The road to Falkreath had been fairly uneventful for the first two hours. Anise had woken early and packed up some food and potions to take with her, and had set off while the townsfolk were still opening their shops for the day. Anise had spent her travel time picking herbs for her potions and keeping an eye out for any trouble on the road. There hadn't been anything of interest for the beginning half of her journey, but now she could see the charred remains of Helgen before her, and smell the burnt flesh of the impaled corpses that decorated Helgen's entrance. Anise couldn't see anyone atop the wall that surrounded Helgen, which worked perfectly well for her. She could handle a few bandits, especially if they didn't see her coming, but to barge right into a bandit stronghold was her idea of suicide. Covering her nose with the sleeve of her robes, Anise crouched low and moved slowly towards Helgen, doing her best to watch both the wall and the woods to the side for bandits. She moved slowly, leaving the stone section that had survived and moving on to the pointed wooden posts that the bandits had erected around the area. She could hear the low murmur of activity inside the walls and vaguely make out the sound of their rough voices. Feeling a little more certain of herself, she moved forward a bit faster, breaking away from the wall and following the path that would take her to Falkreath.

That was easy enough.

"Hey! You there!"

Anise froze for a moment, watching the bandit by the wall out of the corner of her eye. He was a burly looking Nord, with studded armor and a large iron greatsword in his hands.

He smirked at her.

"Well ain't this a surprise."

...

By the time Anise had lost both the bandit and her breath, she was deep in the fog and looming pine trees Falkreath was known for. Doubled over and breathing hard, she pulled down her hood and tried to get a good look at her surroundings. The road seemed to straighten out a bit in front of her, and just behind her was a simple little house with some small carts out front. It looked as if whoever lived here had suddenly stopped their household tasks, and Anise hoped it didn't have anything to do with the bandits from Helgen.

They probably just got called into the house for something simple. Like a child's scraped knee.

A little sign that said Pinewatch hung on the wall by the front door of the cottage.

Anise straightened and took out her map, the heavy fog quickly dampening her clothes. Judging by how far she'd run with the help of some hastily gulped down stamina potions, she guessed herself to be a little over an hour away from Falkreath. After a brief stretch she continued to walk on, collecting mountain flowers as she went and enjoying the change in scenery. Riverwood didn't have such tall pine trees, and while they seemed to loom overhead Anise found something calming about the way their tips swayed in the skyrim wind, looking almost like they might gently tip over.

The road ahead wasn't as wet as Anise had feared, and she was grateful the rains hadn't yet arrived. She could smell the water in the air and see it heavy in the clouds above, and knew it would be raining before she was home. She pulled her hood tighter around her face, feeling grateful for the fur that lined it and kept her cheeks warm. Through the low light and the fog she could just make out a hint of purple in the distance, and she guessed they were the banners of Falkreath. It was hard to tell the hour, given the darkness that covered the hold, but Anise judged it to be just after noon by the hunger in her stomach and the faint bit of light she could see shining through the clouds. The Falkreath gates came into view before long, and Anise could see the guards on the ramparts and the Falkreath banners that matched them.

As Anise drew closer one of the guards left his post to walk towards her. With his large frame and his guard's helmet obscuring his face, Anise couldn't help but feel a bit intimidated as he came closer through the mist.

A heavy Nordic accent came from within the helmet.

"Hey, did you see a dog out there?"

A little thrown off, it took Anise a moment to reply.

"A dog? No, I didn't see one. Did someone lose theirs?"

"Lod, the blacksmith, said he saw one out there on the road. Wants it for himself. Go talk to him if you see it."

With that the guard turned and walked back to his post, leaving Anise to wonder if she ought to help somehow or leave it alone. She moved forward through the city gates and headed towards the trade store, passing the local inn and tavern first. The sign outside dubbed it as the Dead Man's Drink, a fitting name in a town like Falkreath. Across the way from it was the blacksmith's shop, and Anise could see a large man outside working at the anvil.

That must be Lod. Anise thought. Sighing a little to herself, she decided that after she took care of her own business she would visit Lod, and see how difficult it might be to catch his dog.

It's late enough in the day that I don't want to risk traveling home and having the sun set before I'm there, but it's early enough that having some time to kill in this town would be nice. I might as well see if I can't catch a dog.

With that decided she continued through town, looking for the signs of either the trade store or the potions maker. The inside of Falkreath was much like the outside of it, covered in fog with the winding streets moving around large pine trees. The buildings seemed to blend in with the flora around them, and hide in the mist that blanketed them. Many of the people looked sad, Anise noticed, and walked with a slow step.

Did something happen recently? Or is it simply the way of the people here to be a bit dreary?

The trade store was nestled in beside Lod's smithy. It had a little sign out front that said the shop was called Gray Pine Goods, and as Anise walked up the steps to pull open the door, she bumped into a man that had been coming out.

"Oh-" Anise exclaimed as she stumbled backwards, "I'm so sorry, I didn't see you there!" Anise apologized as she smiled up at the tall Nordic man she had bumped into. His expression was not nearly as apologetic.

"Hmph." He sneered, glaring angrily down at her. "I can't believe we let provincials like you wander skyrim."

He shoved past her again, leaving Anise standing shocked in the doorway as he disappeared around the corner. After a moment she remembered that she was standing in the doorway, and she went inside the shop feeling more than a little embarrassed.

Once inside she noticed another Nord man standing behind the counter of the shop. He looked very much like the one she had just bumped into, with the same nose and somewhat narrow eyes. He laughed a little when he saw her expression.

"Well met." He greeted her. "Unlike my brother, I've no dislike of strangers. Met lots of 'em when I was a Stormcloak."

"That was your brother?"

"Don't mind Bolund." He laughed, "he's young, and gets riled easily. My name is Solaf, is there anything I can help you with?"

Still feeling a little thrown, Anise moved forward to the counter to get a better look at the shelves behind Solaf.

"I was wondering what spell tomes you have in stock?"

Solaf turned to the shelves behind him, looking through some books for a moment before pulling out three. He turned back to the counter and placed the books down in a row so that their covers could easily be seen. Anise felt the optimism in her chest turn sour as she looked at the tomes before her. A simple oakflesh spell, conjure familiar spell, and a spell for raising weak dead bodies. She already knew the conjure familiar spell and the raise zombie spell, though she never used the latter. As for the oakflesh spell, it would hardly do her any real good. It wouldn't keep anyone from chirping her head off.

"It isn't much, I'm afraid. " Solaf said apologetically as he noticed her disappointment. "We don't get many magic users around here. Bolund tends to chase them all off."

"That's alright." Anise sighed. "Do you think the potions maker might have any lying around?"

"Hmm. You could try, but I wouldn't keep your hopes up." Solaf replied. "Zaria's more interested in mixing potions than practicing any kind of magic."

...

Half an hour later Anise sat, feeling slightly sullen, on a bench in The Dead Man's Drink partaking in her share of ale and munching on some of the food she'd brought with her. Solaf had been right when he'd said Zaria cared only for her alchemy. She and Anise had found plenty to talk about, and even exchanged a few tips and ideas, but Anise was no closer to having any new spells.

So much for that.

Anise nursed her tankard a little longer, grateful for the chance to rest her aching feet at least. Once her food and ale was finished she stood and made her way back outside. She had promised herself she'd help catch a dog after all, and she still had time to kill before renting a room for the evening. She left the dim Inn and stepped into the almost equally dim lighting of the Falkreath sky. Lod was still working away outside, doing whatever it was blacksmiths did. Anise wasn't completely sure.

"Um, excuse me?" Anise said over the repeated noise of the hammer Lod was using. He stopped and turned to look at her as she stood, a little shyly, on the stairs leading up to the smithy.

"I heard you were looking for a dog?"

"Ah, yes." He said, pouring his hammer aside and turning fully to face her fully. "There's one I saw hanging around the road out there, a loyal looking fellow. I could use a good, loyal hound as my companion, but I'm too busy now to go chasing after it. There's gold in it for you if you manage to catch it."

"I'll give it my best." Anise said. "I've nothing else to do at the moment."

Lod stood and went over to a plate of food he had sitting off to the side and took Adobe meat.

"You can use this to lure him in." Lod said as he handed her the meat. "Best of luck."

With the chunk of meat in her hand, Anise made her way back out the gate, wondering whether she was more likely to attract the dog or the wolves with it. She didn't get far at all however, before seeing a tall, healthy looking wolfhound in the distance.

Well, that was simple enough.

Anise was about to crouch down and offer the piece of meat when the dog began to move towards her at brisk pace. It wasn't charging at her, and it didn't look aggressive, but Anise couldn't help but feel that there was something distinctly unnerving about an unfamiliar dog moving towards her with such purpose. It sat down once it reached her, looking happy with it's large tongue lolling out of the side of its mouth.

"You, are exactly what I was looking for." The dog barked.

...