I don't own Elder Scrolls or Voltron... Sad

Pidge

Pidge struggled through the snow behind Ailith. The vampire was much taller than her and tracked through the snow like it was nothing while Pidge struggled and huffed behind her. She could see the road in the distance, it was practically snow free while off road the snow came up almost to her hips. Ailith seemed to have no trouble and glanced back every so often and stopped while she caught up. Pidge looked to her left, mountains and enormous snow drifts, to her right was a river, half frozen, and what looked like ruins in the distance. It had taken them roughly fifteen minutes to struggle the distance they had come, it probably would have taken less if Pidge hadn't had to use so much time and energy pulling each foot up and out of the snow to take another step. Ailith sighed impatiently, Pidge was to busy trying to get her foot out to notice the vampire come back over. Pidge yelped as was lifted up and thrown over Ailith's shoulder.

'I won't complain,' she thought, exhausted, her legs ached and it had been a very long day.

Progress now unhindered by Pidge's short legs, Ailith walked swiftly with a sense of almost urgency, they were moving along now.

"Did you kill that guy? And if so, why?" Pidge asked suddenly. If she wasn't walking she might as well ask her newfound ally some questions.

"Yes," Ailith replied curtly, although she didn't answer the second half of the question.

"WHY?" Pidge demanded, Ailith sighed a little.

"Is that information vital to this relationship?" she asked quietly, Pidge thought for a moment.

"Depends, are you vital to my survival?"

"Probably," Ailith muttered just loud enough for Pidge to hear. She swallowed and decided not to pursue the matter. Ailith was clearly not in the mood to discuss her reasons for murder, and Pidge was a little frightened at the answers she might get from the cold woman.

"…So, what are you, exactly?" Pidge asked finally, although a bit more politely.

"Vampire," was the reply, although in a gentler tone than before.

"… Are we talking Twilight or Dracula vampire? What do you mean by a vampire?" Pidge asked curiously, thinking vaguely she ought to take notes on this conversation.

"I don't know or care what either of those things is," Ailith responded dryly, pausing for a moment to shift Pidge's position before continuing her previous pace.

'Right…Stupid question,' Pidge thought, remembering abruptly that this wasn't Earth.

"Do you know what a vampire is?" Ailith shot back, although Pidge could have sworn she sounded amused. Pidge smiled a little.

"Depends on the novel. Twilight vampires sparkle in the sun, while Dracula vampires turn to ash when the sun touches them. Both drink human blood… Okay, well, Twilight vampires drink animal blood too, I guess" Pidge explained quickly, wondering too late if Ailith would be insulted by either answer.

"…Interesting." was the only response, but at least she still sounded amused. Pidge took a deep breath.

"Well? Which one? Or Neither? I mean, there are plenty of other vampire books where I'm from, I'm just most familiar with those ones," Pidge pressed, eager for an answer. Ailith sighed a little.

"I'll go with neither. I don't sparkle in the sun, but I don't turn to ash either. I don't drink animal blood, that's disgusting." She growled, Ailith abruptly swung Pidge into a bridal style position. She didn't look angry, merely entertained.

"Oh good! I'd have nightmares for weeks if that was true. The sparkle thing, I mean. No idea how Stephanie Meyer came up with that… Okay, never mind. I do know, but I'm not going into detail…" Pidge paused to breathe; Ailith shook her head slightly, smiling a little. Pidge took that as her cue to continue. "So, do all vampires here go in the sun?"

"…No. I can go in the sun because I take precautions. Other vampires aren't immune and it tends to be a scorching, unpleasant experience for them." Ailith explained a little quieter now that Pidge could actually hear her over the wind.

"Like what?"

"See this ring?" Ailith shifted one of her hands into view; there was a thick silver band on her finger, ornately carved with a skull as the centerpiece of the band. "It's made out of my own blood, vampire ash, silver, and several hefty enchantments of my own design."

'Looks like vampires are emo here too,' Pidge thought, smirking.

"So if you take off that ring you'd be like other vampires?" Pidge inquired, touching the band lightly before Ailith shifted her hand back.

"No. I'm a little higher up on the food chain than most vampires,"

"…What does that mean?" Pidge felt a little unnerved by the glint that had come into Ailith's eye.

"How about we talk about the Hierarchy of Vampirism once we get to an inn?" Pidge fell silent, Ailith's tone had shifted and she took that as her command to cease talking. The Green Paladin remained silent until they had reached the road, where Ailith set her back on her own feet gently. They continued down the road, Ailith looked tenser as they went.

"Where are we going?" Pidge asked finally, it had taken her almost ten minutes to get the nerve to talk back up. The vampire had not worn an expression that invited conversation.

"Closest town right now is Winterhold. I have business there in the morning, so we will stay the night at the inn," Ailith explained, Pidge was surprised by how gentle her tone was. She looked grumpy. Pidge could see the mentioned town ahead, a few lights from the houses flickered in the clear light. It took Pidge a few minutes to register that calling this place a town was a little generous, only a few buildings were standing with roofs and signs of habitation. The rest lay in rubble.

"…What happened to this place?" Pidge barely breathed the question, but Ailith appeared to have super hearing.

"The Oblivion Crisis," she replied, shrugging "it completely leveled the city, and they never bothered to rebuild it."

"What's the-" Pidge was abruptly cut off by Ailith holding up a gauntleted hand, silencing her.

"I know what you're going to ask, let's save that conversation for another day," Ailith told her almost coldly. Pidge blinked but shrugged and didn't press the matter; Ailith seemed to be in no mood for more questions.

Finding the inn wasn't hard, it was one of the few large buildings still standing and in relatively good shape. On the way, they passed a few guards patrolling, they didn't so much as blink at Pidge's odd armor or Ailith. They must have been used to seeing odd things by now. Under the eyes of the guards, Pidge suddenly realized how much her armor made her stick out, even if the guards weren't blatantly staring.

Pidge did a double take when she glanced up at Ailith. The vampire suddenly looked… Well… Human. Blue eyes, cheeks flushed with life, she was still nearly seven feet tall, but if Pidge hadn't known any better she would have thought Ailith was alive.

"How…?"

"Keep walking," Ailith hissed, placing a hand lightly on Pidge's back to usher her along. The vampire pulled a cloak out of her bag and thrust it at Pidge to throw on. "Take your helmet off," she added, Pidge silently obeyed, clipping her helmet to her belt, whipping her glasses on, and hiding her armor under the robe before being led inside the warm inn.

Inside the inn was warm, a long fire pit took up the center of the room, she could see many doors leading to rooms. Several patrons sat drunkenly at their tables, nursing tankards of alcohol. There were racks of dried herbs and meat hanging by the bar counter. Pidge blinked when she felt her stomach rumble. The smell of cooked meat and stew reminded her abruptly that she hadn't eaten in almost 7 or 8 hours earlier, on the Castle ship. Pidge felt her cheeks heat up when Ailith glanced at her and smirked.

Ailith spent little time ordering a room with two beds and tossing a small coin purse at the bartender. She pulled Pidge to the room and deposited her inside. Before she closed the door, she tossed a sharp knife at Pidge's feet, she almost mistook it for a small sword.

"If anyone tries to come in here, stab them repeatedly and don't stop until I'm back," she ordered before closing the door. Pidge swallowed hard, unnerved by her sudden solitude. She would have argued that she already had a weapon, but Ailith was already gone. She glanced at the dagger glinting on the floor, apparently, this place was so dangerous you had to sleep armed.

'Great, just great,' she thought, drawing her bayard nervously. She took a fast tick to examine the room they would be staying in. There were two beds, a small window, a wardrobe, and a small nightstand. It wasn't fancy, but it was clean. It wasn't all that different from a motel on Earth, just a bit more… Rustic.

The jiggle of the door handle caught Pidge's attention.

'That was fast… Wait, when Ailith left the dagger, was that supposed to imply she would be gone for a while?' Pidge thought, a little panic-stricken. She took a deep breath, holding her bayard defensively and preparing to strike, hoping the shock feature would at least render the intruder unconscious. The door opened, and Pidge lashed out, a deft hand grabbed the bayard, twisting Pidge's arm hard and fast enough she lost her balance and was disarmed. Pidge landed heavily on her back.

"Not bad, but I did leave a dagger for a reason," Ailith pointed out, glancing at the bayard as it fizzled with electricity. She arched an eyebrow and tossed it onto Pidge's bed. It shifted to its resting form. Any hard feelings vanished when Pidge saw what was in Ailith's arms; a fat wedge of cheese and a loaf of bread. Her mouth watered.

Ailith blinked slowly as the food vanished from her hands and Pidge took two large and eager bites.

"Don't choke," she quipped sarcastically, going to lean against the far wall between the beds. Pidge swallowed hard, turning to look at Ailith.

"You don't understand! I've been living off of food goo and Coran's Paladin Lunches for the past… I don't know how long. Either way, it's been a while since I've had real food!"

"…I see." Ailith muttered, rolling her eyes and playing with a knife that seemed to just appear in her hands.

"Anyway," Pidge swallowed the last morsel of food, wiping the crumbs from her cheeks. "What's the Hierarchy of Vampirism?"

Ailith

Ailith stared at Pidge, amused by her curiosity and a sharp mind. She shifted her position against the wall, still playing with her dagger.

"The Hierarchy of Vampirism is the order of the lesser breeds and higher breeds of Sanguinarius Vampirius," she began, watching Pidge narrow her eyes and lean forward. She had the child's full attention. "Bottom of the food chain are those who are merely infected by the disease that creates undeath. They tend to have little to no control over their… Urges, and suffer from delusions of grandeur. They think they are the top of the food chain, and they are horrifyingly wrong. Next link in the chain is Vampire Lords, which is a vampire turned by Molag Bal himself. He's… The father of vampires and a very powerful Daedric Prince. The next link up is a Daughter of Coldharbor. Which is a pureblood vampire, also turned by Molag Bal, which from what I've heard is a very dehumanizing experience that I won't go into detail about." Ailith paused to glare at the door as someone stumbled and ran into, she kept her lips tightly shut until they had stumbled away.

"The highest rank of vampirism outside of becoming a Daughter of Coldharbor is a Scion. Which is a vampire turned by the very first vampire herself, Lamae Bal. It's… An excruciating process. But there are some, although very few, she grants her blood gift too" Ailith sheathed her dagger and finally met Pidge's widened eyes. Remembering the taste of Lamae's blood vividly, it had burned her tongue.

"And that was you?" Pidge asked, curiously. Ailith nodded curtly, letting the illusion spell fade away, her eyes burned in the dark.

"Yes, that would be where I fall in the scheme of things." She wondered for a moment why she was bothering to explain any of this. She shifted her stance again, this time drawing her Dwemer claymore and closing her eyes.

"You should sleep now, we have a long day ahead of us," she told Pidge quietly, the small girl flopped down on the bed and fell asleep almost immediately.

The night was quiet aside from the howling blizzard outside, Ailith opened her eyes every so often and glared at the door. A few hours before dawn, the handle rattled softly as someone tried to pick the lock. Ailith growled, stepping into the middle of the room and holding her sword up, ready to impale whoever came through. Pidge glanced between her and the door with wide, frightened eyes. She adjusted her grip on her claymore. After a moment, the rattling stopped and soft footsteps went to the room next door. Ailith moved to the door, opening it silently and listening, a soft click and the other door swung open. She heard a soft cry, Ailith gave Pidge a sharp look before slipping out and closing the door. She moved into the doorway of the neighboring room, there was a wry Breton man, holding a blade and tossing it from hand to hand as the lady lute player trembled in the corner.

Ailith tapped his shoulder lightly, he whipped around, surprised. Her fist cracked his jaw and knocked him unconscious. Ailith nodded at the frightened woman, grabbed him by the foot and dragged him out. She dumped him unceremoniously outside in a snowdrift after quietly stabbing him below the fifth rib. She promptly returned to Pidge's room, closing the door and resuming her position against the wall. Pidge looked relieved and slept soundly the rest of the night.

AN: So chapter four is here. Hope you enjoyed it!

So most of TheCrookedQueens OCs have all been introduced:

Kisibhi: A khajit mage who saved Shiro and found Keith.

Ailith: A nord, vampire assassin. She's with Pidge right now.

Hildegarde: A werewolf and member of the companions. Found (and almost ate) Hunk and Lance.

I would like to discuss a certain matter though. Lately, I've been getting some guest reviews and PMs harassing me regarding my other fanfiction, particularly my Akame ga Titan and Code Geass: Paladins of Voltron ones. First of all, if you want to make a suggestion, make it on the actual fanfiction. Like if you want to suggest that Allura and Kallen are both paired with Lelouch romantically, make that review/suggestion on the Code Geass story! Not here on an ELDERS SCROLL story! You can PM me the suggestion too (and any suggestions really, I'd love to talk about them for the plots), but don't message the same suggestions/demands over and over again (not saying names, but you know who you are)! It's rude and even discourages me from writing other fanfic because it seems that that's the only one you care about! If I get a review or PM like that again, I WILL BLOCK YOU! Meaning you won't be able to read those stories at all! I'm sorry, but this had to be addressed!

For those few who have REALLY reviewed so far, I thank you for your support! You're awesome!