The morning that followed their first night in winter was awful, the lingering fog that surrounded the tent when Davin crawled out swirled away with the swing of the tent flaps. The commotion of bodies around the camp surprised him, still wishing that he was still curled up in the warmer by comparison tent, the idea of a carriage rather than just a wagon was becoming more appealing, thinking of the modifications that he could do to make it more akin to an RV. The steaming bowl of what he could only really see as a fragrant gruel he was handed by one of the passersby was more welcoming than he wanted to admit, the warm meal helping shake off the sleepy feeling. Hugh had their tent put away in moments, Cadence was already set to go, their place on the wagon chosen.

Davin's mind slowly caught up to him as he ate, the gruel far more filling than he would have ever expected. Opting to take the first stint of walking since He would need to keep his eyes open for the fork in the road that they would need to take.

"Hey, heads up, our path goes west at the next fork," Davin said to his friends as they were getting settled in their wagon.

"Ah, yes, Hugh told of this, then I shall let the leader know, I do not want our parting to come as a surprise. "Cadence said as they began pulling themselves up.

"How close are we?" Hugh asked.

Davin pulled up the log book and looked. "Nothing new so far, do we know where we are on the map?" He asked, looking over to Hugh.

Laying out the map, tracing the path that they’ve taken. "We will likely make our parting around mid-day if we keep at the pace we are going."

The uneventful morning went slowly, Davin found very little along the path to forage, finding a few pine cones including some juniper berries, making him wish that someone out there had stronger spirits. The fork in the road that Davon was waiting for was in all actuality more of a rest stop from his world.

"Wait, 'Fork in the Road' is the name of a town?" Davin asked as he looked around.

"Huh, would have never expected that, I'm guessing that the maps that we were given are very out of date." Hugh chuckled as he looked around.

"Oh, I thought you knew? You kept calling it 'Fork in the Road."

"It’s a phrase in my world," Davin said with a deep sigh.

"Mine too, I am just as surprised as you." Hugh looked to Davin as he said that.

"This isn't even the only one, there are several places named 'Fork in the Road'," Cadence stated as the pulled the few things from the back of the wagon.

"This seems like some kind of joke…" Davin said as he continued to look around at the town that was about the size of a shopping plaza, with the business layout to match.

"Why would it be a joke? It was a very smart move, the trading post is a fantastic relay station for splitting up several shipments that all ship out and not have to make multiple trips." Nodding as they point out the largest building on the 'strip' that looked as if it was just a large warehouse.

Davin stared, jaw slowly dropping as he was struggling to wrap his mind around the impossibility of it all. Helping Hugh pull the trunk off the back of the wagon onto the shimmering disc that Davin had become so accustomed to on the trip up, feeling oddly comforted by it. Feeling himself begin to look around for some ironic twist with a knife.

"There isn't going to be any fast food here is there?" Davin asked, still looking for a burger joint to just be sitting somewhere on the premises.

"They cook it and serve it on plates, I doubt that it would be fast," Cadence responded in all seriousness.

"Huh? Oh, I guess it would be more of a quick-service food stall. The food is served fast, not that the food is fast moving." Davin shook his head and they started moving away from the road.

"Fast food… food that is served fast… Why does that make so much sense." Hugh pondered aloud as they all started walking.

"Should we grab a few things before we start heading west or do we want to just head and try and get back here as soon as we can?" Davin looked west as he asked.

"Since they fed us yesterday, and you stay vigilant on any of the things that can be foraged, I think we may be okay with just heading out." Cadence set down the bags that they had pulled from the back of the wagon.

"We could look into a cart? I'm sure that we have enough tokens to get us started." Hugh chimed in as he moved the floating disk loaded with their trunk.

"Oh! That’s brilliant!" Davin stated. "Should be some kind of place nearby. I was considering a carriage as an option myself."

"I think that a carriage is a bit out of our price range. A cart and pony may be what we can do for now." Hugh had pulled out his book Leaf and was looking at one of the last pages. "If my numbers are correct, we are sitting at around a hundred onyx, and that’s including what we pulled from the bandits and the sales of the popcorn."

"Can't put the carriage before the horse." Davin smiled like an idiot as he warped the classic idiom.

"Before?" Cadence asked as they looked over at one of the caravan wagons. "I don’t think that horses can do that."

Davin laughed. "Ha, it's a play on a very old saying."

Cadence nodded. "I don't think that I understand."

"Just that a horse pulls a cart, and if it pushed it would be wrong, and I added the carriage since I'm sure they're more expensive than a cart."

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"Very," Hugh stated. "I think a used carriage would still push us passed our budget."

"Horse and cart it is, assuming we can get one." Pointing over at a large building that looked like a Western-style saloon. "Let's get some warm food, a hot drink would hit the spot."

"Agreed!" Cadence and Hugh stated in near unison.

The cheery piano melody made the seemingly stereotypical setting feel more like something out of a Wild West movie. Davin found himself looking for a piano, only finding a group of players in a corner with a variety of stringed instruments all playing together.

Davin shivered as the uncanny valley feeling rushed over him again. "That’s an interesting melody," Davin stated as he pointed to the players.

"Bards," Hugh stated with a mild tone of annoyance in his voice.

Cadence swatted him in the arm bumping him out of his scowl. "Stop that." pointing over to the group. "Not all bards are the cliché."

"What are they doing?" Davin asked as he found him bobbing along to the melody.

"It is a trading of songs and information." Cadence shrugged.

"Information?" Davin asked.

"Many of the bards are some of the best spreaders of news that exist in the world. Sometimes it is the only way some of the news spreads." Cadence shrugged.

"Wait, what?" Hugh asked as that information settled on him. "Bards spread the news?"

"Mhmm." Cadence nodded. "This is a world fueled by belief, and someone has to make sure we keep things on the positive side of things."

The casual statement hit Davin like a sack of bricks, thinking about how important bards could be in this type of world. "That’s why you were tasked with what you were… you are literally fighting against all of the negativity that bandits, villains, and other things bring to this world."

Cadence nodded. "Yes, that is usually something that we don’t bring up in company since that can disrupt things."

Davin nodded, motioning to his mouth that it was locked. "Got it."

Hugh nodded in agreement. "Damn, I will also keep that information to myself."

Walking up to the bar, Davin was hit with the lingering smell of mulling spices, red wine, cider, and a host of other smells. The bar itself was rather empty, the few patrons seemed to be circled around tables enjoying the small fires in each one.

"What's hot?" Davin asked as he knocked on the bar counter.

"Hmmm? Cider, some mulled wine, broth, some herb water, and of course hot water." The elf-like man said as he pointed to each of the pots dangling over carefully tended embers.

Davin smiled wide. "Any meat to go with that broth?"

"Mixed veggies and noodles while we're at it, bowl or cauldron?" The barkeeper asked.

"Cauldron?" Davin asked.

To which a moment later there was a small pot in front of Davin that was then filled with all of the ingredients and then lidded, a few bowls were handed to Davin. "That should fill all three of ya, there's enough in there for four."

Davin greedily picked up the cauldron by its handle, it still too warm to grab. "Hugh, get us some of that mulled wine too." As he headed to a table.

Hugh followed shortly after, a similar kettle full of the wine, heavy cups in Cadence's hands. They sat and ate their newly acquired gains. Davin and Cadence let out soft moans as they enjoyed the soup, the thick flavorful broth warmed them as far as any food could. Hugh on the other hand started with the wine, to which he repeatedly to deep inhaling breaths from, the fragrant smells filling the space around them. The only thing that could make this time any better would be if the chairs were more comfortable.

The three of them enjoyed their meal, not knowing how far they would have to travel was mildly discouraging, especially in the cold. They were left in a lethargic state as they finished their meal, pulling out his ledger Davin looked over the latest entry.

Twenty-second entry:

If you check this before you begin to head west, I suspect you will see whatever is causing the anomaly by dusk. It is one beast, enormous, and dangerous, please take precautions. -C

Davin let out a groan. "Tonight, that’s when we should meet whatever it is, and it's big." passing the ledger around the table so his friends could see.

"I wonder if anyone has seen this 'enormous beast'?" Cadences asked as they thought aloud.

"That seems like the opposite of things to do in this instance, aren't we trying to keep this all a secret?" Hugh asked as he looked over at Davin, who was filling another bowl of soup.

"Huh, you know, I never asked… but at the same time wouldn’t asking around do the exact opposite of what Cadence is trying to do?" To which Hugh and Cadence stared at Davin as if he had pointed out some secret.

"I hadn't thought of it that way…" Hugh slumped and looked mildly put out.

"I hadn't either and it is part of my tasks," Cadence said while they dropped their head to the table.

"Guys, don't worry about it, I figured we could just listen for a bit before heading out."

"Listen?" Candence and Hugh asked as they both looked up.

"Yeah, we just observe, if anything it would be the talk of the town, especially anyone coming from the West, I’d assume that it would be pretty easy to find out." Eating a spoonful of soup. "After we eat."

They continued to eat, enjoying the chance to warm up before heading out once again, taking up Davin's advice, they all spread out, listening for any news about what came from the West. The common room of the inn fluctuated over the next few hours, some people seeming to only stop in for just something hot for the road, while others took up an open seat at the bar and made themselves comfortable for the night. While Hugh and Cadence listened for any news, Davin made himself useful, he began the hunt for a horse and cart. Finding a horse trader was the easy part, bartering for the horse and cart took a bit longer.

The smell of hay and manure filled Davin's nostrils, the reminiscent odor brought back several memories for Davin, mostly of animals… The horse traders sat just on the edge of town, just far enough that the smell didn’t overwhelm the small town, but still close enough to be a safe distance away. As Davin walked up, he quickly caught the attention of the few people that were bustling around the coral, one of them running up.

"How can I help you?" The rabbit beast kin asked.

"Okay, we want a horse, a cart, and enough food for a few days for the critter," Davin stated.

"We?" Their ears twitched back and forth as they hunted for anyone else.

"Oh, sorry, me and my friend, they're still in town, but it's for the three of us." Davin held up three fingers as he looked around.

"Ah, yeah, so what kind of cart?" They tilted their head as they looked over Davin.

"Something simple, but with enough space for us as well as our trunk." Davin held out his hands in what he thought was the rough size of the trunk.

"And for the horse?" Their large ears flopped as they looked over at the coral with a few horses in it.

"No idea on that, someone strong enough to pull it? I don't actually know when it comes to horses." Davin shrugged as he followed the glance of the rabbit kin.

Their ears flopped as they nodded. "Horse or donkey?"

"Huh? I guess whichever is better suited for it? Maybe the Donkey?" Shrugging again.

"Hmm, twenty-five Onyx tokens, and that gets you a donkey, cart, and a few weeks' worth of food. That work for ya?"

Davin nodded. "Let me talk to my friends, that should work perfectly."

Davin headed back to the inn, quickly finding Hugh and Cadence, telling them of his time at the horse traders.

"A donkey?" Hugh asked. "Why not a horse?"

"Will be a better deal until we find a different option."

"Donkeys are very noble, strong, and have a good sense for direction, they will be a fantastic addition to the team." Cadence smiled widely.

"And we can think of all of the things that we can do with it later." Davin smiled wide, and excitement ran through him.

The exchange for tokens went as fast as they came, quickly loading their trunk and the few bags into the cart, and setting out on their way, Hugh quickly took the reins, steering the new wagon out of town, heading to the west.