As Ruby, Yang, and Lydia made their way back southwest toward Whiterun, Weiss and Blake traveled north with their respective entourages alongside them. Unfortunately, Inigo had almost no talent at magic and couldn't really figure out how to use Longstride without tumbling over, so the group had to make do with regular walking speed.
"I can't believe you could trip over your own feet, only the roll three times and then land on them," Onmund mentioned to the blue Khajiit.
"There is a certain grace to my people. Unfortunately, my grace likes to make things as humorous as possible for others at my expense sometimes." Inigo waved his hands around in a 'what can you do' manner, causing Onmund to lightly chuckle.
"M'rissi is glad that she did not fall like that," the girl added. "Her face is too pretty to smash into the dirt."
"I agree. You were also very good at it. It seems you have as much a talent for some magic as you do for bows."
M'rissi purred at the praise Inigo was giving her. "Of course. She is very talented and skilled. You and Blake are lucky to have her traveling with you. The crazy rat man would have had you as skeever food if she was not there to save you."
"Wait, what?" Weiss asked her teammate, who shrugged.
"While we were doing the Honningbrew job, we ran into this crazy man who was planning to breed an army of poisonous, super-strong skeevers right under the brewery and destroy… Was it Whiterun? Anyways, I burned the journal and planted evidence to make it look like Maccius murdered him in cold blood."
"Oh my god, Blake!" Weiss and the others stopped and stared at the unrepentant Faunus.
"He has plenty of motives to choose from. If he's smart, he'll get a few years." Blake shrugged once more. "Anyways, he was a total jerk and was planning on ruining another man's livelihood because he felt overworked. Well, he was, but I had a talk with Sabjorn about how the way treating his employees will be the key factor in him making or breaking it. He actually seemed to take it into consideration." Blake shrugged. "Well, if it turns out he's just as terrible still I can always do something to fix him up."
"Blake, you're talking about vigilantism." Weiss pointedly stared at Blake, who developed a thoughtful look.
"Oh, uh, guess I am. Well, it's not really illegal here in Skyrim." Blake smiled. "It's just frowned upon in certain situations."
Weiss shook her head and sighed.
As the group made camp at the foot of the small mountain where Azura's Statue stood, Blake began cooking up a stew while M'rissi sniffed at it hungrily. Weiss was leaned against J'zargo, and Brelyna was testing out some magic in the opposite direction of everyone else. Onmund simply read, and Inigo had just finished setting up his tent.
"Well," Inigo said while looking at his tilted tent, "like my mother used to always say, "You utterly failed, but you did your best. So I am still proud." Hehehe, just kidding."
"Ooh, she wants to hear more stories from her friends!" M'rissi announced happily as she sat on the other side of the log Inigo was seated at. "Tell her a bit more. She wants to hear more about families."
"More about…my family. Okay. Well, to start, my brother and I never knew our real parents. We were found abandoned in a smelly shack by a soldier on his way to battle." As Inigo began telling his tale, the others began to slowly move on from what they had been doing and listened closely. "We melted his heart with our fuzzy little faces and he carried us to the nearest town. He deposited us at an orphanage and that is where we spent most of our childhood. My brother and I were then adopted by a couple of retired assassins. I guess the orphanage did not do a family background check."
Blake's ears popped up. "Assassins?"
"Yes. Government work, mostly, going by what little they shared." Blake remembered the stealthy agents that had helped with taking down the Brotherhood, and figured that the Empire certainly wasn't above using their own cutthroats for certain situations.
"Must have been an interesting childhood," J'zargo commented.
"Mine was more unconventional than most, but I suppose all childhoods are interesting to some degree. My parents provided me with love and encouragement. Aside from the nightly training sessions, we were a normal family." Inigo hummed in thought. "Though, I was bullied by the other Khajiit children because of my unusual color and markings. My mother showed me a handy trick with a rock and a glove. I was never bothered again."
"Ouch," M'rissi said with a wince.
"I never seriously hurt anyone, of course. Not until I was much older. My father taught us how to use the sword; my mother taught us the bow. Happy childhood memories."
Blake smiled and recalled her own past when her mother and father were first teaching her how to fire a gun. Other memories crawled up, however, and she fled away from her own mind.
"I grew up in Riverhold, not far from Cyrodiil. My brother and I headed to the Imperial City to find our fortune when we came of age. I found love, for a time at least. My brother…found death."
"Love?" Onmund asked in surprise.
"Well, now that I think about it, maybe it was not love. It was brief and as it turned out one-sided. Anyway, all that happened later. My mother and father are now both gone. They died protecting a trade caravan a few years back. I guess I am an orphan again."
"I'm sorry for your loss, Inigo," Blake lamented. "What were they like?"
"Thank you, my friend. And I suppose they were a bit of an odd couple being an Argonian and a Khajiit, but they adored each other and us. Despite their previous profession, they were good people." He scratched at his neck and continued on. "My brother and I found much work as sellswords. We never made it to the Imperial City but we made a lot of coin. We went all over Cyrodiil, from the Gold Coast to the Jerall Mountains. It is a wonderful land, but quite tame compared to Skyrim. Those were happy times- traveling or working during the day, camping out under the stars at night. Life was good." His ears began to droop a little as his smile disappeared. "I awoke one morning to a lot of noise outside of our tent. My brother staggered in bleeding and pushed my father's sword into my hand. He said that if I loved him I would run. He used the last of his strength to rip out the back of the tent and push me down the slope beyond. Some Khajiit hating locals had blamed us for a spate of robberies in the area and decided to take matters into their own hands. Twelve of them had snuck up on us in the night. My brother died, but I live because of him."
"That must have been terrible for you." Blake's eyes held a mournful look to them, causing Inigo to look down.
"Yes. That morning I lost all that was dear to me, unfortunately, I also uncovered a side of myself that I never knew existed." The others all went quiet at this. After a few moments of silence, Weiss began to speak up.
"Do you mind if I ask what his name was?" she asked
"His name was Fergus." Inigo then sighed. "I miss him very much, but part of me is glad that he did not witness what became of me after his passing."
"Losing him had to have hurt. I'm sure he would have understood," Brelyna attempted to comfort the Khajiit, who only sighed.
"Maybe you are right. It is a nice thought, but I suppose I will never know."
M'rissi whimpered a little and then looked over at Weiss and J'zargo. She decided to lean over on Inigo, which surprised the whole group. The blue Khajiit laughed at her antics even as Blake tried to whisper to her. He simply patted her head and ruffled her hair.
"Do you feel better now?" she asked hopefully.
"Yes, thank you, M'ri. You should get up though. Blake looks like she wants to claw us."
"She should not be so jealous of you. She has been around M'rissi for longer and has had plenty of times to be close to her."
"I don't think that was it at all," Brelyna muttered beneath a smile before looking over to the Faunus girl. "I guess that means you're next."
"What? Me?"
"Seems to be a pattern for all of us. We get some rest, eat some food, then one of us tells everyone a bit more about our backgrounds."
Blake looked over to Weiss, who then sat up and cleared her throat. "Well, all of you know we're not from Tamriel," the heiress started. "What you might not know is that…we're not from Nirn at all."
The Khajiit's ears all sprang up while everyone's eyes widened.
"Wait, so… Where are you from?" Onmund managed to ask.
"A world known as Remnant," Weiss replied. "We aren't sure where in relation it is to Nirn, but Archmage Savos has a few ideas. It could be in some pocket in Oblivion or one of the other planes of Mundus, the gods' bodies some call them."
"It is strange to think of, but explains a few oddities about you and your friends," Brelyna reflected. "So what does that mean for you two?"
"Well, for one, I'm not a Khajiit." Blake pushed back her hair to reveal her human ear on the side of her head. "I'm a Faunus. After seeing Khajiit and Argonians, I think the best way to explain us is to think of a human with one –rarely two– of several animal traits, like ears, horns, or a tail. And it could be pretty much any wild animal, even a few extinct ones. My…former mentor has horns because he's an auroch Faunus."
"Auroch? Like those wild cattle in Hammerfell?" Onmund asked.
"Why are so many things extinct on Remnant still… Nevermind," Weiss muttered. "Yes, like those. …Wait, is he who I'm…"
"Yes, Weiss. I'm sorry. See, I used to be part of an organization that fought back against the marginalization of Faunus by humans. My parents were…" She sighed. "My father was the leader of the White Fang, and one of its founders. When he stepped down, Sienna Khan took over, and everything started becoming gradually more and more violent."
"Sienna Khan…" Weiss rolled. "Belladonna…" Her eyes opened up wide. "You mean…you're the daughter of Ghira? The chieftain of Menagerie?"
"That's me," Blake shyly admitted. "Yeah, I was lucky to have a common surname. I was pretty surprised when you didn't figure it out after seeing my ears."
"Well now it seems obvious, but I'm a little hurt that you didn't tell us before." Weiss huffed. "Do Yang and Ruby know?"
"Yang didn't even know who Sienna was when I mentioned her. I doubt either she or Ruby knows who my dad is."
"Wait, I'm confused. Are we all saying that Blake here is a princess?" Onmund asked. "Of a country on another world?"
"It's actually a small continent," Weiss explained. "And not a very hospitable one at that."
"What this one doesn't understand is how exactly it pertains to you," J'zargo pointed out to Weiss.
"Oh, well, my grandfather started a company. A worldwide…mining business, if you will. He led by example and made sure that the company treated all of its employees fairly, including Faunus." She sighed at this point. "Then my father came along. My grandfather was ill and likely dying, and someone needed to run the business in his stead. So, my father married my mother, taking her name and running the company. It definitely grew under him, but…" She looked over to Blake, a glint of shame in her eyes. "All of the good it had done was just brushed away. Now Faunus are treated unfairly by the company, paid less, given no benefits, forced to work hard hours, and they can't just quit to find new work with the way our world is."
"Oh, I already see how badly this must have gone," Inigo stated as he shifted his footing. "The White Fang group did not appreciate what your father was doing to them, and the violent leader took steps."
Weiss nodded at that and Blake sighed. "So, there we were. Girls from opposite sides of the war. But despite everything I couldn't hate Weiss when I got to finally know her."
"And I…learned to understand that not all Faunus were White Fang, and not all of the White Fang were cold-blooded murderers. Many of them are misguided, but they're being led by some extremists who either want to crush humanity under their boots or wipe them out."
"A lot of what I've seen in the Thalmor, I saw rising up in the White Fang." Blake clenched a fist and held it to her chest. "When we get back, I'm going to make sure to change things. I won't let us make that mistake."
"Here's to you doing so." Inigo leaned over and sniffed at the stew. "Suppose it is ready to eat now?"
"Yeah, just don't scald your tongue like the other day."
"Ack! Don't remind me! I still can taste burntmudcrab claws sometimes!"
"Okay, so we're on the road, got a bunch of gold stuff, and we're waiting for the dragon," Ruby told to herself as they rode on before her eyes drooped in annoyance. "Where is he?"
"Can't expect a highwayman to rob you on your time, sis." Yang shrugged before nearly slipping off and having to grab onto her horse's saddle horn to stabilize. "He's got his own schedule to keep."
"What does a dragon even do with gold? It's not like he can use it to buy stuff. Unless he's planning in the long term for after people get used to them? But then that'd mean he's not banking on dragons winning and ruling again.
"Maybe he's planning to go into actual banking?"
"That's dumb. A dragon starting up a bank? Really?"
"Well, I bet two hundred years ago they didn't think ogres would be teaching at a university, but look at the world now."
"Okay, maybe you're-" Ruby was cut off by a roar and saw a dragon flying in. He was mostly a rust-red with yellow stripes running down his side and on his wings, encircled by black. "Hah, he found us!"
The dragon seemed to be eagerly zeroing in on them, then the group saw his eyes go wide before he frantically tried to bank up, and only to fail and have to flap himself back to stability and turn around to fly back the way he came. Ruby blinked as she saw the dragon basically running away from her. Her cheeks puffed out and then she spurred Chocolate forward.
"Hey! Get back here!" she yelled as she pressed her horse to run through the trees. They emerged out the other side of the grove to see the dragon trying to pick up speed. "Vulgahrotru! I need to speak with you!"
The dragon looked back at her with fear in his eyes and Ruby waved her arms to keep his attention.
"I just want to talk!" she tried calling out, then looked ahead. "Hey, watch out for that-"
Vulgahrotru roared in pain as he crashed one wing against an inordinately tall and thick tree. The tree was mostly fine, but the dragon was sent spinning into the ground where he skidded against the earth before rolling and then splashing into a hot spring. Ruby saw three people jump out of the water at the other side and scramble in fear, to her embarrassment, bereft of clothing. She looked away as the people grabbed their garments and headed for the hills, watching as the dragon pulled himself out of the muddied water and shook his head. He looked up and saw Ruby, and his fear returned, washing away whatever pain he was feeling for a moment.
"Niid," he groaned as he back away. "I… I do not want to fight you, Dovahkiin!"
"I'm not here to fight. I just wanted to talk."
"You…want to talk…? In peace?"
"Yes, just peacefully talk. I have questions and you should have answers."
"Yes, I… Very well then." The dragon hissed and winced his eyes. Ruby looked over and saw a large, bleeding gash on his wing that had hit the tree.
"Here, let me help with that." Ruby hopped off her horse and approached. Vulgahrotru seemed to flinch back, but as Ruby held out her hands and let healing magic flow from her and into him, he seemed to calm down. Yang and Lydia rode up as she was working on healing him, with both the older women dismounting their horses and coming to her side quickly.
"Ruby, you just rode off through that patch of trees and we nearly lost you," Yang admonished her sister, making sure to place herself between Ruby and the dragon's head.
"Sorry guys, but I had to catch up with Vulgahrotru here." Ruby scrunched her face in concentration as she let the magic flow. Her teammates were definitely right. Healing magic was hard.
"I would appreciate a little warning next time you speed off, my Thane, as I'm sure would your sister." Lydia placed herself even closer to the dragon's head, her shield arm placed closest to it.
"Right. I'll be a little more careful about it in the future." Ruby cut off the flow of healing magic and the dragon looked over to his healed wound.
"Kogaan hi, Dovahkiin. I…did not expect such kindness. Most would not see a dragon deserving of such."
"Well a lot of dragons aren't exactly endearing themselves to the countryside," Yang pointed out. "And you're on thin ice yourself, robbing people and stuff."
"I will not apologize. I simply went back to my ahrol-hofkiin and did as I had before my sleeping. I keep my lands safe, and those traveling it pay for passing through."
"And thank you for doing no worse than that, but we should talk more about that later. I want to know something else." Ruby moved past her sister and housecarl right up to Volgahrotru's face, which seemed to be filled with relief.
"Yes, of course, but, if you do not mind, as a show of gratitude, I would show you how dragons engage tinvaak. It does not seem right to speak with another dovah without doing so."
"What?" Yang asked her sister.
"Tinvaak means conversation. Or a Thu'um battle, depending on the context," Ruby explained with a brief turn of her head before looking back at Volgahrotru. "Okay, I don't mind. Show me how."
"Yes, your…followers may wish to step back for this." Yang raised her eyebrows, but her and Lydia both moved back from the Dragonborn. "Yes. Good." The dragon stepped out of the hot spring and then shook himself off. Yang and Lydia both blocked the water with their arms while Ruby called up a ward. "The first step is the greeting. Drem yol lok, Dovahkiin."
"Drem yol lok," Ruby repeated with a smile. "Peace fire sky."
"Yes. It is how Dov introduce themselves in a peaceful manner. Then, upon a first meeting, we give each other a taste of our Voice. Yol Toor Shul!"
"Ruby!" Yang screamed as crimson flames leapt from Vulgahrotru's maw and flowed upon her. Yet, Ruby felt no burning, even as she was taken completely by surprise. Rather, she felt warmth, and looked to her hand to see her fingers raking through flames, only feeling liquid-like licks of warmth from them. The fire stopped, and she looked over and saw both her sister and housecarl ready for battle, only for them to both have astonished expressions upon seeing her unharmed.
"It's okay guys. This is part of it. Yol!" she Shouted, pulling on the feeling she had when Vulgahrotru's flames had bathed her. The fire did not harm him in the least, though steam did come up from the water that was still upon his scales.
"Yes, your Voice is strong. Only a single Word, yet I felt much power in your Thu'um. Krosis. I forgot about your false-fur."
Ruby looked down and sighed in frustration, her clothes mostly charred and ruined but still covering her modesty. "That was my last outfit from home." Gasping, she pulled her hood from behind her and sighed when she saw it was only singed a bit near the end. "Yeah, guess neither of us were expecting that. Thanks for teaching me though."
"It was no trouble. It is only proper for a dovah to know, no matter their shape. You had questions for me though?"
"Yes, you see, I saw Alduin." At that Vulgahrotru went still, his eyes focused in on Ruby. "We saw him raise a dragon from the dead, but before that I heard him call out his name and say 'ziil gro dovah ulse'."
"Ah, that. Yes, you heard Alduin call his name before. I am curious, can you tell me his name?"
"He was Sahloknir. He's…dead now."
"Geh. Aaz Hah So, Sahloknir. I knew him, though we knew one another little." Velgahrotru hovered his head a moment and nodded. "Yes, what you heard was Thur Rot Gron. A more powerful dragon can call upon the name of another, and bind him to do his bidding as a servant to a lord. Aarsethur."
"Did he do it to you?"
"He tried." The dragon laughed. "Niid, for it is not an absolute. Any dovah can resist the binding. The stronger their will and Thu'um, the greater they can resist. But, there are few that could resist the call of Alduin. Less who could while in the dreamless sleep."
"Then how did you resist?"
"Zu'u ni ov voth nid motmahus." He noticed the confused looks from the other two humans. "Ah, I do not trust lightly. As we came to be, we dragons often found our names in a short time, or were born with them. However, I realized what power our names held. So as the others excitedly told one another their newfound identities, and gave them to the First Born willingly, I hid mine within the recesses of my mind, and told them a false one. Alduin could not bind me with a false name when he awoke me."
"Then, Vulgahrotru isn't your real name?"
"It is not. It is a front, though I do enjoy playing the part." He laughed as though joking. "I would ask that you keep this secret, Dovahkiin, for it gives no benefit to you to share it."
"I won't tell anyone, but… Besides not trusting the other dragons, why aren't you following Alduin at all?"
"Bah! Away with their wish to rule over mankind with force alone! Alduin may be powerful, but when you hold something down, beast, mortal, or dragon, it will struggle to free itself. I had already seen what real power can be amongst the mortals. So much pull is given by your kin to the soft metals."He let out a small laugh and something that sounded like a pride of lion's purring in tandem. "Metals that make a good bed to rest on. I have all the strength to hold over others that I need. To have more power, I will use what is there to gain something else."
"So you're getting power through wealth." Ruby nodded and crossed her arms. "So how are you going to use it?"
"Another secret I shall keep, if you do not mind, Dovahkiin. I would rather my ideas not spread before I've had the chance to enact them." The dragon then looked up and towards the south. "A party of eight joorre and two mounts. At least… Mm, one hundred pieces between them. Gah, the people have been traveling light lately!"
"Okay, look, about your hofkiin and getting paid," Ruby started, getting his attention back. "You should set a flat, non-negotiable rate. Something that's not too high, but people can expect and afford every time. So long as you keep the road clear of bad stuff and don't hurt anyone, I'm okay with you doing that. Also, the Holds might want to tax you a bit for it."
The dragon snarled. "Any who touch my hoard will be burnt to a crisp!" At Ruby's glare, he cleared his throat and looked away. "They are free to come and negotiate something, though."
"Good. I think it's actually a good thing what you're doing, just don't take it too far and we won't have any problems."
He groaned, but dipped his head in her direction. "Very well, Dovahkiin. The world is different, after all. I will adapt. Hopefully, this time no greedy army comes to slay me in my sleep to steal my hoard. Hm, a good, flat rate. Ah, well then. Tiid bo viing. Vah Su'um Ven, Dovahkiin"
"Vah Su'um Ven, Vulgahrotru."
The dragon rose his wings and leaped into the air before flapping down, sending winds and dust out as he took to the sky. He turned after a few flaps and then winged up as he went towards the group he sensed. Nodding her head, Ruby smiled and walked back to Yang and Lydia, who merely looked at her and the departing dragon with incredulous looks.
"…Did you just give a dragon the all-clear to rob people?" Lydia asked, her face filled with confusion.
"I did negotiate it with him." Ruby shook her head and shrugged. "Anyways, we'll send up a letter to Ulfric, who'll probably send somebody to talk with him, then the people get a safe road, a dragon has a job, and the Holds have little more income."
"Yeah, but everybody's got to pay to use the road," Yang pointed out
Ruby shrugged. "They could always use the other road, but it's curvier and not being kept clear by a dragon. Can't make everyone happy, Yang."
Weiss looked up from where she was putting out last night's fire to see M'rissi going through her bag. She was about to yell at the Khajiit girl, but then held herself back as she recalled her often childlike demeanor.
"M'rissi, it's rude to go through someone else's things without permission," she lightly scolded as she wagged her finger.
"But you have so many interesting things!" the girl declared while pulling out a notebook and then flipping through it. "You do so many magics too! Hm, is that an ear ring?"
"No, it's a communication device," Weiss explained as she took the notebook and pointed out the various pieces in the sketch. "See, diamonds seem to work the best with Conjuration enchantments while amethysts work best with electrical or liquid based ones. By enchanting a copper and gold piece between to two with the simple information exchange enchantment, which I finally figured out after painstakingly looking through every library we came across, then giving these other two a connection enchantment and attuning enchantment, I could make a device that will allow instantaneous, two-way communication between any two individuals at any point in the world. Something that is normally only possible for the most skilled of mages right now." Weiss turned to look at M'rissi, sighing when she saw the blank look on her face. "It lets me talk to people from very far away."
"Oh, okay." M'rissi nodded in understanding. "Have you made one yet?"
"No," Weiss admitted bashfully. "It's mostly purely theoretical at this point. I have the pieces to make a pair, but I have yet to actually enchant or construct it. It's not exactly a cheap endeavor."
"I'd be more than happy to help," Blake offered. "My plan is to stay in Winterhold for a day or two, and I can hold off on leaving until we get a working pair. So long as it isn't too long."
"Oh, obviously. And thank you." Weiss smiled as she finished putting away her things. With the camp cleared, the mages and Khajiit began the trek up the mountain. The journey itself was uneventful, outside of seeing a dragon fly about in the distance, but other than that nothing happened. After a few hours, they spotted the Shrine to Azura, its statue rising high above them. The Khajiit and Brelyna stopped to marvel at it, while the others stopped as well out of respect to their friends. After a few moments and prayers from the worshippers, the group started moving again. As they came closer, Blake felt a tickling in her ears as words hit them.
"We are children of the Twilight. Beings who are to be guided from the darkness into the light. And from the light into the darkness," a feminine voice rang out. A quick look confirmed it to be from the Dunmer priestess, currently kneeling in front of the shrine.
"Huh, she's praying," Onmund stated.
"I am fairly certain that is in the job description of any priest or priestess," Inigo scoffed, causing Onmund to sputter and the others to faintly chuckle. Calming herself, Weiss walked up the steps and over to Aranea with the Star in hand. The priestess turned and looked upon them with more than a little amazement.
"Azura's Star! I knew the Lady of Twilight had sent you for a reason. Hand it over to me," she beckoned with her arms outstretched. "I will ask Azura to restore the Star to its original purity." Weiss handed the artifact over with nary a word, and the priestess looked it over in saddened awe as she set it down upon the altar. "I shall commune with Azura now," she announced as she raised her hands up in offering. "Azura. Mother of Roses. Goddess of Dusk and Dawn. Your chosen champion has returned your Star to you." A moment of silence passed them all by, and then the priestess let her arms down and turned her head towards Weiss. "She wishes to speak to you herself. Please. Place your hands on the altar, and you will hear her voice."
Weiss looked back at her friends. Blake seemed unsure, but Brelyna was practically giddy while J'zargo had a slight smile as his face. The vampire took a deep breath, and then walked forward towards the altar before placing her hands upon.
"Greetings, child," all present heard, causing some of them to jump in surprise. "Ah, such a bright soul, like the first star seen before the moons' rays. You have followed my guidance through the veils of Twilight and rescued my Star from Malyn Varen. But his soul still resides within, protected by his enchantments. Until he is purged, my artifact is useless to you."
"Uh," Weiss tried to recompose herself, already noting that this was turning out to be much more pleasant than her previous discussions with Daedric Princes, "not to be rude, my lady, but can you not purge him yourself?"
"Eventually my Star will fade back into my realm in Oblivion, but I doubt you'd wish to wait the hundred or so years that will take," Azura's response was devoid of any offense, causing Weiss to internally sigh in relief.
"No, I suppose not."
"Then one option remains. I will send you inside the Star. You will banish Malyn's soul there. Tell me when you are ready, mortal." Weiss thought over her options and looked back at her friends before nodding her head.
"I suppose I'm as ready as I'll ever be, Lady Azura."
"Have faith. I will be watching over you."
Suddenly, Weiss felt the world around her shift, as though she was sent speeding out of it in all directions, yet remained in one place. Her surroundings changed, the snowy mountainscape replaced by hexagonal crystal spires that made up the floors and walls as well as tapered crystal spikes sticking out in random places.
"Ah, my disciples sent me a new soul," she heard and looked forward to see a Dunmer a distance away. "Good. I was getting…hungry." Weiss clenched her teeth and grasped Mytenaster's hilt. "Wait," he realized at her aggressive motion, "there's something different about you."
"This twisted experiment of yours is over, Malyn," Weiss declared as she drew her rapier and called the Sanguine Rose to her right hand.
"And who are you to challenge me?! I've conquered mortality itself! I've spat in the eyes of the Daedric Lords! This is my realm now! I've sacrificed too much to let you take it from me!"
The Dunmer ran off and Weiss chased after him, but paused when a group of three Dremora mages stood in her path. They made twisted grins as they launched firebolts at her, only for her to summon a ward with Myrtenaster and use the Sanguine Rose. A fourth Dremora appeared, this one clad in jagged, spiked armor and wearing a masked helmet depicting a winking smile. It chuckled and drew a sword while the other three went stiff.
"Oh no," one mumbled.
"Oh yeeeeeeees!" Weiss' summon effeminately shouted before charging them. The heiress left as the three screamed in suffering and her summon gleefully cackled. After going down the spiral structure, she entered what appeared to be a throne room where Malyn had procured his own staff and held an ebony dagger in his off-hand. The two fired arcs of electricity at one another immediately as Weiss closed the distance between them. He tried to stab at her, but she easily blocked him and twisted the dagger out of his grasp before stabbing his shoulder. The dead mage cried out and then Weiss grasped his face and sent a large amount of electricity directly into him. He screamed for a moment before pulling himself free and then aiming his staff. A lance of lightning streamed towards Weiss, only to be blocked by her glyph. The necromancer's eyes went wide, then a spike of ice was sent through his gut.
"Damn you to Oblivion! Can you not see what I've done! What it means for this world!" Malyn protested, fustily attempting to pull the icy spike from his body.
"So what? You became immortal. I did that on accident, and believe me," Weiss sped over to him, driving her blade into his chest. The soul looked towards the rapier piercing him and felt it heating up, "it's not worth it."
"No… Not like…" The Dunmer went up into flames, not even having any time to scream before he was reduced to ash. Weiss sighed and took a deep breath before she felt the world rumbling.
"The Star is free to purify itself. Don't worry, mortal. I will return you before you are cleansed."
"Wait, wh-
"-at?" Weiss blinked and then looked around to see that she was back at the shrine, everyone mostly just like they were before. "What happened?"
"You…went into a trance for a few minutes there. You felt…empty," Blake numbly answered after a few moments of silence. "What happened to you?"
"I…I think my soul was inside of the Star, but my body must have been left behind. Strange." Weiss shook her head while M'rissi looked contemplative for moment before smiling and striking her palm.
"Talk about an out of body experience," she enunciated. M'rissi smiled as the others all turned towards her. "What? Yang was giving her lessons. Did she do it wrong?"
"...Damnit, Yang." Blake sighed and rubbed her brow. She should have known this would happen, but before she could curse Yang and her penchant for puns more, Areana flinched and began glowing.
"Areana?" Onmund moved towards the Dunmer in worry, which only increased when she began floating in midair.
"Areana!" Everyone shouted as the priestess raised her arms, a sun appearing over one hand, a crescent moon above the other. Weiss began to cast a spell, only for the woman to start speaking in a voice that was not her own.
"My Star has been restored, and Malyn's soul has been consigned to Oblivion," Azura said through Areana. Slowly, the others all lowered their weapons and spells and looked on with interest. "You have done well, my child. As was destined, you are now free to use my Star as you see fit."
"Uh… Thank you, Lady Azura. I will be sure to put it to good use." Weiss still wasn't quite sure about this situation, but if she had to guess, Areana would be ecstatic this was happening.
"And you also wish to know more of what I know about your path?" Weiss nodded, and as she was thinking of how nodding might not be a good way of showing respect, Azura continued. "You have crawled from upon the serpent's trail, from beyond the reach of even the mightiest dragon. From the vast emptiness, to the filled center. Others have made this journey before you, the first being the great serpent himself. Some have traveled down, others have traveled up. Yet everything that goes one way must come back and rejoin."
"Not the first…? Everything rejoins?! So, we'll make it back home?!" Weiss asked hopefully. When no answer came, she sighed. "Well, thank you regardless."
"Farewell, mortal. Know that Azura will be guarding over the threads of your fate in the Twilight."Areana stopped glowing and gently descended to the ground as Azura left her. While the others all went to go check on the Dunmer priestess, who was, as Weiss expected, praising the Daedra for the honor of being possessed by her, Weiss stayed rooted in place before breaking out into a smile, overjoyedatfinally getting an answer. Blake's face was unreadable for amoment, untilfinally a smile found its way onto her the likes of which Weiss had never seen before. The two girls started laughing, tears of joy stinging Weiss' eyes as she became the one to initiate a hug this time around.
The next day, after making it back to Winterhold, the group took a moment to reequip themselves at the few shops the town offered. Weiss was currently studying a coral claw, similar to the one Lucan had. Birna, the local trader, sold it to her for fifty septims a few days after she arrived in Winterhold the first time, and she was getting closer to finding out where its door was.
"Has anyone seen my staff," Weiss heard Nelacar call out as he exited his room and began looking around the inn. "I swear I just had it this morning."
"Sorry, friend," Dagur told him. "Haven't seen it around. You sure you didn't magic it away somewhere?"
"What? No, I- Oh, never mind. I'll just look a little harder. Has to be around here somewhere."
"Don't suppose someone nicked it while you were away?"
"Please. It's almost as tall as I am. Where would they have hidden it?"
Weiss heard a slight chuckle and looked over to see M'rissi smiling brightly with her tail wagging. Sighing, Weiss leaned over and whispered to her. "Where is it?"
"She sold it," the Khajiit happily whispered back, not an ounce of remorse on her face. "The Court Mage paid her for it."
"By the gods," Weiss mumbled as she sat back up and put away the claw.
'Well, suppose I shouldn't complain too much. He was calling Azura evil and all. And she's…kind of my patron now, I suppose. Well, better than Molag Bal.' Weiss shivered as she recalled a recent text she read on the depravities of the Father of Vampires. 'I just hope that if a cure isn't forthcoming soon that Azura gets my soul rather than him. Whatever she has must be better by default.'
"I think we're ready to head up soon," Blake announced. "It's not a far walk to the College, right?"
"No, just up the hill, er, sorta. Hopefully Madame Collette can help you with your problem."
"Mew! Me too!"
"Did she just meow?" J'zargo asked.
"I think it has something to do with the memory loss." Blake looked over at M'rissi, whose ears drooped. "It's okay. Don't let it get at you."
"She doesn't mean to! It just feels right sometimes."
"It is okay, M'ri. We all have our strange tics. Onmund tends to slip into that farm-speak where he forgets how to pronounce g's at the end of words, and Blake's face looks like she always wants to kill someone."
Blake glared at the Khajiit, causing him to laugh. "Yes, exactly like that. So don't worry about it. Besides, it is a little adorable."
"D- do not call her adorable!" M'rissi punched Inigo's chest and she turned away blushing, causing him to stumble back a little and laugh.
"Only when you stop being so adorable will I, hehe."
"All right, quit tormenting the little kitten," Brelyna admonished the blue Khajiit while pushing him forward. "Let's go and see if Madame Collette is available."
"Sorry, everyone," Riane apologized to the group, "but Madame Collette left not too long ago to gather supplies and take a short break. It'll be a few days before she comes back. Maybe I could help, though?"
"We were kinda hoping for a Restoration Master."
"Oh, it'll be fine Blake," Weiss said to her teammate while waving her hand dismissively. "Riane might not be Collette, but she is an expert or fairly close at the least. Perhaps we should just start with a Mnemonic Glance to get an idea of what should be done and go from there?"
"Sounds good. Right then, come here puss." The Breton woman's breath caught in her throat when she realized what she'd just said in the presence of four catfolk, two of whom bristled up, while another narrowed her eyes. Inigo seemed to be the only one to brush it off.
"Frrreow! Her name is M'rissi!" she objected. "M'rissi!"
"R-right. My mistake. Um, would someone mind holding her still?"
"I'll do it." Blake went behind M'rissi and then wrapped her arms around the Khajiit. "I've had to hold her down before." Blake felt a few gazes at her and looked over to the men with a scowl. "Really?"
"Nothing, Nothing," Onmund said as he turned his head away.
"Alright," Riane outstretched her hand and magic flew between her palm and M'rissi's head, yellow, gold, sky blue, and grass green energies twirled around the girl as she began twitching, struggling, and clawing while gritting her teeth, letting out small mewls.
"Aha! Got it!" Riane announced as she cut off the spell and pulled back. M'rissi shook her head and rubbed her eyes while Blake let go and rubbed her arms.
"I hope you did. She nearly shredded me."
"It's an old Aldmeri Sarcophagus!" the mage shouted out in surprise.
"…And those do what, exactly?" Blake raised an eyebrow.
"I think I read something about those," Onmund began, "but all I recall is that it has to do with memory. Nothing new then."
"Yes, well, it's kind of like a lockbox, in the mind. It's hiding all of her memories." Riane nodded and cupped her chin in thought.
"Okay, good, then we're getting somewhere. So, can you unlock it?"
"Not without the correct passphrase I'm afraid." Riane shook her head.
"Ooh, try 'passphrase'," Inigo suggested.
"If you attempt to open it without the right passphrase, it'll be destroyed, and permanently erase the memories within it," she dryly replied, causing several of them to gulp.
"Do not try 'passphrase' then," he reneged. "Any ideas on where to get it?" Inigo asked as he rubbed a now dejected M'rissi's head.
"Best place to get it would be from the person that placed it, whomever that is."
"Isael," Blake muttered. "She's the one the ghost mentioned. It might have been her, most likely."
"Er, ignoring the ghost part, Isael is the Head Justicar of the Thalmor in Skyrim."
"Wait, I thought that was Elenwen," Onmund thought aloud.
"Elenwen is in charge of all facets, but Isael is the Head of Justicars directly under her," Brelyna explained.
Riane continued on. "You'd probably find her at the headquarters in Solitude, but…"
"I doubt it'd be a peaceful meeting," Blake finished.
"Then…we cannot get them back?" M'rissi asked sadly. "She… She knows the Thalmor are powerful, but…they will chase her forever, and now they have her memories' passphrase?"
"I'll get it." Weiss looked back at her teammate in surprise.
"Blake, don't be foolish. This isn't some secret society ready to crumble at a moment's notice. This is the Thalmor, a government entity equal to the Empire itself."
"Maybe, but I've been getting pretty good at this whole thief thing. I don't have to ask to get answers. I just have to find them. It's bound to be written down somewhere. Something important like this, whatever her reasons for locking them away, she wouldn't want to risk forgetting a few words and losing whatever she was holding over M'rissi."
"That's…true, I suppose. But…I don't know if it's a good idea to…" Blake followed Weiss' gaze over to the Khajiit girl, whose ears were drooped in sadness and face turned to a pout.
"M'rissi?"
"Yes Blake?"
"You wanted to learn a little magic, right? How about you stay here for a while and learn with Weiss and the others while I go try to find the passphrase? We'd have to come right back here anyways, so it's better if you just wait here until then."
"Really, she…" Her ears went back up a small smile appeared on her face. "Yes! Of course she would love to learn magic while you get the code! Then, when you get back, she will be a master wizard as well as a master thief and bowman."
"Aim for the stars, why don't you." Blake laughed and then looked over to Inigo. "You don't mind staying here with her until then right?"
"I suppose not. I will be quite miffed if you get to kill a dragon or troll pack without me though."
"Should be fine. Just running to Solitude and back. On my own I'll go a lot quicker."
"Wait, what about Ancano?" Onmund asked, getting everyone's attention back.
"Who?"
"Ancano is the Thalmor attaché to the College," J'zargo answered. "He is a nosy fool, but a fool all the same. Unlike others, he will not be on the lookout for the kitten, and none would suspect her to come here."
"Grrrow! Stop calling her kitten! She is grown, and maybe older than some of you!"
"So she can hide in plain sight," Blake deliberated. "That should keep us out of their gaze for a while. All right, I'll head out first thing in the morning."
"I'll be sure to work on those communicators tonight then," Weiss declared. "Between me, Brelyna, Onmund, and J'zargo, we should be able to get a pair up and running. Assuming that my theories are right, of course." Blake smiled and nodded at her vampiric teammate, who smiled back.
"Until then, let's get you settled," Brelyna offered M'rissi as she took the girl's hand and led her from the Hall of Countenance. "I bet that you'll make apprentice at least. You certainly climbed right over the novice level."
"She'll be a master in no time!" the girl excitedly declared, causing the Dunmer to chuckle. Riane, seeing how her job was done, nodded and went back to her office, leaving Blake and the other students behind. Weiss then nodded at Onmund and J'zargo, who nodded back and left to begin preparations for creating the communicators, leaving the two girls alone.
"I hope you know what you're doing Blake," Weiss warned. "There will be serious ramifications if you get caught breaking in to the Thalmor's property."
"Then I'll just have to not get caught."
After splitting up with Ruby at the base of the mountain, Yang reached Whiterun during the night and collapsed into her bed at Breezehome to a restless sleep, something that was becoming the norm for her. When she woke up she mindlessly meandered through the morning, fondly recalling coffee, soda, and other caffeinated things before heading up to Jorrvaskr. She really missed those little luxuries. As she passed through the mead hall doors, she overheard a few members discussing something rather loudly at one of the tables. From the sound of things, it wasn't pretty.
"Yang, good to see you," Farkas greeted as he caught sight of his fellow Circle member. "Your trip to Kynesgrove go all right?"
"Well, we killed a dragon before it could do any serious damage, so I guess all's well." Farkas chuckled and then followed her gaze over to the table. "What's going on?"
"Hjaalmarch is going to shit, basically. Vampires are everywhere, and just recently a house was burned down in the dead of the night right in the middle of Morthal, killing a woman and her daughter. Actually, we were hoping to talk with you about it."
"I mean, that's horrible, but I was practically at the other side of Skyrim at the time. What gives?"
"Well, it's not that… Uh, Vilkas would probably know how to say it better. Something about your friend…?"
"Let's go find him and ask then." Yang began leading the way down to the quarters, literally following her nose to what a part of her mind was thinking of as her packmate. She sniffed the air and picked up on the scent of coal-based makeup and sweat. There was a slight tingle up her spine and she felt her face heat up a tad.
'Whoa, down girl!' Yang admonished herself. 'Yeesh! Sure, he's hot, but he's almost twice my age! Stupid instincts trying to get me into trouble!
They found him talking with Kodlak about something, which made the wolf in Yang immediately calm down. Something about being in the presence of the Harbinger simply made them all far more well-behaved.
"Good to see you come home, Yang," Kodlak greeted while Vilkas gave her a nod. "Unfortunately, we might have to send you back out again."
"Farkas said something about a house in Morthal burning down and killing a family. I imagine it's related to that?"
"Half a family, actually," Vilkas corrected. "Word is that the husband survived unharmed, then moved in with another woman the very next day."
Yang whistled. "Wow, talk about suspicious. So people are thinking it was a murder?"
"Essentially, but not many of us have experience with investigating such a crime," Kodlak explained. "That's where you come in. You've told us quite a bit about yourself and the hunting schools you went to. Then some folks were talking about your…more nocturnal friend finding a murderer that had evaded authorities for a long time in Windhelm."
"Yeah, saw his head when we dropped by." Yang nodded her head, seeing where they were going with this. "So you guys think I can figure this out?"
"If anyone can," Vilkas answered. "My mind might be about as sharp as my blade at times, but I'm not used to having to figure out where my prey is beyond simply tracking it. Out of any of us, it was agreed that you might have the best chance at figuring anything out."
"Well, we were taught the basics of criminal investigation. If nothing else, I might be able to worm a motive out of this guy." Yang shrugged. "Morthal, right?"
"Yes. You'll just have to speak to the Jarl for permission, so as to not get into any trouble." Kodlak groaned and stroked his beard. "Also, be careful. Vampire activity has increased dramatically in Hjaalmarch and some places in Haafingar. While there's no risk of being infected for us, they're still not an opponent you should underestimate."
"I'll be careful. I'll probably head out tomorrow after Ruby gets back. She's making a quick stop to High Hrothgar, and I've gotta check on something me and Eorlund have been cooking up for her." Yang smiled brightly. "By the way, you guys know where I can get some red paint?"
Yang stepped down from the Skyforge while rolling her arms. Dusk was coming in, and soon the people would be turning in for the night. She chuckled to herself and then noticed someone leaving Jorrvaskr. She recognized Aela's scent before she went over and saw her, stuffing items into a bag and going through her quiver of arrows.
"What's up, buttercup?" Aela looked up, slightly startled by Yang's appearance. The older woman sighed as Yang squatted down next to her. "I didn't see you today. Everything cool?"
"I found where another Silver Hand base is," Aela answered evenly as she continued her preparations. "I'm going out there to kill them."
Yang looked over the woman's kit and then back at her. "Not by yourself, I hope."
"Trying to bring anyone with me will just slow me down."
"Oh no! We're not having that." Yang stood up and pulled Aela around by her shoulder. The huntress tried to pry her away, but Yang kept a firm but gentle grip on her as she looked her in the eyes. "You cannot just go after them alone! You'll get yourself killed!"
"I won't let them get away with what they've done!" Aela yelled as she shook herself free of Yang and glared daggers at her. "After all these years they still hunt us down! They've killed Companions for decades, whether they have the Blood or not!"
"Keep your voice down and think for a minute. Do you remember what happened when Skjor went off alone?"
Aela reared back a fist but stopped herself from going through with it. The snarl on her face slowly faded as she looked right into Yang's sad, blue eyes.
"I feel like shit for bringing it up, but I had to. He got himself killed being impatient, and you going off on your own will just end up doing the same." Yang placed both her hands on Aela's shoulders and slowly shook her head. "Listen, I've learned the hard way that trying to rush ahead on my own can end up getting me and those I care about hurt. Hell, sometimes I have to relearn it. I'm not saying you let them get away with it. We all want them taken down permanently. There's not a Companion in that mead hall who wouldn't agree they need to pay and be stopped. But getting yourself killed isn't going to stop them or make you feel any better. It'll just hurt us."
"I… I'm sorry. I haven't been…thinking straight." The woman sighed and leaned in, her forehead resting against Yang's shoulder. "Damnit!"
"Hey, it's okay." Yang patted her back and then let her up. "Now, what do you say we see if one of the guys is available? I'm pretty sure Farkas isn't doing anything."
Aela nodded. "All right."
As the two women headed inside, Yang pulled Aela in closer and patted her shoulder. "Hey, don't beat yourself up over it. Just slow down, and always have someone to watch your back." As Yang escorted Aela down to the quarters, she failed to notice Kodlak standing a short distance back, smiling at her.
"Well done, Yang. Well done."
Ruby looked at the four Greybeards. There was a sort of fear dwelling in her gut, but at the same time she felt excitement and anticipation. The dragons… No, she was eager to prove herself strong enough to withstand this.
'I am the force. I am the balance. I am the push. I will not stumble. I will not falter. I will not fall.'
"Lingrah krosis saraan Strundu'ul, voth niid balaan klov praan nau." Ruby felt the tangible weight of the words upon her, the Voices of the Greybeards pulling, pushing, pressing, and whirling upon her very being, but still she stood, braced and ready for the very world. "Naal Th'umu, mu ofan nii nu, Dovahkiin, naal suleyk do Kaan, naal suleyk do Shor, naal Suleyk do Atmorasewuth. Meyz nu Ysmir, Dovahsebrom. Dahmaan daar rok."
As the echoes of their words rang out around her, Ruby stood at the center, gasping as she straightened herself back from the slight crouch she had been in. The very air tasted different as she picked up her head and took in a deep breath. The souls within her were roaring, but so was her own. A few calming breaths later, and Ruby could still feel the euphoria that came with passing the Greybeards' test.
"My Thane, are you all right?"
The Dragonborn looked over to her housecarl and grinned. "Never better."
As they rode back up to Whiterun, Ruby strummed her lute almost absentmindedly. As she tried formulating her next steps, she brought up her fingers and then brought them down on the fret of the two highest strings, making a note separate from her strumming. She made a few more hammer-ons and pull-offs as her other hand kept plucking out the rhythm.
"I guess we should head down to Falkreath at some point. Get that word from the old Brotherhood sanctuary. Already got the one from that cave Weiss went through."
"That sounds like…a good idea." Lydia's eyes were trying, and failing, to track how she was playing two separate lines at once. This was only compounded when Ruby's strumming hand's thumb began tapping the wood. "Were we going to go back to Solitude to inform Jarl Elisif about her husband's horn?"
"Yeah, I guess that should be done personally rather than through a letter." Ruby's playing shifted towards something closer to what Lydia figured was normal, though her thumb kept up its beat, and it was still an unfamiliar tune. "Kinda have some sensitive information there. Everyone keeps talking about there being vampire problems too." Her strumming hand lifted and her nails clacked a quick, rapid beat before going back to the strings. "I don't think I've ever fought a vampire. Unless that practice spar with Weiss counts."
"I'm going to go out on a limb and say that it doesn't."
"Hm, new experience then, I suppose." Ruby strummed a short breakdown, letting the last chord fade on its own while her hand went to the lowest strings. She plucked the high notes alone for a moment before her other hand went up and began a quick series of hammers, interspersed by pairs of strummed chords. Lydia almost balked at what she was seeing, but managed to keep her composure. "Reckon Yang will want to come with us?"
"I…don't see why she shouldn't." Lydia's mind seemed to calm itself as Ruby cycled back to a chord and thumb-tap combination, only to boggle again when her strumming hand went up and a single finger was used to hammer the top string while her other hand focused on lower strings. At this point they were closing in on the stables and guards on patrol were stalling in their steps as they passed by. As they stopped, Ruby's playing shifted to a more normal, if still a bit aggressive, series of chords, finally ending right before she slid off of her horse's back and began patting his neck.
"Good boy, Choc-Hooves. I'll be sure to tell them to give you an extra apple."
Lydia shook her head and allowed a small laugh to escape her as she dismounted. Even after getting used to some of the more bizarre things about her Thane and her friends, she still ended up getting surprised sometimes. The two made their way into the city, dropping off their things at Breezehome and then heading to Jorrvaskr upon seeing that Yang wasn't there. They were quickly pointed out by Njalda to the Skyforge, which immediately became their next destination. Ruby saw Eorlund hammering away at a newly forged chest plate and Yang working on some armor section. The elder girl put the chest piece on, wincing at the obvious discomfort from it not being fitted for her particular frame. She then reached up and unclicked something at the shoulders while doing the same at her sides. The piece then went loose, the straps of it seemingly tripling in length. Yang grinned though, as if she had succeeded.
"Looks like it worked, Eorlund." She saw Ruby standing off to the side and practically ripped off the odd armor before rushing over to her. Ruby virtually grappled her as she wrapped her into a hug, then lifted her older sister up and squeezed, making her helpless. "Ah, mercy!" Yang playfully yelled.
"No mercy!" Ruby called out before breaking out into giggles and letting Yang down. "Well, it's done there. My training from here on is trying to find out the words on my own. Also Argneir asked that I return the horn to complete some ritual or something, so I'll be doing that. How was your day without me?"
"Unsurprisingly, peaceful." Ruby blew a raspberry right before Yang broke into laughter and rubbed her head. "Nah, nothing much happened. The others asked if I could look into something that smells like foul play over in Morthal. House burned down. A woman and her daughter died in the fire. Some circumstantial stuff points to the husband, but it's enough to make him a suspect."
"Oh…" Ruby moaned sadly. "That's…horrible."
"It is. Hopefully I can get to the bottom of it. I've been doing something else though." Yang grinned and walked over to the blacksmith. "Hey, think she's ready?"
"It's as ready as it'll ever be." The man placed his work down safely and began heading down the stairs. Yang followed, beckoning Ruby to follow along as well. Wondering what exactly was going on, the young Dragonborn followed her sister and the man to the back yard of Jorrvaskr. Yang called into the building, and soon a plethora of Companions poured out, including Kodlak and Vilkas. A few rolled out something covered in a tarp, to which Ruby rose her brow at. Eorlund stood at the front of the group and received a nod from Kodlak.
"As the smith for the Companions, it has been my honor and privilege to forge the arms and armor for this great hall for decades now, but for the first time in my life, and likely the first time in centuries, I got to work with a material that few would even dream of. With the help of Yang Xiao-Long, I have finally been able to piece together this masterpiece, and thus present it to one who needs it the most out of anyone in Tamriel. Dragonborn Ruby Rose, if you would accept, I give to you, my first set of dragon scale armor."
Yang pulled away the tarp and what was beneath it made Ruby gasp. Like Eorlund had said, it was an armor set constructed of dragon scales, most of them linked together by a glossy, black material. Dragon teeth were embedded into the neck guard, angled so that they would protect without risking injury. Larger scales were used for the abdomen in a segmented pattern with a y-split pair of scales over the chest. The gauntlets and shin guards were made from intermediate scales pressed and bounded together with spiked knee pads. Most noticeable about it was that above the legs was an armored skirt made from tiered scales, the last tier ending in stylistic steel points.
And every scale on the whole thing was painted in her favorite shade of red!
"This is… It's beautiful!" Ruby said as she admired the masterpiece. "I love it!"
Weiss blinked wearily before she downed another herbal infused drink. She hissed as the bitter taste passed by her palate and went down her throat, then looked back at her notes. She was getting closer to figuring it out. There just seemed to be something missing that she wasn't quite sure of.
"Everything okay, Weiss?" she heard before turning back to see Blake walking up with two steaming cups.
"Shouldn't you be getting some sleep?"
"I could say the same for you," Blake said before placing a cup within reach, but away from Weiss' papers and materials. "I actually tried though. Couldn't fall asleep. I keep thinking about everything. M'rissi. Ruby. The dragons. What Azura said about there being others ending up here before us."
"Yes, my mind keeps wandering back to that as well. It's…a little distracting, to be honest. But I think I've narrowed it down to four or five people from history. Most of them being 'mysterious appearances'." Weiss blinked as she took a sip of the hot drink. "Tea?"
"Well, they don't have coffee if that's what you wanted. I prefer tea myself honestly."
"Take what you get, I suppose." Weiss drank a little more and sighed at the warm feeling it spread throughout her. "Gods above, this is pretty good though." She looked over and saw Blake with her nose already in a book. "Journey of the Heroes," she read the title. "Mm, what did you say that the Hero's name was in that?"
"Yohannes. I think it's a misspelling of a common Nordic name, Johan or Johannes, with a j."
"A…j?" Weiss eye went wide as all pretenses of sleepiness faded from her. "A j?!" She set the cup of tea aside and pulled out a blank sheet of parchment and one of her ball-point pens then wrote down 'Johannes' onto it. "What were the others?"
"Weiss, what are you…?"
"Don't derail me! Say their names!"
"Uh, Yohannes, Nicaea, Denor, Lerian, and Unknown," Blake answered in scared confusion. Weiss scribbled down the three other names and then drew lines from them.
"Describe them! I've heard about them before, but describe them to me in your own words." Weiss furiously scribbled more notes down, not looking up at Blake while she worked. Confused, but deciding it was better to go along with it, Blake cleared her throat.
"Okay, so Yohannes is the leader. The book actually describes him as being a novice at first, with barely any idea how to swing a sword, but he gradually improves to the point he's able to fight veterans on equal ground. Other than that typical Nord. Blond hair, blue eyes, hints of a beard starting to grow, and really wants to be a great warrior," she described, still wondering where Weiss was going with this. "Nicaea was skilled from the start, but also kind of timid and very…overly nice. Merciful to a fault at times. Pretty sure she's a red-haired Colovian Cyrod. Also was really attracted to Yohannes. Like, shockingly so in that nothing ever happened. He's been kinda oblivious to it for a while, but I think he's starting to catch on." Blake shook her head at that. Honestly, those two reminded her of Jaune and Pyrrha a bit, but she supposed stuff like that is universal. Regardless, she shipped both pairs. "Denor was wild, full of energy, barely thought about things before she did them. At least before the Tragedy, then she went full civil rights movement and got calmer, in some aspects at least. Fairly typical Nord with red hair, only short. Had a thing for lightning and hammers. Lerian was quiet, reserved, but also responsible and mature. He was described as a Nibenese monk with 'thick Akaviri blood visible in his face'. He usually watched out for Denor, and they pretty much fell in love after the events of Desann's Palace. Or they already were and only realized it after that close call with death. What exactly-"
"Look at this!" Weiss commanded while holding the paper right in Blake's face. The Faunus gently took it and held it at a better distance to read what Weiss had written.
Johannes – Jaune
Nicaea – Pyrrha Nikos
Denor – Nora
Lerian – Lie Ren
Beneath the lines between each pair of names Weiss had listed off several traits that Blake had mentioned. Physical characteristics, personalities, strengths, and weaknesses were all there. She'd even written down Nora's Semblance. The Faunus' eyes widened as she realized just how much of this was beginning to match up.
"I… This is…"
"I'm surprised you didn't notice it beforehand! Those names are just bastardizations of Team JNPR's names!" Weiss threw her arms up into the air while Blake looked frantic, her mind trying to process what it was starting to see.
"Okay, but… ," she racked her brain in search of a more logical explanation. "That doesn't answer why they would have appeared two hundred years ago. Not to mention when we were headed to Patch, they were still at Beacon watching over that mutt."
"Don't you see? 'Beyond the reach of even the mightiest dragon'. That's not Alduin or some super powerful dragon flying around. That's Akatosh, the Time Dragon." Weiss' eyes held a look of realization in them, while Blake's slowly widened.
"I… What?"
"Remnant must exist outside of Nirn's time! I don't know how we have time at all if that's the case, but the timelines of Nirn and Remnant are non-parallel at the very least." Weiss got up and began to pace, her finger pointing back and forth as she walked. "We could return at the very moment we disappeared, or maybe centuries in the future. Perhaps even a point in Remnant's past." Weiss gulped at that realization. "But one thing's for certain, these names match up too well, the hint runs too close to home. Tell me, could you easily picture Team JNPR in the Heroes' place?"
Blake looked back down to what she had been reading, a chapter where Yohannes was facing against Umaril's forces, leading the Knights of Nine. She tried to picture Jaune there instead, and it was honestly uncanny.
"Ma- Maybe if they had time to mature a little…"
"And how much time has gone by in that story?"
"Months, maybe. Oh my god," she muttered.
"I know. How in the world did Jaune become a Restoration Master when I only just got used to the basics?"
"That's what you've taken away from all of this?!" Blake shouted, exasperated at her friend's priorities.
"I haven't had sleep, all right. And I'm due for another bottle of blood." Weiss plopped down on her stool and sighed. "At least we have some hope now. It's obvious why JNPR didn't come back from the Shivering Isles. They must have gotten back. Will get back?" Weiss shrugged. "I guess it's both."
"How would they have gotten back through the Shivering Isles?"
"It's nothing concrete, but I think that the 'serpent's trail' is some sort of reference to Lorkhan. Shor to the Nords. In most religions, especially the Altmer's version, Lorkhan is depicted as a silver-tongued serpent. Even the Yokudan tradition depicts him as such. Conversely, Sheogorath has been described by some as coming from that last spark of Lorkhan. Nothing concrete, like I said, and it could very well be that they never did leave the Isles, but if anything could have gotten them back from what we know and can guess at, Sheogorath is one of the few." She picked up her enchanted communication device and looked it over before sighing. "At least that's one mystery solved."
"I wouldn't call it solved. Oh great, now I can't stop picturing Nora pretending to be a pirate."
"What?"
"When they were fighting an Argonian warlord-slash-sex slaver, he cut her eye out and she had to wear an eyepatch from that point on."
"How in the world could that have happened?" Weiss suddenly got much more worried.
"Apparently that guy had traveled Morrowind, Skyrim, and Hammerfell, taking on small armies and raiding tombs and Dwemer ruins all on his own for years to amass a fortune. Then he went into illegal human trafficking and forced prostitution for some reason. There was also some weird stuff with some kind of not-daedra that I think might have been something related to Dibella."
"Gods." Weiss shook her head while grabbing an identical device to what she was holding, both of them oblong 'rings' made half from copper and half from gold, with a diamond inset on one side and an amethyst on the other. Blake thought they looked like gaudy, wireless ear buds. "Okay, this information is way too important to relay by mail. Blake, mind helping me test this?"
"Sure." Blake took the piece, agreeing with Weiss' logic. If they could get this working, they could let the others know right away. She followed Weiss' motions, putting the piece up to her ear and tapping the amethyst only to hear static and something that sounded like an imp being ripped in half. Blake pulled it away and shook her head. "Ow!"
"Yeah, that keeps happening." Weiss sighed at yet another expensive failure. "Probably some sort of interference. An emerald enchanted with telepathic based spells should have solved that, but it actually made it worse."
"I wonder…" Blake hummed and took out her scroll, opened it, and placed it on her leg. Placing the device on it, she looked back at a now amused Weiss. "Try calling me."
"Hehe," Weiss laughed as she shook her head. "Very funny Blake." Playing along, she took out her own scroll and held it against the device while selecting Blake from her call list. Her scroll phone began attempting to connect, which she expected to fail like every attempt made since arriving, but, to her surprise, Blake's scroll began ringing. Blake answered, and suddenly she could see her teammate's face on her scroll in real time.
"It worked," she heard from both in front of her and from her scroll.
"But… How did it?" Weiss took the enchanted object away from her scroll and the call became disconnected. "How?"
"Maybe they needed some kind of vector. Scrolls already have an input and output for visual and audio. Maybe that's what you needed?"
"Input and output…" Weiss looked down and touched the devices together again, and her scroll reconnected the call after a few seconds. "Oh. My. God."
"So we've got it, right?"
"I…guess so. I'll get them altered so that they can attach to the scrolls, but… Why is tonight so weird?"
"At least it's a good weird." Blake hung up and passed the device over to Weiss.
"Yeah, I guess so. Bleh, magic was supposed to be a new kind of logic, not an unknown craziness."
"You're just sleep deprived. Come on. Maybe we can finally get some rest now that you don't have so much to worry about."
"Fine… After I make the attachments and ship them out."
"Gods, Weiss."
The armor was surprisingly easy to put on. It practically slipped on, only having to have the boots, gauntlets, and neck guard buckled into place. Ruby tested out the range of motion for her arms, finding herself not restricted at all. Eorlund had planned to add pauldrons, but Yang dissuaded him of that in the end. Ruby picked up her scythe and extended it before swinging the weapon around, over, and then spinning it before taking a stance with the blade held back. She swung Crescent Rose forward and spun herself before jumping up, kicking one leg over and twirling through the air as her weapon turned under her, inches above the ground despite fully reaching out. At the top of her jump she rolled Crescent Rose around herself from behind her body and slashed forward. The scythe spun in her hands, deflecting imaginary attacks and slicing apart imaginary foes. Ruby twirled and twirled her weapon as a leaf fell from a nearby tree and towards her. The blade sliced across one side and then the other, shaving the leaf bit by bit until it went from star-shaped to a thin oval. She paused, the tip of Crescent Rose having pierced the very center of the leaf.
Ruby smiled and flicked her scythe back up and twirled it around before stopping, her weapon held behind her, the head held near the ground and the blade pointed up.
"It's a little heavier than what I'm used to, but it feels perfect." Ruby tapped a part of the armor with her scale-covered knuckles. "My own scales," she muttered. "I think I'll call it…Scaled Rose." She hummed and took a breath. "No, Qahpeyt." A soft breeze passed Ruby by and she looked over to the rising sun. "Yeah, Qahpeyt, the Scaled Rose Armor."
Kogaan - bless/ thanks
Kogaan hi - Bless you/ (I) thank you
hofkiin - home
arhol - hill
Aaz Hah So - Mercy Mind Sorrow. It essentially means "I'm sorry," but with far more sympathetic undertones than the simple krosis.
Thur Rot Gron - Lord Word Bind
Aarsethur - Servant of (the) master
Zu'u ni ov voth nid motmahaus - Literally "I not trust with no difficulty"
Vah Su'um Ven - Spring Breath Wind - the 'farewell' to Drem Yol Lok's 'greetings'