Sorry for the long wait, I've been kind of busy. Thankfully the woeful lack of Skyrim slash pissed me off enough to write more. Enjoy!

The elf was a surprisingly talented warrior, given his frail appearance. As they barreled through the crumbling keep they encountered several groups of Stormcloaks, which they dispatched fairly quickly. The stone walls were soon replaced by spider infested caves, mud caking on over the drying blood on their battered bodies. When they finally found the exit they were exhausted and the elf once again looked to be on verge of collapse, but at Hadvar's promise of shelter, Falcon forced himself to go on.

It was nearly dark by the time they arrived in Riverwood. Hadvar happily greeted his uncle and they were quickly ushered inside. They spoke for a few minutes and after he promised to talk to the Jarl of Whiterun, Falcon dropped into a bed, sleep claiming him almost before his head hit the pillow.

The next morning Falcon awoke to the twinkling eyes of a little girl, which would have been fine if she hadn't been less than a foot from his face. He jolted backwards in surprise and almost immediately regretted it. Pain flared up across his body, pretty much anything that could hurt did. Giving a groan he gingerly rolled onto his back and massaged his eyes. The child, he couldn't quite remember her name, giggled before climbing to her feet.

"My Momma told me to tell you that she drew a bath for you downstairs," she said.

Falcon looked down at himself from between his fingers. The light Imperial armor was barely holding together, shredded by the blades of the soldiers they had fought and the fangs of the Frostbite spiders. Not to mention he was encrusted in dried poison, blood, and soot. Removing his hand he looked back at the little Nord and thanked her. She smiled "She also found some of Pappa's old clothes that you can wear."

Thanking her again, Falcon rose from the bed, wincing as the movement pulled on some of his wounds, and headed down the wooden stairs to find a large basin with a stool and a bucket of water sitting alongside it. A fresh, if not a bit moth eaten, set of clothes sat on the counter nearby. He had undone the first two buckles of his armor before he realized he still had company. Turning to the little girl on the stairs he raised an eyebrow. Caught, she giggled again before running up the stairs and this time Falcon waited until he heard the door open and close. Satisfied that he was alone he finished disrobing before sitting on the stool, grabbing a washcloth out of the bucket of blessedly warm water, and carefully beginning to clean the grime from his body.

By the time he was done, the water in the bucket was an murky grey and he hadn't even washed his hair yet. I'll just wash it in the river. With a grunt he got up and fetched his clean clothes, unfolding them he realized that they looked even bigger than the armor had been. Great.

Several minutes later he strode across the wooden bridge to the sawmill, trying and failing to look dignified. As he passed the mill, the Nord working it caught sight of him and made a choking sound, he quickly disappeared from view but Falcon's sharp ears could easily pick out the man's laughter. He'd been right, the worn cream-colored tunic might as well have been a tent on him. He has rolled the sleeves up but they kept sliding down over his boney hands and the hem of the shirt nearly reached his knees. Thankfully the sword belt had been salvageable, otherwise there would have been no way to keep his borrowed trousers from falling off.

Once he reached the bank he paused to roll his pant legs up before wading into the river. It was cold, but not unbearable, he was lucky it was still summer in Skyrim. Taking a breath, he slowly submerged his scalp in the water swirling around his knees, scrubbing viciously at the scruffy sides and forcing his fingers through the longer hair down the center. It took a while, but eventually he managed to wash all of the dirt and blood out and his hair returned to the deep red hue it was normally. Well that's one thing out of the way.

He straightened, brushing the wet hair out of his eyes and returned to shore. There was a general store across from Alvor's forge and Falcon had managed to pick up several things in his flight from Helgen that he thought he could sell. Most of his adult life he had made a living that way, killing bandits and looting their camps for valuables. He returned to the house, where he found his pack sitting next to the bed he'd slept on. Hadvar had returned and was eating breakfast at the table. The Nord did a double take before laughing good naturely, "Now that you're clean I almost didn't recognize you!"

Falcon smiled, "I'm sure my outfit didn't help either," and Hadvar chuckled in agreement.

"You might want to ask my uncle if he could teach you a few things about smithing, so you can make yourself something that fits a bit better."

"Perhaps. I already know a few things about leather and those skins I picked up yesterday should be enough to make some decent armor, but I suppose it never hurts to learn more." Hefting his pack up, he bid Hadvar goodbye and thanked him again for his hospitality before heading into the shop.

Just as he entered, he noticed two Imperials arguing at each other from across the counter. He nearly turned to leave, but the male behind the counter shushed the woman and called him over.

"I don't know what you heard, but Riverwood Trader is still in business. What do you need?"

Falcon raised his eyebrow at the haistily uddered welcome before his curiousity got the better of him, "Did something happen?"

An irritated look flickered across the man's face as he muttered, "Well….we did have a bit of a…break in…"

"What was taken?"

He sighed, "An solid gold ornament, in the shape of a dragon's claw. I think the headed up to Bleak Falls Barrow."

Remembering the stone ruin Hadvar had pointed out on their journey to Riverwood, he gave what he hoped was a reassuring smile, "I know where that is, I could probably get it back for you."

Hope filled the trader's eyes, "Oh would you?! I have some coin coming in from my last shipment, it's yours if you can get my claw back."