The Traveler was tending the fire when the woman awoke again. She stirred, then began to slowly sit up, grimacing as she did so. She glanced around as she became aware of her surroundings, then yelped as she pulled the bedroll up to cover herself.
"Sorry about that. You were… in a state of undress when I found you, and I thought it'd be a bit rude of me to clothe you. As it is, I did find some clothes and altered them a bit for you." He pointed next to the bedroll, where there was a small pile of clothes, then turned around, giving the woman as much privacy as he could.
Avsuo quickly recovered from her shock and embarrassment. It helped that the strange man was so calm. She slowly dropped the bedroll, then examined the clothes the stranger had mentioned. A shirt and breeches. With some alterations, as the stranger said. She recalled what he had said as he tended to her, and slowly reached for her head.
Her hands met an unfamiliar texture. Hard. Bone. She had horns. She let her hands trace the length of her new crown. How many did she have? She couldn't tell. Six? Eight? Ten? They felt convoluted and heavy on her head.
She dragged her hands down her face and body, feeling the patterned scales that now adorned her. Amidst the shock that was building over truly exploring these new changes, she felt some appreciation for the beauty that the scales took. Deep, iridescent green. Her hands wandered down to her legs. Were they even her legs anymore? Given what the stranger had said, she'd assume that they were supposed to be dragon legs, but did dragons really have two knees? She felt the scales that made up her new legs. Much harder than the scales that adorned the rest of her body.
Finally, her hands reached for her back. She felt leathery skin, framed by hollow bone. It felt alien, even more so when she tried to control her wings. She felt them flap uselessly, unfamiliar muscles trying to work together.
She sighed, and picked up the clothes again. The shirt had holes in the back. Avsuo hoped that she could get her wings through them. The breeches were rather baggy, and had a hole on the rump. Right. She had a tail now.
Self inspection complete, she began to put the clothes on, idly examining her assumed saviour as she did so.
A rather rugged man. Well prepared, if the backpack and assortment of pouches and bandoliers said anything. Avsuo also noticed the sword by his side and the shield next to him, as well as a small armory attached to his backpack. She couldn't help but be curious.
"You seem to be well prepared." She prompted.
"Indeed. I am known as a traveler, so I try to have a wide variety of supplies on hand. Herbs, food, tools, weapons, even some spare armor, though I have yet to need it."
"Why so many weapons?" Avsuo saw a bow, a few spears, a mace, an axe, and even a pickaxe arranged around his pack.
"Simply depends on the situation. I usually use my sword and shield for most fights, but I occasionally find myself traveling underground, and my mace makes short work of any skeletons. The bow is my choice ranged solution, and the spears I have yet to actually make use of. I still feel better about having them. They don't weigh too much, and it's better to have them and not need them, than to need them and not have them, no?"
Avsuo had to agree, but she realised she didn't know much about traveling. This was the first time she had ever left Karthwasten, besides hunting.
Having put the breeches on, tail included, but having some issues with the shirt, she decided to change the topic.
"You said there was some stuff to talk about once I was more awake and… cognizant?" Whatever that meant. "Well, I'd say I'm as ready as I'll be for whatever you have to say." The stranger paused, then she heard him sigh.
"It is not pleasant, but I won't bother sugar-coating it. You may have already gathered, but you can't go back to your past life."
It was something that Avsuo had been avoiding thinking about, but something that had been lingering in her mind. It was her turn to sigh. "I feared as much. Why?"
"Well, to begin with, I doubt you'd fare well without reliable assistance, and I'm fairly certain you wouldn't find the type of help you'd need in Karthwasten. The most glaring issue is the attention. You're now Dragonborn. Unlike the stories, where they have the body of a man and the soul of a dragon, you have the body of a dragon, and the soul of a woman. Once word gets out, and word will get out, you'll have people all across Skyrim bothering you. Mages will want to study you, the Thalmor would love to get their hands on you, several groups would love to… take you out of the picture. Of course, there would be people who would just be curious as to who you are, and what became of you, but they would still intrude on whatever life you had before all of this."
Avsuo had some questions whirling around her head at this, but took a deep breath, and slightly organized her thoughts. "You said reliable assistance. Is that referring to what you did to me last night?" Avsuo saw the stranger nod.
"The notes of the man, as I have said, put your draconic parts and human parts in conflict. This causes the aching I'm sure you still feel. The massage I gave you helps relax your body, hopefully helping the conflicting parts of you integrate more smoothly into each other." Avsuo saw the man shake his head. "I have good reason to believe it should work, but it more than likely won't be a permanent solution."
So this 'massage' is what had felt so good. Avsuo moved on. "I don't want the attention from all the people you listed. Who even are these 'Thalmor'?"
The stranger scoffed. "Bastards, the lot of them. Prideful, arrogant, but admittedly skilled, they're manipulative and power hungry. Once they got word of you, you'd disappear without a word. You could only hope they wouldn't leave you alive."
Avsuo felt herself get a little clammy hearing that. It sounded horrible. She shook herself to try and shake the feeling. "That's terrible." She paused, then sheepishly spoke again. "Uh, not to change the subject, but can you help me? My wings are proving difficult." Indeed, she had had no trouble getting her arms into the sleeves of the shirt, but she couldn't get her wings to cooperate enough to get the rest of the shirt on.
The Traveler turned around, Seeing his new charge somewhat dressed, but having issues with her wings. He nodded, standing up and walking behind her. He gently felt the wings, trying to get a feel for how much pressure they could take, and where they could bend and how. He felt her shiver at his touch, but ignored it.
Once sufficiently confident, he pushed one wing, then the other, folding them against the woman's back as flat as they could go.
"Slowly lower the back of your shirt." He instructed. "I'll keep the wings out of the way until they can be put through the holes."
The woman did as told, slowly lowering the shirt over her back, while the Traveler adjusted his hands to make sure the wings didn't fold out before they could. Moments later, and with minimal effort, the wings were once again extended, this time out of the holes of the shirt.
Avsuo sighed, this small ordeal finally over. "Already there are difficulties, huh?" she said. "Hopefully I can get used to them. I think dressing myself should be the bare minimum of what I can do, even like this."
The stranger grunted an affirmation, then moved back to his spot by the fire. Avsuo stared into the fire as the stranger brought it back up, then spoke again.
"Who are you?" It was a question she had been wondering about ever since she had regained enough clarity to wonder.
The stranger turned to look at her. His expression was unreadable.
"Just a traveler." Came the eventual reply.
Avsuo was quick with a response. "A traveler would not go out of their way to save a nobody, much less care for them. Especially without any outward motivations, but you could just be good at hiding your intentions."
The stranger chuckled at this. "Trust issues? After all I've done for you?" He didn't wait for a reaction. "But you're right. I'm a traveler to many, and adventurer to some, and more to others. I consider myself simply a man with enough talent to make a difference in the world."
Avsuo thought she heard him tack something at the end of that statement, but didn't catch what it was.
"Well, can I learn the name of the man who cared for me so far?"
The stranger once agains turned to stare at Avsuo. A piercing stare that lasted just long enough to cause Avsuo to worry. Had she asked the wrong question?
Then, the stranger broke the contact, turning back to stare at the fire. "Deorne."
Having an answer to her question, Avsuo decided to be bolder. "Why so reluctant to tell me your name?"
Another pause before an answer.
"Because there are few who I care to know me."
Avsuo saw the end of that conversation, and took it.