Nathan waited until Vingalmo and Orthjolf moved off, before rounding the corner. Trotting down the steps, Nate made his way through the dining hall. The vampires that lingered in the area all turned their eyes on him with suspicion. He ignored them as best he could. Despite hearing them whisper about him behind his back. The all were confused as to why Harkon was letting his Ward wonder around so early. They were expecting him to be a raging monster. Hefting his bag over his shoulder, he held onto the cloth wrapped around his sun sword. He could feel how unhappy the sword was to be in the hands of an undead creature. Walking up to the front door, a Dark Elf called out to him. Nate stopped to let him run up to him to hand him a map. Nate accepted it as the Dark Elf huffed out in a blunt tone. "Where you just going to leave? You don't even know where Redwater Den is! In the future, when Lord Harkon gives you an assignment, you inform ME. I am charged with supplying you for your trip and any extra information you may need." Nate took a moment to open the map but asked the Dark Elf rather bluntly. "And you are?"

The Dark Elf dusted his grey clothing with a shiny bronze broach of an eclipsed sun, before giving him a little bow and answering respectfully. "My name is Garan Marethi. I am Lord Harkon's record keeper. I am the eyes and ears of this place. Now. Is there anything you require for this trip?" Nate shook his head, flatly telling him. "Nope. I plan to travel light. Thanks for the map, but I'm sure if I asked around, I could have found it myself." Garan's expression fell into one of disapproving sarcasm as he replied dryly. "Indeed... Try not to get yourself killed along the way. Redwater Den is an important establishment. Many of us would give our fangs to be in charge of it." Nathan saluted Garan, then turned on his heels to leave. He just wanted to get this over with and figure himself out again. Folding up the map as he slipped out the door, he mumbled to himself. "The Rift... Fuck. So much for making this quick." Nathan waved to the old gate guard, who anxiously waved back with a confused look. Stuffing the map in his pocket, Nate removed his Daedric Wine and brought it to his lips. Hesitating, he wondered if he'd still be cursed to drink Daedric Wine if he was technically a vampire who needed blood.

Shrugging, he took a sip anyway. His throat was feeling dry after hours of not drinking it. As the flavorful wine washed over his tongue, Nate felt his dry throat fade away. Swallowing, he shook his head and chuckled out. "Well... That answers that. Still cursed." Walking along the bridge toward the jetty boat, he tried to enjoy the beautiful snowfall. It was gorgeous and if he listened closely, he could faintly hear the soft tinkling of snowflakes as they hit other snowflakes and landed across things. His eyes were even able to observe the detail of the closest snowflakes that fell in front of him. Proving that each snowflake was different and unique in design. Reaching the jetty boat, he tossed his stuff inside it and then stopped to look at himself. His shirt was hanging open since Escher had destroyed the buttons. Yet, even as snowflakes hit his skin, he didn't feel cold. Then for even as cold as his skin was, the snowflakes still melted on him. Was he not cold enough for the snow to stick to him? Climbing into the boat, he rowed across the cold water to the shore. He nearly broke the oars with his newfound strength but managed to keep himself from breaking them in time.

He had crossed the water much faster than would have been possible with his human strength. As a vampire, he wasn't even winded. Flipping up his hood, he started walking past the Thalmor Fort to see if Barry was still where he had left him. He wasn't bothering to going invisible. He was too distracted by the loud sounds of birds and the laughter of Thalmor within the stone Fort. The smell of warm blood from living creatures around him was clouding his senses and he was trying to center himself to calm down. It was difficult to focus when his body was discovering just how far he could sense things. Stopping, he decided to give in and see how much he could do without moving. Closing his eyes, he just listened and sniffed the air. The longer he let himself use it, the calmer he felt. He just had to learn to focus on one thing at a time. Which was hard when he wanted to listen to EVERYTHING around him. Sensing his horse, he opened his eyes and had just started moving when a Thalmor guard yelled out to him. "HEY! What are you doing here?! Get lost!" The High Elf's outburst made Nate jump and his instinct took over in that split second.

Whirling around, Nathan shot an ice spike into the Thalmor guard's golden breastplate. The spell had been so powerful that the ice spike broke through the metal breastplate with surprising ease. The Thalmor was dead before his body even realized what had happened. His body falling from the wall, Nate hissed and dashed out toward him. Jumping mid-stride, Nate snatched the Thalmor's body before it hit the ground. Landing soundlessly, Nate's fangs extended, and he plunged them into the Thalmor's neck to drain him while his blood was still warm. After draining him, Nate dropped the Thalmor's body into the snow and took a shaky breath as his rationality returned. He couldn't believe that he had just done that. His first instinct was to kill what had scared him? That was going to be a problem. Backing up from the body, he felt his fangs shrink. This was going to be tougher to handle than he thought. Turning, he tried to jog toward his horse, only to startle his horse with his sudden appearance. Walter reared and began backing up from him. How fast had he actually moved? Raising his hands, he grabbed Walter's bridle and spoke soothingly to him. Walter snorted and shuffled his feet uneasily, clearly sensing what he was now.

Petting and talking to him normally helped Walter settle down though. Once he was calmed down enough, Nate strapped his gear onto him and mounted up. Mounting Walter was even easier to do. With just a good hop, he could clear Walter's back and slid into the saddle. Encouraging Walter into a bolt, he guided Walter to head for the main road out of Solitude. As Walter was trotting through the town of Dragon Bridge a few hours later, Nathan listened to the soft songs of Christmas music. Was it the end of the year already? Traveling around on all his missions had really made time fly. He thought about stopping in to enjoy the festivities but stalled long enough that Walter kept trotting by the tavern. He didn't know if he could handle being in an enclosed space with living people yet. Not after what he did to the Thalmor guard. Sighing, he pulled his hood up more to hide his face from the rising sun. He hated that for the first time in many years... he'd truly be alone on Christmas. As the sun crept over the horizon, Nathan winced as his vision blurred and his muscles locked up. While the sun's rays wouldn't kill him, it did make him weaker. Dulling his powerful abilities. Which to a small degree was a blessing. He didn't have to work as hard to not focus on things. He felt almost... human.

He followed the main rode through Whiterun and used his time to learn about himself to keep from getting bored. He discovered that touching Dawnbreaker's golden metal burned his skin, but the leather of the hilt was ok to touch. He learned that if he took damage in the sun that he wouldn't heal, but as the sun went down, his burn healed over. He was getting better at handling himself in the daylight, but nighttime was a different beast all together. Walter tired when the night came, his stomach growling. Forcing Nathan to stop for the night to let him rest. He couldn't believe he had forgotten something so basic... but his body no longer gave him cues that he needed to rest. He still felt like he could keep going for days. Tending to Walter, he made him feel loved before setting up a fire to play his mandolin. Even playing his mandolin was a challenge. He had to be mindful of his strength and had to find the right balance to play the cords without breaking the strings. Learning to do some of the simplest things again was an interesting experience. So, for the next two nights, he practiced until his new vampire body adapted to his muscle memory. Walter even seemed to enjoy falling asleep to his playing. No matter where they were, Walter never smelled of fear. It was like he knew that he was safe with him around to watch over him.

Walter was friends with an ultimate predator, and he relished it. Finally reaching Eastmarch by mid-day, Nathan overheard a group of passing miners say amongst themselves. "Did you hear? The Thalmor Embassy got raided! They are saying the Dovahkiin snuck in, stole Imperial documents and freed prisoners!" Nathan straightened up on Walter. The Embassy wasn't far from Solitude. He didn't know why the Dragonborn would want to break into that place though. If he wanted plans for the war, shouldn't they have gone to General Tullius's headquarters in Solitude? Was the Dragonborn helping Ulfric? He was curious who this person was that was pretending to be a Nord legend. Nate tried not to let the miners know that he was eavesdropping. Listening as another miner told the others. "I hear that the Jarl of Riften has summoned him. Do you think she is the one that sent him to raid the Embassy? To turn the tide of war on Ulfric?" Another miner snorted, stating out bluntly. "Not fucking likely. Maven Blackbriar probably is the one calling all the shots. With the Thieves guild and Dark Brotherhood in her pocket... It wouldn't surprise me if she put a leash on the Dragonborn."

One of the miners groaned, asking sarcastically. "Who is worse? Maven Blackbriar or Ulfric Stormcloak?" Another miner laughed out heartily. "Fuck, man. Give me Ulfric any day. At least he is fighting FOR the Nords. Maven is fucking sadistic. Did you hear that she poisoned Honningbrew meadery just to put them out of business?" Nathan shook his head, coaxing Walter into a trot to pass them. He was getting close to Redwater Den and didn't want to listen to them talk about the war. Turning off the main road and into the woods, Walter trotted through the thick fog that was clinging to the air. According to the notes scribbled on the map, he was looking for a broken down inn. Wandering around, he eventually found it. The old inn was mostly collapsed but enough of it was still standing to be a little shelter. As he rode up, Nate smelled traces of fear on the gentle breeze, drawing his attention to the porch. Standing on either side of the cloth doorway, were two burly men in leather armor. They looked him over but said nothing and didn't appear to be hostile toward him. Sliding off Walter, Nate draped his reins on a broken hitching post and calmly walked up the steps.

Nathan stopped on the last step, expecting to fight them. Only to have one of the men tell him softly. "Can we help you?" Nathan straightened up, answering openly. "This where I can find red Skooma?" The burly lookout nodded, gesturing to the red cloth hanging in the doorway as he said curtly. "Ya. What you're looking for is downstairs." Nathan nodded to him, pushing the cloth curtain aside to slip inside the inn. Just inside a woman wrapped in furs sat before a crackling fireplace. When she saw him, she pointed to the trapdoor in the far corner and winked out at him. "Down there, Honey. That is where you'll get your fix." Walking to the trapdoor, he calmly observed them. They didn't look like vampires. They were Nords. Thralls, maybe? People that wanted to become vampires? Lifting the trapdoor, he descended the steps into the dimly lit basement. The basement wasn't like any he'd ever seen. It had been dug out and was clearly not apart of the inn's original design. The narrow tunnel led into a large square room, where another Nord stood in studded armor. This man had weapons and looked a lot more intimidating. Getting up from his seat to step into his way, the Nord told him seriously. "Hold it, Lad. If you're going downstairs, you can leave your weapons here with me. Refuse and we'll be getting better acquainted."

Nathan lifted his hands to push back his large hood away from his face. Extending his fangs as he told the Doorman with just as stern of an expression. "I think I'll be keeping my stuff. But if you insist on getting to know me better... I can make room on my schedule." The Doorman's eyes widened, before he bowed his head and told him more respectfully. "My apologies. I didn't know you were a vampire. Please, go on inside. Forgive my abrasiveness." Nate's fangs shrank as he blinked in surprise. He hadn't expected to be treated so nicely. He felt like royalty for the first time. Smiling, he told the Doorman in a charming voice. "You are forgiven. Keep the riff raff out." The Doorman opened the door with his key, pushing it open for him. Nathan strolled into the sound of people coughing and moaning groggily. The whole place smelled of Skooma and lusty pheromones. Walking up to a wooden bar with large iron bars, a beautiful Nord woman with red hair that was braided down one shoulder, greeted him pleasantly. "Ah, welcome, welcome! I don't believe I've seen you here before, Handsome. Looking to buy some special Redwater Skooma? We have a few booths open for you to enjoy with others or in private."

Nathan glanced at the row of booths. He could see mortals laying across bedrolls, already tweaking out on Skooma. Some coughed red smoke. While others just fondled themselves and moaned in pleasure with red tinted eyes. The Dealer woman leaned closer to the bars, drawing his attention back as she purred out. "You seem tense. Come on. Let me help you relax. I've got some fresh Skooma and a booth with your name on it. How long has it been since you last had a fix?" Turning to face her, he tried to come off as docile, when he replied. "A while. Heard some folks tell me that Redwater Skooma is the best... but I'm unconvinced. I don't want to pay for a watered down high." The Dealer looked him over closely, then told him in a teasing tone. "Oh? Is that what you think. Well, since it is your first time here. How about tasting a little sample?" She removed a slender red Skooma vile, sliding it through the bars toward him. Then pointing off to the row of booths, she told him in a flirtatious voice. "Find yourself a booth, Honey. Relax and enjoy yourself. It will be a high that you'll NEVER forget." Taking the bottle of Skooma, he started walking along the row of booths. Peeking inside to see the people collected here.

He could tell most were bandits but there were a few Imperial Soldiers. To his shock, he overheard a Nord Nobleman coughing out to a tweaked out soldier. "I once paid three-thousand gold for this fungus that grows in giant's armpits. Couldn't stand up for days... but it was no where as good as this stuff. WHOO! I want another hit! Attendant? Fix me up!" A Dark Elf man in worn common clothes, walked over to coax the Nobleman to lay down. Giving him a warm smile, the Attendant told him casually. "Trust me. Once is enough. Just let it sit in your system a bit longer. You'll start feeling it really take effect soon." The Nobleman coughed a little, then moaned softly. As the Attendant straightened up, he asked Nathan in a warm tone of voice. "This your first time? Want some help?" Nate stepped back, but not giving an answer prompted the Attendant to move out to take his arm. The Attendant's touch was gentle and his voice comforting as he led him to an empty booth in the back. Coaxing him to sit down on the bedroll, the Attendant told him sweetly. "Just sit down and relax. Here. Let me help." Nathan gave him the bottle of Skooma, starting to tell him nicely. "That's fine. I don't need-" The Attendant moved so fast, grabbing his jaw with his gloved hand and quickly poured the Skooma down his throat.

Nathan tried to swat the Attendant's hand away but missed as his vison blurred and he started seeing things through a pink tint. Coughing out a pink smoke, Nathan strained out as he shifted onto all fours. "You're a vampire... Son of bitch..." The Attendant chuckled softly, stroking Nathan's hair as he purred close to his ear. "Yes. And you are the last one that I needed to complete our new set of Thralls. Thank you, Dear boy. Enjoy yourself... While you can." To Be Continued...