Knight, and Iron-Tail. Lucy leaned into the embrace as her Khajiit friend hugged her.
"I ran into Gissur." Her friends froze.
"That's impossible," Mayhem gasped. "He died in the ambush! I saw him go down!"
"He faked his death," Lucy hissed. "He's the one who sold us out!" Kitty purred softly in attempt to comfort her as the tears started again.
"How did that confrontation end?" Bruce asked.
"I let him go," Lucy growled, angrily wiping at her eyes. "Kind of wish I hadn't. Worm doesn't deserve to live..."
'Retribution will find him,' the Knight assured her. 'I've been told karma's a bitch.' Lucy giggled softly at that. 'Were you able to find anything?'
She brightened up at that. "I was, actually. Turns out the Thalmor aren't behind the dragons- they're just as desperate as we are to find the source and put an end to it." She dragged the sack she'd brought with her into the middle of the circle they'd formed around her, dumping out the books. "I found their dossiers on us, and grabbed those, but the most important one is..." She took a moment to flip through them. "This one." Bruce took it, reading it.
"...Vitruvius?"
Lucy grinned. "I know, I thought all the Blades had been killed, too. But it looks like their lorekeeper is still around, and they think he's hiding in Skyrim. They've even narrowed their search down to Riften."
"We best hurry and rescue the Dragonborn, then," Iron-Tail muttered. "Ye know the Thalmor won't wait to go fetch Vitruvius."
"Is that what you all are doing here?"
'I thought you might be able to use some assistance,' the Knight explained. 'I knew it would not be feasible to take the Dragonborn with you- the plan hinged on luck a little too much as it was. The Legion will only tighten their hold on him now, and attempting to get him back out of Solitude is going to be more than any one of us could accomplish on our own.'
"I did manage to grab something else that might help us with that." Lucy held up the pilfered robes, smirking. "Thought perhaps you or May could pass as a Thalmor mage?"
The Knight's shoulders shook with silent laughter. 'I'm flattered, but I couldn't possibly pass as Altmer. I'm afraid I don't have so much as a drop of elf blood in me.'
"I can, though," Mayhem said, then pouted. "But I'd have to get rid of my blue..." she sulked, running her fingers through her hair.
"No worries, I can fix that!" Kitty chirped. "We'll make you a blondie for the mission, then I'll put your blue back in when we're done!"
"Might work a bit better than just 'cause as much chaos as possible, snatch the Dragonborn, and run', like we've been thinking," Bruce mused. "If we can get the Legion to trust May as a 'Thalmor', she could do the 'snatching' with far less suspicion than any of us."
"Which would leave the rest of us to create a diversion," Lucy added. "What would cause enough of a scene that the Legion would leave Emmet in May's care?"
"Dragon attack be all I can think of," Iron-Tail sighed. He quirked an eye ridge at Kitty. "Or perhaps 'mad Khajiit mage'?" Kitty giggled.
"I am a master of Destruction," she joked, flicking her wrist and summoning a fireball to her palm. "Want me to make things go boom?"
'Or use me as bait.'
Bruce snorted. "That would sure get their attention. Probably make them suspicious too. The Black Knight just shows up in the middle of Solitude, all by his lonesome? No way they wouldn't think we're up to something."
"Nay, that might actually work," Iron-Tail said. "We each show up in different parts of Solitude, split up their attention. Black Knight makes a tempting target, the rest of us set off a few explosions around the city- they'll be spread thin trying to catch all of us and put out the fires. Mayhem sneaks in with little interference, gets the Dragonborn to come with her, and as soon as she gives the signal, we be off."
Lucy shrugged. "Works for me. Maybe try it tomorrow night, use the cover of darkness to our advantage? At least the Legion will be less likely to figure out May isn't fully Altmer if all they have to see her by is firelight."
'It's a plan, then. Come; there's a sheltered spot just a little further west of here where we can set up camp.'
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Emmet was startled when a sudden commotion rose up; it hadn't taken the guards very long to figure out a guest was missing, just a few minutes after he'd finished his song. "WHAT?!" Sirius exploded when it was brought to his attention. "You find her, now!" Emmet swallowed hard, trying not to look as nervous and queasy as he suddenly felt. He really wasn't much of an actor- surely they'd figure out he'd purposely provided a distraction for her-
Two of the guards left, while the others asked the guests if they'd seen anyone leave within the last few minutes. No, of course not- they'd all been too busy staring at Emmet as he sang. He shrank back as a guard scowled down at him next. "You wouldn't happen to have done that on purpose, would you?"
"I'm sorry!" he squeaked out. "I really didn't know I'd get that much attention! I never have before..." He thanked his lucky stars that that was what had decided to come out. It was the truth, after all.
"Likely that came with the awakening of your dragon blood," Sirius sighed, rubbing at his temples. "Who knows what other ways it could have affected your voice? Leave him be, Fainil, I'm quite positive he didn't mean any harm." He turned his attention to the guests. "Alright, party's over. Everyone out. Fainil, Merilor, escort the Dragonborn back to the Winking Skeever. I've got damage control to do now." Emmet hunched his shoulders as Fainil nudged him toward the door.
They walked in silence all the way to Emmet's room at the inn. It had taken every ounce of self-control for him not to start babbling and give away that he had, in fact, distracted everyone on purpose. The soldier standing at his door straightened as they approached. Job complete, Fainil immediately did an about-face and began stalking away again. Merilor rolled her eyes at her companion. "For what it's worth, I very much enjoyed your song," she told Emmet before following Fainil back to the Embassy. He perked up slightly at that, smiling, and bid his curious guard good night before entering his room.
