It was early afternoon when Avsuo and Deorne left the camp he had made. Avsuo was still not used to her new body, but she hoped to at least walk. As they made ready to leave, Avsuo glanced at the still raging fire in the mine she had apparently come from.

"You'd do best to forget this place."

Avsuo turned to Deorne, who had not looked up from securing his belongings.

"This place will always carry a blight now. Even the ashes will draw evil. Few places can hold such an aura and bear anything other than more evil."

He spoke with a weight that Avsuo was more than content to accept. She'd wish she could forget this place too, but, even if that were possible, it wouldn't be for a while.

Deorne stood up, shouldering his pack. He looked at Avsuo.

"It's a few days' journey back to Karthwasten. We'd best get moving."

Avsuo nodded in agreement, and the pair set off.

The first day was slow going for the pair. Avsuo was able to walk, but not without some difficulty. Not long into their journey, she piped up.

"Why do dragons have two knees?"

"They don't," was the response.

Avsuo glanced at Deorne is surprise.

"Then, why-"

"The man who did this to you was seeking to harness the physical power of the dragon. However, while a dragon is strong and tough, as the stories say, the people of skyrim are adaptable, something that the dragons of old lacked. The man was seeking to combine the power of a dragon, while keeping the adaptability of the people, and also making small changes to optimize the form. Your two knees will, in time, let you run incredibly fast, reach higher ledges when climbing, and give you more power if you ever use your legs for combat."

Avsuo was silent for a moment. "The man who did this certainly seemed to know what he was doing," she quietly said.

Deorne sighed. "I feel that is a big issue. He knew exactly what he was doing. He had done the research, 'perfected' the processes, but what had he sacrificed in the process? The lives he took? The lives he affected? His own morality?" He shook his head. "It seems fitting that the man who had done this was a Thalmor. Yet another reason to hate them."

Avsuo pondered on this. She felt guilty. She was the culmination of that monster's work. Was she responsible for the lives lost and affected? Deorne seemed to read her mind.

"But you will never be to blame. If anything, you had the worst of it all, going through the experiments and processes, and coming out alive. As your aching testifies to."

Avsuo, her aching almost ignored, was suddenly reminded of the constant pain she was in now. She grimaced. "And this pain will be with me the rest of my life?"

"More than likely. As I said earlier, I can treat it, but not cure it."

Avsuo was reminded of what he had done. It had felt so incredible to her aching and fatigued body. "What was that you had done to me, anyway?"

"A massage? Have you never heard of one?"

Avsuo shook her head. "No. Is it some fancy thing? You may know Karthwasten isn't really big on luxury."

Deorne shook his head in response. "Not so much a luxury, as you simply need the knowledge."

"Then where did you learn how to do it?"

Deorne took a moment to respond. "When I first began travelling, I was much younger, and much more naive. I had enough skill, and thought I had enough energy, to just," he paused, "keep going. To blow off any bandit or obstacle that got in my way." He shook his head. "I overstepped my unknown boundaries in a bad way. Tried to take on some spriggans after I accidentally trespassed into their territory. They outmatched me, with power and numbers. I pushed my body past any limits any normal person had getting away. Eventually, I collapsed from exhaustion and muscle failure. By all rights of this land, I was dead. Food for the wolves, or loot for bandits. Yet, I woke up safe and warm, yet not unscathed. A woman had found me, a hermit who's name I never learned. With my muscles strained and torn, she gave me a massage, helping ease my pain. So taken aback by this kindness, I asked 'Why? Why help a dead man?' Her answer was 'Because I am able to.' I've taken that to heart. Once I had recovered, I asked her to teach me how to give a massage, in hopes to repay her, and to have the knowledge for any other weary traveler. She didn't accept my payment, but did teach me."

"Sounds like it was an odd encounter."

Deorne paused. "Yeah, I suppose it was. I never gave too much thought about it, but I'm not going to start now. It happened, it changed me, and I left it better than before."

The conversation seemed finished, so Avsuo fell silent.

Nightfall found the pair sitting around a fire, waiting for two rabbits to finish cooking. Avsuo sat on the bedroll, kneading her legs, trying to ease the aching that had returned full force over the course of the day. She wished she could ask Deorne for help, but he had gone to get more wood, so she was left to her own devices.

As she attempted to soothe herself, she felt a breeze rustle her wings. She hadn't really given them much attention, given her current situation. She concentrated on them, trying to spread them. She could feel them, not unlike her arms or legs, but they didn't want to respond properly to what she wanted to do. She didn't have much time to practice, as Deorne came back.

Deorne approached the fire, armful of wood in tow, and saw the woman trying to use her wings. He paused, watching as the wings twitched, the woman trying to figure out how to move them. It didn't appear as though she was having any luck.

Moving forward, he crouched down, putting the wood by the fire.

"Would you like some help?"

The woman started, whipping around to face him, then grimacing. She moved to knead her neck.

"You sure are quiet." Her face colored a bit in embarrassment as she realised what he was referring to. "I mean… sure? Not sure how you could, though."

Doerne nodded in response. "I could think of some ways. First, take off your shirt and lie face down on the bedroll. Your aches have returned, have they not?"

He didn't bother waiting for a reply, merely turning away to give her some privacy.

Avsuo wasn't sure why she felt embarrassed being caught trying to use her wings, but that feeling was quickly subsiding. She turned away from him, and began to take her shirt off. Most of it came off easily, but got hung up on her wings. After struggling in vain to get her wings to cooperate, she gave up.

"Uh, could you help me?"

She heard Deorne shift, then felt him approach. The embarrassment started to come, being in such a state of undress, but she told herself he had already seen her in worse states. Somehow, that didn't help all that much.

After some gentle repositioning, Avsuo felt the shirt come off her wings, and layed down on the bedroll. She felt Deorne begin his work, and, lacking the energy to talk or even stay awake, drifted off to sleep.

After Deorne had finished tending to the woman, a while after she had fallen asleep, he dragged a blanket over her, then sat by the fire. He idly traced patterned in the dirt, as he stared at the woman, and thought.

She was either easy going, or still in shock. Deorne opted for easy going, as she seemed open to all of what they talked about. He realized they hadn't finished their conversation about the future last night. He hoped she'd still be open to what plans he had to offer. They were rather large ones, after all. Yet, as Deorne pondered the future, he came to think: What about his future? With her around, life would not go even remotely how he would have wanted it to. Nothing against her, of course, as that was just what was going to happen. But was it finally time? Time to move forward again? Deorne decided to leave the answer to tomorrow, yet again.