[center][b]Ragnest and Tyron / I[/b][/center]

[i]The wind wound through the mountains, screeching at every crevasse, and flicking snow from the highest most peaks. This was the Vaolosian Mountain Pass just south of the border, and through it marched two men against the wind, heavy backpack bearing and exhausted in appearance.  These men were Ragnest Starkweather and Tryon Hearkdale, great friends and masters of one another, constantly sharing information and wisdom to the betterment of the other. They had been marching for little over two weeks now and had hitherto had green pastures and cloaked forests to walk through, not anymore.

The mountain pass was treacherous, with narrow paths skirting the edges of various mountains and long overburdened bridges connecting occasional points between two mountain edges so that they could continue on. There was little sun to guide their way, clouded largely by the mist of the mountains which had risen earlier that day, it was now late afternoon and both men had to find shelter fast or else suffer considerably in the biting cold.[/i]

Ragnest was sick of the crunching of snow under boot, he longed for green pastures and tavern stops once more where he could indulge and relax to sweet music and drink. But no, here he was, forced out of his own country for the protection of those he loved. Why is the world so unfair? 

Tyron was just behind him, also looking considerably gloomy for the losing of his personal library and the abandonment of an early relationship that was long in the making, but his duty to Ragnest who had made Tyron a great man was far more important. He remembered clearly what Yunri (his to-be wife) had told him, [i]Look after that Ragnest wont you, he has helped us all here and we owe that much to him. Look after yourself too, and don't get up to any mischief while you are gone![/i]. Tyron looked blankly into the snow as he remembered the look on Yunri's face, it was filled with dread and a false hope; she thought she was fooling Tryon, but he knew what she knew, that she may not be there when he got back. At this Tyron came close to shedding a tear but stopped himself just in time as Ragnest had turned around to check on him.

"Hey" Ragnest said calmly only to be duly reminded by the blank expression on Tyron's face that he was in a loud noisy wind, Tyron had not heard him. "Hey!". This time Tyron's face lit up a little, he always admired the empathy Ragnest could display. Everything about him was empathetic, the way he spoke calmly and reassuringly, his caring eyes and calm features. 

"Yes M'lord"

"Are you okay? I'm rather cold up in front but I wondered how you were faring back here!" Ragnest shouted, still struggling to be heard over the howling wind.

"I'm okay Ragnest, you know I will continue going until I fall alongside you". Tyron made himself slightly smaller, suddenly realising that maybe he was being slightly too dramatic, but he was in a dramatic environment.

"I hope not my old friend, I would rather you continued over me than die next to me! After all, you will have to keep Yunri's bed warm when you get back!" There was hope in his eyes as Ragnest said this, but Tyron could tell he was being wishful.

"Very well" Tyron responded with a slight grin. "If you would wish me to desert you in such un-forbidding circumstances to return to my lovely lady, I'm afraid you would be wishing loneliness on yourself, how I do wish to return to Yunri".

"Then why do you not, good friend" Ragnest countered with a cheerful jest in his voice; talking to his closest friend usually lifted his spirits.

"Because you can pay me some for this" mocked Tyron, followed by laughter between the two who had, since leaving home, gradually experienced a breakdown in all hierarchy of status since leaving. After all, if Tyron had said this while at home, such a statement could be punishable by death; not that Ragnest would, he understood the sanctity of life, but for other peasants and nobles for one lowly man such as Tyron to question a knight was a great crime.

"Never mind this, we must find some shelter" Tyron continued, quite lifted by his recent remark which gave him a new burst of confidence.

"Agreed, I think I saw a small cave only 5 minutes back, we shall camp there tonight until tomorrow." In saying this Tyron shot Ragnest a look as if to say, in jest, how dare you take the authority back so quickly? To this Ragnest shot a stale look back at Tyron, mocking him in jest as if to say, I'm still in charge 'wanker'.

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[i]The two men found the small cave hidden carefully in the rocks, shown only by a small gap big enough to crawl through. Inside it was rather roomy, tall enough for both men to sit up and long enough for them to lay completely outstretched. It was definitely cozy. They both lay there for a few minutes, looking curiously at the rocks and minerals exposed above them, after all they both shared the same course of academia, why not interests too?[/i]

"Feldspar, Mica, hmm, quartz, olivine maybe" remarked Tyron, trying hard to make out the minerals on the roof.

"Hmm, I don't know, it is far too dark to see anything, did you not teach me not to jump to conclusions?" Ragnest replied.

"Of course definitely, but alas, I said maybe."

A brief silence followed, interrupted once again by Tyron.

"So do you really believe we can just live off the land and found our own city, or is that just wishful thinking?".

"Of course I do, it is the only thing I have left, and I know you have a to-be wife but one day we could bring her to it if things don't get better at home. You could raise your children there without fear of slavery by a local lord, we could have a rich and bountiful life". Ragnest said this in a whisper, both because it was quiet, and also from a fear of his own idea, believing it to be of such importance that someone else might steal it.

"You are right. I too myself, do also believe we could do it Ragnest, I really do, I just sincerely hope we don't have to."

"I agree, but such is the way of the world" Replied Ragnest, a bitter sadness in his tone.