In the forest, the sounds of horses could be heard in the distance. The two horse-drawn carriages, and the cloaked figures walking beside them progressed through the woods. On a trail separate from where Marcus and Radley were, the mysterious group continued along and made its way toward the town. Going at a steady speed, soon the group had passed the area where Marcus and Radley were, continuing into the forest in the distance. The horses, cloaked figures and the young woman could all be seen from where Marcus and Radley were. For a moment, one of the cloaked figures paused. He looked in the general direction of the campsite.

“Let us hope that they are few then, or that it will at least be enough to stall them if it will not satiate their appetite,” Radley said, as one rabbit would not go far between a pack of wolves, though he smiled to himself and nodded in approval of the idea. Any time they could buy themselves would be vital, and perhaps an easy meal, regardless of size, would dissuade them from pursuing the much more deadly prey of Marcus and Radley, prey who could fight back with greater lethality. Placing the pelts carefully in his pack, Radley swung it onto his back, leaning against his staff idly as Marcus kicked out the fire. This stranger’s acts of kindness would not go unrewarded; Radley would make sure of it, and he had a debt to Marcus now, not matter how small, and Radley would repay him when he saw the opportunity, in accordance to the tacit code of those who wander the road. Hospitality was as valuable as gold on the road, as both made journeys easier by tenfold. “To the joy of festivities then,” Radley toasted; he too hoped to see what the festival held. He had overheard the conversations of merchants and anglers in Bjorfrost of what he might expect: culinary delights, performers that could swallow fire and swords, exhibition duelling from the finest swordsmen in the South and beyond, and even an open tournament in which all could partake. “We should try and reach the main road before dark,” Radley stated, “The light of the lanterns will shield us from much of the night’s hardships, and other travellers may be arriving late also. It will be the safest place.” He began walking through the tree-line, leaving the clearing behind, lifting his staff every second step to match his pace. “Tell me Marcus, from where have you come?”

Sotaru looked around at everything happening in town. It seemed like he had got here just in time. He would probably buy all of his supplies soon before the shops ran out of stock. He hadn't been planning on entering the sword competition, but it didn't seem like many people were signing up, so he thought he actually had a chance at winning. He looked at the small group of people nearby that he had been talking with, noticing a few more people showing up. When he saw someone carrying a huge amount of boxes, he looked surprised and a sweatdrop formed on the side of his face. Staggering backwards a few steps, he eventually tried to catch as many of the containers as he could, but was only able to get a few. Although he didn't know any of these people, they all seemed interesting for some reason. "Do you all know each other? I need to go buy some supplies, but hopefully I can meet with you all again a bit later." He noticed a boy that was nearby as well. He wasn't sure if the boy was lost or not, but decided he would see if he could help him after signing up for the competition. Sotaru smiled at them all and waved, before walking over to the stage nearby. In the meantime, the mysterious group that had been traveling through the forest made its way to the town. They slowly made their way into the large square and began to look around. Sotaru walked over to the signup area for the competition. The man at the table spoke to Sotaru and Barry. "Alright, the competition begins in half an hour. First prize is 100 gold coins. Second and third place will get smaller prizes. Meet back here in half an hour, and the competition will begin."

Marcus followed Radley through the trees heading in the direction of where the main road was located. "I am from a mountain range for the far north named by the surrounding villages as the Impassable Mountains. Within those mountains is a clan of ice users that created a village in one of the valleys hidden by large glacier sheets that can only be opened by people that control the will of ice itself. It is even difficult for mages specialized in ice to enter the village as they do not have a connection to the ice like my clan does." He explained to the traveling monk as they broke out on the the main road and started on their way to Starter Town. "Where do you come from Radley? Do you come from a monastery or from an actually village?" Marcus asked the man as he could tell that they were coming to the end of the forest. A smile twitched at the edge of his lips as he felt excitement that they were almost to the town that could be a lot of fun for him if the festivals lived up to his expectations. That was when he heard a snarl from the edge of the road and than a howl from a not so far off wolf causing Marcus to dig into his pack for the cooked rabbit ready to throw it if the wolves decided to come closer.

Radley nodded as they walked, the chill adding to the briskness of his step as much as his anxiousness to lay eyes upon the festival, and most of all, sleep on a soft bed; there were few luxuries greater than that after a long time spent travelling and sleeping hard, or not at all if the conditions forbade it. He noticed that his breath was starting to mist in front of him as the heat slowly bled away as night fell. He had not heard of the Impassable Mountains, though he supposed he had not travelled that far North, and on maps, he guessed that the range was likely given another name. More interestingly, though, was that his new acquaintance claimed to possess the ability to “control the will of the ice itself”. Truly fascinating, and Radley was eager for a demonstration, but he could wait until they reach Starter Town; it wasn’t as pressing as the danger that lurked around them. The snarl and howl stopped the words in Radley’s open mouth, and made him grip his staff tighter, ready for use. He noticed too his partner’s discomfort, how he had fetched the rabbit to be used as a diversion. There was a few moments of tense silence that seemed too drag on for far too long, as Radley listened intently, slowing his step slightly, waiting for any furthers signs. None came. Yet. Easing a little, and returning to his normal pace, Radley answered, “I was raised in a monastery.” He answered simply, at first, mulling over his next words, considering how much he needed to tell. “I was not born there though, I was,” saved from cardinal life of sin and treachery, “abandoned.” He coughed into his free hand as the beginnings of a cold began to manifest. “I’ve been travelling for about five years.” Saying it aloud was odd; five years, and he felt no closer to reaching his goal than when he started. He shook his head, dismissing his thoughts, and smiled ruefully. Then the smile was gone. “What was your home like? Your family?” Radley wished he knew his parent’s love, and wondered how one could abandon it for the road when they were already accepted and loved.

"Hah! You can't fool m-" If Amythest had been paying more attention, she might have noticed that the elf was not lying. However, she was quite distracted. She was certain that there was a liar, after all, and all these people were disrespecting her! On top of that, there was some kind of contest going on. Hah! That was the perfect opportunity to show her might! Plus, this caramel apple was ridiculously delicious, there was no way anyone was going to go distracting her from that. Unfortunately, this meant she had no idea what was happening behind her, at least until the shadow fell completely over her. Narrowing her eyes, she quickly spun on her heel. "Okay, who's the big lu..." Amythest stared blankly for a moment as the boxes teetered and then fell directly onto her. Boxes careened down and covered her, and all she could do was let out a yelp and cover her head. Indeed, in a few moments, the pink-haired girl had been entirely consumed by a vast pile of boxes. At least until her head popped out, sans hat. "What the hell?!"

A young man made his way through the forest. He had been fleeing from the wolves for almost half an hour. But there was something different about these wolves... he didn't have time to think about it. Stumbling into a clearing where Radley and Marcus were, the male tripped over a bush and fell onto the ground. Large growling noises could be heard coming from the nearby bushes and trees, and soon two large wolves (twice the size of normal ones) with purple-grey hides of fur, were lingering a moderate distance away from Marcus and Radley. The huge wolf creatures were looking at the man that had fallen down and began to pace back and forward, determining if they should dive on the man they had been following, or growl at the two new people they had found. Meanwhile, the male that had fallen to the ground was beginning to get to his feet. Seeing others nearby, he pulled two short swords from his belt and faced the two large creatures. "You two!" the male called out, with his back to Marcus and Radley. "Go on! Get out of here!" The first wolf creature bounded into the air and attacked the male with the two short swords.

Marcus wondered what could have kept him traveling for an entire five years, he himself had only left his house two years ago and was still content with just wandering around. He was about to answer Randey's question when a man broke through the trees into the area that they were standing followed shortly by two large wolves. The new man drew two swords and stood between the traveling pair and the wolves before telling them to run while he seemed like he wanted to hold them off. "I can't let you have all the fun now." Marcus said as he dropped into a low stance with both hands raised in front of him and fingers spread. Wire shot out of his left hand and wrapped around the man's waist and with a tug of his arm he pulled the man to their position and a second later released the wires before wires from all of fingers shot out to wrap around several trees in the area. In a matter of seconds there was a large web of glinting wire connected to his fingertips that separated the two large wolves and the three men from each other. "It's not always good to try and be a hero. You need to spread out the fun of a fight or you will never make friends." Marcus told the new guy with a smile as he assessed the situation before deciding to throw the rabbit through the web hoping that it would help delay the wolves for a few seconds.

The young man looked surprised, as he was pulled to safety. The large wolves growled, seeing the web that was stopping them from going forward. One of the wolves roared, before it jumped over the large web and started to attack the three of them. The male with the two swords ducked under a slash from the wolf's claws, before punching the wolf in the side. The wolf swung its paw in a sweep and hit the male in the chest, knocking him to the ground. The other large wolf-like creature on the other side of the web was beginning glow with energy, almost as if it was charging an attack.