[i]16th of Rain’s Hand, 5E150
Windhelm, Skyrim[/i]

The only sign that it had become dawn was that the gray sky had turned a slightly lighter shade of miserable. Viper looked up at it with an appraising eye, trying to judge the likelihood of rain. “Could go either way,” he mumbled to himself. He’d been waiting by the gates for five minutes and already felt impatient. The quiet murmur of conversation in the guardhouse next to the giant metal doors alerted him to the fact that there was a change of guards and he watched impassively as the two Nords that had been on duty during the night wandered away down the empty streets to the barracks. 

Windhelm had been home to a much bigger population before the Calamity. Many homes in the city stood empty and abandoned and Wulfharth’s predecessors even had some of them knocked down to make space for farmland. It left the place feeling eerily empty at all hours of the day, even when the city was at its busiest. The knowledge that it should have been much more crowded never left Viper’s mind. He made his own home in what used to be the Gray Quarters, where all the Dunmer citizens of Windhelm had lived in the Fourth Era, including his ancestors. Now, there were only a handful of dark elves left, and most of the apartments that surrounded his own were devoid of inhabitants. The rest of the Gray Quarter was often used by disillusioned youth to smoke skooma or hide illegal contraband, but they knew to stay away from Viper’s territory. Pinning an aspiring thief to the wall with a crossbow bolt was something he’d done more than once. 

In a way, he could see what Caeliana meant when she’d said that there was nothing here. The truth was that Viper went out into the wasteland to escape the city as much as he did it to make a living. His engineering skills were such that he could far more easily earn his keep maintaining the ballistae that stood ready on Windhelm’s walls to ward off the remaining dragons. All he’d have to do was offer. The wasteland was dangerous and cruel, but at least it made him feel alive. 

“Morning,” a voice said behind him. Viper looked over his shoulder to find Fenrir there, still tugging on his ill-fitting guard uniform. “Thought you’d be gone by now. Are you waiting for something?” 

“Mhm.”

Fenrir smiled and rolled his eyes. “Like what?” 

Viper smirked. “You’ll see.”

She'd been sure not to miss the first knocks in the barracks. Truthfully, she had barely slept at all. There was too much excitement keeping her awake to have slept. She had gotten dressed quickly and hadn't even spoken a word aloud. No stories or commentary this morning, she was afraid that if she started then she would not stop and she would be overheard. 

The Imperial had pulled the cloak around herself, pulling the hood over her head. Her shield was on her back with her sword. She had everything, the satchel from the Temple was slung over her shoulder. By her own estimations, she worked out that if she and Viper cleared the gates soon, they would have a ninety minute head start before anyone noticed she was missing, before anyone alerted Wulfharth she had missed her slot in the pit. How far could they get in ninety minutes?

As she approached the gate she saw Viper standing there and could barely contain her smile. It was finally happening. Finally she'd find out just what was outside of the walls for herself. She'd walk on the ground that she had been silently forbidden from walking on. Fenrir was there, and her smile dropped. She had always found him affable enough, but whether he would turn a blind eye this morning was another matter altogether. 

“Good morning Fenrir,” she began in a soft voice, greeting him first before looking too quickly at the Dunmer. “I do hope Viper is not giving you any early morning sass today…” Then she looked at him, with a half smile tugging at her lips and a glint in her eye that communicated her feelings of excitement.

Fenrir looked between Viper and Caeliana when the unmistakable look of realization dawned on his face. Viper had to give him credit where credit was due; the boy wasn’t as stupid as he looked. “No way,” Fenrir said, mouth slightly agape as he fixed his gaze on Caeliana. “Did you clear this with Wulfharth?” 

“What do you think?” Viper asked sarcastically. The Dunmer turned to face Fenrir and slapped his palm against the Nord’s in what looked like a friendly handshake; when Viper pulled his hand back, Fenrir found himself looking down on a packet of moonsugar. The day before, Viper had spent some time asking around about who would be on guard duty the next morning, and a little coercion had taught him what Fenrir’s vices were. “I left alone. Makes sense, right? Ol’ Viper never takes anyone with him. Caeliana must have escaped some other way. Maybe through the docks. Either way, you saw nothing.” 

After a moment’s deliberation, Fenrir looked up at him and nodded. He glanced sidelong at Caeliana. “Stay safe.”

“Always.” Caeliana replied with a smirk, “and thank you,” she said quietly for Fenrir's ears only. The gates were opened and as she stepped out of them she realised that her anticipation had been so high she'd forgotten to breathe. The first breath outside was… Exhilarating. It looked like a landscape of nothing ahead of her. Just miles and miles of an expanse reaching further than she could imagine. She knew the world was big, it felt like now she was really seeing it. 

“Whoah,” she gasped stepping further forwards, forgetting that Viper was behind her - or maybe beside her. She wasn't sure. She was too blinded by the view ahead to notice anything else. The air felt so much cleaner that it felt as though she was finally breathing and her whole life she had been suffocating. “Woah…” Caeliana repeated once more as her hands found her hips. 

Windhelm had been built into a mountainside. What lay before them, beyond the bridge that spanned across the river that functioned as Windhelm’s moat and access to the sea, was a rolling landscape of foothills, forests and more rivers that would, eventually, give way to the hot springs and geysers of what once had been Eastmarch Hold. Viper realized that Caeliana would have never seen such a view before -- or anything more than few hundred feet ahead of her. He let her have the moment to marvel at the sight and acclimatize. 

“I’ll say that much about Skyrim,” Viper admitted with a chuckle. “Can’t beat the view.”

She simply kept looking out, in adoration of it, in awe. It was beautiful and yet far too dangerous looking all at the same time. Wilderness, real wilderness. Just to look at it started the beating of her rebel heart. No wonder Wulfharth kept everyone inside. “No shit.”

Finally she composed herself, and with a glance back at Viper she motioned her hand for him to come to her. “You been keeping this from me on purpose? Wanted it all for yourself didn't you?” She began walking, it would be all too easy to stay in the spot and drink it all in but she was still against the clock. She could keep her eyes on the horizon while moving. “So where too? I figure we should get that trap of yours back, don't you? Then after that I'm not sure. Got any recommendations? Do you think there's any ruins nearby we can scope out? Think there might be any other life out there?” She was rambling again, she only hoped the Dunmer could keep up with her pace. 

Once again, like so many times before, Viper found himself gritting his teeth at the sheer volume of questions levelled against him. He poignantly kept his mouth shut while they walked until the silence that grew between them became awkward. “You done? Alright. Getting the trap back is a good start.” That way, Viper reasoned, he could show Caeliana the rotting carcass of Whiterun in the distance, a lone testament to the corruption and decay of the world amidst the barren tundra. 

“Any nearby ruins have already been picked clean,” he continued. “And yes, there is life. Villages, farms, Orc strongholds. They’re out there. Most of them are hidden or difficult to reach. More likely to come across reaver encampments, though. Or a necromancer’s den. Or a Falmer outpost. The list goes on.” 

He subconsciously did a gear check, hands moving over his belt, straps and backpack to reassure himself that everything was in place. “First things first though. Listen well, these lessons could save our lives,” Viper said, glancing at Caeliana to make sure she was paying attention. “First, always keep an eye on the skies. There are still dragons in Skyrim and they are the biggest n’wahs around. If the birds go quiet and it sounds like there’s a windstorm coming, find shelter immediately. If you see something, anything, flying over the mountaintops, find shelter immediately. Second, if the ground vibrates, even a little, find shelter immediately. That means giants and their mammoths. They use the roads as much as people do and they do [i]not[/i] like us. Third, if you find something that you think you can eat, let me take a look at first. Fourth, if you see something that looks like a large clump of wet paper on a tree, tell me. That’s a beehive and that means bears.” 

A quick pause and a moment to think allowed Viper to realize that he wasn’t giving these lessons in a particularly organized or sensible order. “That’s the most important stuff,” he growled. “Oh, and don’t try to swim. The water will kill you.”

“Necromancers, falmer, reavers, dragons, n'wahs-” she stopped to giggle. “Sorry, that's a you thing… Where was I? Dragons, giants, mammoths, beehives, bears. Got it.” She hadn't [i]really[/i] been listening. She had heard him speaking, of shelter and danger and n'wahs. She wondered what exactly it was that they could do, but she thought better than to ask him that now. He seemed to be enjoying rattling off his lists and warnings. 

She couldn't help but notice that even out here, in the wild freedom of Skyrim, that he was [i]still[/i] as gruff as ever, if not more so in fact. The Imperial shrugged and kept on her path, walking ahead of him by a short distance. Right now, she didn't want to think of being afraid and she was thinking only of pounding the ground at her feet to put distance between Windhelm and herself. “Are you going to be able to keep up?” Caeliana asked, not slowing down. She thought better than to ask another question. He hated her slews of questions and always had. She'd save being able to annoy him with them for when they would make camp later.

Her insistence on insolence was already rearing its ugly head and Viper sighed a deep and raspy sigh. He had a foreboding feeling he was going to sorely regret giving Caeliana this opportunity sooner rather than later. The way she’d merely repeated the names of the creatures and threats he’d listed already annoyed him, and her comment about whether or not he could keep up with her pace made him stop dead in his tracks. 

“Hold it right there,” he spat and scowled. “Are you daft, girl? Why are you walking ahead? Do you know the way? No, you don’t. Stay behind me, or by my side if you must, but don’t barge on ahead. You’re like a wolf pup, brimming with misplaced confidence.”

His temper was out to play already. She rolled her eyes from her spot before he could reach her. He was the one who had been doing this for most of his life - his life that was significantly longer than hers. From her lips she expelled a relenting sigh, “you're right, I understand. I'm just trying to get as far as I can from there.” The next words were sitting in her throat, refusing to budge but with a soft cough she freed them, “I'm sorry.” She glanced sideways at him, her bottom lip sticking out over her clenched jaw. She could growl too. 

“What's more likely to kill us out here? One of the aforementioned creatures, or each other?” 

“If you're implying that there's the slightest possibility of that happening, I'm ditching you the first chance I get,” Viper retorted, but the tone of his voice made it clear he wasn't serious. “The truth is that the weather is as treacherous as any beast, person or monster, even in the spring. I see you brought a cloak. Good. Either way, point made. Let's not bicker… too much.” 

“I never understood how someone could find their way into the way of life that you have Viper, to have so much freedom like that.” Caeliana wondered if it was his age, he was a great deal older than most in Windhelm, and yet was still in good health, Nord and Imperials who reached any near his age became wrinkled and frail. It had always impressed and baffled her in equal measure. That had only been why she had been fascinated by him. “To come and go like you do. The things that you have seen, even when you tell me about it, I still think you don't really tell me all there is to know.” 

It took a while before he responded. “That's a story for another time,” the grizzled Dunmer said at length. “You're right that I haven't told you everything. That would take way too long. Blabbering to you about my misadventures doesn't put food in my mouth.” 

Their path took them along the river upon which Windhelm was situated, following it westwards. Viper directed them off the road. “We make better time on the roads but they're often watched for that reason.” That meant they walked beneath the branches of the pine trees that stood clustered together a little ways away from the road. 

“You're never seen anything like this, have you?” 

“Tsk…” she sounded with her tongue, there always seemed to be a story for another time. “I guess I’ll keep waiting for it then…” she sighed as she approached the corridor of trees, a sudden chill prickling the back of her neck, but she could sense no immediate danger. “Only in dreams, but it’s different. It’s not the same as being here.” It was at that moment she looked up to the sky, grey as always, only hidden behind the branches and needles of the pines. She took in a deep breath through her nose, the scent of them was almost too much to handle.