The bitter taste of the healing potion still lingered on my tongue as Rapier led the way through the tunnels beneath Helgen. It was clear that she'd been through here before. There were a couple of times where she stopped to pick up a spell book, or a potion. The only excitement we had was a small frostbite spider that jumped on Rapier, but she whipped out a knife and stabbed its head.

Rapier stopped at a large crack. Her tail flicked back and forth nervously and her ears were pinned back. "You first," she said, looking directly at Archer.

Archer stepped through the crack and squinted, I followed and Rapier was close behind. I pulled up my hood so that I could see a little better. Archer had a hood, but for whatever reason he didn't use it.

"Go to Riverwood," Rapier said. "I'll meet you two there." She melted into the shadows before I could stop her.

"Did she say Riverwood?" Archer asked. He tilted his head to me. For the first time I noticed little flecks of gold and silver in the irises.

"Yes," I said. "Khajiit will take you there. Follow."

Archer blinked as we started off down the road. I paused at a triangle of three stones. "Those are the Guardian Stones," I said, pointing to them. "Choose one."

Archer hesitated before stepping into the middle. He looked at each of the domed rocks, studying them closely. He reached out toward the Thief Stone. The hole near the top glowed, the constellation on it becoming more clear with the blue lines. Archer knelt next to it and ran a hand over the carving. It flashed under his touch and stopped glowing. He stood and came back over to me.

He didn't say anything as we continued down the road. Suddenly he pulled an ebony bow off his back (I hadn't noticed it before) and fired into the woods with a glowing silver arrow. A howl was abruptly cut off. A glowing purple thread snaked through the air and was absorbed into the bow. Small veins of purple light glowed softly on the bow's surface, but quickly disappeared. His bow has Soul Trap? Interesting... "How did you know the wolf was there?" I asked. "I didn't even smell him."

Archer gave me a strange look and kept walking, forcing me to catch up. "I just knew it was there," he slung the bow back over his shoulder and it disappeared. "I don't know how I knew it was there. Trying to explain would be like trying to explain why the sun travels across the sky, or why there are two moons. Nobody knows, there are only guesses."

I hadn't realized how far we'd come until I found myself walking beneath the wooden "gate" that led into Riverwood. I looked around, thinking that Rapier would probably be here already. Archer jogged ahead looking down every side street he passed. He stopped in front of the Sleeping Giant Inn. There was a figure in black robes sitting on a bench on the deck.

A large smile split Archer's face. "Shay! What are you doing here?"

The black robed figure jumped over the railing and landed next to Archer. He was several inches taller than Archer, with black hair pulled back into a small ponytail. "Hello brother! I was going to ask you the same thing!"

Archer laughed. "Well, since I did it first you get to answer it."

The man (I guessed he was Shay) grinned. "I was just talking to Dolphin in there."

"Delphine," Archer corrected. "Really Shay, you need to get these things straight."

Shay smirked. "Fine, fine. Delphine. I like Dolphin better though..." he trailed off.

Archer shot him an amused look before turning back to me. "Shay, this is Kharjo. Kharjo, this is my brother Shay. I thought Rapier would be around here somewhere."

Shay smiled at me. "Kharjo," he said, his smile turning into a look of thoughtfulness. "That means... desert wizard, doesn't it?"

I looked at him in surprise. "Yes. How did you know that?"

"I took a trip to Elsweyr once. All of the Khajiits there wanted me to know what their names meant. I picked up quite a bit."

"There you are!" Rapier jogged up behind Shay. Vigilant trotted close at her heels. "I was wondering when you'd get here." She nodded to Shay. "Evening Shay."

Archer looked surprised and confused all at once. "You know Shay?"

Shay's expression soured slightly. "Yes... she does," he didn't meet Rapier's eyes. "Though I'm pretty sure it's afternoon."

Rapier's tail swatted Shay as she moved to my side. "Afternoon and evening are almost exactly the same time." She let out a resigned sigh and looked from Archer to Shay. "We're going to Whiterun. Do you want to come?" I could tell she really wanted Shay to say 'no', but I got the feeling he wouldn't.

"Yes," Shay said smirking at Archer. "I was just heading that way. The Jarl needs to know about the dragon at Helgen."

Archer groaned. "I should've known you were there."

Shay grinned. "What did you do to get yourself on that cart brother?"

Archer glared at him. Shay laughed. "Come now! What did you do?" Archer didn't say anything. "Nirn to Archer. What did you do?"

"Let's go," Archer snapped. He started down the road without us.

Shay chased after him, laughing and trying to get Archer to tell him what happened.