The next few days passed surprisingly peacefully, a fact Deorne was eternally grateful for.

Avsuo's family had quickly gotten used to her new body, though while her parents and sisters had the tact regarding the faux dragonborn, the brothers were incessantly excited, and were far too young to have the delicacy this secret needed. A fact that made Deorne's stomach churn, anxious to get moving. The quicker they got the first journey done, the easier they could plan for the future.

Of course, the guards appointed by the mayor were a relief. There were two of them, one to patrol the house by day, and one by night. Deorne had asked to spar with them, and had been pleased to discover that they had some skill about them. Hopefully enough to delay any Thalmor so more guards could show up, but he neglected to tell them that.

Of course, few people enjoyed having a guard patrol their particular home.

Avsuo's father saw it for the necessity it was, but her mother was a staunch opposer to the fact. Attempting to remove the resistance, Deorne suggested they invite the guards for dinner.

It had worked wonderfully.

The family now saw the guards as people, not just faceless soldiers, and Deorne hoped a budding friendship with the family would only spur the guards to greater lengths should the family be in danger.

Unfortunately, the relative peace found for the few days had to end. Deorne knew that the longer Avsuo stayed here, the worse it could be, and while the parents had some idea about the cruelty of the Thalmor, he doubted they had a true image.

It was best they leave.

Avsuo stared down at her bed, the knapsack packed on it. She didn't want to leave. She knew she had to, but it didn't stop the ache. When she was younger, she had always dreamed of traveling, of adventuring. Maybe even becoming famous for whatever deeds she accomplished.

But she hadn't wanted to be forced into adventuring. To become famous over something she had no control over.

She sighed, finishing tying up the pack.

She could only mope around so long, and the longer she took, the less she'd want to leave.

She closed the door behind her, taking a deep breath. The weather was still cool, the brisk morning it was.

Deorne had wanted to leave at night, to avoid attention, but her father had brought up that there were few settlements between Karthwasten and Winterhold. Combined with the relative distance the Willow farm was from the town proper, there'd be very few travelers on the road. Combined with the side paths Deorne wanted to take, he had ceded the point, stating that if someone was going to be forced into traveling, they might as well start while it's light out.

So, here she was, a bit too early for her liking, faced with leaving her family once again, even if this time is voluntary. Even the fact that it wasn't permanent, nor the fact that she could send letters, did much to comfort her.

She was moping again.

She walked to where the fence broke, marking the path to their house from the road. There, her family stood, her brothers still yawning and sleepy, while the rest of them had a range of sadness to acceptance on their faces.

She stopped in front of her parents. Her mother was barely holding it on, while her father was somber. She stepped forward, giving each of them a hug. That set her mother over the edge, and Avsuo saw tears silently streaming down her face when she pulled away.

She hugged her sisters next, trying to convey comfort through touch.

She hugged her brothers last, already missing their young antics. As she pulled away, one mumbled sleepily, "Have some fun adventures."

Avsuo found that incredibly uplifting, even if only for a moment. The naivety behind his words, she ignored. Maybe she would have some fun adventures. Surely life couldn't be that bad once they were traveling. She comforted herself with these thoughts, determined to keep a positive attitude, even if only for them.

She stood up, regarding all of her family.

"I'll be back, and I'll keep safe. I promise." She felt her voice crack. She hadn't expected this to be so hard.

Those of her family properly awake just nodded affirmation, and Avsuo turned to Deorne.

She was ready to leave.

Yet she couldn't help glancing back, giving one last wave. Perhaps the finality was that she'd never return as who she'd been.

Avsuo found the journey much easier once they were truly traveling. Deorne was quiet, and while Avsuo wondered if it was just because he didn't want to trouble her, she suspected it was because he was used to traveling alone.

The first day she was grateful for the quiet, but halfway into the second day it began to grate on her.

"Your family's odd."

His sudden comment shocked her. She had been about to pick some random subject to break the silence, but he had, somehow, beat her to it.

"How so?" Shock aside, she was glad for the conversation, even if the topic was a bit strange.

"Life in Skyrim is hard. Even if children have it slightly easier, many parents simply aren't that affectionate, because them surviving into adulthood isn't common." He paused. "Plus, it's rare to see a family so large."

Both things Avsuo had no idea about. She figured it was because she had lived in Karthwasten her whole life. The families that lived there were generally small, but she supposed she had always assumed they weren't too out of the ordinary.

"Even in the big cities?" She asked.

Deorne shook his head. "Even in the big cities. Once someone comes of age, they usually take up a trade, become a fighter, whether guard, soldier, or mercenary, or try to travel, maybe seeking their fortune elsewhere. And traveling is dangerous."

Avsuo knew of wild animals, and bandits were common, but she wondered what other dangers there were. "What makes traveling dangerous?" she asked, voicing her curiosity.

"Bandits, animals, rogue mages, the Thalmor, now dragons."

"Wait, dragons?!" To Avsuo's understanding, dragons had been extinct for quite some time.

Deorne nodded. "I have no idea, but I have seen them flying around. Never fought one, of course," he answered Avsuo's unasked question, "But I have seen and heard them menacing smaller villages."

Avsuo shuddered at the thought. Hopefully Karthwasten would be spared. Deorne's originally reply did bring up a question she had been sitting on, though.

"Are the Thalmor really that bad?"

"Absolutely. I doubt you hear of it, but Talos worship is banned in Skyrim, because of the Thalmor. If they catch anyone worshiping at an altar, they will kill them on sight. And while they've stopped doing it, I also know they used to drag Talos worshippers out of their homes and execute them on the streets."

Avsuo's stomach churned. Every Nord in Skyrim knew of the Hero-God Talos, and while her family in particular did not worship him, she knew of many villagers in Karthwasten who did. They would be killed, just because of a belief? She tried to distract herself from the thought.

"How would they be a threat to travelers?"

"Because they're supremacists. While their boldness has lessened, they will take any chance to kill those who aren't High Elves. They won't kill you for passing them on the road, but say, a bear attacks, and fighting breaks out, well, don't be surprised to find a few knives in the back."

Avsuo felt queasy. Such violence, such brutality, existed? She supposed it always had, and always would, but the fact she could be confronted with it…

Her brother's innocent request came to mind. "Have fun?" How, with people like the Thalmor on the road? Then again…

"Are all of the Thalmor like that? And you said the Thalmor are made up of high elves. Are high elves like that?"

Deorne took a moment to respond. "No, not all high elves are like that. The ones I've met have had arrogance about them, but not the veiled hatred the Thalmor usually have. As for the Thalmor…" He paused. "I don't know. When I was much younger, I asked myself the same thing. 'Surely a whole group of people can't be that cruel,' I thought. So far, I've been disappointed, and I've run into them a lot."

Avsuo took comfort in the unknown in that answer. Maybe there were Thalmor who were good people. Or at least, not bad people. She could only hope, for now.

They had camped for the night, and were simply sitting around a fire, when Deorne suddenly barked, "Catch!"

Avsuo wasn't sure if it was her instincts or new body, but her arm shot out, and she found herself holding a wooden sword, softly glowing with runes.

A moment later, she turned her blade to block the other wooden sword, now wielded by Deorne.

"Good! Up!," he barked again.

Avsuo scrambled to her feet, adrenaline suddenly pumping. She wasn't entirely sure what was happening, but with how hard Deorne swung that sword, she didn't want to get hit.

Thankfully, she was given a break, as Deorne was just standing there, sword at the ready, but making no move. She decided to chance it.

"So… what's this about?" She ventured.

Deorne stood up straight, lowering his sword. "Good job blocking that first strike. Simply, as we discussed earlier, traveling can be dangerous. So, I will teach you how to fight."

Avsuo wasn't entirely sure how to feel about being trained how to fight. "Can't I just use my bow? I know how to use that."

Deorne shook his head. "Your bow will be invaluable, but it's the fate of travelers to find themselves in tight spaces. Tombs, catacombs, dungeons. While you'll still be able to use your bow there, it'll be a lot more restrictive. Plus, try blocking an attack with a bow, let alone trying to shoot someone while they're trying to stab you."

Avsuo had to admit that Deorne made sense. Plus, even if it wasn't the goal of their journey, she had always wanted to explore some tombs…

She lowered herself,bringing her blade up. Might as well get into it.

"So, are we continuing?"

Deorne nodded, then struck again, lightning fast. Avsuo barely managed to block it, but her arm stung with the impact. Deorne was not holding back.

Another strike, and though Avsuo managed to mostly block it, it glanced off of her shoulder. Even through the harder scales there, it still hurt.

Deorne jabbed, and she dodged to the side.

Another swing from the side, but her block was sloppy.

She wasn't able to block the subsequent strike, coming from the other side, and was rewarded with a heavy hit to the ribs. She gasped at the pain, but was given no time to dwell on it.

A strike from above. Avsuo raised her sword, angling it to hopefully glance the blow off of it.

It worked, and Avsuo tried to take advantage of the opening with a jab.

She only realized it was a feint when Deorne was to her side, his sword delivering a painful strike to her back.

She wheeled around, facing him again, her wounds already smarting.

They stared at each other, swords ready, waiting for one to make a move.

"So, enjoying traveling?"

Caught completely off guard by Deorne's question, she had no chance to block the jab, and even dodging to the side only lessened the blow. She staggered back, now thoroughly disoriented, and quickly fell to a flurry of blows, though they didn't seem to hurt as much.

She found herself staring up at Deorne, and her body having a new ache all over.

"Couldn't you have held back even a little bit?" She groaned.

"I did."

Avsuo stared at him, then mentally berated herself. Deorne has been an adventurer for half his life. Of course he'd be this skilled. She slowly got up. "Why did you ask me a question?"

"To test you. In battle, you need to be able to concentrate. Especially now that we're traveling together, we may need to tell the other something important. 'Bandit behind you,' 'draugr on your left,' and so on. To be able to fight, yet have a conversation, that will serve you well." Deorne paused. "Though I'd hope it will never have to serve you."

Even Avsuo realized that was wishful thinking, but didn't say that. Still smarting, she gestured to him. "Are you still going to tend to me? Especially now that you've given me even more pain?"

Deorne nodded. Thankfully, his ministrations weren't lessened, even with the ferocity with which he sparred.

As they traveled, Avsuo constantly dreaded running into travelers. The wilds of Skyrim were harsh, so few people, outside of couriers and military patrols, would be found on the roads, but the fear persisted nonetheless. And while she was grateful for the relative peace they got as they were still in the first leg of the journey, she was unfortunately unsurprised when they came across a group of people on the road.

It was midmorning when the pair saw the group walking towards them.

Avsuo glanced at Deorne, alarm on her face, but Deorn just nodded.

"We're fine, just keep going."

Avsuo didn't really want to stop or veer course, especially if they had already seen her, so she couldn't do much but keep up with Deorne as the group got closer.

Without much else to do, Avsuo examined the group.

Made up of five people, they walked with authority, though appeared deep in discussion.

Avsuo turned to mention this to Deorne, but he had set his jaw, locking the group with an unreadable mask.

Avsuo turned back to the group. Four of them wore elegant golden armor, and sported similarly styled weapons, while the fifth was wearing black robes, embroidered with gold. Avsuo had never heard of such a group, and couldn't help but wonder if these were the Thalmor Deorne mentioned. If they were, why not move off the path? They hadn't seen them, so they still had a chance to hide.

Resolved, Avsuo turned to mention this to Deorne, but as she opened her mouth to speak, Deorne raised his hand.

"Hail! Thalmor!"

Avsuo felt her heart crawl into her throat. He was calling out to them?!

The group stopped, only thirty feet or so away from them, and they all turned to look at Deorne.

Not for long, as their eyes found Avsuo, and a mixture of fear, awe, and curiosity crossed their faces.

Avsuo was not a distraction for long, as, though Avsuo had stopped moving, Deorne had not, and the group turned back to him.

Just in time for Deorne to reach for the black robed one, grabbing him by the collar and yanking him face to face.

"Now listen here you Thalmor wretches."

Deorne's words should have dripped with venom, but they were devoid of emotion, which only served to make them that much more unnerving.

"You've seen my traveling companion. She's been the victim of processes your researchers could only dream of, and you'd figure that out, sooner than later. So, I'm telling you now. When you come for her, you come through us. You'll discover she has a family, and so help me, if I hear her family has been hurt in any way, I'll march up to that fancy building you call an embassy, and start another Great War, one I can promise you won't win." He paused, shoving the man away from him. "And if you doubt me, look into your associate Ancano. That should tell you all you need to know."

With that, Deorne moved past them.

Avsuo quickly hurried up, surprised, yet grateful, that none of them made to stop her, or Deorne for that matter.

That encounter, despite being rather brief, brought forth more questions about Deorne, but Avsuo decided to leave it for now.

It was only a few hours later that Avsuo's curiosity got the better of her.

"Those were Thalmor?"

Deorne nodded.

"I kind of expected whatever meeting we had with them to take longer."

"I needed to make sure it didn't. Lay down my terms quickly, and then leave before they can recover and try to stop us. No use in sending the message if we have to kill the messengers right after."

It made sense to Avsuo, but more questions came up. She debated on asking for just a moment, then decided to forsake avoiding the heavy topics.

"How do you have the authority to speak like that to the Thalmor? Aren't they in power in a lot more places than just Skyrim?"

Deorne took so long to answer Avsuo wondered if he simply wasn't going to.

"I've traveled, and dealt with the Thalmor a lot. Situations I'd rather not speak of have involved both them and I, so they know of me. I've been careful not to overstep any boundaries, but I think it's time to forsake any niceties between us."

"And Ancano?"

"A situation I'd rather not talk about."

Avsuo had to wonder just how much she didn't know about Deorne. He was mysterious in the way a stranger was, but now that she knew just a little bit more about him, he still seemed that unknown. For every question answered, two more popped up, but the first question never actually seemed answered.

A few more days passed, thankfully peaceful, when Avsuo finally gathered the courage to broach a subject she had been dreading.

"Do my wings work?"

Avsuo had pondered the question quite a bit. Many children always dreamt of flying, but the processes they dreamed of usually didn't involve forsaking their previous life. Was her dread from accepting her new body, and thus forsaking her old self? Or just accepting she was now changed, and admitting she'd still been denying herself? Avsuo had tried to distract herself from questions she'd rather not think about, but Deorne simply wasn't a conversationalist, and there were only so much of the wilds to draw her attention.

"They will." Deorne's answer was confident.

Avsuo glanced at him. "You're sure?"

He nodded. "Something the Dwemer wanted to do was design a dragonborn that would surpass the one of legend. I haven't heard of any dragonborn that could fly, and the madman latched onto that. He made sure you had functional wings." He paused. "Even if they do end up being a bit clunky."

Another thing Avsuo was dreading. In the chaos of coming back home, even her changed body had fallen by the wayside. Her tail was easy to get used to, being a simple attachment. She treated it as just another limb now.

Her wings were a much different story.

They could fold up rather nicely, but the strain on them told Avsuo that she didn't want to hold them like that for long. Stretched out, but still folded closed, they stretched around two feet above her head, but otherwise took up about as much space as a knapsack.

But folded out, as Avsuo slowly did now, she guessed both she and Deorne could comfortably lay on one wing. They were huge.

"Why are they so large anyway," she asked, tracing thin bones beneath skin.

"You know how birds fly?"

Avsuo blinked. Why did birds come into this? "With their wings?"

Deorne shook his head. "Yes, but I mean what lets them fly."

Avsuo had no idea.

Deorne tapped the larger bone making up the support of the wing. "Hollow bones."

Avsuo still didn't have an idea where this was going.

"If you were to fly with… more reasonably sized wings, you'd need to have hollow bones, but that would make you very delicate, which doesn't really lend to being powerful. What's the point of flying if you shatter your arm blocking a hit?"

Giving it a little thought, Avsuo realized the Dwemer probably weren't researching artificial life and enhancement just because they could. They probably wanted warriors. Fragile warriors weren't much good.

"So now I have these massive wings, that will more than likely get in the way?"

Deorne nodded. "Small price to pay for being able to fly, eh?"

Avsuo couldn't tell if he was being sarcastic, but wasn't sure she liked the price anyway.

"You want to test them?"

Avsuo wasn't so sure she wanted to take that step, but she had to remind herself that the sooner she got used to all of her changes, the easier time she'd have.

They'd stopped in a small clearing, hopefully just for a small while, so Avsuo could test herself.

She started by fully stretching her wings, slowly moving them about, feeling the muscles and bones move.

The sensation was certainly strange, but not as much as Avsuo thought it would be.

She slowly flapped her wings, feeling the air stir with their movement, and dreading the next step.

If she wanted to gain air, she'd have to flap hard, right? What if she aimed wrong? Would she just go careening to a side, slamming into something? With how much air she was stirring up without feeling even the slightest lift, she was fairly certain she didn't want to hit anything after flapping her wings that hard.

So, she stood there, flapping her wings, and feeling more foolish by the moment.

She was feeling like a court jester when Deorne finally spoke up.

"Let's try this. Angle your wings straight up and down, then flap them hard."

"Wouldn't that just launch me backwards?" Avsuo was hoping Deorne realized she couldn't see behind her.

"That's why I'm here. Trust me."

Avsuo once again had to question trusting this strange man who was still veiled in mystery, but she didn't see much of another option.

She took a deep breath, positioning her wings like he said, then flung her wings forward as hard as she could.

Even prepared, the sudden rush as she shot backwards took her by surprise.

But she felt her feet hit the ground, then begin to drag.

She feared losing control and tumbling to a painful stop, but she suddenly felt a strong presence behind her.

She stopped, slightly painfully.

She heard Deorne wheeze a small bit.

"A lot of power behind those." He groaned.

She quickly stepped away from him, turning around.

Deorne had been braced to catch her, and while he hadn't budged an inch, the impact had clearly hurt.

"Sorry," she apologized sheepishly.

Deorne shook himself, standing up straight. "No need. I realized what I was getting into. Go again?"

"What?"

"The idea is to get you used to how it feels to propel yourself. Once you can control a backwards angle, once I no longer need to catch you, you'll be able to apply that with other directions."

Avsuo was grateful for the opportunity, but she found the recurring question resurfacing. Why was he helping her to this degree?

Avsuo mentally shook herself. With how much Deorne had already helped her, it was stupid of her to question him now. Instead, she merely nodded.

"I can go a few more times."