AN: ONLY THE CHARACTERS SKALD, GALDUR, DARLAYAH AND BENEDICT BELONG TO ME. THE REST ARE OWNED BY BETHESDA (except for Misty and Kodai, they were created by friends :3)
"-And he said to the man, "That's not a horker - that's my wife!" Cicero laughed at his own joke, before looking at his Listener, who was riding next to him. "He he he. Oh, I love that one." he laughed, looking rather proud of himself. Darlayah rolled her eyes, grinning.
"I can tell. You've told that stupid joke five times today." she remarked, shaking her head.
"It's not stupid!" Cicero whined, before the two broke into fits of laughter.
"Ha ha ha… come on, I think that's enough of that nonsense for today. We still have to find our destination." Darlayah finally said, scanning the snowy landscape around her.
Darlayah and Cicero had been riding for nearly three hours, riding from Whiterun to Windhelm. Darlayah found out which type of dragon the Dragonborn would be following from various rumours. They had to keep an eye out for a huge, golden dragon with fiery red wings.
"Ooh! Is that it?" the Jester pointed to a large city covered in snow, sitting on a huge river. "Did Cicero guess right?" he asked, staring at Darlayah hopefully.
"Yes, actually. That's it!" the Listener exclaimed. "Come on, I'll race you to the stables!"
Before Cicero could even open his mouth to speak, Darlayah and her silver mare were galloping off as fast as the horse could manage. "Listener!" the Keeper exclaimed, before his horse was heading towards them like a bolt of lightning.
In the three hours it took to find the city, Darlayah began to start to trust the jester. Her trust had always been quite difficult to gain, but there was something about Cicero's exuberant personality that made Darlayah feel that he wasn't as bad as everyone else had thought. Sure, the man was quite insane, but he was quite fun to be around.
Soon, Cicero had caught up with the Listener, who had dismounted her horse and was waiting in the stables.
"What took you so long?" she teased, as Cicero leapt off his steed, leading him towards the stables.
"You cheated." the Jester replied, pretending to look angry. Darlayah laughed.
"Whatever. Come on, we need to search this city."
"What are we searching for?" Cicero asked. Darlayah had forgotten to tell him.
"Oh, haven't I told you? Well, we're looking for a man. A thief, actually. We have to find him, and…well…bash him until he speaks. I'll let you do the bashing if you find him first." Cicero's eyes lit up, making Darlayah grin. "So, is that a deal?" The jester nodded, and soon, he was skipping off the to city, with Darlayah running after him.
"Dragons? What do you take me for?"
"I was just asking…"
"I am no fool. Dragons…what nonsense is this?"
Darlayah sighed. Windhelm obviously hadn't seen the dragons yet. Ulfric Stormcloak had been saved by one though. Surely he would have told his city about the return of Alduin…
"I am sorry for wasting your time." the breton snapped sarcastically, leaving the Nord guard to his 'duty'.
Cicero and Darlayah had just been around the city of Windhelm searching for anyone who had seen a gold dragon, or a strange man who looked afraid. There search failed miserably.
"Poor Cicero is hungry. Need a sweetroll…or a carrot…" Cicero mumbled, rubbing his stomach and pouting. Darlayah rolled her eyes.
"You have food in the saddlebags on your horse. You can go get it yourself." She said, folding her arms as she leaned on a building, sighing in exasperation. "There is no soul here that has even heard of the dragons. I feel like a fool right now." she muttered, and Cicero put his arms behind his back standing tall and proud.
"Listener is no fool. No, only humble Cicero is. The Fool of Hearts!" he said, lifting his chin up as if it were a royal title. "Maybe we should try elsewhere." he added, returning to his normal stature. Darlayah nodded.
"Let's try Dawnstar. There's bound to be someone in that town who's at least heard of the Dragon Crisis."
Cicero clapped his hands, before grabbing Darlayah's and dancing off to the entrance to the city. Darlayah was dragged along with a scowl on her face. "Let. Go." she growled, and Cicero ignored her, and started humming a merry song. "Let me go Keeper!" the breton snapped, and upon hearing his title, the jester obeyed, and acting as though nothing had ever happened, just like he usually did. He rarely apologized too.
"Wait. Dawnstar? We must go there?" Cicero said, his tone changing suddenly. Darlayah tilted her head slightly.
"Well, yeah. I figured we could go there-"
"What about Winterhold? Hmm? I hear there are dragons flying there by the dozen!" he interrupted, speaking rather quickly. This man was simply mad.
"Fine, fine. But we will go to Dawnstar sooner or later." Darlayah said, before mumbling something in the dragon tongue.
"Listener did it again! The Dragon speak!" Cicero exclaimed, flailing his arms around. "What does it mean? Poor Cicero must know! He must!"
"Why? It's not important! You don't need to know." Darlayah answered, pushing Cicero's shoulder. The jester pushed her back.
"Why noooot!" he whined, crossing his arms and pouting. "Ooh! Can you teach me some dragon words? Maybe give Cicero a dragon name? Pleeaaassee?" he pleaded, making a face like a begging puppy. Darlayah rolled her eyes.
"Hmm…maybe." The Listener scanned through her mental dictionary, finding the most cruel and offensive words she could find. "How about…Meyvolaar?" she said, and Cicero narrowed his eyes.
"What does that mean?"
"It's a lovely name. Trust me." Darlayah's tone was extremely unconvincing, and the jester knew better than to trust her.
"No. You are up to no good! I can tell, Listener!" Cicero grinned. "What did that mean?"
"I'll give you one word. 'Mey' means 'fool'." she said, copying Cicero's grin. "I'm sure you don't mind that one, after all, you are the 'Fool of Hearts'…" Darlayah mocked the jester's speech, which made him break into laughter.
They soon approached the large, wooden gates, and they both pushed them open, and walked out onto the huge stone bridge connecting Windhelm to the rest of Skyrim.
"Why do you speak Dragon?" Cicero asked, after about thirty seconds of silence. They reached the stables, and their horses perked up at the sight of their riders. "Where did you learn?"
"…I…uh…I actually don't remember. I think it was the Greybeards who taught me, but I don't know…" Darlayah replied, somewhat confused. Where did she learn her second language? And more importantly, why? "I don't know why I learnt it, though. I guess it's handy if I want to offend someone without them knowing." She shrugged.
"Ah, so where you making fun of poor Cicero?" the Keeper asked, looking somewhat offended.
"Oh…uh, no, not really…" the breton replied quickly, "It's mainly just banter. Don't worry - I would never…uh, make fun of you." she added, and Cicero smiled.
"Okay!" he said happily, grabbing his horse's reins and throwing himself onto the saddle. Darlayah carefully lifted herself up.
"So, where are we headed? Winterhold, wasn't it? Okay. Let's go." the Listener said, and they began the short journey to the snowy city of Winterhold.
A few hours passed, and the two adventurers had searched all of Winterhold, and only a few people had seen a dragon recently. The only lead they had on anything was a report of a strange man who was very keen in hiding as much as possible. Darlayah instantly suspected the identity of the man just from his description. Galdur.
Their next move was to search the Pale, which was the hold belonging to Dawnstar's jarl, but Cicero insisted they search only the hold, and not the town for some reason. Darlayah couldn't be bothered questioning him. They were so close to finding Galdur. So close yet so far!
"LISTENER! LOOK!" Cicero suddenly pointed towards the sky, and flying above them was a huge, majestic dragon with glistening, gold scales and furious red wings.
"Cicero! You genius! That's the dragon! Quick - follow him!" The two urged their horses to gallop after the beast, and even though the creature was horrifyingly huge, the steeds were confident to keep up.
They had found the dragon, finally! But the Dragonborn - was he following?
"It's getting away…!" Cicero exclaimed, and Darlayah knew there was no point chasing a flying dragon. How in the name of Sithis was the Dragonborn keeping up? "Listener…it's gone."
"It's alright. Where was it headed?" Darlayah asked the Keeper, who was thinking intensely.
"Hmm…Solitude, I think." he replied, shrugging.
"Solitude." Darlayah repeated. "Change of plan - forget Galdur, we are finding this dragon first."
"Alright Gabriella, enough of this. Tell me what is wrong. We're a family here, we should be able to trust each other." Astrid's motherly tone rung alarm bells in Gabriella's head. Why did she want to know so badly?
"Astrid, I simply got into a fight. Nothing more." the elf said coldly, and Astrid raised an eyebrow.
"Who with?"
"…the Listener."
"Don't call her that! At least not yet. We still don't know if that breton is lying or telling the truth about the whole 'Listener' business. Understood?" Gabriella nodded. "Good. Now, what happened? Tell me everything."
Gabriella had started regretting leaving her friend with the jester, and soon enough she had wished to see Darlayah as soon as possible.
She told Astrid about how Darlayah would go off doing who-knows-what, leaving her all alone to wait for her friend to come back. She then brought in the dragonborn, Dagur and Galdur, and Astrid's eyes grew wide with curiosity.
"How…interesting. That girl needs to know that she is not the leader of this Sanctuary, and that she has no right giving you orders like that. You ought to set her straight." Astrid said finally, and Gabriella narrowed her red eyes.
"They weren't exactly…orders. And what do you mean by, 'set her straight'?" Gabriella looked Astrid in the eye. "If you're suggesting…violence…then I suggest you turn around and leave." Her tone was aggressive, but Astrid remained unthreatened.
"I am the leader of this Sanctuary, Gabriella. My word is law. We can't have some imposter running around claiming to be the very Listener of the Night Mother. Do you understand?" Gabriella nodded. She knew exactly what Astrid was thinking. She thinks Darlayah's going to steal her duty as Leader. She thought.
How far would Astrid go to defend her title?
"Did you SEE that? Cicero has never seen a dragon before! Ooh, how exciting!" Cicero kept talking, all of a sudden feeling energized and psyched up after seeing the dragon fly past.
The two had set up camp, as it was getting dark and the horses were rather tired. The night sky grew darker, and the stars grew brighter, as wispy aurora danced in front of them. Two bright moons glared down at the two assassins, shining through the thin clouds that stretched across the sky. It was a truly beautiful sight.
"Cicero, go to sleep." Darlayah said, as she lay down inside her makeshift tent that she had made from the things inside Misty's saddlebags. "It's getting a lot darker, and we have a full day of riding and searching tomorrow." Even though she trusted him somewhat, Darlayah didn't feel comfortable knowing Cicero would be awake while she slept.
She curled up inside her sleep roll, shivering slightly as the cold Skyrim breeze brushed past the skin poking out from the roll, goosebumps appearing all over her. It took a lot of willpower and strength, but Darlayah finally went to sleep.
Images and visions filled her head. Strange, dark images. The night sky swirled about above her as the aurora turned from cerulean blue and green to dark red, dripping from the black canvas sky like blood dripping from a knife. Thunderous, dark clouds appeared with a crack, and suddenly, the beautiful forest surroundings turned from trees to snow, and Darlayah found herself on top of a mountain. Paarthurnax was flying above, roaring and growling, circling his mountain proudly, but the pride soon became tyrannical, as though he was summoning followers to aid him. His golden frame soon became a black and grey monster, with spikes protruding from his back and skull. His eyes turned a fiery red, wisps coming from his sockets like bloody smoke, and he turned around in the sky, before heading straight towards Darlayah. His thundering, booming voice echoed as he drew closer, great scaly wings beating the air as he came closer and closer, until finally-
"LISTENER?"
Cicero's voice once again saved her from her nightmares. This time, though, she wasn't in a nice, warm bed, she was out in the middle of Skyrim inside a tent made from old fabrics and furs. "…C-Cicero?" Darlayah's voice immediately sounded ten years younger, as her blue eyes expanded in shock. She placed a hand on her forehead, collapsing backwards onto the sleep roll. "Sorry...I guess I just had another...bad dream..." she stammered, and gestured for her to sit by the campfire he had made when they set up camp.
"Is Listener all right? This is the second time Dawn has had very bad dreams." Darlayah followed Cicero, and she suddenly began to shiver, but whether it was from the cold or from fear, she did not know.
Why did she fear the very thing that had saved her own life? What was it about Helgen that made her shiver in terror just thinking about it?
The breton expelled the thoughts, as Cicero went and grabbed a huge, hollow log from underneath a tree, and pulled it to the camp for them to sit on. Darlayah managed a small smile, as Cicero then brought his own sleeping furs and wrapped them around her. Sitting on the log, Darlayah closed her eyes, trying to keep her tears from spilling.
"Did…did you sleep?" she asked Cicero, trying to distract herself from her dark thoughts. The keeper shook his head.
"Cicero doesn't sleep much." he replied, somewhat sheepishly. Darlayah shook her head, looking at the jester with a concerned expression.
"You need to sleep, Cicero! It's not good to be awake all the time."
"The Listener isn't the only one who has nightmares." Cicero replied gravely, and Darlayah looked down at the ground.
"You…you have them too?"
"…yes. Poor Cicero always has dreadful dreams and nasty nightmares." Cicero's voice became shrill yet quiet, and the Listener patted his back.
"I have some books in Misty's saddlebags. Perhaps you'd like to read a little? You know…have some good images in your head before you sleep?" Darlayah offered, and the Keeper nodded. "I'll be back in a minute." She put the furs Cicero had lent her on the log, and went to her mare, who was now awake due to the talking.
Darlayah stepped towards her sleepy horse, and reached inside the packs on her side, feeling around for her previous owner's books. She found three: Kolb and the Dragon, The Yellow Book of Riddles, and There Be Dragons. Taking the books in her hands, Darlayah petted Misty quickly, before heading back to Cicero, who was humming quietly.
"I have these three books, if you want to read one." Darlayah gave the books to Cicero who immediately opened up the Riddle book.
"Ooh! Cicero likes this book. I KNOW! I will tell you a riddle, you have to guess. Yes? Okay. A man says: 'If you lie to me I will slay you with my sword. If you tell me the truth, I will slay you with a spell.' What must you say to stay alive?" Cicero's eyes lit up as he hid the book behind his back, watching as the Listener thought hard about the riddle. She took it apart in her head, going through the words.
"Ah! That was an easy one. You say: 'You will slay me with your sword.' That way, you are telling the truth, but lying at the same time!" Darlayah looked particularly proud of herself, and Cicero grinned. She never actually guessed the answer, she had read the book before.
"Correct! The Listener is very smart." Darlayah blushed at the compliment.
"What about another one? This time, Cicero will make it up." He put the books on the ground next to him.
"Quick like a fox,
yet scared like a deer.
Stubborn like an ox,
but shadowed in fear.
What am I?"
Darlayah was impressed. "Did you make that up just then?" Cicero ignored her question.
"Guess! Guess!" he said, clapping his hands in anticipation.
The Listener thought and thought. Just like with the last riddle, she pulled apart the structure and thought of everything that matched the description. How can you be stubborn and afraid at the same time? she thought, and clearly her impatience to find the answer had shown on her face.
"Dawn can't guess! Is it too difficult?" Darlayah nodded, brows furrowed in frustration. "Well, you can't have the answer unless you guess it. Your turn! Tell Cicero a riddle!" The jester got up from the log and sat in front of Darlayah, as if she were a teacher and he was the student. The breton cleared her throat.
"Little Nancy Etticoat,
In a white petticoat,
and a red nose.
The longer she stands,
the shorter she grows."
Cicero thought for a minute. His facial expression changed suddenly from eager to solemn, staring at the ground as he thought about the riddle. He then quickly sat up, clapping his hands like an excited child.
"I have it! The answer! A candle! The longer a candle burns, the shorter it gets! Oh, you will need to try harder to make Cicero befuddled and confused! Go on, try again! Choose a difficult one." Cicero exclaimed, and Darlayah thought of one. It was an old favorite of hers.
"All right, here's a little one: Three Nord women are dreaming. They all have the same dream, in a way. They all dream about something related to falling. The first Nord dreams the dream, and wakes up terrified. The second Nord has the dream, and wakes up in shock. The third Nord has the same dream, yet she wakes up smiling and happy. What was different about her dream?" she said. She had made it up when she was younger, but nobody ever guessed it right. Maybe Cicero would be the first?
"Hmm…so they all dreamed about falling?" Cicero asked. He was really thinking hard this time. "Well. This is quite difficult." he admitted, and Darlayah grinned.
"How about, if you tell me the answer to your riddle, I'll tell you the answer to mine."
"Ah! The Listener is sneaky! Give Cicero a difficult riddle so you can get the answer to his. Clever Listener! Mother chose well…" Darlayah laughed, glancing over to the horizon.
The sun was already rising.
"Crap! Cicero, look! The sun's rising already. We better get going." Cicero put on a look of disappointment as he grabbed his things and went to his horse to pack them. Darlayah pulled apart her little tent, throwing the sticks used to prop it up back into the woods. She rolled up the furs and fabrics, before stomping out the fire, which was dying already.
"Listener! You're so slow!" Cicero exclaimed, and the breton looked over to him. He was already packed and mounted, ready to leave. "Cicero stole your books, by the way." He added proudly, patting the saddlebags. Darlayah rolled her eyes, and went to her mare and began putting her things away.
"Let's go find that dragon!" she told her companion, as she mounted her horse and began to ride west, to Solitude.
"Ho ho ho and hee hee hee! Break that lute across my knee! And if the bard should choose to fight, why, when I'll set his clothes alight! Ha! Ha ha ha…" Cicero was dancing around Solitude following his Listener, who was asking guards and passersby for any information they could use.
There were a few sightings of a golden dragon, but nothing about Galdur or the Dragonborn. Most people said the dragon was heading west, but strangely turned around, and headed south.
"Hmph. Solitude." Cicero had finished his singing and dancing and was now simply following Darlayah around in silence. "Lonely Cicero could tell you a thing or two about solitude." The Listener sighed, ignoring the jester.
"We may need to head to Rorikstead. By the Gods, this is almost impossible. Following a flying dragon is a fool's goal." she muttered, shaking her head.
Cicero suddenly leapt up, waving his hand in the air. Darlayah crossed her arms. "Yes, Keeper?" she said bluntly. The jester put his arm back down.
"We could trap the dragon! Lure him in with a tasty treat, and then KILL HIM!" he jumped about as though it were a genius plan.
"Cicero, how are we going to lure a dragon? And besides, we aren't following it to kill it, we just need to find the Dragonborn. No killing." Cicero sighed at the last statement. "We don't need to kill everything we see!" Darlayah laughed, but Cicero pouted.
"We're assassins! We need to kill!"
"I know, I know…but we only kill people. We just need to find the Dragonborn, take him to the Blades and be done with it."
Of course, they could wait for the Dragonborn to come to Solitude. But how long would that take? Would he have already heard the dragon was heading south? It was a bit of a gamble.
"Let's just go to Rorikstead, and we will stay there for the night. Instead of following the dragon, we should try following the dragonborn. Dragons are too fast to follow, even on horseback."
And with that, they left the huge city, heading to Katla's Farm, where they had left their horses.
"Sorry for wasting your time."
"Don't worry 'bout it. I'll keep an eye out for him."
Darlayah and Cicero had just arrived at Rorikstead, and luckily, the townsfolk were a lot kinder than the city people. The Listener had asked three people so far, all of which hadn't seen either the dragon, or the two men Darlayah was looking for, but they all volunteered to watch for them.
If the dragon hadn't been spotted here, then where was it? Had it changed course, or stopped somewhere? The only option was to wait in Rorikstead for any further news.
"I've been here before, I know that. There should be an inn here." Darlayah muttered to herself, and Cicero followed her as she headed to Frostfruit Inn, a small building in the tiny town.
As they entered the building, Darlayah rented two rooms, one for her, and one for Cicero.
"Now Cicero, I don't want any complaints about you tonight. So no singing, no laughing, no being…loud…just be quiet and considerate of others. Understood?" she asked Cicero. He nodded, before heading to his room.
Darlayah went to her own room, shutting the door and opening her journal. Luckily, she had brought an inkwell and a quill with her. She dipped the quill in the ink, and began to write.
She wrote about the dragon, about the riddles in the dark, and how she had been so close to finding Galdur. She even put the answer to her riddle in the book, lightly sketching over it, so that it was somewhat difficult to read. Just in case a certain jester happened to find this, she thought to herself, grinning.
After about half an hour of writing, a booming roar could be heard from outside the inn, causing Darlayah to jump. Several screams and crashes were also echoing around the inn, and the breton knew exactly what it was.
"Dragon…" Darlayah muttered, leaping off the bed and grabbing her bow, slinging her quiver onto her back. When she left her room, she noticed the inn was empty, except for Cicero who was standing, waiting for Darlayah.
"Listener! Dragon!" he leapt up, hopping from one foot to the other excitedly. "Can we kill it? Can we kill it?"
"Come on, quick. I think we may have to." Cicero pulled out his ebony dagger, and stormed out the door, with Darlayah following.
Sure enough, a dragon was there. It was the golden dragon!
It was sat atop a house, burning everything it saw, and the people were screaming, running around, trying to avoid the blazing Thu'um of the beast. But something was different.
The dragon's fiery shouts were mixed with a frosty blast, which definitely did not come from the dovah.
Darlayah pushed aside suspicions, pulling out her bow and one of her golden arrows, loading the bow and drawing it back. "Morah ahrk krii…" she muttered, as time seemed to slow down slightly as her concentration increased. "Dir, dovah!" she hissed, as she released the arrow, watching as it launched into the dragon's scaly hide. The beast suddenly beat his red wings, lifting itself up into the air, blood staining his jaw and neck from previous attacks by whoever was daring to challenge the beast.
It whirled around in the sky, roaring at the man below, who was dressed in full glass armour and firing at the beast with a matching glass bow. He kept missing.
The dragon suddenly stopped flying, and pointed his nose at the man on the ground. The dragon snarled. "Hiu fent dir, joor!" it roared, before it spiraled to the ground, jaws open, as fire spilled from his mouth, but the warrior below persisted, this time with a steel sword and a fire spell, with his bow slung onto his back. The dragon landed, falling to the ground with a crash.
"You dare attack me, mey?" the dragon hissed. Cicero was slashing at the beast's leg with his dagger.
Darlayah drew her bow once more, releasing another elven arrow, this time hitting the dragon's throat. It cried out, staring at Darlayah, kicking Cicero to the ground with his huge leg. "Cicero!" Darlayah screamed, watching as the dragon came closer.
"Zu'u Sosyolviing!" the beast growled, "Hiu kos kril, joor." the dragon said sarcastically. "Dir nu, kendov!"
Something changed. The creature roared, but it wasn't a challenging, growling roar, it was a cry of pain and defeat.
"Dovahkiin…no!" it said finally, before it fell to the ground, dead.
"Dovahkiin…" Darlayah repeated, eyes widening in realisation. A man appeared from the side of the dragon's body, sheathing his steel sword. "You…are you…Dragonborn?" the breton stammered, looking at the Nord in front of her.
"Dragonborn? That's what the Jarl in Whiterun said." the man looked at the dragon.
The body suddenly started to burn up, flakes of golden skin wishing away into the breeze, as the flesh dissolved, and a skeleton was revealed. The very soul of the dragon rises from the beast's corpse, and without a warning, it spiraled around the Nord warrior. "Dovahkiin…" Darlayah gasped, watching the wispy essence being absorbed.
They had finally found the Dragonborn.
"Galdur, you need to own up. Stop running and face the woman! You didn't do the crime, did you?"
Galdur looked up from his mead, looking his accomplice in the eye. "I didn't. But Dee'll kill me anyway. She's that type of monster." He shivered.
"Just find her first, tell her you didn't do it, and pray to Talos you don't get yourself killed."
"Skald, listen. I can't face her. Not until that killer is found. Even then I can't see her."
"Then why'd you sell they guy that stupid poem?" Skald hissed.
Galdur sighed. "He paid me at least four hundred septims for it! Even you would't have said no. He said he knew Darlayah, but I didn't realize what he'd do to get her attention." He shook his head, swirling the mead around in his tankard.
"Well, send a courier to give the breton a letter with the guy's details. Send her after him. The crime will be solved and your ass'll be saved. Piece of cake."
"It's not as easy as that. I heard she was chasing some dragon. She would be very hard to find."
"Let me find her then. I will give her the message, and if she doesn't co-operate, I'll knock her to the ground." Skald replied, getting up. "And then, I'll deal with the killer."
Galdur handed him a coin purse. "This is half of what he paid for the poem. Think of it as…payment."
Skald took the money, and patted his dwarven dagger, which was tied to his belt. "I'll be back soon, mate."
"Dovahkiin? Yeah, I guess…" The dragonborn stared at Darlayah's attire. She was wearing her Nightingale armour, without the hood. She had her bow slung on her back, and two daggers strapped to her hips. "Who are you?" he asked out of curiosity.
"Oh, forgive me." she bowed low, much to the Nord's surprise. "I am Darlayah, a Blade. I have followed this dragon around in hopes of finding you. I am not sure if you know already, but your fate is tied to the fate of this world." The Nord tilted his head. "Alduin, the World-Eater, has returned…"
"Wait, what? Alduin? No, he was banished ages ago." he said in disbelief. "Well, anyway, I better introduce myself. I am Kodai, but I have a feeling you already know me as the Dragonborn."
Cicero peered from around the dragon's leg, clutching his stomach as he wandered over to his Listener. "Um...Mr Dragonborn? Cicero found your friend." the Jester pointed to a rather tall Imperial who was behind him. "He is perfectly fine, by the way. But not Cicero. Everything hurts. It not fun being kicked by a dragon..."
"Come here, Cicero. I have a potion for you." Cicero happily limped over to Darlayah, who offered him a small red bottle. "You were very brave." she whispered, and Cicero smiled weakly.
"Thank you, great and powerful Listener!" Cicero drank the potion, whimpering a little, before he was finally able to start standing properly, even if his side still hurt. "That dragon wasn't very nice." he mumbled. Darlayah laughed.
"I…don't think you've met my friend." Kodai stood towards the two assassins, all of a sudden looking quite short compared to his friend. "This is Benedict. Ben, this is Darlayah."
"Sup." the other Nord said bluntly. "Who's the clown?"
Darlayah suddenly started to dislike Benedict. "Ben, Kodai, this is Cicero. He's not a clown, he's a jester. Be careful what you say around him…" she murmured, and Cicero raised an eyebrow. "Anyway, I need to take you to the remaining Blades. They have something they need to discuss with you."
"Who are the Blades?" Kodai asked.
"Well, I guess it's no surprise you don't know them. They used to defend the Dragonborn emperors, but they were pretty much destroyed during the Great War. There's only a few left, and we have been searching for you."
"…Searching for me? Why?" Kodai was surprised. Had he not known about his own destiny?
"I told you about Alduin, right? He's returned and all that, and only the Dragonborn can stop him."
Kodai froze, all of a sudden looking uncomfortable."I have to…defeat Alduin? The dragon of legend? Surely this is a joke…"
"It's no joke. If you want, I can take you to the Greybeards. They can tell you about this stuff. Unless you've already seen them, of course."
"Greybeards? They're on top of the mountain, right?"
"Yeah. I study the Voice with them." Darlayah replied, and Kodai looked confused.
"You can…Shout?" he asked. "How?"
"It's a long story, and I honestly have no time to tell stories right now. If you are willing, we could leave tomorrow morning. It's only a short trip to the Sky Haven Temple, which isn't too far from here. Do you have horses?" Kodai shrugged.
"That dragon might have scared them off. I'll look for them in a minute." Kodai said, and Cicero stepped forward.
"Maybe we can just walk. Cicero enjoys walking. A nice little walk through the countryside." he said, waltzing around the Dragonborn and his friend.
Benedict spoke up. "You travel with this guy? What is he, insane?"
"Yes." Darlayah stated, almost with a hiss.
"Ugh. He's so annoying." Ben stuck his foot out, causing Cicero to trip, falling on the floor. Instead of getting mad, he just sat and laughed.
"Ha ha ha! That was funny. Again! Again!" he said, before suddenly clutching his belly again with a whine. "Maybe not again."
Darlayah almost felt like punching Benedict. "Don't touch him! He's just been kicked by a dragon, you idiot." she growled, helping the jester up to his feet. "Look - we need your help. Kodai, all I need you to do is help defeat Alduin, that way I can finally get back to doing what I love and stop having the fucking nightmares." Her voice trailed off as she realized what she had said. He doesn't need to know about the nightmares, she scolded herself.
"Stop having what?" Darlayah remained silent. Kodai continued, shaking his head. "Alright, just…show us how to get to this…temple. We'll head out tomorrow." He nodded, and Benedict looked at the sky.
"I think it's getting dark." he said simply, heading towards the Frostfruit Inn.
"Is he always like that?" Darlayah asked Kodai. He shrugged.
"He's just being Ben, I guess." Kodai said, before they headed into the Inn.
"Got any sweet rolls? I need a bit of sugar…" Darlayah yawned a little, exchanging a few coins for the sugary cake. "Thanks."
"No problem. You're up early. What's happening this morning?" Mralki asked, tucking the gold in his pocket.
"Going to see some friends. Have to leave early." she replied, nibbling on the sweet roll.
"Listener! You're awake." Cicero came out of his rented room, stretching his arms out above him, going over to Darlayah and the Innkeeper and sitting on the barstool next to her. "Cicero went to sleep last night. Sleep!" the jester said proudly, causing Mralki to give him an odd look.
"Is this a…friend?" the innkeeper asked.
"Something like that." she muttered, breaking off a bit of her cake and handing it to Cicero, who gratefully accepted it. "Have you seen the rest of my company? One's a tall imperial and the other's a short Nord. Hard to miss."
"No, they haven't gotten up yet." Mralki replied.
"Lazy swines." Darlayah laughed, handing the rest of her sweet roll to Cicero. "Right, I'm off to get changed. Be back in a bit." She was dressed in a simple tunic, one of which she always wore beneath her armour for comfort reasons.
When she went inside the small room, she shut the door and pulled out her armour from the chest at the end of the bed. Her hood was on the side table, gleaming in the light of the nearby candle. Darlayah put on her main armour, before slipping into her boots and gauntlets. She then attached her belt and pouch to her hip, and slipped her two daggers into the sheaths on her thighs. Darlayah then slid her quiver and bow onto her back, before grabbing her hood and heading out the room.
"Cicero?" Darlayah muttered, tilting her head.
Cicero was sat on a bench near the fire pit, plucking away at a lute that had been abandoned by the counter. He was humming the same tune he was playing, and for some reason, Darlayah though he seemed…sane.
"Listener, look! Cicero's a bard!" he said, breaking the thought and showing Darlayah the lute in his hands. "Hum dee dee! Look at me, Cicero's a bard. He plays the lute, at the inn of Frostfruit, the wonderful Fool of Hearts!" he sang with pride, and Darlayah applauded, laughing.
"Come on, hand it over before you break it." she said, reaching for the lute. Cicero pulled it away.
"Nooo. It's mine now."
"Cicero-"
"But Listeneerrr!" the jester whined, before finally handing the instrument over to the breton. She happily took it, and Cicero watched with awe as she played a melody on it. "Wow. Dawn is really good." he complimented.
"Alright, when are we leaving." Benedict appeared from his room, dressed in steel armour with a dwarven war axe in his back. Darlayah frowned when she saw him.
"We'll be leaving as soon as the Dragonborn wakes." she replied, continuing to play the lute, and ignoring Ben.
"And the Dragonborn is awake." Kodai walked out of his room his glass armour on, and his bow and quiver on his back. "When should we leave?" he asked, and Darlayah gave the lute back to Cicero, and stood up. "As soon as you're both ready." she answered.
"I think I'm ready to go. Ben? What about you?" Benedict shrugged, and walked out the inn. Darlayah grumbled to herself.
"Ooh! Are we going now? Well, off we go!" Cicero took the Listener's arm and took her out the door, leaving the lute behind. Kodai followed with a confused look on his face. "I can't believe I'm following these two." he muttered, shaking his head.
They had been walking for twenty minutes, with Darlayah and Cicero leading their horses and the Dragonborn and his friend with theirs behind them. Kodai had found their own horses, which were hiding behind the Inn the whole time, evading the dragon.
"So, Darlayah, how do you know where you're going? It's rather easy to get lost in Skyrim." Kodai finally spoke up, breaking the silence that had hovered over the group. Darlayah looked behind her.
"I have a map with me at all times. I've also been wandering Skyrim for at least ten years. I know my way around fairly well." She replied, and Kodai nodded.
"Ten years? What were you doing before that?" he pressed on, curious to find out more about the breton.
"Well, I spent my life from about ten years old onwards until eighteen with the Greybeards. I would study with them, because I had no other place to go. I don't remember anything from when I was much younger, though."
"Woah. So is that how you can Shout?"
"Well…yeah. I guess so." Darlayah replied, "There's more to the story though." she added. "Come on, I think we should ride the rest of the way."
The Dragonborn agreed, and soon, the four adventurers were moving a lot faster.
"This is taking a while." Benedict said, sighing. Darlayah rolled her eyes.
"It's only been about twenty minutes. Be patient." she snapped. Cicero laughed.
"Oh, I don't think Listener likes you!" he whispered to Ben, who shrugged as if he didn't care.
"Not the first time I've realized." the Imperial replied, glaring coldly at Darlayah, who was so close to firing a destruction spell at him.
"Guys! Let's just…get to this temple, find out what these, 'Blades' want, and be done with it. Sheesh." Kodai said, causing Darlayah and Benedict to immediately become silent.
Cicero began to hum in the silence, and it was obvious that Ben did not like it. He grumbled to himself, adjusting his steel helmet, attempting to block out the sound. It didn't work. "Could you maybe…oh, I don't know…be quiet?!" he finally growled, but the Jester simply chuckled.
"The brave and mighty warriorcannot bear to listen to poor Cicero. Ha!" he laughed, making Ben red with anger. Darlayah decided to intervene.
"Cicero, shut up. Benedict…say anything more and I will slit your throat. Understood?" her tone was threatening, and Ben simply shrugged.
"Whatever." he said simply, riding ahead of the group.
"Just ignore him. I guess he's just in a bad mood." Kodai muttered, urging his horse to catch up with Ben's. "Come on, we should probably go a little faster."
Darlayah didn't realise, but when Kodai caught up with Ben, they had a small, private conversation. The breton didn't even know they were talking to one another.
"You don't actually trust that lady, do you?" Benedict whispered, being careful not to alert either Cicero or Darlayah.
"Not really, to be honest. Did you hear what she said to you? 'I will slit your throat'? She's probably as mad as the jester following her." Kodai replied quietly.
"Then what are you going to do?" Ben muttered.
"What areyou guys talking about?" Cicero suddenly rode forwards, interested in the conversation. He hadn't heard anything, he was simply bored and wanted someone to talk to.
"Back up, clown." Ben hissed, which caught Darlayah's attention.
"Look, we're here!" she said quickly, breaking up the conversation and pointing to a temple on the small mountain in front of her. "Usually, we would ride up the other side of the mountain, but I think, because we now have the dragonborn, we could try the main entrance." The Listener gestured for them to follow her, as she rode ahead of all three of the men.
Ben took this chance to speak again, forgetting Cicero was still there. "How can we be sure she is a…'Blade'? She's probably an assassin for all we know." he whispered. "She's probably going to kill you."
"I think you're probably just exaggerating." Kodai replied. Ben shook his head.
"I think I'm right." he protested.
"Well…let's just…stick with her plan, and if it all goes wrong…then you know what to do." Kodai muttered, and Benedict nodded, and they both rode forward, leaving Cicero about ten meters behind them.
"He will 'know what to do'?" Cicero repeated, tilting his head, before he suddenly realized what he had meant. "Don't touch my Listener, worm." he growled, before urging his horse into a canter, catching up to Darlayah. "Listener!" he called out, as he drew closer and closer to the breton.
"What's wrong, Cicero?" she asked, puzzled.
All Cicero did was point to the Dragonborn and his friend, before muttering, "They don't trust you! Cicero thinks the tall one is going to kill you…!"
Darlayah laughed, shaking her head. "Don't worry. Everything is going to be fine. If he dares lay a finger on his blade, then he find himself hanging upside down with blood dripping from his neck." Cicero nodded, realizing this is the Listener. She was strong, brave, and very fierce.
"Yes Listener! But, what if he does try…to…hurt you?" he still asked, lowering his voice. Darlayah patted her blades, shooting a quick glance at Benedict. "Ah, I see…" Cicero whispered, chuckling. "Dear Cicero will keep you from harm!" he said, before the group finally reached the Sky Haven Temple.