The sky, blushing pink and orange, signaled dawn had come. The usually dark waters of the Sea of Ghosts had paled to a brilliant aqua for the occasion, and the white snow blanketing the Pale's land shone ivory. The sun timidly gazed across the landscape, spilling its golden grandeur upon all of Dawnstar-and one house in particular. The building was single-story, and single-roomed, derelict and in bad need of repair. There were no windows, and the boards making up the walls were crooked and missing, in some places. There was a single door to the building, too small for the doorframe yet magically keeping itself shut. Candlelight was visible through some of the building's cracks, and occasionally, flashes of movement were visible from within.
It appeared as if the sun believed that the brighter it shone upon the building, the quicker the darkness within it would flee. Watching this particular house closely through half-lidded eyes from his spot sprawled across the ground eagle-spread, Rhordric sighed. The sun wasn't going to rid this house of its curse-they were. It might as well give up trying to blind him through the small crack he was gazing through.
The house they were hiding in was falling apart just as badly as the other, floorboards mostly gone and chinks in the walls missing. It was dangerous for them here, but they had no other stake-out area available. Adept at hiding in near impossible places anyway, they were managing nicely.
They had been there since before the previous dusk, on the Night Mother's orders. She had told the Listener someone extremely powerful was ripe for recruiting here. They only had this small window of opportunity, and Rhordric was determined not to fail his Mother.
Aventus let out a deafening sigh of disgust and fell directly onto Rhordric's stomach, snatching a grunt of protest from the older assassin. From her perch on the table behind them, the Listener giggled.
"Aventus, get off of me." Rhordric said slowly, low voice barely audible. The threat in his tone was obvious, his fingertips closing around his Daedric dagger unmistakable. The younger boy ignored both warnings.
"It's been hours." Aventus whined, spastically flailing his arms around, narrowly missing Babette's leg. The vampire child gazed disdainfully down at both of them, although the lack of fangs in someone's body proved she wasn't annoyed.
"We're on duty, boys." The Listener sang. Rhordric experimentally poked Aventus with his blade, drawing a bit of blood from the boy's exposed neck. A growl sounded from Blade, a Khajit boy Aventus had 'liberated' from Honorhall a year ago. The cat was just as loyal to Aventus as Rhordric was to the Brotherhood and the Listener, and although he respected him, Rhordric shot Blade a flat look as Aventus got off of him.
"I think it's time." Babette said shortly. Rhordric pushed himself up, scowling at the prospect of putting his armor on. He hated hiding in front of his Family, disguising his blood and flesh as if he was ashamed of what he was. Without waiting around much longer, however, he pulled the Shrouded armor on atop his breeches. He tugged his hood down as low as it was go and waited as the others finished gathering their own things. Arms slipped around his waist, and he glanced at the Listener.
"I think you look very…mysterious like this." She said mischievously, eyes glittering. Her lips brushed his before she wandered over to Babette, smacking Aventus when the boy released a gagging sound. Rhordric only scowled at the Listener's back.
Hiding his heritage was something he had grown very used to. While the Family did not care that he was a half-breed mutt that should have died or been sent to Oblivion years ago, others did-and if this child was as powerful as the Night Mother had said she was, he had to hide until she became his Sister.
Although…it was worth it to see their look of fear when they saw what he was.
Mood only marginally better, he sheathed his blades and grabbed Aventus by the scruff of his neck, hauling the boy over his shoulder as he left the building. Carrying a silently struggling load, he slipped through dawn shadows until he arrived at the cursed home, and unceremoniously, he dropped Aventus.
He would have killed the boy if he'd made noise landing, but as always, Aventus managed to slip by without a single sound. Blade joined them with Babette, and a second later the Listener slipped past him and pushed the door open.
As one, the members of the Dark Brotherhood silently flooded inside.
The sight shocked him to the core and froze the blood in his veins.
An Imperial woman lay sprawled out on the floor, much like he had been earlier. Her throat had been cut and her face absolutely ravaged. An Imperial man laid face-down in a smoldering fireplace, blackened and burned by the flames. A bed, pushed in a small alcove-like room, was entirely saturated with blood. A dark haired-dead-girl lay upon it, eyes open but unseeing. A white-haired child was murmuring quietly to the body, obviously having a conversation of some sort.
It was the child that had taken him by surprise. She wore a threadbare shirt two sizes too big, short hair in a tangled mess around her head. The shirt was faded beyond recognition, and hung low on her shoulders, just as it ended by her ankles. She was extremely small and frail-looking. Her collar-bone stuck out grotesquely, as did the brand just below it-the sign of Arkay, god of death. Her turquoise eyes were intent upon her dead companion's face, and she suddenly squealed with delight, falling back upon the bed, making it clear she was quite literally soaked with blood. She was the very picture of innocence and light, even as she spotted them and clasped her scarlet hands to her knees in excitement.
"Are you here to play too?" She asked eagerly. Rhordric cast a glance at his companions. Blade was frozen, but his face gave nothing away. Aventus was gaping, Babette was preoccupied with the sheer amount of blood in the room, and the Listener was still surveying the building.
It was always left to him.
"If you're willing to play with us." He prayed to Sithis his deep voice-although not as deep as Nazir's-didn't scare her.
Apparently the Dread Lord really wanted the child as his own, because her eyes only got larger with enthusiasm.
"Did you have fun here, child?" He asked softly, approaching. Her expression became sullen, and she pouted when she spoke.
"They didn't want to play with me! But now Sister will." The child added, flashing a brilliant smile at the corpse beside her. Intrigued, Rhordric yanked his glove off and held out his hand.
Babette had told him that those with special abilities could share them through touch years ago. He hoped he was right and she wasn't just as insane as Cicero.
"Will you let me see, child?" She nodded and put her tiny hand in his. Immediately the world warped.
He was again frozen, this time out of awe and wonder. He could see the ghost of the Imperial child sitting on the bed, regarding him quietly. Long, straight dark hair framed her drawn face and narrow green eyes.
Without warning the vision vanished, and a second later, he felt cool air on his face. He blinked slowly, realizing the child had pushed his hood off. As he had been crouching beside the bed and she now stood on it, they were now eye-to-eye. He saw something within her turquoise orbs that he recognized, and unconsciously, he let out a muffled cursed.
She was half-Dremora too.
Her smile was larger than the Listener's when she succeeded in getting Cicero drunk.
"I didn't know I had a brother!" She exclaimed, arms flinging around his neck. Stunned, he awkwardly wrapped his arms around her and stood, for the first time in his entire life at an absolute loss at what to do. He glanced at the others. Everyone but Babette looked surprised, but that could have been because the vampire was licking blood off of her fingers, a blissful look on her face.
"Do you want to go home with us?" The Listener asked. The child leaned away from him, hands braced against his shoulders. Her expression was fierce.
"I'm going with Brother!" She declared. Aventus grinned.
"Welcome to the family, Sister." Blade murmured.
