So, I have fully moved back into my parent's house. Things were rocky there for a bit, but I was able to find an old laptop and use it for a time, but now I've got my desktop set up and everything's back to near as normal as I've ever been. This will be my first chapter posted from my folk's house, then. Thanks to NaanContributor for the delicious flatbread, and xTRESTWHOx for the ammo.
"Interesting," Weiss muttered as she felt the spell in her hands. Brelyna and J'zargo watched through her scroll and their 'booth' as she summoned up a bound bow and a quiver of arrows. She drew one and pulled the string back, recalling her lessons in archery, and let the arrow loose into some nearby trees, a few inches left of her target. She briefly frowned, disappointed that she had missed, and figured more practice would be needed.
"Good job, Weiss," the Dunmer congratulated her as she sat back down. "I'm not ashamed to admit that you got it far quicker than I did."
"Conjuration seems to be your specialty," J'zargo added.
"It does, doesn't it? Now if only I could get my Semblance to summon correctly." That particular aspect of her Semblance was something she was still working on, which frustrated her to no end. How Winter did it so easily, Weiss didn't know.
"I have no idea how to help you with that. I'm afraid I don't know enough about your soul magic to even know where to begin." Brelyna looked regretful, but Weiss merely nodded and grabbed her chin.
"True. Only so many people here that can even use Aura. Anyways," Weiss dispelled her bound bow and arrows, "how is everything holding up since I've been gone?"
"Well, Talia's gotten a new lover, but this one's…different." Brelyna rubbed her head as she seemed to be trying to figure out how to explain it.
"She is an Orc, a grandniece of Urag," J'zargo clarified. "However, Talia has bitten off more than she can chew with this girl. For lack of a better phrase, she is making her behave."
"She seems happy though," the Dunmer quickly pointed out.
"Oh, well that's good news." Weiss allowed herself to smile. 'Maybe her new girlfriend will keep her from ogling me.'
"By the way, Savos has found some information about the Wayshrines and he wanted us to pass it on to you." Brelyna raised her finger. "From what he's gathered, it seems to indicate that many were destroyed when agents started using them to quickly scout areas for one side of the war against the others. Denial of enemy assets and all that. They intended to repair them after the war, but the knowledge of their structure was lost and as such they never were. But, he thinks he's found the main material components."
"Also, Ancano has been doing a good impression of a grumpy elder," J'zargo said with a laugh. "He has been very forgetful and quick to anger. More so than usual, anyway."
"Well, that's good. He must be no closer to figuring it out then." Weiss nodded. "All right. Let everyone know about the Pigmole researchers. I'll try to get back soon, but who knows where this Marker is leading me."
"Just be careful, my dear."
"I will. Take care, you two." As Weiss hung up, Ruby plopped down next to where she was sitting with an 'oof'.
"Hi." Ruby's smile was infectious, and Weiss had to fight down the urge to smile back. She lost, however, and, in the end, a small smirk was let out.
"Ruby, are the professors all right?"
"Yeah, they're just talking to Granny Tendy and Chief Tyondor." Ruby then waved her arm to indicate Sherman and Coiroy speaking to the now crudely armored Giant Chief. Jo'puut was nearby speaking to a Giantess from atop a donkey's back.
"If that isn't a sight…" Weiss stared at the researchers for several moments. "So, how long will this take?"
"Not long. They're just establishing contact at the moment." Ruby's smile brightened and she crossed her arms in front of her. "After an hour or two we'll keep going, maybe drop by the Talking Stones if any are nearby, then we'll be straight on to Solitude, where they hope Tulius or the city will have some men to spare."
"And then we can find this thing." Weiss sighed when she felt the mental tug. "I wouldn't be surprised if it's in Solitude."
"Might make things easier. Say, I saw you summon up a bow a minute ago. Can you teach me that?"
Weiss smiled. "Well, all right. Remember how the Bound Weapon spell works? Okay, it's mostly the same, but you're going to have to split the magicka a certain way so that you summon the arrows as well."
Blake rolled the last barrel across the graveyard as Inigo kept watch. Once it was down the stairs and slowly lowered by a winch and rope, she let out a sigh and pulled the chain that would close the secret entrance to the Cistern. Once it was down, the group climbed down after it. A few members were already sorting through the coins from the first barrel, counting them out and placing them in a chest. Others were gathered around, watching with envy and some incredulity. Blake couldn't help but smirk at the sight of them all looking upon her gains with wonder.
"You… You really managed to pull it off," Delvin said as he walked over to them. Brynjolf chuckled and crossed his arms.
"Aye, I told you we could do it. We cut it close, but thanks to Blake's quick thinkin', we made it through."
"Didn't even need to sneak it into the city. As it turns out, dragon hordes are fair game." Blake's smirk was audible and her eyes practically glowed. A few of the thieves looked at her in wonder, including the one who had previously insisted they try to kill her.
"I don't think I've ever seen so much gold," Vex muttered quietly. For a long moment, the thieves all stared in quiet admiration.
"Uh, just so we're clear," Deaku suddenly spoke up, drawing everyone's attention, "I'm getting my ten thousand no matter what, right?"
"Aye, lad. You'll get yours. First the good boys here have to count it up, of course."
"I'll be damned," they heard before turning to see Mercer coming in from one of the side rooms. He looked over at the coin filled barrels and then at the one slowly being tallied up. He laughed quietly with a shake of his head. "Well I'll be… Belladonna! You actually did it!"
Blake felt her heart elate, though she wasn't entirely sure why. Likely because the person she could consider her boss was happy at her work.
"Here I thought you were going to get eaten or worse, and yet you've dragged up all of this! Yes, there's definitely a hundred thousand in there, at least!"
"Actually, there should be near a hundred and fifty, going by the barrels' size and the average size of a coin," Brynjolf corrected. "The first hundred is for the Guild and Maven, while the rest is being split between the five of us, as per Guild rules. But yes, more than enough to prove we're still worth Maven's backing."
"Oh, oh yes. I'll be sure to let her know once it's all counted up." Mercer laughed again and looked over the newest members of the Thieves' Guild, a joyous look on his face. "Seems I was wrong about you lot. You're all going places, I can tell. All right, Blake, Inigo, M'rissi… Who's that?"
"Number Five," Inigo answered.
"Deakutuactyl," the Argonian told him. "And I think I'm getting pretty good at this thief thing."
"Deekuta- Deeroo- Do you have an easier name I can remember?"
"Uh, just Deaku should do, sir."
"Deaku. You've all earned your spot in the Guild with this." He then turned back towards Blake, his face going serious once more. "However, Belladonna, let's not have a repeat of this. Unless you can find a replacement for Maven, do your best to keep on her good side."
"She has a good side?" M'rissi asked, clearly confused. She looked towards the other thieves, who merely shrugged.
"I don't think she has one.
"Her heart's as black as coal."
"She's a spawn of Oblivion, in this one's opinion."
"To be honest, I'm glad you screwed up that job of hers! She's the worst!"
"Quiet!" Mercer shouted, silencing everyone. "To answer your question, it's the one that doesn't plot your demise. Until next time, then." Mercer nodded and walked away, his eyes lingering on the septims for a moment before he went on his way. Blake felt her heart swelling with pride as he left.
"So, what now?" Deaku asked.
"Now, we get some drinks to celebrate," Brynjolf said. "Come on boys and girls! My treat!"
Some of the other thieves started cheering, but Brynjolf silenced them with a wave of his hand.
"I didn't say anything about you lot. I'm getting drinks for the ones who just came home from a successful dragon heist." A few of the thieves seemed stung by his words, while others felt ashamed or embarrassed. The five continued on to the Ratway.
"Just so we're clear, don't let Blake or her human buddies control the drinks," Deaku warned the others.
"About that... Mind explaining to me just how you two met?" Brynjolf asked, and Blake went very pale.
"Ooh, she wants to know as well!" M'rissi bounced on her feet and looked up at Blake.
"Yes, Blake. Please share." Inigo nodded with a smile. All around her, the other thieves were looking upon the Faunus expectantly, and with a reluctant sigh, she began to share her tale of drunken debauchery.
"Ugh, fine. It all started when me and my friends, Yang and Weiss, entered into a drinking contest with a guy named Sam Guevenne for a magic staff..."
"Welcome to Breezehome," Yang introduced Niri to the warm house. "You'll be here until we can get you safely up to Solitude. Nice lady there is S'ahara."
"Greetings," the Khajiit woman welcomed the Altmer.
"Hello." Niri happily waved, her previous attire now replaced by a yellow, belted tunic, courtesy of Yang.
"And the old guy here is my housecarl, Valdimar."
"Good to meet you, miss."
"H- hi." Niri took a step back as she took in the sight of the large Nord battlemage, a tick of nervousness on her face while he simply looked confused. Yang immediately walked forward and patted her shoulder in comfort.
"Aw, don't be shy. He's a big softy at heart," she quietly told her. "Anyways, make yourself at home while I head up to Jorrvaskr. Hey, S'ahara, Niri's going to be the maid for my sister's home, but I think she's only been a maid in a cave so far. Mind showing her around and giving her some pointers?"
"This one does not mind at all. Come, young one. We can start with washing off the dirt and dust of the roads."
"O-okay." S'ahara took Niri's hand and led her towards the bath while Yang smiled wistfully.
Wishing she was the one about to get a bath, Yang left the house and headed up into the city. Heimskr was preaching loudly about Talos, like normal, and some kids were running around playing games. Yang briefly saw Braith and Lars, the girl still putting on her tough bully act, yet her affections towards him were obvious to the blonde. She would have to speak with her later about how to actually act around the poor boy to make him see it. Still, priorities came first. Yang made it through the city's hustle and bustle and walked into Jorrvaskr, the smell of cooked beef and Honningbrew mead filling the air. Yang ignored it, and a quick sniff later she was headed downstairs, finding Kodlak in his room and writing in a notebook.
"You sure are down here a lot," Yang commented before knocking on the doorframe. "I'm back."
"Yang, good to see you." Kodlak warmly smiled and put away his notebook. "Sorry if you got pulled away from your sister sooner than you'd like."
"Eh, we were basically on our way back. Besides, news like that, something big's going on."
"It is." The old Nord stood up with a grunt. "I'm planning to send Aela and Vilkas up to investigate. I'd like for you to go with them. However, while they'll be searching for evidence of the attackers, I want you to take special care and look out for our… Allies is not the right word, but there are other groups with vested interest in this. Especially Duskfall Haven."
"Why are they investigating this? I get they're the nice vampires, but the Vigilants couldn't have been their buddies anymore than any other vampires." Yang had been wondering about that the entire trip, and given how Kodlak knew this Duskfall Haven group, she figured he would know the answer better than anyone. Save for Archmage Savos, but she didn't know him so well.
"Because whenever one group is behind something, more often than not the blame will go to all," Kodlak forlornly answered. "Even now, the Dawnguard are gearing up to confront the vampires doing these attacks, and Duskfall could end up in the crossfire."
"So they'd rather get it calmed down before some axe-swinging vampire hunters start making indiscriminate targets out of them all." Yang grimaced at the thought. "Sir, I have to say that I don't like this at all. It feels like history is repeating itself."
"Hopefully, my letter to the Dawnguard will open a dialogue and we can avoid the worst of it. History only repeats if we don't learn from it. Now, I feel like something else might be bothering you. Someone I know?"
"It's…Aela," Yang admitted. "I thought I got her to calm down, but it looks like I only convinced her to not get herself killed and instead kill everyone else even remotely responsible for Skjor." She took in a deep breath and released it slowly. "We came by a Silver Hand hideout on the way up here. We took 'em out, as they were killing innocent people, but Aela… One of them was taken down non-lethally, and when I was tying her up Aela looked ready to just kill her instead. Then we came across a noncombatant. She said she was a maid, but…I have a feeling they used her for more than that." Kodlak nodded sadly at that. "Aela…almost killed her, because she got frightened and made a run for it. I talked her down, but I feel like I put a band-aid on a - I think I only temporarily covered a symptom of a deeper problem. I'm afraid that if we don't stop this now, then things will only get worse and Aela is going to do something that she'll end up regretting for the rest of her life."
"I see. Yes, Aela has been distressed more than ever since Skjor's death. The two were...very close. I'll have a talk with her, don't you worry. And thank you for coming to me about this Yang." A wave of relief washed over Yang and she openly sighed.
"Phew! Glad I did. Part of me felt like I shoulda kept it to myself, but then another part…"
"Wanted to be responsible and look out for her shield-sister?"
"Yeah, I guess you could put it like that."
Kodlak laughed and patted Yang on the shoulder. "Now, while I go look for her, why don't you head on home and wash up?"
"By all the gods, yes! I haven't had a bath in over a week!"
"That...doesn't seem like too long a time."
"Oh right, here that's normal. Well, back home we clean ourselves once or twice a day, not just on Loredas."
"Ah, I see. In that case, I think I can understand your sentiment more clearly." Kodlak escorted Yang out of his room and towards the cleaning area. "Tell me, Yang. Your homeland, what is it like?"
"Remnant?" Yang looked back up at her elder, who nodded.
"Yes, Remnant. I know you four are not from Tamriel, and this old man is curious."
Yang thought to herself for a moment on how best to answer. Before, when others had asked about their home, they had given them distorted answers that, although not inaccurate, weren't the exact truth, either. For instance, the fact that they came from another world with no Gods or magic. The Grimm were just explained as particularly nasty wildlife not that dissimilar to the worst dragons and draugr. But Kodlak, she trusted him entirely. She respected him. Out of everyone, he deserved to know. With a committed nod, she stopped and turned to the Harbinger, who stopped in kind.
"Kodlak, promise me that you won't just dismiss what I say out of hand?" Yang quietly asked, and her elder nodded. With his acceptance, she began to explain everything. How she, her sister, and the rest of her team were from another world, how Aura use is widespread and commonplace, how magic did not exist and technology was developed in its stead. Through it all, Kodlak remained silent, his face never judging as Yang continued to explain everything.
"And, the next thing we knew, we had landed in Solitude on another world. A few days later, Weiss got bit by a vampire and we ran into Alduin in Helgen. Then, we met you and the rest of the Companions, and you already know the rest." Yang went silent as she finished her explanation. By that point, the two had sat back down on a nearby bench, Kodlak rubbing his beard in contemplation.
"I see," he muttered, continuing to stroke his beard. "This Remnant... It sounds like an interesting place. I would love to see it, someday."
"You believe me?" Yang was both surprised and hopeful, and Kodlak warmly smiled.
"I see no reason for you to lie to me about this, and what you have told me does indeed explain a great deal about you and your friends. Still, I must wonder how you four arrived and just why little Ruby is Dragonborn."
"We've been wondering that, too." Yang nodded and smiled, happy and relieved that he had believed her. "Moreso on the first question, at least. The 'why' and 'how' of Ruby's being Dragonborn has fallen on the wayside a bit."
"And yet, I feel that the answer to that is just as important as the first." Kodlak nodded then stood up. Yang followed suit. "Still, thank you for sharing this with me, Yang. It means a lot that you can trust me with this."
"Of course," Yang's smile grew brighter. "Now if you'll excuse me, I have a hot date with a warm bath." Kodlak couldn't help but heartily chuckle at Yang's declaration.
M'rissi's tail swished behind her happily as she watched the painted cork bob in the water. She had already caught five fish and was planning on getting a total of eight. Blake watched over her while at the same time looking out across the lake and taking in its beauty. Inigo had been uncharacteristically quiet after humming for a while, and Blake actually felt a mite worried about him. She looked back, but couldn't quite tell what was going on with him no matter how many times she did so. Just when she was about to consign herself to not worry about it, she heard a dull thud, and looked back to see a dull bronze-scaled Argonian in a patchwork dress leaned up against a building while sitting on the dock floor. Even from where she was sitting, the Argonian looked unnaturally thin to the Faunus. Almost immediately, Inigo began walking over to her and Blake followed close behind. As they came closer, they could see that the Saxhleel looked exhausted, her scales were dry, and dark rings encircled her closed eyes. She seemed to be gasping while trying to pull her tail out from under herself. Blake was confused by the sight, but Inigo stood up from his inspecting crouch and shook his head.
"I've seen this look far too many times."
"What is it?" Blake asked him, scared of what she was seeing
"Skooma abuse," Inigo revealed as he shook his head. "Likely for quite some time, now. Damn poison..." Inigo scowled as he continued to examine the fallen addict. Suddenly, the woman looked up at him with wide, unfocused eyes and loosely grasped at his arm.
"Pl- Please help," the Argonian suddenly spoke up. "I'm…going to lose my j-job at the fishery."
"Did someone say something about fishies?" M'rissi called back.
"No, just stay over there," Blake warned her friend before looking back at the woman. "What's going on? Why's your job in danger?"
"The owner, Bolli, said that if I show up for work in th-this condition one more time, then I'm out. I don't mean to do this to myself, but I just…can't help it."
"The grip of skooma is a tight one," Inigo said to her. "But it is one you can pry yourself from. If I can do it, then so can you."
"I- I try so hard… Please, if either of you have a potion to spare, I could cleanse myself and get back to my life."
Deep down, Blake somewhat doubted a single potion could cure addiction, but at the same time didn't care. She quickly reached into her pack and pulled out a vial of red liquid. The Argonian woman gingerly took it and drank it, grimacing as her scales seemed to regain some shine to them and the dark circles around her eyes faded. There were still signs of her substance abuse, but she looked a far cry better than she had a moment ago.
"Thank you so much. Your kindness will never be forgotten." She earnestly smiled as much as an Argonian could, her spirits visibly higher than before. Blake couldn't help but smile back at that.
"You should really take steps to quit," Inigo told her. "I can be of assistance there. I know how rocky the road can be, and one potion isn't nearly enough to clean up."
"You're right, I suppose." The Argonian shook her head regretfully. "I really should know better. I just gave in at a moment of weakness."
"Wait, isn't skooma illegal in Skyrim?" Blake asked. "How in the world did you get a hold of some?" At once, the Argonian's expression turned fearful and she began to look around the docks as if someone was watching her. Finally, with her voice lowered to a whisper, she began to speak once more.
"I- I really shouldn't say. I mean, they could kill me. If they find out I ratted them out…"
Fighting back the intrusive thoughts of the Ebony Blade before they even came up, Blake took in a deep breath. "Not as long as I'm around, they won't."
The Saxhleel blinked and then nodded before picking herself up off of the floor. "You're really her, aren't you? The Shadowkiller really is in Riften…" The Argonian paused to think, closing her eyes in thought before nodding. "Okay, okay, I'll tell you. I get my skooma from Sarthis Idren. He has some sort of setup over at the Riften Warehouse. You can't get inside though. They've kept that place locked up tight since the war began."
"Well, someone has to have a key, otherwise it would not be much of a setup," Inigo pointed out.
"I overheard Bolli once saying that only the Jarl keeps the key to the warehouse. When I meet Sarthis there, he's usually waiting for me outside with his bodyguard. If you can convince the Jarl to give it to you…" Her suggestion trailed off as a thought suddenly sprang to mind. "Oh, but do be careful. I mean, I know you took out the Dark Brotherhood…"
"We'll be fine. You go get to work."
"And I'll come around to help you out," Inigo promised while patting her shoulder. "It is no easy decision or task to quit skooma. Trust me, you are making a brave choice here."
"Thank you. Thank you both so very much!"
As Ruby meditated, she searched herself for the meaning behind words as well as thinking over her current objective. Weiss had explained to her that the Marker needed an 'intercendent being', which apparently was her, in order to complete some mission. What that mission was the Star Orphan actually never explained. At the same time there was something brewing up around the Eye of Magnus that the College had discovered.
'Magna-Ge, Daedra, and Dragons popping up everywhere,' she silently mused as she stopped in her meditation and stood up to stretch. 'Bring in the Divines and we've got a party.'
As she walked back to where the Pigmole group was setting up camp, she paused near a waterfall, seeing Lydia's orichalcum armor resting in a pile. She went over to inspect it, then saw her housecarl, currently in a loose shirt and leggings, doing some form of combat exercises. Ruby watched for a moment, idly noting how graceful her movements were, then noticed a book nearby. Out of Lydia's line-of-sight, and with curiosity overwhelming her, she picked up the book and opened it to find that it was filled with sketch paper, the whole thing enchanted to prevent smudging. The first picture was a charcoal drawing of what seemed to be the Solitude docks. It was, frankly, amateurish, but she could see that there had been some real talent to it. She flipped the page, and then saw what looked like Ustengrav, the abandoned camp just outside of it. The quality had increased slightly from the prior page, only slightly but noticeably. The next page had a drawing of Morthal's main street, again with a significant increase in skill.
"What are you doing?" Ruby heard before jumping in fright. She looked back to see Weiss and smirked guiltily.
"Um, hey, just…looking."
"You really shouldn't be going through other people's belongings, Ruby," the vampire admonished as she sat in the shade next to her and pulled back her hood. "What even is that?"
"Um, I think it's Lydia's sketchbook." She flipped over the page to see a drawing of a Giant family, the man holding the woman by the hip while she held an infant up to her chest and a toddler stood in front of them. "Aw!"
"That's fairly good, actually." Weiss hummed in observation. "I didn't know she was a sketch artist."
"Actually…" Ruby looked back to the first drawing and hummed. "I…think she started this after asking me about unlocking Aura."
"What?" Weiss asked with a raised eyebrow.
"Well, I told her how I learned and I guess she's…trying to implement it herself. She's exercising, meditating, and…trying to express her soul." Ruby looked back down at the sketchbook with a whole new appreciation.
"While I'm not so sure how effective that might be, I do commend her for trying." Weiss reached over and flipped the page back, now showing several Giants herding their mammoths. "And you can see the increase of skill with each successive one."
As the girls continued looking through the book, they didn't notice when Lydia came back and stopped in front of them until she had cleared her throat. Both then jumped, and looked up at the housecarl with a slight amount of shame.
"Uh, sorry," Ruby began as she closed the sketchbook and handed it back over. "I was going to ask about it, but you were busy…"
"It's all right. Though I do wish you had asked first." Lydia then opened it to the newest sketch, which Ruby immediately placed as the waterfall where Lydia was just at. "I used to make a lot of drawings as a girl. My father and aunt appreciated them while I was growing, but, beyond drawing suspects' likeness down for wanted posters, there's not much use for it as a guard."
"Well, I think you're great at it. And if you love to draw then you definitely should."
"Thank you, my Thane." Lydia flipped back a few pages, but then paused, and Ruby saw why. On the one she was coming to, Ruby saw a likeness of herself, standing with a hand on the hilt of her sword while looking up to the sky. The image made the young girl look far more heroic than she could really picture herself, but she could see that it was her all the same.
'Is that how she sees me?'
"And, to be honest, I think it's really working out," Lydia began as she closed the book. "That feeling from before keeps coming back, sometimes stronger, sometimes weaker. But the stronger feeling has been coming more and more often."
Weiss furrowed her brow skeptically, but made sure to hide it while she put up a smile. Ruby, however, smiled genuinely, though she did feel a small ache in her chest for her housecarl.
"Just keep working at it," the Dragonborn encouraged. "If anyone here can unlock their Aura, it's you."
Snow crunched underfoot as Yang, Aela, and Vilkas came up to where the Hall of the Vigilant once stood. Charred ruins were scattered about, but so too were bodies. Vilkas pulled one out of the powdery, fresh snow to reveal a shriveled corpse in robes. He grunted and set it back down before he and Aela began sniffing around.
"What exactly should we be looking for?" Yang asked through her scarf. She was bundled up in furs as much as was practical, but even then she could still feel some of the cold in her extremities. With a noticeable shiver, she cupped her hands together and conjured a brief flare of Flames between them to thaw her fingers.
"Anything out of the ordinary, vampire corpses, thralls, whatever can give us a better idea of what happened here," Aela revealed as she began to sniff around.
"Right." She lowered the scarf and took a whiff of the cold air, feeling it sting her nostrils. However, within the freezing cold air she picked up bits of flesh, blood, and something rotten. She went over to a lump in the snow and pulled it up to find another Vigilant's corpse, only this one wasn't drained and had a deep burn on his face. She went over and found another corpse, only this time the being was wearing red leather armor. Pulling back a frozen lip, Yang saw that the dead man had fangs.
"Found a vamp!" she announced while standing up, but then went still. She saw shapes approaching through the snowfall, but couldn't quite make them out. "We've got company!"
As the Companions readied themselves, one of the shapes help up his hands as he became clearer to them. As he appeared, Yang saw that it was a tall male Altmer wearing yellow-trimmed, black robes. Once it was apparent that he meant no harm, she slowly approached him.
"Duskfall?" she asked, keeping one hand resting on the hilt of her holy axe.
"Yes. I am Jarmak. We received a note that you'd be here." He looked over at the vampire corpse Yang had just dug out. "It seems you've already started looking."
"Yep. These guys were definitely vampires. And it's the same armor as what I've been seeing the attacking forces wear," she mused before looking at him accusingly. "You wouldn't happen to know anything about these guys, would you?"
"I do." The vampire looked around, sniffing the air himself. He began to walk over in one direction, Yang and his two followers close behind him. "This armor is the same worn by those who are officially a part of the Volkihar clan."
"Volkihar?" Vilkas asked from where he was searching. "The misty ice walkers?"
"I'm sorry, what?" Yang asked for exposition.
"The Volkihar clan is one of the oldest clans of vampires. Most vampires in Skyrim are descended from their bloodline, but only the vampire lords are allowed amongst their ranks." With a hum, he pulled up a frozen Ohmes-raht corpse dressed in the robes of a Vigilant. "They are good at blending into living society, should they put forth the effort to conceal themselves. The eyes and fangs are the only real tells for a well-fed one. So, when a race can be expected to have those traits," he suddenly plunged a hand into the deceased's chest then pulled it back out, showing those around a handful of vampire dust while Yang noted the necrotic powder was exactly where the heart should be, "the disguise can be seamless."
"They had someone on the inside," Yang muttered in realization.
"They still died in the end," Aela pointed out.
"Some who turn mistake immortality with invulnerability," Jarmak said as he let the body drop and let go of the dust as one of the others dragged up the body of a death hound. "Hm. Yes, this was the work of the Volkihar. I don't quite understand why they did this though. They're normally safe, hiding away from the world. The numbers lost here tells me that they're readying for something quite grand. They were removing an obstacle, but an obstacle to what?"
"What do you think they could be planning?" Vilkas asked the vampire.
"With Harkon, there is no telling." Jarmak shook his head while Yang raised an eyebrow at the namedrop. She didn't recognize it, although it sounded vaguely Nordic, and from the tone of his voice the man was obviously important.
"Harkon?" Yang asked as the elf stood.
"Their leader. One of the vilest beings to ever inhabit Mundus. Hm." He shook his head. "Whatever you do, be wary of him. He's as ancient as I am, if not more, and his power, at this point in time, is massive."
"Soooo, he's the head vampire we should kill?"
"If it were only so easy." He looked across the distance and hummed. "No, it's best you remain distant from him. He'll be within the deepest part of their territory. Vampire lords will be by his sides and at his feet, and he's the one with the power to rein them all in."
"…If you say so." Inside, Yang was still wondering if she or any of the others could take him on, but without any idea where this Harkon could be it wasn't like she could test it. "What should we do about the bodies?"
"Burn them," Jarmak said simply. "It's not good to leave them out this way, and there's no digging in this frozen ground."
"We'll start gathering them up," Vilkas declared. "Yang, you get us a fire started."
"Right away."
After stopping by Solitude, it became apparent that Weiss' internal compass wanted them to go even further north, but also down. To their dismay, they realized this meant that what they were looking for was somewhere under the sea.
"Well, this is just excellent," the heiress griped as Ruby and Lydia rowed them out away from the harbor and out to sea. "If you didn't happen to have that Amulet of Warmth, there'd be almost no way to retrieve…whatever we're after."
"Yeah, good thing Chakus didn't need any of those things," Ruby mused. "Although, it would be nice to know what we're looking for. If someone had just asked some basic questions." Ruby stared pointedly over at her partner, who cleared her throat and looked away in embarrassment.
"Yes, well, once we find it I'm sure things will become clearer," Weiss suggested, finding the water to be very interesting at this moment while Ruby and Lydia merely rolled their eyes.
"Yeah, but out this far…" Ruby suddenly paused and squinted her eyes, noticing something off in this distance. "Oh look, a shipwreck!" Weiss and Lydia looked to where Ruby had indicated to see half of a ship up against a large, rocky islet. Weiss narrowed her eyes in suspicion at the remains of the vessel, then looked towards where she felt the tug.
"I…think what we're looking for is somewhere in the wreck." Weiss' suggestion was met with quick but weary nods. The wreck would be an obvious place to look, but that didn't mean it didn't come without its own set of dangers.
"Well, at least we have some kind of idea about what's going on." Ruby shrugged as she and her housecarl continued to row. As fast as they could, the two rowers brought them over to the broken ship and suddenly felt the bottom scraping something. Lydia looked over and let out a hum of acknowledgement.
"We're on ground. Just a thin sheet of water here, about ankle deep."
"Glad my boots are waterproof," Ruby said before she placed her oars down and stepped out. Lydia did the same and held the boat steady while Weiss got out far more gingerly. Pursing her lips, Ruby bent down and gingerly touched the water with her fingertips.
"Huh, it's warmer than I expected. Not really warm, but still. Pretty sure I saw ice on the beach when we came out here."
"I think it has to do with the currents," Weiss began explaining. "There's one that goes up from Hammerfell, around the peninsula of High Rock, and then circles back just before reaching Roscrea. Keeps most of High Rock from freezing solid and Haafingar relatively warm."
"Once the winter deepens not even that's going to keep back the frost and snow," Lydia added as she dragged the boat up and tied it to a rocky spire.
"True, but at least we won't freeze out here." The heiress then looked over at the wreckage lying alongside them. "I wonder what sort of cargo they had. Something good, I hope."
"Weiss, that's stealing!" Ruby objected.
"It's not stealing, it's salvaging. I read up on the laws about it. So long as everyone's dead or abandoned ship anything on there belongs to whoever finds it. And since we're here-" Weiss' suggestion was cut off as a loud groan was heard from the ship. At once, the three girls whipped around to face it, hands drifting towards their weapons. A moment of silence ensued as they waited for the source to reveal itself.
"Who- Who goes there?" a voice echoed out from the broken half of the ship before a raggedly dressed Altmer stumbled up from its bowels, haphazardly aiming a bow. Lydia pulled out her own, ready to take him down, but Ruby waved her hand to stop her.
"Hello! Are you okay?" Ruby asked while Lydia slowly lowered her bow, an arrow still notched in case the high elf tried anything.
"Wha'ina? Go… Go away! Not letting you…take the ship."
"He's delirious," Ruby muttered as she realized his state. "Hand me the Masque. And get some water ready." Tentatively, Lydia handed over the Masque of Clavicus Vile to Ruby, who placed it on her head. Weiss blinked in surprise at the sudden effect it had on her, and the delirious sailor seemed to relax as he refocused on her.
"So that's what Ruby was talking about..." Lydia whispered as she stared at her charge's head while Weiss idly wondered what she meant by that.
"We have no intention of hurting anyone," Ruby reassured the man. "We came upon the shipwreck purely by chance. If you're hurt, we want to help you, and maybe get you back to shore."
"Shore. Get to shore. Boat. Yes. All right," he called down to them. "I'm coming down there." Shakily, the mer pulled himself up and nearly fell as he lowered himself from the broken ship onto the islet. He stumbled over to the women, grunting and gasping as he did. The elf was clearly dehydrated or starving, probably both. Lydia passed over a waterskin, which Ruby took and handed to the elf.
"Easy," she warned. "Slow sips. Don't hurt yourself."
The Altmer sighed as he took in a breath after his first gulp. It was easy to see from the strain in his face that he was fighting the urge to take the whole thing and chug it down. After a few more spaced out swallows, Ruby let him have it and he went over and sat against a knee high stone.
"Thank you! Divines grace, thank you so much!" he gasped as the cool liquid soothed his throat. Weiss then handed him a piece of bread, which he hungrily took and began to tear into with fervor.
"Happy to help, but I have to ask, what happened here?" Ruby asked, and the elf paused his eating.
"Happened? We…were headed in to Solitude. Solitude… Yes. We saw something…falling from the sky. We looked for it because…it was a Skyshard."
"A Skyshard?" Ruby asked no one in particular.
"A sort of Aetherial Fragment," Weiss quickly relayed.
"It was… One moment there was nothing, and then the next there was a great, fiery heat from above and a giant fountain of water splashed up near our ship. We looked and looked, but we almost couldn't find it. When we finally did and lowered the cage, some sort of freak wave came out of nowhere and smashed my skiff against this damned rock." The elf groaned and leaned back. "All my sailors, lost. And now Sarullo is a captain without a ship or crew."
"I'm sorry for your loss," Ruby lamented as she held his hand. "We'll get you up to Solitude soon. We're going to have a quick look around to see what can be saved. Is there anything we need to get for you?"
"No- Not much. The water and food's gone and everything of value sank with the other half."
"I see. Just hold on a moment." Ruby stood up and took off the Masque. Weiss blinked and rubbed her eyes before looking at the depressed, barely coherent mer and then back to Ruby.
"Well, now what?"
"I guess we were sent after the Skyshard? Sounds like something Magna-Ge related, right?" Ruby shrugged, still not fully understanding the being's machinations or intentions. She had to believe neither of them understood it either.
"I suppose, but it's far beneath the waters now. I seriously doubt you could hold your breath long enough to find it." Weiss slightly kicked the water in emphasis, sending up a small splash of water while Ruby went quiet. Suddenly, she gasped excitedly and drew the other's attention at her outburst.
"Good thing I won't have to!" Ruby went over to the boat and began rummaging through her pack. "Let's see. Colovian Brandy, no. Solitude Spiced, no. Summerset Black, no. Ah, here we go! Argonian Bloodwine!"
"What…? Ruby, this is hardly the time or place for that!" Weiss admonished, the memories of the last and only time she had ever been drunk still fresh in her mind.
"It's not for that, Weiss. Argonian Bloodwine has this magical effect where after drinking it you can breathe underwater for several minutes."
The vampire blinked at that. "Say what now?"
"It's true," Lydia confirmed. "I'm not sure how it works, but it does."
"So they seriously just brew up a particular sort of spirit that happens to double as a waterbreathing potion?" Lydia gave a noncommittal shrug while Ruby twisted in a corkscrew, her tongue's tip pointed out the corner of her mouth while she focused on the task. Weiss sighed again and pinched the bridge of her nose. "Just promise me you won't overdo it."
"Yes, Weiss," Ruby said as she took out the cork then brought out a clear, plastic cup from her pack. "Because unlike certain other people," she went on as she poured a cupful of wine, "I drink responsibly." She brought the cup up to her mouth and gently tipped it back, smoothly drinking the wine until it was gone. She smiled at Weiss' incredulous look before setting both bottle and cup down, removing her armor to reveal a simple red tee shirt and leggings, and then placing the Amulet of Warmth on her neck.
"You're never going to let that go, are you?" Weiss accused and sighed. Ruby responded with a wry grin before turning towards the water.
"I'll be right back," she promised before diving off the edge of the islet. Weiss looked on after her, her brain not sure what to make out of everything, before the sounds of snores brought her back to the world. She and Lydia both turned to look at the now sleeping elf sailor.
"I suppose we should try to gather what we can while Ruby looks underwater."
"I suppose so, but I do have a question: why didn't you go?"
"I'd rather not have to drink down an alcoholic beverage to search the seafloor."
"I can certainly understand that, given your...history. You don't really need it, though. You're a vampire."
"What does that have to do with anything?"
It took Ruby a few dives and an equal number of cupsful of Argonian Bloodwine, salvaging many of the sunken valuables in the process, but she was finally able to find what she was certain was the Skyshard. After scaring off a shark, spearing a horker, and even shooing away a sort of garfish, she had been getting pretty agitated, but now she could behold the glowing, bright object in front of her. It looked like a giant crystal, and had an energy flowing from it that seemed pure for lack of a better term. After planning out in her head a way to place it in the nearby cage and then drag it up with her Semblance and Shouting, Ruby wobbly swam over to the Skyshard and made to grab it, only for the crystal to sort of explode and implode at the same time. Ruby floated in place for a moment, confused, then looked at her arms as she felt the energy from it become absorbed into her.
"Oh come on!" she yelled out, only for her voice to be muffled by the surrounding water. Annoyed, she swam back up until she broke the surface of the sea. Looking around, she squared up with the islet and clumsily breaststroked towards it.
"I fount the stupid shard," she grumbled as she pulled herself onto the partially submerged shore. She heard a swish and looked over to see one of the gar coming near the dead horker tied to the back of their boat, so she took out the Spear of Might and swung it at the fish, scaring it away. "No! My horker!"
"That's good news," Weiss said as she helped Ruby up. "Where is it?"
"Is inside me."
"I'm sorry, what?"
"Absorbed it. Poof! Sucked up the energy! Like e'rything else, 'parently." Ruby shook her head and groaned. "I'm tired an' wet. Le's go home."
"Okay. Lydia and I will row us back." Weiss looked at the load of things and people now on the boat. It could certainly hold them, but it wasn't ideal. And the horker was going to cause some drag, but Ruby insisted on taking it since she'd killed it.
Lydia walked over and then made a kick. "Damned slaughterfish!"
"Yeh, tell 'em, Lyd!" Ruby uncharacteristically cheered. "Be't those fisssh!"
"Actually, those are Nordic gar. I read about them and other predators in Skyrim."
"What 'chu takin' 'bout?" Ruby sassed as she stared intently at the vampire, who merely sighed.
"Slaughterfish is really just an umbrella term for any sort of predatory fish that occasionally attack men and mer."
"…I suppose," Ruby grumbled and crossed her arms. "They're still stupid fish." Weiss sighed, then helped Ruby into the boat on the opposite side of the still sleeping Sarullo.
"Do we have everything?" Ruby finally asked.
"Everything worth salvaging." Lydia nodded and hefted up a burlap sack. "And a few things of questionable worth."
"He insisted on having his maritime objects saved. It's essentially all that's left of his past with this ship." The two began pushing the boat off before Weiss hopped in with Lydia right behind her. "Maybe he can start up again someday, but it might be rather jarring to go from a captain to just another sailor."
"Maybe. I can't say I've much experience with sailing. Only ever went on the port to port boats."
"I've sailed here and there, but I suppose the seas of Nirn are a bit different from Remnant's. She looked around at the horker's corpse as they began rowing. "You can actually keep the monsters for meat and trophies here."
"I wouldn't exactly call them monsters. So, are there rules about that in Remnant?"
"Actually, it's how-" Weiss stopped when she felt something wet in her lap and looked down to see Ruby resting her head there while reaching around and holding her by the waist. "Uh, Ruby?"
"Weiss, I wanted you to know that sometimes you're a meany and a bit of a smart aleck, but then you can be really sweet when you wanna but you don' wanna show it so you act like it's nothing and I jus' wanted you to know I love you anyways because you're great and stuff, mkay."
"…Thank you, Ruby." Weiss looked over to Lydia and lowly whispered, "How much?"
Lydia reached over and picked up the large wine bottle, perhaps a bit more than a liter large. It was more than half empty.
"Oh. My. God."
Convincing Laila Law-Giver was far easier than Blake expected, though her growing fame and the fact Laila wanted the skooma traders gone as much as any decent person definitely helped in that regard. While Sarthis didn't give up and ended up being killed in the end, he left plenty of evidence behind to track the movements of his suppliers, along with enough skooma to make a mammoth think it was flying. Now Blake, Inigo, and M'rissi were where it all pointed, looking over a boulder at a place known as Cragslane Cavern, where some tents and a pair of very large cages were set up. Inside of the cages were some wolves, which were being prodded at by a couple of men, likely meant to be on watch. They clearly weren't the best at their job.
"So, they must have set up shop in there," Blake indicated before looking up at the sky. The three were a little nervous being this far north so soon after the heist, but so far nothing larger than a hawk had been seen flying. M'rissi suddenly whimpered, startling Blake a little bit. Inigo reached over and patted her shoulder, however.
"Don't worry, M'ri. I won't let even one of the big dogs get close to you."
The Khajiit woman smiled at him. "Thank you, Inigo. She…does not like dogs, at all."
"Just be sure to watch out for the people too," Blake reminded them as she took out her bow. The other two followed her action, and then they all took aim at one of the men outside. Blake indicated that she was aiming for the one sitting at the fire, while Inigo aimed at the furthest, and M'rissi at the one next to the cages. With a trio of twangs, three arrows were sent flying, a black one piercing through the Nord near the cave entrance, another hitting the man pestering the wolves right under his arm and into his ribs, and the last hitting a Bosmer in the back while setting him ablaze. The last shouted in pain and fear as he fell forward, right into the campfire. Blake grimaced, but shouldered her bow and went forward.
"Well, we're in. Let's go."
The three went through the camp, ignoring the sounds of the caged wolf tearing into the dead man's arm, and then prowled down into the cave. Just a little ways in, they stopped as they spotted a Dunmer leaning up against a post, just across from a torch. Inigo drew an arrow, and took aim. When Blake nodded, he released the shaft, which flew straight and into the side of the dark elf's head. For a moment the three held their breath, and then the elf finally collapsed forward.
"She was starting to think he might not have died."
"That would have been impossible," Blake quickly said. "But yeah, that was weird and kinda scary."
Just past where the Dunmer had been posted, they emerged into a cavern with a fighting pit connected to another room by a small tunnel set in the center. Several men had pushed someone over the pit's wall, a young Bosmer from the looks of things, and now they were beginning to cheer and started calling for 'the hounds'.
"What a deplorable bunch!" Inigo hissed.
"A dead bunch." Blake began summoning a spell in her hand, almost unconsciously weaving into an angry red. She loosed it, and the red orb hit a man in the back, catching the attention of a few others.
"What was that?" one man asked before the target turned and socked him in the face. "What in-" The ensorcelled man continued attacking him, and Blake threw two more Fury spells into the crowd, causing an Orsimer to break a bottle and jab it into a Breton's neck, and an Altmer to suddenly take out a dagger and rapidly stab the Nord next to him. The crowd devolved into a deadly brawl, while the man behind the makeshift bar looked up and saw them, only to receive a steel-tipped arrow through the eye.
"Did she get the Butcher?"
"What in Oblivion is going on out here?!" someone yelled from the back. Another Dunmer, far larger than the other and perhaps any they'd seen, came out from the back room to see the chaos happening within the cavern. Blake was about to take aim at him, but then saw a wolf peeking out from the tunnel at the Bosmer still stuck in the pit, its teeth bared and ears pointed back as it began to prowl towards him. Quickly she formed another spell, this one a bright green, and then launched it at the beast, hitting it on the back. The wolf's growling ceased as it relaxed, but now the Butcher knew where they were. Almost instantly, he picked out the last of the people under Blake's Illusion and took out a green, single-edged blade before swiping clean through him, the sword giving off sparks of electricity as it did. The others all ceased their fighting in fear, then the mer turned and smacked an arrow off course from hitting his skull.
"Well, not every arrow lands," Inigo lamented as he put away his bow and drew his sword. The last of the crowd charged up the ramp where the three were. Blake drew Gambol Shroud and the Blade of Woe. She almost laughed at the man that decided to come at her with just an iron dagger, but instead stayed silent as she smacked him across the face with a pommel strike and then sliced up. Another swung a hammer, but completely missed as she side-stepped before kicking him hard enough to send him all the way to the bar and through it. Inigo cut through three people rapidly before doing a spin and slicing off the last one's head, while M'rissi hung back and sent arrows at a man who had been sending spikes of ice at her.
"Useless," the Butcher muttered before charging over to fight them himself. Blake blocked his first heavy strike, but cried out as she felt electricity course up her sword and into her right arm. She blinked away as he sliced through a clone, then Inigo came in swinging, his ebony sword not conducting the sparks like her steel one had. Groaning, Blake sheathed the sword and pulled out her Daedric dagger before going back in. She sliced up through the chink of his steel armor at the elbow, eliciting a cry from him, giving Inigo a chance to come in and slice deeply into the back of his waist. M'rissi chose that moment to jump down, landing square on the Dunmer's shoulders before leaning back. Forced back by her weight, the elf was almost helpless as she gripped his neck with her legs and tossed him over herself, smacking him into the ground. M'rissi sat up with a proud smile, but then the Dunmer reached up and grabbed her by the neck.
"Damn cats!" he cursed as he tried to tighten his hold on her throat, M'rissi fighting against him with fear in her eyes as she gasped for breath.
"M'rissi!" Blake yelled before taking the dagger in her hand and throwing it. It flipped through the air then sank into the mer's neck. He gurgled out a cry, and M'rissi smashed her head into his nose before pulling herself loose. As the elf gripped his own bleeding throat, Inigo came in with a yell and swiped down, through his head. Finally dead, the Butcher collapsed in a heap, and the three catfolk could finally breathe easier.
"That guy was a tough one," Blake got out with a sigh. She looked back over to the fighting pit, then pulled a section of the chest-high fencing down. The starved wolf looked up at her, then went by to the many corpses and started tearing into them. She grimaced, but decided that it was better than the creature trying to eat her. As she went over to the young Bosmer, the elf picked themselves up off the ground.
"By Auriel's wings, you saved me," they said. "I can't thank you enough."
"It was no problem, but what in Oblivion was that about?" Blake questioned while cleaning and sheathing her blades.
"Oh, uh, I was supposed to be taking care of the wolves for them. But they decided that I was too soft." They sighed at that. "I should know better. You don't make as much money as they did out in the middle of nowhere breeding wolves. They were setting this place up to be a skooma and gambling den. I thought that if I just kept my head down and left as soon as I could… But they decided I was 'softening' their killers too much, so they were going to feed me to them. They've been starving them for days, getting them ready to eat me."
"That's really awful! I'm glad we got here in time then."
"You and me both." The Bosmer smiled before a puzzled look appeared on their face. "If I may, why exactly are you here? Competitors? Mercenaries?" the erstwhile caretaker wondered.
"Sort of mercenaries. We knew about the skooma, so we're putting an end to it." Blake's ears popped up when she heard the sound of several glass objects clinking together. She and the wood elf walked down the tunnel where more cages held more wolves to see Inigo pushing a wheelbarrow around and dumping all of the vials of skooma into it, an angry expression on his snout. M'rissi, however, was packing up jars of an orange-brown powder, moon sugar, the main ingredient in skooma.
"Well, I guess we'll be shutting this down. If that equipment over there is what I think it is… Yeah, probably safe to torch it." Blake nodded to herself as she continued to watch Inigo pile more and more skooma bottles on top of each other before rushing outside, grabbing a torch as he went. "You might wanna get whatever you want out of this place."
"Burn, foul poison! Burn!" They heard Inigo shout from outside before he laughed evilly.
"I know where all the money is stashed. Didn't bother hiding it when they figured me a dead mer. I guess I can start back up somewhere else."
"Sure, take it all. I don't need it."
"Blake!" M'rissi suddenly shouted at her. "Have you gone insanely crazy!?"
"We have tens of thousands of septims in the bank, and another ten thousand each after that heist. I think we're good. Let… I'm sorry, what's your name?"
"Charisk."
"Let Charisk here take it. Charisk needs it way more than we do, I'm sure."
"Next thing you'll be saying we should save the wild wolf dogs."
"We should," Charisk argued. "They did nothing wrong."
"Agh!" M'rissi shouted.
"Okay, I'm dried up now," Ruby announced as she walked out of the washroom, dressed in a set of her spare pajamas. Weiss was leaned over with her face in her hands while Jordis and Lydia were both working at the cooking range on supper. "You okay, buddy?"
"The thing in my brain is still there, it just changed direction." Weiss sighed as she sat up. "Only this time, whatever it is it's moving. Frankly, it's annoying."
"Um, where's it going?" Ruby asked, to which Weiss waved her hand around.
"It's sort of back and forth. I'm not sure, but I think it's coming to us." She picked her face up and sighed as she leaned back. "Maybe, if we're lucky, it'll find us first without any effort on our part."
"Oh, well that's good, right?"
"Depends on what it is. You say you found the Skyshard and absorbed it?"
"Yeah. It's a bit fuzzy, but I remember it."
"Lucky you," Weiss groaned in envy. "Anyways, either these things can only be absorbed by you and someone's bringing another towards us, or this is something completely different."
"About that, what exactly does a Skyshard do?"
"By themselves, nothing. They're basically a source of energy. Legend says that they have the power of a mortal soul, and can even be used as one. Reading on the three Banners War, there were these people known as Vestiges, basically beings who had been sacrificed to Molag Bal, who somehow then escaped while he tried to initiate the Planemeld. Some accounts say there was one for each side, some say there was only one playing all the sides against each other. One person even suggested that there was a sort of Dragon Break occurring so that there was only one and thousands at the same time."
"A Dragon what?"
"Never mind, I'll explain that some other time." Weiss paused. "Actually, that topic will probably take a very long to explain. I haven't even fully wrapped my head around it. Anyways, I looked them up in case the Vestige might have been from Remnant, but I'm sure they weren't. It was too long ago, and they had been sacrificed by Mannimarco to Molag Bal, which means they were in Tamriel way before the Planemeld as well. But, all the accounts say that the Vestige had to absorb a Skyshard, granted to them by Akatosh, in order to reenter Mundus, after which they used power granted from the Divines and all their facets, the Tribunal, and even Meridia in order to stop the Planemeld. One even suggested that the Divines continued to gift them more Skyshards in order to increase their power. All that I can really say is that they hold a tremendous amount of power. So if the Magna-Ge are pointing you to these things, they're not doing it lightly."
Ruby groaned as she sat across from her partner. "You know, I never thought I'd be talking about gods so matter-of-factly. Back home, there's basically no evidence of any gods, if any ever existed on Remnant in the first place. Now they're giving us stuff, trying to tempt our friends, and having us go fetch things from across the country."
"Starting to think I should go to a temple and pray, but I'm not even sure if I can without bursting into flame or something. Then I don't even know how praying works."
"I think it's kinda like leaving a voicemail, only without a scroll." Weiss looked at Ruby, an unasked question on her face. "Mom was slightly religious. Not too terribly much, but I did remember seeing her pray every once and a while. Yang showed me her little shrine thing. It had a picture of my grandma and grandpa and some symbols."
Lydia and Jordis came over and began setting down plates, spoons, forks, and cups. As tenderized, baked chicken and mashed potatoes were set out, Ruby looked over at her housecarls when a thought came to mind.
"Oh, Jordis, did we mention the maid?" Jordis looked puzzled as she raised an eyebrow towards the Dragonborn.
"What maid?"
"Well, Yang found a maid in a cave and looted her-"
"Ruby," Weiss mumbled.
"But we already have a maid at Whiterun, so we're going to bring her over here. We talked over scrolls. She's nice, but kinda quiet."
"Your sister…'looted' a maid?"
"She liberated her from bandits, and Weiss gave her a job working for them as a maid," Lydia clarified.
"Thank you!" Weiss threw her arm upward in emphasis, to which Lydia nodded.
"Yeah, that's what I meant." Ruby shrugged. "Anyways, she should be up here soon. No idea when. Her name is Niri, and she's an Altmer."
"You hired an Altmer…as a maid?"
"Is there a problem with that?" Weiss asked with slight suspicion.
"Not at all, it's just that I'm having a hard time picturing a high elf in a serving position under humans in any circumstances."
"If there's any human a high elf would work for, it's a Schnee," Weiss matter-of-factly declared with a nod.
"Or the person with dragon's blood," Ruby quipped, then went silent in thought. "Say, Lydia, do you know how I can pray to Akatosh?"
"Um, I suppose. What exactly did you want to pray about?"
"I need to ask how this Dragonborn stuff works. I know I'm my father's daughter and all, some bullies actually messed with me about that when I was nine and there was this whole debacle about it. They seriously accused my Uncle Qrow of being my actual dad! Yang shut them up, real quick. Where was I going with this? Oh yeah, but now I found out I'm basically a dragon, and all of the dragons are supposed to be children of Akatosh. So I wanna know how that's supposed to work." At her housecarls' still bewildered looks, she realized her omission and smacked her forehead.
"Oh right, my dad's name means 'Sun Dragon'."
Weiss let out a long sigh, only to then chuckle. "Good gods."