Chapter XXXVIII – The Colors

Yesterday had passed in blissful ignorance of their current struggles and they certainly intended to keep their spirits up for at least today as well.

It was the eighth of Hearthfire – Aeyrin's designated birthday. If they had received the letter with no trouble, Saadia and Lydia would be joining them for the celebrations today.

Bishop had made enough breakfast for all four of them, but the two women didn't arrive yet. So, instead, Aeyrin and Bishop gorged themselves on all the food and, after Bishop's insistence, proceeded to work it out by having a bit more fun in private. They had Saadia and Lydia in the letter that Karnwyr would lead them to their camp from Rorikstead since they didn't know where a suitable place could be found beforehand. Therefore they would definitely get some heads up by the wolf's excited approach. They certainly didn't need to introduce Saadia to the usual accidental walk-in on their activities that they had experienced with Lydia twice already. Although she herself, without a doubt, already shared everything with Saadia, at the very least about their initial surprise meeting at Breezehome.

Luckily, they hadn't been interrupted all morning, and only when Bishop started to prepare the food for their lunch, the familiar excited bark echoed across the clearing. The wolf appeared in no time, followed closely by the two women.

"There you are!" Saadia let out a relieved sigh while Lydia waved at them somewhat more enthusiastically than they would have expected from her. "Why are you all the way out here? It took so long to get here," Saadia shook her head in exasperation.

"Camping by the side of the road isn't exactly safe, you know," Bishop smirked. It was obvious that she wasn't used to the wilderness at all. Even during her escape from Hammerfell, she must have mostly taken the roads, maybe taking on a different identity already or hiding inside caravans with imported goods. She was a noblewoman before that after all, even though her personality rarely showed it. Though she may have put in some effort to hide her demeanor to assume her new role convincingly.

"I think it's nice… far from the settlements. I've never been out of a city like this for longer than a brief trek. It looks so peaceful," Lydia said wistfully as she looked around the small clearing and the babbling brook nearby.

"Yeah, this is the life," Bishop's face became decorated with a somewhat fond smile.

Saadia and Lydia placed their small travel pack by Bishop and Aeyrin's bedroll as they situated themselves around the fire. Lydia was wearing her orcish armor and she promptly started to remove it. Saadia wasn't armed or armored at all, but in contrast to her usual dresses and tavern attire, she was wearing some more functional travelling clothes – leather trousers and a warm tunic. Aeyrin couldn't fathom how she could walk around Whiterun in those dresses anyway – she was from Hammerfell, for Gods' sake! Wasn't it mostly unbearably warm there with the desert all around? How was she not freezing to death all the time?

Saadia sat herself down by the fire and watched Bishop prepare their food curiously before Lydia finally disposed of her gear and joined them too.

Soon enough the food was ready to be put on the fire. They were certainly already famished again after the morning activities.

…

"That was actually really good, Bishop," Lydia praised him after they had all finished eating.

"Don't sound so surprised," he snorted with amusement.

"I just meant… with the supplies on the road, it must be a challenge," she gave him a wry smile in return. She didn't try to butt into his cooking even once and she only waited patiently for the result. It was likely that she was very curious whether her training actually did any good.

"It was good," Saadia nodded. "Almost as good as Lydia's," she smirked. "We didn't take any supplies besides a few rations though, I hope we don't end up eating all of yours."

"We're good, don't worry about that," Aeyrin smiled. "And if we're here long enough to run out, we can always send Karnwyr to scrounge up some rabbits for us." The wolf raised his head from her lap, where it had been resting up until now and he let out an excited bark. She started to rub him behind his ear instantly with a chuckle.

"How long are we… you… planning on staying?" Lydia raised her brows.

"We've got two or three days maybe, I guess. Then we should probably head back to the meadery," Bishop pondered. They should give it some time, but not too much. Karliah still needed the information that he had recovered and learning about any rumors of Sibbi's death from her would ease his mind considerably.

"Yeah, you can stay with us however long you like," Aeyrin nodded at them.

"The meadery? You're still working for those… people?" Lydia asked uncertainly.

"Yeah. The bounty on Aeyrin is still in effect. We need to take care of that," Bishop sighed somberly. Even without the bounty, he would be eager to take Mercer down, but perhaps if the stakes were lower, he would think twice about some of the risks that they had been taking.

"R-right. It must be awful to have that constantly threatening you," Lydia gave Aeyrin a sympathetic look, but she quickly averted her gaze. She likely remembered one of their talks – back when Aeyrin complained about the pity looks that Lydia was giving her. This was not much better, to be honest, but it didn't bother her as much as it used to for some reason.

"We get by. Don't worry about it," Aeyrin shrugged. She was much more eager to get back to the blissful ignorance of all their problems.

"Back to the more pleasant topics then," Saadia winked at her, much to her relief. She stood up from the fire and walked towards their small travel pack. She rummaged around for a bit before she pulled out two bottles made of clear glass with dark liquid inside which could only be red wine. "Aeyrin, dear, here's something for today's celebrations. And can I say, you don't look a day over… hmm… seventy, maybe?" she chuckled merrily.

It was definitely not any wine that Aeyrin had seen in Skyrim before – those always came in green bottles for some reason. Unfortunately, it didn't even have the signature label of Evette San's Spiced Wine. But she did start to suspect that this may have been something even more special.

"Is this…" she gaped at Saadia in surprise when she was handed the bottles.

"From Skingrad. You mentioned that you like wine before and we thought that you might appreciate a little taste of Cyrodiil for a change," Lydia beamed at her.

'Skingrad'?!

Aeyrin hadn't had any wine from Skingrad since she crossed the border! This was amazing.

"By the Eight! Really? I think I love you!" She didn't waste a second before she grabbed a sharp knife from nearby, which Bishop had used previously to cut up the venison that they had for lunch, and she uncorked the bottle with it. She sniffed the neck of the bottle instantly and all the familiar scents filled her senses.

It smelled like home.

"How did you even get this?" she gasped at them as they chuckled merrily at her reaction.

"It wasn't easy, believe me," Saadia smirked. "But Hulda helped me out with it. She knew where to get the extra rare stuff."

Gods, that must have been expensive! That was so sweet of them!

Aeyrin didn't wait a second longer and she quickly pressed the bottle to her lips to taste the wine. It was just like she remembered and she let out a reverent low moan of approval when she swallowed.

"And here I thought that she was going to save it for a special occasion," Saadia smirked.

"This is a special occasion!" Aeyrin beamed. "All of us here, far from any trouble. What could be more special?"

"Fair point," Saadia chuckled while Aeyrin passed the bottle along to Bishop who eagerly took a deep swig from it.

"Damn, I completely forgot what it tastes like. Skyrim wine really does taste like shit," Bishop chuckled with an appreciative smile.

"You've been to Cyrodiil?" Lydia asked curiously when Bishop passed the bottle to her.

"Yeah. I practically grew up there too. Left when I was seventeen," Bishop shrugged.

"Wait, so you're not from Skyrim?" Lydia's brows shot up in surprise. What? Would he not be a 'proper Nord' then? Lydia really didn't seem like the type to hold such beliefs.

"You know that I am," Bishop scowled pointedly, upon which realization dawned on Lydia.

"Right. The bounty. I always forget about that," she blushed a little in embarrassment.

"Lucky you," he grumbled. He certainly couldn't forget about that.

"So we know that your family's crappy. What about you, Aeyrin? Leave some family behind, besides the temple folks?" Saadia changed the subject quickly. It probably wasn't exactly a pleasant topic for them either with how the rumor-addled citizens of Whiterun had been treating them.

This, however, was in no way more comfortable. But she couldn't have known that.

"No… no family," Aeyrin shook her head somberly. "What about you two? You've never talked about your families," she quickly shifted the focus on Lydia and Saadia.

"No family for me anymore either, I suppose. They disowned me instantly after my… dissidence," Saadia scoffed. "I've had a big family. Four brothers and two sisters. The nobles tend to make a lot of spares," she snorted. "They were worried that my speeches against the Thalmor would make them all a target too, so they wasted no time before they publicly disowned me. I had to stay with some like-minded friends after that, but… it didn't take long before I had to run away. New identity and no more connections to my past life."

That sounded bleak. To have to give up everything for simply speaking your mind was disheartening. Neither of them knew what to say to that and Lydia merely placed her hand on Saadia's thigh, stroking over it comfortingly. Saadia noticed how somber the mood had gotten and her face got quickly decorated by a reassuring grin.

"But I have a new life now. Thanks to all of you. It's freeing. To finally have all of that behind me. Besides, it was not a life I ever wanted. Even if it weren't for the Thalmor support… my parents were planning on marrying me to a bitter bitch of a noblewoman anyway. I hated her, but none of that mattered in the games of high society," she waved her hand dismissively.

Aeyrin nodded at her in understanding. She knew exactly how Saadia felt. Not about the arranged marriage, of course, but about leaving family behind. It was freeing. And it was much better than to cling to some vain hope of a happy family when there was none to be had. It was much better to make a new family – one you chose.

After a while of silence, Lydia sighed, determined to get the somber subjects out of the way before they could turn to more pleasant topics.

"My family is gone too. I was an only child and my parents were soldiers. Unfortunately, they bought into Ulfric's propaganda right away. They both died in one of the skirmishes before the war even properly started. I was sixteen then, but my parents used to be good friends with Proventus, the Jarl's steward. He's taken me in, sort of. He handed me over for the housecarl training and I've been living at Dragonsreach ever since," she nodded resolutely, as if she was merely reciting some basic facts. There was hardly any emotion at all behind her words, but it didn't really sound like she was very fond of her parent's… occupation.

There was another moment of somber silence before Aeyrin passed the bottle to Bishop in another round and he raised it into the air with a nod.

"Well, to the Void with families. Who fucking needs them," he scoffed and he took another deep swig from the bottle.

"Exactly," Saadia smirked as she practically tore the bottle from his hand to take a drink herself. Right then, it was a shame that cups were impractical to drag around.

They all seemed too eager for a drink just then.

…

All that delicious wine ran dry all too soon but it definitely left them with a pleasant buzz and in a much better mood.

They talked and drank until the night fell upon them. Aeyrin even played a song for them. Bishop insisted that she should share the one that she had learned at the Imbel's House, but she was still too shy to do that, despite the inebriation.

She would crack eventually. That was certainly not something that he could pass up.

The mood was merry in either case, and they still had two bottles of mead. Aeyrin shared one with Bishop and Lydia shared the other with Saadia. It was pretty late already, but they were determined to enjoy the celebrations for a little while longer at least.

"So… the 'seventy' thing. Was I even close? How old are you really?" Saadia smirked at Aeyrin.

"Pfft! Not even close!" Aeyrin chuckled at her as she nestled closely into Bishop embrace. He was getting predictably handsy again, but, fortunately, not enough to make her too embarrassed in front of Saadia and Lydia. It may have helped that she was so comfortable around them. And the alcohol surely helped too. "I am twenty-two today."

"What? No! You're lying! That's unfair!" Saadia snorted.

"W-why unfair?" Aeyrin stammered a little as she startled at Bishop's hand that snuck below her tunic to stroke over her bare stomach. She almost pushed it away for a second, but fortunately he didn't get more daring than gently running his fingers over her skin in subtle touches.

"You're younger than me. Younger than all of us, I suspect. And you're gonna be like… this… for at least another century. Maybe two!" Saadia scoffed dejectedly, but there was still a hint of merriment in her voice.

"Am not! I'm an adventurer, remember? I'm gonna get chopped down in some stupid battle soon enough, don't you worry," Aeyrin giggled a little. It wasn't really bitter, it was something that she had to cope with much earlier in her life. She didn't think about old age – there was no point. There was no point in being regretful or clinging to it in any way. She would either be lucky enough to live a long life or she wouldn't be. But that was the truth for everyone. Especially with the war on. It was important to enjoy the time that she had, rather than despair at any potential lack of it. It was a much easier philosophy to follow when she was not in any immediate mortal danger though.

"That's just coinci- coincidence. If you don't get 'chopped down', you're gonna live for centuries yet," Saadia stated matter-of-factly.

"That's true!" Lydia exclaimed as if she had just realized that fact. For a Nord, she didn't really have as much resilience as Aeyrin had observed in the others. She got drunk even more quickly than Aeyrin usually did. "How… how old are you?" she gaped at Bishop.

"He's twenty-eight!" Aeyrin chuckled victoriously at the fact that she had learned the previous day. Well… she already knew that, kind of, she just didn't know when the number changed. Bishop was too busy kissing the back of her neck to answer anyway. He didn't really seem interested in this conversation.

"See? He will… he will be old in no time! Are you… you gonna let him paw at you like that when his… his hands are all… wrinkled?" Lydia looked at Aeyrin with concern. She seemed actually worried for some reason. Saadia laughed merrily instead. She seemed to find the prospect much more funny than Lydia did.

"I don't care! It's still him," Aeyrin chuckled and her head leaned back towards Bishop so that she could kiss him on the lips. Although his hand did stop moving along her stomach and his kiss was all too brief. There was even a hint of a scowl on his face. Was he worried about that too? He really shouldn't be. It was still all the same – their lives were too uncertain to be concerned about that. They should both just enjoy what was now, instead of worrying about what would be years and years after. Besides, he would really not turn old in 'no time' as Lydia had suggested.

"Exactly, who cares? A dragon could eat us on the way back to Whiterun anyway. Doesn't mean we need to mope about that now," Saadia chuckled. She seemed much more in tune with Aeyrin's line of thoughts. At least someone was.

Bishop seemed a little more content with that as he kissed Aeyrin's neck again. He didn't really linger now though. "Yeah. I say, we need more to drink," he smirked and he pointedly turned the empty bottle of mead in his other hand upside down to demonstrate the lack of it.

"We don't… we don't have any," Lydia sighed somberly.

"Oh! I know!" Aeyrin suddenly exclaimed with excitement. She had almost forgotten about it.

She disentangled herself from Bishop's embrace and crawled over to their bedroll to locate her pack. She quickly found the clear bottle with the pink glowing liquid inside. Vilkas had given this to her after their quest at the giants' camp. It was that sap from that strange glowing tree – 'better than alcohol', according to Vilkas. He said that she should 'crack it open when she had something to celebrate'. This seemed like the perfect time.

"What is that?" Bishop raised his brows at her.

"Oh! I know this thing!" Saadia exclaimed. "It's this special drink. One of the merchants in Whiterun, Ysolda, sells it. I never had it, but the people love it. Apparently it's really strong."

Bishop's expression turned to shock when Saadia said Ysolda's name. He looked sharply at Aeyrin with an obvious question etched on his face. Did she get this from Ysolda? He thought that she was avoiding her!

"Vilkas gave it to me," Aeyrin explained quickly. "When we were doing that favor for her, remember? Her people left these bottles at the giants' camp when the beasts attacked them. He said that it's not watered down yet," she grinned.

Bishop wasn't exactly thrilled about drinking something from Vilkas either, but the way Aeyrin put it, it sounded like he had no way to tamper with this if the bottles were left at the giants' camp. And the strange glowing color of the drink got him really curious.

"Yes! I've always wanted to try this! But they were so expensive," Saadia beamed.

Well, that seemed to be decided. Aeyrin crawled eagerly back into Bishop's embrace and she used the knife to uncork the bottle again.

Now there was only one dilemma to resolve.

"Alright. Who's gonna test it?" Aeyrin giggled.

Bishop looked like he wanted to volunteer, but Saadia was much faster.

"Give it!" she leaned forward and practically tore the bottle from Aeyrin's hand. They all chuckled at her enthusiasm and Saadia took a drink almost immediately. Her face contorted in an unpleasant expression right after, but she put on a smile when the initial taste passed. "It is pretty strong."

Lydia took the bottle next with a somewhat clumsy motion. Luckily she didn't spill any. She took a deep swig and passed the bottle to Aeyrin. Despite Bishop's initial eagerness, it appeared that he would be the last to test the strange drink.

Aeyrin took a deep sip too – she was too tipsy to be wary anymore. It tasted odd – like a very strong drink, but more viscous in texture and it had an oddly sweet aftertaste. It was rather pleasant.

Bishop drank eagerly right after and he passed the bottle back to Saadia then.

They would likely not be able to keep awake long after the inebriation from this drink passed too, but until then, they still had some revelry-filled hours to enjoy.

…

"You know… I'm… I'm starting to feel a little… odd," Saadia mumbled with a frown on her face.

Only several minutes had passed but the drink was starting to have a strong effect on everyone. Everything felt oddly vivid and it was getting more and more intense the more they drank. It was far from unpleasant though… for most of them anyway.

"Odd's good," Bishop chuckled. He was in a particularly good mood. He couldn't even remember what they were talking about before that made him somewhat morose. Well… whatever it was, it wasn't worth remembering. Everything was so bright now. The northern lights were mesmerizingly swirling in the sky, playing in all colors. He thought that it was overcast tonight, but the clouds must have cleared in the last… how long was it? It felt like a long time, but the bottle had only made three or four rounds in their little circle. It couldn't have been that long.

"You're right. Odd is good. Normal wasn't good. Proper wasn't good. Maybe odd is better," Saadia pondered deep in thought. "I am happier odd. I was happier on the run even. And isn't that the point? Happiness? Maybe I needed to be odd to be happy."

Bishop started laughing at her. What the fuck was she saying? She wasn't even making any sense. She must have been so drunk – Redguards couldn't handle their drinks. What was more surprising, however, was just how little Lydia could handle hers. Then again, it was much more funny than surprising. He couldn't help but laugh even more when he saw Lydia crawl clumsily towards Saadia. She wrapped her arms around her in a tight sideways hug and she brought her hand up on her head, patting her awkwardly.

"You're not… you're not odd!" Lydia hiccupped slightly. "Come'ere! You're not odd! I promise! And if you are, I don't care," she continued. She seemed really adamant about reassuring her, although Saadia hardly looked like she needed it. She didn't look upset at all, merely pensive.

Saadia gave her a somewhat amused smirk, but she still looked a little lost in thought.

"I don't want you to feel bad, please. I love you," Lydia almost whined. It was so uncharacteristic of her – normally she stuttered awkwardly through expressing any emotion at all. It was hilarious to see her in this state.

Bishop roared in laughter at the display, but none of the others seemed to join him. Lydia was still looking over Saadia worriedly and the Redguard herself was lost in deep thoughts. Aeyrin was still nuzzled in Bishop's embrace. She wasn't looking at any of them – in fact, it looked a little like she was hiding with her face, pressed against his chest. She was so fucking cute. Bishop chuckled again and he pressed her tighter to himself.

"You are so open right now. You are never so open. Not so freely. It's interesting," Saadia pondered further. "The question is: is this how you actually are? Is your soberness repressing that? What is it in a drink that makes us so different?"

"You think there's something in the drink?" Aeyrin turned her head from Bishop's chest sharply and she peered at Saadia. "Like… like what? And who put it there?" She shivered in Bishop's embrace and she looked around their campsite briskly. Did Vilkas put something in the drink when he had given it to her? Maybe he wanted her dead! He did want Bishop dead before. Why? Was he some sort of a secret villain? Maybe he wanted everybody dead. Maybe he wanted the dragons to win!

"Nothing's in the drink, love. It's just a drink," Bishop laughed at her while he took another sip of the glowing liquid.

"No! Don't!" Aeyrin reached out to him with fear in her eyes, but he only gave her a wide grin.

"It's all good. See? Still here. Nothing's wrong. I'm perfectly happy," he squeezed her closer to himself affectionately before he pressed the bottle to her lips. "Have some more. You'll see, it's fine."

She wasn't sure if it was a good idea. But Bishop was always rational, right? And she kind of missed the sweet aftertaste. She took a small gulp when she supported the bottle herself, then a larger one. It was good. Even the strong taste didn't feel so strong anymore. And they could still prolong the celebrations. It was so early yet. And so bright. The sun was almost blinding.

"Why do you think it's glowing? Alcohol doesn't glow like that. It must be magic," Saadia pondered further. "Then again… what isn't magic? Magic is used for everything. And Mundus is magic. Everything around us… is magic. Even we are magic."

"The tree was glowing. I think there was something really, really wrong with it," Aeyrin cringed. Maybe someone enchanted it to make these drinks. Maybe this was going on for a long time – maybe someone was trying to poison the whole population of Skyrim like that! They've already been selling these in Whiterun!

"Nothing's 'wrong' with it," Bishop chuckled again. How could it be 'wrong'? It was making him forget about every stupid problem that they were facing. It was a very right tree. "Everything's fine. Look around, sweetness, look at all the colors," Bishop looked back to the sky. The northern lights were almost too bright and colorful now. In fact, everything was so colorful. The roaring fire was bright orange, the night sky was pitch black, except for the purple, blue and green swirl of the mesmerizing display. Even Aeyrin's hair seemed to be actually made of bright gold.

Aeyrin was going to look in the direction that he was looking – towards the sky, but she was caught up for a while, staring into his amber eyes. He was right about the colors – they were suddenly much brighter and more vivid than usual. Staring into his eyes was like drowning in honey.

After what felt like a long time, she finally looked around more properly. The sky felt bright like it was the middle of the day, even though it shouldn't have been. Well… maybe it was the next day already. Did the entire night pass without her noticing? That was impossible! What was happening to her?! The drink did something to her!

She wanted to voice her concerns, but she was interrupted by Bishop squeezing her ridiculously tightly to himself. He was still staring at the sky with mesmerized wonder in his eyes. Well… it was kind of pretty. And all the colors around were really nice. She could see the bright orange fire, the vibrant green of the grass and the overwhelming blue of the creek nearby. It was so beautiful.

"It's amazing! I've never seen anything this… this beautiful. I love the sunrise. So much," Lydia sighed with astonishment in her voice.

"It's a sunset, dear," Saadia chuckled. "Only sunsets get this color. Like the old sand, all the way on the bottom of the dunes in the Alik'r desert." Her tone sounded so wistful. Maybe she did miss her old life a little. Or at least her old country.

"The fuck are you two on about?" Bishop laughed. They were all making less and less sense, but it was hardly strange. They were all pretty drunk after all, although he did feel strangely cohesive, even though the world was getting a bit blurry. It may have been because he was looking into the northern lights for too long though. And the colors were almost unbearably sharp now. It was starting to hurt his eyes.

"Do you think that the magic makes the colors so bright? I've always wanted to study magic. Maybe then I could see colors like this all the time," Saadia sighed wistfully. She didn't seem to hear Bishop's question, but he didn't really expect an answer anyway.

"You think those are magic colors? How?" Aeyrin kept looking around curiously. The brightness was starting to make her feel more at ease gradually. She shouldn't be worrying about this. She should just enjoy it. It was the same thing with life and old age – there was no point in worrying. Right? The colors were just too pretty to be overshadowed by concerns.

It was like she was under some kind of charming spell.

Was she? Saadia called it 'magic' too.

Oh Gods! Was she entranced somehow? Who did this to her?

Stop it! Stop it! Just concentrate on the colors.

Yeah… that was better. There were so many of them – on everything. Every hue and shade in the world was so vivid. And they blended and twirled, they melded together to create new ones, brighter ones. "They're so pretty. I can see all the colors," she sighed wistfully.

'I can see all the colors again, rabbit.'

The unpleasantly familiar voice echoed in her head the second that she had uttered those words.

Was this what it was like? The colors, so vivid and… soothing. Yet everything was still strangely chaotic at the same time and… blurry and confusing. Was this what her father was seeing in his deliriums?

And, more importantly, why was she seeing it now?

The drink, the sap, it was something else. This wasn't alcohol – alcohol didn't cause this. There were no colors and no swirling. This was a drug, like skooma. Or worse, it had skooma inside! And now she drank it. She drank a lot of it. All of them did. Now she was going to crave more! She could already feel it, she missed the sweet aftertaste so much.

She was going to end up like her father. She was going to lose everything because she drank some strange drink. Why would she do that?! It could have been anything! She wasn't worried about it because Saadia said that people in Whiterun drank it, but that was hardly a consolation! Karliah mentioned before that there were rumors about drug dealers poisoning water supplies with skooma – why wouldn't someone do the same to a drink? Maybe that was why it was so expensive.

Oh Gods! This was the end of her life. She would be septimless and broken in a filthy gutter. The mighty Dragonborn reduced again to begging for money for skooma. They would all end up like that! And then they would die, one by one, when they were too out of it and forgot to even feed themselves.

Divines, it may have already begun! When was the last time that she ate?! What time was it anyway?! It was so bright! How many days have passed?

"What are you doing?" The words echoed strangely in her head and it took her a very long time to recognize Bishop's voice. It sounded like he was laughing too. She wasn't sure what he was asking. Was she doing anything? And was he even asking her or was he talking to someone else? She couldn't see anything anymore besides a mess of swirling colors in front of her eyes. What happened?

Bishop gently laid his hand on her shoulder. At least he was pretty sure that it was her shoulder. Everything was weird. Things were starting to get a little blurry, but he could still make out things because of the sharp contrasts of colors. Aeyrin was curled into a ball against him and it felt like she was trembling. He was pretty sure that her head was dipped down into her knees and she kept mumbling something unintelligibly.

He chuckled again and shook her gently. He had no idea what was happening anymore. That weird drink was so fucking good. Aeyrin didn't really react so he shook her harder as he placed both his hands on her shoulders. Well… he had one hand on her shoulder and the other first landed on the top of her head, then on her other shoulder. He forced her back upright so that she would look at him and that she wouldn't be muffled by her own body anymore. He was curious to find out what she was rambling about.

Her eyes were closed. At least he thought that they were closed. He was pretty sure that with the colors that he was seeing, the blackness of her eyes would probably swallow him whole. Did that even make sense? Nothing made sense anymore.

"W-we're all gonna die," Aeyrin whispered with a trembling voice.

Bishop couldn't help it. He snorted in amusement at first and, a second later, he burst out laughing in full. What the fuck had gotten into her? She was being ridiculous.

"We're not gonna die, love," he snickered at her, but he still pressed her back to his chest comfortingly. He wasn't sure why she was talking like that, but it didn't matter. He did that almost automatically.

"We are! We drank that stuff and now we're all gonna be addicted and it's gonna be horrible and we're all gonna starve and die! There was skooma in it!" She hid herself in his chest again quickly and shivered. Bishop laughed again. He wasn't sure why he was still so giddy. Aeyrin was clearly in distress for some reason, but this was just so hilariously ridiculous.

"There's no skooma in it. Why would you think that?" he chuckled.

"It's the colors! I can see all the colors and it's just like he used to say. I'm gonna end up just like him," she whined into the fabric of Bishop's tunic as she gripped it firmly in her hands.

He snickered again, but he pressed her to himself firmly. He very much doubted that they just drank skooma. The people who were on it were out of it instantly, writhing in hallucinations. Well… there may have been some hallucinations involved. Everything was weird. But this was not like that, right? She was just being paranoid.

Fuck… now he was getting paranoid too.

But even if it was true, they would just sleep it off and get out of that state. They weren't some spineless wretches like Faldaen was.

Before he could say something to comfort her again, he felt someone press against his flank firmly as their arms enveloped him and Aeyrin both in a hug.

"Don't be… don't be sad! Please! Don't be sad! You're… you're making me sad too!" Lydia pressed herself tightly to them as she slurred her words slightly.

Now it was funny again.

Bishop laughed out loud at Lydia's overly emotional state and he could hear Saadia join him some distance away. It was a bit too hard to see anything now, maybe it would be for the best to stop drinking that 'magic sap'. But he just couldn't find it in himself to be concerned. They would sleep it off, he was sure of it.

Hopefully Aeyrin and Lydia would calm down by then.

…

Luckily, the effects of the sap didn't last long.

It felt like forever for all of them, but when they started to get their bearings a little, they realized that only about two hours had passed – it certainly wasn't the next day… well… at least they hoped. They were pretty sure that if they were in that strange state for that long, Karnwyr would be very erratic about it. Besides, none of them were even hungry or in any way more haggard after all that. They were very tired though.

Aeyrin calmed down considerably when the colors dissipated and she didn't feel the uncontrollable need to make them return. She still got the occasional pang of fear every now and then, thinking that the cravings would come later, but, rationally, she knew how this went, at least from the outside. She would have been delirious much, much longer and the cravings would come instantly after that. She had seen this too many times before.

Lydia went very silent when the clouds had cleared and Bishop's tendency to laugh constantly was gone too. Not that the mood was bad, it was a rather pleasant night, all in all, but everything just didn't seem so amusing anymore. That was probably a good thing though. He did get the urge to try that sap again someday. Maybe now when Aeyrin knew that it was harmless, she would be able to enjoy it too.

Whether that would ever happen or not, that particular night was definitely out of the question. They were all exhausted and they all needed some sleep.

There would be more time for celebrations the next day.

…

Bishop woke up early in the morning.

The sun was barely up and everyone else was still asleep. Aeyrin clung to him in his old black shirt, huddled in the furs of their bedroll. Lydia and Saadia were a short distance away, sharing their own bedroll. Karnwyr was gone, but that was nothing unusual for this time of day. He always went running around the wilderness after sunrise to stretch his limbs a bit.

Fuck, he was hungover. Not that he didn't expect that. His throat was parched and his eyes and head hurt badly. He reached out for his pack and located his waterskin quickly. He drank greedily as the cold water soothed his parched throat, but it still didn't seem like enough when he emptied the entire thing.

He so fucking didn't want to get up.

He considered drinking from Aeyrin's waterskin, but then she would have nothing when she woke up and she would definitely be in a similar state as he was in now. That was too mean. He should really get up.

With a barely subdued groan he untangled himself from Aeyrin and the bedroll both and located his boots nearby. He didn't bother finding a shirt too – the creek was right there after all. He merely lazily got on his feet and walked over to the water.

The wind was pretty strong that morning and it was really cold. It felt so pleasant on his face and chest as he walked. That definitely helped a lot. One thing he loved about Skyrim was the cold. Well… Aeyrin called it 'cold'. For him, it felt just… normal. Pleasant. Most of the time anyway – unless it involved blizzards near Winterhold or the freezing water in the Sea of Ghosts.

He would probably die if he had to nurse a hangover in heat. The Gold Coast back in Cyrodiil was as much heat as he could take and he already hated it. Not the Coast, per say, that was a nice place, but fuck the weather there.

He finally managed to stumble towards the water. His legs felt a little weaker than he was comfortable with. He bent down onto his knees instantly to fill his waterskin and he drank the entire thing again with barely three deep breaths in between. What the fuck was in that sap that made him so thirsty?

He filled the waterskin again and took a few more gulps. He saved the rest for later and took some of the gently streaming water to splash it over his face. It was so pleasantly freezing.

He could still get some more sleep. The thirst wouldn't be waking him up anymore and he had no illusions about any of the others waking up anytime soon.

He got up on his feet and readied himself to go back towards the bedrolls, but suddenly, he felt something behind his back.

Someone was there.

Everything happened so fast. He didn't even have the time to turn around.

An arm wrapper around his neck and some sort of fabric was shoved into his face, slapped over his mouth and nose. He wanted to scream out, but when he took a breath, a strong alchemical smell filled his senses.

He didn't manage to do a thing. There wasn't any time. The waterskin fell from his grasp as his vision began to blur. He couldn't help inhaling that strong scent and it was making him so weak. He couldn't even flail his arms, he couldn't even let out a sound. The camp was right there, if he could only scream out, they would all hear him. His knees buckled and his vision turned completely black in a matter of a single second.

The last thing that he could feel was the grip around him easing.

He fell to the ground limply like a log.