Beautiful Insanity (A Skyrim/Oblivion Fanfiction) ((ORIGINAL))

High Hrothgar

Note: This would have been much longer, but my computer gave out and corrupted my file. The plot's still here, just not the exact wording, and what happened is gonna be stretched out between a few chapters.

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(Still RussetPOV)

It wasn't difficult to head out. Everyone was packed and ready, and in the wee hours of the morning, no one stopped us. Horses were set for us ahead of time, thanks to the stablemaster. The horses sped up our journey considerably, as we were able to reach the base of the mountain in a few hours.

"Should we follow you up?" Brynjolf queried, climbing off his horse and scrunching his nose. He'd never enjoyed equestrians of any sort, preferring to walk everywhere he could. Kary tipped her head, obviously wondering the same. I hesitated, staring at the small town and then up at High Hrothgar looming over.

No, it's best if I go up alone. "Of course you should come with. This is a family, and we're not going to leave anyone behind." There goes that plan. I'd only just begun walking when my daughter made a sly comment behind me.

"It's not like we're going across the sea," she mumbled. "It's just up the 9,000 steps." A single glare was all it took to keep her quiet, just like when she was young.

"Let's go."

...

Past a few ice trolls and wraiths, we reached the massive stone structure atop the summit. Well, not the absolute top. Paarthurnax was at the tip of the Throat of the World. As it was, I pushed open the great carved doors. "Arngeir?" I called out, looking side to side in search of the speaker for the Greybeards.

"Dovahkiin?" I was taken aback by how little he'd changed. I knew he was elderly, but I'd expected something a bit different. Deviating slightly from the task at hand, I addressed it.

"How do you look exactly the same?" Arngeir looked down at himself, then at Master Bolli. Both appeared as they had two decades before.

"Those who study the Way of the Voice are given longer life by Akatosh. Or perhaps it's simply the meditation and peaceful living, that is unknown to us." I nodded, though in truth my mind was absent. "Dragonborn? Would you mind telling us why you have come here-- and brought these strangers to trespass?" I clenched my hands and met Arngeir's curious eyes.

"These 'strangers' are my family," I growled, annoyed. "Now, let's get down to business." The old Greybeard simply nodded, and the others began to gather around as well. I relayed to them the most recent events, keeping my face a stone. They all simultaneously gasped in concern once I mentioned the Halls of the Damned, but didn't interrupt my tale. "And now, my husband, daughter and I are on our way to rescue Regina," I finished.

High Hrothgar was so quiet, I heard a scrap of paper in a distant room flutter to the floor. Arngeir shared a brief meeting with his fellow Greybeards, then gave me a look of pity. "What? What is it?" Master Wulfgar opened his mouth, and the temple shook with his whisper. In the aftershocks, his voice was lost.

"Damn," Brynjolf grumbled, catching his balance alongside our daughter. I waved him down and faced my mentors once more.

"You know something," I said quietly. "Tell me." All four monks were silent. "Tell me!" This time, it was my own demand that made High Hrothgar shake with its force. It felt wonderful, to release my Thu'um. I'd kept it mostly under lock since Kary had been born.

"You may not like the answer, Dragonborn, and it is not a path we would like to send you on." I clenched my fingers. "Your ancient sins unlocked and given reason to run... it is not what a child of Akatosh should do."

"I don't give a damn about what I should do or shouldn't do! Akatosh be damned!" I screeched, storming around while I vented. "I'm trying to rescue my goddamn child from the most cursed place in existence, and all you're doing is shooting me enigmas that won't help me find Regina!" It appeared that my final scream was what finalized it. Arngeir picked himself off the floor, having been thrown backwards by my thundering response.

"You don't care about your own fate, Dovahkiin?"

"Does it sound like I do? Just open your wrinkled-ass mouths and bestow upon me the holy hogwash!" I heard Kary trying to hold back her laughter, and it almost made me want to smile.

"As you wish." Arngeir nodded to the three others. "Russet, the token you seek? You had it once long ago, and its loss destroyed the foundation of good fortune." I raised an eyebrow, ready to whoop ass. "Don't you understand, Dragonborn? It is the piece that made your broken convent whole, and the piece that will create new paths for you to travel."

"I thought I said no more of that drivel I couldn't understand," I hissed. "Would it kill you... to..." My mind went over the past few minutes, examining their hints over what I needed. "Oh, my gods."

"What? What is it?" Brynjolf ducked around me, followed by our daughter. I closed my gaping jaw and stared at them, heart pounding so loudly I thought they'd be able to hear it.

"Brynjolf, we need to go back," I whispered. "We need the Skeleton Key." He seemed taken aback.

"What?"

"It makes sense," Kary intoned, holding onto my shoulder. I instinctively clasped my hands over hers. "The Key, it opens up doors otherwise impossible to."

"That's not all it does." Bryn's voice was dark. "In the wrong hands, so much destruction could be wrought." I knew he was thinking of Mercer, and in Nocturnal's possession, it would all be so much worse. "It opens the mind as well."

"It's not as if Nocturnal needs the Key to break anything," I spat. "All that matters now is that we get it before she does." I looked at my broken family for confirmation, and to my relief, they all muttered their agreement. "Great." I took a deep breath and stormed outside into the crisp air. "Then let's go get that goddamn key and save Regina!"