This is a story of how I got hooked on Skooma and Moonsugar. And of course other, uh, bad things. I hope the story is good, because, uh... I don't really like to say this but, I'm not as smart as I was before the, uh, addiction.

P.S. Others might, but I still don't regret I got hooked on it. It's been one hell of a time.

The Skooma Addiction

It was past midnight when we finally stopped. Ebonheart could no longer be seen in the distance. We were free. I still couldn't believe what had just happened. I don't think any of us could.

The guard had thrown a punch, so I fought back. But I was the one to be blamed? They tried to lock me up, but I decided I was sick of it. Already had they locked me up before, for no reason whatsoever. And I wasn't gonna let that happen again. I hit the guard on the nose. I could feel it break as my fist reached the target. Already there was a group of citizens and guards all around me. Maddy was pushing her way through the crowd. I still couldn't get over her. Even when she was angry she was still extremely beautiful. Her long, dark brown hair shone in the moonlight, while light blue eyes sparkled brightly. The Nord pushed her way through, finally reaching me.

'Jolin!' she cried to me. 'What are you doing?' At the same time another guard rushed over to me, halberd raised. I was ready. I stepped to the side as he lunged at me with the enormous weapon and hit him right in the temple. I looked up to see Maddy, her eyes burning as if making a tough decision, then she finally turned around and hit another oncoming guard in the jaw

'Jolin! Maddy!' I heard a voice call out. General Vanhil came running through. Sure he was my best friend, but I knew him. He had done it before, and he would do it again. He would always choose the law over a friend. So before he was able to see what was going on, I had already started rushing towards him. My knee smashed into his stomach. My elbow into his face. It was time to go. I ran from the crowd, with Maddy close behind me, slightly sobbing. I could hear Vanhil starting to come after us. I put on a burst of speed, heading straight for the mountains.

I had broken the law... Left my best friend and made Maddy think she had to risk her life to come with me... We had just reached the sight when General Vanhil finally caught up to us. He was riding his bay horse and pulling a pinto and grey one behind him. Funny... I thought. I had imagined him to have wanted to drag us back. But Vanhil rode right past us, and halted in our path, making us slow down to a stop.

'Vanhil.' I said, drawing a daedric dagger from its hilt. 'I don't want to do this, but if you make me...'

'Why would I make you?' Vanhil replied. 'I've decided, I'm sick of going against my friends. I've probably made more enemies than friends to tell you the truth. And you, I really like you two. And I'm gonna stick with you. To no matter what end.'

I breathed a sigh of relief and put my dagger away. Vanhil trotted closer to us and handed Maddy the grey, and me the pinto.

'Thanks for this,' Maddy said as she climbed onto the horse.

And now we were up at the top of a mountain, finally out of sight of Ebonheart. Vanhil came up to me.

'Jolin,' he started, pointing somewhere behind me.. 'I found a cave over there. It's completely empty of life. Maybe we could camp there.'

'As you wish.' Was my only answer.

Vanhil led the way into the cave, with Maddy behind him and me coming up the rear. Inside we found five bedrolls, with moth - eaten blankets and hard looking pillows on the cold solid floor. There was a table of fine looking wood, with strong hard chairs of the same type. Five mugs, five goblets, five plates, and five knives and forks sat on top of the table.

There was a lake of fresh water around the corner from the bedrolls. They had planned to drink from there, as there was no other fresh water supply that they could get to without being seen.

There were three large crates that could all be unlocked with a single key that Maddy had found under a pillow.

The first crate was full of food supplies such as scuttle, ash yam, hound meat and alit hide. Perfect for them to live on. There were two small chests inside. One was filled with small seeds and the other was carrying four small corkbulb roots on a pile of a strange looking sand.

'So we don' have to go out and look for food so often, we could plant those here. Preferably over close to the waterhole, so that they grow faster.' I had said.

The second crate was full of alcohol such as Mazte, Shein, Sujamma, Cyrodiilic Brandy and Flin. The outlaws that used to live here definitely lived well. Vanhil looked excitedly into the crate. I could understand why. He had had a hard day. It would be fine for him to lay off a little bit.

Maddy opened the third crate, to find it full to the top of bottles of...

Skooma.

'Exactly what you'd expect smugglers to have.' Vanhil stated.

'I wonder if they're full?' Ana asked, picking one of the small flasks up. She shook it. No sound came out. 'Well, they're either really empty, or really full.' She tried her hardest to open it, but soon gave up. I took it as she handed it to me. After loosening it a bit by a small fire spell, I opened it to see the bottle full to the top of a dark liquid.

'I wonder if it is really Skooma in it?' I asked to no one in particular. 'But I'm not tasting it. I'm no fan of drugs.'

'Skooma usually has a sweet smell to it.' Vanhil answered my rhetorical question. 'You won't get addicted to it by just smelling it. Just see.'

I craned my neck over the bottle, and sniffed. There was a sudden insane dizziness as a sickly sweet smell washed through my nose and into every part of my body. It was suddenly covered by a smell of beautiful flowers and made me feel as if I was lying on top of a million of the softest pillows. That was certainly skooma. Or at least the first part was. I didn't know where the flowers or pillows came from. But for some reason, it made me want more. I had to force myself not to suddenly gulp the whole bottle down.

'Yep,' I said. 'It's skooma.'