As Nate forced his eyes open, he winced at the bright light. He had a splitting headache that was unlike any hangover he had EVER had. The world was still spinning, and he felt like his stomach was rocking on ocean waves. The ground felt nice though. It was cold and smooth. Most importantly, it was still. The smell of a rich warm berry incense filled his nose, helping to sooth his headache and body. He heard the soft scoffing of footsteps, before a woman's voice snapped out bitterly. "HEY, Drunkard! Wake up!" Nate waved her off, mumbling under his breath as he tried to fall back asleep. "Shh... Don't yell..." The woman stormed off muttering something to herself. Nate heard the trickling of water, distantly mumbling out. "I'll join you in the bath later..." The footsteps came back to stand beside him, upon yelling out. "Over my dead body, asshole!" Nate rolled to his back slowly to see what her deal was, when a bucket of water was dumped over him. Yelping from the icy water, Nate rolled over quickly to all fours. Shivering, he snapped out. "What the fuck is your problem, lady?!" The woman leaned over a bit to mock him smugly. "That's right. It's time to wake up, you drunken blasphemer!"

Nate coughed, raising a hand to rub his temples as he mumbled out. "Blasphemer? What...? What are you some...?" Nate drifted off as he lowered his hand to look at her. The woman was covered in soft orange robes with long sleeves and a yellow hood. Around her neck was a black bead necklace with golden leaves up the sides and a large golden flower pendent with an amethyst jewel in the center of the flower. Nate's jaw dropped. Of all the places he had woken up at in his life, waking up in a temple was a first. Not only that, but he'd woken up in a temple of Dibella. Dibella was a goddess. One of the Nine Divines. She was known for her beauty, love, and her love for art and music. She was mostly worshipped by women as being a loving mother figure. However, among everyone NOT in the religion... Dibella was known for sex practices. Being the bed-wife of the god Shor... The Nords believed she was amazing in bed and most of her followers took that part of their worship VERY serious. Giving the woman a nervous smile, he asked her a little startled as he looked around. "Oh shit... Where am I?" The woman scoffed, setting the bucket down as she stated out disgustedly. "Of course, you don't remember... Am I to assume that you don't remember coming in here and blathering about marriage... or something to do with a goat either?"

Nate jerked his head to look back at her, his voice creaking as he blurted out completely perplexed. "What?!" The woman crossed her arms, tapping her foot with a heated expression. She looked like a pissed off mother, when she scolded him sternly. "I guess that means that you don't remember losing your temper when I refused, and you decided to trash the place." Nate slowly sat up, looking around the temple. The place had empty wine bottles everywhere. Some where smashed around him. He felt terrible. He'd never done that before either. He usually woke up next to a few naked people in some room or another, or in bathrooms. Never before had he caused damages. He didn't see the man he was with and that was slightly worrisome. Running a hand through his soaked hair, he asked her nicely. "Was a man named Sam with me?" The woman huffed, gesturing around as she told him sourly. "Oh? I'm sorry. I'd love to help you figure out your life... but I'm too busy cleaning up the mess you made of our peaceful temple. I wouldn't want anyone to get hurt from all the glass!" Nate's eyes drifted down to her feet, noticing that she was wearing the classic temple cloth shoes. They weren't designed to protect them from things like glass. Forcing himself up onto his feet a bit stiffly, he told her genuinely. "Look, I'm really sorry. I don't... This has never happened to me before..."

The woman's features softened, sighing out in a much warmer voice as she looked him over. "Tell you what. If you help me tidy up the place before anyone shows up. Proving to me that you really are sorry... I'll let this whole thing go. I won't report you to the guards. And... I might be able to help you remember some things." Nate nodded to her, keeping silent in case he said something to change her mind. She kicked the bucket toward him, then went to retrieve a broom. Picking up the bucket, he walked around the temple to collect all the empty intact bottles. After that he helped her sweep up and even washed the floor for good measure on his hands and knees. It took an hour or two to get it all done with her help, but they made quick work of it. His fingers were sore from scrubbing, but he felt better for helping. Grudgingly walking up to her as she finished putting the broom up, he told her sincerely. "I really am sorry. I don't have much money right now... but I can try to pay for the damages that I've caused." The woman turned to face him, revealing that she was quite a beauty beneath the hood of her robe. She was a Wood Elf of smooth copper skin and stunning bright eyes. Her emerald eyes were softer now, upon telling him in a thankful voice. "Keep your money. Cleaning up your mess is enough. Dibella teaches us forgiveness, after all. Here."

She reached into her robes to remove a paper and what appeared to be a giant's pinkie toe. He took them feeling very unsettled by this. She gestured to them, telling him openly. "I was going to use these as evidence against you... but they might help you find out what you were up too." Nate looked over the toe with slight concern. It was fresh and had been preserved in cloth like he had intended to use it as an ingredient in something. Stashing the toe in his travel bag, he opened the folded piece of paper, reading the fancy handwriting on it under his breath. "We need the following to repair the broken staff. A giant's toe. Holy Water from the pool of Dibella. And a Hagraven's feather. Sam." Nate blinked; his mind was completely blank. Had he broken a staff? How much damage had he done? The woman pointed to the stone pool of water in the center of the temple room they were in, telling him lightly. "You came in here ranting. Most of it was slurred. So, I didn't catch most of it. You seemed to be trying to fill the bottles with the holy bathing water and talking about marriage. And something with a goat... You seemed to say that you were in a hurry to get back to Rorikstead. That's all I know." Nate folded the paper, mumbling out to himself. "Great... That will take me two days to get there... At least it's on the way."

The woman raised an eyebrow, retorting swiftly. "What? Rorikstead is a little more than a few hours away from here. Maybe a day if the roads are bad." Nate's eyes widened as they rose to meet hers. She giggled a little, asking him curiously. "Where do you think you are?" Without hesitating, he answered shakily. "Helgen?" The woman laughed, crossing her arms as she told him outright. "You must have been really out of it... You're miles from Helgen, honey. This is Markarth." Nate tensed, yelling out in utter shock. "WHAT?!" She laughed at him, but his mind drifted to his horse. Gasping, he yelped out. "Walter... Oh shit!" Turning on his heel, he ran from the temple. Pushing open the heavy golden metal doors, Nate nearly shoved two people off the high stone staircase. The sun was so bright that he had to cover his eyes for a few seconds. The cold air outside felt good though. It actually was helping his headache pass. Markarth was a stone and metal city built into the side of a mountain. Known mostly for its unescapable prison deep under the ground and its mining. The worshipers flinched from him as he ran down the winding stone steps as fast as his legs could take him.

It didn't seem possible, but as he took in the chatter and sundials. He realized it was only noon of the day that he'd passed out... but that wasn't possible. How did he get from Helgen to Markarth in less then a few hours? The journey should have taken him days! The guards he past, jumped back telling him to watch himself. Ignoring them, he raced through the market and shoved his shoulder into the heavy gates of the city. As they opened, Nate's whole body relaxed. Walter was laying on his side in front of the stables and appeared to be surrounded by more wine bottles. Rushing over to him, he put his hands on him to heal him. Walter hiccupped and neighed like he was happily drunk off his ass. Healing him as best he could, he tugged on Walter's bridle to coax him up onto his feet. Walter resisted, causing Nate to fall on his ass as Walter simply sat up. The stablemen laughed at him, watching him with peaked interest. Crawling around Walter, Nate shoved his shoulder into Walter to try pushing him up onto his feet. Eventually, Walter got the hint and staggered up onto his feet. Nate straightened up, telling him how good he was. Yet, when he tried to get on him, Walter staggered drunkenly away from him. Nate rushed to grab him before he fell over, listening to a stableman call out through a laugh. "You sure you want to ride that wobbly nag?" Nate rolled his eyes, pulling Walter into a more open spot of grass.

Climbing up onto Walter, he took the reins and tried to turn Walter to the road. Walter circled the spot, clearly seeing double of everything. He zigged and zagged trying to walk in a straight line. Touching him to heal him a bit more, he ignored the Nords laughter and kicked Walter into a run. Walter didn't hesitate. He sprang forward into a run. He still couldn't stay in a straight line, but Nate just did his best to keep him generally in the center of the road. He was thankful that Walter trusted him enough to be his eyes. The cold air began to do good for Walter though, because his wobbling run became straighter and faster over time. By late evening, Nate slowed Walter down as they trotted into the small farming town of Rorikstead. The place was pretty barren looking. Not many people lived here, and most were inside already. Upon passing a little house with a wheat field, he steered Walter over to see if the man he saw there could help him. The man finished tossing a bundle of freshly cut wheat onto a cart, looking over at him briefly. Then the dirty man did a double take and yelled out accusingly. "YOU!" Nate tensed on Walter, letting Walter sidestep from the fence as the man ran up to it to snap out with his finger pointed at him. "You've got some nerve showing yourself in this town again! What do you have to say for yourself?!"

Nate swallowed, shrugging out uneasily. "I'm sorry...?" The man crossed his arms, sneering out with a defensive tone. "You're sorry?! Sorry is not good enough! Not while my Gleda is still out there... alone and afraid. It was bad enough you kidnapped her! But to trade her away to that giant?! HOW DARE YOU!" Nate had no words for that. He had never talked to a giant... He didn't even know that you could trade shit with them. From what he knew, they were Mammoth herders and stole cattle from men to eat. He'd never heard of one even wanting a goat or anyone being able to talk to them without getting flattened. Clearing his throat, he told the man regretfully. "That does sound pretty bad..." The man's face turned grim as he told him in an emotional voice. "You're damn right it is! I'll never breed another prize-winning goat like Gleda. She was... She was going to change my life... and you took that from me!" Nate sighed, feeling worse than he had for the last incident. Trying to keep himself together, he asked him. "I really am sorry. I'm looking for the man that I was with. Sam? Have you seen him?" The man's guarded eyes narrowed on him, snapping back heatedly. "Why would I help you? After everything you've done." The man started to turn away but looked back at him to huff out without much hope. "Although, I might be persuaded to give a damn about your petty problems. If you bring her back to me. Or you can pay me her value of a thousand gold."

Groaning, Nate uttered out with reluctance. "Fine... Where is the giant?" He highly doubted that goat was worth as much as a horse. The man pointed up the hill across from his field, telling him numbly. "Go that way. You'll find Grok. And let me tell you. If she dies or is dead. You can forget me telling you anything. Got it?" Nodding grimly, he turned Walter to go up the dirt path that led up the hill. He was nowhere near experienced enough to take on a giant. Yet, he didn't feel like he had much of a choice. He didn't have the money and he didn't need the guards hunting his ass down for something as silly as goat theft. Thinking about it though made him chuckle to himself. The very idea that he was drunk off his ass and managed to trade a goat with a giant for something was hilarious. At the top of the hill, he pulled Walter to a stop and burst out laughing as it suddenly dawned on him. Had he traded the goat for the giant's toe? The very idea had him bent over Walter as a fit of laughter took him over. His sides were burning from laughing as he coaxed Walter onward. He was really hoping he was wrong, but if it was true... He hated that he couldn't remember how that went down.

Riding out across the vast open grassland, he saw a giant towering in the distance. The grass was so tall that he didn't see the goat until he was much closer. The goat happily leapt around the giant's feet without a care in the world. The bell around its neck ringing softly. Even while on a horse, the giant was massive. Slowing Walter to a stop, Nate swallowed and shifted on the saddle as he said to himself. "This is insane... I must be out of my mind." Walter snorted, starting to turn around to leave with the shake of its head. Nate yanked the reins to turn him back around to face the giant, telling him with a half-hearted laugh. "Nope. We're doing this, buddy. We're gonna snatch and haul ass!" Nate kicked Walter's sides, encouraging him to run up to close the gap between them and the giant. Nate tried to time it just right to run by and snatch the little goat, but the thundering of Walter's hooves on the ground made the giant turn in their direction. Nate leaned down off the side of his saddle, reaching out to grab the goat. His fingers inches from the scuff of its neck as it stopped leaping to look at Walter with wide baby doll eyes. The giant's hand swung down to scoop the goat farther behind him, unintentionally swatting Nate clear off Walter with the back of his hand.

Tumbling roughly through the tall grass, Nate sneezed from the dusted up pollen of the wild flowers around him. Then groaning, he rubbed his chest and rolled to all fours, coughing out. "Fuck... I'm too sober for this shit..." The giant turned to face him, raising its very long bone club that was as thick as a tree. Nate dived to his right, rolling across the grass as the giant slammed the club down on where he had been. The ground shook violently from the impact, staggering Nate to stay on all fours as he crawled through the grass. Curses flew from his mouth like startled bats from a cave. The giant chased after him, trying to stomp on him as his arm worked to lift his heavy club again. He barely missed getting stepped on and tried not to laugh at the missing pinkie toe that saved his leg from getting crushed. Forcing himself up to his feet, Nate faced the giant and yelled out. "Alright, big boy. Let's dance!" Nate brought his hands together to create a ball of light. Then grabbing the forming handles from the blue light, he pulled twin swords out. The swords were made of pure magical energy and far stronger then any metal blade. Mostly because these would cut right past armor except for anything magical or enchanted. Giants weren't known for magic. Which would give him a small advantage. The giant swung his club down toward him and Nate ran forward between the giant's legs to slash his shins.

The giant growled, limping a bit as he turned and tried to stomp on him. Nate's cuts would have wounded a human badly, but the giant's skin was tough enough that they just left a scratch that bled a little. Leaping away to roll across the ground, the giant stomped his foot where he had been. This time when Nate rolled up to his feet, he whistled to get the giant's attention. The giant turned to face him, raising his club up high. Nate waited, then used his spell of invisibility. He had mastered Illusion magic to help him sneak around the academy. The giant jerked, looking around confused as to what had just happened. Running around behind him, Nate slashed at the giant's legs over and over until he stumbled to his knees. Exhausted from trying to find him, the giant roared in anger, punching the ground. Nate panted hard too, feeling his invisibility melt away. Taking a deep breath, Nate ran up the Giant's slanted back to reach his neck. Bringing his sword around the giant's throat, he slashed it and jumped off his shoulder. Landing in the grass, the giant lifted his head finally seeing Nate. The giant's neck was cut but it was just a scratch like before. However, as the giant's chin lifted in rage, Nate seized the chance to stab his sword into the cut before he rose up out of his reach. The sword easily passed through the cut to mortally wound him.

The giant was shocked, his lips parting to leak blood. Nate's swords vanished into thin air, letting him drop his hands. He kept his eyes on the giant's, watching him slowly sink to the ground. Backing up to stay out of his last minute reach for him, the giant slumped to the ground. Nate exhaled heavily, saying softly. "Well... Take that Professor Nexim. Can't fight my ass. Still standing." Nate dusted off his vest, until something rammed into his ass to knock him into the dirt. Wincing in pain, he rubbed his ass and rolled over to see the goat snorting at him. Glaring at the goat, Nate snapped out at it. "You're welcome, you ungrateful bastard!" The goat tried to ram him again, but Nate raised his legs to push it back with his feet. Bleating loudly, the goat thrashed and headbutted Nate in the balls. Nate yelped, clutching his balls as he slumped over. Taking deep strained breaths, Nate rolled to his knees, growling out. "Alright... That's it. COME HERE!" Launching up, he tried to grab the goat, but it leapt away. Climbing to his feet, he chased after the goat all over the field. The goat seemed to have done this with him before. Ducking and dashing as he tried to get the upper hand on it. After taking a moment to catch his breath, Nate watched the goat casually walk around him. Mocking him.

Straightening up, he started to walk away and noticed the goat was following him at a distance. The little bastard stopped, pawing the ground whenever Nate stopped to look at him. Threatening to charge at him. Nate nodded, starting to walk away. Then quickly turning, he dashed at the goat. The goat turned to run, but Nate tackled it into the ground. Feet and hooves flailing in the tall grass as they wrestled. Getting ahold of him, Nate yelled at Walter to come over. Walter trotted over smugly, allowing him to toss the ungrateful goat over the saddle like a sack of potatoes. Once the goat was on, Nate turned to throw up in the grass. Swinging back into the saddle, Nate held onto the goat's scruffy neck as he grumbled out. "This better be fucking worth it..." Heading back to the farmer, the man saw him coming and ran out of the fence to see the goat with a hopeful expression. The goat bleated happily, letting the farmer pull her off without any trouble. Hugging her, he looked her over and said aloud. "Gleda! And not a scratch on her! Oh, happy day!" Nate pulled grass from his hair and flicked it away, asking a little drained. "Ya. Ok. Now can you help me retrace my steps or what?" The man rose, removing something from his pocket as he told him in a far better mood. "You left this note explaining why you stole her, but half of it was gibberish and the rest had mead spilled on it."

Nate snatched the note, trying to look it over for himself with a sigh as the man continued. "The only bit that I could make out was 'repaying Ysolda in Whiterun for a wedding ring,' and even that's mostly scribbles." Nate folded the piece of paper up with reserved horror. He really hoped that he hadn't gotten married. Thanking the man, he turned Walter to head for Whiterun, when the man asked him curiously. "Before you go. Can I ask why you traded her? What was so valued that you needed her of all things?" Nate looked the man in the eyes, answering honestly. "A giant's toe." The man's face paled in just as much confusion as Nate had expressed all day. Chuckling a little, he encouraged Walter to walk on. It was good to see that look on someone else right now. To Be Continued...