The next morning arrives more quickly than expected for the hero’s party. They gather their items and head out to eat breakfast as usual. When they arrive, they see a small mountain of foodstuffs and camping supplies, a full table of food, and the Other dressed in thick furs and sunglasses.

“Good morning!” says the Other. “We would have packed this all into a bag for you but wasn’t sure who was in charge of what normally. Also, I wanted to personally hand you these.”

The Other walks to each of them and hands them a dull blue round stone. “These will help you find the Southern Transfer Ballistas. I’ll show you how they work though so there’s no confusion. Go ahead and eat, I’ll meet you outside.”

With that the Other and a golem walk off down one of the corridors while the hero’s team and Margarette eat and converse over a meal for the last time. Afterwards they load most of the supplies into Rory and Ernest’s magic bags they obtained from the armory. After they finish packing, Sebastian hands each of them an ankle length grey robe and explains there are two enchantments that can be run with either mana or magic stones - one for water-proofing and one to extend the effects of the satansheep wool to the wearer’s hands, feet, and better retention within the hood.

The party walks down the same corridor the Other used earlier and say their final goodbyes to Margarette. They opened a thick door to a small entryway, and were assured that as soon as the door closed they would be able to open the other door. As soon as the outer door was open a crack they could hear wind howling from beyond it. Once the door was completely open, they found themselves in a short corridor made of black stones with the Other standing at the far end.

“Ah, glad you’ve made it, we just finished checking the perimeter. Step right over here and we’ll be off.”

“This won’t do anything weird to us right?” asks Rory. “Add limbs, modify body parts, turn us into a different species, or the like?”

“What?” says the Other, blinking in confusion. “No, it’s just a transfer gate. Bah, a transfer gate that modifies people. Though that may be interesting to install in a dungeon somewhere to get you across a chasm, now that you mention it. Call it a transmogrifier on some runic slate and if you don’t set up the miscellaneous stones correctly it turns you into a beastkin for a day… That would be hilarious actually. I might even booby-trap it so there’s a chance it won’t work correctly and transform you anyway. Ooooh, I could also install just the modifier on the palace gates of that one speciest country with an Animosity Trigger so the greater their hate the longer it lasts… Eh, thoughts for later. Ready?”

They all step into the magic circle as Marvin glares at Rory and the blizzard rages around them. The Other motions and points at the center of the circle and adds a bit of mana while they watch. Suddenly, the black stone walls disappear and they are on the side of a snowy mountain with the wind still blowing around them.

The Other takes out a dull blue stone after getting their attention as they could hardly hear over the wind, and holds it in the center of the group while pouring mana into it. As they watch, one quadrant turns a brighter shade of blue, and the Other starts off in that direction leading the group. After about ten minutes of walking around the mountain, they come to a cliff on the leeward side and the Other pours in mana again. This time however, the bottom of the stone turns bright, so the group makes their way down the mountain and back towards the cliff-face.

“Oh would you look at that,” the Other says as they get close. “Bill’s here.”

The hero’s party look around each other to see ahead, only to see rocks covered in ice and snow. Marvin, suspicious as ever, continues to stare ahead to try and spot ‘Bill.’

“Who, or maybe what, is Bill?” Rachel asks.

“Bill is a recent acquaintance of mine. Spends time between here and the tropics, likes fish, uses water and ice magic. Ooop, there it is again.”

“That,” says Marvin, slowly, narrowing his eyes. “It’s a penguin? Right? Wearing sunglasses? With some sort of yellow eyelashes or ear-wings?”

“It gets pretty bright around here you know~? And those are feathers, but yes. It appears to have learned some minor manipulation magic sometime because it can take them off and use tools to some degree. First penguin I’ve ever seen that could use tools. Bill’s pretty good with water and ice magic, though as a penguin I can’t say I’m surprised.”

The party continues forward until the Other squats down to give the penguin a greeting, which the penguin returns with a strange call and slapping his outstretched palm. It continues to chatter for a moment and makes some more noise and motions.

“I see,” says the Other. “So you want to go with them?”

At this the penguin makes another strange call while lifting its head up towards the sky.

“It’s your choice really, but they also need to decide. So what does the hero and his party think?”

Marvin shares a look with the group, and Rachel is the first one to speak up.

“Um, I think that would be fine? Besides, it is oddly cute for a penguin so I wouldn’t mind having it along?”

“There you go Bill, the vote that counts the most. Alright, let’s go,” the Other says while flaring his furs and walking towards the cliff as if the matter is settled. “Since it’s easier to talk here in the lee of the wind, any questions about the gates before you leave? You should have enough magic stones to power your cloaks in order to get out of the snow. It should only be three or four gates then you’re out of the worse of it. If you have any questions feel free to ask Bill.”

The penguin now known to the party as Bill calls out to the Other in a harsh tone. (White text) “Why are you calling me Bill!”

A short walk, and long hop and waddle later they arrive at the next magic circle. The Other sits on a rock well outside of it and asks if they have the stones before leaving, which makes Marvin paranoid so he checks twice. Marvin gives Rory the go-ahead after checking, so Rory pours mana into the circle and with a flash they’re gone.

The Other nods his head and approaches the cliff and pours mana into an obscure portion of it. A huge area surrounding him begins to rotate and makes a full revolution into the cliff and back. As it settles into place, a not-so-subtle rumble goes through the area as loose stones and snow settle back into place.

- - - - -

Several hours and transfer gates later, the hero’s party arrives at a wind-swept but snow-less beach.

“Three or four gates my-“ mutters Ernest, shaking his head.

“Well at least it’s the same day,” says Rory. “Barely is seems, but the same day.”

Bill the penguin looks around and calls out. It begins waddling down the beach in one direction.

“I’ll follow the penguin,” says Rachel, taking off her hood. “We’ll be right back I’m sure.”

“Sounds good,” Marvin says, “We will set up just inside the tree line and explore a bit to make sure there aren’t any surprises.”

With that the party separates for a brief time. Marvin takes out a machete from his old supplies to clear the animal trail they found. After walking for about two minutes they find a slightly raised area that appears mostly clear, with evidence of human habitation, though at least a year had passed since the last time the clearing was used. Marvin and Ernest check the surroundings while Rory checks for anything magical. Finding nothing, they begin to clean up the area and set up their camp.

Roughly an hour passes when they hear a pair of footsteps walking down the trail. As a precaution, Marvin waves Ernest and Rory off to one side just out of sight of the trail. Rachel is the first to be seen, so Marvin relaxes his grip on his sword.

“Welcome back,” he says before tightening his grip again. “And who is this?”

Ernest and Rory stir a bit but resist the urge to peer around their trees since Marvin hasn’t given them a signal.

Rachel sighs and says, “This is Autumn. The penguin. But not. It’s, a long story. The short of it though is she was cursed and ended up that way.”

Marvin sighs and calls out to Rory and Ernest. What is waiting for them is Rachel sitting on a rock with her chin in her hand, and Marvin staring at a girl about the same height as Rachel, with the most notable difference being long pointed ears and a pony-tail reaching down to her knees. She is wearing some well worn but clean, forest-green clothes, leather moccasins, a leather vest, and with her sunglasses hanging from the left breast pocket.

“Autumn, of the Lost Woods,” she says, looking down and speaking very quietly. “Happy to answer questions, just. Tomorrow. Need, want. Sleep.”

Marvin looks around at the others briefly then says, “Hammock? Or tent?” while pointing towards his hammock and Rachel’s tent.”

Autumn’s eyes widen ever so slightly before looking between the two options. After a moment she walks over to the tent and opens it up to look inside. Standing up again, she points to the tent which causes Rachel to nod and stand up. Walking over she loosens her boots to take them off and grabs her bag and the girl’s hand, pulling them inside the tent.

Ernest and the other two stand side by side looking at the tent where Rachel is setting up for the night.

“The elves of the Lost Woods, that sounds familiar but I can’t place it,” Ernest says.

“Neither can I,” says Marvin.

“I have but only the woods, and not even where they are. Many strange trees are supposed to grow there,” Rory fills in. “Every few decades though, there would be a rumor among the mages about an apprentice to a royal court magician being handed a canteen of holy water from the Church of Light and a seed while being told, ‘Don’t get lost in the woods’ as they were leaving.”

Marvin shakes his head yet again and starts working on the fire pit, cleaning out old ash and piling up rocks to make a wind break. Ernest focuses mana on the blade edge of his spear and cuts through the dry branches of the surrounding trees and brings them back. Once a small pile accumulates and Marvin stacks some in the fire pit, Rory takes his wand-staff and mutters a short phrase to light the pile on fire.

Rachel makes it back outside of her tent and closes the flap. She walks over to the rock she claimed earlier near the fire pit and opens the front of her cloak and stretches out. She finishes her stretch and takes off her sunglasses, placing them on top of her head.

“So how long did you know that was a cursed penguin, or elf as it were?” asks Rory.

“I had a feeling as soon as I saw her,” she says, hoping they don’t question her further. “And having spent the last few days in that lair I started acting on my suspicions and went with the flow. She led me to a shallow cave with her equipment frozen in ice and froze the words, ‘Break Curse’ on the wall. As soon as I did she clung to me and started sobbing. We got her dressed and walked back, though it took her a while to get used to having knees again. I think I got most of the story on the way back, but like her knees she was having trouble speaking.”

“Notice anything else?” Marvin asks.

“Nothing concrete until she gets around to talking. I heard things about a forest dungeon or ruin and a whole bunch of rambling about life as a penguin and meeting him but I can’t say it was in any sort of order. One thing I’m definitely not sure of is how long she was cursed. She’s an elf but was turned into a penguin, but does that change how long she could live? I’m not sure, but given her reaction, it’s been a few years at least. She froze her equipment with cursed ice so it faded and aged a bit but not nearly as much as they would have otherwise.”

“Sounds rough,” says Ernest, pulling a pot out of his bag. “Let’s do soup. I may have been warm most of the time but the wind caught my hood a few times and I still feel cold.”

“Fine by me,” says Rory while magic-ing up some water. “I’ll grab the ingredients.”

With that the hero’s party winds down and eats for the night before turning in.

- - - - -

In the middle of the night, Rachel is woken up by the sudden contact of Autumn rolling over and hugging her in her sleep. She lightly tries to pry apart Autumn’s arms then gives up as the girl’s arms are holding tight and she’s breathing fast. With a sigh she relaxes and pats the girl’s back, pulling the covers back to her shoulders and falling asleep.