Windhelm, Skyrim…
Arlene and Jenassa crouched beside one another, quietly watching the entrance of the Temple of Talos. Clad in Thieves Guild leathers, the two elves blended into the shadows of the alleyway they spent the last few hours observing their mark from. And unfortunately for them, rising tensions from the Civil War and the presence of Aldmeri Justicars in Skyrim had caused the town to bolster their defenses around the hero-god of mankind's temple. Now, two guards covered every door into the structure with constant patrols around the perimeter, making it almost impossible for them to sneak in.
"I told you this contract was a bad idea." Jenassa whispered to her benefactor. "There's no way we can get in there undetected."
Unfortunately for Arlene, she had to agree with Jenassa's assessment. The guards were just too numerous for stealth infiltration. They had to figure out another way in. From their hiding spot in the alleyway, Arlene's eyes flicked over the temple's entrance, where she saw Jora Wing-Wish, the wife of the head priest, exit. She was wearing plain, hooded yellow robes that were common amongst the pilgrims and holy people of Skyrim. Robes which were common enough that they had to be easily purchasable.
"I have an idea." Arlene said with a small grin.
Not bothering to answer Jenassa's confused questions, Arlene immediately made her way to Windhelm's marketplace. First she went to the merchant Aval Atheron, a Dunmer who was both a pawnbroker and butcher, strangely enough. Turning up her charm and slightly undoing the top buttons of her leather jacket, Arlene more than easily distracted the man as she stealthily slipped a set of yellow robes off his stand.
Clothing now in hand, she then went to the White Phial, a local alchemical shop, where she purchased a plethora of perfumes and make ups. She then returned to the hiding spot the two thieves set up in an abandoned home within Windhelm's Grey Quarter. In Windhelm, no one would question the appearance of two more knife-ears in the city's slum.
When Jenassa saw all of these in Arlene's hands she said, "Sera, by the looks of it you're going to spend more money than we'll earn from this job."
Arlene rolled her eyes. "Don't worry, I only paid for half of this."
With a careful application of charcoal, make-up, and hair dye, Arlene turned her purchases into a veritable disguise kit, taking on an extremely convincing appearance of a Dark Elf. "So, what do you think?" She grinned at her partner.
Jenassa, the actual Dark Elf, looked at Arlene with a bewildered gaze. "It's good, but I feel like I should be insulted."
Arlene shrugged. "Probably. But that's not the point. Would anyone who sees this recognize me from my actual appearance?"
Narrowing her eyes, Jenassa looked Arlene up and down, scrutinizing every detail. "To be honest, an elf or someone with an extremely keen eye may be able to tell, but to most humans? Especially the bigotted kind here? They'll just see you the same as every other Dunmer in this accursed city."
Arlene's grin grew wider. "Perfect." She then applied a generous amount of lilac perfume as she slipped on the plain robes and said, "Well wish me luck. At the end of today, I'll either have our prize, or be in jail. If it's the latter, do try and break me out dear?" Arlene blinked innocently at Jenassa.
The Dunmer rolled her eyes. "It's my job to keep you out of trouble."
"I'll take that as a yes." Arlene then threw the yellow hood over her head and exited the building.
Arlene almost became a different person as she walked through the Grey Quarter. Where she normally moved with either unabashed confidence or with a rogue's stealthiness, now she moved with the slow, monotonous steps of a holy person. Taking on the persona of a pilgrim wanderer, Arlene slowly approached the doors to the Temple of Talos.
Arlene thought the temple was a humble shrine for the arguably most important god of the Nord's pantheon. It was a simple, stout, two story stone building in a rectangular shape, decorated only with a few eroded stone statues that looked like eagles or dragons. All in all, it was a far cry from the grand temples the Altmer made to their Auriel, or the Dunmer to Azura. There was a single, wooden door on its face, flanked by two burning braziers, next to which two blue-clad Stormcloak guards stood sentry.
As she approached she subtly gestured with her fingers, silently casting the spell Fortify Personality, taught to her by Brynjolf. It was an old spell, not taught in many magic schools any more, which as the name implied, empowered the caster's natural charisma and personality. This made others more likely to listen to the suggestions and deceptions of the caster, a necessary skill for thieves who preferred con artistry and snake oil sales to pickpocketing and burglary.
When Arlene drew closer, the Stormcloaks took note of her presence, standing straighter as they moved to intercept her.
"Hold it elf." The first guard said, holding out a hand in front of her, his voice openly hostile. "What business do you have at the temple?"
Putting on her best pious woman impression, Arlene spoke softly, almost alluringly with its innocence. "Please, sir guard. I know the people of Skyrim do not look kindly on mine, but I am only here to learn of the Nine Divines. My name is Evessa, and I wish to enter so I may dispel my ignorance of the god Talos." Arlene clasped her hands together in a prayer pose, at the same time tucking her elbows close to her chest, pushing her small breasts forward. The action, combined with her partially open robes and a generous amount of makeup and shading, instantly drew the guard's attention downwards.
The guard cleared his throat, shoving away any flustered feelings as he leaned forward. "Aye, I can respect that lass. But uh…" He looked Arlene up and down. "Why don't you try a little harder to convince me to let you by?" His hungry tone immediately told Arlene what he wanted in payment for passage.
Arlene had to resist the urge to reach for her hidden knife and she attempted to keep her face the picture of serenity. "I am sorry, sir guard, I am but a humble pilgrim and do not have much in terms of gold. But perhaps I could pray for your soul in the temple, so Talos may judge you worthy of Sovngarde in the next life."
Her mention of the Nordic afterlife of heroes caused the guard to wince a bit. At this point, the second guard intervened.
"Come off it Bjorn. If the she-elf wants to pray to Ysmir, let her pray." He said, tired of his companion's actions.
Bjorn glared at his partner, then at Arlene, before he finally shook his head. "Fine. Head on in, but don't cause no trouble, you hear?"
Arlene graciously bowed her head. "I wouldn't dream of it, sir guard." She then hurriedly skittered her way into the temple.
The Temple of Talos was as plain on the inside as it was on the out, with only a few rows of pews lining the great hall, and a large stone statue of the Man-God at the opposite end of the building. In the inside, there was only one man, the older, black robed Lortheim, the head priest of Talos in Windhelm.
The priest grilled Arlene the same questions the guard Bjorn asked her outside, suspicious of her presence. Arlene answered with the same meek deference and modesty that had convinced the guard to let her in. Eventually, through both Arlene's natural persuasive skills, the personality enhancing magic, and a little bit of cleavage, Lortheim was convinced of Arlene's intentions. An older man, Lortheim was more than happy to bring Arlene under his staff, as both he and his wife were getting older and having a young, attractive woman in his conclave to handle the manual labor in the temple was a godsend.
Lortheim immediately put Arlene, or Evessa, to work, cleaning out the pews and dusting the shrines. It was during this period of hard work that Arlene saw her goal, a silver statue of Talos himself, placed beneath the main stone statue. Arlene had to resist the urge to grin. She'd continue to work for the next few hours, and when Lortheim and his wife Jora went to bed, she'd make her move.
When the old couple retired for the night, giving Arlene instructions to lock up once she finished her chores, Arlene made her move. Casting Muffle on herself to cancel out any noise she made, Arlene quickly made her way to the silver statue. Gently plucking the statue up, she slipped it into her pack. As she did so however, her sixth sense couldn't help but feel a gaze upon her.
Glancing up, she saw the statue of Talos towering above her, blade piercing a serpent, looking down disapprovingly at her. Arlene glared back at the stone idol, feeling a surge of defiance and anger well within her.
"Not every Dragonborn gets to be a general or an Emperor." She hissed out beneath her breath before she stole away in the night.
Waiting for a gap in the guard rotation, Arlene walked out of the Temple of Talos and made her way to the abandoned home she and Jenassa had made their temporary base.
When Arlene showed her companion the pilfered statue, Jenassa gave a low whistle. "You know, I didn't think that just walking through the front door and taking the statue would work."
Arlene gave her a sly grin. "There are many types of thieves. I got this particular idea from Brynjolf's performance in Riften, the one where I messed with Madesi and Brand-shei. A silver tongue works just as well as deft fingers, in more ways than one." She then gave Jenassa a wink.
The Dark Elf rolled her eyes. "Right. Well then, we should get going. We don't want to be in the city when the theft gets reported. I'd rather not become known as the second fleet footed."
Arlene chuckled. "Aye. And Vex would never let us hear the end of it if we bungled this burglary job." Arlene then stood and together they made for the door, disappearing into the chilly Skyrim night.
The ride back Riften wasn't a long one, but it wasn't as swift as it should've been. As Arlene and Jenassa rode through the geyser filled volcanic tundra of Eastmarch, a skirmish between local Stormcloaks and an Imperial Legion scouting force from Falkreath closed the roads to the Rift. The two of them were forced to detour far to the East in order to avoid getting dragged into the conflict.
After several days of riding, the duo returned to Riften in the middle of the night, and after stabling their horses made their way to the Ragged Flagon. Upon entering the ill-reputed tavern, Arlene found that the establishment was unusually busy with a larger than normal amount of thieves and rogues populating it.
Before Arlene turned her score in to Vex, she found Brynjolf skulking about in the Flaggon's cistern. "Brynjolf!" She shouted out, getting his attention.
The red-headed Nord looked at Arlene, and a bright smile appeared on his face. "Lass, you're back! How was Whiterun? I heard Honningbrew Meadery has found itself in quite a lot of trouble with the local guard. How unfortunate for Sabjorn."
Brynjolf was referring to the previous job Arlene had performed for the Guild, going to the Honningbrew Meadery in Whiterun to sabotage the business for Maven Black-Briar. On the way back, Arlene decided to detour by Windhelm and complete a burglary contract for Vex as well.
Arlene grinned. "But how fortunate for Maven. And Whiterun was nice. It was nice to visit home for a bit, got a contract from the Companions to find another fragment of Wuuthrad. Unfortunately, I found something else as well. The same symbol from Goldenglow was also at Honningbrew."
"That's more than just a coincidence." The smile fell off of Brynjolf's face. "Someone is trying to take us down by driving a wedge between us and Maven."
"Unfortunate. For them I mean." Arlene shrugged. "Any plan on how to retaliate?"
"With this, Mercer may have a lead on how to track down our assailant. You should go talk to-"
"INTRUDERS!" An alarmed shout interrupted their conversation.
The heads of every thief in the cistern turned to the Flaggon's main entrance at the call. And amongst their number were two specific reactions. Roughly half grabbed their knives, shortswords, and bows and ran right for the entrance, while the rest practically vanished from sight.
Arlene, Jenassa, and Brynjolf were all part of the former group and they drew their weapons and moved to the entrance. Once there, they found a chaotic scene as members of the Thieves Guild fought in brutal close quarters combat with a group of familiar, black leather clad vampires.
Biting back a curse, Arlene leapt into the fray, charging an orcish vampire who was attempting to suck the life from the thief Sapphire with his Vampiric Drain spell. Knowing she was fighting vampires, Arlene drew a silver dagger that she kept from one of her raids against the Silver Hand. The weapon burned in Arlene's palm, but she ignored the pain and slashed it across the orc vampire's forearm, interrupting the spell.
The orc recoiled from the attack, his skin burning from the silver, as the vitriolic Sapphire let out her own snarl of anger, joining Arlene in her assault. Seeing the two women approach, the orc vampire swung his steel sword at Arlene. But the attack was interrupted by Sapphire, who blocked it with her own dagger before grabbing onto the orc's arm. His weapon arm temporarily disable, Arlene moved in and sunk her silver dagger into the side of the orc Vampire. He howled so loud that it hurt Arlene's hearing, entering a state of berserk fury as he flung Sapphire off of him with a swing of his arm.
But Arlene did not relent. Gripping onto the Vampire with her own lycanthropic strength, Arlene kept repeatedly stabbing him with her silver blade. Arlene ignored the savage blows he rained down on her, the orc beating her down with his bare hands as sharpened talon-like fingernails tore through her armor. Unfortunately for the orc, Arlene's silver dagger did more damage to the orc than his claws could do to her, and within seconds the orc collapsed into a pile of ashes.
Arlene almost fell to her knees when the vampire disintegrated, having put most of her weight onto him as she grappled and stabbed him. She was caught by Sapphire, and the two traded respectful nods as Arlene took in the rest of the scene around them. The battle was dying down, the thieves coming out victorious over the vampires, but not without casualties. Several thieves, rogues whom Arlene had not been able to get the names of lay dead, scattered across the Flagon's walkways or within the sewers itself.
She even caught a glimpse of Mercer Frey, the Guild's current master, as he slayed the last of the vampires. The man was a whirling dervish, flowing between the undead as his two obviously enchanted swords cut them apart. One of which, a glowing glass sword, even seemed to paralyze one of the vampires before Mercer's offhand weapon, a glowing dwarven sword, pierced it through its heart and seemed to drain the very life from it.
"By Nocturnal's tits where the bloody Oblivion did all of these bastards come from?" The gruff voice of Delvin Mallory spat out as he wiped off blood from his dagger.
"Vampires. Damn vampires." Brynjolf muttered as well. "As if our luck has been bad enough as it is, now we have to deal with vampire attacks?" Brynjolf's complaints seemed to strike a chord with several of the members as they all joined in the grumbling.
"Enough!" Mercer Frey shouted, silencing the talk. "We were attacked by vampires, yes, but the shadows are our domain! Not theirs! Now before we get this place cleaned up, does anyone have any ideas on how to deal with this problem?"
Arlene waved her dagger at the guild master. "Silver weapons. Outside of anything magical, silver is the best thing to handle the undead."
Mercer nodded at her. "Anyone else?"
"The Dawnguard is setting up just Northeast of town, up in the Velothi mountains." Vex added on. "We could send someone there to get some help."
"Also good." Mercer said, before he looked back at Arlene. "You. After your success at Honningbrew, I was going to send you to Solitude for your next job. But before you go there, I want you to meet up with these Dawnguard fellows. See if they can't help shore up our headquarters against any more vampire attacks."
Arlene was about to open her mouth to protest, when her mind caught up with her first. These vampires really were becoming a problem, after all this was the second time they tried to kill her. It wasn't the worst idea to get some help from some professionals in that regard. And a trip to Solitude afterwards could be fun, maybe she could hit up Hadvar if he was still there. Not to mention the path to Solitude would take her near the ruins where the next fragment of Wuuthrad was. All in all, all of these jobs were lining up perfectly for Arlene.
"Understood." Arlene slightly bowed her head, earning a satisfied nod from Mercer. She then turned to Jenassa and said, "So, you ever want to go vampire hunting?"
The wilderness of Anima, present day…
Riding on the back of Shadowmere, which Arlene was thankful she could still summon, Arlene made her way to the village of Shion. Shion was one of Mitral's many outlying villages, kept safe by roaming Mistrali huntsmen and the Mistrali police force which could rapidly respond with their fleet of swift, boat-like airships. The advent of the Cross-Continental Transmit System allowed these villages to settle further and further from the main kingdom of Mistral while still being able to call for aid against problems any local militia or police force couldn't handle.
This system of rapid communication is also what Spider piggy-backed on to keep their flow of information up to date. Lil' Miss' spies had gotten word to them that the Branwen Tribe had set up somewhere in the forests outside of Shion, demanding tribute from the villages nearby. Arlene figured she only had a few days at most to get to Shion and find the Branwen Tribe before they left, having either successfully extorting the villages, or raiding and looting them if they refused.
Arlene shook her head, envious of the technology. If she had such a thing in Tamriel, she could've commanded all of her various organizations across the continent without leaving Skyrim. Instead of going to each kingdom and taking command locally, she could've coordinated her efforts in Hammerfell, Elsweyr, and Valenwood all at once as she could both distribute orders and receive intelligence in an instant. Even if only Legion commanders had access to it, the ability to rapidly communicate and coordinate in battle was just as, if not more important than the quality of one's troops.
Back in Tamriel, if she were looking for the Branwens, it would've taken days if not weeks for the knowledge of the destroyed village to reach her ears, and she'd then have to take a party of scouts to try and pick up their trail. Sure she had magic to augment the search, but that couldn't be wholly relied on as mages who could perform such scrying and tracking magics were few and far between. Here in Remnant however, she could act on the intelligence received immediately, and hopefully find the Branwens before they went to ground.
The village of Shion itself was something of a long trip from Mistral. For anyone else it would've taken a week of riding to reach it. For Arlene it took three. And such a ride was only possible because Shadowmere was a magical horse who didn't tire, and Arlene could easily avoid the gaze of any wandering Grimm through her Illusion magick.
When Arlene arrived in the village of Shion proper that evening, she found a tense atmosphere. The town itself was rather large, with dozens of two and three story buildings, all built in the same Akaviri style architecture that Mistral had. She could see scared villagers popping in and out of the windows of their homes, peeking at her as she rode into town. The tension and unease weighed heavily, and would no doubt start attracting Grimm soon should the situation not resolve itself.
Meanwhile the local guard, a measly militia of half a dozen soldiers, were immediately on alert as Arlene rode closer. A young man with shortcut brown hair and a breastplate over his chest approached Arlene first. With the way he held himself, with confidence and stoic determination, Arlene immediately pegged him as the leader, and most likely a Huntsman.
"Halt, stranger." The young man said, holding out a hand. Arlene obliged. "You've come to Shion at a bad time. What purpose do you have here?"
Dismounting Shadowmere, Arlene pulled off the hood of her red and black Ancient Shrouded Armor, revealing the pale, purple skin and red eyes of a Dunmer. "The Branwens. I heard they're in town, and I'm after their bounties." Arlene spoke with a low, rough, husky voice of a Dark Elf. A far cry from her normal, almost melodic timbre.
The young man's eyes went wide for a bit. "Well I'll be, I've never seen a Faunus as… well like you before." He coughed when he realized how rude he sounded. "Sorry 'bout that. Where's my manners? The name's Dryad. Dryad Bark. Huntsman and head of the Shion militia." He then held out his hand.
Arlene nodded her head and shook his hand. "Evessa." she tersely replied. "Bounty hunter."
Dryad nodded in return. "Yeah I guessed that much. Not to be rude, but you must be either a real brave, or real dumb bounty hunter if you think you can take on the Branwens."
Shrugging, Arlene crossed her arms. "I've taken on some real scumbags out in Vacuo. I'm not scared of some bandits."
Dryad winced. "So you're new to these parts. Look, the Branwens aren't just another group of thugs like they got in Vacuo. Their leader, Raven, is one tough lady."
"So am I." Arlene grunted in response. "And you look like you could use the help, so I wouldn't suggest turning me away. What info do you have?"
Seeing he couldn't dissuade the Faunus bounty hunter, Dryad only sighed, turned around, and waved for Arlene to follow as he began walking. They moved to the most fortified building in the town, no doubt their barracks, a heavy, octagonal stone building with a watchtower on its top.
Dryad didn't bring her inside, but instead had one of his men bring out a map. It was a detailed map of Shion and the local area, far more in depth than what was available in Mistral.
"There aren't many places the Branwens can be hiding. The mountains to the North of the village are too inhospitable for even them, while the East goes to Higanbana, and is better patrolled. That leaves the Hinoki forest to the West and South." Dryad explained. He then circled a portion of the map on where he believed the bandits were hiding. "We had an airship do some scouting, but we only have the one, and don't want to send it in too deep where it might get shot down."
Arlene nodded her head. "So you know where they are. Why haven't you taken the fight to them yet?"
Dryad looked at Arlene like she was crazy. "Well, a lot of reasons. One, the Branwens have been rather cordial thus far. Sure they're asking for money, but they haven't started pillaging yet. We throw the first punch and they start burning the village down. Two, we don't have the men to force them out. In terms of fighters, they must outnumber us three to one." Dryad shook his head. "No, trying to take them on is foolhardy."
"Have you called for aid?" Arlene asked, despite the fact that she could guess the answer.
"We did, but the other villages don't want to risk their men to defend a town that isn't theirs. Haven Academy said they're going to send a team of Huntsmen to try and help us, but we haven't seen hide nor hair of them yet." Dryad sighed. "No, I think we're on our own for this one."
"Not quite." Arlene then took the map and rolled it up. "Because I'm here now. How much are the bandits asking for?"
"100,000 Lien." Dryad grumbled. "Not the worst amount, and something the village could scrape together, but it'll set us back."
Arlene nodded. "I see. Well how about this. If I can get this little Branwen problem to go away, you give me say… 20,000 lien on my return as a reward."
Dryad's jaw dropped, staring at Arlene like she just started speaking Atlesian. "Are you serious?" He eventually had the wit to say.
"Nothing but." Arlene bluntly responded. She wanted to throw in some cocky taunts, to show Dryad how blase she was about the Branwens and how easily she believed she could handle it. But that's what Arlene the Dragonborn would do, not Evessa the bounty hunter. "I doubt I can take them all down, but I think I can convince them to leave."
Dryad stared at Arlene for a good, long while. Eventually he shook his head and said, "By the Brothers you're serious. Look, if you want to go throw your life away, be my guest. But if by some miracle you do get them to skedaddle, I think the villagers would be happy to throw something your way."
"20,000 somethings?" Arlene raised a brow.
Dryad sighed. "Alright damn it. 20,000 Lien if you clear those bandits out. But if you get caught, we're not coming to save you."
Shrugging, Arlene turned around and made her way back to Shadowmere. "I wouldn't expect otherwise." She then mounted her demonic horse. "What you should expect, is news about me by the morning."
"I'll be sure an empty grave is ready." Dryad dryly replied. "But besides that, good luck Evessa."
With a slight nod, Arlene then took off to the West. Once she was out of sight of the town, Arlene dispelled her disguise. While not an exact location, Dryad had given her a smaller area to check, and with her skills she would find the Branwen camp within a few hours. And within a few hours, she did. To Arlene's surprise, the Branwens weren't even really trying to hide. They had multiple campfires going, which in the night sky advertised their locations like a damned lighthouse.
Foolishness, Arlene thought. Either these Branwens were too dumb to know how to properly conceal their camp, or too overconfident in their ability to weather any attack. Either way, a terrible mistake on their part.
When she found the Branwen's camp, Arlene couldn't help but be reminded of the Orc Strongholds of her world. The camp was surrounded by tall, wooden walls carved out the trunks of nearby trees, and within were a variety of tents, yurts, and carts which emphasized their nomadic lifestyle. The trees were local, and probably not hard to cut down and set up if multiple of the tribe's members had Aura.
The wall had a single, large wooden gate where three bandits were standing guard. Killing them all and walking through would've been easy for Arlene, same with just sneaking in. But obliterating a bandit camp wasn't what she was here for. A mere 20,000 Lien reward for slaughtering the Branwens was worth far less than what she could possibly get here.
So instead, she chose to go with the diplomatic approach. Slowly, Arlene trotted Shadowmere to the camp's main gate, immediately drawing the attention of the guards. There were three of them, two men and a woman. One of the men, a shorter man with a blonde mullet and leather vest, seemed to be the leader of the pack as he walked up to Arlene, drawing a revolver. Behind him, his two companions raised rifles and took aim at Arlene as well.
"Who the Hell are you?" the blonde man asked, gun trained on Arlene's head.
Arlene rolled her eyes. She may have been here for diplomacy, but she wasn't going to waste her breath on the fool before her.
"Take me to Raven." Arlene commanded, her voice dripping with vampiric magic.
Almost immediately, Arlene's spell enthralled the guards, and they dumbly opened the gate for her. Trotting Shadowmere forward, the blonde man began leading Arlene forward towards the largest tent in the camp while the two other guards fell in step behind her. As soon as she entered, all eyes were on her. Dozens of bandits all turned from whatever inane tasks they were doing to watch her enter. Not only was this unknown stranger riding into their camp not a prisoner, the sheer nonchalance that Arlene rode forward with immediately made them suspicious.
Soon enough, the entirety of the camp surrounded her horse as the blondie led her to the largest tent. There they waited for a few seconds, until the flaps moved, and Raven Branwen came out. Raven wasn't a tall woman, wearing a red and black shirt and matching black skirt, atop of which were some Akaviri-style armored gauntlets. She looked like an incredibly pale woman, from what Arlene could see of her things between her skirt and high-cut boots. On her head was a wild mane of flowing black hair, and an inhuman-looking facemask. It was bone white with red markings, not unlike the creatures of Grimm, with four narrow eye slots designed to make it look intimidating.
"Shay. Who is this woman you've let into my camp?" Raven spoke, her voice low but carrying authority. Her voice wasn't hostile, yet, but carried an almost amused, curious tone.
Blondie, Shay apparently, opened his mouth to say something, but Arlene decided to take the initiative.
"My name is Arlene Volkihar." She said dismounting her horse and pulling off the hood of her Ancient Shrouded Armor. "And I am here to speak with you."
"Volkihar?" A new voice spoke, coming out from behind Raven. Out of the main tent, another woman exited. This one a young woman with tan skin, short cut brown hair, and vest worn over a torn white t-shirt. "Raven, that's the name of Ozpin's latest hire."
Raven turned her head slightly at the newcomer, then back at Arlene. "Indeed?"
To the surprise of those around her, Arlene nodded her head. "Yep. Started teaching at Beacon a few months ago. But I'm not here because of him, if that's what you're wondering."
Raven paused to stare at Arlene. "Then what are you here for?"
Arlene grinned. "Negotiations. I have a job offer for you and your people."
"My people aren't and I aren't interested." Raven coldly said as she turned around. "Take her down and put her in a cage. Maybe we can sell her back to Ozpin for some money."
"Are you sure you want to do that?" Arlene said through her grin. "I mean sure, your men can attack, I'll slaughter maybe half of them, then you step in, we fight, I beat you, and then we talk. But I'd rather not waste the time nor the lives of your people like that."
Raven paused, and looked back at Arlene. "You're a cocky one, aren't you?"
"I'm a little more than just cocky, darling." As Arlene said this, she drew upon her knowledge of Destruction magic and cast Flame Cloak, surrounding herself in a full inferno.
The bandits around her stepped back in surprise, while the woman next to Raven felt her jaw drop. Raven herself was hard to read behind her mask, but had also frozen place.
Arlene then dispelled the Flame Cloak and said, "And no, that wasn't my Semblance."
There was silence in the camp as all of the members watched with bated breath at what their leader was going to do in response. Raven meanwhile, just continued to stare at Arlene, her brain no doubt trying to come up with some kind of response. It was the young woman beside her who moved first. The young woman jumped between Raven and Arlene, hands raised, as if ready to cast a spell.
"Vernal!" Raven snapped, causing the girl to jump. Slowly, Vernal lowered her hands and turned to face her leader. "There's no need."
"Careful with the nerves there, girl." Arlene added on. "You shouldn't be so eager to pick a fight with someone who's power you don't know."
Vernal's eyes narrowed on Arlene. "I know more than enough about your kind of power."
Arlene cocked an eyebrow at the young woman.
"Enough." Raven scolded Vernal again. She then looked at Arlene. "Come inside, we should talk." She then turned back around and made her way inside of her tent.
All around Arlene, the Branwen bandits dispersed, returning to their tasks as Arlene walked forward and into Raven's tent.
Raven's tent was quaint, Arlene would give her that. There was a lot of carpet laid out on the ground to make it comfortable to sit or kneel on, and a small coffee table in the center with some seated cushions. There were some decorative amenities here, an old grandfather clock, a map of Remnant, as well as a large treasure chest no doubt filled with the spoils of Raven's raids.
Raven sat on her own pillow and gestured for Arlene to join, which the vampire did so. A few moments later, Vernal walked in with a blue and white tea set, which she placed on the coffee table and poured out.
When Vernal was done, Raven said to her, "You can go now."
Vernal looked to Raven, before sneaking a suspicious glance at Arlene. Arlene waved back at her. Sighing Vernal nodded her head and exited the tent.
"Nice girl." Arlene commented. "Loyal to a fault."
Before responding, Raven took off her Grimm mask, revealing the face of a strikingly beautiful woman, who looked like an almost exact, albeit older, palette swapped copy of Yang.
"She is." Raven responded, grabbing her tea and sipping it. "But sometimes a little too zealous at her duty."
Arlene didn't respond as she kept staring at Raven's face, caught flat footed at how similar the bandit looked to her student.
"You haven't touched your tea." Raven said, before she smirked."It's not poisoned, you know."
The comment broke the spell over Arlene, and she grabbed for her tea cup and took a sip. "Sorry, you just look like someone I know."
Raven nodded at her. "Is it my brother, Qrow? He still works for Ozpin as his lackey. Or perhaps my daughter, Yang? I believe she's studying at Beacon right now."
"The latter." Arlene said, filing away this information for later. "But that's not why I'm here."
"Indeed." Raven then set her cup down. "I'll be honest, I'm surprised Ozpin would let one of his Maidens run around Mistral without an escort."
"I can take care of myself. " Arlene waved off the comment. "And besides, who says I'm a Maiden?"
Raven cocked a brow at Arlene, as if she was annoyed Arlene was asking such a dumb question. "Only Maiden's have control over the elements like you do. Vernal, the girl you saw earlier, is the current Spring Maiden."
Arlene paused mid-sip at that statement. As she put her own tea cup down, she subtly cast Detect Magic, and Raven lit up like a New Life Festival Tree. "Hmm, curious you'd give such information out freely. Not afraid I'm going to tell Ozpin about your pet mage?"
"I think if you're here without his permission or knowledge, that means you're not exactly happy working under his employ. And that you're here looking for alternatives." Raven surmised.
Arlene couldn't help but chuckle. "You're closer to the truth than you realize."
Nodding her head, Raven continued. "Then why have you tracked down my tribe? You say you want to hire us for a job. What exactly do you have in mind?"
"Well it's less of a job and more of a… retainership." Arlene made a vague gesture with her hand. Raven only raised a brow again, so Arlene continued. "I'm building up an organization of sorts. One that will control the Underworld across Remnant and rival any kingdom in power. But any good organization requires muscle. An army, if you will."
"And that's where we come in." Raven said flatly.
Arlene beamed her smile. "Indeed! Work with me and you can kiss these days of living in tents as roving bandits goodbye. Once I'm done, no group will be able to stand against us. Not Ozpin and his huntsmen nor Atlas and their army. Together, we could be a force which shakes Remnant down to the very core!"
"And what about Salem?" Raven asked without hesitation.
"Salem?" Arlene fumbled the question out before she could stop herself.
Raven's eyes went wide, the bandit queen unable to control her reaction. "Ozpin hasn't told you?" Raven then shook her head as Arlene kicked herself for revealing such a critical lack of her knowledge. "You must not be that high in Ozpin graces if he kept you in the dark about her."
Arlene frowned as the initiative of the conversation was in Raven's hands. She leaned forward. "Well why don't you enlighten me about this Salem, and we can see where negotiations go from there."
After a moment's pause, Raven spoke. "A question for a question." Sighing, Arlene nodded her head, and Raven continued. "Salem is the immortal leader of the Grimm, hellbent on the destruction of humanity. She can't be killed and is an impossibly strong magic user in her own right" she said with such a straight face that Arlene was convinced she was either Remnant's greatest liar or speaking the truth.
Arlene knew liars, and Raven wasn't one. So that meant she was speaking the truth, which was something of a surprising revelation. Seemed like Arlene couldn't get away from genocidal, planet destroying monsters even in this world.
"You seem underwhelmed." Raven commented.
"Oh no, that was a lot to take in, but would you believe me if I said I've tangled with the sort before?" Arlene plainly said.
Raven didn't look like she believed Arlene, but she didn't say anything. "Regardless, now it's my turn to ask a question. You said you weren't a Maiden. Assuming you were telling the truth, what are you then?"
Pausing to consider what to say, Arlene rolled around whether or not she should lie to Raven. Eventually, she said, "Technically I said, 'who says I'm a Maiden?' But to answer your question I am a magic casting hero sent here from another world where magic is as common as your Aura or Semblances." Arlene settled on the truth, as she actually wanted to work with Raven.
However, Raven's flat look showed how much she believed her. "I thought you were taking this conversation seriously."
"I am!" Arlene thrust her hands into the air in exasperation. "Believe me, if I was going to lie, I would come up with a much better one than that."
Raven shook her head. "Even if that is true, what can you do in the face of Salem. She is immortal, unkillable, with an uncountable legion of Grimm at her beck and call. Trying to fight her is folly."
"I've tested the claim 'unkillable' before. In my experience it hasn't proved true." Arlene hissed out, her face now deadly serious.
"Well you don't know Salem." Raven hissed back. She hid her emotions well, but Arlene could see what laid beneath Raven's cool, aloof demeanor. It was fear.
"Is that why you're here?" Arlene asked. When Raven glared at her, Arlene gestured to the tent around them. "I mean sure, roughing it in the outdoors is fun, but I prefer clean clothes and fresh drinks. What about you? Are you here because rather than help Ozpin fight this Salem, you'd rather enjoy a hedonistic life of pillaging and looting while you can before she burns the whole world to the ground?"
"You don't know anything about me." Raven grit through her teeth as she leaned forward.
Arlene leaned forward as well to meet her challenge. "I know you're afraid. You see a hopeless situation against Salem, so you tuck your tail between your legs and abandon the field. And if I'm going to be honest, that's okay." Raven blinked as she was taken aback by Arlene's words, so Arlene continued. "If what you say is true, and Ozpin and this Salem are two immortals who have been locked in some endless waltz of death and destruction for centuries, then I don't blame you for losing hope. If Ozpin hasn't defeated Salem thus far, what chance do he and his allies have? Not a very good one in my opinion."
Raven's stoic demeanor cracked as she stared at Arlene in disbelief. "So you agree with me."
"Of course." Arlene casually said as she leaned back. "Ozpin is an overly trusting fool who doesn't have what it takes to take down this Salem. I can see why you don't follow him. That will all change however, since I'm here now."
Raven looked over Arlene with new eyes. She scanned the vampire, trying to gauge how powerful this stranger in front of her actually was. "You really think you have a chance against them, don't you?"
Arlene waved Raven off. "Ozpin, Salem. The way I see it they're just two more names to add onto my very long list of defeated foes." Arlene then grinned at Raven. "But I can see you don't really believe me, do you?"
Raven's grip was tightening around her sword. "Not particularly, no."
"Want to test out just how wrong you are?" Arlene asked through her ever present grin.
"Something like that." Raven said as she stood.
"Very good then!" Arlene hopped up as Dragonbane appeared in her hands. "Oh, and you don't have to call in Vernal. I know you're the actual Maiden, not her."
If Raven was surprised by that revelation, she didn't show it as she immediately drew her sword and slashed.