The pay from that battle had not seemed impressive.  It wasn't that uncommon for people to be cheated and it seemed that this happened to Ashav as well.  Utu-ja had been quiet and nearby during the exchange of coins and he had witnessed the end of the contract.  It soured his stomach.  

To soothe that suddenly petulent organ, and salve the possible diminishing of his budget, the quiet argonian had resumed hunting when the company stopped at Rorikstead.  There wasn't much real game around with so many hungry people in one place but there were plenty of less pleasant beasts to pick off.  During their one night in Rorikstead he had slipped away, only returning near dawn to pack up and keep up with the company.  He hadn't come back empty handed.  There were several more clean wolf hides in the company's supplies than there had been at dusk.  True to form, he had added his little bit extra to the pot.

It wasn't that he was generous and his current status with the company leadership was solid enough that he was far from insecure.  Rather, the overhead of running the company cut into the profits and the profits added to the odds of any bonuses.  Since he couldn't manage to get a good price for what his hunting skills provided from a merchant it was better to help the company save money.  And the prospect of a bonus was one thing that pulled a long, slow smile out of his usual blank expression.

Every so often he would bring in something good.  Something that could tip the scales in a tight spot.  Something that might actually be good enough to earn an on-the-spot bonus.  He had lucked out this time.  It wasn't a big score, and he might not get that bonus, but he felt good about it.  It was the kind of score that could make the difference in a pinch.  He had spotted a sleeping hawk and made sure that it never woke up.  That bundle of feathers would make for a solid dozen healing potions once he had a chance to go gather the other ingredients he needed.  He intended to make the potions himself since he had the skill.  He just needed to find an alchemist's shop so that he could borrow their equipment.  That would have to wait till they reached the city so he stored them away in one of his oiled pouches.

Unfortunately, aside from catching those wolves by surprise while they were stalking a fox, the rest of the hunt got worse and worse until it ended on a sour note that made Utu hesitate to go immediately to Edith as he usually did.  This particular haul had cost him seven good steel arrows.  He had a terrible case of sore feet as well, one was even swollen.  It wasn't a total debacle but he wasn't really expecting to stumble on three frostbite spiders.  He also hadn't expected to have to cover so much ground while running away.  He had barely managed to stay ahead of them long enough to bring them down and it was luck alone that brought the chase to an end before they came into sight of the town.  It was also luck that he had survived, not that he would willingly admit that to anyone else.  His foot was swollen because the last spider that fell landed on it when it died.  Those things were heavy.

It was insult to injury that the three of them only had four vials worth of venom.  That was barely enough to match the loss of the arrows that had been broken after striking the beasts, nevermind the trouble of having to backtrack for the wolf hides that he had dropped when he spotted the spiders.  The spider bodies were close enough to town that someone would find them within a day or two but nobody ran into those things often without looking for trouble so the town would probably be fine.  Rorikstead might double some watches for awhile once the bodies were found but with so many warriors gathered there really wasn't anything to worry about.  He hadn't seen any sign of other spiders either so he decided not to mention it.

The real problem was trying to avoid having to explain his foot without sounding like an idiot.  Daelin was commanding a lot of his time on this trip.  Utu was learning from him but that kind of thing made it hard to hide the foot problem.  It would only take one potion and he could replace the one he had once they got to Windhelm, but in the end he just kept quiet and rode along like before in the hope that resting the foot would bring the swelling down without needing to use a potion.  At least the foot wasn't broken, he knew that much.

The brief time in Whiterun was sufficient for him to slip away and do some gathering.  His swollen foot slowed him down more than he thought it would and he barely made it back before nightfall.

Utu proved to be right, the swelling did go down by the time they got across the bridge into Windhelm.  As for whether or not Daelin had noticed his foot, there was no way to tell since the man hadn't said or done anything about it.  Thankfully, there wasn't all that much for him to do after they arrived.  Ashav set about recruiting replacements and Edith had been to distracted by her injury to worry about doing inventory so far.

The wolf hides had gone unnoticed for now, much like his less than perfect hunting trip.  Maybe it would be better if he just kept his extra efforts quiet.  There were still potions to brew though.  He couldn't stomach the thought of letting a good dozen hawk feathers go to waste.  He obtained directions to an alchemist's shop from a passerby and spent a little coin for a room at the inn.  He got a very small room in the attic space with a cot and some straw on the floor.  It was about what he expected and it would do.  He just didn't like leaving his things in that warehouse and there was too much risk of being robbed if he carried everything around with him.  So, he left most of his belongings in the room.  All he brought with him were his dagger, a few septims for more arrows, and the thigh pouch that had the feathers in it.  

He neither hid nor advertised his passing to anyone as he came down from his room and passed through the common room of the Candlehearth.  It wasn't like anyone was likely to actually miss him if he made himself scarce for the day.  It didn't occur to him that he would probably look odd with so little gear.  Looking the way he did with his stooped posture and a tail that vaguely resembled that of a tadpole, he would have stood out in Blackmarsh, nevermind having only one thigh pouch and a dagger beside his leathers in a strange city in Skyrim.  He spotted a few people he recognized but they all seemed busy and he did have business to take care of so he offered no greeting that might distract them.  

But, Utu had heard about how the main battle had gone from those who chatted along the trip.  Sagax was one he knew who had done well enough.  It seemed that he was in good, strong company as well.  Though the argonian only knew Sagax personally, he knew Sevine by sight from their time in camp and Rose by the small tales he had heard of her.  The Bosmer woman and the tall human were both unfamiliar but they both seemed strong.  Although, the human man seemed eager to have his face rebuilt from how he flirted with such strong ladies.  He might have stopped by for a moment but the scene turned too serious for him to want to interfere.  Instead, he passed by without more than a glance around the table and headed downstairs toward the line of recruits and the door.