Edin Proud-Sky was going to join the Blades.

If he could find them.

For several months, he had been looking for the group high and low across Tamriel. Though his mother had been a Blade and asked that he take the position in order to 'be somebody' (or something to that effect), she had not told him how to go about doing so. But he was certain that his first step needed to be leaving Riverwood. The town was far too small to be home to anyone who would know anything about the Blades. They had been a notorious group in their time and Edin could not see the use of a Blade staying in Riverwood. He very much doubted that his parents would have stayed in Riverwood if they had not become pregnant with him unexpectedly. There was very little in that town but peace and quiet.

Hardly the caliber of excitement associated with the Blades.

So Edin had shoved off after staying up late one night and formulating a list of feasible places the Blades would be. A bigger city, most likely. Dawnstar was out. As was Riften. An up and coming place. That eliminated Morthal, Windhelm and Winterhold. The man had narrowed his search down to Solitude, Whiterun and Markarth. There were always things going on in those cities. Those cities were where the stories came from. If the Blades – a group looking to reform and become powerful again – were anywhere, it would make sense to be somewhere with the most resources. But Markarth, Whiterun and Solitude had all failed him in his search. At least, mostly. There had been something potentially useful he'd found in Solitude, but the degree of usefulness remained to be seen.

While visiting Solitude, the mention of his quest for the Blades was mentioned somehow at The Winking Skeever. Edin could no longer remember how as he was just a few pints to the wind by then. Someone knew someone who had slept with someone who was married to someone who was a cousin twice removed of someone who happened to know of someone else who was also questing for the Blades. Edin did not waste his precious, drunken faculties attempting to translate how the name had come to him, but he had been given a name: Elmira Whitestone. A Nord female who had supposedly grown up feral (so the mythmakers said) in the woods and was on the trail of the Blades. Nobody in the Winking Skeever was sober enough to remember where she came from or how they had heard of her. But they willingly gave Edin her name.

Edin gave the courier a letter the next day.

For several weeks they swapped letters, Edin letting her into his plans and she into his to some extent. Though they were not working together per se, as they were traveling separately, they were communicating their efforts, successes and failures. He could not remember who it was that had suggested meeting one another if they ever crossed paths in the same city. But before itineraries were planned and shared, something occurred. Edin got a letter. A letter of urgency, nonetheless, from Elmira. It did not exactly disclose whether she had found the Blades or not, though it certainly seemed as though she had found something. Edin leaped at the opportunity. But his heart dropped when the letter asked to meet outside of Riverwood. Riverwood his home. Where he'd grown up. The site of his parents' home that he now owned.

Riverwood where Edin had never before seen any Blades.

And Edin had lived there for years.

Still, he figured that this might be a good opportunity to meet the faceless enigma with which he was tossing letters for months. Good-naturedly as he was, Edin packed up from his place in Whiterun and made his way slowly back to Riverwood. The letter had said to meet on the 13th of Rain's Hand at midday in the road between the Riverwood Trader and Blacksmith's Forge. Ironically, that marked the Breton holiday of the Day of the Dead. Had Edin not been traveling this day, he would have probably sat at home quietly in silent respect. In light of this, he was thankful to have something to occupy the space in his mind. Even if he was fairly sure that this venture would not exactly go anywhere. Still, perhaps she had other knowledge that he didn't. So he pressed onward.

His arrival was a few hours before midday so he made his way to his family home, depositing his things in a chest and making a simple stew from what he happened to have left in the larder that hadn't gone bad during his journey. Once his stomach was full, the fatigue of the journey had taken its toll on him and he laid down, intending to awake before midday.

When Edin did finally awake, his estimation was perhaps a half an hour to an hour after midday. He was late! Fumbling to get his clothes back on, he took several toppling falls around his house, knocking over goods and foods and falling into chests of drawers. With some struggle, he made his way out of the house and took off toward the road. Luckily, he did not have far to run and as he reached the road, he was relieved to see the back of a clearly female figure still on the road. Panting, he was talking to her before he reached her.

“I'm sorry. I'm so sorry. I know your letter said midday and I was here early so I went to my home to make some stew and fell asleep and overslept so now I'm late and I'm so sorry and I just wanted to--,”

The next word out of his mouth was going to be 'apologize'. But as he rounded in front of the female, he was taken aback. She was young. A Nord, definitely. But... Probably not as old as he. And it puzzled him for a moment. When he was writing to Elmira, he had assumed she would be an older woman. Their ages were never mentioned. But he did not know of many other young people who even knew of the Blades. His assumption, it seemed, had been off. Speaking of assumptions, here he was assuming this was Elmira. Maybe he was off-base yet again.

“...apologize...”

He finished his statement before looking at her sheepishly for a moment, feeling the color beginning to rise slightly in his cheeks. “I'm... Sorry... I'm looking for a woman named Elmira... Elmira Whitestone... Are you... Elmira?”

Pathetic, Edin. You look pathetic. Blades material? Hah. You don't sound like you've killed as much as a rabbit.

With a sigh, he shook his head. “I'm a little tired from the journey here, so excuse me if I'm making an incorrect assumption.

[atrb=border,0,true][atrb=style, width: 400px; background-color: #171818; padding:20px; border-top: 10px #171818 solid; border-bottom: 10px #171818 solid;] I’ll spread my wings and I’ll learn how to Fly {WORDS } 733 {TAGGED } Edin! {WEARING} Fur armor Well…obviously this man wasn’t going to show. Elmira glanced once more at the patriots around the Inn that she was currently sitting in. It was the feeling of eyes on her that she just…hated, more than perhaps anything in the world. Always watching, always waiting for…for…what? For her to screw up? For something bad to happen? By chance catching the eyes of a man still hung over from the night before on her, Elmira straightened her seat until her back was ramrod straight. It was only a second later that she averted her eyes, though, letting them fall back to the table where she rested with her elbows on it. Why did people have to stare? Every time they did, she got that familiar feeling up her spine, like she had spiders crawling there but no way of ridding herself of them. As if on cue, a slight shudder ran its way up her spine. Trying to shake off that feeling was nearly impossible too, and so she had just learned to deal with it over the years. However, she’d had enough of people. Pushing back from her seat, Elmira got the coin to pay for her meal, placing it on the table beside her empty plate and tankard, before turning on her heel and walking out the door. She’d had enough of being around other two legged beings. Carefully she walked across the wooden beams so as to make no noise. And even then she felt those eyes on her, burning into her back even as she made her way toward the door – and safety as well. It was none too soon that she made it there, easily pushing the door open and stepping through, before closing it just as silently. Whoever this man really was – as she’d never met him – Elmira wouldn’t wait around an entire day for him to show himself. As she’d already been in town for hours and he hadn’t shown himself, she figured that he wouldn’t be doing so. All this way for nothing. Snapping her fingers to signal her wolf to follow on her heels, Elmira picked up her mare’s reins from where she’d been ground tied and clucked at her to get her moving. Doing so, Elmira was easily walking down the road toward the edge of town when she noticed her wolfs ears shoot up in a sign of warning. It was a moment later that she heard the heavy footsteps. Reflexes caused her hand to reach down toward her dagger, before Storm started to growl beside her. “Ssst,”, she hissed out to warn him down, before she started to turn, the words she heard so fast that she could hardly make sense of them. In surprise, Elmira skidded to a quick halt, her mare stopping beside her when the bit pulled at her tender mouth. Still, when she actually saw him, she raised an eyebrow. It seemed to be her luck to run into good looking men lately, though that didn’t help to put her at ease any. Shifting uncomfortably between her feet to place her weight differently, Elmira heard her wolf growl out once more, before turning her gaze on the ice wolf at her heels, tensed and poised to attack on command. “Storm, down.”, she commanded gently, before she forced her gaze back to the man that was addressing her. Oddly enough, she relaxed a bit when she noticed that he too looked like he had just been punched in the gut and left to gasp for air. “I’m Elmira.”, she confirmed with a nod, “Edin Proud-Sky?” {NOTES} OOOohhhh everyone is so awkward

table by CALIFORNIA DREAMING of CAUTION 2.0, lyrics by Kelly Clarkson

Even the animals came off threatening as Edin skidded to a stop next to Elmira. A puzzled look passed over his face as he looked up at her, seeing the awkwardness with her as well. It should have been comforting, really. Should have been comforting that someone else was just as uncomfortable with this entire situation as he was. Rather, his anxiety levels went through the roof thinking he'd just made her uncomfortable. What a lovely first meeting this was turning out to be! Two people who were clearly making one another nervous simply by meeting. What kind of future did that bode? Both for them and for the fate of the Blades if this was how they conducted themselves? Not that Edin was judging – he could barely contain his own awkwardness looking at this woman in front of him. She was nothing like what he had expected and honestly... He wished she had been more of what he expected. It would have been a lot easier to talk to an older, less attractive, possibly toothless woman than it was to talk to... this... much younger... much more attractive... quite put-off looking woman. Wonderful. So rather than just being awkward about the entire situation to begin with (not forgetting his own tardiness in arriving), now it was going to be awkward because he was potentially going to be traveling with this woman. Two awkward people together did an awkward pair make.

Still, he managed to upright himself and look her in the eyes. The man wanted to be a Blade. Something so simple as meeting a new person couldn't afford to unnerve him. And really, Edin did have the backbone for the Blades when it came right down to it. And he'd be a fearless fighter – those with nothing to lose are quick to give one hundred percent. And sadly, Edin had very little left to lose. Since the loss of his family and parents, he had nothing to go home to, either. The Blades were really Edin's last chance at anything even remotely resembling family and he was holding fast to the concept. Truly, it was Edin's last chance at having any semblance of friends or family. The friends that he'd kept before were still there for him, absolutely. But the problem was that he'd been acquainted with them when he was married. He was now unable to disconnect them from thoughts of his wife.

That was a thought that he pushed out of his head instantly. Right now, that didn't belong there. Right now, it was time to focus on the task at hand. Specifically, Elmira, her territorial animals, and the Blades. “Oh good,” he said, regarding her confirmation of being Elmira. “I wasn't expecting... I mean... Uhm... I was expecting someone different. But good! I'm glad I found you!” Yeah, that was real slick, there. Way to be inconspicuous. Way to be normal and not completely awkward. It was now officially time to change the subject. Problem was, it took Edin a moment to figure out what to change it to after offering verbal confirmation that he was, in fact, Edin Proud-Sky. “Yes, that's me. I got your letter. I mean, obviously I did if I made it here on the right day even though I was practically late for which I'm sorry and I overslept my nap and...” And you were sounding like an idiot. “I'm glad I found you.”