[A/N] This is my first ever Skyrim fanfiction that will focus on the journeys of my OC. I intend to keep my chapters above the three thousand word mark. That being said, it may take me a little while to write each chapter. I will update every time I finish a chapter. This is going to follow the civil war storyline while having heavy ties to the Dark Brotherhood. This is set after the dragon crisis and is relatively canon, but eventually the only canon thing will be a loose storyline of the civil war.
Disclaimer! Skyrim belongs to Bethesda Studios. I own nothing other than my Oc's and perhaps the non-canonical story line.
Please Enjoy!
Crimson Coins
The Dragon Crisis long over by a good several years, there was little need for the Dragonborn. After the defeat of Alduin, the Dragonborn had wandered throughout Skyrim to each of the nine holds. She became the Thane of each and as such was able to buy property from them or have a place to stay while she was there, each fully furnished and full of worthless items collected during her journeys in the Dragon Crisis Era. She had one primary residence while the rest were just extra storage for her useless weapons or a place to hide from angry guards.
The hold of Solitude was her main home; but now the Dragon Crisis was over, she was painfully aware that her existence as the Dragonborn was no longer useful for the people of Skyrim other than the mundane tasks. Strangers begged help from the Dragonborn and help is just what she gave. After a while of this she grew bored. Boredom had claimed her and she left her house less and less.
Solitude began to notice the presence of the Dragonborn slowly whittling away until they were not sure she was still around. She kept a journal of all the times she had been out. Her times in Skyrim had been documented all the way up until the defeat of Alduin. Many other hobbies had been practiced in the home while others were unaware of the owner's presence. She practiced enchanting armor and alchemy until she was running out of room for all the different armor and bottles of various liquids.
After spending close to a year being a hermit and hiding from the world around her, she sent a letter to the Jarl. Her letter had only held a few details explaining that she would be gone for a while and had asked that nobody set foot in there while she was gone. She left with a word to the Housecarl who had been staying with her bidding that the Housecarl return to the Blue Palace until her further notice.
The Dragonborn returned to Solitude after eight or so years of being gone. She did not wish to be seen so a potion of invisibility was needed to slip past the guards and into her house. After a year, the only notable thing about the place was the amount of dust that had accumulated on nearly everything. She went down to the basement and began to sort out her armor.
There were only a few pieces that seemed to be worth much. She had a couple mannequins with special armor placed carefully on each. One was the sleek shining armor she had crafted all on her own, a full set of Deadra armor. The other was crafted from dragon scales. They were a brilliant dark color with little flecks of red on certain bunches of scales. She had taken masses of material from a rather strong blood dragon she had once faced and had never regretted the day when she crafted some of the most unique armor in all of Skyrim.
She was in no need of heavy armor anymore though. She had on sleek red and black armor with a cowl to keep her identity hidden. It was the uniform of the Dark Brotherhood. She was now Listener. The Sanctuary had been moved to Dawnstar and the only remaining members were Babette, Cicero, Nazir and herself. After the initial relocation, there had been a few more people added to the Dark Brotherhood. She had personally tracked down Aventus Aretino and initiated him into the Dark Brotherhood since he had waned to become an assassin when she had finished the first task she had ever been assigned.
She had appreciated Aventus as if he was her own family, but of course he was her family when she had the Dark Brotherhood. She knew that all the family that she every needed was with the Brotherhood. They were there when she needed them and did not want it any other way.
She had been too occupied with the admiration of her heavy armor to hear the ever so soft click of the door upstairs. A figure padded lightly downstairs and stood watching the Dragonborn brushing the dust off a unique piece of armor. "Dar'ari," she turned from her armor, still masked with the cowl, regret and sadness apparent in her eyes. "You are getting better Aventus, you could have easily killed me should I have been named in a contract," she turned towards her armor, "these used to be my pride and joy."
Dar'ari took the helmet off her Deadric set and turned towards Aventus, "This was the set of armor I wore when I defeated Alduin," she handed him the helmet. He looked at it with newfound curiosity, admiring the intricate work and fine craftsmanship. He looked up at her, admiration clear in his bright eyes, "you made this?" She nodded, took the helmet back and set it on the mannequin's head.
He was drawn to the dragon scaled armor that was set up next to the Deadric armor. He set a gloved hand on the chest piece and studied the black scales with red speckles. "You were the Dragonborn," he spoke so quietly, "weren't you?" Dar'ari did not speak for a long while, he was not sure she had heard him.
He turned around to see she was no longer in the room. "Dar'ari?" he voiced to the empty room. Aventus began to walk through the house, admiring some of the things she had collected over the years fighting dragons. He walked upstairs to where the bedroom was and saw where it was that Dar'ari went. She was sitting on the bed holding an old war hammer. It looked to be Deadric, from the set downstairs.
"Dar'ari," she looked up. Her cat-eyes full of tears began to overflow and wet the fur on her face. Her tail was wrapped around her waist and her claws had ripped through her gloves. "Dar'ari," He repeated, "Maybe we should go? You still have that contract to do." She had put off coming to Solitude all those years, turning down any contract that happened to be in or near Solitude except the brief time she had to shut down a wedding.
Aventus watched patiently as she put her war hammer back on the rack and picked up a small silver ring from on the nightstand. She steeled herself and then went back downstairs to the basement. Potions were scattered across every available surface and haphazardly stashed in drawers and barrels. Pieces of armor and other garbs with slight glowing auras lay in piles around the place while glowing weapons were hung on racks and on walls.
She was looking through some of the potions on the alchemy table that were in cream-colored bottles. Dar'ari found a few bottles she deemed worthy and handed them to Aventus, "Invisibility potions. Use them to get out of the house and then wait for me by the stables." She grabbed a few other bottles, a hunting bow and then drank a potion. She was gone, almost vanished into thin air except the footprints in the dust leading to the door.
Aventus followed in suit. He was at the stables in time for the potion to wear off, and made sure to note the bitter taste of the potion. Shadowmere was waiting there patiently as Dar'ari ordered. Aventus waited for a few moments until he noticed the outline of a person coming towards him. Dar'ari slowly began to reappear before him.
She patted Shadowmere on the nose. Aventus hopped on and she got on behind him getting herself situated. There was a time where she was the rider in the front but Aventus continually sat on her tail. They rode in silence all the way back to the Dawnstar Sanctuary with the exception of a stop when Dar'ari had to fight off a snow bear that got a little too close to Shadowmere for her liking.
"Nazir!" Dar'ari walked out of torture room holding a dagger that's blade was a dull red from being held in the fire, "I need you to clean up in here and dispose of the far left corner Nord." Nazir got up and heatedly walked into the torture room. "Aventus, I have another contract to fulfill will you be coming with?" Dar'ari set down the dagger in favor of her ebony bow, "I'm going to be making a few stops on the way." Aventus shuffled into the room with his arms full of parchment, "Sure, let me just get ready, I'll meet you outside the black door."
Dar'ari was glad that Aventus was going to take a little while for she enjoyed the cool wind. She pulled down her mask and felt the cool wind on her nose as it blew through her whiskers. I am rather glad I have company on this trip, she though, but he will slow me down some. Aventus came out dressed in the usual Dark Brotherhood armor with his daggers and a war axe in his belt. "Lets get going then," Aventus started walking towards Dawnstar.
Dar'ari and Aventus made it all the way to Whiterun before nightfall. Dar'ari had Shadowmere boarded at the Whiterun stables for the night while they could stay in Breezehome heading to Ivarstead. She walked up after passing several guards with a curt wave. Most of the people knew Dar'ari around Whiterun, as the Dragonborn since she could not have hidden her identity in the beginning. People also knew her since she worked with the Companions for a brief while before her defeat of Alduin.
She put the key in the door and opened it to the same basic changes she had seen to her home in Solitude: dust everywhere and everything just the way she left it. She took the main room while Aventus took the spare room that she had to clean out first. She had to shake the dust off the bed of the main room and move some of the random junk from off the end tables. It was getting rather cold these days so she took a few of the bear pelts from the trunk and laid them on the bed.
That night Dar'ari was plagued with nightmares involving dragons and dead people. She saw the faces of all those she has killed and all the dragons she slaughtered. No amount of fighting could save her from the corpses. She was armed with only her claws and her shouts. She could shout all she wanted, but that would not save her. Their ghostly voices were taunting her, "Dar'ari… Dar'ari… Dar'ari…" She sprang up from her bed with claws at the ready and her night vision beginning to take effect.
Aventus was peering in through the door, "Dar'ari, are you alright?" He had a small candle lit and could see her outline against the walls. "I'm sorry, but you had been yelling and I had feared the worst," he waited a few more seconds until he could see she was settled, "I will go back to bed, pardon." Dar'ari had settled back into bed but could not find the will to go back to sleep, perhaps sleep would claim her before the morning, but that did not seem so likely.
Instead of going back to sleep like she had tried fruitlessly to do, she decided to go downstairs and start a fire in the cooking area. She had been a terrible mage when she first began to read spell books no thanks to her limited skills and shallow reserves of magicka. A simple flame spell was easy and helped her start a fire nearly effortlessly. The entire house would soon be warm and she might be able to curl up and sleep; sadly for Dar'ari, dawn came before her sleep did.
Food was done and being kept warm by the waning fire. Although she was quite tired and a bit distracted with what she wished to do today, Dar'ari had heard the ever so quiet squeak of the stairs. "Good morning," Dar'ari had not bothered to turn around but instead began to pour a bowl of porridge for Aventus, "Do you prefer yours sweet or bland?" He mentally chastised himself for the creak of the stairs. Perhaps one day he would be able to sneak properly. "I would like it sweetened please. No offence to you or your cooking but I never quite appreciated the flavor of porridge," He took the bowl, sat at the table and mixed the glob of honey into his food.
After breakfast the two assassins set out to Ivarstead with all due haste. She sat in the lead position when mounting the horse being incredibly careful her tail is out of the way for when Aventus unceremoniously and ungracefully plopped onto the back of the saddle. "Hold on," Dar'ari had instructed quite abrasively just before she gently tapped Shadowmere with her heels and leaned forward as the Deadric steed began to gallop down the path.
Aventus had always hated the back of the saddle when he was forced to ride behind Dar'ari, especially when she had him galloping across the uneven roads of Skyrim. They only stopped once on the way to their destination while letting Shadowmere rest and while they had themselves a small snack. Their rest was short and they were back on the road and kicking up dust as they rode onwards. Ivarstead was just as bland as Dar'ari remembered. She and Aventus dismounted and began their long walk up the mountain.
She knew; she just knew that she should have been more patient and stayed the night at the inn. A rather abrupt storm made itself present during their ascent of the stairs and the snow began to blow something fierce. Dar'ari set up a tent as quickly as she could before the storm got worse and before her waning light was gone for the night. After a few very stressful and frustrating attempts at fighting with a tent she had been furious with the contraption. How could something so simple be so difficult to assemble! She though angrily while a low growl came from her throat.
Aventus who was already fully aware of the wrath of this particular Khajiit had quickly helped her pitch the tent and pack snow around the edges so it would not fly away or become undone once again. After quickly retreating inside and tying the flaps closed Dar'ari began to set out a bedroll. It was not for her but for Aventus; she has made this climb many times but she knew he had not and knew he was exhausted.
The night was cold and unforgiving. The winds howled nearly all night and despite the tent being rather insulated, it was beginning to get colder and colder by the moments. The two assassins began to shiver uncontrollably. All this fur and I still can't stay warm, she thought, I want to use a fire spell but I do not want to burn our only shelter down should it get out of control. She growled due to her frustration about the current situations and her anger at the cold seeping into her bones.
By her count there were still a few hours before dawn would claim the sky and the cold was getting colder as the night progressed. Her frustrations get the better of her as she curls up closely to Aventus to try to keep as warm as possible. Their combined warmth does help with the shivering so that it only occurs once in a while. Being trained in the brotherhood for as many years as she has been there, closeness began to affect her less and less. After a long while she began to think nothing of curling up next to a fellow assassin to keep warm. Although it still bothered her slightly, as harsh memories die hard, she got over it for her own wellbeing.
At the break of dawn Dar'ari was already up and dismantling their overnight shelter. The walk down the path brought them to an area Dar'ari knew very well, something she liked to call 'The White Ambush'. Rightfully named, The White Ambush was the place where nearly everyone was jumped by frost troll or two. She of course was never lucky enough to get by without invoking the anger of the territorial beasts. She sunk a few arrows deep into the beast's shoulder but that did little to hamper it.
She had once heard that they had an incredible ability to heal themselves but Dar'ari had not believed until she saw for herself. She was angry, oh so angry that the beast had yet to fall lifeless on the ground. "Aventus, get behind me!" She yelled over to him just as he dodged a swing from its massive forearm. Anger boiling her blood at the sight of the still living troll continued to add to her will. She inhaled deeply and got into a stance much like she was bracing herself.
Yol Toor Shul!
The fire from the Thu'um had left her lips hot. Her eyes were full of bloodlust as she watched the troll writhe in agony. The smell of burning flesh quickly filled the air as the burning corpse began to turn to ash and the snow around it melted. Aventus was awestruck at the sight of a shout and the heat he could feel even from behind Dar'ari.
After a few moments of watching the ashes blow through the wind, Dar'ari felt it was time to continue moving. They walked quickly through the temple while waving to a Greybeard here and there while keeping a quick pace towards the courtyard. She ran through the courtyard as fast as she possibly could and shouting the dangerous winds away all the way up the mountain. Aventus could never have prepared for what would ensue next.
Dar'ari used the power of the Thu'um directed towards the sky. Aventus had no idea what she could be saying in the tongue of the dragons but he had stopped caring once he had to cover his ears. There was louder roaring and a large dark shadow swept over the snow. The ground shook gently with vibrations as a dragon landed on a Shrine of sorts. She spoke loudly in a tongue he could not recognize at all except that every once in a while a tiny plume of fire would come from her mouth.
After what seemed to be forever to the young man, he finally witnessed Dar'ari wave goodbye to the dragon and then release the same shout from before and a mighty blaze came from her mouth. "Paarthurnax. He's an old friend of mine," she turned towards Aventus who was shocked beyond words. "We can continue to the contract now, I just had to see him while I was in the area." Aventus just nodded as they began the long walk down the hill. Within a few hours they were back down in Ivarstead and on their way to meet a contract that Night Mother told her would pay heftily.