It's the middle of the day, the air is cold and the wind is calm. A white rabbit can be seen eating a bit of grass, its small and fluffy. The rabbit looks up as it hears something, but before it can run it's shot on its neck. The rabbit falls dead, an arrow has pierced its neck.
"Darn!" Ashly says "At this rate I won't have anything to eat. Lucas why can't you shot them, didn't you say you hunted before?"
Lucas is right behind Ashly "Of course, I used to hunt a lot when I was a little kid. I still do sometimes but it's not like before…" Lucas grabs the rabbit and puts it on a brown sack. Lucas is wearing a red scarf and a fur hat, his ears are red as well as his nose
"Cant belive I have to result to hunting like an animal" Ashly says as she drops her bow, Ashly is cold. "Can't belive that today is the warmest it has been this week." Ashly is wearing a coat and an old blanket. Ashly's face is red and she can't feel her nose at all "My hands, I can't feel them"
"Well why don't you wear my gloves? My hands aren't too cold" Lucas takes his gloves off and hands them to her. She puts them on quickly
"Lucas don't you have more fur hats or coats?" Ashly asked
"No, they were all sold." Lucas says "I can buy you them if you want. I have a bit of money on me" Lucas and Ashly begin to walk through the snow. They are near a small forest, they had only killed a single rabbit. Lucas takes his hat off and puts it on Ashly's head, Lucas smiles as it fits her perfectly
"There's a town nearby, we can wait out the cold for a bit" Ashly says as they get on a horse Ashly borrowed. The horse starts galloping "Wait you said you had money for clothes right?" Ashly asked Lucas
"Well of course I do, whenever I leave I always carry enough money for a whole day. That doesn't includes the can of food I bring with me" Lucas says and Ashly stops the horse in its tracks "Why did you stop?" He asked
"Your telling me that you had enough money the entire time! Why didn't you tell me this, I only went hunting because I had no money!" Ashly yells at Lucas "I'm freezing out here, I'm cold, my hands feel numb, and you're telling me we could've just used your money" Ashly stares daggers into Lucas face
"I'm sorry Ashly" Lucas tries to apologize "I just wanted to be with you and explore. You know not being in any form of danger at all" Lucas sees how Angry Ashly is an lifts his arms as Ashly starts punching him "Stop Ashly" he says "I'm sorry alright" Ashly continues to hit his arms
"My hands are too cold for this" Ashly stops hitting him "You're very dumb sometimes" Ashly says, Lucas lowers his arms and apologizes once more "Let's get going, I want to eat" the horse begins to move again
"Hey Ashly?" Lucas asked "Why don't you stay with me? You won't need to do all of this if you live with me" Ashly stays silent "Come on, it wont be any hassle, I promise"
"You know I can't, I don't even have an ID card nor enough money" Ashly says "Won't it take a long time even if they do let me in? Like won't I need to get documentations and stuff?" Ashly keeps on "I don't even know if I would get used to this "Normal" life that you live"
"Don't worry Ashly, the government is prepared for ocations like these." Lucas says "There are many towns and villages that are documented as abandoned. There are also those that aren't recognized yet or aren't know by them. Ashly all you have to do is fake that you belong to one of those towns."
"Won't that be difficult as I don't know any of the towns names other that the one I'm currently in?" Ashly says "Won't they also try to investigate my background?" Ashly says and Lucas begins to think.
"I have a map, we can spend the rest of the day or longer if you don't have anything to do." Lucas says "After all lately you haven't been told to do any work right?" Lucas asked as they continue to travel "Up ahead Ashly, just a few more minutes and we will arrive at a small stop."
"I don't know when they will give me more work Lucas. They just hurdle it at me and I just have to catch it without any complains" Ashly says "I appreciate what you're doing for me but I can't. It's to much and I'm not educated enough, I never went to school." This shocks Lucas a bit "I was only taught by these drunkards basic things and that's it. I'm as dumb as a brick Lucas"
"It's alright Ashly, I can do all the work. Let me help you, I can let you borrow books and tutor you" Lucas says as they see in the distance a small town.
"Lucas listen, even if all of this stuff works out perfectly which it won't." Ashly says "The gang Lucas, I can't just run away from them. They will hunt me down and kill me, they worship loyalty like a cult. The boss fears having the gang be noticed" Ashly says but she feels something, a feeling she doesn't know how to describe
"Sorry Ashly, I just get worried a lot. I get anxious when you tell me all of these bad experiences. I don't want you to live like this, having to do all these horrible things just to eat one meal" Lucas says but Ashly ignores him
Ashly and Lucas stay quiet for a bit as they arrive at the town. Lucas and Ashly get off the horse and hold it by its leash. "Ashly, I plan to go to Ethneal very soon. I'm just wondering if you want to tag along"
"Ethneal?" Ashly asked "Why would to go there?"
"Well Ashly it's just that the man who currently owns my parents land lives there. I have saved up enough money to buy a portion of the land." Lucas says "I just want to know exactly how much of the portion I can get. I'm hoping it's more than enough for me to start searching for my parents"
Ashly thinks for a movement and says "Sure" Ashly turns to look at Lucas "I don't have anything and if this goes on I'll tag along. Ashly gives Lucas his hat back. Lucas grabs a few metal coins and Ashly grabs them "With this amount I might have enough for a meal that's not in a can" Ashly says
In the distance two men are eating pork, one of them is tall and is missing his left eye. The other man is much fatter, he has blond hair and has a few missing teeth. "Karter" the fat man says "Why are we here again? I wasn't informed in anything"
"Well Nolan, what I know is that we are just here to overlook the area. To make sure no pesky rival is near" Karter says "You know darn well how incompetent those bastards like to ruin everything. We can't have that going around here, if one of them makes a scene here." Karter says as he raises his voice "The government will get their attention and will start investigating. This town is not near our base but we can't risk them getting closer than they already are"
Karter and the other man spot Ashly and Lucas walking. Ashly notices them staring and darts away and whispers "Lucas bad news" Lucas seems confused at what she says "Listen, those men are from the Lurkers, they are a rival gang of The Iron Deadlocks. If they find out who I'm a part of they won't hesitate to kill you and me"
"Alright Ashly I'll be cautious" they continue to walk and pass the men. "How do you know they are Lurkers?" Lucas whispers to Ashly, they walk to a nearby shop
"Listen Lucas, the Lurkers are known for their long hair. Their hair are greasy and they usually never shave" Ashly says
They enter the shop and wait for a while "So we pretend we are buying stuff right?" Lucas asked and Ashly nods as she quickly checks if they were followed. They go and buy a fur hat "This one Ashly, it's made from the fur of a bear it's very warm" Lucas says as he hands her the hat. He also goes and buys more ammunition "Do these people look for trouble? Like are they actively or not"
"Don't worry Lucas, they are stupid yes." Ashly says "But what's great for us is that they are in a hassle. The government is searching for evil organizations or what ever they call it. They can't afford to make a scene in this town, especially when it's close to Iriage"
"Yeah that makes sense" Lucas says as they buy the hat and ammunition. They wait out a bit and then leave the shop. They walk a different path, Ashly makes Lucas not turn around to alert suspicion. They get near the horse, but are then approached by the men.
Karter walks up to Lucas and asks "Hey there, I'm Karter. My partner here is Nolan, we are curious of this young lady" Karter then points at Ashly "Don't worry it's nothing bad of course, but do you mind if ask exactly who are you?"
"Well my name is Diana, and I don't like when strangers approach me" Ashly lies and Lucas nods "This man is a hunter, and I'm his cousin" Ashly then raises her hand, and hands them the sack with the dead rabbit in it
"Well look at that, you sir are terrible if that's all you got. You seem to be too cold for this to not have taken you an hour." Nolan says
"Yeah I'm a novice you see, my father is a hunter and I want to follow in his footsteps" Lucas says as Karter grabs the sack, "This is my first hunt alone, well without help atleast"
"Hold it!" Karter says "Why did you bring your cousin with you? She looks very similar to a description I heard. Maybe just maybe" Karter and Nolan surround Ashly "Yep, my suspicions were correct. Her appearance is similar to that of a woman who killed one of our partners"