Chapter 8:

A/N: Yay! If you are reading this, it means I'm done with all the exams and stuff. And that I'm still allowed to use my laptop for this.. XD Let's go! ;D

Inside the Sanctuary it's very dark. But what do you expect from an assassins base. I stand still, thinking about if I'll descend the stairs or not. Do I want this? Do I like killing?

You enjoyed killing Grelod and that Khajit.

But those people deserved it. In a way.

What's the difference? Remember what Astrid told you? There is no border between right and wrong, innocence and guilt. There is only someone who has to die, and the one who does the contract.

I sigh. Whatever that voice is, it's right.

Also, it's in your blood. Your race is built for stealth and killing unnoticed. Your grandmother was a Speaker! It's almost a family heritage that you join as well.

Geez, is this voice my conscious or something? If so, I have a weird sense of right and wrong.. I walk down the stairs. The whole place kinda looks like a cave, with torches on the wall and skulls on bookcases. A blond Nord woman stands against the wall, arms crossed and looking in the opposite direction. As soon as she turns to me, I recognize her by the eyes. It's Astrid.

"Ah, at last. I hope you found the place all right."

I nod. "And what happens now?"

She smiles. "Well, what happens now is you start your new life in the Dark Brotherhood. You're part of the family after all." She motions around her. "This is, as you can see, our Sanctuary. You won't find a safer place in all of Skyrim. So get comfortable."

I smile slightly, not really knowing what to say. She chuckles. "Hmm.. Yes.. The silence suits you. Gives you an air of mystery. Now, down to business. I'm arranging a job for you. But in the meantime, go talk to Nazir. He may have some smaller contracts to tide you over. Soon, the Night Mother will arrive. And things around here are sure to get even more interesting. Ah, but one more thing."

She hands me a complete set of armour much like her own. "A welcome home present. The armour of the Dark Brotherhood. May it serve you well in all your.. endeavours." I look at the armour. It feels light, and it seems easy to move in.

"Thank you. Uhm.. Is there a space I can change quickly?" I ask with a slight blush. Astrid chuckles and motions to a door that seems to lead to a bedroom. "Make it quick then." I give her a nod, and quickly change in the bedroom. I stuff my old clothes in my backpack, and admire the armour. I was right, it is easy to move in. Slipping the hood on, I walk out of the room. Astrid chuckles. "You look like a proper assassin Sister."

"Thanks.. Sister." Weird to say such a thing to a woman I kinda just met. "I'll go meet my new Family. Who's Nazir?" Astrid smiles slightly.

"The Redguard. Can't miss him."

"Thank you."

I walk past her to see some sort of inside of a cave. In the middle is a lake, and a few people are standing around it. They are laughing.

"Again! Do the part where he tries to buy you some candy." Says an Argonian to a little girl. I raise an eyebrow. What is a little girl doing with a gang of assassins? Maybe she's the daughter of one of them? The girl chuckles. "Okay, okay.. here we go.." She turns her voice to make it sound like an old man.

"Ooh, you are such a pretty little girl. Would the sweetie like a sweetie? Oh yes, how about some chocolate?"

She makes her voice sound normal again. "Oh yes please, kind sir! My momma and papa left me all alone, and I'm so very hungry.. I know a shortcut to the candy store, through this alley."

And back to old man voice.

"Oh, yes, yes.. Very good, very good.. My, it's dark down here.. But you're so beautiful.. Such a lovely smile.. Your teeth! Your teeth! No! AAAARGH..!"

Everyone begins laughing, while I'm just standing there confused as hell. Her teeth? I squint my eyes to look at the girl's mouth. Seeing fangs, I get it. She's a vampire. Figures.

A female Dark Elf with a hood over her head begins chuckling. "Oh Babette, you are so wicked." A man, a Redguard, turns to an old man standing next to him.

"What about you, Festus? How did that last contract turn out?"

Another man, a Nord with long blond hair and a messy beard rolls his eyes. "Oh, yes, please, old man. Regale us with your tales of wizardry..." The sarcasm in his voice almost makes me cringe. But Festus only chuckles.

"Ah, the young and stupid. Always mocking the experienced and brilliant. My contract went very well, I'll have you know. Tried a new spell. Little something I've been working on in my spare time. Came "this" close to turning that priest inside out. Damned messy." Yikes.

The Dark Elf speaks up again, this time directed to the Nord. "And what of your latest, Arnbjorn. Something about a Khajit? Merchant was it?" Arnbjorn wanted to say something back, but Babette cuts him off.

"Oh, a big doggy chasing a little kitty! How adorable!"

Everyone except Arnbjorn begins laughing loudly, and I can't help but chuckle a bit myself. Arnbjorn crosses his arms, his face red in embarrassment.

"I am not adorable, it was not funny, and he wasn't a merchant. He was a Khajit monk, a master of the Whispering Fang style. But now he's dead... and I have a new loincloth."

This time everyone laughs. Deciding to show myself, I walk to the Redguard. He must be Nazir. Seeing me, he puts his hands on his sides.

"So you're the newest member of our dwindling, dysfunctional little Family. I've heard quite a bit about you." Feeling a bit flustered, I stay silent. Hopefully the dim lighting hides my blush a bit. Nazir chuckles.

"Ahh, going for the mysterious and brooding thing, hmm? That may work for your targets, but you'll find I'm not so easily impressed."

Oh. Okay then. Time to prove myself here. "Astrid said you'd have some work for me."

"Did she now? Well, as it turns out, there are a few lingering contracts we haven't had the chance to complete just yet. And more, dribbling in from time to time. I'll assign them to you as they become available. To be completed at your leisure."

I raise an eyebrow. "Sounds simple enough."

"It is. These aren't particularly glamorous assassinations, I'll be honest. Don't pay much, either. But they'll keep you busy. Just do them as you're able. There's no real time limit - the targets aren't going anywhere. You can turn each one in as it's completed, or wait and turn in the whole group when all the targets have been eliminated. Whichever works for you."

I nod. "Okay then. Ready for the first contracts." Nazir laughs slightly.

"Well then, let's get started. I've got three available right now. Your targets are the beggar Narfi, an ex-miller named Ennodius Papius, and Beitild, a mine boss. When you've completed all those, we'll see if I might have some more."

He hands me a map, showing all the locations of the targets. One in Ivarstead , one in Windhelm, and one in Dawnstar. Awesome. I give Nazir a nod, and walk away. Where to go first.. Ivarstead is kinda close to Windhelm, and from there I can go to Dawnstar.

So first stop, Ivarstead.

*Time skip to Sarafina being on her way to Ivarstead*

"So this is one of my first contracts. Awesome." I walk through the wilderness, humming to myself. Suddenly the ground disappears underneath my feet and I fall in the river. "Great." I mutter. My hand suddenly hits something other than a stone. I look down to stare right at a skull.

"WHOA!" I fling myself away from it. It takes a few seconds to calm down, so I take a better look at the skeleton. A satchel is stuck in the mud next to the skeleton's ribcage. With shaking hands, I pull the satchel out of the water, and mentally slap myself. I'm on a mission to kill someone, and I'm scared of a freaking dead person. The hell.

Opening the satchel, I find a silver necklace with a name engraved on it. "Reyda.." I mutter. Shrugging, I put the necklace in one of my pockets. Maybe it'll fetch a nice price later.

*time skip to getting to Ivarstead*

Finding Narfi is easy. He's in an abandoned house, just out of town. I walk towards him, dagger behind my back. "I miss Reyda. She was so nice to Narfi." He mutters. I freeze a few meters away from him. Reyda.. The name on the necklace..

"Oh Reyda! Reyda! You live among the clouds now, dear Reyda!"

Yeah.. This guy is nuts. I walk up to him, sheathing my dagger. "I can't see you, Reyda! I can't find you! Why are you hiding? Hiding, hide, hide, hide! Don't make me sad!" Tilting my head, I put a hand on his shoulder.

"Are you okay?"

He stares at me, a sad expression on his face. "Reyda was here, then gone. Went to gather plants and never came home... nope, nope. Everyone looked and no one could find her. Wilhelm said she'll be back... told Narfi not to worry... Reyda will come back."

I bite my lip. Should I tell him? I show him the necklace and he takes it happily. "Reyda! You saw Reyda? Did you tell her Narfi cries? Did you tell her Narfi never said goodbye like mother and father?" I nod. "Oh, yes. Of course I did. She'll come home very soon."

He smiles brightly. "You've made Narfi so happy! Narfi now waits for his sister until she comes home. At least Narfi has Reyda's Necklace... reminds Narfi of his sister. Thank you for giving this to Narfi. Narfi's happy now. Maybe Narfi can sleep. Sleep all night. Sleep, sleep, sleep. "

He skips over to his house and lies down on his bed. I stare at him for a while, waiting until he falls asleep. Poor guy. I wonder who gave the contract. It doesn't matter now. "Get on with it already.." I scold myself.

As his breathing slows down, I go stand next to his bed. "How about I bring you to your sister sweetie?" He seems to smile in his sleep. "Okay then.." I mutter. Carefully, not to wake him up, I put my dagger on his throat. Covering his mouth, I cut the throat in a quick, clean cut. His eyes fly open in panic, but I put a finger on my lips.

"Hush sweetie.. Just sleep.. Go to your sister.. She's waiting.."

His eyes go empty, and he goes limp. I stand up, cleaning my dagger off. For just having murdered a person in cold blood, I feel quite.. calm.

That's good. It's good not to linger on things you shouldn't linger on.

I give a soft snort. Guess I really am going crazy. I mean, a sane person wouldn't be so calm. Oh well. I just shrug it off, and walk away.

*Time skip because.. I'm lazy.*

Sighing, I clean my blade for the 3th time. That stupid miner woman thought it was a good idea to go into the mine by herself. Well, her body is in a big barrel now. Humming a tune from my youth, I keep walking. Should take about an hour or two before they find the body, and by then I'm long gone.

Suddenly, I bump into someone. From the momentum, we both fall down. I look at the person I bumped into. It's a young blond girl.

"Sorry! Are you alright? I'm so sorry, I didn't mean to crash into you.." The blond girl looks up at me, feeling around on the ground for something. Her grey-green eyes look dull though.. Oh! She's blind. I pick up her stick that was lying just out of her reach, and push it in her hands. She gives me a smile.

"Thank you Sarafina."

I stare at her. "How do you know my name?" The girl chuckles slightly.

"I'm a seer. I knew your name the moment you touched my hands. And I can tell you much more, if you'll willing to listen."

I can't help but feel sceptic. "And how much is that gonna cost?" The girl begins to laugh at my question. "It's free of course! I'm not like those fakes who make people pay a lot of money for a fake fortune telling. I predict the real deal."

"Hmm.. Alright then. But first tell me your name." The girl smiles. "I'm Suzanne." She feels around to grab my hands. She closes her eyes, feeling my palms with her thumbs.

"My, my.. Your future looks as complicated as your past.. There will be a jester, whom you will soon meet.. He might seem.. crazy.. but you will trust him. And then there's.."

The corners of her mouth twitch downwards.

"Fire.. Lots of it.. I can't really see if it's the good or the bad kind of fire.. Could be both.. And a man.. who will follow you to the end of time.. Two titles.. One can't exist without the other.. Embrace them."

Suddenly those dull grey-green eyes open, staring right into my soul.

"Betrayal. You will be betrayed by someone you trust… A mother.. Don't blame the dark mother. The demon will return when you least expect it."

She lets go of my hands and sighs. "That's all I can see for now. I'm sorry." I just stare at her, feeling uneasy. A jester? Fire? A man? Titles? Betrayal by someone I trust? Dark mother? The demon will return? Suzanne smiles slightly. "That's a lot to take in, isn't it?"

I nod, quickly mentally kicking myself, and stuttering out a soft "Yeah.."

"It will all make sense one day. But don't worry. The gods have been keeping an eye on you the minute you were born. Remember that." She pushes something in my hands. I study it closer. It's a dark-red ribbon, with a dragon charm tied to it. "Thanks.." I look up, but she's gone.

I look around me. She's nowhere in sight. I look at the ribbon again. For some reason, it feels like it was made with something.. devine. Shrugging, I use it to tie my hair into a braid. It looks pretty.

Suddenly, an old woman walks up to me. "Are you alright dearie? You were talking to yourself for quite some time now." I look at her in confusion.

"No, I.. There was this blind girl.. She was just here and.."

Now it's the woman's turn to be confused.

"There was nobody there honey. There has never been a blind girl here in Dawnstar. Are you sure you're alright?"

A/N: BAM! Cliffhanger! I'm so mean. XP Hehehe.. In case you are wondering, Suzanne is me. It's just not my real name. XD Hopefully you enjoyed this chapter! Leave a review if you like, and I'll see you in the next chapter! ;D