It took nearly two days, neither of which went by quickly thanks to two of the other passengers and their constant bickering, before they passed by the Hall of the Vigilants. There had been a brief stop in Morthal for supplies where Blake checked to find that the shared account had, indeed, been expanded, but there was also troubling news about vampires attacking nearby villages. Deciding to let Yang, and possibly Ruby, know about it when she got to Whiterun, Blake continued on to her drop-off point. There, Blake got off and began following the road south. There was already a thick layer of snow in the Pale Hold that had been building for over a month now, by the carriageman's words, but it got thinner as she went. Judging by how the air was beginning to cool she doubted that would last long. Perhaps a month, at most.

A day later, after some unsatisfactory sleep just close enough to a Giant camp for safety, she was clear of the snowy region and nearing Whiterun Hold, only to stop as a curious sight made itself known. Just down the road she saw a wagon, with a strange-looking man wearing a jester's outfit looking over it fretting. Closer, though, was a commoner watching the other man with suspicion from his front porch. A bit of farmland was next to his home, already harvested by the looks of it. Curious, Blake walked over to the farmer, who saw her with a raised eyebrow.

"Trouble?" Blake nodded her head towards the downed wagon.

"I'll say. Some jester over yonder has his carriage broke down. Been jabbering madly about taking his mother somewhere to bury. Asked me if I could fix his wheel for him, but I ain't risking it."

"Risk?" Blake looked over to the jester and his carriage, which was indeed weighed down by a large box, big enough to hold a coffin. He seemed to be trying to figure out how he could lift the wagon enough to put on a new wheel. "What's the risk? Besides him being a little…silly?"

"Honestly? First of all, I had to only speak to him a few minutes to see the man's completely out of his mind. Besides, there could be anything in that box. War contraband, weapons, skooma, you name it. I won't have anything to do with that."

Blake hummed as she took in the situation. "Let me talk to him. If it turns out he really is just transporting his mother's body and nothing illegal, could you fix the wheel for him?"

The man sighed and rubbed his bald head. "I…guess so. Maybe I'm just being paranoid because he's dressed up as a jester out here in Skyrim of all places. All right. Prove to me he's harmless, and I'll get my tools from the barn."

The faunus nodded and gave him a light smile before heading down to the frustrated jester. The jester was practically hopping from foot to foot, looking at the broken wheel from different angles.

"Agh! Bother and befuddle!" he yelled in a high-pitched tone. "Stuck here! Stuck! My mother, poor mother! Unmoving. At rest, but too still!" He seemed to perk up and then turned to Blake as she came close. "Stranger? Or an unmet friend? Are you here to gaze or assist? Hm?"

"I was wondering how bad your situation is." Seeing the wheel, she could only wince. "It's pretty bad. Say, I might be able to get you some help, but the guy at the farm wants to be sure about what you're carting around first."

"Carting around? I'm transporting my dear, sweet mother, of course. Well, not her. Her corpse!" He giggled quickly at that. "She's quite dead, you see."

"I'd…be concerned if she wasn't," Blake warily replied, seeing exactly what the farmer had meant.

"Well, it would certainly… Wait, your armor," the jester suddenly noticed, looking at the black, leather armor Blake wore under a loose shirt and pants. The faunus froze up at that, ready to offer an explanation. "And your dagger…" Now his gaze settled on the Blade of Woe at her waist. "Shrouded Armor? Blade of Woe?! Oh! Sister! How glad I am to see one of us here!"

Blake mentally rewound herself and took a moment to think over what he said. "You…recognize this?"

"Of course! To think I'd find one of my dark siblings in my time of need! Oh, how the Dread Father looks after us! Yes! I know it must be shocking, given our present state, but I'm from Cyrodiil! Unfortunately, the sanctuaries are all gone. The war has brought a hefty toll on us all. I tried the Dawnstar Sanctuary, but it's been abandoned! Oh, but then I hear of Falkreath! A long trip, one devoid of towns to avoid those pesky Penitus Oculatus, but one Cicero would gladly make to keep mother safe! You'll help, of course? We simply must get the Night Mother to safety at once!"

Blake smiled and nodded. "Okay. I understand. Let's just look inside, so I can convince the farmer."

The jester started clapping and jumping for joy. "Oh thank you so much, sweet sister! All right! A quick peek, and then Loreius will come and fix things up for us."

"And Loreius? What about him?"

"Oh, Cicerro will need to kill him, of course! Painlessly, if he does a good job. Mustn't be seen, after all. Need to keep the Dark Brotherhood alive, especially in such dark times! Dark times, indeed!"

"I see." Blake beckoned Cicerro forward, who hopped to the crate. Grabbing a pry bar, he then gently began to push into the top of the crate. Blake came up behind him, placing her hand on the hilt of the Blade of Woe. When she was certain he was too far into his task to notice her, she pulled the dagger free and jammed it into his screamed in pain and dropped the pry bar, but when his hand reached for his own dagger, Blake grabbed his wrist and pulled his arm around his neck before bringing Woe around and jabbing it into his belly.

Her hand rapidly stabbed the blade in and out of Cicero's abdomen, turning screams of pain into choked gurgles. When she finally stopped and let go, she realized she had gone overboard and had stabbed him at least twenty times. Gulping, she looked down at his prone form, struggling on the ground towards his wagon, blood pooling around him. He looked up at her, and she sneered as she reached behind her back.

"The Dark Brotherhood is dead," she declared quietly before stabbing the Ebony Blade into his heart. The jester stilled and Blake felt the rush that came with killing with the daedric sword. Holding herself steady, she focused on controlling it, not letting the bloodlust overtake her, but not constraining it so much that it fought back all the harder.

"Such a betrayal of trust! His heart shatters as it falls into the Void!"

Sheathing her blade, Blake turned back to head up to the farm, where Loreius watched her cautiously with wide eyes. He had gone pale as a ghost, but seemed rooted to the spot even as he seemed to want nothing more than to run away screaming.

"How often do guards patrol this road?" she demanded.

"Ev- A few times every day," he answered shakily.

"I need a quill and paper. You were right to worry. The man was a Dark Brotherhood assassin. If you had helped him he would have killed you." As the man's eyes widened in realization, Blake continued, "I need to send a message to Commander Maro as quickly as possible. Once I write it out, I'll need you to give it to a passing guard." Blake looked down at her hands to see the blood had slipped right off of the Shrouded Armor's gloves, leaving them clean.

"You're with the Oculatus?" he asked as he seemed to visibly calm down. "I'll get your writing stuffs! Divines above, I would have never imagined… A Dark Brotherhood assassin!" He ran into his home for a moment before ushering Blake in to where she could write down her letter. Sitting down on a table, she began to write:

Commander Maro,

I came across another of the Dark Brotherhood, but this one said he came from Cyrodiil. Going by his words, all of the other sanctuaries in Cyrodiil are gone, with him possibly being the last left. He said he went by an abandoned sanctuary in Dawnstar, and was headed towards Falkreath's. Unfortunately for him, his attempts to avoid detection meant he hadn't heard about the raid on the Falkreath Sanctuary.

I've dealt with him, but there's still the matter of what he was transporting. He kept referring to it as his "mother", but I believe I heard him call it "Night Mother" when he was under the impression that I was one of his 'siblings'. If I'm right, this is that same Night Mother you mentioned having something to do with the Listener and the Black Sacrament. I'm not sure how important it is, but someone should know what to do about it.

From,

Blake Belladonna

Blake copied the letter and gave it to Loreius, keeping one with her just in case she came across a guard as well. Sending two letters wouldn't hurt, and would just help to insure that Commander Maro got the memo.

"Make sure they know how important this is, and make sure no one takes that cart away," she reminded the farmer, who just nodded fearfully as she left. "And…I'm sorry…for the mess and all."

"No, it's no trouble. Considering what you've done to… Wait, does that mean the rumors I heard were true? Are you…the one they're calling 'Bane of the Brotherhood'?"

Blake blinked at that. 'Just how fast do rumors spread?'

"I killed a lot of Dark Brotherhood assassins in the raid on their sanctuary, but the name's new to me."

"By the gods," he muttered. "Don't worry, ma'am. I'll be sure to send this forward."

"Thank you, Loreius. Stay safe."

"You too! Gods above..." Blake heard him mumble as she walked away, deep in thought.

Weiss looked over her creation, the newest attempt at adding her Semblance as an enchantment. It took a week, and most of her free time, but she had succeeded in recreating the process. Just like how enchantments were spells 'stitched' and 'glued' onto items, she had to attach her own glyphs to the item as well. It wasn't as easy as it sounded, but once she factored it down like that it became a lot easier to deduce what she needed to do to the make the Repulse Glyph enchantment. This had the added effect of creating a permanent rune shaped after her glyph to the item, but luckily it was often in an easily accessed spot, likely because she willed it to be there.

As she pressed the rune and slid her thumb slightly forward, the enchantment activated, trying to push the dagger forward. She smiled and let the dagger go, where it flew forward and hit the hay bale target, though nowhere on the colored portion. The enchantment wasn't very strong, but she did only use a Petty Soul Gem to create it.

"Impressive," J'zargo mused with a finger running over his chin. "A little more power behind it, and you could make self-propelled throwing spears. Or bows with faster arrows."

"Or melee weapons with increased momentum in their strikes. Or a perfect getaway device," Weiss added. "There are a lot of possibilities to those with the mind to think them through."

Brelyna was suitably impressed, but also found herself slightly distracted by her thoughts. Onmund, himself a little confused, bent to the side to whisper to her.

"What's going on with J'zargo?" he asked.

"Remember how he complained that no one posed a suitable challenge to him last month?"

"Something like that." It took a moment while he saw the new student chatting amiably with the Khajiit on different measures of Enchanting and the magicka entwinement involved in the process to create a stronger version of Weiss's enchantment. He noted their smiles, then looked over their body language. "Are they…?"

"Not yet, but they're getting there quickly. Another week and I don't doubt they'll start."

"Gods above, help us all." Onmund was scared and confused by the idea of J'zargo flirting with someone.

Yang looked over the letter and passed it back to Ruby, who read it a third time before giving it back to Yang to read her third go.

"…Blake's missing?" the younger sister finally got out.

"She's not with Weiss, and last the letter says Weiss saw her was when they split at Windhelm." Yang frowned as she wondered where her partner was at this time. "That was close to a week ago, going by the date on the letter. She might have caught up by then, but I don't…"

Ruby stood resolute and looked towards her pack. "We can go to Riften and look for her there. If we don't find anything, we'll backtrack the way she went until we do. Weiss says she went down Steampass, which connects to Shor's Grasp Road, so we'll go that way looking for clues."

"Are you sure?" Yang asked her sister. "I can go look for her while you-"

"Yang, she's your partner, but she's my teammate, too. How cruddy of a leader would I be if I didn't take care of my team?" Ruby rubbed at her left eye, seemingly near tears. "Besides, I'm not in a rush. There's nothing I can't learn in a couple days that'd make that much difference against a dragon invasion. And we're about to buy some horses, so we'll get there way faster."

Yang nodded. "Okay. Let's get a game plan ready." She got up and headed towards the door. "Lydia's getting her armor all fixed up, so while we wait we can-"

She stopped mid-sentence as she topped the stairs to the living quarters, as a familiar head of black hair with cat ears atop it was speaking to Vilkas, who just turned and pointed Yang out. Blake smiled in their direction and headed towards the sisters. Yang sighed in joyous relief and walked forward before surprising her partner with a sudden hug.

"Yang?!"

"We just got a letter from Weiss telling us she didn't know where you were. You have no idea how relieved we are to see you."

Suddenly a small fist bonked the faunus on her head.

"Ow!" Blake grunted, rubbing her head where the fist made contact.

"You big dummy!" Ruby admonished as Yang and Blake separated from their hug. "Weiss is probably worried sick about you chasing assassins, and now you're all the way over here in Whiterun! It's going to take at least a day by express to get a letter to her!"

"I'm sorry! I-" she was once again wrapped into a hug, now by the younger girl.

"I'm just glad you're safe. We were getting ready to come find you, and I had to make myself not think the worst." Ruby sniffed as she pulled herself back. "So what happened? Did you save the orphanage lady?"

"…No. She died from…" Blake looked a little uncomfortable in their surroundings. "Let's go out the back. I'd prefer the open space for this."

With worried glances, the three girls of Team RWBY headed out the back door and went beyond the training yard, stopping a little ways short of the stone wall.

"So you didn't stop the assassin?" Yang asked. "Or did the lady die before they got there?"

"Listen, when I tell you this, you both have to keep your reactions down." At their nods, Blake took in a deep breath. "I…accidentally killed her."

Ruby covered her mouth while Yang seemed struck dumb by the revelation. Blake felt her insides bunch up in anticipation for when her partner fully absorbed what she'd said.

"What… What happened?" Ruby finally got out.

"I was trying to warn her. Did… Did Weiss mention anything about the Black Sacrament?"

"Something about it being a magic ritual," Ruby explained. "She wrote that you didn't say too much about it, except that some boy was using it hoping to kill the orphanage's headmistress."

"Well, she, Grelod, didn't believe me when I tried to warn her. And then she started accusing me of being a thieving, lying 'half-cat', to the point where I started to remember why I always wore my bow." Blake sighed before continuing. "I got frustrated, and was ready to just leave her and try to catch the assassin on my own. Then…I smelled something off. Her back was turned, so I checked her closet." The faunus shivered there. "It was a beating room. She had manacles on the walls where she'd chain up the children and whip them, and based off of the bloodstains it was frequently used." Both the girls gasped at this, Yang suddenly looking enraged. "I got angry. I started yelling and screaming at her. She screamed back about… I can't remember, but I know she was going to justify it with some logic about teaching respect or some other abusive nonsense, so I…slapped her. But…I forgot to hold back."

"How much did you 'not' hold back?" Yang asked cautiously.

"If I had hit you that hard, it would have stung, and maybe stumbled you." Both the girls winced. "And she was an old lady. Someone joked about her being there for eighty years, but I wouldn't be surprised if she was over seventy. Her neck just…broke." Blake sighed as she got the weight of the confession off her chest. "I got scared, and made it look like an accident, like she slipped and fell on her chair. Everyone assumed that's what happened. No one ever even suspected me."

"But what are you doing here?" Ruby asked. "And why now? There's been more than enough time."

"The Brotherhood," she answered simply. Both girls stiffened at that. "Did you guys…?"

"Lydia got one that was after us," Yang explained as she shifted and put a hand on her hip. "She got the message from Sanguine. Under a bottle of wine or something."

"Argonian Bloodwine. It's actually pretty good." Both girls looked at Ruby with surprise. "I only drank a little, and mostly shared it with the Greybeards. Lydia said it does something to increase 'disease resistance', which I think means it's like one of those immunity boosting drinks. Also, you can breathe underwater for, like, thirty minutes after you drink some. I tried. It was kinda cool!"

"So the message got through. And Lydia stopped the assassin?" Blake brought the conversation back on topic, leaving the little tidbit about breathing underwater for later.

"Yeah, apparently that's part of the housecarl training regime. Saw her there right before I left Ivarstead. Kinda freaked me out for a while."

"Oh, by the way," Ruby jumped back in. "In the note, Sanguine said he'll send you a 'collector' at the right time. Something about Weiss paying him back as well." Ruby winced at that. "I get why you guys did it, but…you two kinda owe the God of Sin a favor now."

Blake gulped at that. "H- hopefully, he'll just have some harmless fun at our expense. But, continuing, I tried to head straight back to Windhelm the next day, because I received a note with the Dark Brotherhood sigil on it. It said… 'We know'. After that I booked it out and ran all the way to… I think it was Kynesgrove. But when I woke up, I was drugged and in some old, rickety shack. A Nord woman, who I later learned was the leader of the Dark Brotherhood, had followed me from Riften and caught me while I was asleep." The sisters looked horrified at this. "She told me that I had stolen a kill that belonged to them, and that I owed them a life. There were three people tied up and she told me to figure out which one had a contract on them. I…stalled until I recovered enough and then fought her. I killed her, and when we got out we were somewhere in the Morthal swamps. I told the Morthal guard captain what happened, and he pointed me to Commander Maro, the man in charge of the Penitus Oculatus."

"The what?" Yang asked.

"If I had to compare them to anything, it'd be the Atlesian Specialists, or Vale Homeland Security. He sent me to give a message to the agents in Falkreath, and then we attacked the Brotherhood Sanctuary. We…killed everyone there except a little girl. I don't know who she was, but… Anyways, the point stands that we don't have to worry about the Dark Brotherhood ever again. I did run into another, but he was from Cyrodiil and all of the sanctuaries there are gone, too. He's dead now, but I'm a little uncertain about all of them. I think I know a place I can check to be sure."

"Whoa, now!" Yang called out. "You're talking about going on a manhunt for any possible survivors of an assassin group. Blake, there's taking things too far, and then there's that."

"Yang, I have my reasons for thinking why it'd work, and I know exactly who I'm going to. But if it makes you feel better, I'll only investigate, and send my findings to the Oculatus." The blonde sighed and crossed her arms. Blake then looked over at Ruby, who seemed both nervous and intrigued by what Blake had told her. "By the way, in the sanctuary I found a Word Wall, like in Bleak Falls. It didn't do anything though."

"Oh cool! Did you take a picture of it?" Ruby asked hopefully.

"No. Sorry. Why?"

"Ah, butterscotch!" Ruby groaned. "I guess I'll have to head down there at some point."

"Yeah, Ruby can apparently learn dragon words quicker by reading those, even just a picture of them. Showed her the one I found, and now she's a fire-breathing Dragonborn."

"Oh, wow. I feel a little dumb not doing that now." Blake rubbed her neck. "You mind if me and Yang talk in private for a little while? It's not that I don't trust you or-"

"Blake, Yang's your bestest buddy. Of course you guys tell each other stuff I'm not supposed to know. Even if I do know about the 'not-a-date' with Sun."

Blake's ears shot straight up. "How did you-"

"Not telling~!" Ruby sing-songed as she skipped away, apparently pleased with the way she left the conversation. Blake looked at Yang, who held her hands up.

"I never said anything."

"It's- It's not important right now." Blake took the Ebony Blade from her back and went over to a set of steps where she sat down. A guard passed them by on the wall overhead, and when he was clear of them, Blake took in a deep breath.

"This sword is cursed." At Blake's proclamation, Yang raised her eyebrow.

"Like, you've had bad luck with it or-"

"It's connected to Mephala, the Daedric Prince of lies, treachery, and plots." Blake suddenly cut her partner off, filling the air with a heavy silence. "It…has an effect where whenever I cut someone I drain part of their lifeforce and it feeds into me. It actually drinks up blood when I cut someone with it. It feels…amazing to use, but it wants me to use it…without discretion." Blake took in a deep breath and released it slowly. "It whispers to me. It tries to trick me into killing people, or convince me to do it. The… I only checked that closet because something told me to. It's getting harder sometimes to tell what's whispers and what's my own thoughts." She gripped the sheath tightly as she looked at the Blade. "Every time I've…killed with it, I hear her. Congratulating me. Especially when…I betray someone."

Yang looked at the sword in her partners hands and gulped. "Then…let's get rid of it. Screw it being a Daedric Prince's weapon! If it's going to mess with you like this, we can take it to the Skyforge and-"

"They already tried! Years ago, maybe before even Balgruuf's father was alive, they tried to melt it down in the Skyforge. It just drank up the flames. Hell, the Skyforge cooled down! Yang, this is a god-made weapon. It can't be destroyed." Yang moved to protest, but Blake cut her off once again. "But it can't be left alone. Mephala wants it used. She was… I found it when I went to talk to Nelkir. She was whispering to him through the door of the room where the Blade was locked up. If I hadn't taken it, someone else would have. Some random mercenary could have been led right to it, and there'd be almost nothing to stop them. I… I sliced people apart effortlessly with this thing." Blake felt her throat constrict at the memory. "I lost myself for a while in the Dark Brotherhood Sanctuary, after I used it to kill a werewolf assassin. I just…snapped and went after the rest. All I could think about was cutting them apart as much as I possibly could. And…their leader… I think she'd been planning to recruit me. She talked about rescinding the contract on all of us, but I…just couldn't go through with it. Mephala loved it. It was like a huge betrayal to all of them." Blake took in a shuddering breath, and then felt Yang's hand comfortably squeeze her shoulder. Blake looked at her and wiped away a tear that had been forming.

"Listen, if you think we need to get rid of this thing, then we'll take it to Windhelm, get a boat, and drop it in the middle of the Sea of Ghosts. Mephala might get it back, but at least it'll be gone from our hair, and it might be weakened considerably before she does," Blake suggested, her eyes begging for help that was desperately needed.

"That might work, but if you're right, then we're just leaving it for future generations to deal with, aren't we?" Yang asked, to which Blake forlornly nodded. Nodding back, Yang's gaze hardened. "I think I know someone who can help you with these…whispers. Come on." Yang pulled herself to her feet with her partner alongside her. Trusting in her partner's judgement, Blake shifted the Blade back onto her back as they went into Jorrvaskr, and then down into the living quarters. Near the back, they saw Kodlak and Skjor talking to each other.

"If you want to lead this pack when I'm gone, you have to see farther. Look closer," the older Nord told Skjor.

"Well which is it? Look farther or closer?"

"Come on now, boy, you know what I meant..."

"You speak in riddles, sometimes."

"I don't mean to confuse you."

"It's not confusing... just frustrating," Skjor sighed as he shook his head

"You're a strong warrior, Skjor," Kodlak said genuinely. "Your heart is fiery and that serves you well in battle."

"Thank you, Harbinger."

"But even the bravest of men consider their actions," he continued in warning. "I want you to survive long enough to take the mantle."

"Don't worry about me," Skjor laughed before seeing Yang approach. He nodded to her and headed out, and Kodlak Whitemane turned to the two young ladies with a grandfatherly smile.

"Good to see you, Yang. And who's your friend?"

"This here's Blake. We…kinda need your help. She's got a problem with something trying… Well, I should let Blake explain it to you." Yang stepped aside and the Harbinger of the Companions put his full attention to Blake. The faunus shifted and thought through what she wanted to say.

"I've got…a sort of cursed object. It keeps telling me to kill, and I'm…worried it's getting to me."

"Ah!" Kodlak's eyes opened in realization. "And does this curse make you feel bloodlust? Does it try to feed a hunger gnawing in you?"

"In a way." Blake looked down a moment before gazing back up at him. She felt her tension slowly unravel around him. He had an air of wisdom about him she'd only ever felt around a few individuals, and one of those was responsible for training the Huntsmen for an entire kingdom. "Every time I use it, it feels good, but I know it's wrong. If I don't, it keeps whispering for me to do it. It tells me…things. Tries to convince me to betray people I know."

"A dark curse indeed," he muttered as he stroked his beard. "I think I can help you to center yourself, to know the difference between you and the not-you. But fighting against this will be all up to your own strength. I can lead you to the door, but opening it is something you must do for yourself. Do you understand that much?"

"I do," she replied truthfully.

"Then, let's get started. First, a bit of open air. I haven't been outside at all today, and it always helps to feel the breeze rolling in from the plains to soothe a troubled spirit." As the two left, Yang remained behind, smiling at how her werewolf Harbinger was able to help her closest friend.

A few hours after Blake and Yang went to go speak to Kodlak, Ruby looked over the house that she and Yang had just purchased from the city, now mostly furnished with a few empty rooms. The master bedroom had only one, king-sized bed in it, but they'd decided to place four in one of the empty rooms and a second in Lydia's, in case they were ever all there at once and still had company. It was going to be mostly just Yang living there, but it'd be convenient for keeping their stuff stored safely and having a place to crash at whenever they came around. The house, as well as the furnishings, came at a little over sixty-five hundred septims, a fair chunk of their money, but Weiss had written in the letter that buying it and a horse for each of them was a good investment. Said horses were now waiting for them at the stables, bundled up and well taken care of, each costing around a thousand a piece, give or take due to size and breed.

"Hey Lydia," Ruby began.

"Yes, my Thane?" Lydia turned her head towards the young Dragonborn.

"If we ever make it home, but it turns out that we can't come back, I just want you to know you can have the house and stuff."

"Oh, um, thank you very much, Thane Ruby. It's a good home to have."

"Yep." Ruby then looked at her latest creation, a Dwemer metal greatsword nearly as long as she was tall. She wouldn't be wielding it, but it was a good exercise in working with the special material. It was almost the opposite of moonstone, taking a long time and high temperature to melt down and very difficult to work with. Where an 'elven' piece required a gentle touch, 'dwarven' took a lot more elbow grease to work with. Ruby had to put all of her strength into beating it into the desired shape, but in the end, she got what she wanted, and now she had a lovely decorative piece and backup weapon mounted on the wall of her new home away from home.

Blake sat crossed legged on the city walls and felt the breeze wind through her hair, focusing on her inner self, making sure she was clear and honest with who she was, good and bad. It was a conflict of emotions as she tried to hammer home what was true, what was believed, what was felt, and most importantly, what was a lie. She knew she had a penchant for running, but there were some things she didn't run away from, but rather towards. The Dark Brotherhood was an ironically shining example of that. Rather than keep running away, when she saw that it affected others beside herself, especially her friends, she headed straight into them. The same sort of thing happened with the White Fang stealing Dust. She ran from her friends, and right into one of their operations. She was always trying to take the burden upon herself.

And therein came the Ebony Blade. Without consulting them, or even letting them know what she really did, she took the Blade, telling herself that it was better in her hands than someone who could be tempted by it. She realized now how much of that had been a mistake. She'd promised to let them know if anything wrong ever happened again.

"Hey kitty cat," she heard and looked up to see Yang standing next to her with a platter and two bottles. "Got some fresh sweet rolls from the Mare. Ysolda cooked them, so you know they've got plenty o' cinnamon."

Blake smiled as her partner sat by her. "Thanks Yang." She took one of the sweet snacks and bit into the confectionary carefully. Hot enough to melt in her mouth, but not enough to scald her. Perfect, as always from Ysolda! Yang then offered her one of the bottles and she raised an eyebrow. "This early?"

"It's Black-Briar mead, so it's about half water. Don't really have any cola or People-Like-Grapes here."

"True." She popped off the cork and took a draught. It certainly had a watered down quality to it. "Speaking of Black-Briars, I ran into one of their henchmen. He was suspicious of me and warned me not to mess with any of Maven Black-Briar's interests. He then mentioned something about Maven having 'connections' with the Dark Brotherhood and the Thieves' Guild."

Yang looked at her in interest. "Whoa! Heavy! Well, I guess that means she has one less group to call on."

"Maybe, but it got me to thinking. Remember the one assassin I ran into on the road?"

"You said he was a crazy jester or something, right?"

"Yeah. Well, if there are any more out there, they need to be found. He mentioned that he was avoiding towns in order to avoid the Penitus Oculatus, which tells me that any survivors are likely to do the same. Hide in the shadows, like rats, rebuilding their strength until they can strike back. Until we can be sure they're gone for good, I don't think we'll ever truly be safe from them."

"Well, that's not a disturbing thought," Yang groaned through a mouthful of sweet roll before swallowing. "So, what are we going to do about it? Help the guards spot an assassin easier?"

"No, I doubt we have the time to do that. Plus, the assassins are only half the problem. As Maro said, there's also their clients, who are likely just as, if not more secretive. Possibly even using corruption to keep the law off of them, if Maven Black-Briar is any indication. That means, outside of Maro, I can't trust the law with this. To find any remaining Dark Brotherhood assassins, and their clients, I need a group who is just as secretive. I think I'll need to look into the Thieves' Guild."

"Wait, so you're changing out one dark and secretive group for another one?"

"No, I'll join them." At the astonished expression on Yang's face, she shook her head. "Before I left, a man named Brynjolf invited me to join them. He said he could see that I was stealthy, and made me an offer than I could join and end up making a lot of money with them. Now, I don't care about the money. And after what I did, plus the four of us combined, we're not hurting for it anytime soon. Instead, I'm going to go back and use their resources to find out if any Dark Brotherhood assassins survived, and who their clients are, then forward the information to the Penitus Oculatus."

"Well, I guess that can work out. But are you sure you want to do that all alone?"

"I think I'll be fine, but… I'm going to wait a few days before I head off. I was on the road near constantly for a while there. Plus, I can focus more on what Kodlak has been teaching me. It's been helping me a lot."

"Yeah, that's true. And good to hear. So, until Ruby leaves?"

"At least." Blake finished off her sweet roll and reached for another one. "By the way, what's this about fighting a werebear?"

"Oh, now that was a good one. See, I was looking for bears to kill for Temba-"

Ruby hopped upon her mount, a brown mare with a light chocolate mane, while Lydia climbed onto her white and brown steed. She hadn't thought of names yet, but she had a few ideas. Regardless, she waved back at the guards and some of the Companions out to see her off.

"Be sure to bring up that vampire with the Argonian," Blake reminded her.

"I will. Lydia and I talked about it, and we think he might've had some kind of idea about the vampire being there, but I'll wait for him to explain himself first. You guys take care."

"We will, sis. And be nice when the goddess asks you to do stuff."

"Only if she's nice first." The horses began trotting away and Ruby waved again. "Bye guys! Be safe!"

"You too!" they both called back. As Ruby and Lydia shrank in the distance, Blake and Yang went back into the city. As they headed to their home, Yang smirked over at Blake.

"So, you wanna share or have your own bed tonight?" Yang asked, her tone clearly teasing and not serious. Slightly amused, Blake lightly shoved Yang's head down, earning a laugh from her partner as she ducked away. "Come on, we've got the place to ourselves! Heck, once you head out I can sit in the living room buck naked and no one can tell me anything."

"Which I doubt you'll do because of the dropping temperatures. Stop trying to tease me. I've grown immune to you by now."

"Eh, just had to test out that thing you said about not liking girls. Whelp, that's some broken hearts once we get home."

"Oh gods, who?"

"Not telling!" Yang teased, recalling those passing glances from the visiting students at Beacon, including that one girl who always seemed fixated on Blake.

As the moons began their rise up, Blake stood upon a boulder and practiced her balance, standing upon one leg for as long as she could, and then letting her mind focus on other things while her body held itself up. She tried to picture a diagram, with one circle being her, and the other the Blade. She sorted every trait she could think of and fit them into one circle or the other. When a trait came up that she couldn't immediately categorize, she focused upon it and asked herself "Is this really me?" until she was certain beyond a doubt whether or not it truly applied to her or the Blade.

"A plot is afoot," Mephala's voice called out to her. It seemed the dark god wasn't bothered by her trying to resist. Perhaps she actually found it entertaining. Or maybe she wanted Blake to fight against it. She was a god of the Dunmer's Pantheon, and Dunmer tended to be big on passing tests of their resolve.

Blake looked out and saw some figures walking nearby. They had passed her a while ago. Her faunus eyes picked out three Altmer, two of them in gleaming armor made of a substance she'd seen called malachite, or glass, as others called it, with the one leading them wearing purple robes with golden embroidery. Between them was a Khajiit woman with her hands bound. She looked unwell, and it was setting off alarms in Blake's head. Even though Mephala had been the one to bring it to her attention, that didn't necessarily mean it was a negative thing. As they passed, she quietly hopped down from the boulder and followed them at a distance, ducking down low and keeping light on her feet. This went on for a little while, and Blake could feel an urge to keep on their trail. She knew it wasn't the Blade's influence, but she couldn't quite figure out why she was doing this.

"Here's a good place," the Thalmor woman said as she rounded at an outcropping of stones within sight of the still broken Western Watchtower. "Stop," she called to the justicars as she pulled the Khajiit along. Blake came as close as she dared and listened. She heard something fall onto the ground and the sound of a Khajiit panting.

"Shall we chase the other as well?" one of the justicars asked.

"We have to hurry. I'll not have Ulquarion brag over me of finding it first. Let's take this cat to rot in prison."

Blake stood up at that with a hand ready to reach for Gambol Shroud while clearing her throat to catch their attention. The Thalmor wizard turned to her with a snarl when she heard her.

"You there! You are interfering with matters of the Aldmeri Dominion. Leave immediately."

"First off, we aren't in the Dominion. Second, I didn't think Khajiit were big in the practice of worshipping Talos. And finally, as Thane of Whiterun, you're in my jurisdiction. I won't be taking any orders from you. Now, what are you doing to that woman?"

The Thalmor harrumphed. "Never a shortage of insects to mock the boots that crush them." With that the two justicars pulled out their malachite weapons, a sword and a mace, and readied themselves to fight her. As a magic armor spell came into being around the wizard, Blake took out her weapons and leapt to the side, avoiding a stream of fire from one justicar. She jumped at the nearest one and slashed, causing sparks to fly as her swords scraped his armor. He stumbled back and she kicked, sending him to the ground, before turning to block the mace of his fellow. She kicked that one's knee and then struck him with an elbow to the face, and then had to jump out of the way of a lightning bolt. The other justicar recovered as she dodged a second bolt, and charged back at her. Blake parried his first strike away then hit with her cleaver, cracking his armor across his arm. She jabbed upwards, finding a chink in the armor and stabbing into his guts. He cried out and fell back, and then the other was at her again. Blake dodged to one side of him and sliced at his throat. She nicked him and blood squirted out as he struggled to fight back. He tried using a healing spell, but his blood had run too low before it could be effective, and he fell to the ground. Blake nearly missed the incoming lightning bolt, but managed to get out of its way and let a clone take the shot before she ran at the wizard. The high elf mage yelped as she sped by, cutting her chest and left arm slightly, though not as deep as she was aiming for thanks to the magic armor surrounding her. The wizard backed away in fright and summoned a lightning wall between them. Gasping, and with Blake unable to reach her, she held up one hand and cast a spell the faunus had never seen before. Her body seemed to flake away into purple energy, her eyes staring intensely at her foe as she teleported from the field of battle.

The battle over, Blake flicked her weapons clear of blood before sheathing them and heading to the Khajiit's side, immediately checking for injuries.

"Hey, are you hurt? Wounded?"

"P- please! This one's life is nothing! She begs you to go to Riverwood and save the young one!"

'Young one? A child?'

"Hold on a moment. Let's see if we can't fix you up. I'm right here right now, and I can save you." Blake recalled how the healing spell worked and tried to get it to flow into the older looking Khajiit woman. She watched as her magic tried to close the wounds on her arms, face, and torso, but the spell drained her quickly due to her inexperience with it. Cursing herself for not practicing it more, Blake waited for her magicka to replenish as she took out some cloth and pressed it against the most worrying wound.

"This one thanks you…" the Khajiit muttered. "She is not used to such kindness." She took in a breath. "But, you must hurry to Riverwood and save the young one! The elves must not get her or this one risked her life for nothing!"

"If you're sure you'll be okay. Just be careful not to reopen any wounds. When you get a chance, try to head up to Whiterun city, tell them Blake Belladonna sent you. I need to go by there real quick to get my horse and any traveling supplies. Will that be okay?"

"Yes, yes. Don't worry about this one. She will manage. Just hurry, and find the young one!"

Blake nodded and immediately began jogging back towards Whiterun. She didn't know what exactly was happening, but someone's life was in danger, and this time there was no mistaking it. She didn't know what the Dominion wanted with a young Khajiit, but something told her it couldn't be good.

For the second time that day, Yang was seeing off a member of her team. This time just happened to be way more sudden. Blake's explanation left no room for argument, though. If there really was a kid in trouble, then there was no way they couldn't help. She checked the saddle again to make sure it was secure then looked at Blake.

"Okay, just be careful riding at night. Everything and its mother just seems more deadly in the dark."

"I'll be fine. I'm sorry I couldn't stay longer, but this-"

"Hey! I want whoever this 'young one' is to be safe and sound as much as you do. But be careful not to cross any more Thalmor. While people will turn a blind eye to anyone fighting them out and in-between, the government legally has to help them unless they're going rogue. Not to mention they're a bit bigger than a death cult." Yang pat Blake on the shoulder then drew her in for a hug. "Just drop by when you're done, okay? We can figure out what to do about the kid then."

"All right." Blake hopped onto the black and white patched horse and started down the road. Yang watched her leave and then sighed before heading back into the city. Rather than stop at Breezehome, she kept going all the way to Jorrvaskr. Only a few Companions were up, but like she'd hoped, Aela was amongst that few. She approached the one given the moniker of Huntress, and the Circle member looked to her with a smile.

"Good to see you, pup. Given it any thought?"

"Given it thought, talked about it, considered it, contemplated it, and really stopped to think it through." Yang looked at her hand and clenched it. "But, before I make any final decisions, I wanted to ask you: what's it like being a werewolf?"

"So, you just need to cast the spell on me?" Weiss asked dubiously.

"It'll be perfectly harmless, I'm sure," her Dunmer classmate explained, though there was a drop of hesitance in her tone that made Weiss feel like running for the stairs. Still, a favor was a favor, and she might need Brelyna's help in a project or two in the future. Though, she didn't think using each other for lab rats could be a part of it.

Brelyna's tongue poked out from the corner of her mouth as she readied her new spell, and then released it directly into Weiss's frame. At first, nothing seemed to happen, but then color seemed to fade and blend oddly in Weiss's vision, until everything was just different shades of green.

"Oh, uh, that's not what's supposed to happen."

"What? What happened? Why is everything green!?"