"The kitchen hasn't been stocked in a while, but we've had it modestly filled enough for you to last for a few days," Weiss explained as she escorted S'ahara through Breezehome. An awed look covered the Khajiit's face, but Weiss paid it no heed for the moment. "On top of everything, I'll make sure you have a weekly stipend, essentially your pay. Anything we or our associates use will also be covered, just write them down for later review."

"This is…so much." S'ahara turned towards the vampire, still beaming with joy and relief. "This one thanks you for all that you have done and are doing for her."

"Oh, it's no trouble," Weiss waved off with a smile. "I had been meaning to hire someone to take care of this place, anyways." Weiss stopped and developed a thoughtful look. "This just turned out to be good for us both. However, with the way things are going, Blake may need to set up another base of operations in Riften, and you might end up wanting to go there."

Blake nodded. "There's a home for sale in Riften that I've been looking at. If I end up getting it, you are more than welcome."

S'ahara smiled then nodded. "Yes, she would greatly wish to be close to the kitten. She is…the closest thing to family S'ahara has left."

"And she is glad to be important to you," M'rissi said as she hugged the older Khajiit and rubbed a cheek against her. Both of the catfolk purred, forcing Weiss to stifle a giggle. Inigo just looked on at the scene with a bright smile while Blake made a softer one.

"We're happy to have you as part of our…group, S'ahara," Blake declared with a smile. "I promise we'll come back and visit once in a while."

"And you will come back to a clean and warm home. May your road lead you to warm sands." S'ahara bowed with her hands clasped together.

Blake nodded and the four slowly left the house. None of them were sure how long the Mirrsha clansmen were going to be in Skyrim looking, and so they were in something of a hurry. While they were sure they wouldn't miss them because of a few hours or so, they didn't want to test their luck with it. S'ahara waved at them as they left, waiting at the door of Breezehome until they were out of sight. M'rissi looked back a few times, even after they had left the city gates.

"Are we sure the elder will be okay?" she asked in a worried tone. Inigo put his hand on her shoulder to soothe her, while Weiss began to speak.

"She's not that old. Besides, the guard captain has been informed and has already told all of his men not to mess with her," Weiss explained. "Took a while to set everything up, but she's essentially an unofficial citizen of Whiterun at this point. I heard more than a few…complaints in that regard that they thought I couldn't hear, but nothing major."

"People are still on about that?" Blake asked, annoyed.

"Less every time I'm here, but it hasn't fully gone away. Racism isn't going to go away so quickly." The group slowed down as they walked through the caravan stalls, taking a last look at many of the items for sale. Some were purchased in other holds while others were the last of their exotic wares from their homeland. At one stall, Jo'nir's wife, S'ren was bartering with a man over the price of the skull of Paalduzaam. The man, Ulfrid from what Weiss could recall, was definitely giving it serious thought.

"Ah, this one sees that you are much better," they heard and turned to see Ko'ari. "A little pale still, but we are very north."

"Yes, thank you so much for the help you gave me," Weiss said, recalling how they had to end up selling all of the medicine to Arcadia in the end. It certainly helped with sleeping, but she was afraid she was becoming dependent on the substance and so cut herself off before it got out of control. "I certainly feel much better now."

"She can see that. Ah, and you have new companions." She began speaking in a language neither Weiss nor Blake understood, punctuated with halted syllables, rolled r's, and a lot more use of the buzzing z sound. M'rissi actually seemed to perk up and answered in the same language. After two back and forth exchanges, they then looked at Inigo, who began to sheepishly rub his neck.

"Uh, sorry. I never did learn much of Ta'agra. My father tried to teach us some, but it usually flew over our heads."

"Ah, that is a shame." She shook her head. "Perhaps this one's brother has a book on it. She will try to bring it on her next trip to Skyrim ."

"Oh, are you leaving?" M'rissi asked, slight disappointment evident in her voice.

"We must. Winter comes and may seal the Pale Pass with its deep snows. This one promises to chill the land deeply. We are to leave within the month."

"She can't wait until you come back with many more pretty things from our homeland."

"This one as well. Skyrim is a cold land, but one that could use a touch of beauty." Everyone paused a moment to see Ulfrid walking by, hefting up the heavy dragon skull back into the city. Ko'ari laughed a little once he was well past them. "Of course, the profits don't hurt either."

"This…is not what I expected," Lod admitted as he held the small pup, whose tail was wagging rapidly.

"Well, the dog you saw actually already had a master. I helped reunite them, and then convinced him to give me this puppy for you," Ruby happily explained, and the puppy barked in reply.

"Thank you, lass, but are you sure about this little thing?" He bent down and set the pup on the ground and began petting it.

"Absolutely!" Ruby declared as she pointed up to the sky. "Corgis are one of the best breeds of dogs ever! In my homeland, they were bred as the loyal and loving companions of kings and queens from the best bird and small game hunting dogs! They're some of the gentlest, most caring animals on the face of the world! Amazing with children, and steadfast protectors of their families! They may seem small, but a corgi's true-"

She stopped as she heard Lod laughing and looked to see the puppy had hopped into his arms and was licking his face. The man was tickled pink by the loving action and was holding her close for a moment before setting her down and standing up again, a huge smile dominating his face.

"You let that little runt turn you into a butter-hearted woman for a moment there, Lod," an old man in a rocking chair said after viewing the scene. The pup ran over and up onto the porch, stopping right in front of him and looking up, panting with her tongue out to the side. "Nope! Not working with me." She raised up onto her back legs and reached a paw out in something so closely resembling a human gesture. The man held his face for a moment before releasing a sigh and patting his leg. "Come on, then." Happily, the puppy hopped up into his lap and began receiving pets.

"Now who's the soft-hearted one, Gunnar?" Lod laughed.

"Compared to this, how she made you react ought to make you my sister now," the older man said, even as he kept petting the small dog.

Lod just laughed some more and turned towards Ruby. "Well, it wasn't what I expected, but this might be a little better. Not sure I can keep up with a rambunctious little puppy these days, but the children in town won't mind running around with her, I'm sure."

"She won't be too much, I can promise you that."

"Somehow, I'm more than willing to believe you." Lod went over and started scratching her right behind the ear. "I think I'll call her…Dreita."

As Ruby looked over the scene, she suddenly had to move out of the way at an instinctual reaction, narrowly dodging a surprise grab from her sister.

"Darn, almost got- Oh my god!" Yang squeed when she saw Dreita in Gunnar's lap, kicking out one leg as her ear was scritched. "Where did you find a corgi!?"

"Long story, I'll tell you later." A serious look enveloped Ruby's face, and her voice dipped low. "Did you find that…deer thingy?"

"Oh, yeah. I did," Yang revealed then thumbed back towards a nearby stand. "I actually took its hide to the tanner. Figured natural white fur like that would suit Weiss, or it might be magical and help with my project."

"Yeah, but then there'd only be one."

"I'm sure they've got unicorns or something." At Ruby's horrified glare, Yang laughed. "I'm kidding. Mostly. Knowing our luck that'd be the one thing Tamriel doesn't have."

"I'm not too sure about that," Ruby shook her head. "There's a lot of weird stuff here. Heck, I just found out they have living dinosaurs here."

"Wait, what?" Yang double-taked at Ruby's revelation. "Really? T-rexes, velociraptors, and all of that?"

"You do realize that actual velociraptors were the size of chickens, right? But yeah, Lydia said they're called toothed birds and thunder lizards."

"Oh gods, toothed birds!" Gunnar suddenly yelled scaring Dreita and his brother a small bit. "Damned man-eaters!"

"You okay?" Yang asked in concern.

"Sorry, just…remembering bits from the war. Wood elves came riding in on some of those bigger toothed birds. We thought it was funny at first. Looked like they were riding big, scrawny chickens. Then they got close. Those things are a weapon themselves, tearing men apart with their teeth and claws. Makes a wood elf much more dangerous, whether he's close or far away." He shuddered. "The wild ones were worse. Much, much worse. They were a lot quieter, only attacked in numbers, and were a lot smarter doing so."

"I'm sorry for bringing it up," Ruby apologized, but Gunnar waved her off.

"Don't be. You had no idea. Besides, when they aren't trying to kill you, they are beautiful creatures. Deadly, but beautiful. Like a poisonous flower."

"I bet." Yang shook her head. "There were actual dinosaurs in the war. Here I was thinking it couldn't get much crazier." She shrugged, and Ruby patted her shoulder. The younger girl looked up at the sky to see the morning sun beginning to rise then turned back to the old brothers.

"Okay, well you guys, I hope you have a happy life together. Bye, Dreita!"

The pup barked, as though telling them good-bye. As the sisters began walking down the street, Yang looked over at Ruby questioningly.

"So, about the little pupper there…?"

"I ran into Barbas, who was basically Clavicus Vile's dog."

"Wait, who?"

"Daedric Prince of bargains, wishes, and stuff." Yang threw her arms into the air at that.

"Okay, seriously? I run into the Prince of hunting and you run into the one that's basically a genie?"

"Well, he doesn't just grant wishes," Ruby clarified. "He also makes deals. And I think he created the Monkey's Paw. They said they lost track of it, in something called a K Sign, and Weiss thinks it somehow ended up on Remnant way long ago. Basically, he's an unlimited, talking, thinking Monkey's Paw."

"And you somehow wished for a corgi," Yang deduced.

"Weiss wrote up all of the fine print. He was actually really frustrated about it."

"And you're sure it's not actually a daedra?"

"Clarified on page one. 'It must be a real, flesh and blood animal, not a transformed daedra.' Weiss thought of everything and then some."

Yang let out a short raspberry. "Never underestimate the contract experience of a CEO's child. So, where's Lyd?"

"Oh, well, we had to teleport around to do all the stuff. It would have taken days otherwise. Just full of walking all the way back up to Haafingar, then back in Falkreath Hold. So Barbas made portals. It was…weird how he did it, though. I think they were only in certain spots or something. Might be worth looking into, actually. It was useful. Anyways, Clavicus then teleported me back to Falkreath from his shrine at Haemar's Shame, after Barbas assured me he wasn't going to do anything tricky, like making me appear in the sky or halfway underground, but he didn't teleport Lydia."

"Wait, so she's back at the shrine? How far is it?" Yang asked in concern.

"It's all the way at the eastern edge of Falkreath Hold, beneath the foothills of Hrothgar. We looked at a map for it with the vampires there, and Helgen's about halfway between us and them."

"Wait, vampires?"

"Oh yeah! There were a bunch of vampires looking to see if they could get a cure from Clavicus Vile. They were nice. He…couldn't really cure them, though. Or maybe he could, but doing that would get Molag Bal's attention, and he doesn't want to risk it."

"Well, that's an option gone. And I do not want to deal with Molag Bal of all daedra."

"Yeah. Let's avoid him. Forever." Both girls paused then shuddered. After a bit, they continued on.

"So, what are we going to do? Linking up with Lydia seems obvious."

"Yeah, but on the way… Oh, forgot to tell you. I talked with Weiss about it, and she approves. Siddgeir wanted to name me as a Thane of Falkreath, but to do that I had to own property in the Hold. It was kinda fishy, but he offered a piece called Lakeview Manor for five thousand septims."

"Five thousand! Wow, he must be having trouble getting anyone to buy land at that price!"

"Yeah, and we'll have a place to go outside of any cities or towns. It's also lakefront property. I almost felt bad about accepting it, but Weiss said it's not our fault. So, I've just gotta drop off the coins and the deed is ours. We can go up and check it out and then head to Helgen to see if Lydia went there."

"And another Thanehood to you."

"I mean, all I literally had to do was chase off some bandits that we already chased off before getting here!"

"The ones with that failure of a rock trap?" Yang smirked and Ruby smiled at the fond memory.

"Zora was laughing so hard at that they almost got a free shot at her. Thank goodness for the Stoneskin spell."

"What in the world?" Ruby muttered at the sight of a large, empty plot of land.

"This is…Lakeview Manor," Rayya, her new housecarl explained as she gestured at the land. "The…actual manor part burned down years ago. Many years ago."

"And they never changed the name?" Yang asked as she looked out across the land, seeing the lake glistening against the sunlight. "Well, it's still a nice view. Maybe we could put something here. A little hut with a bed and fireplace shouldn't be too much."

"Yeah… Or, I could make a decent sized house," Ruby started as she went around and observed the place at different angles. "Yeah, maybe two stories. Bet I could dig out a cellar. Might have to. Ground's a bit soft in the middle. Ooh, there's plenty of stone nearby! And I could get some clay from the lake! Cutting too many trees too closely won't be good, but I could get them from Riverwood." Ruby continued to mutter to herself, ideas spewing from her lips like bullets from a machine gun. Once she started talking about putting in a forge, Yang decided that was enough.

"Rubes, snap out of it," Yang called over to her sister. Ruby promptly ignored her and moved beyond Yang's view, and she sighed. "I swear, once she gets an idea in her brain, it's like her head's in the clouds."

"She does have a point though," Valdimar pointed out as he went towards some off-color rock and cast a spell at them. "Hm, iron ore, and on the surface. It's almost like no one ever came here to really take a look at this place. You have almost everything you could possibly need to build a good house here."

"Well, that's cool and all, but I doubt we have that kind of time in the foreseeable future. Maybe after Weiss follows in her ancestor's footsteps and ends up with a majority stake in the world." Yang laughed. Soon after, Ruby skipped back up to them, a smile on her face.

"Okay, I think I have a decent idea of what to do. Also, we have a neighbor."

"What neighbor?" Yang raised her eyebrow.

"The witch lady who was putting stuff together over that way. I think she's making a golem out of rock and clay."

"Hey!" they suddenly heard from the side. Yang looked over to see a woman in black robes. "Do any of you have some wolf or bear fur?"

"Sorry, no. Just deer," Ruby replied.

"Won't work. I need something omnivorous."

"Sorry!"

"It's fine! Have a good day."

"You too!" Ruby called back with a wave. "She's pretty nice."

"As long as she doesn't conjure up an army of undead for the eighth time this month, I guess I'm fine with it," Yang joked.

"What?" Rayya asked.

"It happens more often than you'd expect," Valdimar explained.

In Helgen, several men and women hid within the abandoned homes, shaking in their boots as, just outside, over two dozen vampires and their thralls set up camp along with a face several of them recalled belonging to one of the Dragonborn's fellows. For a moment, some of them dared to hope that these beings had run afoul of the Dragonborn and would face her wrath, freeing them, but it became apparent that the woman was moving about under her own free will, and was hoping to meet back with her powerful traveling companion.

For Lydia and the vampires, they were just waiting in the half-burned town, hoping that Ruby would come by soon, barely noticing the squatters cowering from them. For instead, they were engrossed in their own conversation.

"She's definitely one," a heavily tattooed vampire said to another. "Ruby has to be."

"What?" Lydia asked, looking over at their conversation.

"He means she's a "storybook princess"," the Redguard, Jasmin if she recalled correctly, explained.

"Think about it. She's kind to everyone she meets," the tattooed vampire began to count on his fingers. "Traveling great distances on a grand journey. And now she has an animal companion."

"I think the pup was a gift for a friend," an extremely long-haired Nord woman went. "Besides, the animal companion thing is recent."

"Yes, but it's a staple at this point. A trope made everlasting."

"She's not even a princess."

"No, but she's a Thane of Solitude. That essentially makes her Skyrim's equivalent of a baroness. Then there's the whole thing about Dragonborn being of the blood of Akatosh."

"And what, you think she's going to swoop in and save the prince or something?"

"Well, maybe she's not that cliché."

"I heard the Jarl of Hjaalmarch has a son nearing the end of his childhood," someone suggested.

"And Laila Law-Giver has a son already grown, but still fairly young."

"Men might not be her thing though," a Khajiit woman suggested. "She could be the princess to get another princess."

"I don't think she has…any interests either way," Lydia tried to put in. The vampires went quiet for a moment, then the first one pounded his fist into his upright palm.

"Ooh, I know! She's the perfect person to rescue a princess from a dragon! How's this sound? Rescuing an elven princess from the clutches of a wicked dragon, clearing the Empire's name and paving the way for peace?"

"Sounds like a fantastical dream. Might as well say she saves a vampire princess from Bal."

Lydia sighed as the vampires continued to argue about how a story about a living person that she personally knew should go. Still, she couldn't help but quietly concede that Ruby had some storybook qualities. Being a princess wasn't one of them, though. She was the one who threw herself into the jaws of danger, all to help the weak and innocent find something as simple as a little more comfort, or even to save the world.

And she'd keep doing it, over and over again. That was what Lydia feared. She could remember how her father used to put it.

"Person like that… He's just doom-driven." Lydia feared for her charge, knowing that Ruby very well could bring about her fate that much quicker. Still, the housecarl would be with her every step of the way.

As she sat and waited for dinner to finish, the beat of a drum started being heard along with lyrics being sung out, growing clearer with every passing moment. As it came, Lydia began to recognize the voices, one of which she heard singing on many a trip.

"Forever!~" the duet crescendoed before one cut and began singing lower.

"One among infinity, witnessing the majesty. Calm in this humility, witnessing the majesty. Hope as far as one can see, witnessing the majesty. Witnessing the majesty. Witnessing the majesty. Standing on the edge of forever!~"

"Gods, that is beautiful to hear," one vampire muttered.

"Another point in the storybook case," the one who kept arguing for it said as Ruby and Yang came into view, the elder sister beating a drum and the younger slowly plucking strings on her lute. Lydia noticed a woman in steel armor and wearing a grey desert hood while having two scimitars at her side.

"My Thane," Lydia greeted with a bow. Ruby hopped off her horse and went over to hug her. At this point, Lydia was used to the gesture and simply patted her head before Ruby separated.

"Glad we guessed right." Ruby smiled then turned her head to the side. "Oh, hey, those guys are still here." At once, everyone's heads turned towards the now panicking former bandits.

"W-we have a plan! We're thinking of starting up a quarry! It's plenty productive!"

"Oh that's cool! Good luck with that!" she said with a thumb up.

"I see you have another traveling companion," Lydia indicated with a gesture towards the Redguard.

"That's Rayya. Siddgeir made me a Thane of Falkreath Hold and she's my housecarl from here on. At this rate, I'm going to end up with nine of you guys." Ruby shook her head. "Anyways, she's not one for traveling, and we're starting to think all of this horse-riding is taking out Valdimar's back, so we called up Weiss and Blake, and Weiss got this idea to rent out the spare rooms in our places. We've got a maid at Breezehome now, so that one's pretty much all set. We're sending up Valdimar and Rayya to guard the place and her. Rayya's also got landscaping experience and Valdimar knows how to fix up a house."

"That sounds reasonable. What about us?"

"Well, me, you, and Yang are heading to Larshbadger."

"Largashbur!" Yang called out over to them.

"Right. Hopefully the orcs will show us how to work orichalcum. If not, we'll have to try somewhere else, and that can take a while. So we'll have to present something really nice to them."

"What did you have in mind?"

"Well, we have the fur from the White Stag. I still got several amulets and nothing to do with them. And I bought a daedra heart."

"Why did you buy a daedra heart?"

"I needed to test out the Masque."

"And?"

"Hey, how much for that heart thing?"

"That is a daedra heart. It's going to be a minimum of three hundred septims."

"Really? Hm, sorry, guess not." Ruby left the store, and then placed the Masque on her head. Indeed, it was heavy, but it also had the same see-through effect as the Wooden Mask, though it was shaped much more like a helmet. She stepped back into Grave Concoctions and Zaria smiled much brighter than before.

"Welcome, please, feel free to browse."

"Actually, I am in the neighborhood looking for something specific for a potion of mine. You wouldn't happen to have any daedra hearts?" Ruby found it much easier to hold back her giggles, and the voice she was going for was almost effortless.

"You're in luck. I have one in stock. Normally I wouldn't go so low, but… How about two hundred septims?"

"So yeah, it works. And if I put it on out of sight, people sometimes won't even recognize me. Kinda creepy."

"It could be very useful in diplomatic situations."

"Yeah, I could see that. Oh, so it'll be much better for a helmet for you until Weiss figures that enchantment out. Here, try it on."

Ruby took the Masque from her belt and handed it over to her housecarl. Lydia looked it over for a moment before cautiously placing it on her head.

"Whoa, whatisthisIdon't even. Know. What?" Ruby blinked a few times and shook her head. "Okay, this thing definitely is working on some hypnotic level."

"What is it?"

"Well, it's like…seeing a picture of delicious food, and your brain wants the food, but you know there's no actual food. It's like my brain is saying you're one of the prettiest people I've ever seen and that your movements are the most graceful thing, but I know it's just you wearing a thing over your head."

"…Thank you," Lydia dryly responded. Yang began to hold back giggles while Ruby's eyes widened and she began to flail.

"Uh, not that you aren't pretty without it. And you are graceful, but in a warrior kind of way. But when I say you're pretty I mean like someone would definitely want to date you, but to me you're, like, an older lady. Uh, not that much older. Less than ten years older, but that's a big enough gap to give someone my age issues and it would be really awkward for everyone involved-"

"Ruby, breathe."

The young Dragonborn did so, but at the same time they heard a plop like a bag falling to the ground and saw one of the former bandits looking up to Lydia from a prone position as though he was looking upon a goddess.

"Is there…anything I can do for you?" the awestruck ruffian beseeched her.

"Removing the daedric helmet now," Lydia declared, hoisting the masque from her head in an instant.

"Yeah, that's fair."

Blake's teeth clenched as she rushed over and kicked an orc away from the door he was trying to break down. The raider hopped back to his feet, only for Inigo to flip down and swipe his head clean off. Weiss was currently focusing on putting out fires and sending any orcs coming at her flying with her glyphs. Some managed to get by her defenses, only to find she wasn't helpless in melee. Their luck only held up thanks to their armor, but Weiss was beginning to learn the chinks to it and wounding them more and more. At the same time, their armor wasn't saving them from heat and lightning.

M'rissi leaped out from behind a stable and released three arrows in rapid succession, hitting two orcs and setting them ablaze, the third one ducking under her shot and then charging her. She quickly put her bow aside and took out her sword, parrying aside a wild axe swing and then cutting up into the orc's inner thigh. He seemed to ignore the pain, however, and chopped down, missing her by scant inches. She spun and brought her sword around, knocking the orc back a few feet. Inigo released an arrow into his chest, but the raider just let out a bellowing warcry and made for his opponent. M'rissi vaulted over him and extended one hand, letting out a stream of electricity into his back. The orc stumbled as he turned, but M'rissi hit him with a fireball, sending him backwards into a wall.

"M'rissi! We're trying to stop the fires!"

"She has it!" Concentrating a spell in both hands, M'rissi released it just as the orc tried to get to his feet. Water came at him in a high-pressured torrent, splashing off of him as it slammed him back again. He tried to push against it, only to lose half his hand in the attempt, followed by the stream cutting through his neck. He collapsed, soaking wet and the fires near the area put out. M'rissi picked up her sword and brandished it as she turned back to where the battle was going. Orc raiders began retreating, one of them yelling at them for cowardice, only for one of the villagers to spear his back with a pitchfork. As the scene of carnage began to calm, many of the simple woods folk began to laugh and cry in relief. As embraces and checks for survivors commenced, the four started to settle down.

"I didn't think your friend could fight like that," Weiss got out as she put out a small blaze.

"She is very capable," M'rissi boasted. "You should remember that."

"That you are," Inigo agreed. "Never let anyone tell you otherwise."

"She killed a man and a dog with nothing but her claws when there were two others to back them. She's… Tough isn't enough to describe it, but it's a start," Blake said.

"Don't forget how well you killed those grabby men when they talked about making her a pet and things. They were so mean!"

"Wait, you mean-" Weiss began, looking horrified.

"They never got the chance," Blake cut the heiress off. "It's a good thing I found her when I did, though."

"Good riddance to bad rubbish, I say. Like with these raiders." Inigo kicked one of the bodies, and an orc woman walked up to them, dressed in common leathers.

"Thank you, strangers, for helping us. Our little piece of Skyrim might have been erased before we ever got a chance to name it if it wasn't for your skills."

"We're glad to help," Weiss began demurely. "But if you don't mind me asking, what exactly was this? I've never seen bandits comprised solely of one race before."

"Not bandits. Not exactly. See, due to the way Orsimer used to live –which most of us have abandoned outside of a few traditions– tends to lend itself to a raider's mindset. This lot here were probably all second sons who didn't want to live in the shadow of their stronger brothers, so they gathered up. Unfortunately, when all the males are taught only how to dig and fight, there's not much else they can do."

"But why do they not want to live with their big brothers?" M'rissi asked.

"Because in the old ways, only the strongest could become chief, and only the chiefs can have wives. They say it keeps the next generation strong, but, to be honest, I think it only thins our blood. Nords are plenty strong, and every Nord from scrawny farmhands to the freaks of nature that swing warhammers with one hand can all get a wife and have children. And yet, sometimes that scrawny farmer's son can wrestle mammoths to the ground."

"Genetics are far more complicated than 'strong parents equal strong offspring'," Weiss agreed. "But this mindset really has caused this?"

"Well, their options are to beat the chief, serve under the chief, or strike out on their own. Get enough of them to leave the stronghold and run into one another, and you've got a small army of orcs, all male."

"And then they start raiding, capture women and resources, and soon you've got another stronghold that eventually falls into the same, stagnating traditions as those before them." The group looked up to see a man with a scar over his eye and orc-like tusks, despite his Nordic complexion. "We'll send some messages to the Jarl, so he can take care of this before it becomes too big of a problem. Bunch of rowdy orcs turning into an army is the last thing we need. At least bandits are mostly self-preserving."

"Are you sure they won't come back?" Blake asked.

"We sent them running, which means they'll take time before trying again. We also killed a good few, which means they'll want to build back their numbers. By the time that rolls around, we'll be ready, or the Hold will."

"As long as they don't come back while our backs are turned, it should be fine." Weiss nodded at that. "Well, if you have everything handled here, then we should be on our way."

"Thank you, again, for helping us," the woman said, nodding her head. The village people, with members of several races, also offered their thanks as the group made their way out of the budding community and back on the trail.

"This land can be awful sometimes," Blake got out as they left.

"Maybe, but at least there's some rebuilding going on. It might be because Whiterun is still the go-to neutral zone in the civil war, but it's something."

"And we saved them, like great heroes!" M'rissi cheered.

"More of an average hero feat, but it does feel good to help people like that." Weiss felt her scroll vibrate and took it out. "Oh, Ruby took some pictures of the property we purchased."

"Still can't believe he sold it for only five thousand," Blake muttered, recalling the prices listed off for different houses in different cities and towns she had been in. It was basically a steal.

"Ah, as lovely a view as I imagined. The altar just beyond the bounds is slightly concerning, but as long as nothing profane is going on… Wait." Weiss tapped out a message and then waited for the response. When it came, she sighed in disgust.

"What's the matter?"

"It turns out that the manor part of Lakeview Manor has been gone for decades. We just bought an empty plot. That Jarl swindled us."

"Oh, well… Can't win them all, I guess."

After bidding farewell to the vampires, seeing Valdimar and Rayya off, and traveling through Falkreath into the Rift while making a short stop at Sunguard in the afternoon, Ruby, Yang, and Lydia had come upon a mill on the shores of Lake Honrich. The lady of the house, Grosta, let them stay the night in exchange for a helping of their food and some assistance with a stubborn, gnarled log. Her son Gralnach, coaxed Ruby into playing hide and seek, which Lydia was unable to prevent before they sped off.

"Every time..." Lydia sighed and shook her head, feeling pity towards the young boy. While she kept a watchful eye on her charge, Yang toiled away at the gnarled log, working up a deep sweat.

"I don't know much about wood, but I'm pretty sure trees aren't supposed to be shaped like this," Yang complained as she continued to hack at a knot with a hatchet.

"Certainly the worst I've ever come across. If Leifnarr were here…" Yang paused along with Grosta's words.

"What happened?" she asked cautiously.

"Said he was going east, toward the border with Morrowind. That there were some folks wanting to trade for our grain and wood up at Broken Helm Hollow." She groaned with annoyance. "I waited and waited, and he never came back. Probably shacked up with some elven whore. Good riddance to him I say."

Yang stood up and wiped the sweat off her brow. "He wasn't the faithful type?"

"Well, I'd rather not get into it too much," the woman admitted before going back to sharpening the saw blade. "It's not important. All that really matters is that I'm not going to be able to keep this place going on my own for long. Going to have to sell the old place at this rate."

"Well… If I do say so myself, I'm pretty good at tracking people down. I have a good…hound with an unbelievable sense of smell."

"You want to track him down, be my guest. Just tell him that Grosta said he can go straight to Oblivion."

Yang sighed and nodded, understanding where Grosta was coming from. She began to hack away at the log once more, her powerful, heavy blows making a thud across the entire mill. Out of the corner of her eyes, she saw Ruby come around, looking about the mill and the stacks of logs in one of her red and black casual outfits made by the Radiant Raiment sisters. It looked good on her, honestly, and Yang promised herself to commission a set of her own the next time she went to Solitude. After coming up frustrated, Ruby stomped a foot down and sighed.

"Okay, I give up!" she called out. Gralnach then popped up from behind a tree. "What the- Where were you?"

"That's my secret!"

"It's unnatural, I tells ya! No one's that good at hide-and-seek!"

"Ruby, just accept that, sometimes, you're going to lose," Yang told her younger sister. Lydia said nothing, an amused smirk on her face.

"Once or twice, but he beat me every time!" Ruby protested before the ground rumbled. "Huh, was that an earthquake?"

"Fall and bleed, damn you!" they heard a rough voice yell from up ahead, immediately answering her question.

"Gorun trrr'kal!" Another guttural voice yelled, causing Ruby's eyes to widen in recognition.

"That sounded like a Giant!" Ruby said as she took out her Giantspeech amulet and put it on while hopping off Chocolate Hooves. She sped forward, and came across a scene of battle, an orc's broken body landing not far from her. Three Giant men were fighting against six orcs, four males and two females, right next to a wooden palisade wall. While most of the orcs fought on the ground, one stood on a watchtower within the walls, firing spells at the Giants as they tried to crush the orcs with either their clubs or stomping feet.

"Wait, stop!" Ruby called out, gaining the attention of one Giant for a moment before he laughed.

"More to crush later," he gleefully cackled. An orc male tried to catch him off guard, only for the Jo'Tunn to backhand him, turn, and then bring his club up and around. The orc was sent flying through the air and hit the nearby mountainside, a splatter of red coming out from around his landing point. "Squash the green boys and then take the rest!"

"What's going on?" Yang asked as she ran up.

"They're under attack. I-" Ruby looked the scene over before narrowing her eyes. "We need to pull at least one of them off the others. Yang, get the blond one's attention. I'll get the skinny one away from them."

"Wait, are we fighting Giants?"

"We've done it before. This is just like then, only more." Yang looked forward and nodded, and the two sisters ran forward. Yang hit the blonde Giant with a firebolt, gaining his attention immediately, while Ruby jumped as she took out Crescent Rose, hooking onto the slim Giant's raised club and swinging around it, putting him off-balance and causing him to stumble back. He grimaced and reached out to try and grab her, only for Ruby to jump back while knocking his hand away. The Giant let out a surprisingly high-pitched yelp for his kind, then started swinging at Ruby. Noticing their respite, the orcs focused in on the remaining Giant who had spoken up. As Lydia rushed into the area, firing arrows from her bow, Yang had already bruised the knuckles of her opponent by meeting his punches with her own, and Ruby had led hers on a chase. The other Giant was beginning to be overwhelmed, and was downed by an axe chop into his patella, bringing him to his knees, where the female orc that brought him down then swung her weapon into his throat, cleaving through and sending the head rolling across the ground. The other two looked back and the blonde yelled.

"They killed Magni!"

"You bastards!" the skinny one then yelled. "Run for it, Modi!"

As the two Giants retreated, the orcs yelled in victory, stopping a moment later as the three humans came back towards where the gate was. The men looked more confused than anything, but the female warrior immediately set herself with a snarl.

"You have no business here, outsiders! Begone!" she ordered. Ruby and Lydia stopped and looked between themselves in confusion, while Yang stared right back.

"Wow, you're really thankful!" she bit out. The orc mage on the watchtower, however, leaned forward to speak.

"Ugor, no! They may be just what we need!" the mage shouted, directing the warrior's attention to her.

"We need nothing from outsiders!" the warrior yelled up at her fellow. "Yamarz will provide for us."

"We can't continue on this way! You know that we are doomed if we don't do something!"

"Yamarz charged me with keeping outsiders away from Largashbur. Would you have me disobey him?"

"You were charged with keeping us in the walls. Have faith, Ugor. I only wish the best for our tribe," the mage insisted, and a heavy silence descended between the two orcs.

The warrior woman harrumphed. "Fine. It's your neck." She looked towards the others and jerked her head. "Bring in the bodies. You, outsiders, keep your noses clean. Go see what Atub wants." She turned and pushed open the gate before going inside, Ruby, Yang, and Lydia cautiously walking in after her.

"What did we just walk into?" Lydia asked.

"Some kind of war, it looks like," Yang answered. As they came to the foot of the watchtower, the mage woman stepped down from its stairs to meet them.

"Forgive Ugor's harsh words. She's merely doing what she's been told," Atub apologized. Yang looked back at Ugor, who continued to glare at them suspiciously.

"Geez, what crawled up her and died?" Yang asked, not backing down from Ugor's glare. After a while, the warrior nodded back, seemingly in respect, then turned back towards the keep gate.

"These past weeks have been hard on us, and she is on edge. We all are, and we are getting desperate."

"What do you mean?" Ruby asked in concern.

"We are cursed. Our chief, Yamarz, was once a proud and strong warrior. Now he is stricken, cursed. He is weak, and so our tribe is weak. The Giants from the southern Velothi sense this, and intrude on our territory. Now they assault our very home. Yamarz refuses help, but I can sense you may be just what we need."

"Okay," Ruby said. "Well, what can we do?"

"Because of Yamarz's demand that we stay inside the walls, we cannot leave. I must petition Malacath for relief. We must lift this curse. But I cannot travel to his shrine, and the materials I need are not here. I beg of you, can you bring me troll fat and a daedra heart?"

"Uh, how much troll fat do you need?" Yang asked as she reached back into her pack and pulled out the jar Valdimar and her had nearly filled with the stuff from all of the frost trolls at the Labyrinthian. Atub seemed to blink rapidly for a moment while Ruby dug through her own pack before taking out the jar with a daedra heart in it.

"I literally just bought this before we came here." Ruby scratched her head at the irony presenting itself.

"I really was right to ask for your help." Atub shook her head and smiled. "Come, you're a part of this now. You must be present for the ritual."

As the orc mage took the two jars, the sisters looked at each other and shrugged. They followed the woman as she led them over towards the longhouse, pausing a moment to set the jars down on a primitive looking altar along with some lavender and some armor pieces before heading inside. They waited and listened at the door.

"It is time, Yamarz," she said to the orc sitting in a chair by a fire, bags under his eyes showing even against the red face paint over them. He looked at the humans and grimaced.

"You bring in outsiders," he growled out, "and now insist that I call on Malacath for help, when he has clearly forsaken me. You try my patience, Atub."

"Doing nothing will not grant our tribe relief from this curse. We must try."

He growled a moment while rubbing his eyes. "Fine, let's get this over with."

The girls moved out of the way as the orcs came out. A few others gathered near the altar to observe what was going on, most of them showing signs of stress. Atub took the daedra heart and set it in a bowl before scooping out some troll fat and setting it on top. With one hand she began sprinkling some dried lavender onto it while another took a small, burning stick and touched it to the odd mix. The contents all set aflame, burning within the bowl.

"Great Malacath," she called out, "we beseech you, aid us in our time of need!" At first, nothing happened, and Yamarz began to look both irritated and relieved.

"Why are we bothering with this?" Yamarz muttered.

The flames suddenly turned green and Ruby could almost swear that the heart started beating.

"You pathetic weakling!" a booming voice suddenly yelled from seemingly nowhere.

"What's that?" the chief went in surprise.

"Malacath has heard my pleas!" Atub announced happily. "He speaks to us!"

"You dare summon me, Yamarz!"

"What?" the chief began in fear. "What is this?"

"You don't deserve to call yourself an orc! You're weak, you're small, and you're an embarrassment! You let Giants… GIANTS overrun my shrine! Bring me their leader's club as an offering, and I might release you from this curse." The fire died away, leaving nothing but smoke in the wind. Silence enveloped the keep, and Yamarz looked increasingly nervous and afraid.

"So it will be," Atub said as she folded her hands together. "Malacath has spoken, Yamarz. Your path is clear."

"Very well," he grumbled. "Outsiders, come here. I want a word with you." Shrugging, Yang walked over to the chief, Ruby and Lydia following her. "This is all your fault, you know. I'm stuck fighting Giants now thanks to you, so you're going to help me."

"We were just trying to help out," Ruby protested.

"Then keep helping. Help me get to that Giant so I don't have to worry about it when I have to fight him. Don't worry, I'll make it worth your while."

"Okay, in that case-"

"After we get his club. Until then, I'll lead you to Fallowstone Cave, you clear the way through, and I fight their leader."

"That's…fair, I guess. We did start, might as well finish."

"Yeah, but if you start mouthing off or getting ideas, don't be surprised to find yourself tumbling off a cliff," Yang warned the chief.

"Huh, sure you're not an orc?" Yamarz laughed for a second before stumbling back and then rubbing his forehead. "Give me a minute to get my armor together. I'm assuming you've got riding beasts."

"A horse for all three of us," Ruby pointed out. "But we don't…have a fourth with us."

"Wow! I never saw a pig that big!" Ruby said in admiration as the giant boar that Yamarz, now in full battle regalia, rode towards them just outside of the stronghold.

"I believe orcs raise them as battle mounts," Lydia pointed out. "Can it take you the distance?"

"Toggle's a good boar. He'll get me there. He could charge halfway across Skyrim without getting tired, and rip up everything in his path on the way."

"You're a good piggy, aren't ya?" Ruby cooed at the monstrous swine while petting it behind the ear. The giant boar actually leaned into her a bit.

"Don't spoil him," the orc objected. "Let's just get this over with."

"Okay, fine," Ruby groaned as she went over to her own horse. "Which way are we headed?"

"East first, then up along the mountain range."

"We can get on the road to Morrowind," Yang suggested. "I need to check for something that way while we're at it. Shouldn't take too long."

The orc groaned, but said nothing in protest as they rode along.

On approach to the spot on her map, Blake made a sudden realization.

"This is the place with the ghost shack."

"I'm sorry?" Weiss asked from behind her, irritable from being in the sun for so long.

"Sorry. It was some old shack where a member of the Mirrsha clan was at before he died. His ghost hung around though, and told us about M'rissi being Ra'sadir's daughter and warned us about Isael before suggesting we go to Winterhold. Going by the items, I think maybe some alchemist lived there before."

"And the Commander pointed you here?"

"He said that the Mirrsha were in this area. I guess it makes sense."

As they came upon the old shack, M'rissi hopped off of her and Inigo's shared mount and began looking around. The others all dismounted, securely tying their horses to the nearby fence. Weiss began going through the small garden outside, taking a mental note of the different vegetation before looking into the shack where the Faunus and two Khajiit were walking in. Suddenly, the specter from before reappeared, looking at the three familiar faces with a kindly smile.

"Hello again," Blake greeted him.

"Ah, here you are at last. This one has been waiting for you," the ghost happily greeted.

"We were told a group of Khajiit from Elsweyr would be in the area."

"This one knows of those you speak of. This one was able to communicate with them as they passed nearby. They are searching for the ring you carry. Its importance to the Khajiit cannot be known to one who does not walk the dunes of Elsweyr." He looked over to M'rissi, a small frown appearing on his face. "But now, you must talk with the kitten. It may be the last time that you do."

As he faded away, Blake looked back towards M'rissi, whose ears had slumped while her tail swished around anxiously. Seeing how this was important between the three of them, Weiss silently backed away, leaving the Faunus and Khajiits to themselves.

"You okay?"

"She… She's scared. She doesn't know what to expect," the Khajiit admitted. "She wants to stay, with you, Inigo, and S'ahara, but she would also like to see her homeland…"

"The choice is yours to make. No one else can make it for you." Blake reached over and held her shoulders. "If you want to go, I'm not going to stop you, and if you want to stay, you can keep traveling with me for as long as you want. And if you change your mind and want to go see Elsweyr later, we always can go there. It might take a while, but if you really want to see it, I will take you there myself if I have to."

"The same goes with me," Inigo said as Blake lifted her hands away. "I wouldn't mind going there myself, and it would be great to see our ancestral home. But, with you there, it can only be that much better."

M'rissi smiled at their words, and, as tears began to show at the corners of her eyes, she jumped up and hooked her arms around them both, bringing them both in for a group hug. Startled for only a moment, the other two hugged her back, Blake touching her forehead to hers as they did. A moment later, they separated, and Weiss began to see something coming.

"I think the Khajiit are here," she announced as she went around the shack. Seemingly half a dozen Khajiit wearing sand-colored leather and cloth were headed their way. Two of them were Suthays, and another was a tall Ohmes-raht. The one leading them was a large Cathay-raht, with Senche at either side of him, laden with packs and leather armor. He approached, and Blake walked out to meet him.

"Ah, here is the one we were told of," he said as they came close. "Black hair, remarkably human face, a faint scent. You have the ring, yes?"

"M'rissi?" Blake asked, holding out her hand. She took the ring from her finger and gently handed it over. Blake rolled it in her fingers and offered it over with the gem face up to the Khajiit, who took it with reverence in his eyes. He looked up at M'rissi.

"And…the daughter of Ra'sadir?"

"Whether she goes with you or stays here, that's her decision." Blake put her hand on M'rissi's shoulder in support.

The leader looked back at his group, who all had uneasy expressions. An equally uneasy feeling filled Blake's soul until he looked straight at her. He made a signal with his head and walked over towards the trees, Blake following him.

"Between you and I…" he whispered lowly, "Ra'sadir is not popular in our homeland for his actions. Understood, maybe, but not liked. That with her new appearance and…smell…may make her time there miserable. In truth, this one only needs the ring."

"Okay, but," Blake paused as she realized everything about the situation with the Mirrsha clan. "You can't just tell her all of it like that."

"True. This one does not want to cause unneeded pain. What would you have this one do?"

Bake looked over their party, noticing a lack of bags shared amongst them. She almost reached back to touch the Ebony Blade's sheath, but stopped herself and clenched her hands a moment before opening them back.

"You've got limited supplies and money, right?"

"Ah, this one sees what you mean. Give him a moment." He walked over to the young woman Khajiit and cleared his throat. Blake expected him to start explaining himself, but instead he began talking in his native tongue. M'rissi responded back with a little sadness, but his next words seemed to perk her back up a little at least. When they were done speaking, he turned back to Blake and bowed his head. "This one will go now. He is sorry he cannot do more."

"Maybe just a little. Can you let Ra'sadir know that…she's okay? She's alive and happy, and that's what matters."

"This one will make sure the words reach his ears personally. At the least his broken spirit may heal a little. Farewell."

The leader walked away, and the group began to follow him. As they did, Blake went back to M'rissi, who seemed to be slightly depressed at the state of things.

"She cannot go back home now. They cannot take her."

"It's okay. I promise to take you there one day, even if I have to fight an army to get there."

"And she will be there to make sure you do not fall in a trap and get stuck." Blake stuck her tongue out at the Khajiit and she stuck hers back in response before breaking into giggles.

"And I'll be there as the voice of reason. I am not joking. You're both somehow worse than me."

"In your dreams, Inigo." Blake laughed, as did the others. At this point, Weiss came back to the group, a smile on her face and a dispelling hearing spell in her hand.

Yang started sniffing at the air, pulling Lucky Day to a stop as she looked down towards the south. Ruby and Lydia stopped as well, but Yamarz kept Toggle going a little longer before turning to look at them.

"What is it?" he asked, irritated at the sudden pause.

"Uh, nothing. Let me check my…" As Yang looked over her map, she looked at the way the road split. "Okay, that Broken Helm Hollow place should be nearby, but that…" She sniffed again then hopped off her horse and headed toward a rocky outcrop. The wind changed direction, but she was still able to follow where her nose had been leading her. Suddenly, a familiar black-haired man showed up, and Yang smiled.

"Oh, so it is you," she declared. "Hey, Farkas."

"Good to see you, Yang," the large man greeted, not surprised to see his fellow Companion, just as Aela came up.

"Yang."

"Hey, Aela. What are you two doing down here?"

"We think we found where a Silver Hand lieutenant is hiding out around here after busting up one of their camps," Farkas explained. "Been tracking her, but we're not too sure where she is. If she's smart, she'd have run into Morrowind and started up a new life. But you don't become a Silver Hand leader by being smart."

"At the very least, she'll be almost all alone, maybe one or two of her underlings with her." Aela growled. "Might even be trying to start up another cell. We can't allow that."

"Ah, understandable. Doesn't help stuff when your enemies just sprout right back up." Yang nodded, holding back her worry that Aela was taking things too far. It had been weeks since Skjor's death, yet Aela was still hunting the Silver Hand down. She hoped nothing bad came of it.

"So what are you doing here?" Aela asked. "Heard you were going to Falkreath and possibly an orc stronghold."

"Did 'em both. Actually, I met someone special." Yang raised up her hand showing them the Ring of Hircine.

"That's the…" Aela began, only to have her breath hitch.

"Wait, did some Imperial propose? Isn't that how Imperial's propose?" Farkas asked, tilting his head to get a better look at the ring, until Aela slapped the back of it.

"You dunderhead, that's the Ring of Hircine! It's supposed to be a legendary item, allowing complete control over…" She looked up to see the nearing group and cut herself off. "Nevermind, I'll tell you later. And that is a story you need to share when you come back."

"Oh, definitely. There's some details you guys need to know anyway. Anywho, we're taking this chief guy to a cave so he can beat a Giant and regain his honor from Malacath or something. There's a lot of stuff there. Also, I'm on the lookout for a place called Broken Helm's Hollow. A lady's husband disappeared and that was his last known location."

"I know the place," Aela admitted. "Small corundum mine, but it kept flooding whenever they dug, so now people just use it for shelter. We can lead you there."

"Cool." Yang turned back towards the others. "Y'all'd rather sleep in a cave, at the Riften inn, or outside?"

Yamarz let out a gruff. "I'd rather just get some sleep."

"He looks grumpy," Farkas pointed out.

"Guess that happens when you get cursed."

"Is the cave really wet or dry?" Ruby asked.

"Guess we'll figure out when we get there." Yang started leading Lucky Day as they headed down the road, turning off at a dirt path going uphill towards a waterfall. As they went, arrows suddenly flew out. Aela dodged one and Ruby deflected another with her gauntlet. Yang quickly went into combat mode, but Yamarz suddenly charged through the trees, Toggle catching one of the archers against his tusks. The other seemed dumb-struck, letting Aela easily fire an arrow into him. As the orc brought his boar to a stop and it tossed their other attacker aside, Yang went over and picked up the broken arrow Ruby had blocked.

"Silver," she announced as she tapped the jagged tip. "Looks crude, like they just hammered a ring flat and sharpened it."

"What are the odds?" Ruby muttered as she looked at it, dismounting.

"I'm not questioning it," Farkas said. "We've finally found them."

"Good, then let's put an end to them."

The Companions led the charge, busting into a door that was already in shambles. Farkas cleaved through the first person to meet them, the man dropping his silver mace. A woman got up, but Aela's arrow found her heart as soon as she stood. Another had been lying down and was knocked unconscious by Yang's foot. As they began checking their perimeter, Ruby came in and looked around, grimacing at the sight.

"Not sleeping in here, nope." She looked up with a hum and noticed someone moving around on the ledge above her. "Hold still and we won't hurt you," she warned as she jumped up, ready to draw either Dawnbreaker or Crescent Rose depending on the room she had. As her feet touched the ground, she saw a woman in full plate hefting a silvery battle axe. She took out Crescent Rose, hoping that the sight of its ebony blade would halt the Mohawk-sporting Redguard. When it didn't and the Silver Hand charged her, she side stepped and sliced up through the axe's hilt. While the woman was still reeling from surprise, Ruby focused in on herself.

"Su!" She dashed around the Silver Hand, slicing out in very precise movements that could barely be avoided. She came to a stop, stabbing her scythe into the ground and then swinging on it like a centrifuge. Her feet smashed into the woman's chestplate, knocking her through the air and into the cave wall, where her armor came undone from all of the cuts on its straps, barely hanging on her and useless. The two Companions both came up, and saw their target unarmored and holding what amounted to a silver stick.

"Please don't kill me," she whimpered out pitifully. Aela sneered at that.

"The only thing saving your life right now is how absolutely pathetic you are."

"I'll get something to tie her up with," Farkas told them as he went back down. Aela kept an arrow aimed at her as Ruby went by. Yang was still on the ground level, sniffing around at one wall, where her eyes were then caught by a rusty chain hanging from the wall.

"What are you looking at?" her sister asked.

"There's something about this thing that doesn't…feel right," Yang admitted before reaching up and grabbing the chain. She pulled at it and, feeling it give, pulled harder until something clicked. Surprised, she backed up and watched as a portion of the wall opened as a secret door. Yang stepped inside, a little cautious at first, but then the scent of old blood reached her nose and she went forward. Inside of the room there were tables and baskets of bones next to them. A few wolf skins were laid out over at one side and a skull too large to be a regular wolf's hung from the wall. Seeing the gruesome scene made her lips rise in a growl, and then she turned and saw a fully intact corpse. She went over to it and then felt a tinge of recognition. She sniffed deeply and realized that it was the same scent from some of Leifnarr's old things Grosta had showed her, including an old hat of his she handed her to let her 'hound' gain the scent from. Ruby came in and gasped at the sight.

"He… He looks…"

"Just like Gralnach," Yang finished for her. Looking over him, she saw an arrow sticking up from his gut and the nearly dried blood around him. Grimacing, she pulled out the arrow and saw that it was another crudely made silver-tipped one. As she set it down, her eyes nearly widened. This wasn't some random act of violence. She looked back at the wound and saw that, while painful, it wasn't mortal on its own. She took a deep whiff and then found it.

"Werebeast," she muttered. "Not a werewolf, but…something."

"They killed him…because he was a werebeast?"

"It's what they do, Rubes." Yang stood up and shook her head. "I don't know how badly silver can hurt, but the way they left him here…. He had to have been in here like this for days. The wound was healed over, he only recently died but he's been missing for weeks… He was tortured by this stuff." Yang grimaced. She had touched a few silver items after contracting lycanthropy, mostly out of curiosity, and the metal always had a slight stinging, sometimes burning feeling to it. That was with her passive Aura up. She couldn't imagine having it embedded into your body for weeks on end. Death really would be a mercy.

Ruby let out a small whimper before Yang reached over and pulled her close by her shoulder. The two left the chamber to see the others hog-tying their prisoners. When Ruby's eyes rested on the woman, they turned into reptilian slits. She snarled and walked forward, leaving Yang's side before she kicked out, hitting the woman's chest and sending her across the room.

"Ruby!" Yang objected as she rushed forward and caught her sister by the arms. The Dragonborn struggled for just a moment as she glared daggers at the Silver Hand.

"He was a father and a husband! Do you even care you… you…" She took in a few breaths as the Silver Hand woman looked back up at her, anger in her eyes.

"No, you don't. Krii Lun!" the wave of power rushed forward, frightening everyone else and hitting the Redguard. She cried out in pain as a venomously purple aura veined around her and sunk into her skin. She started spastically twitching around and groaning as she curled up into a fetal position. She alternated between pained groans and screaming.

"What in Oblivion…?" Aela muttered. As the Silver Hand screamed, blood flew out from her mouth and stained the ground.

"Ruby, stop it!" Yang yelled while jostling her sister. The Dragonborn seemed to shake her head, her eyes turning back to their human shape. She silently stared at the twitching woman before raising a hand and letting a bolt ofmagic leap from her to the tormented Silver Hand. The purple seemed to rise back up and dissipate, and her screams died down. For a long moment, everyone stood still, shock and horror on all their faces, then Ruby fell to her knees and began weeping.

After handing the two prisoners over to the Riften guards, Aela and Farkas had gone into the town proper to make sure their crimes were understood. Aela had promised to deliver the news of Leifnar's fate to his family as well, as she understood Yang had more pressing concerns at the moment. Ruby sat away from the camp, further up the hill from everyone else. Yang looked in her direction and walked over. The moons had been slowly waning back, letting their pale light cast against the ground.

"Ruby," Yang tried, catching her sister's attention for a moment before she turned back and rested her head against her knees. "Ruby, please. It's okay. You got a little worked up and went overboard. We've all done it."

"It's not that," the younger girl muttered. "I…did that knowing fully what I was doing. Yang, I wasn't just lashing out in a heated moment. I wanted her to suffer."

"Everyone wants them to pay for what they-"

"No, Yang! I wanted her to suffer! I wanted her life to be slowly snuffed out in waves of pain! I wanted her to know fully that she was dying even as the life was ripped from her, just like she did to him! Because that's what those words are. Krii is to kill. It is to end someone's life with the full intention of doing just that. It's…"

"Ruby," Yang said softly. "It's okay."

"No, it's not. Yang, these feelings… I'm trying to keep them down, but there's only one of me and six dragons. They're possessive. They're brutal. They're proud. And I'm…starting to act like them."

Yang threw her arms around Ruby and pulled her up. As the two stayed like that for a long moment, Ruby winced, feeling her inner self, just as she had been doing for a while now. The dragons within still circled, but there was something different with one of them. For a moment, she thought to focus in on that one, but instead looked back outside and hugged Yang back.

'Briinah,' her thoughts consoled. Within her, without her even noticing, the form of a green dragon, with horns that curled up and then down, slowly seemed to crumble away, the flakes of its being floating over to the pillar and sinking within it. Eventually, seemingly no trace of it was left. All Ruby felt was the comfort of her sister's embrace.

"Are you feeling better, my Thane?" Lydia asked as they all woke up in the morning and gathered their things.

"Much better, Lydia. Thank you for asking." Ruby smiled, feeling a sense of peace she hadn't felt in ages.

"Good for you," Yamarz groaned as he packed away his own things.

"Sorry. If I knew a Shout to help people sleep I would use it to help you."

"Don't worry about it. The sooner we can get this curse lifted, the sooner I can get a good night's sleep." As they all began to ride away, Yang looked back down the road towards Morrowind.

"You know, if we ever run out of stuff to do, I'm sure there's things we can head over to Morrowind for. Aela told me she and her father used to go there to hunt cliff racers and cliff striders together."

"The big flying things? I thought that Dunmer dude wiped them out centuries ago?"

"That's a common misconception. He just killed off the aggressive breed that had infested Vvardenfell, the island heart of Morrowind." Lydia clarified, a wistful smile on her face. "My father and I would go with Aela and her father on those trips, sometimes. Hunting those cliff racers and striders were how I learned how to shoot a bow, actually. And how to rapidly swing a sword at an enemy that's charging straight towards you. They always did that." The two sisters looked at each other, Ruby deep in thought, before she smiled in realization.

"You know, now that we know about the dinosaur stuff, those sound a lot like pterodactyls." Yang pursed her lips then nodded.

"Huh, so Aela's a dino hunter. Kinda fitting."

"Pterosaurs were completely different from dinosaurs, Yang. But it would be kinda neat to have a dinosaur hunter as a friend."

"What in Malacath's name is a dinosaur?" The three woman all looked at the thoroughly confused orc chieftain and laughed.

"We're here," Yamarz announced as the group all pulled up to a cave, the entrance to which was littered with fresh bones and several Giant-style carvings.

"These guys aren't exactly the cleanest bunch," Yang observed as they dismounted.

"I think these guys are the Giant equivalent of bandits or something," Ruby admitted. "It doesn't look like they're ranchers or farmers. And this is way more meat than the Giants we know would eat in just a few weeks."

"Someone was saying something about Giant bandits," Lydia pointed out, while Yamarz huffed.

"Bandits, Giants, whatever. Just get me to their leader. He's likely in the grove at the other side, and there's going to be a lot of things between us and him."

"Sure. Yang, take point. I'll back you. Lydia keep on overwatch. Yamarz…do your thing."

The four entered the cave, weapons at the ready, in Yang's case that was Ember Celica, deciding to forgo the use of her axe. She felt like punching something today. At first the caves were dark, but then brightened as they emerged into the wide open grove within, large holes in the cave ceiling letting in sunlight that fed the sparse trees, ferns, and bushes dotted about. A stream flowed through, fed by a waterfall and running until it dropped into another off a ledge and then split in two at a small body.

"Wow, this place is nice," Ruby breathed out as she admired the scenery. Her eyes then caught sight of three Giants near a large bonfire, two of them familiar-looking. The group quietly walked over towards them, hoping to get through to the cave tunnel that led further in.

"Listen to me Buld, it's not worth going after."

"We have to eat something." The Giants then looked up and saw the incoming humans and orc.

"Stop them!" the third one shouted as he charged forward. Ruby and Yang jumped out of the way of his club while Lydia fired an arrow, hitting his shoulder.

"To your left," the housecarl called out, and Ruby looked over to see a tree leaning over. As the skinny Giant came at her, she jumped over and ran along the tree before jumping off. Her feet met his face, knocking him back. Yamarz was dodging around the other's swings as Lydia kept pelting him with arrow after arrow. When he tried to change over his attention, Yamarz came in and chopped with his orichalcum war axe, cutting deep into the Jo'Tunn's calf.

Ruby ducked under the grasp of her foe and swung up. The Giant yelled as his arm was cut. Behind him, the blond Modi was knocked onto his back by their own, smaller blonde.

"These small folks are freaks, Tor," he said while rubbing his chin. They heard a yell and looked over to see their fellow's temple being split open by the orc chief's axe.

"Let's get out of here!" Tor yelled as he picked Modi up to his feet and the two started running.

"What about Shagrol?"

"Shagrol can handle his own! We're going far away from here!" The Giants' footsteps echoed in the cave as they ran. Eventually, they turned into dull thuds before going silent.

"Wow, that Giant was not brave at all," Ruby mused as she looked over to Yamarz, who was leaned up against a wall to take a breather. "You okay?"

"I'm tired."

"Okay, that's fair. Back in formation, ladies. Let's move in."

They went forward, down the stream-led tunnel further into the cave. After leaving behind a pond and climbing up, they began to hear something shuffling up ahead, and then a bestial roar.

"Cave trolls!" Lydia warned, seconds before a pair of them popped up. The trolls attacked, and the group scattered a bit. Yang drew her fire axe and knocked one upside the head to daze it before bringing it around and down, chopping most of the way through the monster's body. It roared out and struggled, but the flames ended up consuming it. Meanwhile Ruby had switched Crescent Rose's blade back and began using it as a halberd. As the other troll tried to claw her, she smacked it away and went to cut the beast. While the blade wasn't getting caught, she wasn't doing too much mortal damage. Yamarz then came in and brought his axe down on its head, splitting open the skull. As it fell dead, Ruby looked at the trolls in confusion.

"Wait, why were these in here with the Giants?"

"Probably kept as pets," Yamarz answered as he flicked blood and grey matter off of his weapon.

"You can make trolls into pets?"

"Anything's a pet if you can make it think of you as its boss. If anything can keep a troll in line, it's a Giant. Or a particularly brave orc."

At the other end of the tunnel, they emerged into a grove that was practically a valley. Huge trees were everywhere, and they had to walk past several through the snow to their destination. Up ahead they saw a Giant larger than most decorated with an array of skulls from all manner of beasts, mortals, and even one from his own kind. Most surprisingly, his hammer's head was made up of orichalcum rather than rock, bone, or any other material.

"There he is. All right, I'll go kill this Giant." He looked towards the humans. "Unless, of course, you want to make some extra gold."

"Seriously, dude?" Yang asked incredulously, crossing her arms.

"Look, I haven't slept in weeks," he explained. "And I helped kill the Giant at the front and the trolls. You kill this Giant, we take his hammer back to Largashbur, and tell everyone I did it."

"Isn't someone watching us right now?" Yang suggested, trying to not point out the huge statue of Malacath on the other side of the Giant's fire. Yamarz moved to protest, but Ruby stepped forward.

"Look, Yamarz, this Giant took over your people's shrine and sent others to attack your home," Ruby began.

"Well, yeah, but-"

"And you've been cursed because of this stuff, unable to get any real rest. Now, the key to your freedom and forgiveness is right there, in his hands. Your vengeance and salvation!"

"It- It is."

"You're a strong, powerful orc chief! You're the strongest out of I don't know how many orcs! This is some show-off Giant who doesn't even have a real tribe! Are you going to let him get away with what he's done!?"

"No!" the orc declared, his spirit heightening as his yell drew the attention of Shagrol.

"Then down this stamina potion, get over there, and show him what a real chief is!" Ruby yelled at him while handing over a vial of the green potion. Yamarz bit the cork and downed it in one go before charging forward with a battle cry. As he neared Shagrol with his axe raised, the Giant flicked his arm around and spun it, going faster than Ruby had ever seen a Giant go, smacking the orichalcum head against the orc and sending him back across the way, the flight path only stopping when Yamarz crashed against a rock face. His body stayed in place for a long moment as the three looked on in disbelief and the blood spatter leaked from around him.

"Oh…my god," Yang muttered just before the body fell out of the indention it had made, looking flatter in some places.

"I didn't think that was going to happen," Ruby got out quietly. As the ground rumbled, they looked back to see the Giant coming for them. Yang went one way while Ruby and Lydia went the other.

"Springboard!" Ruby yelled out, and Lydia raised her shield up. Ruby jumped up and off the shield as Lydia pushed up, sending her higher. Ruby's feet landed on a branch and she turned to see Shagrol coming right under where she was. "Tundra Dragon!"

Yang ran over to where Lydia was with her fist reared back. Yang first punched a leg, knocking the Jo'Tunn off-balance before Lydia spun on a heel, swing her sword around and slicing through the front of his calf. Ruby then jumped down and landed on his shoulder before lowering her scythe and then jumping back, aiming the blade at his throat. Shagrol caught it in time and slung her around and forward, throwing her right into Lydia with a yelp. The two rolled in a ball of steel, dragon scales, and ebony for a moment before they stopped to see the Giant charging at them, his club held high. Yang ran in front and held up her arms, catching the club as it came for them. The ground shook and much of the snow near them was blown back, but Yang stood still as her hair began to glow and flames appeared around her. Shagrol looked on in disbelief before Yang tossed his club aside and then smashed her fists together.

"You asked for it!" she yelled before reaching around and behind her, drawing out both of her axes at once. She gave out a battle cry as she rushed the Giant, knocking his hammer away with one double swing and then jumping up and sinking both into his body. He cried out in pain and reached to yank her off, only for Yang to pull her weapons free with a kick and then land back in the snow, which melted around her. As he clutched his burned wound, she threw her battle axe, hitting him just above the eye. He cried out again, and this time Yang went forward with both hands on her fire axe, swinging it so hard she chopped cleanly through one of his legs. He collapsed, and then she brought it back around and down on his neck. As she yanked it free, her Semblance began to power down and her red eyes went back to their regular violet.

"You guys okay?" she called over to Ruby and Lydia.

"Fine. A little sore and tangled up, but we're fine."

"I now know what dragon scales taste like. This is not how I imagined making that discovery."

Yang laughed as she sheathed both of her axes then picked up the hammer. "Man this thing's heavy. Too bad about Yamarz."

"Yamarz was a fool," the humans heard from the direction of Malacath's shrine. They looked over to see that the fires in the braziers had turned green. "Always trying to scheme his way out of responsibility. Well, the Giant took care of him, and you took care of the Giant. Two problems solved at once. At least he acted like a true warrior in the end, thanks to you. Now, take Shagrol's hammer back to Largashbur, and we'll see about whipping the rest of them into shape." The fires slowly returned to their natural color, and the sisters and housecarl all shared a look.

"You know, I'm not saying I didn't expect the Orc God to be a little mean, but that was just…"

"There's nothing we can do about it, Rubes. No one expected the Giant to have a swing like Panther Groves."

"Well, maybe we can at least drag him over to the shrine." Ruby tugged at his arm, only for it to come off and then slide out of the gauntlet, which was amazingly intact. "I guess not."