Got another one out before Thanksgiving, whoo! Wonder if I can do it again. Always remember xTRESTWHOx and NaanContributor and that Epstein did not kill himself.
Chapter 64: Secrets Born in Blood
14th of Evening Star
Blake pulled Patches to a stop and looked at the abode before her in confusion. She took out her scroll and rechecked the directions Ruby had texted her, wondering if she had taken a wrong turn somewhere, but then saw the sign near the stables.
'Welcome to Lakeview,' it read, with a smiley face drawn under it. Blake looked back at the mansion, balking at it.
"She built this?!" the Faunus asked herself in disbelief. She knew Ruby was good at building things, Crescent Rose was a monument to that, but she didn't think actual buildings were a part of her repertoire. "How in the world…?" she muttered as she tethered Patches near the stables.
Blake began walking up to the manor, looking around as she did. There was a pen holding a shaggy cow and a few goats, along with several chickens scattered about and clucking. There was also a large crate nearby, which caught Blake's interest for a moment. She went over next to it, ready to get to her tip-toes and peer over the edge. When she neared it though, a black blur shot out and she found herself hitting the ground with a scream, her vision becoming completely blocked out as she was pinned down. A loud growl sounded out above her, pulsating through her body with the power behind it. Light returned, but her upper-arms were still held down as her vision refocused to see a black-furred, saber-toothed feline face above her.
"Lirry?" she realized in surprise just before the large cat butted her face into Blake's and began rubbing it against her while purring. The Faunus sputtered at first, but as Lirry stepped off of her and just began rubbing against her, she laughed.
"Well, I guess you remember me -Doh!" The giant cat suddenly laid down, and Blake realized that Lirry had to weigh several hundred pounds at this point. She managed to sit herself up and tried to push the massive cat off of her, but Lirry refused to budge and just watched Blake struggle.
"Okay, you have to get off of me. I missed you too, but I have things to do."
Lirry just let out a chuff and started rolling over, to Blake's horror.
"No, no, no, nonono!" Blake huffed as she was squashed by the large cat. "Ugh, why?"
"Lirry? Who are you- Blake!" M'rissi cheered as she came around from the back of the manor. She rushed up to their side and squatted down next to Blake's prone form. "Oh, she missed you dearly! But she's glad her letter reached you and that you wrote her back. How has thieving been?"
"I'm not…" Blake sighed then looked at M'rissi. "Can you get her off of me?"
"Oh, yes," M'rissi nodded, then turned her head towards the melanistic sabrecat and wagged her finger. "Lirry, stop squishing Blake now."
The sabrecat made a rumble of acknowledgement and rolled up to her feet. Blake took a couple of breaths and stood up as well, noticing how the big cat's head came up to her shoulders.
"Gods, she's huge!" Blake exclaimed, while M'rissi beamed in pride.
"We made sure to feed her well," M'rissi commented while rubbing her head to Lirry's, who rubbed back against her affectionately. "Inigo grew exhausted with all of the hunting and the fishing. We almost had to feed her the chickens and goats, but we did not."
"I think about feeding the chickens to her sometimes anyways," Inigo said as he walked up, a large net over his shoulder and a bucket of fish in hand. "Here you go, you freeloader."
Lirry smacked her lips and tromped over to begin eating the fish out of the bucket as he set it down. Despite his words, he was smiling and patted the creature as he went by.
"Good to see you again, friend," Inigo greeted Blake. "Did they ever work out the whole Karliah thing?"
"Yes, actually, but not like we imagined," Blake admitted. "I didn't mention it in my last letter but…Mercer tried to kill me."
"What?!" M'rissi screamed, startling the animals, including Lirry.
"He's dead now, don't worry." Blake's clarification did little to soothe M'rissi's or Inigo's concerns, who both looked at the Faunus intensely.
"I'm beginning to notice that many people from the crime world keep trying to do that," Inigo stated with a cocked eyebrow. "Perhaps it is better to refrain from helping them any further."
"Maybe, but it was a little deeper than usual. Turns out, he framed Karliah all those years ago. She actually saved me, though it was kinda her fault that I got stabbed in the first place, but I'm not sure. Mercer had Aura."
"Ooh, like you and your friends?" M'rissi asked in interest. "Wait, but how?"
"Super-secret Daedric stuff. I don't want to get into it right now. Well, anyways, she helped me and Brynjolf stop Mercer after he stole all of the Guild's money."
"All of it?" Inigo asked with raised brows and ears.
"All of it," she confirmed with a nod. "It turned out there was a secret passage leading from the Guild vault to his house. I found it by accident. They're trying to straighten everything out while I'm on a special assignment. You guys were on the way, so I decided to drop by." She looked back at the manor and her ears went up. "I have to ask, what's up with the house?"
"Oh, that is how it was when we got here," Inigo explained. "Ruby and Zora did a good job, did they not?"
"They only worked on this for about a week. How does someone build a two-story mansion in a week?"
Inigo just shrugged. "If it's any consolation to your sanity, I think Rayya may have finished up a few things before we arrived. She is as handy with a hammer and nails as she is with those scimitars."
"The cellar is also not all done," M'rissi spoke up.
"Cellar?" Blake blinked and shook her head. "Never mind. I'll worry about this later." She took in a deep breath and slowly released it. "How have you two been?"
"You mean aside from the backbreaking work of making sure that beast is fed?" Inigo asked while nodding his head toward Lirry.
"Oh, we do some fun things besides the work," M'rissi began. "Today we were fishing, but yesterday we went to the lakeside to have a picnic. A few days ago, we went to the town and had dinner and some drinks. Inigo did not drink much, but ate many many sweet rolls. She did drink, though, but not too much. Urm, before that, we did rod fishing and relaxed together."
Blake looked from her and towards Inigo with an arched eyebrow. "If I didn't know any better, I'd say that sounded like you two were dating."
"Rrrrow?" M'rissi trilled. "That was weird to say, Blake. M'rissi did not say anything about call-enders."
"That's not what I… Never mind," she surrendered with a smile. "Let's just head inside. You guys look like you could use a break from work. Everything been all right with your vision stuff, Inigo?"
"Eh, I get small flashes, but not the painful, drawn out ones from before. It is still the same place, however."
"Yeah. Maybe we should look into that," Blake figured while brushing back her hair. "Yeah. After I wrap this up, we'll investigate this thing. Shouldn't take too long."
"Well, the master bedroom wasn't quite finished, but anyone could've gotten the walls filled in within a day or so, if that long," Ruby explained.
"I think you're missing the basic premise I'm trying to convey here," Blake responded flatly.
"Wow, Rubes," Yang added, her voice filled with pride."I knew you were good at that old base-building game, but I didn't figure you'd actually throw together a whole mansion."
"I'm more concerned with where you got all of these materials,"
Weiss mentioned.
"Mostly from Falkreath and Riverwood, but some of it came in from Helgen. There's also a big clay deposit and some useful stone near the build site. Tiff did a lot of magic to gather those up, and her golem hauled things around." Ruby saw the riverside house as she rounded the bend and waved, hoping to get anybody's attention should they be around to see her.
"That doesn't really… Never mind, I give up. Next time you build a house, I want to see it so that I know what the heck you're doing."
"Sheesh, it's not that big of a deal," Ruby groaned. "Well, I'm at Capric's house, guys. Don't know how long this'll take, but I'll call you guys back after a bit."
"Okay. Remember the oath for him," Weiss reminded her.
"Got it written down. Bye guys!"
After everyone gave their own good-byes, Ruby hung up and pocketed her scroll just before reaching the manse. Syndergoth, the butler, had just stepped out and took the reigns from both Ruby and Lydia as they dismounted.
"Hey Synder. Is Capric around?" Ruby asked.
"He is in the foyer with some of his agents," the bald Bosmer answered. "Your arrival triggered some of his security spells, thus he is expecting you."
"Oh cool. Thanks," she said to him before she and Lydia walked up and into the building. Capric was there, as he said, but so were a few other beings. One looked to be either a Bosmer or an Ohmes, the facial markings enough to confuse Ruby, two looked like women about a generation apart, only sporting bird-like legs and feathered wings in place of arms. The last was a male Altmer in Thalmor robes.
"Who is this?" the Thalmor demanded. "Wait, is that the Dragonborn girl?"
"I did say I had a professional working with me on the dragon situation," Capric answered him. "Welcome, Ruby, Lydia. Don't worry, we're almost done here."
"Only for now," the Thalmor added. "Let's not make fools of ourselves, Thorn. Between the dragons and the vampires, our hands will be full. I'm expecting your cooperation here."
"And you will have it. I don't want a sudden surge of vampires spreading beyond men lands any more than any other living mer."
"I don't doubt it. It's the others who doubt." With that, the Thalmor left the house, shutting the door behind him.
"Sorry about that," Capric apologized. "He means well, so don't worry too much."
"What was that about?" Ruby asked.
"Coldir, who works under Iirerande's supervision on vampire-related problems. With the recent rise of vampiric activity in Skyrim, they've been expanded a little, but they're still effectively toothless when compared to sections like the Anti-Talos Inquisition or Daedric Counterforces. They're trying to get my assistance despite the fact my resources aren't even fully emplaced. Speaking of, let me introduce you to my friends here."
"Oh, hello everyone," Ruby greeted the other beings. "I wasn't ignoring you, I swear. I was just interested in- Not that any of you aren't interesting…"
"Oh by Alkosh's whiskers," the nearly-confirmed Ohmes muttered. "There's two of them now."
"No, this one is less self-assured," the older Harpy stated with an accent not dissimilar from most Khajiit, but without the third-person pronouns, just before her younger counterpart leaped forward and landed in front of Ruby.
"Hi! I'm Vertina!" she introduced herself in a higher-pitched voice while raising one of her feet and offering it like a hand.
"Wings, Verty, not feet," Capric gently reprimanded her.
"Oh, sorry." She laughed while placing the foot back on the ground and offered the two clawed fingers at the bend of her wing. Ruby took and shook them while looking her over. Her feathers and hairs were mostly brown, but she could see where some sort of pink dye had been applied as highlights, though the roots of her hair had now grown out enough to be noticed. Gold bangles were tied at the ends of four braids behind her head, and there were a few gold bands that partly wrapped around the fronts of her wings. Her ears were tapered, much like an elf's, and pierced with around half a dozen decorations. Her skin was fairly tan, just a little darker than Capric, but not quite enough to make her think of most Bosmers' skin tone.
"Nice to meet you," Ruby said. "I'm Ruby Rose."
"It's nice to meet you, too! You're cute!" Vertina replied through a smile, continuing to fervently shake Ruby's hand.
Ruby blushed. "Oh, uh, thank you," she stuttered out.
"Don't worry," Capric reassured her. "She simply doesn't have a filter."
"I don't know what that is!" the young Harpy added.
"And I'm Maarah," the older Harpy introduced herself, offering her own wing. Ruby shook hers as well while giving her a once-over. She was a lighter brown with grey and black speckled about, and her hair was similar with two brushed back bangs tied off from the rest with simple ribbons, giving her an owl-like appearance. Unlike the younger Harpy, she wasn't as decked out in jewelry, but she was eye-catching in her own way, including the one that would probably make even Yang feel inadequate.
"This one is La'shaina, Ohmes," the Khajiit introduced herself while offering her hand.
'Knew it!' Ruby internally cheered.
"It's nice to meet you all. Oh, this is my housecarl, Lydia," Ruby introduced the quiet Nord.
"Wah, where'd you come from?!" Vertina suddenly shouted.
"I came in with Thane Ruby," she answered evenly.
"How did I not see you?" Her surprise seemed to disappear as she smiled. "You're pretty!"
Other than raising an eyebrow, Lydia didn't respond to her as she turned to face Capric. "Does she…always greet people that way?" the Nord asked the half-Faunus.
"Usually," Capric admitted. "Would it help if I mention she's a scout, meant to pick up on details most miss?"
"I'm honestly not sure how to feel about that."
"Okay, it's just a quirk," Ruby figured before looking at the other two. "So, what do you guys do?"
"I look through reports and images for anything of use. Sometimes I investigate scenes of events to help put together a picture of what occurred." Maarah adjusted her bangs with a dignified brush of one wing while keeping the other tucked against her side, and for a moment Ruby was struck with the image of Professor Goodwitch pushing up her glasses.
"Ooh, so you're like a detective?" Ruby asked in interest.
"Essentially, I suppose."
"Cool!"
The Khajiit looked over to Capric as though for permission, and he nodded. "La'shaina is an infiltrator. She is good at getting in and out of places with important things without being seen."
"Neat. I got a friend like that." Ruby noticed another feline walk up from another room, this one just a little higher than her ankles and covered in fluffy, calico fur. "Hello. Who are you?"
"That is Tinny," La'shaina answered.
"He catches mice," Vertina announced loudly.
"Ah, all right. Do you have any other jobs, though?" she asked him while bending down.
"…He is a housecat," the Khajiit explained.
"…Oh."
"Well, now that really is everyone," Capric figured while walking over and indicating some chairs the two could take. As they sat, he placed himself in a cushioned seat near the fireplace. "So, now that you're here, we can get something done about a few problem spots that've popped up."
"More dragons causing problems?" Ruby huffed. "We had to fight one off not far from here."
"I heard that, literally," Capric stated. "Much louder than I expected. Also, reports say that two were spotted?"
"Yeah, but Aakdremsot was an ally. The black, blue, and glow-y violet one is a bad guy. Aakdremsot came to help us out when he attacked."
"Oh? Well, that's good to hear." Capric nodded, then began to walk over to a table with a map unfurled atop it. "However, there's some other reports. One dragon on the west side of the Rift has been seen stealing cattle, somehow. Another in the northern parts of the Pale has apparently gathered a following."
"Wait, a following?" Ruby wondered aloud.
"Yes. Apparently the people of a village-town called Berg are saying that after the appearance of a black dragon, several of their youths have gone missing. They think there's a resurgent Dragon Cult cropping up and that their children are being taken or corrupted."
"Black dragon?" Ruby wondered aloud, wondering whether the dragon was perhaps Alduin. She doubted it, as it didn't seem to be his M.O., but still she knew something had to be done. She looked back up at Capric then nodded. "That's terrible! I'll look into it, definitely!"
"Good, good," he said while nodding. "But I also wanted to bring the matter of Winterhold up with you."
"Oh, okay. What's up?" Internally, Ruby already figured she knew what Capric's request was about, but out of politeness waited for him to explain.
"I've tried requesting temporary entry, but I've been stonewalled. The Jarl himself has put his foot down and made it clear that no more Thalmor will be allowed entry into the hold, on pain of death and all that. He even rejected the College's political immunity in such cases. I can't go in there, and I can't send any of my official agents there without risking their lives." Capric sighed. "Part of me can't really blame them, after what Ancano did. Damned fool."
"La'shaina believes she could maybe get inside, but there are many mages and only one La'shaina. She cannot defeat or seduce them all."
Ruby paused then turned towards the Ohmes. "What?"
"Don't mind her," Capric waved her off. "Anyways, seeing as you and your friends are members or at least associates of the College, one of you could get in there and find that piece of the artifact we need."
"Wait, which artifact are you talking about?" Lydia asked, suspicion rising.
"Ah! Where'd you come from?!" Vertina shouted, but again Lydia paid her no heed.
"The artifact that could potentially return us to Remnant," Capric answered while also ignoring the young Harpy's outcry. "Part of it is somewhere in the underside of the College of Winterhold. Everything I've found has led me to that conclusion. After getting that one, there's only one more piece somewhere in Morrowind, and then it will be complete."
"And we can get back to Remnant?" Ruby asked, totally enthralled.
"Yes. It's more than certain. I've already verified the power within the rest of the pieces. But it needs to be complete in order to be usable."
"Don't worry. We'll be able to find it. Weiss has been all over the College. Oh, I just remembered!" Ruby pulled her pack around and took out the complete communication device. It wasn't as streamlined as the ones Weiss and her college friends managed to put together, but it got the job done, as her tests confirmed. "I got you one of our laptop phones like I said. But, also…" Ruby then took out a jar of troll fat, a jarred Daedric heart, and an orichalcum knife. "I found an instruction book on how to make a Bloody Oath. This is about as binding as it gets."
"You mean to make the Justicar swear an oath by Daedric means?" La'shaina asked while bristling.
"Technically, Malacath is not a Daedra," Maarah offered. "A corrupted Aedra, yes, but not Daedra. Even before the apparent corruption, Trinimac was a god of oaths and allegiances."
"She still does not like this…"
"It's of no great concern, Shaina," Capric said as he took the note Ruby passed to him in hand. "'I swear by my life and name to never replicate or give away this device without first the approval of Ruby Rose, Weiss Schnee, Blake Belladonna, or Yang Xiao Long, until the day I am released from my vow. So swear I, Capric Bambietta Thorn, or may Malacath drag me to the Ash Pit for my betrayal." He then took the dagger and pressed it to his palm, drawing blood that was spilled over the troll fat and Daedra heart mix that Ruby had put together as he read the oath. Snapping a magic flame onto her thumb, Ruby lit the mixture, which set to flame and slowly turned green.
"I hear you, and hold you to your Oath, mortal," Malacath's voice rang out over them, making the Harpies jump and the Khajiit fall back.
"Tavana eep chiba ka'ah!" Vertina yelled and chirped.
"Well, guess I can't just pass this around to anyone then," Capric figured before looking at the three agents. "Suppose we could go ahead and get permission for those three and Syndergoth?"
"Uh, sure. As long as you're around."
"That's good. So, how do I…?" Capric opened up the device and looked at the control panel for it.
"Oh, here, I'll show you," Ruby offered while reaching over and poking a button. "This turns it on. These numbers are for putting in phone numbers, but I've already got my team and the College's in your contacts, which are here," she demonstrated. "So, you can just pick one of these and call us. Oh, I just had an idea!" Ruby pulled out her scroll and called Capric's device, causing it to trill out its ringtone that sounded like an old-fashioned telephone. "This is how you answer. And now we're in a call. Tapping this will turn on and off your camera, letting us see you or not, and you can switch whether or not you see us. Now, I haven't done this before with any of these we made, but I'm going to try and sync them."
"Sink it into what?" he asked his voice barely betraying his confusion, but Ruby shook her head.
"No, synchronize. I'm gonna put the music in my scroll on your device, so you can listen to them whenever." She smirked. "Just keep an eye on the charge. And… Whoa, it's done!"
"Is that surprising?" he asked, genuinely not knowing if it should or shouldn't be.
"Well, I was planning to send you all of my music. I thought it would take a while. Like, I wouldn't have been surprised if it took half an hour. I guess the magic must have made it instant or something."
Ruby's scroll suddenly vibrated, and she saw that it was a call from Weiss. Answering, she decided to use this as a demonstration.
"Hey Weiss. What's up?"
"Ruby, why did my scroll suddenly receive seventeen gigabytes worth of music files?" Weiss asked, her voice a mixture of confusion and irritation, but Ruby's mind drew into a blank.
"Uh…?"
Blake then joined into the call. "Ruby, you never told me you listen to My Biological Desire. I've been wanting to listen to them for months, and you had all the albums this whole time?"
"Er…"
Yang popped in. "Okay, seeing as you're all here, it's not just me."
"Sorry, guys." Ruby sighed. "Didn't know that would happen."
"I'm only mad it didn't happen sooner," Blake interjected.
"I'm not mad at all." Yang admitted. "Somehow, my scroll's memory is holding more than its maximum. I think it's probably magic, but still! We have unlimited hard drives now, apparently."
"Ooh, tiny people are in the scroll!" Vertina said, having gotten next to Ruby. With the team's focus on her Ruby indicated the Harpy.
"Guys, this is Vertina," Ruby introduced the Harpy, who happily waved.
"Hello! You are all very pretty!"
While the other two took that in, Yang just laughed.
Yang stepped out of the steam-filled bathroom in her shorts and t-shirt with a relieved sigh. "Ah! Nothing like washing off all the dirt and grime of the road."
"Wasn't the day before yesterday Loredas?" Gunmar asked, looking up from his packed bag.
"Seems Yang likes to be a bit cleaner than normal," Yngvarr commented. "Woman takes a bath every chance she gets."
"Well, where I come from, people bathe every day," she explained while further drying out her hair, trying to use Weiss' spell for it. Flames popped up for a moment before being just as quickly extinguished by her. "Ooh ooh, ow! Gotta be careful with that."
"Personally, I prefer it," Rumarin added while stuffing a saddlebag. "After about the fourth day of constantly moving, it becomes too much to ignore."
"Perhaps, but how do you make time for it?" the werebear asked.
"Uh, in case you didn't notice, I tend to not take half the day bathing," Yang pointed out. "Maybe that's good once in a while, Gods know sometimes I want to do just that, but we're usually quick about it. Back home, it's usually done at the end of the day or the start. Some people do both."
"There are people who bathe twice a day and still have time for other things?" Yngvarr laughed at the idea. "What are they, like Imperial nobles?"
Yang chuckled. "Like I said, we're quicker about it. Anyways, I'll get dressed so we can head over to Fort Dawnguard." She headed upstairs where Sorine was going through her own belongings and changed into an outfit more suited to traveling.
"So, you're good with crossbows?"
"Making them? Sure," Sorine admitted. "Using them is another matter, but I suppose it's hard to be bad with one. You aim, shoot, and reload. A lot easier than a bow, at least."
Yang nodded at that, having personally found it difficult to properly aim a bow, and Sorine continued, "However, what I've really been looking into is Dwemer artifacts."
"Cool. Been down a couple of their ruins," Yang revealed. "I was in one with my friend not too long ago."
"Really?" Sorine glanced around Honeyside's interior, then nodded to herself in understanding. "Kinda explains the house. A good haul out of ruins like those can set some people up for a long time."
"Yeah, I noticed," Yang agreed. "You should see what one of my other friends is like. She'll pick a place clean. Huh, now that I think about it, I have no idea how much money we all have." Yang scratched her chin and then shrugged. "Whatever. Got more septims than I know what to do with. Probably gonna leave some at the orphanage just 'cause." Yang took up her pack and headed downstairs. "Well, how are we lookin' for getting ready to go?"
"Seeing as I have nothing but cooking pots and a bedroll, I was physically ready once we arrived last night," Rumarin explained. "Spiritually, however, I have become greatly attached to the beds here. I fear for my soul should we leave them behind."
"There are beds at the fort. You'll be fine." Yang laughed, shook her head, then looked over to the two burly Nords. "You guys?"
"Ready to depart," Yngvarr confirmed. "Can't leave Bjarni by himself for too long."
"I'm good as well." Gunmar stood and shouldered his bag. "Let's go and see what Isran wants."
The five men and women headed out from Riften and toward the old fort. Outside of a pack of wolves chasing down a deer just within their sights, the ride was uneventful. Upon reaching it, Yang noted that they had since installed a portcullis near the cavern entrance and were working on a second and third one out in the valley path to the doors. It made perfect sense, given that now the location of the place was known and it had already suffered one attack. If the vampires wanted to take out their biggest threats, the Dawnguard was definitely near or at the top of that list. The refugees seemed better taken care of than before, with some thrown together shacks and a field of winter crops for them to tend.
"Place is becoming a right castle," Yngvarr commented before they entered the fort itself. They walked in a ways, before stopping at the commanding voice from above.
"Hold it right there!" the booming voice shouted.
Everyone stopped in their tracks in the center of the room and looked up to see Isran standing on the upper-level balcony. He seemed to activate something that opened up a skylight far above them, allowing the sunlight to pass through a glassy device near the top that concentrated the light like a magnifying glass.
"What're you doing?" Sorine asked, annoyed as she guarded her eyes with her hands.
"Making sure you're not vampires," Isran answered while peering down at them all. "Can't be too careful."
"Uggh! As welcoming as ever," Gunmar groaned.
"Wonder when he got that installed," Yang mused as she tried to look up at the magnifying lens. She could see that it was attached to a primitive crane, though the details were difficult to make out exactly. After a moment, Isran seemed satisfied and switched something back, causing the lens to retract after a moment and the skylight to close.
"So, welcome to Fort Dawnguard," he greeted them now that his suspicions were quelled. "I'm sure you've heard what we're up against. Powerful vampires, unlike anything we've seen before. And they have an Elder Scroll. If anyone is going to stand in their way, it's going to be us."
"This is all well and good," Sorine started, crossing her arms, "but do we actually know anything about what they're doing? Do we even know where to start?"
"We'll get to that," Isran answered her gruffly, to which she rolled her eyes. "For now, get acquainted with the space. Sorine, you'll find room to start your tinkering on that crossbow design you've been working on. Gunmar, there's an area large enough for you to pen up some trolls. Get them armored up and ready for use." His gaze then landed on Yang. "In the meantime, Long, we're going to get to the bottom of why a vampire showed up here looking for you. Let's go have a little chat with it, shall we?"
Yang smirked. "Well, looks like I better take this. I guess you guys can go hang out."
"I'll see if I can't find their pantry and help organize it," Rumarin quipped before heading off, the other three doing the same a moment later. Yang walked over and up the staircase, following Isran as he walked from where he'd been speaking to them down a hallway. She saw Durak standing guard over a room with a crossbow at the ready, and he nodded to them as they approached.
"You got this from here?" the Orc asked the Dawnguard leader.
"We've got it," Isran assured him with a pat on the shoulder. Durak huffed and walked away, and the other two rounded the hallway into the room. Upon entering, Yang saw an unharmed but thoroughly annoyed Serana leaning against a wall, but Yang's attention shot towards what was next to her.
"O-kay, why is there a torture rack here?" Yang asked in alarm upon seeing the device behind Serana.
"Don't ask me. It was here when I arrived," Serana answered with a small twirl of her hand. Yang couldn't help but smile at her sarcastic tone, but before she could continue, Isran cut them off.
"This vampire showed up while you were away," Isran began, ignoring their banter. "Told my men who it was and that it knew you, so I'm guessing it's the one you found in Dimhollow Crypt. Says it's got something really important to say to you." He turned to glare at Serana while crossing his arms. "So, let's hear it."
Serana looked at both Yang's encouraging expression and Isran's hardened gaze, wondering which one to focus on. Eventually, she settled on staring down both. "All right. So, you've already been informed about the basics, but this is going a lot deeper." Serana nodded to herself, then swallowed. "Well…it's about me and the Elder scroll that was buried with me."
"Wait, what's up with you?" Yang asked in interest. "What are you trying to say?"
"Well, it's about the reason I was down there…and why I had the Elder Scroll" Serana admitted with a small frown. "It all comes back to my father."
"Your father," Isran groaned in contempt. "Harkon."
"Yeah, him," Serana confirmed with a sigh. "I'm guessing you figured this part out already, but my father's not exactly a good person. Even by vampire standards. He wasn't always like that, though. There was…a turn. He stumbled upon this obscure prophecy and just kind of lost himself in it."
"What prophecy is that?" Isran asked, actually finding himself interested in what she had to say.
"It's pointless and vague, like all prophecies. Which obviously means it must be true," Serana joked, but only Yang chuckled at it while Isran remained unamused. Serana shook her head then continued, "The part he latched onto said that vampires would no longer need to fear the sun. That's what he's after. He wants to control the sun, and have vampires control the world."
"And you expect us to help you?" the Redguard asked in suspicion.
"I'm sorry, I had heard there were vampire hunters here," Serana responded, sarcasm dripping from her voice. "I thought they might want to know about a vampire plot to enslave the rest of the world. Was I wrong?"
"Yeah, dude," Yang agreed. "This is the Dawnguard's whole thing. We've got to make sure they can't move forward with this."
The man grumbled. "And what do you suggest we do?"
"Well, I guess the first step is getting everyone together and coming up with a decent plan. We have some insider information, and Serana also has the Elder Scroll."
"Not like I was hiding it this time," the vampire said while thumbing the Scroll on her back.
"So, we've got the advantage there," Yang continued, gesturing with her open palm towards Serana while looking as Isran. "We also know a bit about what Harkon wants, and he's going to be after someone who can read this thing."
"A Moth Priest," Isran mumbled while stroking his beard. "One problem. All of those are on the other side of the Jeralls."
"I wouldn't be so sure," Serana argued. "Right before I snuck out, my father announced that he was spreading rumors of an Elder Scroll, hoping to get their attention and capture one to read it. While the duplicate I left might fool them for now, the moment they get a Moth Priest, the ruse is up."
"If one's in Skyrim," Isran mentioned.
"He seemed certain that it was going to work."
"I picked up on a couple of rumors," Yang mentioned. "Heck, there was a loud debate about it in Pargran. Some people are saying it's in Solitude, while others think the College of Winterhold is hiding it. I'm betting nobody suspects it's on the back of a vampire who's helping vampire hunters."
"I see…" Isran hummed to himself, then nodded. "I suppose you're right, there. But I can't afford to send out men searching for it. Finding the location is up to you. Once it's confirmed,then I'll send someone to secure the Moth Priest." His glare returned to Serana. "Now, what do we do about you?"
"You, currently, nothing," Yang declared with a pointed gesture, stepping between Isran and Serana.
"So now you're standing up for it?" Isran pointedly asked, and Yang growled slightly.
"I'm standing up for the person who risked everything, their life included, to bring us valuable information and get a very important asset away from our enemy," Yang countered, but Isran stared her down.
"And what's to stop me from killing it right now?" Serana definitely tensed at that, but Yang stood resolute.
"How about my fist in your jaw for a start?" Yang threatened him before catching herself and taking a breath. "Look, I get that this seems unnatural, but you're going to have to let go of your hate for a minute here and think about the bigger picture."
"I'll never let my hatred go," he swore darkly. "Not a chance. It's what keeps me strong."
"Then don't. That's your problem." Yang thrust her finger into Isran's chest. "But don't let it get in your way and become everyone else's, either."
He snarled, his gaze boring into the vampire across from him. "I still don't trust it."
"You don't trust her? Fine. Trust me."
The two stared each other down. For a moment, Serana was worried that they would come to blows, especially as Isran's fingers twitched towards the mace strapped to his hilt. Then he huffed, breaking the tension and gave Yang a sideways glance.
"Fine. It can stay for now, but if it so much as lays a finger on anyone, I'll hold you responsible. Got it?" Yang nodded, and he focused on Serana. "You hear me? Don't feel like a guest, because you're not. You're a resource. You're an asset. In the meantime, don't make me regret my sudden outburst of tolerance and generosity."
"Thank you for your kindness. I'll remember it the next time I'm feeling hungry," Serana dryly retorted. Yang couldn't help but crack a smile, even if she was still feeling heated about having to fight Isran on it.
"Right." Yang clapped her hands. "Let's figure out how to thwart some vampires looking to catch a Moth Priest."
Blake looked at her map, the approximate location of the Sepulcher being her main focus, but she occasionally looked towards the north, where Inigo's visions had been pointing him.
'Definitely looking into this,' she thought to herself. 'Once I'm back from returning the Key, that's going to be the next stop.'
"What if you didn't return the Key?"
'Then I'd either have to go on the run, forever, or I would have to kill basically the entire Guild. I'm not keen on either of those actions, and I stand to lose more than I gain.'
Blake sighed. It wasn't the first time the Blade made such a suggestion. Unlike the first couple attempts, she could clearly tell the source and couldn't mistake them for intrusive thoughts.
She rolled up the Adventurer Map and walked out of her room to head downstairs. S'ahara had baked some fresh bread and sliced and buttered it up to go with some poached eggs, and her nose had convinced her mouth that it was going to be the best thing. As she sat down to help herself, she looked over and noted the Khajiit was sewing up some tears in a blanket. Next to her was also a basket of feathers and some cloth shreds. Blake recognized the pattern and felt her ears droop.
"She's still having nightmares?" she spoke up.
"Yes," the elder admitted sadly. "While she is bright and alive in the day, this one fears her dreams are still plagued by the old memories." She whimpered. "Oh, if only M'rissi dear could find peace with her old life."
"I thought she had," Blake murmured as she slowed down her chewing. "Memories…? But…the Aldmeri Sarcophagus…" She mulled it over a moment then took out her scroll. Luckily, the booth at the College of Winterhold could take text messages, so she quickly typed one up and sent it to them, letting them know she'd need to speak with Collette and Riane later. She had figured she might need to visit them to ascertain what was going on with Inigo if the search turned out to be a bust, but now it was looking like she had more reasons to seek magical aid.
"I'm going to do what I can, but I'm not sure what we can do to help her from here," Blake admitted, but the elder Khajiit didn't mind.
"Thank you, friend," S'ahara said to her with a smile. "She appreciates your kind heart and thoughts. She knows M'rissi is also comforted by them."
Blake smiled and nodded to her and proceeded to finish up her breakfast. Once she was done, she set her used dishes in the kitchen and started to head out to catch up with the other two, pausing at a thought and then going back upstairs. She opened up the room M'rissi slept in and looked to see a bed that had been patched up more than a few times and claw marks across the walls near it.
"M'rissi…" the Faunus muttered sadly before shutting the door and heading out the side exit. She soon spotted the other catfolk tending the animals. A basket of eggs was set aside, and now they were working on milking the mammals, with Inigo taking on the goats while M'rissi worked with the cow she had named Kimma.
"Everything coming out okay?" Blake asked as she walked up to the working Khajiit.
"Yes! Kimmy is a good girl being so patient while M'rissi gets the milk," she praised the cow.
"If only these hard-heads would be half as patient," Inigo griped as he moved his foot away from the goat's stomping hoof. "I know it is not me, because Kimma is just as easygoing when it's my turn to milk her as when M'rissi does it. These goats are greedy and ungrateful!"
Blake quietly laughed while shaking her head. "I'd help, but I'd probably get in the way. Where's Rayya?"
"She likes to check on Tiff," Mrissi explained. "She does not trust her witchiness. M'rissi understands, but Tiff is a nice witch who keeps her witchcrafting to herself and sometimes helps M'rissi to learn magic."
"Witchcraft, right." Blake wasn't sure about the distinction between regular magic and witchcraft. Daedra seemed involved, somehow. The Hagravens were rather obvious, but she wasn't sure how someone would be able to tell a normal, everyday female mage apart from an actual witch.
'Something to look into,' Blake decided, then moved to sit down on a nearby chair.
"At least she's attentive. Well, sorry to say I'll be going south after lunch, but once I'm done, I'll swing back here. I wanted to bring that up, actually. What do you guys say we try to find out what's been messing with Inigo's mind?"
"What do I say?" the blue Khajiit spoke up while looking up from the goat. "Yes, followed by another yes. If we can get rid of whatever is plaguing my brain, then I will be a happy cat." A hoof came down on his foot, causing him to hiss and snarl as he clutched it. "Stupid…horn-headed…"
"Then that's what we'll do." Blake's eyes went to M'rissi, who was holding back a bit of laughter. She wasn't sure how to broach the subject at the moment, so she decided to leave it for another time. "Ah, that reminds me," she spoke up, distracting herself as a side benefit, "I got permission from the others. Before I go, I'm going to unlock your Auras and show you both some basics."
"Fffrrrreow? Your magic soul shield?" M'rissi asked with piqued interest.
"Yeah, that exactly," Blake agreed, not bothering to correct her on the magic part. "In fact, I recently got a little book that might help you guys along."
Weiss watched the rats move around the 'Rat Haven' as it was called. Someone had decided to do research on the effects of Skooma, Balmora Blue, Pit Fungus, and other such illicit substances and their addictions. It reminded her of the experiments done by scientists testing Angel Dust, an illicit narcotic made from tampered Dust combined with an extract from plants known as angel flowers, only here someone ended up throwing out all the results when they took in the environmental factors and started from scratch, making a large enclosure where several dozen rats could live out enriched lives full of fun stuff for rats. The results, of course, were completely different from what had been observed from the solitarily confined rats who had nothing to do but drug themselves to death, and now plans to replicate Rat Haven at the College of Winterhold and their results be sent to the College of Whispers were being formed.
The rats also doubled as snacks for some vampires. Apparently, for those who managed to work around the fact that they were drinking rats, they were basically candy.
Weiss had yet to even think of tasting them and was more taken with observing them. Plenty of rats were having fun in little wheels or pushing around tiny balls, while some just seemed to generally be socializing with other rats. A small common skeever had gotten mixed in but didn't seem to be a big disruption for the other rodents, who just seemed to treat it like they would one of their own. Yet the goal of the experiment was easily measured with a set of large, glass tubes outside of the enclosure. The one that fed into their water troughs was the most drained, likely needing a refill by the end of the day. The ones filled with mead and wine were far behind it, but still way ahead of the containers holding skooma or Balmora Blue.
Where the vampires got so much of either substance, Weiss did not know. Still, the results were promising. The enriched rats rarely ever drank from the drug troughs and sipped sparingly from the alcoholic beverages. The few that seemed to go for the drugs more often normally turned out to have some injury or were rather old for rats.
As Weiss watched one pie-bald rodent lead on a game of ball-pushing, she noticed some vampires eyeing her. One looked like a Bosmer, though of a lighter skintone than normal, while the other two were humans of some sort.
"Can I help you?" she broached them, figuring that she could quickly get whatever they wanted out of the way.
"Sorry," the elf apologized, seeming to abashedly realize what they had been doing. "You're new here, correct? You came with that Montalion-Volkihar girl?"
"You mean Gilly?" Weiss had heard that they'd confirmed the girl's original strain/clan. Apparently, Montalions could teleport much in the same way that Volkihars could phase through ice, and others from that strain were trying to teach her how. "Yes, we came together. We got out of the Volkihar Castle."
"Whew, that's a place!" one of the men said.
"About as cutthroat as Thalmor politics," the other joked.
"Ah, so I was right! What were you, then?" the Bosmer asked Weiss, who raised an eyebrow in response.
"Pardon?" Weiss requested, wanting clarification.
"Sorry, I meant which bloodline were you?" The elf explained. "We know how those pure-bloods can override a bloodline, so to speak, but it's actually more of a mixing from what's been observed."
"You're Volkihar, but you'd still have the bloodline of your first sire," the first man added.
"Ah… I'm actually…not sure." Weiss thought it over, picking out what she recalled about that first 'sire'. "Well, to start, I wasn't turned on purpose. I killed the vampire attacking me, but…" She figured telling them that they hadn't known about vampires would only lead to more questions, so she held off from that. "Well, I didn't get treated fast enough. I woke up, feeling weak in the sunlight and thirsty, not even realizing I had become a vampire until I drained a bandit of almost all his blood."
"Ah, Auri-el save us, that had to have been a shock."
"Yes." Weiss frowned, the terrible memories of that fateful day creeping back up, but she shook it off and continued. "I later found out from someone that he was called Aargin."
The three gasped and backed away a step from her in shock, surprising Weiss with the reaction.
"Wha-"
"I'm sorry, but did you say Aargin?" the second man asked. "Aargin Pinder? The Diablerist?"
"Jarmak mentioned he had committed that crime, yes." Weiss looked over the three, who were now looking towards each other for answers. "What do you know about him?"
"Aargin…used to be one of the Kindred," the elf explained. "Years ago, he was just another vampire in Duskfall Haven."
"Something happened, though," the second picked up. "Most of us didn't even know what Diablerie was before then. All the ancient ones kept a tight lip on it. But Aargin learned about it, somehow, and went on a rampage. He drained three other vampires, one of them was one of Jarmak's old childers, pretty ancient herself. He must've felt it or something, because he went right for him after that and chased him off."
"It was something else," the other human commented. "He somehow got her ice powers and they were fighting inside of the frozen areas as much as the air. Eventually they disappeared, and Jarmak came limping back and had us start filling in gaps we once just iced over with stone. After that…" He rubbed his neck, looking off to the side.
"There's no shame in it," the elf assured them. "The Haven hired a vampire hunter. Had to do it through proxy. Couldn't even use a thrall, because any vampire hunter good enough to take down someone that could match Jarmak would've seen right through it. Kept getting word of the exploits, and we were starting to think Aargin would become unstoppable with all the bloodlines he was consuming. He even got some Whet-Fangs, which we didn't even think was possible. But then we didn't hear anything else for a while, figured he was dead, but then got confirmation a few months ago. That must've been…"
"Me," Weiss realized. "That vampire hunter…he managed to weaken him but died. Aargin was little more than a feral, shriveled up corpse." She reached up and rubbed her neck. "I…need to go speak to Jarmak." As she started to walk away, she paused and looked back to the trio. "Would you…happen to know what strain he was?"
The elf shrugged while the two men shook their heads. Weiss nodded and continued on, heading towards where she believed Jarmak would be. She found him in their training room, meditating in front of the memory fountain. As she entered, he looked at her and stood to his full height.
"Is everything all right?" he asked, noticing the unease in her body language.
"Aargin," she started, not entirely certain about where to begin. "He was here. He was one of you."
Jarmak blinked slowly, then nodded in confirmation.
"Yes," the High Elf admitted. "Aargin was once one of the Kindred. But no more."
"You said you didn't know him," she accused the elder vampire. Jarmak looked to the side and sighed.
"It…was true. I did not know him."
"He was here!" she insisted.
"As are over a hundred other vampires," he calmly explained. "I could remember maybe half their names right now. Perhaps if they were before me, I could put a name to each face, but I cannot know that many people. This isn't even taking into account the thralls and associates who I must deal with as well."
"You made it sound like he was just some common vampire that stumbled upon some dark secret. You never said you fought him or that it was you and your Kindred that sent that vampire hunter after him. The same vampire hunter whose brother sent me after him when I didn't even know what a vampire was! Which is why I became a vampire in the first place!"
For a second, Weiss saw a flash of teeth under Jarmak's hood. She stepped back, a tingle of fear running up her spine as his presence enveloped her own. Everything seemed to go quiet as she felt his power eclipse everything within the Haven. Then, just as suddenly, it was gone, and Jarmak held a look of shame upon his face.
"Maybe you are right," he agreed. "If anyone deserved to know… I just…feared what may come of it." He hummed and pulled back his hood. "You know the tale of the first vampire, Lamae Beolfag?"
Weiss swallowed before answering, "Yes. The priestess…raped by Molag Bal and left for dead."
"Others like her were made, both given and taken. Daughters of Coldharbour. You've even met one. None though, were like her. She was the very first." Jarmak hung his head and looked back at the memory fountain. "Do you know the bloodlines descended from her?"
"I… No," Weiss realized. "I don't. What are they?"
"Extinct," he answered. "The first three came from three of the men who she had violated after reawakening, taking them both in death and after, Lyrezi, Selenu, and Vraseth. The last bloodline, and the one she made with full intention, was known as the Scions. They were…unpopular to mortals and other vampires alike."
"Why would…other vampires hate them?" Weiss wondered. "Were they all…?"
"Diablerie was not known in Lamae's time. If it had been, she would have taken advantage of it. No, they were hated because they stood against Molag Bal himself, attacking those who worshipped him as much as they attacked mortals. Now, they only remain in Coldharbour, whether through second death, exile, or banishment. With…one notable exception." Jarmak looked back at Weiss, who blinked in surprise.
"What? You mean…?" She shook her head. "How? You said they were extinct."
"It was believed that they were. But…Aargin found something." Jarmak pulled a green line from his forehead and led to the basin. "I interviewed and mind-searched for information about him after his betrayal. I managed…to put the pieces together." The image of a man showed, looking somewhat like a Colovian with strong Nordic influences. "Aargin Pinder was once a member of a large family that had moved from Bruma to Falkreath, years before the Great War. They had ties running back to the Five Heroes, with some members having served as stewards over properties before the Empire reclaimed them for public use, often as museums."
The smiling man was then shown frowning, and red decorated the area around him as he seemed to shrink in fear. "Without warning, a massacre occurred. His family was slaughtered. Brothers, sisters, cousins, and more were killed, seemingly for no reason. He had talked about seeing even the bodies of children littering the ground as he tried to find a way to escape."
The man was shown running with a sword in hand, being stopped by some cloaked figure who crossed blades with him. "All he could recall was that they all wielded Akaviri katanas and wore robes. He managed to kill one and slip away, hoping that he would find the nearby town and safety, believing that any other survivors would flee there as well.
"He never made it."
A much clearer image now was seen, as Aargin walked through darkened woods, barely a sliver of each moon shining off to his left. "He shared this memory with…another, who shared it with me. As he was trying to find his way, something began to draw him in, pulling him towards an old cavern." Aargin seemed to veer off, looking towards something and squinting to see, barely noticing as he walked from out of a forest and into a cave mouth. "A vampire had set up there. She seemed especially skilled at illusion spells. Aargin felt a sense of comfort as he approached, walking right into her arms."
The vampire embraced him and sunk her teeth into his throat. Aargin screamed, which seemed to surprise her, and then he ran her through. The vampire screamed as she let go and clutched at the wound after pulling herself off of the blade, giving him time to swing his sword at her. She dodged out of the way of his first two attempts, but the wound made her stagger and ended up with him lopping off her head on his third. He yelled out and touched his bleeding neck, fear taking the place of rage as he realized what had happened. The infected man then staggered out of the cave and tried to find his way.
"He was lost in those woods for several days. After the third, he died. Some time later, he awoke within a grave that had been dug up for him, some hunters finding his body just too late to help him. They had been planning to bury him, and he knew what had happened. For a time, he tried to hide. But after several years of feeding on livestock and the occasional bandit, who he would kill afterwards to ensure no spread came from him, he came across one of our farms and was recognized. They brought him to us."
Weiss saw the man turned vampire being introduced to several others in the Haven. A golden-skinned hand came up and shook his own, before the view backed away.
"I met him then, but to me, he was but another lost vampire that had found his way to us. He genuinely wanted to do better and not be lost to the thirst. For a time, he seemed to fit in well enough, but soon found himself…isolated." Aargin was seated alone, looking at the other vampires who spoke among each other. "While we are one community, most feel more drawn to those of our bloodline. Quarra, Khulari, Garlythi,…Volkihar. But we also have traits that can be traced back in our bloodlines to help identify us. And, in our time here, we have made blood tests that can help us determine which one we are."
Aargin was shown adding a drop of his blood to a small, glass bowl similar to a petri dish. The mixture changed and then split into a rainbow of colors. Other vampires looked over it, comparing it to their own and shook their heads. The man looked disappointed, staring down sadly at his reflection.
"He eventually turned to a more mystical way to discover who he was. My…friend was there when he tried the ritual. He was looking for the Daughter of Coldharbour from which his bloodline had come from, which he believed would help him. She shared the memory with me, because what happened was unbelievable."
Aargin was doing something over a flaming brazier, but the flames jumped up at him, making him back away in fear. From the blazes an image of a woman appeared before him, grabbing all of his attention.
"The ritual was meant to give him a name, perhaps a face with it. But somehow, it had called her, Molag Bal's Unwilling Bride. The first vampire."
"My child," the ghostly image spoke softly, "I am Lamae Bal."
Jarmak cut off the memory, rubbing his face for a moment as he did. He looked back at Weiss, and she looked back to him.
"She told him how, didn't she?" Weiss guessed, earning a nod. "But why did he…?"
"To free her and the others," Jarmak explained. "With enough power, he could have torn open the gates of Oblivion. Not much. Just enough to let her and a host of Scions through. A host of…his bloodline." The ancient vampire closed his eyes and took a deep breath. "She promised him vengeance against all who had wronged him and a new family. The others tried to caution him, and I…believed he would not go to such lengths. I was wrong. And for that, I lost one of my oldest friends."
Weiss blinked, recalling what she had heard.
"Your childer?"
"No. She had come from somewhere else. Perhaps from someone else who ran from Harkon's court. Still, she had been here for a very long time. Aargin…had consumed two others before he took her. There was…nothing left." He looked up and across the room. "I could have killed him then. He did not have enough power to match me."
"Then, what happened?"
"As he was weakening, I heard her crying out." He breathed in through his nose and released it slowly. "I…hesitated. I couldn't bear the thought of hurting her. Too late, I realized that I had condemned her when I did not finish him off." He rubbed his eyes and sniffed before refocusing on Weiss.
"To commit Diablerie… It's more than stealing a soul from Molag Bal. It's more than taking all the power from another vampire. Those souls stay within. They do not simply disappear. Each one taken in must be…dominated. A vampire must have the willpower to hold dominion over each and every one that they take, or it will drive them into madness. Perhaps a stronger soul within may even take them over. Even as they live, they have to stamp out the will of every other vampire within them, becoming a prison for each soul they take for the rest of eternity. To do such a thing, to coldly dominate a soul and callously beat them down day after day? Ask yourself Weiss, what kind of monster can do such a thing? What kind of being can do that to another?"
Weiss had maybe a hundred words, but not one of them seemed to really encapsulate what kind of being they were talking about.
Lydia summoned her Semblance forth, moving the shield around with movements directed by her mind and hand, testing how fast she could get it around and how far away she could reach out with it.
"What do you think of the name 'Shield of the Red Rose'?" she asked her Thane, who was munching on a sandwich. Ruby looked up and swallowed her bite before speaking.
"You mean your Semblance?"
"Yes. I thought that having a name for it would be good." Lydia then hummed in thought. "What do you call yours?"
"Uh, well, I never made up a name for it. Some folks just call it 'speed', while others called it a 'rose petal burst'. I just always thought of it as…my Semblance."
Lydia raised an eyebrow in amusement. "You mean you all came up with names for your weapons, and even for your armor in your case, but you didn't think to name your power unique to yourself and shared by no one else?"
"Uh…" Ruby drew a blank on that one. "…I guess? Oh, I know Weiss' Semblance is called "Glyphs"! Although that's probably because her Semblance is hereditary, so her family just ended up naming it after awhile."
"Wait, you mean it runs in her family?" Lydia's brow furrowed, "But I thought each Semblance is supposed to be unique?"
"Welllll I guess you could say that it's unique among Semblances by not being unique...if that makes sense."
Lydia chuckled and shook her head before re-summoning the shield. "Well, it's a bit of a mouthful. How about…Floating Guardian? Hm, no… Wing Shield? Nah, doesn't fit. Ah, how about…Banner Shield? Shield Banner?"
"Sounds more like something that would destroy shields," they heard Capric say before turning to see him. He looked at Lydia's Semblance with interest and nodded. "I'm honestly amazed. I always thought there was just something different about people born on Nirn, but I guess I wasn't trying hard enough and gave up too quickly. Would you mind if I talk to your Thane for a while, housecarl?" he asked the Nord while gesturing to Ruby. "It should only take a moment."
Lydia looked over and Ruby nodded. Lydia nodded back and collected herself.
"I'll be in the atrium," she said as she left the two alone. Ruby set her lunch on a plate and walked over to Capric.
"What's up? Can't be nothing on the dragons."
"No. Hm, somewhat?" Capric closed his eyes a moment and sighed. "It's more about…what you already did. You received my letter about the dragon harrowing the White Shore?"
"Horvutokinah," Ruby recalled. "Yeah, we were at Rorickstead, but we got a couple of teleportation scrolls to take us to Whiterun and we rushed from there."
"Yes, but that's the thing. I had asked that you come and find me so that I could assist you. I knew that dragon was planning something and, from what you told us, I was right."
"Well, it turned out okay in the end," Ruby argued. "We beat him and the Dragon Priest."
"Yes, specifically because your housecarl unlocked her Aura at the exact right moment and her Semblance happened to be just the kind needed for the situation. If she hadn't or her Semblance turned out to be something entirely different, she may have died right then and you would have faced Horvutokinah alone." Ruby balked and made to object, but stopped when she recalled how his Burning Light had reduced Krosis to ash and turned his armor to slag. Only the mask, a dragon-made artifact, came out unharmed. "Could you have taken him on alone?"
"M- maybe." Lydia's death wasn't something she wanted to consider, but the possibility that it could have occurred then was too real.
"Distraught at the death of a friend and already tired from fighting so far?"
"Maybe," she quietly insisted. Capric tried to meet her gaze, and she looked away. The elven Faunus sighed and scratched the back of his neck.
"Look, Ruby. I'm not trying to berate you. I just want you to keep in mind that I'm here to help. If helping you means me teleporting to the middle of Windhelm to fight off a dragon you and your allies can't quite handle, then I'll do it." As she looked back up, he smirked. "I'll have to leave my work uniform at home, but I'd help."
Ruby chuckled at that, and Capric moved over to sit on the edge of his porch. She went back to her earlier seat and sat down as he got comfortable, and the two looked out across the river.
"Thanks, Cap," she said to him before picking her sandwich back up. "You're pretty cool for a Thalmor."
"I suppose it's not a high bar in Skyrim." He looked up and took in a deep breath. "Tell me Ruby, do you know what's a very common trait across man, mer, and even Faunus?"
The Dragonborn tried to think it over while chewing her bite. She ignored the more obvious things like two eyes, two arms, or two legs, but nothing she could think of veered off much further than that.
"We…stand up straight?"
Capric grinned and shook his head. "We all cry as babies."
That certainly caught Ruby off-guard. "How's that… I mean, how does crying make us similar?"
"Think of all the other animals in the world and how their own babies function. Creatures like horses can run within hours after being born. Some are camouflaged, others stick out so that their parents can find them. Kittens and puppies are small and blind, but don't move much, and even when they make noise, it's so that they can picked out of the litter. Our races however, cry out about everything. We cry…so that our elders can know that something is wrong. Do you know what that means?" At the shaking of Ruby's head, he continued, "Before we learn to talk, walk, or even have the strength to hold up our own heads, our most basic instinct is to cry out for help." His smile deepened.
"That's what we are," he explained. "We are creatures who survive by helping one another." He looked back at Ruby. "So, all I'm asking is that we work to help each other."
Ruby took it all in and nodded, a smile stretching over her own face.
Yang cracked her knuckles as they all looked over the map and the plan set out above it with wood-carved pieces. The Dawnguard symbol was carved into several, most of them set on the location of the fort. Others were painted red, representing suspected vampire locations. A new one had been made for the occasion, a moth carved into its top, only it was off to the side.
"Okay," she started. "Right now, we've got next to no idea where our mothy friend is. I've got some contacts who I can instantly communicate with, so they'll let me know if anything turns up. In the meantime, we've got some vampires rearing their heads and Sorine thinks she knows how to improve the design of the crossbows with some old Dwemer schematics. You said Broken Helm Hollow?"
"Yep. At least, that's what I heard."
"Good, good. I've actually been there before. I can be there and back like that," she said with a snap for emphasis.
"There's the matter of a vampire showing itself near that new settlement, Onsen," Isran explained next. "Seems to be turning people rapidly. Possibly trying to build an army. It has to be stopped."
"Yeah, seems a bit imperative," Yang figured. "I can always swing around. Maybe the dragon Vulgahrotru can help out there? Probably doesn't like vampires messing with the flow of business."
"I can head them off," Yngvarr inserted. "Gunmar's already got one of those trolls trained. Apparently, the man just had one around, trained to wait and fight on command. Don't know how you did it, my friend."
"Coming from the guy with a pet bear," Serana muttered from her shadowy corner.
"Well, if you can." Yang turned to look at the lone elf among them. "Rumarin, wanna back him up or head out with me?"
"Sorry, Yngvarr," the elf apologized to the werebear. "But between fighting an army of vampires and finding some notes in a cave, I think I'll take the notes. Besides, I might just slow you down."
"Oh, so you'll slow me down?" Yang teased him.
"Honestly, you need to slow down sometimes."
"Save the banter for later," Isran said. "Yang, how 'instant' is your communication with your friends?"
Yang took out her scroll and called up Ruby while staring Isran straight in the eyes. "Hey sis, how are ya? Where you at?"
"Hey, Yang. Uh, still outside of Solitude. Lydia and I were about to pack up and head over to Berk," Ruby's voice answered over the speaker, not seeing how the entirety of the Dawnguard's attention was focused squarely on her.
"Berg," Lydia corrected her from a distance. "Seriously, my Thane? That one wasn't even difficult."
Ruby chuckled. "I did that one on purpose to mess with her. Oh, cool thing! Did you know Harpy feathers are naturally magical? It's how they can fly even though their wings aren't nearly big enough to lift something of their weight. Vertina gave me some and I stitched them to my armor, and now it's a bit lighter."
"Oh, that is cool. You'll have to tell me more about it later. I was just giving these guys an example of how fast we can communicate."
"Oh. Vampire hunter guys?"
"Vampire hunter guys," Yang confirmed.
"That's cool. Tell 'em to keep up the good work but not to go crazy with it."
"They read you loud and clear. Love ya, Rubes."
"Love you, too. Bye."
She hung up and saw Sorine staring at her scroll in wonder while Isran stroked his chin. From the look in his eyes, his thoughts were racing a mile-a-minute about the potential use of such technology, then quickly came to a decision.
"Where can we get something like that for the Dawnguard?" he asked. Yang nodded, having expected this response.
"It'll take a bit. They're pretty expensive to make, and the ones we've been putting together are bigger than this."
"Write up a bill, then," Isran replied immediately. "We could use it. Knowing where your men are on the battlefield at any given moment is an asset that cannot be overlooked."
"Sure. I can even put in the order with the College of Winterhold if you'd like. Quickest way to get it at the moment, since my friends are on the other side of the country right now."
"Good." Isran looked back at the map and nodded. "We have our missions for now. Everyone, rest up and head out the moment you're able."
The gathered group began to disperse, but Yang went over to Isran and caught his attention.
"Hey, there's something I've been meaning to ask you," she started.
"What is it?" he demanded gruffly. Yang, by now used to that aspect of him, took it in stride.
"About when we entered," she clarified. "You had that thing shining down on us to check if we were vampires. Just…what would you have done if one of the other two turned out to be vampires?"
"You probably think I would've had them killed then and there, right?" Yang didn't answer, figuring it was rhetorical. "Well, that would've depended on their next action. I would've offered a cure, and see if they take it."
That surprised Yang. She looked at him in shock for what felt like a solid minute.
"Did you say…a cure?" she asked incredulously.
"Surprised?" He laughed mirthlessly. "Yes, there's a cure. An old associate of mine discovered it. Works with any strain, but there is a cost to it."
"Oh my god! Who?! Where?!" she shouted, causing Isran to back away from her and grimace.
"Calm down," he demanded. "Stendarr's mercy! Why do you want… Oh, I see. You want someone to be cured."
"Yeah, no shit. Now where is this guy?"
"Morthal. He's an alchemist who goes by the name of Falion."
"Falion?" Yang almost felt embarrassed. "Geez, I've been through Morthal a dozen times. I'm a Thane there. Heh, I guess this means he's the opposite of what everyone accuses him of being."
"Don't be so sure," Isran warned her. "He discovered this ritual as a result of nearly going into necromancy. He stopped himself from going too far, and I'm not bragging when I say I helped there, but this ritual skirts on the edges of the profane. It's still bringing the dead back to life, in a way, after all."
"Hey, as long as we don't have to sacrifice a little kid or something like that." Yang took a deep breath. "All right. I need to go make a call."
"Don't go spreading this too far," Isran warned her before she could take off. "There are those who believe vampires should have no chance at returning to life on both sides. Some of them will go to great lengths to ensure that Falion's work can't be continued."
"Hey, I can keep a secret," Yang assured him. "You only figured out a bit of one because of the situation."
"Yes… Which only brings up many more questions about you."
"Sorry dude, but…secrets." Yang shrugged and walked away, taking out her scroll when she figured she was far enough from anyone who could listen in.
"Hey, Weiss? Yeah, listen," she whispered. "I think I've found a cure."