The Outlaw (Outlander Fanfiction With A Twist)

Craigh na dun

Diana's P.O.V

Inverness turned out to be a pretty old fashioned town which only added to its welcoming aura. After my arrival I found myself a room in the inn my sister and her husband stayed. Well..Frank would be the only one staying there at the moment .

Opening the wooden door leading into my room I set down my luggage and held my ear to the wall on the right , where the room   that Frank supposedly occupied was  . Nothing could be heard making me sigh, annoyed. I had hoped he was there , sulking away , so that I could talk to him . Hopeful that he didn't change rooms , or inns I decided to take off my coat .

Changing into some clean clothes I left my room and to my surprise a man entered the the room beside me. It must have been Frank for he matched the description . I walked up to his door and knocked on it quite eagerly.

"come in." His masculine voice said loudly yet you could hear pain and tiredness in it too. Gently clutching the handle I swung the door open and walked in . He looked pale and confused rather than annoyed like I thought he would . Pools of dusty brown ,  bloodshot and dim focused on my face .

"Your eyes." He mumbled recognising their shape and colour which he was probably familiar with.

"Have we met?" He asked still pale. His gulp was heard as he stood up from his bed.

"No I don't remember meeting you Mr?" I asked acting like I didn't know his name. I looked at him sincerely. I played the part and he seemed to believe.

"Mr Randall." He walked up and stuck his hand out which I took in mine and shook it.

"So what has brought you to such a town?" Frank asked with a smile , the colour of his face no more equivalent to a sheet of paper . I could see the pain in his eyes though.

"My sister." I answered shortly telling the truth yet steering away from it at least a bit.

"Do I know her?" He asked leading me to the armchairs sitting infront of the fireplace. I slumped down and so did he on the opposite one.

"Maybe I'm not sure." I said with a smile which he returned. I expected him to be more closed off after the disappearance of Claire yet to my surprise he wasn't .

"I have heard of your wife's disappearance." I said cautiously looking straight at him. His smile disappeared replaced by a frown.

"And where are you from miss?" Frank asked curiously leaning in a bit.

"England, the news has spread fast." I informed him earning a laugh which was not caused by humour but anger and madness. Claires disappearance sure took a toll over him.

"Damn press." He said angrily.

"I can help." I said catching his attention.

"And how would you do that?" Frank asked in disbelief.

"I need all the information available. I assure you that I will bring her back... I promise." I said softly. Frank was lost in thoughts for a minute before looking up at me again a bit unsure. In some way I tried to convince myself that it was possible , that I was capable of finding her .

" I tried to find her , I was a detective during the war , she was a nurse ..." Frank said and that's when the story started. He told me about Craigh na dun, where Claire dissappeared. He told me about the legends he was told to how he tried to find her . When he spoke about the legends he laughed at how untrue they were. Some locals believed them at which he laughed at also. At the end of his speech a tear trickled down his cheek and his voice broke .

"Everything's going to be alright." i said as soon as he finished telling me everything he knew . I stood up and hugged him combing my hand through his hair. He hugged me back tightly and carried on sobbing. Frank's heart was broken into pieces leaving a shell of a man. That was the impression I got when I entered the room. Now I see there's some of him left so that when Claire comes back he can gradually become himself again . I haven't met him before yet I could tell he once was a happy person full of life. His sobbing stopped and I pulled back looking into his eyes.

"I will bring her back. Goodbye for now." I said walking up to the door. I was about to close it when a hand gently took a hold of my mine.

"I don't know your name miss." Frank said with a genuine smile.

"It's Diana." I answered walking out the door hearing a faint "My name's Frank." before humming in response and shutting the door. I wasn't the one to believe in fairytales yet there was something behind it.

I needed to relax. Quickly changing into my horseriding boots, jodhpurs and a simple gray t- shirt I took a cab to the stables nearby. I heard , from the in keeper , that a family owned alot of land which you could explore on horseback.

When I arrived at the place I walked into a massive barn with stables and looked around for someone .

"Can I help you miss." a girlish high pitched voice caught my attention. Turning around I came face to face with a girl my size and probably age holding a bridle over her shoulder.

"Yes I wanted to ask if there's a chance I could loan a horse for the week. I can pay right now." I answered with a smile hoping they did that here .

"Yeah sure I'll put away the tack and in the meantime you can pick out a horse. My name's layna by the way." Layna said happily walking towards the tack room. Smirking I walked around the stables looking at different horses. One caught my attention and I knew we'd get along just fine. It was a black Irish sport horse , a gelding standing above 16 hands looking amazing. Soon layna joined me.

"What's that one called?" I asked curiously. Layna looked at the black beauty and smiled.

"That's nightmare. His name sounds dangerous but really he's a big softie . We got him three weeks ago." Layna answered looking at nightmare proudly. We went through with our bargain. I was to pay 100 pounds for one week rental which in my opinion wasn't that bad. I payed her and she showed me all his stuff like tack and brushes.

"Thanks!!" I shouted entering the stable with brushes. Taking out a blue hard brush I made sure that all of the mud on his coat was gone , then I  brushed him fully with softer brushes . Nightmare seemed to enjoy it looking relaxed and standing still. Finishing with that I tacked him up. Not even bothered to put on a helmet I led him out of the stable and mounted . I began with  walking towards a tree line bordering sheds , arenas and pens . The Crosby's which was layna's family owned a lot of land outside Inverness so you could canter one way for at least four hours and only then reach their borders . Kicking nightmare on I rode through  fields , patches of oak trees and  a  forest that stretched for at least fifteen kilometers . Slowing down to a steady walk I admired the beauty of nature around me and breathed in the fresh  air . Not even half an hour later I was out of the forest facing a hill which looked weird with standing stones on top of it and a few trees. It hit me. That was Craigh na dun. That's how Frank described it. That was my chance to check it out. I galloped up the hill and got off nightmare tying him to a fallen tree. As soon as I entered the circle I felt extremely weird. I was drawn in to the centre where a massive standing stone stood. Out of nowhere I heard buzzing. Not the bee kind of buzzing but plane kind of buzzing. It was getting louder and stronger making me cringe and in fear of it being some bombing attack I ran to the fallen tree to untie nightmare. As soon as I did that nightmare reared and galloped away not giving me a chance to get back on. Calming myself down I looked up at the clear blue sky and started thinking rationally. Walking towards the standing stone in the middle made the noise grow louder. It was coming from the stone pulling me towards it. Curious I didn't object and let my feet carry me towards it. As I stood in front of it I reached out touching the stone, coldness sent shivers through my body the whirling of winds could be heard and with that I was swallowed by darkness.

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I imagine Diana as Barbara Palvin x