Northbound Pilgrimage II

Chapter CII - The Haunting of the Pale

Bishop and Aeyrin sat in the common room morosely, slowly munching on their breakfast.

And they weren't the only ones. Apparently, it didn't matter that it was barely the crack of dawn, there were plenty of disgruntled travelers and residents there in the same state – tired with barely enough sleep behind them to function.

The innkeeper seemed used to the early morning shift. It must have been quite exhausting for him – he probably didn't get much sleep either, but that one morning was nothing in the scope of things. This had been going on for over two years – the whole city and any who spent their nights in it, plagued by the constant nightmares. Back when Aeyrin and Bishop had learned of this phenomenon from the ferryman, he said that it was going on for a year. But that was another year ago and nothing had changed.

But there was nothing to be done. Their best plan was to find that cave where they could catch up on their sleep and then head out on their adventures. They were not sleeping in Dawnstar again, that was for certain. It hardly left them fit for battle. Or even walking, really. The mere idea of heading out on that journey felt exhausting just then.

"Fucking Dawnstar," Bishop grumbled, before he took another bite from his slice of potato bread. "Fucking stale bread. Stale ale too." It wasn't anything new. And he couldn't really expect fresh bread when the sun was barely up – the proprietors were probably not baking through the night. But he just felt like complaining. Everything pissed him off just then. "And that fucking guy keeps staring at me. The fuck's his problem?"

He may have been a little too focused on that guy. It was some Dark Elf dressed in robes, sitting by one of the tables. Bishop noticed him looking their way once and then he kept looking to see if that guy was looking again. He probably sensed it so he kept looking back. It was stupid and the whole situation was just annoying.

"Maybe he likes you," Aeyrin smirked weakly, though she wasn't really in much better mood than Bishop. He was kind of right. The ale was stale, they didn't have any more mead after the Old Life festivities, and her apple dumplings were kind of soggy too. She couldn't really blame the innkeeper for not having fresh baked goods so early, but it only made the whole morning even worse.

"Yeah? Well, I don't like him," Bishop scoffed. He should probably stop looking at him. Though he was pretty sure that he was sending that guy death-glares, it clearly didn't deter him. Or maybe he was watching Bishop more out of wariness now.

"Oh. He's... coming over," Aeyrin looked at the man curiously, just as Bishop had decided to avoid that line of sight. But she quickly lowered her gaze so that it wasn't that obvious that she had been staring. That would hardly work though.

And regardless of her efforts, Bishop turned his head at her words instantly and glared at that man. He kept making jokes about her lack of subtlety, but he was hardly being a good example just then.

The Dunmer was not deterred by Bishop's unpleasant stare and he approached steadily. Before he could say anything though, Bishop instantly snapped at him.

"Why the fuck do you keep staring at me?" he growled.

"O-oh..." the man stammered, startled by that reaction. "I'm sorry if I made you uncomfortable. I was just... hoping to speak with you. May... may I?" he gestured to a free chair by their table.

Aeyrin already saw that Bishop was ready to send him away. Possibly as rudely as possible. She quickly shot the man a tired smile and nodded at him. She was curious about what he wanted. Must have been important since he was determined to speak despite Bishop's open hostility.

"I'm sorry to disturb your meal, but this is important," the man sighed as he took the seat. He looked at Bishop again, who merely kept glaring at him, but once more, he was not deterred. "I just... I heard some rumors. Some of the patrons were whispering that... that you're the Dragonborn?" he peered at Bishop with strange hopefulness in his eyes.