Age of Aggression

[Haylie]

As soon as she could move her torso again, Malak was swinging her fists at the air in front of her, howling with incoherent rage, desprately wishing that... witch was still in front of her so she could rip hear apart with her bare hands.

Hands. ... These aren't my hands. Malak looked down angrily at the little things, turning them over, looking at every different vein and crease. She clenched them, visibly trembling with rage. "I'll kill her... I'll track her down and KILL her. To Oblivion with the contract, AND the Brotherhood, and..."

Remembering her protege, she turned to look at... her? "Oh, Divines, how could she do this to us..."

[Legendary Hawk]

As she gradually regained the ability to move, Rath began to tremble and shake. Her emotions were nothing like the rage experienced by Malak, however. Instead, she was overcome by an intense fear. Finally, after mustering enough courage to move, she reached down to feel... her eyes clenched shut when she assured herself that she had completely, totally become female. Her jaw began to quiver, and a knot built up in the back of her throat. She tried not to burst into tears in front of Malak, but that was a difficult task. Somehow, as if it had shifted with her body, Rath's ability to withhold emotions had diminished considerably.


"M-Malak... Can you... Fix this?"

[Haylie]

Malak walked laboriously over to where Rath knelt. Her armor was much looser, heavier, and harder to walk in. She knelt beside her protege.

"Lad, I don't even know how she did it in the first place," she said. Her accent seemed a little less intrusive. "I've... never heard of something that could do this, beyond the... what's it called... Wabbajack? That's the only thing I can think of that would do it, and it was temporary! I don't understand..."

She stood up and looked around. "Did you see where that witch went? She left my field of vision. Maybe we can force her to turn us back... somehow... And if nothing else, we can beat her to a pulp..."

Malak didn't even believe what she was saying. She didn't even seem to be trying to convince herself, let alone Rath.

[Legendary Hawk]

"I..." Rath started. She lifted her hand to point with one of her slender fingers in the direction that the priestess had gone. "She went into the woods," the new elf explained. It seemed she had to muster up enough strength to even talk at this point. She didn't quite feel exhausted, but rather like she was going to faint. Everything felt so surreal... maybe this was a dream? A really horrifying dream? Rath remembered hearing about a nightmare problem around Dawnstar. Maybe, if she was lucky, she was having one of those nightmares. Morphing into a elven woman was too difficult to accept as reality.


As a sudden breeze rolled by, she felt it gently tugging her golden hair. A few strands fell over her face, so she tucked them behind her long, pointed ears. "Malak... what are we going to do?" Her voice, both soft and sweet, trembled with obvious fear.

[Haylie]

Malak didn't answer at first. She just stared in the direction Rath had pointed. The information didn't do her any good. The Priestess was probably long gone by now, they'd never catch her with their now very bulky clothing, and what would they do if they did catch her? Get paralyzed again, most likely.

She gave a sudden shiver. "Uh... First, let's see if we can get inside. Maybe get a different change of clothes. We look really suspicious out here. 'Borrow' something from some dock workers, maybe."

[Legendary Hawk]

Getting new clothes seemed like a good idea to Rath. She really hadn't tried to walk around yet, so she didn't know quite how poorly and awkwardly her armor would fit. After a sigh, she mentioned, "I'm a little cold." Her blood had become thinner, and her body a lot more slender. She didn't have the ability to resist freezing that she used to. Hopefully she'd be able to find something large, warm, and comfortable to shield her from the temperature.


"Should we try the inn?" she suggested.

[Haylie]

"Maybe..." Malak replied, looking back toward the inn. "We'd make a very odd sight, though. It might also be good to sell off this armor..."

The idea didn't seem to sit well with Malak, but she didn't say anything else about it.

[Legendary Hawk]

As she considered the idea, Rath realized how lucky she was that she had her own armor. If she went to a shop to sell Dark Brotherhood armor, she would at least look suspicious. "Well... you can lead the way I guess," she murmured, turning only once to look at the empty docks of Dawnstar. "If the inn's a bad idea, maybe we can break into a store..."

[Haylie]

"I was thinking we'd nick some clothes, perhaps from the inn, sell the armor, and maybe pay for a room as we decide what to do."

[Legendary Hawk]

"Alright. I guess that'll do," Rath answered. After taking a deep breath, she stood fully to her feet. Her armor felt loose in some areas and tight in others. And she could tell she was now about a half a foot shorter. She took her first step towards the inn, and her greaves began to slip. With a high-pitched grunt, she grabbed them around the belt to hold them up.

[Haylie]

"Are you alright?" Malak said, worried. "Can you make it? Do I need to send someone out here after you?"

[Legendary Hawk]

"I'll be able to make it," Rath quickly replied. She sighed loudly, feeling her chest rise and fall, and she closed her eyes to regain some composure. "Let's... just go. I want to get away from here."

[Haylie]

"Alright. Just take it nice and easy."

Despite her composure, Malak wasn't taking their predicament much better than Rath. Except where Rath was horribly confused and distraught, Malak was positively livid.

[Legendary Hawk]

"Okay..." Rath followed Malak as closely as possible. Her friend seemed to be handling the situation much better than she was. Even if Malak was only hiding her emotions, she still seemed to be in control of herself, as if she knew the best thing to do. By following her partner's lead, hopefully Rath would find a way out of this... or at least find a way to cope with it.

[Haylie]

Malak began leading the way toward the inn and held the door open, praying nobody inside would recognize them, or more likely, their choice of clothing, especially their client...