I'm afraid there'll have to be a few boring chapters before things get more interesting, and this is one of them. However, I WILL be introducing the two other main characters in this chapter.

Onward!

Dawn was approaching. The barest hints of gray started to fade into the horizon, slowly and carefully stripping away the peaceful darkness of nighttime. A biting breeze, laced with bits of snow that I knew would be falling more thickly later today, raised gooseflesh on my exposed arms. Snow clumped uncomfortably around my boots, and I shook it loose irritably. This was the most gods-forsaken place I'd been in yet, and believe me, that's saying something.

I clenched my fingers more tightly around my bow right as my teeth performed a similar action. I may be born a Nord, but I seem to be less resistant to the cold. That, or it's the special armor I'm wearing that has no sleeves, courtesy of the Altmer scum Linwe that I killed in Uttering Hills Cave a month ago. You'd think that an Altmer would get even colder than I in this armor, but what did I know?

"Focus." I muttered to myself in my slight brogue, which made my 'a's, 'o's, and 'u's more pronounced. "You're trying to get home."

I continued at a slightly faster pace, making the snow clump even more. Growling, I shook my feet clean violently, probably very nearly dislocating my ankle in the process. This was my least favorite kind of snow, the kind that stuck to you no matter what you did to try and get rid of it. I'd been mired in it ever since leaving Dawnstar a few hours ago, and it showed no signs of letting up anytime soon.

I decided that the only way I was going to get through this was with speed, not caution. I didn't have much to hide from that I couldn't kill, anyway. Affixing my bow to my back, I took off through the snow, the tiniest of flakes making me squint my eyes as tears gathered in them. I pulled my hood down a bit more and angled my head to avoid it. I barely watched where I was going, trusting that my feet would not lead me astray. After a few moments, I saw scattered, slush-covered cobblestone beneath my soaking boots.

I stopped for a moment to catch my breath with my hands on my knees. I decided to sit and rest before pushing on. I'd be able to go farther if I rested a bit more. But, with the rest came the reminder of why I'd been in the Pale to begin with.

Leaning back against the ice-cold stone, I allowed myself a small, desolate sigh, puffing the air around my face with a light fog. My search in Dawnstar had turned up nothing, and I just kept meeting with more dead ends the harder I searched. I was starting to think I would get nowhere.

But you have to keep searching, Odie. I reminded myself. You can't abandon him just yet. Not until you know for sure he's gone.

Pushing myself back to my feet, I set off down the road to Windhelm at a walk. Snow began to fall more strongly as the sun rose, although I could barely tell the time of day at all. After about ten minutes of letting snow start to pile up in the nooks and crannies of my armor, I pulled Auriel's Shield from my back and held it in the direction the snow appeared to be coming from the most strongly; it did little good. Wind buffeted the flakes of bitterly cold ice in every direction, and no matter which way I turned my shield, I was still under attack from the vicious weather.

I hated this weather. I couldn't even find adequate words to describe just how much I hated it. Using my hand as a weak snow-shield, I scouted for an overhang that I could take shelter in until this blizzard passed. I'd rather be in Candlehearth Hall-or even better, the Ragged Flagon-right now, wrapped in some warm furs, but it's more likely that I'd get lost trying to get there in the snow.

Shivering, teeth chattering wildly, I scolded myself for the thousandth time on my stupidity just as I'd been leaving Dawnstar.

"This one thinks the cold is setting in. A blizzard will most certainly strike by daybreak." Ahkari told me worriedly. She offered me a cloak made of snowy sabre-cat fur, and while it looked very warm, I knew I shouldn't take it. It would only weigh me down.

"No, thanks, Ahkari." I said crisply. "I'll make it to Windhelm before the snow hits. Besides, I don't think I could afford that." Which was a plain-faced lie. I made damn good money as a member of the Thieves Guild, certainly more than enough to purchase the cloak, but I needed to leave now if I actually was going to make it to Windhelm by daybreak.

"Take it." she said insistently, holding it out to me. "This one knows you do not like the cold. And besides, we do not need it as much as you do."

"I need to go now, Ahkari." I replied abruptly, stalking away with long strides down the cobblestone path before I'd decided to take Wayward Pass instead.

Once again, not for the first time, I realized that was not one of the smartest decisions I'd ever made.

I propped my shield up against the rocky overhang and myself, offering slightly more protection from the whistling and howling winds. It was getting ready to be ugly as sin out here. It already was ugly as sin out here. I once again debated the wisdom of making a run for Windhelm, and promptly decided against it. If I ventured from my shield-overhang shelter, I'd be tempting death. And I couldn't die, not while I was still looking for him.

I rubbed my arms, futilely trying to ease some warmth back into them. My teeth continued to chatter no matter how tightly I held my jaw closed, and I decided to occupy myself with thoughts of the Guild and how things were shaping up for me there. Mercer, while a generally surly and mean character, was not someone that I had to interact with on a daily basis, thankfully. I'd just been assigned to go to Solitude and question an Argonian, Gulum-Ei or something like that, about Karliah's whereabouts. I'd made my detour to Dawnstar, though, and now I was headed back to Windhelm to hire a carriage. There was no way in Oblivion I'd be walking all the way to Solitude from here.

Everyone there seemed to tolerate me to some extent. I'd earned a name for myself as one of the supposed best thieves in the Guild, but with the way the Guild had been doing for so long, it didn't take much to be one of the best. I snorted and rolled my honey-golden eyes, strawberry-blonde hair falling in damp clumps around my face. Seemingly anyone who'd walked into the Cistern with some idea of how to pick a lock and a pocket and remain undetected was practically Guildmaster, at least when I first arrived four months ago.

Now, things were looking up considerably. We'd gotten two new recruits, and a level of respect that the Guild hadn't attained for quite some time, if what Mercer said was to be believed. My life could have been worse, I suppose. The only things that would make it better were either long gone or had disappeared without a trace, same with my broken heart and shattered spirit. Shaking my head, not allowing myself to proceed further down that chain of thought, I drew my knees up closer to my underdeveloped chest. When I was curled up like this, the shield could protect my entire body. Of course, using it in battle like this would be incredibly inconvenient.

I grin despite myself, suddenly struck with the mental image of warriors scurrying onto a battlefield, hidden behind their shields like I was now, attempting to poke one another with their swords and war axes from the safety of their barriers. I snickered. I guess some things never change, and one of those things was my quite odd and somewhat dry sense of humor.

I sat behind my shield for almost three hours, unable to see anything besides the falling snow and the occasional silhouette of a passing wolf. I only stayed warm thanks to the small spurt of flame I was able to conjure from my hands. I wasn't skilled with magic by any stretch of the imagination, but I had long ago taught myself to create fire so I wouldn't freeze to death in the snow. Sadly, I could only hold that flame for a few moments at best, and with the weather being this bad, I wasn't going to be able to start a fire anytime soon.

And then, just as suddenly as the snow had been ruthlessly testing my shield's strength, it subsided. I poked my head out from the safety of my shield and saw that while the snow level had risen considerably-and was still falling lightly-if I was going to make a run for Windhelm, now would be the perfect opportunity to do so.

I had to kick my shield free from the rock and frost beneath it before attaching it to my back and setting off down the road at a brisk jog, hoping to get my blood moving again. Upon reaching the stables, I found to my burning frustration that there was no carriage, and that according to the stablemaster, there likely wouldn't be one for at least a few more days. Growling to myself, I kicked aside piles of newly-fallen icy snow to cross Windhelm's bridge and enter the city itself.

I'd been to Windhelm several times before, mostly on Guild business, though. I tended to avoid the two major capitals of the civil war, Windhelm and Solitude, lest someone try to recruit me. So far, I had no opinion on the war, except that it was getting people killed for no good reason.

Lost in thought, I rounded a corner and was immediately slammed into the ground by a figure that had, until just a second ago, been sprinting away from something-or someone-and they let out a startled yelp. I'd had the breath knocked out of me and lay winded for a moment before my anger took over. Leaping to my feet, I snatched the wrist of the other person and yanked them to a halt.

She looked up at me with wide, frightened red eyes. A young Dunmer girl; she likely couldn't have been out of her teens. She had light grayish-tan skin and light brown hair that was long and matted with dirt and perhaps the smallest amount of blood. She was also dramatically emaciated; her wrist felt like a skeleton's in my grasp.

"Don't hurt me!" she practically squealed, trying-and failing-to pull her wrist from my iron grasp.

"Watch where you're running!" I snapped, and then asked, "What in Meridia's name are you running from anyway, idiot? You could have hurt me!" My chest still ached slightly with the sudden impact, and I still didn't fully have my breath back.

"I-" the girl started to respond, but she was interrupted by another voice, a male one, deep and somewhat soothing.

"Beryn? Are you out here? I swear by Azura that if you've gotten yourself in trouble again..." the voice trailed off as another Dunmer, likely her husband or friend, ran around the corner as well. He had dark, slate-gray skin, and black hair cut short, as well as a well-trimmed goatee. He stopped short when he saw his friend in my grasp and asked, "Who in Azura's name are you?"

"I'd ask the same of you." I retorted. "Your friend here came racing around the corner without watching where she was going and knocked me clean off my feet!"

"It was an accident!" the girl, apparently called Beryn, insisted as her friend turned to glare at her.

"I apologize for my sister." he said, turning back to me. "She tends to be...high-spirited, even when starving. I'm Sethys."

"Odiana." I said. I released his sister and watched as she ran to hide behind her brother, peeking fearfully out at me.

He glanced at her before turning back to me. "I don't think I've seen you around here before."

"Same as you." I said dryly. "You must be a newcomer. I've been here several times before."

Sethys paused, like he was considering saying something but was about to decide against it before venturing, "You're a traveller, correct?"

"That's right." I replied, my suspicion level rising. I subconsciously raised my guard as well, even though it had been a fairly innocent question to ask.

"We've been trying to get to Whiterun." Sethys explained, looking back at his sister. "We hoped we could start better lives there than here. The problem is, both of us are too weak to make the journey alone."

"And?" I asked, boredly.

"Would you help us get there?"

I pursed my lips and narrowed my eyes. I opened my mouth to refuse, but Sethys interrupted me again.

"Look, we're not entirely useless in a fight." he seemed to be getting desperate, and I wondered just how many travellers he'd asked for help. "I can still swing a sword fairly well, and Beryn here's not bad with Destruction magic. We could help you."

"I can't guarantee your safety." I warned flatly. "My first and foremost concern is myself. If we get into major trouble, you're on your own."

The problem was, I wanted to help them. I wanted to ensure their safety, make sure they arrived at Whiterun with no difficulty so they could create better lives for themselves, but I knew better by now than to get attached to anyone as weak as the two of them. More likely than not, they'd die on the journey. Neither of them was looking particularly healthy, and only Sethys had armor, a hodge-podge of an imperial light cuirass, hide boots, and leather bracers, with a rusty iron sword sheathed at his side. Beryn was outfitted in a set of torn, ragged mage robes, and didn't even have boots, but instead a pair of leather shoes that were falling apart at the seams.

"We understand that." Sethys assured me. "We wouldn't expect you to risk yourself for us in a big fight. We just need someone else's help to get to Whiterun."

"Fine." I said briskly. "We'll leave at dawn. Don't be late, because I'm not waiting for you."