//------------------------------// // 3: Weynon Priory // Story: Nightmare Moon Crashes the Oblivion Crisis // by Blackdrag-rose //------------------------------// As the light of the early morning peaked over the mountains Rend groaned from the night's sleep on the ground, as he had spent the last week in a jail cell and had slept on a stone bed until his fate showed it's hand. Shadow and Pandora were still asleep in their own bedrolls, which he expected from them, and the fire was slowly dying out, but there was someone missing from the campsite. He raised his hand to his chest and felt for the Amulet, releasing a sigh of relief as he found it where he had left it the night before, but once he knew it was safe he looked around for the last member of their group. Then he found her in the middle of the river, her signature azure armor resting by the edge of the riverside, so Rend immediately put two and two together and knew what she was doing. "Good morning Nightmare Moon," Rend said, stopping at the bottom of the hill so he didn't disturb her too much. "Rend Org'resh," Nightmare exclaimed, her head turning around so she could glare at him, "I would request that you look away before I am forced to take actions against you for peeping at me." Rend sighed and turned around almost immediately, knowing that he didn't want to chase Nightmare away before she even knew what they would be fighting for. Plus he didn't want to end their partnership on account of something foolish. He'd rather just earn her trust by respecting her privacy and her skill in combat, rather destroying what little trust they had between them. As he waited for Nightmare to speak to him he heard the sound of armor being picked up from the sand, followed by pieces of metal rubbing up against each other, and then the sound of the battleaxe being lifted up and heaved into position on her back. "Very well Rend Org'resh," Nightmare said, dusting off her armor and making sure she was presentable, "I am decent. You may turn around now." Rend turned around and faced his companion, finding that, now that the blood and dust of the Arena was cleaned from her skin, she looked even more stunning than she had been before. Even now he could tell that she was dangerous, but, considering what the late Emperor told him and his friends before he died, he'd be needing her before the end. "I would like to apologize for my rudeness, first," Rend said, stepping to the water and cleaning his own swords for a moment, "I saw you bathing and I should not have come down to talk to you, and for that I apologize. Secondly, I feel that I should apologize for sneaking up on you with my friends and bringing your into our mess, one that the Emperor assigned to the three of us. I should have explained what the three of us would be facing and asked if you would be willing to fight by our sides, rather than just drawing you in like that..." "It is over and done with Rend Org'resh," Nightmare replied, walking up the hill and returning to the campsite, "besides, I have been itching to get out of the Imperial City since the day I arrived in the Arena. I haven't had the chance to explore the province of Cyrodiil until today and I intend to make the most of my time here before I'm forced to return home. Your quest sounds like a righteous one, so I do not hold you accountable for 'bringing me into your mess', as you so accurately put it." "She's mad I say!" they heard Pandora say, just as they came over the top of the hill and saw their companions making breakfast, "We'll all go mad before we reach the end of our quest!" "Yes, as you've told us a hundred times already," Shadow replied, sighing as he noticed them coming their way, "Good, you guys didn't leave without us, as Pandora was afraid of the moment she woke up and noticed you two were missing. I swear, someone in the Imperial City must have heard her shout, so we had best be underway soon before someone comes looking for us." "I understand," Rend said, accepting a small plate with some strips of meat and bits of fruit, "I'm glad that we managed to get enough gold to afford something small like this. I doubt we'll be getting anything more than this until we reach the Priory or get invited to a dinner by some respectable member of society." Nightmare looked down at her own plate and stared at the piece of meat, something that she only had whenever she had visited the Griffin Kingdom. It was something that she had hidden from her SISTER, who merely ate fruits, vegetables, cheeses, and whatever tea suited her at the time, until the one fatal visit where she learned the truth. She liked the taste of meat, which she developed the proper teeth to eat it with, and enjoyed her visits to the griffins, until she had become what she was now and was banished from her home. She picked up a piece of meat and tore it in half, glad to have something that wasn't the tasteless stew that was served to all ranks of fighters in the Arena. "As you all know we are journeying to Weynon Priory," Rend said, interrupting her thoughts and whatever Shadow and Pandora were talking about, "which is to the west of us. No doubt we will face some bandits that want to rob us blind, but with all of our combined skills I'm certain that we'll get to our destination in no time. Hopefully Jauffre will be willing to see us the moment we reach the Priory, only so we can deliver our 'package' to him safely. Once everyone is ready to leave we'll depart from this camp and get underway." It took them ten minutes to eat their meager meal, wash and dry their dishes, and pack up what little they had in their camp before they were ready to depart. Fortunately for them there happened to be a bridge down the river, with no one walking on it, so they crossed over the planks and came to a stop in front of a sign that told them the direction of the major cities. Rend immediately spotted which direction Chorrol was in, which was followed by him directing his companions in that direction and them beginning down the path. While they walked Nightmare made sure to count what weapons her traveling companions had, finding that Shadow had a simple iron sword and shield and Pandora was sporting a bow with a quiver on her back. The only fighting style they were missing was magic, but she had that covered in the unlikely event that they needed magic to move on in their quest. Rend was, of course, sporting two iron swords, which had been cleaned before they had left and they appeared ready for anything or anyone. Pandora and Shadow took the front of the line, also telling her that they wanted to keep the package that Rend held safe at all costs, so she stood beside him and kept an eye out for anything dangerous. "So, what's Pandora's problem?" Nightmare asked, catching Rend's attention before beckoning to the breton, "One minute she seems to be normal and then the next moment she breaks down and says something about being mad." "I had the pleasure to inquire about that while we were all waiting for our fates to be decided in the Imperial Jail," Rend commented, returning his gaze to the road while he considered what to tell her, "Pandora says that its something that she was born with and, while most people would consider something like that a curse, I am inclined to believe that its fate calling on her. Sheogorath, the Daedric Prince of Madness, is said to give certain mortals a small fraction of his own madness, so that one day they'll find their way to the Shivering Isles and serve him to the end of their days. According to Pandora she hasn't even been to the Shivering Isles, so she's, somehow, fighting her destiny and is slowly descending into madness as a consequence." "I see," Nightmare said, feeling sorry for the poor breton for what's happening to her, "What about how each of you ended up in Jail? I almost ended up there when I arrived in the city." "Well, some drunken nord saw me walking on the road and decided to provoke me," Rend replied, shaking his head at the memory, "I, ugh, ended up beating the stuffing out of him with my fists, but before I could finish him off a guard came upon us and arrested me on the spot. Apparently the nord was a noble that hailed from Skyrim, so he sneered at me and said that I'd be in jail for the rest of my life until he called for me to be executed in his homeland. Shadow came by just a moment later to tend to the noble, mentioning something about the Divines, but the noble noticed something on his belt and told the guard that he found the 'thief' that stole something from him. Pandora, on the other hand, was apparently hunting in the wild near the city and caught a deer that she was going to skin and harvest, but then a guard came by and arrested her on the stop. According to what I heard she was trespassing in the Imperial soldier hunting ground and they threw her in with the two of us, where we were supposed to spend the rest of our days. That was until Fate smiled upon us and the Emperor himself pardoned us, allowing us to follow him through his secret escape tunnel and gave us this quest." Nightmare nodded and remained silent, making a note that some of the nobles of this world were as difficult as the nobles she had left in Equestria. Still, the fact that a noble would pick a fight with Rend and then throw an innocent healer in jail made her blood boil just a bit, making her wish that she'd have the chance to deal with the noble before she left this world. She wanted to swing her battleaxe into the noble's chest and leave him there in a pool of his own blood, but she needed to find him first. "What about you Nightmare?" Rend asked, causing her to look at him in confusion for a moment, "You said that you 'arrived in the Arena', as opposed to us walking into the city and being thrown into jail. Mind telling me what you meant by that?" "I will admit that I am curious about that as well," Shadow said, overhearing their conversation while keeping an eye out for bandits as they rounded a corner. "She'll tell us and then go mad!" Pandora exclaimed, spotting something coming their way with a weapon drawn, "Ah ha! Bandits come to play 'Life or Death' with us!" Nightmare gripped her battleaxe in anticipation for the bandit's arrival, but Pandora drew her bow, yanked an arrow out of her quiver, drew the string back quickly, and released the arrow in less than twenty seconds. The bandit continued towards them, apparently unaware of the danger he was in, until he was thrown backwards and hit the stones on the side of the road. Nightmare was amazed that her companion killed the bandit so fast, but after Shadow searched the corpse all he found was a small pouch of coins and some arrows. The rest, apparently, wasn't worth anything and they just left it there for someone else to take. "Maybe some other time then," Rend said, the moment ruined by the bandits appearance, "but I would like to hear the tale before we go our separate ways." After another hour and a half of walking they spotted the Priory, which was somewhat smaller than what Nightmare was expecting, and they eventually reached the front door. Once inside the Priory they found one of the monks sitting in a chair by the nearby table, reading what appeared to be a newspaper with a story about the Emperor. Then he looked up and noticed that they were standing there, so he sighed and got up, preparing to welcome them to the building. "Welcome to Weynon Priory," the monk said, "may I ask what your business to our fair establishment is?" "We're here to see Jauffre," Rend replied, offering the monk a smile while making no move to show him the Amulet he carried, "if he's available for a moment that is." "He's always available these days," the monk said, smiling as he beckoned to the stairs behind him, "He should still be in his study, which is up the stairs and to the right." Rend thanked the monk for his time and immediately headed up the stairs, turning to the right and came to the second story, only to turn once more and spotted an old breton sitting behind the table. Shadow and Pandora followed him up immediately, though they stopped and stared at the person the Emperor had sent them to deliver the Amulet to. Nightmare, after a moment of debate, walked up the stairs and stayed at the back of the group, just in case this was the end of their journey together. "Ah, I see that I have guests," the breton said, closing the book he was reading before giving them his full attention, "I am Brother Jauffre. What can I do for you all?" "As you on doubt know, the Emperor died yesterday," Rend replied, his hand reaching into his armor and stalling for a moment, "In the moment of his death he entrusted Shadow, Pandora, and myself with the task of delivering this to you, along with what I assume is a warning. That warning was to 'Close shut the jaws of Oblivion'." Jauffre stared at him for a moment before Rend pulled out the Amulet, the ruby glowing for a moment before it was placed on Jauffre's desk and Rend let go of it. "The Emperor saw more than he told everyone," Jauffre said, touching the Amulet before turning to Rend, "so I can only assume that he was referring to the Daedric Prince of Destruction, Mehrunes Dagon. It is possible that the Dragonfires that the Emperor's light when they are crowned were keeping us safe from some unknown threat that only Emperor Uriel VII knew about. The fact that he told you about that means that he must have informed you about his illegitimate son, who seems to be the only think between us and the realm of Oblivion." "Well then, where is he?" Nightmare asked, causing Jauffre to look past Rend and stop her standing there, "From what I can gather the late Emperor's illegitimate son is now the heir to the throne, but that leaves us with the problem of finding him." "His name is Martin Septim," Jauffre replied, not commenting on who was standing behind the group, "he serves Akatosh in the Chapel in the city of Kvatch, south of here. I will hide the Amulet somewhere safe, so you must go to Kvatch and find him. If the Mythic Dawn was able to get in close and kill the Emperor than I dread to think that they might also know of his location as well, so we must get him to safety before he's discovered. I can offer you a place to rest for the moment, but I would recommend that you get underway before the enemy discovers Martin's location." Nightmare figured that they would get underway almost immediately so they could save the illegitimate heir to the Imperial Throne, but Rend shook his head and moved to a nearby chest. Apparently it was close to noon, as the other monk had prepared several bowls of warm stew for them all and Rend didn't want to seem rude for turning down the meal. Nightmare knew what was going on, he was preparing for the long road ahead of them by filling their stomachs and getting some better armor than the worn armor the three of them were wearing. She only hoped that they could find Kvatch fast and get the heir out before something tragic happened to the city or, if Fate wanted to mess with them, to the heir himself. She had no idea how accurate her feeling was at that moment in time.