Artemis was given some time to himself to think things over. His belongings was returned to him, which wasn't all that much to start with. Still he wonders if this Night Mother is the reason why he's here. It's really the only thing that makes any sense. As to why he can only guess. He's not sure what time it is, but it feels late into the night. He wonders the area, curious about these people he was now with. He comes across a small child, but when she turns he jumps. "Pardon me, I didn't mean to scare you." Babette smiles at him, her fangs shining in the torch light. Artemis doesn't have any experience with vampires. Let alone a child vampire. She still smiles up at him however. "Don't worry, the Tenets forbid me on feeding on family members." His browns knit slightly, keeping his eyes on her. "How does a child become a vampire?" Her head tilts her head at him. "I was bitten at a young age. Comes in handy during a job. No one suspects a little girl." He just walks away slowly, it's better to say nothing. Most people are asleep, or out on jobs so he wonders till he finds the small armory. Evelyn is working on something, her long hair was tied back into a neat braid. She was about to bring up a small hammer but she catches sight of him. "Oh, hi, not many people are night owls. I don't sleep much." He takes a look at what she's working on. It's a dagger, like the bow she showed him. It's pure black with this strange reddish glow to it. She puts down her hammer and points to a near by chair. He takes a seat as she joins him.
"No doubt you have questions." She had her own, but she wasn't going to overwhelm the poor guy. He has no idea where to even start. "How did you end up with these people. You don't strike me as an assassin." It's been bugging him, he's not sure why. She doesn't have that soulless killer look to her. "Ah, it honestly started with Cicero. Not sure how long ago it was, but his wagon broke. It's strange, you'd think a jester would raise questions. I just helped the poor fellow." She shakes her head helplessly. She helps all kinds of people, she can't help it. "Anyways I think it was a few weeks later I was in Windhelm, it's a city to the east of here. I heard a rumor that a kid was preforming the Black Sacrament. He was, he wanted to put a contract on a old woman that ran the orphanage he was sent to." His brows rise a bit. "I know, I thought the same thing. So I looked into it. Grelod the Kind was anything but. She tormented those poor children. Told them no one wanted them, starved them, beat them. Hell she even had a closet where she would lock them up for misbehaving. Didn't take much to convince her I was a noble, looking for...something special. Once we were alone, I cut her throat and left." She lets out a low sigh as she leans back. "Astrid, the woman in charge before I came into the picture. Found out and offered me a deal to join. I took it." There are some lines people don't cross. Even for Artemis he knows what it's like to be young and in the hands of monsters. He doesn't notice the shutter that runs through him.
She leans forward a bit, her eyes still on him. "So if you don't mind my asking. But are you sure you are okay? I don't mean to pry, but your skin hasn't changed since you got here. And I can't imagine that's normal..." He looks at his hand before he lets out a grunt. "No, this happened after I used my dagger on a shade." Her brow rises slightly. He gets up and wonders off, he returns with his dagger and shows her. Both her brows rise. It's a vampiric dagger, and a very powerful one at that. "Ohhhh...not the best idea. So now you got a bit of it's life force in ya..." She goes quiet for a moment. Shades are spirits, which meant there's a good chance he's now just as immortal. "Interesting.." She crosses her legs, relaxing a bit as she thinks over everything he's told her so far. "Well from what you've told me. It's completely possible you've come a different realm, or world, something of the like. Scholars and mages a like have always wondered if there was more to our world then what we know of. Still doesn't quiet answer how you got here or what force brought an entire ship to here..." He look down a bit before turning his head to the side. "I think your Night Mother had something to do with it." This surprises her a bit. "Go on." He takes a moment to gather his thoughts. "Something compiled me to return to my homeland. When I got there, the air felt heavy, my weapons were useless. Bodies lined the streets, mages, anyone that wasn't human...were killed. When..." He pauses, scowls then grits his teeth. "I jumped the nearest ship and I remember nothing else other then some voice telling me to sleep."
So the Night Mother spoke to him, just that once to save him. It's no different when the Night Mother bid her to hide in her coffin when the Sanctuary in Falkreath was burnt to the ground. "Interesting, strange though, the Night Mother doesn't normally go out of her way to rescue people." She tabs her chin unsure of what to say. "Oh well, you're here now." Sithis, the Void, who knows, had touched him and sent him here. "It's late, but I can show you around Dawnstar. Not many people will take notice and they're wise enough to stay away from us." She rises as she turns to him. "Might want to wear something warm though." She heads for one of the spare rooms and finds a thick cloak for him to wear. He takes it and she leads him out the Black Door. He also makes sure to pick up his other weapon before heading anywhere. Dawnstar is a modest size port town, mostly known for its two mines. It's snowing slightly, but it hardly bothers her as she shows him around. There's ships docked in the area. People from other lands sometimes stop here to trade. He's not used to the cold, but he watches her. It's like it doesn't even bother her. He hides in his cloak as he walks with her. "You said before you traveled up here, where are you from?" He just wants to fill the silence. That and it can't hurt to know more about the woman standing next to him. "Cyrodiil, like Cicero, I'm an Imperial. Not that means much to you I figure." She chuckles a bit as she leads him into the town itself. There's no sound, other then the crunching of boots in the snow. A few guards are wondering about, but go the other way when they appear. "Honestly the only reason I came this far north was out of boredom." She didn't expect to see a huge dragon to come flying out of Helgen when she got there.
"I won't lie, there's a lot of history here and a lot that's happened. But I find myself liking it here. I'm not a Nord but it feels like home." Nords were more built for the cold. She was able to handle it thanks to her Dragonsblood. She wonders if she should tell him, since there's a good chance she'll end up using her Thu'um. It's a useful weapon even if the Graybeards would frown at her doing so. "I don't find myself missing the warmer weather as much as I thought I would." Artemis is shivering just a touch, but when he stands close to her. It feels like he's standing near an open fire. "How are you so warm?" It's coming off her in waves, it's no wonder Cicero was standing by her when he was cold. She chuckles lightly as he steps a bit closer. "Ah, yes, well." She bites her lip, wondering how to explain what she is because most people know about the Dragonborn and what that means. "Do you have dragons where you are from?" He gives her an odd look. "Of course...are you saying there are none up here?" Dragons are common, but he's dealt with them enough to keep him from ever wanting to deal with them again. "I'm trying to find a good way to explain it. See dragons were created by the Gods. The first one to appear was Alduin. He was created by Akatosh. As time went on, more dragons were created and people created cults to worship them. You can imagine how well that turned out."
She hardly takes notice she's leading him out into the open tundra. It's so quiet out here and less she has to worry about. Still she likes the feel of the open lands before her. "Anyways, someone out there decided to change things, and created what's known as the Dragonborn. A mortal that carries the blood and soul of a dragon. His name was Miraak, but you won't find him in any books. He was mostly given the ability to stop Alduin. But he picked a different path." She says that with as much sarcasm as she can muster. "Alduin was never defeated, a few people mastering what's known as The Way of The Voice tried, but failed. Only the Dragonborn can kill Alduin. So they ended up using what's known as an Elder Scroll and he was flung through time itself...and he picked me wondering into Helgen to show up." Artemis is quiet the entire time she talks. "You're one of these Dragonborn?" He finally seems to catch on to what she was telling him. "Aye, I had no idea until a dragon was seen attacking a watchtower near Whiterun I helped them kill it, and I took it's soul. Dragonborn's are given the ability to take the souls of other dragons, and gain their knowledge. The Way of The Voice I spoke of, we can use that power without any training. It comes out as a Shout, a Thu'um, known to by dragons." She shuffles as she crosses her arms. "Most people know about me and just refer me as Dragonborn. Which is fine really I don't need like a hoard of people knowing my real name."
It takes Artemis a moment to say anything. She's a mortal with the blood and soul of a dragon. Not only that but she can use their abilities, whatever that might be. It's completely possible she can breath fire like a dragon can. "You're not an actual dragon?" He can't help but ask. He knows well enough that dragons can shift into any form they wish. "No." She chuckles slightly. "I can't grow wings and fly, I can just use their powers." He crosses his arms, looking down at the snow. "Does that make you immortal like them?" She opens her mouth to answer, but pauses. It's something that's crossed her mind. After all Miraak survived for countless years in Apocrypha. There's no record of Hermaeus Mora being the one that kept him alive. Still she has no real proof and she's never thought to ask. "Don't know, it's possible. I mean I can still be killed by normal means. But I could be a hundred and no one would know." She could ask, but maybe not knowing is better. What would she do with herself if that was the case? She lets out a low hum at the thought. "Well at any rate, I felt it best to give you some warning. Like I said most people already know about me." Artemis isn't sure what to think. He doubts she's lying to him. After all what would she have to gain? "This Alduin you spoke of, is it gone?" "Aye, I took care of him awhile back. It wasn't easy mind you." He pauses once again, taking everything in. There's this strange part of him that kind of wants to see what she can do. "What powers can you use?" Her head tilts to the side. "I've learned a lot. Like most dragons I can breath fire and ice. I can also Shout things into the air and even call storms...but I decided to not use that one. Kind of burnt down a bandit camp wanting to see what it did...never saw so much lightning in my life!"
She lets out a good laugh at the memory. "I can also disarm anyone attacking me, I can show you." Her smile puts him on edge, so he shakes his head. "It doesn't hurt, but fair enough." She blinks, looking at the surrounding area. They're a good few feet away from the town. It's getting colder no doubt and it's starting to snow harder. "I can clear the weather." He gives her an odd look. She turns her gaze to the clouds above. "LokVahKoor!" Her Thu'um thunders across the open tundra. Before he knows it it stops snowing and the clouds give way to the endless starry sky. His eyes linger on the sky for a moment before he slowly turns to her. She really wasn't pulling his leg. He's not sure if he should be terrified or just wry. Well he can't blame Jarlaxle for this one, seems all he did was deal with dragons once he met the Dark Elf. After awhile she leads him back to the Sanctuary. She didn't want to freeze the poor man. Not after going out of her way to save him after all. They head for the center point of the area so he could stand by the fireplace. There's a part of him what wants to see more. He might be an assassin, but there was always this part of him that really didn't mind seeing new places. A hidden side that craved adventure. And he can enjoy that without Jarlaxle trying to get him into trouble. "I would like to see more of this place." He turns, she wasn't to far from him. "Of course, I'll be happy to show you around. I'll see if there's any work that needs to be done." It's still her duty to have a chat with the Night Mother once in awhile.
The Night Mother had little to say. But there was someone preforming the ritual in Solitude. She writes everything down before making her way back to Artemis. "Looks like we're heading for Solitude. I think you'll like it, I always found the place so relaxing." He just nods as she leads him outside once more. Hiding in a small group of trees is a lone horse. She smiles and pats the horse. "This is Shadowmere, he's one of us. From what I learned he's been a part of the Brotherhood for countless generations." Artemis glances at the horse, it's red eyes looking right at him. He reaches into one of his pockets and pulls out his small statuette of a horse. She leans forward a touch to take a look. "Oh what's that?" He places the statue on the ground and before long it summons a nightmarish horse. Fire comes from it's hooves as it snorts out smoke. Her eyes go wide as she slowly takes a closer look. "Oh wow, this is remarkable, does it have a name?" "Blackfire, it once belonged to a ranger. He was killed, and someone I knew took the statuette." She's still looking at the horse, she's more impressed then scared. He wonders if anything really bothers this woman. After a moment or so she jumps onto Shadowmere. "Alright, stay close." She smiles as she takes off, Artemis was quick to follow her. Shadowmere is just as capable of keeping up with his horse. It's strange to think he would enjoy something so simple as a ride through the tundra.
Solitude isn't far when riding on magical beast. When they reach the port town, the sun was slowly rising. She dismounts just slightly before they reach the stables. Shadowmere is wise enough to know to keep to itself. His own horse vanishes back where it belongs. Her eyes wonder to his weapons. He still has that strange red blade. She'll have to ask about it later as she leads the way up the slight hill. Solitude is quiet, but she can hear the faint sounds of music no doubt coming from the Bard's Collage. She always found it soothing, the music, the gentle sea breeze. Artemis takes his time looking around the city. He takes note of the large castle and turns to her. "That's Castle Dour. It's mostly used for the Emperor and his Legion. They're still around....not so much the Emperor." She smirks as she leads the way. He follows her slowly as he shakes his head. "Are you telling me you killed an Emperor?" She places her finger against her lips, her smirk still there. She just gives him a single wink as she turns and heads down the road. He's frozen in place, what more surprises does this woman have up her sleeve? Just what was he really getting into by following her? She's a few good feet away and he quickly finds himself following after her. Jarlaxle was a dangerous sort, but she just might be far more worse and he can't help but want to learn more. Hell this just might prove to be far more profitable compared to before. Because it just seemed Jarlaxle only cared about himself and in the end that shouldn't have surprised him. He quickly catches up to her however, not wanting to be left behind.
