I shuffled a bit in my laying position, my eyes opening after a long nights rest. The world coming into focus, how long had I been asleep for? It felt like I'd been asleep for a day at the very least. The events of yesterday having taken a toll on me. I sat up, the bed creaking underneath me. My paws swung over the edge of the bed and I stood up, stretching my limbs out and working the kinks out of my muscles. I rolled my right shoulder, recalling the night before. The jester was a strange character to our band of misfits. His words were always joking and spoken in an erratic pattern. He seemed to always be in a hyper mood, as if he didn't have an end to his energy. In reality he hadn't been bad company, unlike what many others in the sanctuary thought. He was a just little eccentric, nothing to terrible.

I looked about the room, ears flicking in irritation. Where the hell did I put my clothes? I didn't want to walk around in nothing but my undergarments. I mean I had a nice figure, but it was cold and my paw pads were not happy about being on freezing cobbled floors. Even when paired with my fur, the light cotton shirt and pants I wore did not keep in much heat. My brows furrowed and in the dim candle light I could make out my clothes. They were folded neatly on a dresser across the room.

Had I put them there? I couldn't remember, last night was a bit of a blur. It had been late when I had gotten back to the sanctuary, twilight having given way to the inky night sky. That was a few minutes before I met our newest member. It had to have been early morning by the time I had fallen asleep, what I could remember being a blur of conversations.

I shrugged it off, Festus had a horrible habit of messing with people's belongings. He'd rant about how everything would come crumbling down because a sock was out of place. You would think he cleaned like it was a religion. I have seen his alchemy station though, and I'm surprised it hasn't blown the sanctuary sky high with how messy it is. Granted, I'm starting to think he has a habit of mistaking people with items and belongings.

I slipped on my armor, the leather wrapping around me like a second skin. It gave me a sense comfort, the leather offering protection from the world. I didn't feel so vulnerable, so exposed. Being a killer came with a territory, and being without armor for any extended period of time always put me on edge. It did have its downsides, I couldn't remember the last time I relied on my own two feet for stealth. My boots completely muffled my steps, as was their intention. The issue was that I never went anywhere without them.

My stomach growled and I grumbled, it was time to go down and see if I could scrounge up a meal. No one could really go hungry in this place, food was always stored in the dining room. The only downside was that none of it was an actual meal. All that was there were ingredients that you had to cook yourself.

I made my way down to the dining hall that doubled as a kitchen, my footsteps light as a feather. It was colder than normal, I could almost see my breath. My tail was already starting to get a little chilled, when did the heat disappear? I let out a breath, winter had to be rolling in soon. I grew closer to the dining hall, the air got warmer from the fires that roared near the cooking pots. My tail wrapped around my legs, and my arms crossed. I was trying to conserve as much body heat as I could.

Nazir was sitting at one of the tables, enjoying what looked like a stew of some sort. He looked up to me and gave a little chuckle. It seemed that Redguard clothing was far warmer than it appeared.

"What's gotten you so worked up?" He asked with nothing more than a smile on his face.

"It's colder than the void in here," I frowned at him. "What? "Did you think I was all curled up for laughs?" My lip curled upwards in a snarl, and my patience running on empty. I was cold, hungry, and not in the mood for conversation. My stomach let out a growl, the organ deciding to ache and draw my attention away from Nazir. Yet his voice followed me, breaking through the silence like a brick against a window.

"The temperature hasn't changed, have you gone a bit mad recruit?"

I ignored him, he was trying to mess with me now. It was colder than normal, there was no way to fake that.

I yanked a barrel open and pulled out a few potatoes and leeks. Might as well throw those in with some horker meat and call it a meal. I started to peel the roots with my knife when something orange caught my eye. There were carrots on the top shelf, perfect to add to my stew of irritation. The sound of the knife hitting wood calmed me somewhat. Although the cutting board was more than likely not enjoying the abuse. I tossed in the carrots and leeks, having diced them up as nicely as I could be bothered to. Hunks of peeled potato and horker meat followed after.

I threw another log onto the fire, sparks flying up to greet the air. The flames grew higher and heat radiated from them like a warm embrace. My nose and ears started to tingle and the cold ebbed away. Finally I was starting to get warm and the soup was coming to a light boil. Had the jester eaten yet? Wait, where was our colorful guest?

"Nazir, where's the jester?" I turned to look at him, the irritation from before having dissipated a bit now that I was warm.

"Haven't seen him since last night, he hasn't come down from the Night Mothers chambers." He paused for a minute, and a small frown crossed his face. "Other than to create the preserving oils for her that is."

He probably hadn't eaten yet either. He seemed like the type of person to be married to his duties. I grabbed two bowls and spoons figuring he'd need some food at some point.

"You're not seriously going to be bringing food to that maniac are you?" I looked back to Nazir, my brow raised.

"And why wouldn't I? He's apart of this sanctuary now, isn't he?" I narrowed my eyes at him, my voice holding an edge to it. What was his deal? I knew he wasn't a fan of jesters but that didn't mean we ignored our newest members.

Nazir didn't respond to that and instead he only shook his head at me. My throat vibrated with the low growl that escaped my lips. We sat there in a stiff silence, the only noises being that of the low bubbling of the stew I was cooking. When it was done I ladled it into two bowls, leaving the extra's behind to whoever wanted it. I left Nazir and made my way up to the Night Mother's chambers, figuring it would be the best place to start looking for the jester.