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Post by DrKilljoy on Sept 28, 2010 0:45:37 GMT -5
Signups closed. Writing phase has begun and ends at 11:59, November 20, GMT.
Contest premise
The idea behind this contest is simple: The contestants involved are to write fanfics crossing over two works that nobody in their right mind would ever blend together. It is up to contestants to assign each other absolutely nonsensical crossover ideas, and each contestant is to then take this idea and do his or her best to write a fanfic that makes it look like these works go together like Cheetos and D&D.
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Rules
None of these are set in stone, so if anyone has any changes to suggest, bring them up and if the ideas prove to be popular, I'll adjust the rules accordingly.
1) There are three phases of the contest: The signing up/fanfic assigning phase, the fanfic writing phase, and the winner decision phase.
-In the signup/assigning phase, people who want to join the contest post in this thread with a terrible crossover idea. Once signups are over, each player involved will be assigned a crossover determined by an RNG I will be making with my awesome programming skillz.
--Don't hesitate to sign up just because you're not familiar with one or both works in the crossovers appearing. PM me about it and see I'll see if you can get the unfamiliar work(s) exchanged for more familiar ones of a similar style/genre. For instance, if you've been assigned an Alice in Wonderland/Halo crossover but never played Halo, Alice in Wonderland/Metroid is just as good.
--I will be in the contest and will take the crossover of the last person to sign up.
--This is more of a guideline than a rule, but please be a bit more imaginative than <insert young children's series here>/<insert gory horror movie here>. I'm not going to say these are banned, and in fact likely won't complain if they show up, but it's not really necessary to assign someone Dora the Explorer/Friday the 13th when there are so many ridiculous combinations that don't rely on "LOL, cute stuff meets gory stuff". With combinations like Evangelion/Seinfeld, The Simpsons/Ace Combat, and Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow/Spore available, there's room for variety here.
-The writing phase begins once everybody is set up with crossovers they're satisfied (to a degree, of course) with, it's time to actually get the fics written. Once that's done, feel free to dump the fanfic into this topic for our viewing pleasure. This phase will likely last about a month. Some guidelines:
--We're busy, we've got schedules, and we'd like to see this completed in a reasonable amount of time, right? You don't need to make fantasy trilogy-length epics. A 3000-5000 word oneshot will suffice.
--Fanfic genre's up to the person writing the fic. It's not about making a fic that SRS BSNS, but rather one that would make someone sit back and say "Wow, the author tied these series together really well," when by all rights it should be impossible.
-The voting phase is where the contestants decide who did the best job pounding a square peg into a round hole. Votes will be sent to me via PM, and I will tally them up and announce the winner. This will likely be very short, lasting a week at the absolute most. Some rules on voting:
--You do not need to be one of the writers to vote on a fic.
--If you are a writer, you may not vote for the fic you wrote.
--I will not be voting, nor will my own fic be eligible to win.
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Signups are over, and we now move onto the contest proper!
Participants:
-Dr. Killjoy (Fallout/Kit N' Kay Boodle)
-Tiberius (Austin Powers/My Little Pony)
-Art Vandelay (H.P. Lovecraft/James Bond)
-impatiens (The Bear Nobody Wanted/Diablo)
-yla (Elfen Lied/The Elder Scrolls)
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Good luck to all the contestants. Try to come out of this with a funny fic, or at least your sanity!
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Post by Yla on Nov 28, 2010 14:00:13 GMT -5
*crickets chirping*
And if you know Higurashi No Naku Koro Ni, you know that's a bad sign. Well, better late than never. It's one week after the deadline, I finally put the last of 6000 words together and my beta-reader was able to tell me that I'm nuttier than a serial-killing squirrel. In short, I'm done.
The crossover is of The Elder Scrolls(mostly Oblivion) and the aforementioned Higurashi No Naku Koro Ni (anime version).
All of the places mentioned are actually present and can be visited in TES4:Oblivion with the exception of the village of Honnleath. I however took the liberty to change their relative location and details about their layout and contents.
English is not my native language, but please don't be shy when I made some grammatical mistakes and point them out to me. Opinions in general are welcome.
That said, enjoy the read!
*drums roll*
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人魂のなく頃に
Hitodama No Naku Koro Ni
When They Cry – Will-o'-the-Wisp
Chapter 1: Coward
Hello. My name is Keirin Mallin. I'm a thirteen year old human and I live in Honnleath in the Nibenay Valley. I remember that my parents moved here from Bravil with me two months ago, and I gather I don't miss the city at all. The air flowing from the Valus mountains down to the Lower Niben is a great change from the smell of wet dog in the streets and canals of Bravil. It's fantastic. I've spent long hours atop the ruins of the Teleman tower, just standing there and breathing (and occasionally looking around and enjoying the view).
“Don't fall down, Keirin.”
Oh, right. My good friend Rikaj was the one who showed this place to me, and she's here even more often than I. She's a year younger than me. You notice the difference right away when you see her, but you wouldn't guess her age in a thousand years if you would just talk with her.
“Don't worry. I'm careful.”
Rikaj smiled, and a voice came from the base of the old ruin
“If you fall down, Keirin, I would catch you!”
That would be Rena, another good friend of mine. She's an elf, which would be why she heard me down at the entrance below us, where she is standing and looking up to us.
Rikaj rushed to the edge of the platform so fast that I was afraid she would fall down. Seeing Rena, she squealed and waved towards her.
“Hi Rena!”
“Hi Rikaj. Hi Keirin. I'm so sorry to disturb you, but there are touring minstrels at the Drunken Dragon Inn.”
“Really?”
Rena's mouth twisted to a smirk.
“I can understand if you'd rather stay here and...”
“Don't be a fool. Wait a moment, we're coming down.”
Rikaj and I scurried down the decayed stairs. Rena was waiting for us to arrive, then we started to run across the woods.
The Drunken Dragon was an Inn in the wilderness right next to the Yellow Road. Honnleath itself was rarely host to any travelers or visitors, but the Inn served as a common destination for both travelers on the imperial Road, and the locals. For us children, it was without question the best place to go for excitement. Touring minstrels qualified as such, and we wouldn't miss this for money.
Even before we cleared the last hill before the Inn, we could hear that Rena had spoken true. Loud talking and laughs sounded from the cottage. Yes, two Argonians from the Black Marshes were putting on a show with fire spells. They were breathing fire, molding the flames into shapes, fighting each other. Almost forty villagers were standing in a (wide) circle around them, watching, aah-ing and ooh-ing all over. I spotted my friends Minynn and Saowo, and we joined them watching the performers.
Soon, music began to fill the air, as their colleagues finally got out their instruments. A Bosmer woman with little clothing began to dance, and some people turned around to watch her. The Argonians pretended to be indignant and sent a flaming phoenix over their heads. The audience flinched, then laughed, and the dancer walked over to the fire-breathers, and they joined their performance. I didn't know how long they went on, but when they stopped after a fiery(literally) finale, the applause was deafening. I clapped until my hands hurt. I fumbled in my pocket, but I didn't have any money with me. A huge amount of coins dropped into the collector bowls anyway.
The dancer and two other minstrels walked over to secure the money, and some of the men immediately tried to chat her up. Minynn squeed. “That was so awesome!”
“Did you see when the fire snake wrapped around her?”
“Of course, Keirin. I'm not blind.”
“Yeah, but that doesn't help you much when she comes at you from behind.”
“Wha...”
She tried to turn around, but it was too late. Saowo had taken my words as a cue to jump on her back. Min screamed and tried to wrangle her off, but we all knew from experience that if our Khajit friend, the youngest of our group, held onto someone, no power in Tamriel could pry her off. And jumping on people's backs was something of a hobby for her. At least she usually kept her claws sheathed. Finally Minynn gave up, and Saowo let go. Min ordered her hair again, and gave us both angry looks.
“You're gonna pay for this, Saowo. Better watch your back. And you too, Keirin.”
“Why? What did I do?”
My proclamation of innocence would have been more believable if I wouldn't have grinned like a mad ape.
“You set her up. Don't try to deny it. I'm gonna tag your ass!”
She grabbed for me, but I was faster. My feet carried me away from her. Saowo meowed joyfully, and Min went into pursuit. I ran towards the Drunken Dragon. There was a small shed behind her I had used to escape her several times already. I imagined her face when she would return, exhausted from fruitless pursuit, and find my standing amidst our friends. As I turned the corner of the inn, my thoughts were interrupted by my feet not landing on grass and me falling down (pain). I looked back and saw the unfortunate remains of a kantele, which had lain on the ground. I had stepped on it in a full run. The strings were ripped, and the body now had a big foot-shaped hole .
“You idiot! Look what you've done!”
A young man, one of the performers, stood up from where he had been sitting. The looks he shot at me were nothing short of murderous. Apparently he had been the owner of the instrument. I scrambled to get up and apologized.
“I'm sorry. I.. I didn't wa.. want to do this.”
“'Sorry' is a cheap word, you little shit. This kantele wasn't. You're gonna pay for this.”
Before I could even think about anything, his fist struck me in the face (pain). I fell (pain) down.
“And I was talking about money. How often do I have to (pain) kick you till you throw up some (pain) coins, huh?”
His foot swung around, but the (pain) impact never came. Instead, he stared over to someone behind me. In his eyes laid confusion, but it soon transformed into fright. His face went white. I turned around to see that it was Min standing there, looking menacingly at him. And behind her, half the village.
“What...”
“Leave Keirin alone, you bad man!”
“Go away! Now! Or I'll show you what I can do with a dagger.”
“Leave the boy alone if you know what's good for you.”
“Be glad I'm not twenty years younger, asshole!”
“Leave our village. You're no longer welcome!”
The musician turned around and fled, failing to take his broken instrument with him. Min stepped towards me to help me up.
“Be more careful next time, Keirin. I don't want you to get hurt.”
“Me neither. Thanks for the help, everyone!”
Still slightly surprised at the commitment that was just shown to me, I thanked the assembled people, but they were already dispersing again.
“Wow. I didn't expect all of you coming to help me.”
“You're living in Honnleath now. You're one of us, and we stand for each other against strangers. It's always been thus.”
“I didn't know that. Thanks.”
“Isolated communities often display such a strong solidarity.”
The last words were spoken by a Altmer woman stepping out of the inn's door. She had long, blond hair and was wearing something resembling a mage's robe. She was smiling widely and her voice was gay when she addressed Min.
“Greetings, daughter of the Sinnon family. And... I'm sorry, but I don't know you.”
She looked at me curiously, and I explained.
“I'm Keirin. Keirin Mallin. My family is new at Honnleath.”
“Welcome. I'm Talann Miko, a... Well, it's complicated, but I call myself a sociologist. I study how all the peoples of Tamriel are living together, and it's for that reason I'm here now.”
Min frowned.
“Are you saying you're spying on us?”
“Minynn, do think that maybe Honnleath has a special reason to not welcome strangers?”
I protested. “They did welcome me when my family came here.”
Min ignored me. “What do you mean, special reason?”
“Do you know about Honnleath's secret?”
“Honnleath has no secrets.”
Min's voice had grown cold, while Talann's grin expanded till it looked decidedly unhealthy. When I saw the looks they gave each other, I shivered.
“Come to the riverbend tonight, two hours before midnight, if you're curious.”
Talann let out a subtle laugh and disappeared back into the inn.
“Keirin! Are you all right?”
Rena, Rikaj and Saowo came running towards us, having heard of my unfortunate encounter with the minstrel. Neither Min nor I brought up Talann.
I thought about how it might be not the wisest of ideas to sneak out in the night to meet a creepy old woman at the riverbend, but my curiosity got the better of me. This wasn't the first time I was out at night, after all. It was the first time alone, however. When I was with Saowo or Rena or someone, the black shadows between the dark shapes of trees were just that: shadows between trees. Now though, I was a little scared. And when..
“Keirin!”
“Hwaaaa!”
“Be silent! It's me, Minynn.”
“Oh. Good. So you're coming, too?”
“I don't trust that Talann woman. But I... I knew you would go and... I didn't want you to go alone with her.”
“Oh. Thank you, I guess. For going with me.”
It was pitch dark, but I swear I saw Min blush. Acting out an impulse, I took her hand and together we marched down to the river bank. The red shape of Masser hung over the bend of the Panther River. The woods on the other side of the water were illuminated by dancing Wisps.
Min spoke.
“It's beautiful.”
“Yeah. I...”
We were interrupted by Talann.
“Hello, kids.”
“Good evening, Madam Miko. You said you wanted to show us something.”
“And I will. I'm surprised, though, to see you here, Minynn. I thought you knew about this.”
“No. I don't know what you're talking about.”
“So the Sinnon really left their daughter in the dark. Fools. No matter. We are going to cross the river now. Please stand still...”
She waved her hand and green light emerged from it. Before I could react, she turned around and started to walk on the water.
“It's a Water Walking Spell. Follow me.”
Min shyly toed the water, but I was past hesitation. A feeling of adventure excitement gripped me. I wanted to see what Talann would show us, at all costs. I took Min's arm and pulled her after me. The soles of our shoes touched the water, but nothing more. Talann's spell carried us safely over the Panther, to the Ayleid ruins of Welke. We had been playing there occasionally, but Min and I were very surprised to see Talann uncover a hidden door in the marble walls. As soon as she touched the handle, the Wisps in the surrounding woods began to buzz, warning us, pleading with us, but we were determined to go. We followed Talann into the underground hall.
Min made a little scream when Talann spoke a lighting spell. The hall was clearly a chapel or another place of worship. Tables with strange tools adorned the walls, and a colossal statue of a lady with braided hair, wielding a staff. Talann placed herself in the center of the room and looked up to the statue. Min quickly scurried to the side wall, where a number of alcoves contained small altars with strange metal instruments.
I felt a strange desire to get out of the sculpted lady's view and took to Min in the shadows, but a glimpse back to the statue gave me the feeling that her – no, its eyes were following me. Talann, still looking defiantly at it, spoke up.
“Do you know of the Daedra, Keirin Mallin?”
“Uhh. Yeah. A bit.”
I was wary. Talking of the Daedra was never good. They weren't evil in the classical meaning of the word, but it was very dangerous to gain their attention. And other than the Divines, they were aware of the things happening on Nirn. I didn't knew much however, as Mother immediately shut me up if I brought them up.
“This is a shrine dedicated to the Daedric Prince Vaermina, patron of nightmares and evil omens. The shrine has been created here only after the downfall of the Ayleids, but the people of Honnleth worship her ever since.”
“What? A Daedra cult in Honnleath?”
“It would be more accurate to speak of all of Honnleath as a Daedra cult.”
I was shocked. I didn't know this about my home village. A Daedra cult? Impossible! I felt the need to defend us.
“Daedra worship is not illegal. It's frowned upon by the Church, true, but...”
“Ah, Keirin, there is so much more about this. More that just Daedra worship. An old woman I ... convinced to speak told me that Honnleath was founded by a Daedric servant of Vaermina who was cast out of Oblivion and down onto Nirn. She went to live among the men for many, many years, but she never grew bitter of her exile and stayed true to her Prince. By her subtle command, her human followers made sacrifices to Vaermina, and even after her death, a line of priests continued to torture and kill sacrifices in Her name. The custom seems to have died out eighty years ago, however. One of the reasons I am here is because I want to find out why – or even if they actually ever stopped.”
“You lie!”
I didn't know whether I or Min shouted, but it was only one voice. I didn't know what to make of this. I liked Honnleath, but there was nothing that truly contradicted her. The villagers were indeed secretive and unwelcoming to strangers. It had taken some time until me and my family was accepted.
“I may be erring, but I am not lying. I will stay here in Honnleath until I know the truth. I wish you a good night.”
She turned around and left Welke. Min and I watched her go. Min's expression was torn between anger and fright, and I was sure I looked somehow the same. I felt the need to reassure her.
“She's probably lying.”
“I will ask my family. If what she says is true, they would certainly know. But I am almost of age. They would have told me by now. I'm sure she's lying. But Keirin – no matter was is true, we shouldn't be in here. Let's go now.”
We left Welke and gave special care to close the door again. Talann's spell still held and we crossed the river for Honnleath and our beds. But I couldn't sleep well in that night.
The next day was a market day in Honnleath. My mother was sick and sent me to buy a new cooking pot, instructing me sternly that I wasn't to waste the money on sweets before acquiring the new implement. I met my friends at the chapel. As I came near I could see that Rikaj was sitting on the stairs, crying, while the other gathered around her, trying (and failing) to comfort her.
“My father is gone.” she sniffled. “He.. he went out for air last night, and when he didn't came back, I went looking for him. But he was.. just gone.”
“Gone? Did he walk away?”
Saowo, her eyes lowered, answered that.
“When Rikaj wasn't able to find him, she went to my house and woke me. I have a good nose, but he wasn't anywhere in or near the house and all trails of his scent leading away were at least half a day old. Rikaj's father has completely disappeared. We don't know how.”
“But.. why?”
“We don't know that either.”
“He is my father!” Rikaj cried out. “Why would he leave me like that?”
“It's okay, Rikaj. We are still here. We will not leave you.”
Rikaj gave me a thankful look, but I didn't know what to say further. I didn't want to imagine what I would feel if my parents would disappear suddenly.
Min spoke up. “I informed the village council. They sent out search parties who are currently combing through the swamp and along the Imperial Road. But I don't believe they will find him, as much as I hate to say it. If he has walked away, Saowo would have picked up his trail.”
House rule when playing Hide and Seek that Saowo was to never be 'it'. But I didn't felt like comparing Hide and Seek with searching an actually missing person. The one was a game. The other... wasn't. In a game, Rikaj wouldn't bawl her eyes out. And we others weren't much cheerier. All we could do was to be with poor Rikaj.
In the afternoon, the search teams returned without success. Rikaj was not thrilled (to say the least) to spend the night alone in her home, and Saowo invited her to her room. This helped to cheer Rikaj up at least a bit, and the two went their way. Rena excused herself, and Min took my hand to drag me out of the open and started to whisper.
“Listen, Keirin, something else isn't right. You don't have seen Talann again since last night, have you?”
“No, I didn't. But I didn't seek her out, though. I just didn't...”
“It's okay. I don't like her, either. But I remembered something I had to talk to her about, and she isn't lodging in the Drunken Dragon anymore. The keeper said she never came back to the inn tonight.”
“So she left. She returned to Bravil, or to the University. She didn't say she was done with her studies, did she?”
“No. Then she would have taken her things with her. But her books and everything are still in the room she rented. I broke into it and checked. I'm sure she disappeared the same way as the.. as Rikaj's father.”
“You think their disappearance is related? Why?”
“I.. I have to tell you something, Keirin. I lied when Talann showed us the shrine. I never was in there, true, but I know that a lot of people in Honnleath do pray to Vaermina.”
“What? You knew all along and didn't tell me? Why?”
“I'm sorry. I didn't tell you because there is more to it than that. Over the years, as far back as I can remember, there were a number of people who somehow insulted or angered V... Her priests. They all disappeared without a trace soon afterwards.”
I couldn't speak. This couldn't be happening. What I was desperately trying to deny in my thoughts, Min spoke out.
“And that means we are in danger. Someone knows that we broke into the shrine and made Talann disappear. And if we aren't very careful, sooner or later we will disappear, too.”
“But.. why did Rikaj's father disappear, then? What did he do?”
“I don't know. But he is, in fact, the High Priest of Vaermina in Honnleath. Rikaj is his heir.”
“Rikaj? Our Rikaj?”
“Yes. I'm not sure, but she is old enough that he involved her in his duties and prepared her to succeed him.”
“You haven't told the others about us going into the shrine, have you?”
“No, not yet.”
“Then.. please don't tell Rikaj. If she is the heir to the priest, she might get very angry at us.”
“But.. it's Rikaj. She is our friend.”
“I know. But please trust me, and be careful what you say around her.”
I didn't like it either, keeping secrets from our friend. But we couldn't take risks. Min nodded.
“Okay. I'm sorry I didn't tell you earlier, Keirin. I have to ask my family something. We will talk again tonight. Come to my house.”
And before I could even react, she rose up a planted a kiss on my cheek.
“Goodbye, Keirin.”
It took a while before I could walk again.
Saowo and Rikaj were busy moving Rikaj's stuff to Saowo's home. Rena was.. somewhere. I loitered around the village, thinking. I wanted to go back to Welke, but I didn't dare going alone. It would be too dangerous. With the night, I arrived at Min's house. She wasn't outside waiting for me. Silently I sneaked to the window where I knew her bed to be.
“What are you doing here?”
I swirled around. A middle-aged woman stood before me, a kitchen knife in her hand. My sudden bout of panic deflated again when I recognized her as Minynn's mother, who likely had to say something about me sneaking around her house.
“Excuse me, Mrs. Sinnon, but I'm looking for Min.”
“Hah! You're the Mallin boy who always hangs around with her, aren't you? Well I guess she is finally growing old enough for boys. But no, she isn't here. I haven't seen her for some time today. You don't happen to have something to do with that, have you?”
“Uhh..no.”
“I just wish she wouldn't sneak out at night anymore.”
She sighed and went back into her house. I fled. So Min was gone now, too. The hunter, whoever he was, would go for me next. It was too dangerous to be around tonight. I fled to the only safe place left, the most safe place a child ever knows. I fled home and barricaded my room. I laid down on my bed, but I didn't dare to sleep, staying vigilant.
When the sun finally rose for the morn, I hadn't known a single moment of sleep. But I had made a decision. I had to come clear with the hunter and apologize, otherwise I wouldn't survive this day. I marched to Saowo's house, where I knew Vaermina's future priestess to be. If there was someone who could possibly be able to help, it would be Rikaj.
She was up and stood on the small hill the house of Saowo's family was built on, watching towards the south. As I approached her, she noticed me and came towards me.
“Hi, Keirin!”
Despite what happened yesterday, there was still a happy tone in her voice. But it was sadder than usual, and I could see that she had been crying again this morning.
“Hello, Rikaj. I... I wanted to talk to you about... about something.”
“What did you do, Keirin?”
Her voice had changed, not completely emotionless, but very formal, and she stared at me as intently as if she wanted to look into my bare soul. My courage vanished immediately.
“I..I.. Nothing!”
“Liar.”
Rikaj didn't shout or became angry in any way. She just stated it like a fact. And she seemed... sad, somehow.
“How.. I... um... I'm sorry. I met a woman yesterday at the inn, and she showed me the shrine in Welke.”
“You shouldn't be in there.” Again the sad, resigned tone, as if she were a unmotivated actor in a play. It was creepy.
“I'm sorry. I...”
Then, Rikaj's all-too-well-known and dearly missed smile was back.
“I forgive you.”
To be honest, that was not what I had expected.
“F..forgive me? Why?”
“Why not? What is so terrible about entering the shrine, after all?”
“What are you saying? You know about the shrine, don't you. About V..Vaermina. You know people kept disappearing for doing things like I did. What do you have to do with all this?”
Rikaj was obviously embarrassed, but I wanted finally some answers. Talann and Min had both been stalling me, holding off on me. I wouldn't let Rikaj off the hook, now.
“Why did you keep this a secret from me? Tell me! You are one of them, are you not? What did you do to Talann? What did you do to Min?”
I cursed the words flowing out of my mouth, but the unspeakable accusation was spoken. Rikaj stared at me, eyes wide open. I had betrayed her, turned on her. I had attacked her when she was most vulnerable. I had destroyed our friendship beyond any hope of repair. She was sure to hate me from now on. I turned around and began to run. I had to run, had to strain myself physically because otherwise I would have broken down. I was so sorry to have done that to Rikaj. What had happened? This was all so wrong. Where did it start to grow wrong? I ran away.
In the woods, there was a small camp where we used to play, in past days, in another world. It was surrounded by a opaque shrubs, and it was a good spot to hide if you didn't know about it. I fell down there, tired from running. I felt like shit.
The sun began to rise for its zenith when calls sounded through the woods.
“Keirin! Rikaj! Saowo! Min! Where are you?”
That was Rena's voice. I responded and rose out of the bushes. Rena immediately spotted me.
“I'm so glad to have finally found you, Keirin! I searched the entire morning, and but I found no one of us.”
She didn't find Rikaj or Saowo?
“Rena, I have to tell you something. I did something very stupid the night before yesterday. A woman called Talann, Min, and I broke into the shrine of Vaermina over in Welke. We..”
Rena interrupted me. Apparently everyone had known about the cult but me. Why?
“You shouldn't have done that!”
The angry voice disappeared, and Rena was like always, nice and forgiving.
“But it's okay. I'm sure you were just curious.”
“Yes, but... the next day, Rikaj's father disappeared. I've never seen Talann again, and Min is gone too since last night.”
Rena's face distorted into an expression of utter shock.
“Oh no! I hoped it wouldn't be so, but.. Apparently, it has begun again.”
“Begun again? What do you mean? Do you know about the people disappearing?“
“No, but...”
She straightened.
“There is evil abound in Honnleath. I'm sure of it. Our friends have disappeared. We can't just stand here.”
Inspiration struck me. Of course.
“We will go back to Welke. To the shrine. It has something to do with it, I'm sure.”
“Yes. I will get my dagger from home and we'll go.”
“You think we are gonna need to be armed?”
“I hope not, but it's better to be prepared.”
“True.”
Without further words, we went to Rena's home. I had never seen her wearing the small belt with the sheath, but when she came back out, I admired how she looked with it, how it contrasted with the white dress she wore as always. She was a child still, like all of us, but that day she looked more the warrior than I had ever seen anyone. We ran to the river. That day, no Talann would help us cross it, but Rena didn't hesitate one moment and went into the water. We emerged, dripping wet, in front of the ruins. The door stood open, a fact I immediately informed Rena of.
“The door is open! That means someone is in there.”
“Quiet! Let's go in, and be careful!”
She loosened the dagger in the sheath, and we sneaked into the shrine. The hall was just like I remembered it. The statue of the lady stood unmoved. While I had had a slight feeling that her eyes were following me the first time I had entered the shrine, this time I was certain of it. I sighed in relief when we passed it and went for the deeper chambers.
“Do you hear this?” Rena whispered to me.
“What?”
“Shhh. Just listen.”
I kept my ears up, but I didn't hear anything beyond both our breaths.
“I hear sobbing. Of a girl, but I don't know who. But human.”
This gave us hope. So either Rikaj or Minynn would be somewhere here. The door in the back of room gave way to a long staircase. Rena lead the way, and I tried not to stumble in the darkness. Finally, weak lighting announced the end of the descent. Rena turned the last corned and screamed.
“Aedra's Mercy, no!”
She stumbled back, and I could see what had put her in such a state. The staircase ended into another door, and to the door was nailed a beast's hide. Blood was still dripping from it. And my eyes betrayed me by recognizing the pattern on the fur, and by seeing the glint of Saowo's little turquoise amulet hanging from one nail.
Rena was vomiting amongst her tears, and felt very much like joining her. Saowo...
I could hear the faint sobbing now, too. Saowo was dead, butchered like an animal. But there was someone still alive behind that door, and we couldn't leave her in this cursed place. It took some time before we could open the door, however. I desperately wanted to remove the remains of our friend from the nails and give them a more dignified resting place. But we just couldn't bear ourselves to touch her bloody fur, and finally we settled for carefully opening the door. Saowo was dead. We had to care for the living, now.
There was another chamber, smaller, but again full of strange tables, contraptions, and metal instruments. This time I recognized them. They were all torture implements. All of them were covered with dried blood, and two of them had fresh blood. I was filled with horror as I looked around. In the corner of the torture chamber were a number of jail cells. Rena saw something in one of them.
“Min!”
The blood-splattered, naked, shivering body of our friend moved. When she registered us, she screamed.
“No! Don't...”
Rena touched the bar of the jail cell, and the entire room disappeared in a flash, then in (pain) darkness.
(pain)
I couldn't see. I tried to remove the cloth over my eyes, but my hands wouldn't move however I tried. Then I recalled that no cloth was lying on my face, but my lids were still closed. I opened my eyes and saw that I was bound to one of the tables. Rena laid unmoving on the ground beside me, her hand tied, and with a noose around her neck. I looked around, but Min was no longer here.
I heard a faint groan next to me.
“Rena. Are you okay?”
Rena hadn't recovered enough from the spell trap, but then the door flew open and I barely believed my eyes when Rikaj walked into the room and towards me, a dagger in her left hand and a fierce determination in her eyes.
“Rikaj! At least you are still alive! What..”
She slapped me. I was baffled.
“Stupid and naïve as always.”
She took the winch and turned it several times. Rena was yanked up from the floor and forced to stand. She gagged, tried to move her hands, and opened her eyes.
“Rikaj...”
...raised the noose another inch, and Rena flailed around trying to find her footing again. She had to stand on her toes now to avoid suffocating. I screamed at Rikaj.
“What are you doing? Why are you doing this?”
Rikaj took a small weight from a table and hung it on a special hook on the winch. Then she turned to me and grinned.
“You desecrated the Vaermina shrine in that night, Keirin, and I will punish you now. Rena helped you, so she deserves death, too. The rope will continue to shorten, and eventually she will hang like the traitor bitch she is.”
“Why are you so sadistic? What happened to the Rika(pain)aaaarghh!!”
(pain)
Rikaj had driven the dagger through my ankle (pain).
“I am the High Priestess of Vaermina (pain). For centuries, Daedric blood (pain) has flown through the veins of my family. I am (pain) the last descendant of the one who began our (pain) service to Her. It is my duty to see that all that bring dishonor to Her (pain) will be punished.”
She stopped, and the expression in her face changed to something I couldn't decipher.
“But I do what I do now because I (pain) am giving both of you a chance. I'm gonna offer you a deal here, Keirin. When you die (pain), I will cut the rope and set Rena free. But if you live long enough to see her die, I will stop killing you. One of you may survive (pain). That is my offer.”
I looked over to Rena. Her face was growing darker, and the noose (pain) excoriated the skin on her neck. She was snapping for (pain) air and the look in her half-closed eyes was nothing but desperate.
“Then what are you waiting for? Kill me! (pain)”
“Really? You do want to die, Keirin? You might have a life left to live. You might have a destiny to fulfill. And you are (pain) my friend. I don't want to kill you.”
“No (pain)! You killed Min and Saowo. You were probably the one who killed your father, too. And now you're trying to kill Rena and me. I'm (pain) not your friend. Not anymore!”
Rikaj sneered disappointedly at me and twisted the (pain) dagger slightly (pain).
“No, you aren't. You were afraid that Rikaj (pain) would rat you out, so you didn't tell her that you broke into the shrine. You didn't trust (pain) her, and when you finally told her, you only did so (pain) because you didn't have much choice left. And instead of being grateful and sorry when she stood to you, you got angry and berated her and condemned her. Face (pain) it, Keirin. You and Rikaj stopped being friends days ago. But I still don't (pain) understand why you want me to kill you now. That is, except maybe because (pain) you don't want to suffer (pain). But I can't believe you're that much of a (pain) coward.”
“Isn't it obvious? I want to die (pain) so Rena might live. I was the one who brought her into this. This is all my fault, and if with my death I can set her free, I want to do so. It's the (pain) least thing I can do now.”
Rikaj's sneer developed into an expression of pure hatred and jealousy. The dagger (pain) parted (pain) my flesh (pain) while she pulled (pain) (pain) it up my leg (pain).
“It's (pain) the only thing (slash) (pain) you can do (pain) now (pain), actually. Then I suggest (slash) you (pain) try to die (pain) quickly, Keirin (pain).”
(slash)(pain)(pain)
(slash)
(stab)(pain)(pain)(pain)
(pain)(pain)
(slash)(pain)
(pain)(slash)(pain)
(stab)(pain)(slash)(pain)(pain)
(stab)(pain)
(slash) It hurt. (slash)(pain)
(stab)(pain)(slash)
(pain)(pain)(pain)
(slash)(pain)
(pain)(pain)(pain)(pain)
(death)
(return)
(pain)
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