Long chapter 3, introducing the delightfully sassy Marcurio!
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"That is the last time I work for someone with a greatsword." Marcurio cursed loudly, stomping through a blizzard. He had just watched his former employer get mauled by a werewolf. Marcurio himself had hidden once he realized the beast couldn't be stopped easily, and had only emerged when the howling and sounds of gorging had ceased. Returning to the man who had hired him, Marcurio had only found what was left of the body. Growling with impatience, Marcurio gingerly dug through the dead man's corpse and retrieved anything of value. In the end, he was rewarded with what was left in the man's purse. He was now walking in the Jerall Mountains, trying to get back to Riften.
A distant barking caught his attention, and wondering who would be out here in this weather, he trudged towards the sound. The distant shadow of a dog appeared, nudging something in the snow. The dog saw him and raced over, barking faster and grabbing some of Marcurio's robe in its mouth. As the two awkwardly scrambled over to where the dog had been, Marcurio realized there was something- rather someONE- laying in the snow.
"Bark Bark Bark." The dog nudged the body again. Marcurio knelt down and turned the person over so they were no longer facedown in the snow. Lifting the hood off their face, he found himself looking at a very cold girl. Judging by how pale her face was, she'd been there for an hour, if not longer, but the Skyrim cold could be deadly. Marcurio pressed an ear to her chest, hoping to hear a heartbeat; there was nothing through the leather.
"Sorry, boy, I don't think she's still...alive..." Marcurio trailed off, seeing a slight wisp of air coming out of the girl's mouth. "Damn, alive...c'mon, Ivarstead isn't far." Marcurio picked up her bag, bow, and staff, then slung her bow across his back and attached the staff under it. Lifting up the girl into his arms, he began another slow trek, dog at his heels.
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By the time Ivarstead had appeared, it was far past midnight and still freezing. Marcurio was heavily fatigued, having fought off wolves while protecting the prone girl. Thankfully the dog could hold his own and helped lead them through the blizzard.
In Ivarstead, Marcurio managed to reach the inn before collapsing. Fortunately a sturdy woman helped him up, a guard lifting the girl he had dropped.
When he came to, Marcurio was laying in a warm bed, dry and rested. For a moment he laid there, then remembered why and where he was. Getting up, muscles protesting, Marcuiro left the room and returned to the main inn.
"Oh, you're up, Temba patched you and your friend up, your dog is outside." The barkeep said conversationally. Marcurio just shambled up to the bar and bought some ale.
"How much do I owe you for rooms?" Marcurio asked.
"Just twenty gold."
After drinking a bit more, Marcurio asked the barkeep, Wilhelm, where the girl was, and went to her room. He found her, still out cold, in bed, thankfully with more color in her cheeks. Now that they were safe he got a good look at her. She was small, probably a Breton, the warpaint, two lines under her eyes, said Reachwomen. However, the slightly pointed ears and angular face said elf; or at least half elf. Her hair was an odd shade of red, almost like fox fur, long and braided. Pretty, even with the telltale signs of face-spot scars, which looked more like freckles now, and three thin scars running from her left temple to mouth corner. She had the look of a Mage about her, definitely too delicate and small for a warrior; even with the scars.
"What were you doing out there, sweetheart?" He muttered to himself. A quiet groan made him sit back from the girl, watching as she sat up cursing.
"Fucking snow, why the hell is there so much snow?" She grumbled, rubbing her head. She sat still for a second, then looked wildly at Marcurio. He saw the flash of bright blue eyes before she narrowed them and spoke, "Who the fuck are you?"
"Um...Marcurio."
"You had to think about that one?" She sneered.
"That's no way to talk to someone who saved your life!" Marcurio was suddenly very irritated with this little girl and her rudeness. And she was little, short; was she even five foot?
"Saved me? For all I know you raped and kidnapped me! Shit, these aren't my clothes! Did you undress me?" She glared, pulling blankets up to cover her body.
"Gods no, you're what, seventeen? I just woke up an hour ago, the woman who brought us inside probably did that."
The girl still glared, curled up into a tight ball. Marcurio realized she had probably never been alone with a man before and perhaps felt vulnerable.
"I'm not gonna hurt you; I was just checking if you had gotten better." Marcurio got up to leave when the room's door swung open, the sturdy woman, Temba, walking in with the dog trailing behind. Upon seeing each other, both girl and dog made a face, but the dog jumped onto the bed and licked the girl's face.
"Eww, stupid mutt, I smell like dog now."
"Be nice to him, I wouldn't have found you if it weren't for his barking." Marcurio snapped. Why was she so animalistic towards everyone?
"I'm surprised he didn't leave after I fell down the cliff."
"He's been trying to get in for the whole day." Temba said, walking into the already small space and pressing a hand to the girl's cheek and forehead; the girl in turn flinched away. "No fever, no frostbite, lucky you..." Temba turned an inspected Marcurio closely, "I'd say you are both fit to travel now." With that she left the three in awkward silence.
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"I couldn't let you die, I need you to get me back in favor with Vile." Barbas stated to Siofra. Siofra glanced at Marcurio, who seemed to have not noticed the dog talking; apparently, like Vaermina, she heard Barbas in her head. She just stuck her tongue out and turned back to this man. He had longish brown hair, tied back from his face. There was the beginnings of facial hair, but he apparently stayed clean shaven more often than not. His eyes were deep brown, a little squinted, like he'd sat up late reading too often as a kid. He was probably a head and a half taller than her, and his Cyriodiilic accent marked him as Imperial.
"Did you manage to save my things?" She asked, slightly softer. She wasn't warming up to him, 'He just saved my life, I'll give him one break.'
"Yeah, they put them in the chest over there," he said, pointing to said chest, "What is your name?"
"Doesn't matter." Siofra snapped. She moved slowly to get out of the bed; falling off a cliff tended to leave nasty bruises.
"Where are you going?" Marcurio cried as she got up.
"With luck, Winterhold, I have two elves to meet, a Daedric Prince to please, and a beast to hunt."
"Don't forget vampires to kill." Barbas barked matter-of-factly.
"I'm not killing vampires alone." Siofra whispered.
"Vampires?" Marcurio asked, confused. She seemed to have been talking to the dog. "Daedric Princes?" He finally realized. "Who are you?"
"None of your business, now leave!"
"Fine, but don't leave Ivarstead without me..." Marcurio stormed out to go get more ale.
"I'm not staying with him!" Siofra muttered to Barbas. There wasn't any reason for him to want to stay.
"I suggest you do, he'll be able to drag you back if you fall off another cliff." Barbas laughed, even after the pillow hit his face.
It was several hours before Siofra emerged from her room; hood casting shadow on her face again, old armor and clothes on. She sat next to Marcurio quietly and looked at him.
"Yes?" He asked curtly, raising an eyebrow.
"Marcurio, I'm sorry; but you don't need to come with me, I'll be fine." The girl was smiling softly; Marcurio found the way the shadow hid her face to be quite attractive and...his mind was foggy as to why he needed to stay with her.
"Oh, okay then." He laughed nervously. With a bang, the inn's door flew open and soldiers filed in. The fog in Marcuiro's head faded; Siofra noticed this with a look of disgust: leave it to soldiers to mess up her charm.
"OI, what do you want?" Wilhelm the barkeep asked the soilders; Stormcloaks, judging by the blue they wore.
"Just stopping for a drink Wilhelm; been recruiting." The lead Stormcloak waved jovially. Siofra took everyone's new distraction to grab her things and slip out with Barbas; moving slower than she would have wanted. It took Marcurio a moment before he too left, chasing after the girl's retreating back.
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"I might kill you as you sleep; or maybe leave you bleeding out in the wilderness; or maybe I'll kill you now!" Siofra had been listing such for three days; Marcurio just going with it and watching out for Saber Cats. She had pulled a dagger on him twice now; and both times the dog had attacked her until she put it away.
"I don't see why you don't want me around; I'm handsome, powerful, funny; I'm anything you want me to be." He added with a smirk. Honestly, he didn't want to get back to Riften anymore; sitting and listening to Maven Black-Briar or the Snow-Shod's bored him to tears. If following around a girl who's name he still didn't know was more exciting, he'd keep on in a heartbeat...if she didn't murder him...
"The mutt surpasses you in those categories." Was all she said. Marcurio was slightly shocked by this; even the dog seemed to be laughing. The rather tense group was somewhere near the Whistling Mine in Winterhold. The girl kept insisting that they would be there by late that night, but yet again, a blizzard was hindering travel: that's just Skyrim.
"Let's find shelter!"
"No, you can see the College, just another half hour!"
"Give it a rest you two!" Barbas growled. Marcurio stopped in his tracks.
"The dog just talked!"
"He does that."
"My name is Barbas, companion to Clavicus Vile." They were moving again, Marcurio being pushed gently by Barbas.
In Winterhold, Siofra forced the boys to hang back ("Stay, boys, stay!"), and proceeded to find Nelacar. She found the elf asleep in his room, and gently forced him awake (pushed him off the bed).
"What in Oblivion!? Oh, it's you. Did you get the Star?"
"Yes, but it's broken," Siofra sighed, turning on her charm, "Can you fix it?"
"Oh, easily." Nelacar boasted, puffing his chest out.
"Thank you, but, we should go outside in case something goes wrong." Siofra suggested. Nelacar paused for a moment, then nodded and headed out.
Outside, Siofra led Nelacar to the destroyed part of Winterhold; no one needed to see what was about to happen.
"Okay, ready to corrupt the star?" Nelacar asked. Siofra turned around slowly, smiling at the Altmer. Nelacar blinked a couple of times, slightly confused; usually only other Mer came onto him like this. "Oh, I..."
He didn't get a chance to finish before small hands grabbed his neck and squeezed.
"For such a smart man, you didn't seem to think that Azura sent Malyn into madness because he was tampering with her artifact? I think it's perfectly logical to curse some who breaks your things." Siofra squeezed his throat tighter as she hissed in his ear. Nelacar made a gurgling noise, then grabbed her wrists and tried to pull her off. Fortunately for him, his greater size quickly overpowered his attacker. With a grunt, he threw Siofra off and started punching her.
"Little bitch!" He managed to gasp, but he wasn't sat enough to dodge a dagger to his eye. Siofra clamped a handful of her cloak over his mouth as he screamed. She stayed there until the twitching stopped.
"You just killed him, just like that...for fun." Someone said softly behind Siofra. Her head snapped around and found Marcurio and Barbas.
"I told you to wait outside of town."
"We thought you might run off." Marcurio replied, still staring at what was Nelacar. Siofra retrieved her dagger, wiping bits off with the dead man's clothes.
"Never seen a body before?" She asked casually.
"I'm a mercenary, I've just never seen someone kill so casually."
"So you're a murder prostitute."
"What?! No! Mercenary! And we were talking about your murders, not mine."
"People pay you to murder things, like a prostitute, except with blood and death." Siofra grinned; even Barbas was rolling on the ground laughing.
"Oh come on; let's just go before someone finds us." Marcurio huffed.
They scaled back up the trail to the Shrine of Azura; Marcurio still huffing about the prostitution idea. When they reached the priestess, she raised an eyebrow at Siofra's bloodied clothes but kept quiet.
"You have the Star?" She asked. Siofra laid it on the alter in front of this elf. "Very good, I will now commune with Azura."
Silence for a few minutes, when a gentle voice drifted through the air.
"Thank you for returning my star. However, it here is a presence inside it that needs cleared. My champion you will be if you purge my star of Malyn Varen."
"Yes, m'lady." Siofra replied. The word went painfully still for a moment, then Siofra was gone, sucked into the Star.
Siofra opened her eyes and saw only a crystal blue. Blue walls. Blue walkway. Blue crystal structures. A slight fog obscured her vision several yards ahead, distorting strange dark shapes on the walkway. A distant guttural cry made her summon fireballs; she couldn't see far enough for a bow and she didn't want to get near to whatever had made that sound.
She slowly walked forward, the dark shapes revealing themselves to be dremoras.
"Shit"
Minutes later, maybe hours, time passed strange in the Star, Siofra managed to blast her way to Malyn Veran and bring him down.
"Thank you, I will return you to your world now." Azura said serenely. The world distorted again and Siofra returned to the mountaintop.
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I was swimming when I realized what he is: murder prostitute. And now just realized this makes the Dark Brotherhood a prostitution ring... Anyway, check out my other story, a simple one-shot. Thanks for reading!
edit: trying to make the partitions work!
