Age of Aggression

[Legendary Hawk]

Hearing term Dragonborn immediately forced Rath's light blue eyes to widen. Now everything made sense. The heroes of legend, she remembered, had the ability to destroy dragons, learn their shouts, and consum their very souls! "You're the Dragonborn?" Rath asked, but the question didn't really need to be answered. She almost commented that she expected the Dragonborn to be a male, but then she remembered her own predicament and decided to swallow her words, since they touched a little close to home.


"It's an honor to meet you," Rath exclaimed, trying not to sound too hokey with her admiration. "We were just, uh..." Suddenly she remembered why they had been running through the wilderness, and she didn't care to share it. She quickly shifted her eyes to Malak, who was quicker with words than she was. Hopefully Malak would be able to come up with a good lie on the spot.

[Haylie]

Malak picked it up quickly. "We were--"

Unfortunately, so did the Dragonborn. "Think twice before you lie to me."

Malak was stopped in her proverbial tracks. The Dragonborn just half-smirked nodded. "Mm-hmm. Honestly, it hardly matters. At any rate, I'm going to assume you don't want to go back to Dawnstar?"

After Malak shook her head, the Dragonborn nodded again. She began looking the two up and down, lingering on the leather armor Malak had dropped onto the snowy ground. Her eyes, narrowed, as if recalling something...

She appeared to dismiss it with a shake of her head. "Where are you headed, then? Solitude?"

[Legendary Hawk]

Rath glanced at the Dragonborn, and then back at Malak. She was considering a quick stop in Morthal, since it was rather close. At least she could sell her armor there and not have to carry it around. "Uhm... We don't know... Are you heading to Solitude? We might need to go there eventually."

[Haylie]

"At some point," the Dragonborn replied simply. "I might make a few stops. I'd be happy to escort you."

Malak looked surprisedly at Rath, then back at the Dragonborn. "We're grateful, of course, but... why would you help us like that?"

She just shrugged. "It's what I do."

"Well then, we would like to get rid of this armor we... found. We're afraid it might come back on us." Not strictly a lie...

The Dragonborn didn't seem to buy it. "Found. Hm. Yes, I imagine the Dark Brotherhood will be wanting those back."

Malak bit her lip.

"Yes, I'm quite familiar with them, myself." The Dragonborn stepped up and put her gauntleted hands on Rath and Malak's shoulders comfortingly. "Relax. I hate them, too. They've sicced one too many brainless recruits after me. Any enemy of my enemy and all that. I imagine they won't take kindly to you stealing from them, and from what I just saw, you'd be in trouble if you ran across them. You'd benefit from my help, I have no urgent business besides getting home to my family, and I have things of my own to sell off. I rather like this setup. What say you?"

[Legendary Hawk]

Rath visibly lit up when the Dragonborn not only invited them to travel, but also agreed to help them sell their gear. "That sounds great!" she exclaimed, smiling for the first time since her encounter with the sorceress. Somehow, surviving the encounter with the dragon and meeting the Dragonborn personally was just what she needed to take her mind off the horror of her recent change. "My name is R-kau!!" She suddenly coughed, realizing that it would be unwise to reveal her former name, especially if the Dark Brotherhood would be tracking her and Malak soon. "Wooh! Sorry about that," she apologized very naturally as she wiped her hand on her linen pants, acting very convincingly that she had coughed involuntarily. "My name is Robin."

[Haylie]

Malak cleared her throat. "And I'm... Malka."

"Hm. Unusual names. I like it. Well, are we ready to go? Where are we headed first?"

[Legendary Hawk]

"Well... Would it be alright to stop at Morthal? If you're headed there, that is," Rath/Robin suggested. The only reason to head to Markarth she had was to dump the armor as soon as possible. She also wanted to get some new apparel - something a little more comfortable than a patched fur coat.

[Haylie]

"Morthal it is," said the Dragonborn. "We can take the beaten path or a shortcut. It's up to you."

[Legendary Hawk]

"Shortcut? What sort of shortcut?" asked Rath/Robin, staring off towards the mountains. She didn't mind traveling off-road, since she did it all the time as an assassin. She was simply curious about the route.

[Haylie]

(Actually, I came across a map of Skyrim: http://images4.wikia.nocookie.net/__cb2 ... rimmap.png
Markarth's all the way in the southwest. Solitude's a LOT closer than Markarth. )

[Legendary Hawk]

((Yikes... I always mix up Morthal and Markarth. They're both two-syllable "M" words with a "th" in them... hehe))

[Haylie]

(Yeah, let's edit those out. )

The Dragonborn pointed straight southwest. "Walk that-a-way. Adjusting for long falls and cliffs as necessary, of course. The path is easier, but longer. And a bit more pleasant, I'd have to say..."

[Legendary Hawk]

"I could go for the shortcut, honestly," replied Rath/Robin, glancing towards to Malak to look for any signs of approval. She assumed her partner would have the same preference that she did in this matter.

(Will do!)

[Haylie]

Malak shrugged. "I'm fine with the shortcut."

The Dragonborn smirked and nodded. "Alright then. I hope you don't mind conversation, I don't often get to talk when I travel."

She turned and lead the way to the southwest, left hand still resting on her scabbard. "So if you don't mind me asking, where did you get the Dark--"

"We do mind you asking, actually," Malak interrupted.

The Dragonborn glanced backward a moment. "... Fair enough. Feel free to ask me things, as well, if you want."

[Legendary Hawk]

"How many dragons have you killed?" Rath/Robin asked with noticeable interest as she followed the Dragonborn in the direction of Morthal. She tried to walk in a more natural manner so that the new companion wouldn't think anything was wrong with her. It felt pretty awkward and would definitely take some getting used to...