Malutiv had a choice to make, he could either travel through the mountains, through Riverwood or he could travel around the mountain and go into Whiterun from the north. While he washed blood off of his boots and blades in a pond, he grabbed for a whistle he kept in a compartment in his armor. He blew the whistle and waited a while for his messenger hawk Kry to fly to his shoulder. he grabbed the imperial papers and a note from him inside telling Ulfric that if he wanted to win this war, he would send his army to Whiterun quickly, before they had a chance to recover from the damage. He put the notes in his talons and whispered in some elvish woods to Kry. The hawk quickly darted to the skies, carrying one of the most important papers he would ever send. Malutiv gave his daggers a few good tosses at a nearby tree, retrieved all his gear, and started heading north to go around the mountain to avoid the cold. He rode about 5 minutes and saw a blood train heading through the mountain pass and realized he was in trouble. Either a helpless animal was hunted down, or he hadn't completely checked all the bodies back at that imperial camp. He decided to follow the trail to the outskirts of Riverwood, but did not set foot in the city, for a wood elf is a rare sight in this part of Skyrim. He knew only one person would show him peace in the city and that was Faendal, a local wood elf and a good friend from back in their early years. Malutiv needed to get his attention, but his hawk was gone, and he was not in range to be heard from anybody. Faendal was chopping wood right next to the local mill and Malutiv saw his chance to contact him. He grabbed an arrow from his quiver with a compartment for a small note. Malutiv hated these arrows for they were unpredictable. He put a note that said, " Meet me a mile and a half north east in that cave you and i use to camp at after our hunts," inside the compartment and really took his time for this shot. He took a deep breath and with all his concentration shot the arrow at the copping block Faendal was using. The arrow flew silently towards Faendal and for a quick second Malutiv thought he was about to kill one of his only friends. The arrow missed its target. Instead Faendal got suddenly disarmed of his woodcutter's ax, after Malutiv's arrow struck the handle, almost taking off one of his fingers. This wasn't the first time Malutiv had done this to contact him, so he quickly retrieved the arrow from his ax. Faendal quickly grabbed his bow, and whatever other weapons he had with him and the city and went off into the mountains.
Malutiv was waiting in the cave, hidden from all site from the outside, for the entrance was covered from a nearby tree. Faendal pushed past the branches and found the little cave with Malutiv in it. Faendal brushed some dirt off his shoulder and said, "Good to see you old friend, must have been urgent for you to contact me like that again. You nearly killed me!"
"Forget that, I could be either in real danger here, or get lucky that my target died on his way to wherever his destination may be. I took out an imperial camp to the east of the great mountain, but I have reason to believe that one of my lucky targets escaped when i wasn't watching. Is there word of a Stormcloak assassin or rouge wood elf spreading through Riverwood?"
"Working for the Stormcloaks are you? Yes there has been a talk of both going through the town. I have been receiving a lot of hate from the people for a while, with them thinking i was some kind of murderer. An imperial walked through town, bloody and tired, but refused care or shelter. He was talking about needing to see some man down west. You must have ruffed up those imperials pretty bad, because he could have sworn somebody was following him."
"Stormcloaks are planning on taking Whiterun in a matter of days. Ulfric's first wave of his army will be here by tomorrow, meeting at a Stormcloak camp east of Whiterun. Lets wait there for them so you can be safe. I've already made documents that will keep yourself, and any family you have safe from Stormcloak raids in Riverwood."
"My wife has died from illness a couple months ago, and all i have is nothing that can't be rebuilt. Lets head to the camp now, while we still have an hour or two of daylight. This way you and I can both have a good bed, and protection for the night."
Malutiv walked with Faendal all the way to the camp where they got food, water, and shelter. Whiterun was under going the rebuilding of their walls, so there wasn't any plans to protect themselves from an attack from Whiterun. Malutiv warned the other Stormcloaks the watch the path they had walked to get there, in case someone went looking for Faendal. As he passed for his tent Malutiv told the guards, "Tomorrow will be a great step for the Stormcloaks, we will take the city with ease. Nobody can rebuild walls, and get more soldiers for the ones lost overnight."
