When Avsuo woke the next morning, Deorne was already up, cooking what looked to be two rabbits over a low burning fire. She stared into the fire for a moment or two, then reached for her clothes. Once dressed, with less difficulty this time, she sat across the fire, simply enjoying the morning.

"I realized we hadn't finished our conversation the other night. As part of that, I still haven't learned your name."

Avsuo jolted back to reality as Deorne spoke, and quickly remembered. Right. The conversation about the future.

"I guess not." She replied. "I'm Avsuo. What did you have in mind? For my future, right?"

Deorne nodded, but took a moment to continue. "I have some friends in Winterhold College. I'd like for us to travel up there, and see if they know of any methods or magic that could help you. While we're there, I'd also like to look into getting some armor custom made for you."

Winterhold? "Isn't that far away?"

Deorne nodded. "Yes. We could take the carriage from Markarth and skip some time, but," he gestured to Avsuo, "Your form will attract much undue attention. It will be longer, but if we go on foot, it will be safer, generally, and you'll have time to get used to your body."

Avsuo thought for a moment. "I guess I'm not really against it. I always dreamed about adventuring when I was younger, just hearing how far away we'd be going was surprising."

Deorne nodded. "I understand. And keep in mind we don't have to leave immediately. My plans are to take you back to your family, and make sure they know what's going on. Then, once we have supplies and you are ready, we can set off."

Right. Her family. With recent events, she hadn't really thought of them, and immediately felt guilty. "I… hadn't even thought about that."

Did Deorne look sad at that? Avsuo couldn't tell. "You're not to blame. These are life changes you've had, and they weren't chosen by you. Your family will see you returned, and know you are safe. How do you think they will react to you, and you leaving?"

Avsuo almost chuckled without mirth. "React? To this? Honestly I have no idea. They never liked the concept of me leaving, though it was just because they needed help on the farm, and with the kids. Oldest of six, after all. If you explain to them why I can't stay, I'm sure they'll understand. They'll value peace over having the help, and the fact that I could still trade letters would soften the blow."

Deorne nodded at that. "They seem like reasonable people. Hopefully we can run into some Thalmor on the road."

"Huh? Why? It didn't seem like you liked them."

"Oh, I don't. I'd like to run into them so I could send a message. They will learn about you, it is only a matter of time. Once they do, they will confront us. When that doesn't work, they'll go after your family. If we run into them first, I make sure we never get to that. I will personally guarantee your family's safety, and I'll make sure the Thalmor know that."

Avsuo felt some heat in his words, and felt comforted, knowing that he would be so dedicated to protecting her family. Yet… "Why would you go so far for me? You still barely know me."

Deorne actually laughed at that. Avsuo was taken back by it.

"Trust issues?" he chuckled. "Still?" He stopped laughing, becoming serious. "Because I don't like watching people get hurt, Avsuo. And that's all the Thalmor do. They hurt people. Soldiers, bandits, farmers, tradesmen. Innocent and guilty alike. And with someone like you? They'd kill Jarls to get their hands on you. But I won't let them. Not if I can help it. This, I promise."

More weight to his words. Avsuo already didn't like these Thalmor, but felt slightly comforted by what Deorne said. She felt he was completely genuine with his words. She liked that.

With breakfast ready and the day ahead of them, they both decided to end the conversation, and get moving. They still had some ways to go.

They made better progress that day, as Avsuo was getting used to her body, and her aches were manageable. It was a quiet journey. Avsuo was engrossed in thought. How would he family react to her appearance? How likely would it be that they get hurt because of her? She felt queasy thinking about it, so she switched to a different line of thinking. Just who were the Thalmor? Why were they so cruel? Why would they have interest in her? She could guess at some reasons why, but all of those lines of thinking led to dead ends.

Eventually, she spoke up. "Are the Thalmor truly evil?"

Deorne sighed. "I'm sure that there are some thalmor that are not the scheming, traitorous bastards that I know them to be. But I doubt they're here in Skyrim. The ones in Skyrim seek to eradicate Talos worship, undermine the Empire and establish elves as supreme rulers. Why the Talos thing, I don't know the specifics. I seem to recall it having to do with Tiber Septim, but I could be wrong. They seek to end the Empire simply because they do not control it. They are control freaks, and egoists. They believe themselves to be the 'rightful rulers' of Skyrim, nay, all of Tamriel. I'm sure you've heard of the White-Gold Concordat?"

Avsuo nodded. "Of course, but I don't know much about it."

Deorne shook his head. "I'm not too caught up on specifics myself, but I know that it heavily favored the Thalmor, outlawing Talos worship, and disbanding the Blades, as well as basically giving the Thalmor permission to hunt down any Talos worshippers and remaining Blades."

"Hold on," Avsuo interjected, "Blades? Who are they?"

"An ancient warrior order. They served the Dragonborn of old, or so I'm told. They worshipped Talos, so that alone was enough to get them disbanded, though I'm not sure if there were any other factors leading to that. If all of that wasn't enough, they are behind the Stormcloak Rebellion. Many suspect they were behind Ulfric escaping at Helgen."

Avsuo was surprised by this. "They were? I thought the dragon was the reason why."

Deorne shrugged. "That's what I'd think as well, but I know there are whispers about the Thalmor having a hand in it."

Avsuo thought for a moment before continuing. "Does that mean you don't like the Stormcloaks?"

This seemed to give Deorne pause. After a moment, he responded. "I suppose I don't. I've actually been meaning to join the Imperial Army. I see the Stormcloaks as 'misguided.' They're worried about having their culture taken away by the Empire. An understandable worry, but it's not the Empire that would take away their culture. The Empire wants to bring order to Skyrim, as they have many other places in Tamriel. No, it's the Thalmor who want to eradicate Nordic culture. But, in the fear that has spread, I think many of the common people fail to realize that. They turn on everyone who isn't a Nord, convincing themselves that they are the problem. Have you ever been to Windhelm?"

Avsuo shook her head.

"Stormcloak Capital, as I'm sure you know. There, anyone not Nord is looked down upon, and treated as second-class citizens. The first time I went there, I witnessed two Nords bullying a Dunmer woman. I asked her about it. Dumner are forced to live in the Gray Quarter, a slum in the city. Similarly, Argonians are forced to live outside the city, segregated from everyone else. This is where some hypocrisy on the part of Ulfric comes in. They do not like people who aren't Nords, and they claim to be against the Empire AND the Thalmor. Yet, there are Thalmor citizens in Windhelm that lead quite a comfortable life, unbothered by the discrimination they should be subject to. Why? And why would there be rumors about Thalmor involvement with Ulfric's escape if there wasn't something to back it up." Deorne shook his head again. "No, I don't like the Stormcloaks. But, I think a hearty portion of that dislike can be traced to the Thalmor, like so many things."

The pair fell silent after that, Deorne content to focus on traveling, and Avsuo left with much more thinking to do. She wondered if the Thalmor really were as bad as Deorne described. Surely a people can't be that evil, right?