The sun rose the next day and the cold by his side was slowly leaving. Natsu didn't want it to leave. Because if it left that means Gray was leaving his side. When he tried to hold Gray to his side Gray simply just pushed him away and continued downstairs to help Endoura.

That's right they were going to be traveling to a big hold today. What was it called again? Wind something. Natsu didn't know or care to know. Nothing that came out of that woman's mouth was worth listening to, especially when she ate the dead.

Natsu just turned on his back and looked at the ceiling that he was sleeping under and the decorations on the walls that surrounded him. Then he thought and his thoughts went to their host. She didn't seem to be wanting to eat them or showed any signs of wanting them to leave. Now that he was thinking about her diet he could pick up on the smell of death on her breath.

But the thing was she seemed perfectly normal. Well for what she was, and if what she said was true about there being many different races here than did she really qualify as a cannibal? Because from what Natsu remembers cannibalism is when you eat your own race. Whatever it was still quite disgusting what she did to the dead.

After just looking at the walls covered in mounted animal heads and the ceiling the hung an iron chandelier with horn candles, he got up. Natsu walked to the stairs and looked over the banister to see that Gray and Endoura were busy packing some knapsacks full of provisions that they would need.

When he turned back to the stairs things in the house started to catch his eye. There wasn't much that they learned yesterday. Just that this place had roots in very old magic. But it was nothing like they had in Fiorie. Here they could put magic on items and give them abilities.

For example the vampire armor Erza was given; the enchantment on it would help her magic power restore itself faster. And with the enchantment on it, it caused the item to glow blue because it was based on more magical roots than the physical body. All the things about this place and its magic were giving Natsu a headache especially when they also had another name for magic power.

They called it magicka. He just didn't get their mannerisms and he hoped they didn't stay long enough for him to start caring about it. But for now, he'd play by their rules.

Natsu walked down the stairs and looked at all the food they were packing. It looked to mostly be dried and salted meats and fish. It seems that the only suitable fish used for food here was salmon and another fish called Slaughterfish. All the others were too tiny to be called a meal. But they had their uses, Gray said that Endoura uses them all the time for potions since she can't use any plants to make her potions.

Having only explored the ground and the second floors Natsu was about to go see what was in the cellar. As he walked into the back room and to the pale door on the floor before he opened it the rushed sound of covered feet caught his attention.

When Natsu looked back he saw Endoura in her fur armor with a very weary face. She opened her mouth to speak but she stopped for a moment. But after she thought about it for a minute she spoke her thoughts.

"If you're going down there I ask that you don't kill the skeever. I much prefer just having to take care of one then getting rid of more all the time."

With her words of warning Endoura left back into the other room and the sound of her starting to mash a mortar and pestle together sounded. She must be making some potions for the trip.

So with that Natsu just shook his head and headed down into the cellar. The cellar was cool and dark but the light from candles and wall scones as they were called filled the dark stone level with light to see. And see Natsu did and hear as well. The sound was of small padded paws against the stone floor and of a gurgled purring.

What he saw made the sight quite disgusting. A rat the size of a fox was prowling around the acting like nothing was wrong with it being there. Natsu was up the ladder like steps and out of that trapdoor faster than a bolt of lighting. Natsu raced back into the dining hall and started babbling to Gray about the huge rat in the cellar.

"Oh, so you met Sir Piper? You didn't kill him did you?"

Natsu was confused and continued to point with just wispy gasps of air as his way of communication. But Gray seemed to understand him perfectly.

"He's a skeever and yes they do get that big. You'll find skeevers in a number of places all over Tamerial. In fact, Endoura was telling a story about how she had to act as a person hired to clear up a meadery's pest problem and poison the mead with the same pest poison. Man, that was funny."

With Gray being no help Natsu just hesitantly walked back to the cellar door and went down. Once his feet touched the floor he tried to ignore the large rat walking the floors. Now that he was mostly over his shock he looked around. The cellar had two rooms. The room he was in was had a straw-filled dummy, barrels with spigots and smelled of alcohol, a table and chairs, and finally a large stone altar with nine small shrines sitting atop it.

There were three shrines that caught his attention. The first was a dragon wrapping itself around what seemed to be an hourglass and swallowing a sword. Next a fairly flat shrine but it looked like it could be interpreted as a bird or a dragon with a beautiful sapphire on its back and a sun behind it. It also looked like it could be a mask of some sort.

And last was a kind of cross. It was made to look like a sword and axe were melded together and a candle could be placed at the top of the shrine. At the base of all the shines a name was carved into it. The dragon with the hourglass had 'Akatosh'. The one with three different ways to look at it was 'Kynereth'. And the cross was 'Talos'. Natsu didn't know why he seemed to be drawn to these three over the others. They were all unique but these drew his attention and kept it.

He was so entranced by the shrines he didn't hear the door to the cellar open. The only reason he knew someone was there was when someone touched his shoulder. The unexpected touch made Natsu jump and turn around to see Gray. Gray simply smiled and looked at the same shrines Natsu was looking at.

"Wondering why you feel a pull to those three?"

Natsu just nodded his head slowly and waited. Gray let a small smile form on his face as he lightly touched them.

"The one with the dragon, hourglass, and sword is Akatosh he's the Divine of time and he's the one who brought dragons to the world. The one with the sapphire in its back is Kynereth. She's the one who bestowed the gift of the voice to mortals during the dragon war. And lastly Talos. Talos was a man who to the Nords did great things and died. But when he died he became a god. His original name was Tiber Septim and he was also Dragonborn."

With the brief explanations, Gray motioned for Natsu to follow him back up the ladder. Natsu did and followed Gray out of the house. Outside the two dragons were gone and two horses stood. One was black and looking into its eyes Natsu swore they were a glowing red color. The horse didn't seem to have a gender. Gray walked up to it and started to pet its snout.

The second horse was a pale yellow with faint white spots and was definitely male. Lucy was stroking the neck of this horse. Both horses were huge but not as big as a Clydesdale horse and they seemed to have really strong frames. Then in a flash of light, a large metal horse stood by Erza. Endoura was fussing with it and seemed to be covering it in gold bronze plates. With Erza's horse now covered Endoura turned to Natsu holding a red book.

"I figured that since Dragon Slayers get motion sickness on transportation that this horse would be best suited for you. She's a real fiery mare."

Endoura smirked and motioned for Natsu to open the book. When he did a flash of light blinded him and made him drop it. When Natsu could open his eyes again he was about to yell at Endoura but suddenly he felt knowledge flood his mind. In his mind's eye, he could see a horse covered in molten rock and leaving behind a trail of burning hoof prints. And then a name came to mind. Blaze.

Once Endoura saw that he was ready she grabbed his hand and helped him focus his magic energy on the patch of ground right next to the three horses. In a globe of blue and white light stood the horse Natsu saw. She whiney and dug up the ground with her hoof. With the four horses out Endoura started to speak.

"Well, first I'll introduce you to the horses I know. The black horse is Shadowmere. The yellow horse is Frost. The flaming horse is Blaze and this horse is Arvak."

Before she said the name of the horse a black and purple ball was clutched into her hand and then released near the horses. The same oval shape that Natsu's came from appeared but it was the same color as the ball in her hand. Once the magic vanished stood a black skeletal horse with a purple fire mane and tail. It was creepy but majestic at the same time.

Endoura climbed onto the skeletal horse. Lucy on Frost, Gray on Shadowmere, Erza on her metal horse, all that was left was to get on Blaze. He was hesitant but he got on the mare and heard Endoura start speaking.

"Well now that we have our way around the province lets start heading to Windhelm. Then well start heading back but will stop by all the holds and make a full loop. We'll also be going to some caves and ruins I think you'll enjoy. And as we travel I'll tell you some of my stories to pass the time and you can tell me yours."

With those words, Arvak was pushed forward. Followed closely by Frost and Erza's horse. Gray stayed back with Shadowmere for Natsu and Blaze. As Blaze started to take her steps forward Natsu waited for nausea to hit him but strangely it didn't the heat from the horse made her feel very close to him in a way. Almost like they were connected.

When Natsu looked at Gray smiling and spoke.

"She feels like a friend and not a form of transportation doesn't she."

It was a statement. But Natsu just smiled and enjoyed the sway of the horses gait as they walked the path that Endoura made.

(A/N : I hope this chapter is satisfactory and yes I did add the horse Blaze mod just to help Natsu with his motion sickness I think she would be the best fit for him to ride. After the next three chapters is going to be what I'm sure everyone was waiting for and that is when Natsu mates Gray. Now the way I'm writing it will be different so bare with me. The next three chapters they will be exploring the holds of Skyrim and a bit of the wilds. I hope you enjoy and thanks for being patient with me. Also I have good news. And it's that I now have a job. Yeah me.)