Morning came faster than Serana had hoped. She barely even slept nor did she more much from where she was on the bed. She stayed where she was for a few moments, with her arms around Skylar and her chin on the top of her head, wondering what she was going to do. She closed her eyes for a few moments and she inhaled Skylar's scent. The girl was still in a very deep sleep, twitching and whimpering every now and then.

Finally Serana opened her eyes and knew exactly what they had to do at that moment. She could hear the wind howl outside as she slowly sat up and ran her fingers over Skylar's cheek. The girl felt like she had a fever… But they had to move… She could not let the inn keeper see Skylar in her current state again, suspicion would arise.

She leaned over Skylar and whispered into her ear just like she had done the night before. "Skylar… Wake up… We have to move, we can't stay here." She breathed as she slowly pulled both her cloak and blanket off of Skylar.

She pulled away slightly and watched as Skylar's eyes fluttered open before she looked around. Serana waited to see how Skylar was going to react but to her surprise Skylar slowly sat up with a brow furrowed as she rubbed the back of her neck.

"Skylar?" Serana literally squeaked as she moved a bit so she was sitting in front of her. "How do you feel?" She asked blinking.

Skylar looked around the room as she bit her lower lip.

This was very different from the state she had been in the night before. She was not trembling or crying and she did not appear to be in any kind of pain at all.

"Skylar?" Serana breathed again as she hesitantly reached forward and waved her hand in front of Skylar's face.

Skylar scrunched up her nose and her brow furrowed as she tilted her head to the side. "What?" She asked blinking.

Shocked, Serana pulled her hand away thinking that maybe the entire thing had been just a bad dream, but then she saw the silver collar around Skylar's neck. No it had not been a dream… So why was Skylar acting so… Normal? "How do you feel?" She asked.

"Like I have a hangover…" Skylar murmured as she leaned forward and held her head in her hands. "My head feel like it is cracked open like an egg…" She groaned. "Did something hit me?" She asked as she looked up slightly to see Serana staring at her. "And why do you keep looking at me like I am a ghost?" She asked, starting to worry.

Serana's mouth fell open. It was almost as if… "Don't you remember what happened last night?" She asked worriedly.

Skylar thought for a few moments before she suddenly looked down at herself frantically. But when she saw that she was still clothed she looked up at Serana with a silly look on her face. "I didn't get really drunk and try to bed you did I?" She asked with a tone of worry in her own voice.

Serana scoffed and lightly smacked Skylar's arm. "No! Nothing like that!... Skylar…" She reached forward again and ran her fingers over the silver collar that was around Skylar's scratched up neck. "Do you remember how you got this?" She asked before she gritted her teeth together. Part of her hoped that Skylar didn't remember… But the other part of her hoped that she did so Serana didn't have to tell Skylar the bad news… As she remembered the state Skylar had been in the night before… No she didn't want Skylar to remember at all… Maybe Serana would be able to get that key and get the collar off Skylar before Skylar even knows what it was.

Skylar looked down at herself as her fingers reached up and brushed against the cold metal of the Collar. "No… I… What is this?" Skylar's brow furrowed, the instant her finger came in contact with the cold metal she pulled her hand away with a light hiss. The metal burned her. "Silver!? Why do I have a collar made of silver around my neck! That will explain why it feels like I have a horrible sunburn!" She whimpered as her hands flew up and she began to claw at the collar.

Serana quickly reached for her hands and pulled them down so that they were sitting on her lap. She didn't want another episode like the night before. She would grab Skylar a healing potion once they were out of there. "You… Don't remember how you got it then?" She asked hesitantly.

Skylar instantly shook her head.

Serana thought for a few moments before she began to force a fake laugh. "Well than… Next time stay away from the rum!" She giggled as she gave Skylar's hands a light squeeze.

"But… Why did I start drinking in the first place… I don't drink." Skylar grumbled completely confused as she shook her head, ashamed with herself.

Serana felt terrible for lying… But she promised herself that she would tell Skylar the truth as soon as everything was back to normal… Skylar was not stuck in the state she had been in… So that had to be a good sign.. Right? Maybe they would be able to find her father faster?

It was only about twenty minutes before Skylar and Serana were out of the inn… As soon as they stepped outside Skylar covered her mouth with a brow furrowed. "There's ash everywhere." She wheezed shaking her head. This was something that was completely different from her home that couldn't decide if it wanted to snow or if it wanted to be spring.

She coughed slightly as she shook her head as she pulled her hands away from her mouth. "It's in my mouth…" Skylar complained with a disgusted look on her face. "I don't like this place…" She grumbled grumpily.

Serana giggled as she grabbed Skylar's hand and pulled her over to a clothing stall. Skylar was spitting and coughing the entire way… Serana could not help but notice that Skylar was… Grumpier than usual.

When they got to the stall the owner glared at them and was very snappy at the couple. Normally Serana would have expected Skylar to flinch away or apologize for no good reason… But when Skylar snapped right back at the stall owner Serana's eyes went wide and she turned her head to look at her girlfriend. "SKYLAR!?" She squeaked.

Skylar only growled and crossed her arms over her chest as she huffed.

Serana tried to apologize to the stall owner but he only held up his hand and glared at Skylar for a few seconds before he began to laugh. "This one has spunk! I like that!" He said as he motioned to all the wares that were on display. "Please! Look around! Find something you like! It's not every day that someone with guts comes around here… They claim that I scare them away, PAH! Cowards is what they are! And they don't know REAL style unless it slaps them in the face!"

Serana breathed a sigh of relieve but still shot a very grumpy looking Skylar a glare. She bought a couple of scarfs before she grabbed Skylar by the hand and pulled her away from the little market that they found themselves in. Eventually they were standing under a wall in what looked like a small tunnel. When Serana was certain that no one was in hearing range she turned to Skylar with a very angry look in her eyes.

"What the hell was that!?" Serana hissed as she put on one of the scarfs.

"What? You can't expect me to just stand there while that DIRT BAG talked to us like that!" Skylar hissed with a scrunched up nose.

Serana couldn't believe what she was hearing. This was completely out of character for Skylar…

Skylar was still grumbling about the grumpy stall keeper as Serana pulled out the other scarf and tied it around her neck.

"You can pull this over your nose and mouth so you don't have to choke on the ash." Serana murmured half-heartedly.

Skylar looked up at Serana for a few moments. She could read the disapproval right on her face. Almost instantly the angry look on Skylar's face fell and her brow furrowed when she realized what she did. She had a moment where she thought to herself. 'Did I really do that? No that wasn't me…. But it was? Why did I..?' "I'm sorry…" She said quietly as she began to wring her hand as she took a step back. "I… Don't know why I did that…"

She was about to scold Skylar like someone would a child but then it hit her.

The light that gleamed off of a certain metal collar that was around Skylar's neck… This had to be because of that stupid collar… This was something that she probably couldn't blame her for… Serana's mouth fell open and almost instantly she felt the guilt build up in the pit of her stomach.

Serana had an idea why Skylar was acting the way she was… But Skylar had no clue.

Serana had a moment where she wanted to sit Skylar down and tell her everything… But then she realized that she risked causing Skylar to freak out again… That was something Serana didn't want Skylar to go through, not again… She wouldn't watch Skylar go through that again.

Serana blinked a few times when she realized that Skylar was looking up at her with what looked like scared puppy eyes.

"I-it's ok… You had a rough night last night…" Technically Serana was not lying.

Skylar's brow furrowed. She could tell that Seranan was leaving something big out… But instead of digging more than she should she just sighed and nodded.

Something wasn't right…

Skylar didn't feel right…