Cold Madness

Skyrim

The Dragonborn has gone missing and Skyrim's skies are still filled with dragons. Where has the Dragonborn gone? Does anyone care about the fate of Skyrim and it's citizens? Serana begins her search for the Dragonborn while accidentally teaming up with an unlikely fellow.

Chapter 10: Bittersweet

Cicero had exchanged his Forsworn weapons for a shiny new ebony dagger. She couldn't exactly agree with the decision he made but it was his weapons and his money, so she let him do what he wanted. They headed out from Markarth and followed the path east, as she never traveled south towards Falkreath. They kept themselves to the stony path, along the rivers and streams. It was a peaceful uphill walk, only the sounds of water running was their only company for the most part of their journey. Halfway toward Whiterun they noticed a shrine of sorts, Serana decided to stop to take a look. It was a well kept shrine, like most shrines, she walked up the stone steps and realized it was a shrine of Dibella. In front of the purple and burgundy statue was flowers, gold, and other offerings.

"What's this? Oh, are you secretly a Dibella worshiper? No…of course not, someone like you…so cold, you probably worship Molag Bal," he said eying her, his tone, it was as if he wanted to get on her nerves. Serana crossed her arms and sighed.

"I…was…I mean… I don't know," she let out thinking about it.

"Oh look goodies!" he said about to take the coin purse before Serana suddenly smack his hand from it.

"They're not yours," she scolded.

"They're not anyone's, not anymore," he said simply.

"If this was a shrine of Sithis, would you want anyone stealing an offering?" Serana countered. Cicero turned pale as he went silent. "Come on let's go, it's getting dark," she said as she started walking away. She stopped as she realized Cicero stared at the shrine for a moment before pulling out a carrot. He placed it down by the flowers and turned to follow her. Serana shook her head confused. He won't pray to another God but he'll leave an offering? It didn't make sense, then again a lot of things Cicero did didn't make sense. She kept walking east, ignoring Cicero's occasional ramblings, her mind began to wonder. She couldn't quite figure out how people chose a patron deity, when throughout life you would need help from all of them from time to time depending on the predicament. In fact, when her family began their worship to Molag Bal it was mostly out of obligation to her family. She was quite fond of Kynareth when she was a child. If she knew Cicero would give her a well thought out answer she would simply ask him. She held back chuckle as she can imagine how the conversation could play out in her head. Cicero why do you worship Sithis? Because the Dark Brotherhood told me too. Ha! She smiled, to be honest she probably wasn't giving him enough credit. She began to think about death in general. Was her soul bound to Molag Bal? Would she be sent to Coldharbour when she meets her final fate? Just like Cicero would probably be bound to Sithis and the void? She frowned it was saddening to say the least. Neither place sounded pleasant and to be honest if this was the case, perhaps she should stay alive as long as possible.

Finally, the rivers had come to a stop and the Throat of the World could be seen, the path opened up to fields and pastures. The sky was in twilight and stars were starting to shine. The air felt fresh, her soul felt calm. It was beautiful. She stopped when she reached a path that led south, however the signs mentioned nothing of Falkreath. She looked up ahead and she could have sworn there was another signpost up ahead. So she decided to keep moving along. Sure enough, there was another road that headed south and this sign did mention Falkreath. She had never been to Falkreath but she was told it was a beautiful part of Skyrim. She began taking the road south that was on a slow incline.

"He he he, you do like to live dangerously," Cicero let out excitedly.

"What do you mean?" Serana asked as she walked steadily in front of him.

"Wandering through Falkreath at night," he replied simply. Serana waited for him to add on to his sentence but he was silent once again. She ignored him as she continued her way, as long as she kept to the path she should be fine. Though within a few minutes she was starting to realize what he had meant. Tall trees were on both sides of the road, covering what little light that came from the sky above. Wolves could be heard howling in a distance as well. She could hear it, the forest was alive, with the sounds of random animals and perhaps even people. She kept her eyes open and her ears sharp as she kept a steady pace on the road. When finally the trees cleared up on her left side and stack of stones lead to what look like a Wood Mill and a house. She crept closer she could see a lake on the other side and the reflection of the moon above it. She looked around, she smelt old blood and she noticed chickens were sleeping nearby.

"You think it's safe to stop here for the night?" she asked out loud. Cicero muffled a yawn.

"Does it matter?" he replied as he made his way towards the house. Serana followed him as he suddenly opened the door.

"Have you heard of knocking?" Serana scolded as she followed after. They suddenly realized why it was so silent. Cicero started laughing hysterically.

"Look! Dead!" he yelled as he pointed.

"Obviously," Serana said looking at the dead female's body. Within closer inspection, she soon realized it was a vampire.

"What...strange," she let out. She noticed her throat had been slit and it sent a shiver down Serana's spine. This could easily have been her a few days ago. Meanwhile Cicero was making himself at home, as he started up a fire and began boiling a pot of water. Serana sighed as she looked around the home, it was a single large room home, typical of mill owners in Skyrim. She sighed once more before placing her hands on her hips, she stared down at the lifeless body. She shook her head and swallowed, she grabbed the woman's arms and begin pulling her corpse outside. Serana dragged the body towards the lake and left on the side of the house. She felt kind of guilty, about using her home and at least not burring her body. Serana looked out at the river, the water was calm, she walked around the area when she came across another body. It had an ebony arrow in his back straight through the heart. Serana turned over the man and realized he too was a vampire. Serana's guilt became deeper. Were they a couple? Forever bound by death, posing as lumber mill workers? It was sad yet a bit romantic. So I guess romance wasn't dead for her kind, after all. Though as her parents being the only example in her life, it wasn't like she gave it much thought. She dragged his body and placed it near his lover. At least she assumed they were lovers. They could have been brother and sister but she really didn't know. She began digging up a deep enough grave by a huge log stump. She placed both bodies in it and covered it back up.

"I hope…" she paused thinking of what to say. " I hope wherever you are that at least you're together," Serana said as she placed the shovel on the fresh mound and decided to finally head back inside. The aroma of soup came to her nose and it made her stomach churn. Which she thought was odd, she wasn't sure it was good or a bad reaction. Cicero was pouring himself a bowl of soup smiling looking quite proud of himself. Serana sniffed again. "It smells…kind of good," she complimented.

"Of course it's good! Because I made it. Hee hee-me!" he let out excitedly. He walked towards the small round table and began eating the soup. Serana walked towards the kettle and examined the soup. It had carrots, potatoes, tomatoes, leeks, and a variety of herbs. If she was normal she was sure it probably tasted good. Serana's stomach grumbled again, as she made her way towards the bookshelf and started browsing. Cicero opened an ale and started drinking and eating. She browsed through the books, none of them seemed really interesting as she turned and noticed there was only one bed. One full-size bed. Serana stared at the bed before rolling her eyes. Cicero let out a loud burp and laughed as he rubbed his stomach. "He he, you're excused Cicero," he joked.

"Great," Serana said finally.

"What's the matter? Is fancy schmancy blood-sucker too good for burps and fun?" he asked sounding offended.

"No, I don't care about that look," she gestured toward the bed. Cicero looked at the bed and stared as he let out a small smirk and began to chuckle.

"He he he oh ho ho," he chuckled looking quite sinister. Serana stared at him a bit worried, she wasn't sure what that reaction meant. She walked across the room and sat on the bench by the square table staring at the random stale food. She was growing upset and picked up a piece of bread and sniffed it before tossing back on the table. Cicero had stopped laughing as he continued drinking his ale. She side eyed his direction not sure what to do next. She wasn't too sleepy but if she didn't get any rest she would most likely be crabby in the morning. Cicero was mortal, he needed rest, besides she never really dealt with a sleep deprived Cicero before and wasn't sure if she wanted to start now. She looked down and swallowed.

"Take the bed, go to sleep," Serana demanded simply staring down at the table, focusing on the intricacies of the wood.

"No, I'm not sleepy yet," Cicero said crossing his arms.

"Just go to bed," Serana groaned. She made a face, she had never heard herself speak this way. Cicero sat up walked around the bed and laid down. He placed his hands on his stomach staring at the ceiling looking quite content. Serana made her way to the bookshelf pulled out a random book and sat at the little round table. It was quiet for a few minutes as she tried her best to concentrate on the book, listening to the fire cackle.

"Are you embarrassed to sleep next to poor dear Cicero?" he asked out suddenly.

"No," she responded concentrating on the book. He let out a small scoff as he propped his head on his hand and patted the spot in front of him.

"Then why don't you prove it," he dared with a wide grin. This time Serana looked up and stared.

"I'm not tired," she said looking back down at her book.

"He he he," Cicero laughed. "Oh Cicero knew you would say that," he teased as he turned to his side facing the wall. Serana was quiet as minutes passed as she muffled a yawn. She closed the book and stood up stretching, she was a little tired and even a little hungry, which was kind of unusual, she usually could go days without eating. She walked up towards the bed and sat down on the other side. She sighed, she was tempted to lay down, but her pride was getting the better of her. What's even worse is that Cicero even knew that. She gently leaned back and laid down next to him, she could gently hear him snoring as she stared at ceiling like he did earlier. Her stomach growled once more. Why was she hungry? Was it because she was eating more regularly now? Was it because of her new powers? Perhaps it was just the smell of Cicero's food, maybe since she liked the smell and it didn't offend her like food usually does, it triggered something in her appetite. The sound of snoring reached her ears as she slowly turned her head and stared at the red headed appetizer next to her. Cicero was dressed like one dark blood red steak. Serana smiled she wondered what Cicero tasted like. Blood came in a variety of flavors, most of the times it was salty, sometimes bitter, rarely was it sweet. Sweet blood was the rarest and usually vampires kept sweet tasting victims in cages where they drank but never drank enough to kill them. She even heard of vampires in Cyrodill spoiling their blood dolls, providing them with riches and good food, to keep them happy, healthy and by their side.

All this thinking about food was just making her hungrier. She stared at the jester once again, he was facing away from her, towards the wall, she sat up slowly staring at him. She could do it but he might wake up. She looked at his hand in front of him, his ebony dagger gripped lightly in his hand. Serana perked a brow if he wakes, he might get upset and attack her. Could she blame him? She placed her legs on the floor she didn't want to violate Cicero, after all he hadn't done anything to deserve it, even though he was annoying. He stood his ground and proves his worth in combat. Serana stood up and made her way outside. The stars were shining brightly as the moons were high above her now. She made it back toward the road, she wonder if she had enough time to head towards Whiterun, drink someone and head back before morning. She found herself walking back towards that general direction when she could have sworn she saw a deer nearby. She walked up toward the woods, she wasn't one for drinking from animals but she knew many vampires have done it. She could hear the cackle of fire in the distance, Serana found herself walking into the woods using her vampiric sight when she noticed the source of the fire. A medium size shack with log benches and a campfire. A hunter poked a stick at the fire muffling a yawn. The sound of an owl nearby could be heard hooting, he seemed unaffected by the sounds of wildlife.

Serana swallowed as she crept towards the campsite when she broke a twig under her foot and the hunter stood up.

"Who's there?" he asked out loud as he looked around desperately. Serana stood perfectly still as she watch the man wander about nervously. "It must be a deer," he said to himself. Serana smirked as she tried to be more careful as she crept towards the campsite. The sound of wolves howling made the hunter look up, standing up, once more. Though Serana stepped out of the shadows he turned suddenly and Serana entranced him immediately. The guy slowly stopped reaching for his weapon as he just stared blankly at Serana who was a couple of feet away. She slowly walked towards him, it had been years since she entranced anyone and she had almost forgot she could do it. She walked up towards the man and bit into his neck drinking him, his heart was steady unlike most of her victims and so the blood flowed slowly as well. She swallowed for about half a minute before stepping back. The man stood still as if nothing had happened. She closed her eyes and sighed as she started to walk backwards into the darkness of the forest. She didn't want to kill the man. She had been killing so much lately. She turned around and headed back towards the road.

After a few minutes Serana found herself back on the road. Her hunger subsided, she wasn't full either but she wasn't hungry. She was content. She walked back towards the mill and made her way inside. The fire was starting to dwindle as she walked back towards the bed. She stared down as Cicero was now facing her, one hand under his pillow, the other hand was no longer gripping his dagger. Serana scoffed she carefully sat down, she sat there quietly for a moment before laying down. She heard Cicero let out some clicking sounds with his mouth before continuing snoring. Serana smiled, she felt awake for now but she knew it was because she just fed. Soon her adrenaline would settle and she would drift off to sleep. They both simply had to deal with it. There was only one bed and she wasn't about to fall asleep on the chair or the on the floor. She could just kick him off but he would probably wake up and get all fussy about it. She closed her eyes, she only hoped if she dreamt, it was good dreams.