The members of Core-Tech made it to a small town on their journey to finding Chase's father. Luckily, this town had no warrant on them and as long as they didn't cause trouble or draw too much attention there wouldn't be anytime soon. With this in mind Chase found it a good place to replenish supplies. They should get food and medicine for their travels ahead for who knew what they would run into.

The group split up. Chase went to look for camping supplies like matches, cooking supplies, and maybe even sleeping bags. Jinja and Bren were in charge of getting medicine. That left Dax and Beyal in charge of getting food.

Dax and Beyal wandered through stall after stall in the marketplace looking for something that caught their eye.

"We need non-perishables," informed Dax. "It has to be something that won't spoil while we're on the road. You got that, mate?"

Beyal nodded briefly before returning his attention to the many stalls, scanning each and every good they offered to see if it met the requirements. Dax bought noodles to boil. They looked bland, but it would keep everyone full and carbs provided a lot of energy. Beyal retrieved some dried fish, jerky, and different types of seeds and nuts.

Dax stopped at one stand and grinned. The dark skinned teen grabbed a hold of Beyal's cloak to halt him. "Let's get something from here, mate," said Dax. "I've been craving something sweet and I've got some money left."

Beyal looked at the contents of this stall. There were jars and boxes filled with things covered in colorful wrappers or were bright, cheerful colors on their own. The young monk had never seen anything like this before. "What is it?" he asked.

Dax gave him a quizzical look. "Don't tell me you've never had candy before! Have you been living under a rock?"

"No, but I've never heard of these things at the temple."

Dax sighed and picked a few things out. Some of the stuff was in colorful wrappers and others were put into small colorful bags. The owner of the stall put it in a paper bag and handed it to Dax. Dax in return handed over the money.

"Here monk boy, I think you'd like this," Dax said as he handed Beyal one of the colorful bags. "This one's on the house since you've never had candy before."

The bag contained little squares. They're color was a shade lighter than Dax's skin. Picking up one of the squares with his fingers revealed to Beyal that they were solid, but not hard like a stone.

"Are you just going to stare at it mate or are you going to eat it?" Dax asked.

Beyal tentatively pushed the candy into his mouth. He was pleased to find that it was sweet and had a milky taste. A smile spread on his face.

Dax grinned. "How's it taste?"

"It is really delicious," said Beyal.

"I'm glad you like it, mate."

The two decided they've done enough shopping for the day and headed over to where the group had planned to meet up. Along the way Beyal munched on the candy Dax had given him. He just couldn't put it down.

Dax saw the others were waiting for them. Things looked successful. Bren was holding a large bag of medicine and Chase had a few bags too.

"You're finally here!" cried Bren. "Where were you? Did you look for food in the next town?"

"Calm down, mate," growled Dax. "We got a good haul."

"Things went well for me too," said Chase gesturing to the things he bought. "I got matches, a pan, a few blankets and backpacks. I was going to get some sleeping bags, but they were too expensive."

"We did well too," said Bren. "I found-,"

"Dax gave me candy and it was the most delicious thing I've ever had!" cried Beyal interrupting Bren. That was strange. Beyal was interrupting someone and his voice was louder than usual.

"I can see that," Jinja giggled. "It's all over your face." She pointed to the corner of her mouth showing Beyal where chocolate was smeared on face.

Dax took the bag out of Beyal's hand and looked inside. All of the candy was gone. "Blimey! You ate all that so fast? You're going to get a stomach ache."

Beyal only smiled and rocked back and forth on his heels. He couldn't keep still for some reason. The monk's mind was racing and shivers ran up his spine.

"Here Beyal, let me get that chocolate off your face," said Jinja. She licked her thumb and wiped the chocolate from the corner of the young monk's mouth. Before she could remove her hand Beyal grabbed it and pressed it to his face.

"You're really pretty," Beyal said. "I can see why Dax calls you princess."

Beyal stood on his tiptoes and pressed a kiss against Jinja's un-expecting lips. Jinja blushed furiously. Dax lost his cool.

"She's mine monk boy! Back off!" Dax grabbed the back of Beyal's cloak and pulled him off Jinja.

"Who said Jinja was yours? You're being so mean Dax. Didn't you know sharing is a virtue?" Beyal gave Dax a swift blow to the stomach. Dax collapsed to the ground gasping for oxygen.

Chase and Bren helped Dax up. When the four recovered from what had just happened they realized Beyal had disappeared.