0340AM NW Time - First Summer Rise - Twenty sixth Day - 0789 - Infirmi Kingdom - Infirmi Forest

Because of Colton’s decision to use his sword, he had gotten him, Dow, and Octavius arrested and sentenced to hang. But, thanks to Dow’s skill as a thief, he was able to help Coltone and Octavius escape the prison as well as grab all the gear they had on them, and now all three were on the run.

“Can we just please stop now…! We’ve been running for days…” Dow complained.

“I have to agree with Dow, Coltone. We didn’t even grab our magihorses, and we left all of our crucial supplies on them!” Octavius, just like Dow, complained.

“Oh, cmon, we’re almost where I wanna be. Plus, if you want to be captured by bounty hunters tracking us, please, go ahead.” Despite Octavius’s and Dow’s complaints, Coltone kept moving. Where is he going exactly? He’s heading to a village where he grew up, in hopes to not only stay there for a few days, but to also gain supplies for their long journey.

“Man, my stomach feels like It’s gonna tear itself apart… can we just eat some-” Before Dow could finish, Coltone covered his mouth with a hand. Coltone covered Dow’s mouth, and put a finger to his lips. Coltone dragged him behind a tree and Octavius followed. As the trio waited in silence, the noise of hooves from magihorses are getting closer. They all waited before a group of people on magihorses stopped where they just were.

“God damn it, these guys are some slippery fuckers,” One said.

“Yeah, it seems as if their tracks end here, let’s head back, for now, I doubt they’ll be able to survive out at this time,” Another said. The group went back where they came from, and the three emerged from their hiding spot.

“Jeez, how much farther is it until we reach your damn village,” Dow asked Coltone.

“Not much farther. In fact, I’m pretty sure there’s a shortcut to it nearby.” Coltone walked past the greenery of the forest, as Dow and Octavius followed behind him.

-----

After an hour of walking in the forest, the trio finally comes across a clearing on a hill overlooking a village.

“So, I guess this is our destination?” Dow asked.

“Yup, Pran Village, my home,” Coltone said, turning around to find a way down to the village. After a few minutes, they managed to walk into the sleeping village. Eventually, Coltone walked to a house larger than the rest and knocked on the door. After knocking and waiting for a few seconds, the light from a lantern from inside shined through the window.

“What the hell… who’s knocking at this fucking hour of the day…” The voice of a middle aged man could be heard behind the door. The door then swung open, and a middle aged man holding a lantern in front of the trio’s face.

“H-huh…? Coltone? Is that you?” The middle aged man said.

“Heh, how are you doing, Uncle Lichter…?”

“Haha! You big fucking bastard!” Lichter said, putting down the lantern, and hugged Coltones. “You know I should be mad you never bothered to visit for the last 5 years, but at least you decided to come!”

“Uh… nice to see you too, Mr. Lux,” Octavius said.

“Oh! Octavius, still a fat bastard as always,” Lichter said, before looking at Dow. “Oh, a Beast-Kin? Well, what’s your name, mate?” Lichter said, shaking Dow’s hand.

“N-names Dow.”

“Dow, huh. Well, come on in, I’m sure you boys must be hungry since I can clearly see you have no equipment or supplies on you,” Lichter said, inviting them in. “Alright, uh, Dow, and Octavius, there should be a supply shack behind the house, would you two mind going back there to get some rabbit meat to make you lot something to eat.”

“Aw, do we really gotta-” Dow said, before being grabbed by the back of the collar from Octavius. “Cmon, you furry bastard, you are helping,” Octavius said, dragging Dow to the back.

“Cmon, Coltone, sit for a bit, I want to talk to you a bit,” Lichter said, grabbing some alcohol from a shelf.

“Well, what do you want to talk about, Uncle?” Coltone said, before sitting down at a table.

“It’s just, I didn’t expect that you out of all people would be traveling with a Beast-Kin, given your past with them… Do you ever miss your home…?”

Coltone stayed silent, his uncle was talking about a tragic memory of his life. The moment where a rogue Beast-Kin group raided and burnt his village to the ground.

“I-I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have brought that memory back to the surface…”

“Don’t apologize. I don’t necessarily like Dow, but I will trust him for the time being. But, I am not afraid to kill him if I feel if It’s necessary.”

“I see… I at least hope you understand the differences between those from back then, and the Beast-Kin of now.” The two sit in silence, taking occasional sips of alcohol, before Dow and Octavius come back with the meat.

“Perfect, you boys get comfortable, It’ll take a bit for me to cook these for ya,” Lichter said, taking the meat from Dow and Octavius. As Dow and Octavius sat at the table, Octavius noticed an uneasy feeling emanating from Coltone, but Dow didn’t seem to notice. Octavius then decided to try and ease the tension with some small talk.

“So, Coltone, do you know where your Aunt is perchance?” Octavius asked Coltone.

“Auntie died a year ago,”

“Ah, I see…” Now that Octavius had ruined the mood even further, the three simply waited until Lichter came back with food. After a quick meal, Lichter let the trio stay for the night. The trio agreed, and after a while, they all head to bed

-----

As Dow attempted to sleep, he could feel his body forcing him to stay awake.

“Shit, I need to take a piss…” Dow whispered to himself. Dow slowly got up, scratching his chest through the thin tank top he’s wearing. As he walked through the dark hallway as his eyes adapted to the darkness.

“Shit, I don’t even know where the bathroom is… guess I’ll just walk around till I find it.”

As he slowly walked, he bumped into a nightstand, nearly tipping it over but keeping it balanced with his tail. As he set the nightstand back into place, he stared at it for a while.

“I’m sure no one’s gonna see me do this…” Dow said, before opening the drawer. Once he opened it, he found a simple letter on a crude piece of paper, despite it being too dark, he used magic to summon a small flame from his hand, and it gave barely enough light to read it. Dow then began to read the letter in his head.

“Dear Uncle Lichter. It has been some time since we have seen each other, and have sent a letter. But, I hope that you forgive me, and I wish that you are well. I have also received your letter of the passing of Auntie Eveline, and I hope that you continue to live a fruitful life. Also, I had seen what you had written in the last letter you sent me, and I ask that we not talk about the incident 14 years ago. Those memories of those barbaric Beast-Kin still give me nightmares, and I remembered promising you I’d slay every single one of them when I was younger. But, I shouldn’t continue talking about this, but I wonder how the village is going? Is it difficult to run a small village? I’m running out of space here, so I shall go.

First Spring Rise - Eighth Day - 0788 - Signed, Coltone Wagner.”

As Dow read the letter, not paying attention to his surrounding, a sudden hand grabbed his shoulder, and he pushed the person back and nearly yelled.

“Hey, shut your mouth! You’re gonna wake up Octavius and my Uncle!” Coltone whispered, as he shut Dow’s mouth with the palm of his hand. As Coltone shut Dow up, he noticed the paper in Dow’s hand, he grabbed it from his hand. Coltone briefly looked at the paper, before looking back to Dow.

“How much did you read?” Coltone asked, in a semi-threatening voice.

“Uh, enough..” Dow said. Coltone stared blankly at Dow, before simply turning back to his room. Dow stood there for a minute, before going back to his room too.

-----

The next day, the trio walk into the forest again, to fulfill a request Lichter had asked them to do.

“So, Cotlone, what did your uncle want us to do anyway?” Octavius asked.

“Uncle said that some of their supplies have gone missing. Food, tools, hell, even some of the livestock have been found missing. Uncle said that a while back a father and son had seen a strange person, the father attempted to confront him, but was knocked out,” Coltone said.

“So this strange person’s been stealing everything they can from the village? Do we even have an idea where they might be?” Octavius asked again.

“They found some footsteps last week, said it went in the direction of a cave, but they never bothered to try and enter it to confront the person.”

“Why didn’t they just go inside and get rid of him themselves?” Dow asked, but Coltone ignored him, before Octavius responded to him.

“They probably didn’t want to risk losing the men of the village. If more men die to just kill one person, it’ll weaken the ability the village has to defend itself and gather things like meat.”

“Well, I guess that makes sense, but do we really gotta do this for them?”

“It’s the most we can do after Lichter had let us stay for the night,” Octavius said. As the trio walked, Coltone stopped them after spotting an arrow carved into a tree pointing to the right.

“Uncle said something about those who found the cave had carved an arrow into a tree to remember where it is. Let’s go,” Cotlone said, going in the direction of the arrow, as Dow and Octavius followed closely behind. As the trio went in the direction of the arrow, they hid behind bushes and trees as they came across a cave, with multiple decorations outside, possibly to keep people away.

“This looks like the place…” Coltone whispered.

“Sure looks like it… shit, someone’s coming out…” Octavius said. Then, a man holding a sword, and a strange yellow suit tied around his waist. The shirt the man wore was worn down and had cuts all around it, the strange yellow leggings he wore seemed as if they came from the yellow suit tied around his waist. His face was Sputnik Aeons, with cuts and bruises around his body. The man looked around for a second before saying something in a language they didn’t recognize, before walking off into the woods.

“Looks like our guy… seems like he made quite the collection…” Coltone said. After a bit more of waiting, the trio walked into the cave site, examining the place. As they looked around, Dow walked into the dimly lit cave, as Coltone and Octavius stayed outside. As Dow looked around, he found a strange rectangular object, feeling it for a second, he found it strangely smooth. What was on it though he didn’t understand, words he didn’t understand, a strange emblem of an eagle holding an olive branch in one claw, and arrows in the other. He also saw a strangely realistic painting on it of the man he saw earlier, possibly him from some time ago. As well, he saw something else that caught his eye, what he believed to be a flag. 13 horizontal red and white stripes, and he counted to be 50 stars on a blue banner on the top left. While he may not recognize it, he figured a country like that exists out there since he doesn’t know everything about the world.

“Hey! Dow! You find anything interesting?” Octavius said, shouting into the cave.

“Nah, at least I don’t think,” Dow said. Coltone and Octavius walked into the cave, only finding equipment from the village which were heavily used. As they continued to look around, a sudden explosion brought their attention back inside. Once outside, they could all see smoke rising in the air.

“I-isn’t that in the direction of the village?!” Dow said. Coltone immediately began running in the direction, and Dow and Coltone quickly tried to keep up. Dow and Octavius quickly followed behind Coltone as they ran back to the village, and the pillar of smoke continued to rise. As they got closer, they could hear the hooves of magihorses, and as they got to a clearing, they saw the village up in flames, as they saw bounty hunters on magihorses, cutting down any survivors.