The Dark Brotherhood Forever

Chapter I

( Chapter I, A new beginning. ) 



     The dark elf stirred in his sleep, the air was stiff, cold, his body ached. He last remembered falling asleep in Windhelm's Inn, a warm soft bed... So why did it feel like he was on the cold, hard floor? Because he was. He sat up, slipping his hand under the mask he had on and rubbed his eyes. Slowly, he looked up.

There was a women sitting on top of a tall dresser, slowly kicking her dangling leg and staring down at him. She was wearing a skin tight red and black suit; A mask that covered the lower half of her face. The elf furrowed his brows, discreetly moving a hand to his side where a knife sat firmly in his pocket. 

"Sleep well?" The masked woman asked, her voice calm, low and collected.

"...Where am I?... Who are you?" The elf asked lowly, shifting in a more comfortable sitting position as he stared up at the ominous woman from the floor.

"Does it matter? You're warm, dry... And still very much alive. That's more than can be said for old Grelod. Hmm?" She asked, looking off to the side. The elf stayed silent. How could she possibly know about that? The woman gave a small chuckle at his silence.

"Half of Skyrim knows. Old hag gets butchered in her own Orphanage? Things like that tend to get around." The woman shifted in her spot, making eye contact with the elf once again.

"Oh, but don't misunderstand. I'm not criticizing. It was a good kill. Old crone had it coming. And you saved a bunch of urchins, to boot. Ah, but there is a slight... Mm... problem." She gave a smile, hidden by her mask. 

"A problem?" He asked, the woman nodded.

"You see, that little Aretino boy was looking for the Dark Brotherhood. For me, and my associates. Grelod the kind was, by all rights, a Dark Brotherhood contract. A kill... that you stole. A kill you must repay." She said.

"Mm... You want me... to murder someone else? Who?" The elf asked flatly, almost unphased by the order.

"Well now. Funny you should ask." She gestured behind him. 

"If you turn around, you'll notice my guests. I've 'collected' them from... Well, that's not really important. The here and now. That's what matters. You see, there's a contract out on one of them, and that person can't leave this room alive. But... which one? Go on, see if you can figure it out." The elf looked behind him, there sat three guests. A nord man on left, a nord woman in the middle and a khajiit man on right. All had their faces covered by black sacks and hands bound behind them.

"Make your choice. Make your kill. I just want to observe... and admire." She said, watching as the elf slowly sat up and stood to his feet, staring back at their guests. 

The elf made his way in front of the three captives. He stared silently, beginning to pace back and forth in front of them. He stopped in front of the nord, again just silently watching him. The man trembled in his binds, finally realizing that one of his captors were in front of him.

"I... I-I can hear you talking out there. Please... Let me go. I've done nothing to you!" He said, the elf said nothing. He stood there for a few seconds more before slowly making his way to the second captive. 

"Ah- Wh-What did I do?... Please, whatever it is, I'm sorry!" The elf ignored the nord and stood in front of the woman. He stared.

"Get these... things off of me!" The woman struggled in her binds, by her tone of voice he could tell she was frustrated rather than scared like the other. Again he stood there, stared, and then made his way to the other. The woman growled.

"I don't have time for this nonsense! I've got a house to keep and children to feed! Now let me... out of here!" She continued to struggle against her binds.

The elf stood in front of the khajiit, he was... different. He wasn't struggling in frustration, not panting, not trembling in fear. He seemed calm somehow while in a situation like this.

"Whoever this is, clearly we got off on the wrong foot. Ah, but no worries. This is not the first time I have been bagged and dragged." The khajiit spoke clearly in that raspy voice of his, that statement truly stood out with the way he was dealing with this. Noticing his captors silence, the khajiit simply cleared his throat and continued.

"I am Vasha, at your service. Obtainer of goods, taker of lives, and defiler of daughters. Have you not heard of me? Perhaps I will have my people carve my name into your corpse, as a reminder." Vasha laughed lowly to himself. He wouldn't admit that the silence was somewhat getting to him. He spoke again to fill it.

"Tell you what. You release me, and I promise my associates won't hunt you down like an animal and butcher you in the streets. It's a win-win." Vasha finished, awaiting an answer. Nothing came. In fact, there were no sounds or footsteps after that. All three captives felt uneasy, whether they showed it or not. 

The elf silently crept behind Vasha, pulled out his knife, pulled his head back and quickly slit his throat. He was rewarded with a gargled scream. The khajiit's body tensed, the elf beginning to saw the knife through his throat and soon his body fell onto the ground, dropping his head once done. The two other captives shook in fear as they listened to the khajiit's thrilled screams, the tearing of skin and the thud as both his body and head made impact with the old, cold wooden floor.

"Wh-What's going on?! Oh Gods... I-I don't want to die!!" The nord man yelled. 

Silence.

The elf stood at a fair distance while moving in front of the nord woman. He took out this dark, jet black bow, slowly taking out an arrow and pulling back on the string. He aimed, and let go. The arrow struck the nord woman between the eyes, she let out a shrilled scream before falling back against the wall of the shack and slumping limply to the floor. 

The nord man trembled harder and recoiled in his spot, breathing heavier while anxiously waiting for any kind of response. Anything. 

"Wh-Who are you... What-... Just what a-are you?!" And with that, his head was chopped clean off. One single swing of an axe. His body fell forward and his head rolled back. The elf followed his head as it rolled on the floor and lifted a foot to rest on it, keeping it in place. He slowly looked up to the mysterious, masked woman; Who clapped her hands slowly in amusement.

"Well, well. Aren't we the overachiever? Three possibilities, three victims. Must have been one of them, right? So why take chances?" The woman shrugged her shoulders, slowly beginning to kick her leg again as she sat back.

"You told me to kill. So I killed." The elf said, and she nodded.

"Indeed. For you, my friend, seem to understand what's truly important. When I give you an order to spill blood, you follow. No questions. No remorse. Better yet, you do so in style." She said, bowing her head to him.

"So..." The elf started, looking to the door of the shack. The masked woman slowly nodded down at him.

"Of course. And you've repaid your debt, in full. Here's the key to the shack." She dug into her pocket and tossed the key down to the elf, he caught it and made his way to the door.

"Oh, but why stop here? I say we take our relationship... to the next level." She said, causing the elf to stop in his tracks and turn his head around. He tilted his head, staying silent. Listening.

"I would like to officially extend to you an invitation to join my family. The Dark Brotherhood." She smiled underneath her mask as the elf raised a brow. He thought for a second before turning back around and facing the woman. 

"In the southwest reaches of Skyrim, in the Pine Forest, you'll find the entrance to our Sanctuary. It's just beneath the road, hidden from view. When questioned by the Black Door, answer with the correct passphrase: "Silence, my brother." Then you're in. And your new life begins. I'll see you at home." She gave a small wave, the elf nodding back at her before unlocking the door to the shack and stepping outside. 
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(1,439 words...)