Cadence and Hugh played a simple version of rock paper scissors to determine which of them would be the first to walk, since Davin walked most of the previous day he would only need to take the last leg of the day unless he felt like he wanted to move around. Hugh lost two of the three games that they had agreed to, and he was to be the first to walk, and they would switch out somewhere before lunch. Davin felt a little lethargic, still feeling out of practice on long walks. He had yet to put on his boots, opting to let them air out and hopefully give his feet a chance to heal while he relaxed in the wagon. His thoughts started to wander, wishing that he had a clipboard of some kind, opting to use the top of their trunk as a desk, he pulled out the paper that he'd gotten just before they'd left. Calling it paper was a bit of a misnomer, Davin believed that they called it parchment, which he had known of, but had never handled in his life, this one from a creature that he'd never heard of, but it was smooth and didn’t feel too different from paper. Drawing out a basic nine-by-nine grid, and placing a few numbers on it, Sudoku was always a nice way to relax, Davin knew that he still wasn’t the most confident in it as he could be, but he found it relaxing all the same. He started to fill in the blocks while he watched the scenery move along, the occasional cool breeze moved through, glad that they had gotten a few pieces of warmer gear since they were only a day or two from winter.
The weather in this world was still confusing to Davin, all four of the seasons moved in a slow revolution, similar to the hands on a clock, centralized on the bastion, but it was immune to the seasons that ticked by. When he had gone to Long Dock they were still on the threshold between spring and summer, he still wasn’t sure how the closeness to the bastion would change the seasons, since he had seen no immediate lingering signs of winter when he had gone to edges rest for the first time. Even being told that the seasons lasted eighty days didn't really sink in, that seemed oddly exact, but his world had figured out the length of the seasons, but the calendar here was still foreign to him he didn’t even know if there were names to the days of the weeks or the months.
"Hey Cadence, do the days of the week have names?" Davin asked the dozing bard in the cart next to him.
"Names?" The confusion was clear in their voice.
"Yeah, like in my world each of the days had a name," Davin stated.
"Hmm, in general, no, there are a few people that still use their worlds days, but only the ones that had a ten-day week." Cadence looked off into the distance while they were in thought.
"Why are the weeks ten days long?" Holding up all ten of his fingers.
"That one is easy, the seasons are incredibly regular, to the point that there is little to no variance. And the eighty days were easily split up so eight weeks of each season, ten days to each week. But no, there aren't names proper, most refer to the week of the season, so traveling long distances can become confusing, but usually it only matters in towns." Cadence shrugged, thinking about it.
"What about in the Bastion?" Davin asked remembering that the city's time flowed differently.
"Edges Rest is the first town that you can reach from the city, so it uses whatever season that it is currently experiencing."
"That makes sense to a certain extent." Marking his sudoku puzzle.
"What's that?" Cadence looked at the paper that Davin had been starting at.
"Hmm? This? It's just a puzzle."
"A puzzle?" Cadence leaned in looking at the puzzle. "What are those markings?" Pointing at Davin's numbers.
"Numbers, that’s how we wrote them where I'm from."
"What makes that a puzzle? You seem to be putting random numbers on a grid." They tapped on the parchment. "Is that charcoal?"
"Oh, there is a method to the madness, but yes, it was cheaper than a quill, and this one can be erased with a little effort." He patted the small lump of gum that sat next to him.
"How do you play this puzzle?" Leaning over the makeshift table.
"To start the symbols that I'm using are just numbers in my world's script, one through nine to be specific, and then there are a few rules to follow while writing them. First, there are nine squares." Davin traced his finger around each of the larger clusters of squares. "And to start each of these larger clusters can only have each of the nine numbers appear once, and then there are these lines." Davin showed the lines that made up the layout of the board. "And then each of these lines can only have one of each number in them."
"Hmm, I think that I get it… is there a simpler version that I can try with?"
"Oh! That is a perfect idea." With that, Davin pulled out another piece of parchment and drew a four-by-four grid. "This one uses the numbers one through four, and this still follows the same rules."
"And now I try to fill in the spaces with numbers to where each line and square set don’t have a number appear more than once in it?" Picking up a piece of charcoal.
The two worked in companionable silence, Cadence finished her first puzzle, and Davin made one with a few numbers in it. The new challenge changed the game for them entirely. They found the game simple enough, but it also kept them entertained for some time, Davin eventually wanted a little more stimulation and drew out a tic-tac-toe diagram, and after a quick explanation, they played till it was their turn to switch places with Hugh.
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"I have to spend this whole time walking and the two of you are playing games…" the hurt in his voice exaggerated.
"Well, it did give us something to do," Davin responded with a chuckle.
"Did you save some for me?" Hugh asked as he climbed into the wagon. "And can I get a snack? All that walking has made me hungry."
"Was this caravan going to have a lunch break?" Davin looked at Cadence as they pulled themselves up off the floor of the wagon.
"No, they eat on the road, so if we want to eat, we're limited to what can be done while we move." They explained while they swapped places with Hugh.
Davin shrugged, pulling out a few wrapped bundles and handing them to his friends. "This should help, wish we'd thought of this while we were making dinner, I'd have made some lunch boxes."
Hugh excitedly unwrapped the bundle that he was given, eyes going wide as the roasted beetles that he had talked about with Davin glinted in the light, Cadence's eyes going wide as they stared at the unopened bundle in their hands. "Uh, is this bugs too?" a look of horror on their face.
"Nope, yours is some nuts and berries that I dried out a few nights ago, Hugh's bugs are all his." Letting out a shiver of disgust.
They let out a breath as if they were holding it, unfolding the bundle to find a variety of dried fruits and roasted nuts. "I appreciate that, I can say that I didn't like them when I was offered them. I have to say that they are a very acquired taste, and I have no desire to acquire it." Opening the small bag and pulling out a few of the dried fruits.
After eating Davin felt mildly stir-crazy, so he hopped out of the wagon. "I'll take a turn walking, sitting for that long is going to drive me batty, and it will give me a chance to gather some supplies."
Cadence shrugged, "I will take my turn to nap, the weather won't hold up for much longer, and I do not look forward to it."
"Then I should make use of one the last chances to gather any food that I can, who knows how long it will take us to hunt down this wandering monster that should be out here somewhere."
"Before you go," Hugh tapped on the trunk and the pile of papers that had the simple sudoku puzzles on them. "Explain this, I want something to do too."
Davin chuckled and spent a few minutes explaining the simple puzzles, Hugh solving the simple one in moments using a glowing quill that seemed to come from nowhere. Davin drew out a few more puzzles of varying difficulty before he was let loose again. Davin jogged a little ahead of the caravan trying to give himself enough space to do some foraging while keeping his eyes on it all. The trees were starting to become more numerous, the signs of early spring beginning to show, the budding of leaves, the bright green grass, and birds chirping loudly, It was surreal, knowing that he was effectively moving backward in the seasons as they moved further north. Davin continued to move with the caravan, passing it to start gathering, and then when it passed him he would catch up again, this sadly limited what he could gather, but he was happy to start moving around again when they got their own wagon he would need to find a better way to travel with it, likely leaving Hugh to drive.
The loud yell caught Davin off guard, the shout different than any of the others that he'd heard. Moving in from the edges of the forest, Davin sank low, moving in slowly seeing a group of people blocking the roadway, all of them holding a weapon of some kind.
"You heard me!" Yelled the tallest one. "We want all your food and tokens."
Davin groaned internally, "Bandits." Staying silent as he moved closer.
"You think that we're going to give up our hard-earned tokens to a bunch of hoods?" Yelled back the caravan leader.
"If you don’t want to be sent back to your resting place, you better." The caravan leader stood on the seat of the wagon.
Davin heard a whisper in his ear, similar to when he used the whisper stones, but this one sounded clearer. "Why did we stop?" Hugh's voice was clear.
"Bandits," Davin whispered back. "Sneak in and come in hot?"
"Hot? If that means with the intent to kill, sounds good." Hugh questioned.
"It does," Davin said as he pulled a dagger ready to throw.
"You think that you can stand up to us?" Several of the bandits moved closer, waving their blades at the horses.
Davin ran in, throwing the dagger that he had in his hand, the blade sinking into the shoulder of the leader making him let out a yell of pain. The seeming leader turned to where Davin was hiding in the woods, pointing.
"There! Get him!" Yelling out the order.
Three of the six bandits jumped into action, running into the trees, trying to find Davin. The others circled the leader, taking up defensive positions around him. The group ran into the woods after Davin, spotting him quickly, and rushing in his general direction. Davin pulled and swung his whip, clipping one of the bandits moving deeper into the woods, keeping his distance from them. The thunder that rolled through the forest surprised Davin, seeing that Cadence had made it to the front of the caravan, several of the bandits that surrounded the leader dropped.
"I have these ones!" Cadence yelled, sword held out threateningly wings made of light flapping behind them.
The caravanners jumped off the lead wagon and ran back, aiming to stay clear of the combat. With several of the bandits having dropped, the bandit leader seemed enraged, swinging wildly with his sword as he charged at Cadence, his sword digging into their armor. Several, bright flashes of light hit the leader, Hugh's spell coming seemingly from nowhere. The last bandit that was circling the leader charged Cadence, attempting to rush them, the swing clumsy in their injured state.
Davin kept running, swinging his whip, taking down one of the bandits that pursued him, running through the dense shrubbery letting Davin keep his distance. The clap of thunder ripping out once again, Cadence's magic rippling the space in front of them, dropping the last of the henchmen. The leader swung at Cadence once again, shouting untellable gibberish while he did, his blade slashing deep, causing cadence to let out a yelp of pain. Hugh charged in, slamming the bandit with a wall of sound, launching the leader off his feet. The last few bandits chasing after Davin began to fire upon him with the bows that they had, one of the arrows striking Davin. Davin threw a blade, striking deep into the side of one of them. Cadence said a quick chant, a flash of light engulfing them as they swung at the leader, deflecting the blow with ease.
The raging leader stood, rushing at Hugh, the swing going wide as Hugh ducked below it. Hugh let out another thunderous wave of energy, it washing over the bandit with little effect. Another bolt sank into Davin's leg as he attempted to avoid the shots, many of the bolts sunken into the trees around him. Davin's blade sunk deep, felling another of them, trying to duck behind the trees as he kept on the move
Cadence swung with their blade, putting the Bandit leader on the defensive. Stabbing out at Hugh and Cadence with his blades, clipping both of them, Cadence's breath heavy as they struggled to keep their balance. Hugh took a slash to the wrist as he was about to cast, blasting frost at the leader causing a rime of frost to fall around them. The last of the henchmen, seeing that all his allies being mostly slain, tried to retreat, firing another bolt as he began his withdrawal. Davin took the opportunity, pulled out his crossbow, and cocked it, took aim.
Thrusting with their blade, striking the leader, another flash of energy ripped through them, a light of healing energy running over cadence once more. Davin shot, his bolt flying true, slaying the last of the bandits.