"What was it like traveling Zaron? Was being a merchant exciting? Do you miss it?" Tricia asked among a long series of questions to Clyde with bright, wide eyes. They eating were honey covered bread by the river, packed for them all by her mother-a real treat. It was the Spring Solstice, an important holiday to the people of Kupa. Particularly, it meant they had the day off.

"Don't bother him with dumb questions," Craig shoved his sister lightly, yet hard enough as to nearly push her off the boulder she sat upon. Clyde himself paused, as if genuinely unsure how to answer. As if he never expected to be asked that question. Craig, on the other hand, wished he could spend the day with his friend without being bothered by everyone else. His mother had forced him to bring Tricia along.

"I don't see how it's dumb," she scowled, placing her bread on her lap to cross her arms defiantly. "I think it's normal to ask people about themselves. You and I have only lived in this boring old place, so I think it's normal to want to know how others live."

"Well maybe it's none of your-"

"It's okay," Clyde cut him off, "I can tell her if she wants."

"See?" she stuck her tongue out at her brother. Craig glared at his friend for not backing him up, but Clyde merely finished the rest of his bread before reaching his hands into the running river water to get the stickiness off. He sat for a moment, fully deciding what he should say.

"Um," Clyde pondered, "So, what specifically did you wanna hear? Like, give me one question at a time."

"Hmm," she licked her fingers deep in thought, "How about...Why were you a merchant? What determines that anyway? Were both your parents merchants?"

"Tricia, that's more than one question," Craig rolled his eyes.

"No, I got it," Clyde responded, "Merchants are merchants basically like how serfs are serfs. My dad was born in the merchant class of Kupa Keep and so was his dad and his dad. It's what he was trained to do, what I was gonna be trained to do. I would have been a merchant my whole life and been expected to marry someone in the merchant class from Kupa to have merchant children. I could have chosen to travel like my dad or work for a permanent shop, but that's about it. Only the luckiest merchants own their own permanent shop, usually they're owned by nobility. So maybe it's kind of like being a serf or farmer, only there's a little more free will, I guess."

"Was your mom a merchant too?"

"Tricia, don't ask him about his-"

"Nah, she wasn't," he shrugged, yet his face fell as if he was reminded of a sad memory. "She wasn't from Kupa, either. She was from another kingdom my dad happened to be traveling through."

"Oh, like our mom!" Tricia exclaimed.

"No," Craig said for his friend solemnly, having heard the story before, "Both our parents are from Kupa. It was controversial, but she was marrying down within her kingdom. But unless it's a royal political marriage, marrying or even being with someone not from the same kingdom is strictly forbidden in most of Zaron. Especially in Kupa."

"Yeah, but my mom. She didn't care," Clyde found himself laughing sadly at the thought, "She decided that she liked my dad and was gonna have him no matter what."

"And they ended up together and had you!" Tricia smiled.

"And my older sister."

"You have a sister?" Tricia gasped, "Where is she!"

"Tricia!" Craig scolded.

"She was...taken. I don't know where, but it probably doesn't matter. She's probably dead now, anyway."

"I'm sorry, I didn't know-"

"Because it's dangerous, Tricia," Craig looked her in the eyes, "You can't tell anyone this. For his safety."

"Yeah, but it's not that drastic anymore," Clyde shrugged, "My dad used his real name and presented me as his son. We're laying low, but if they wanted me dead I'd be dead. I don't think they care anymore."

Tricia's eyes widened. "Because your parents aren't together anymore? Because your mom was killed in an accident?"

"Sure, an 'accident'."

It was odd being out of Kupa.

He had been in forests before. In fact, there was a very small one that naturally grew around the river near Sundorham. It was always a nice place, away from the nearly oppressive flatness that was everything else around him. Still, it was...very small. Arguably not even a forest, they probably only called it that because no one had a better frame of reference. It was just a place where trees were able to grow naturally due to the convenient water supply. It allowed Sundorham fresh water, fish, wood, wildberries, and other supplies. In hindsight, he wondered if that was partially what led them to be comparatively better off than the other serf village he just visited.

This, on the other hand, was completely different. The few trees that were easily navigable back home were nothing like what felt like a wall of them he was now facing. Between the thick trees there were shrubs and thorns that would make it exceedingly difficult for him to wander off the path like he had previously considered. The trees were also far taller than any he had ever come across, nearly blocking out all of the sunlight.

Even a few paces in, he could already feel that he wasn't in Kupa anymore. Not just Kupa, but almost as if he was in a completely different universe, outside of Zaron completely. He had seen his fair share of flora, especially in the royal garden, but nothing like whatever all this was.

He tried to clear his mind and remind himself that he was on a mission. It was just a forest, not to mention one where he would have to be on his toes to not get himself killed. He had to focus on the surroundings in terms of staying away from danger, not in terms of exploring. Those glowing green bulbs on the shrubs? Not worth examining, and probably poisonous. The odd flickering lights that floated about in various colors? Probably just some weird insect that would soon give him a lot of obnoxious, itchy bites. The odd, hauntingly beautiful howling of the wind? Well, just the wind. Stay on target. No time for having some fantastical sense of awe and wonder over useless bullshit.

Still. It was a very eerie, almost nostalgic feeling. He clutched his mother's necklace tightly for a moment. Maybe this feeling was part of the forest's nature, he figured. Maybe that's why people get lost and go mad so easily. Maybe that's why the humans who lived here became, as their namesake implied, barbaric. Well, he knew better than to fall for that. He wouldn't be charmed by some weird, bullshit enchanted forest. Not him. He was the alert underworld thief Feldspar, afterall.

As soon as he told himself how alert he was, he immediately felt something hard fly into his face. At first he figured it was a large fly or something, but it felt too hard for that. He reached for his cheek and scooped it up into his hand.

It was a glowing, humanlike creature with a tiny pair of wings, no larger than an inch in size.

A fairy? No, no fairies were closer to humans than this thing. They weren't this small and didn't glow like this. This tiny creature was also without clothes, while fairies were known to be elegantly dressed, almost like elves. So a pixie then? That seemed about right, they were known for being little pests who swarmed around like bugs. It did look oddly buglike, with huge black eyes relative for its body and spiky short hair that almost looked like vines coming out of its head. The pixie shook its head from the impact and fluttered its wings, rising itself from Craig's hand. It fluttered around Craig's head curiouslyfor a moment.

Craig swatted the pest away and continued to go down the path. He didn't have time for this.

He knew to most people in Kupa seeing a pixie would be a big deal. Actually, any creature like that would be an excitement. Yet to him, he had only heard that picture were annoying, unintelligent pests. Clyde had even said so, as he'd seen some back in his days of travel. Much of Kupa glamorized the idea of magical creatures.

Afterall, any magical creature was banned from Kupa. Any dealings with nonhuman kingdoms rarely had them visit Kupa itself-generally they would meet in their lands or in neutral territory. Which made sense, given that the Wizard was harsh and thorough to put the hammer down on any magical humans that weren't beneficial to him personally. For that reason, people in Kupa had an obsession over magical things, even if they had to keep it to themselves to avoid accusations of treason. A sort of treason Craig never had to worry about, as he never saw the appeal.

After a few minutes, he thought that maybe it wasn't that the forest was specifically enchanted to make people feel odd. Maybe it was being around so much magical energy in general. Magical energy that that would be instantly be smothered out in Kupa, now being allowed to flow freely, overwhelming to those not used to it. He sighed. It didn't really matter. He just had to stay focused.

It was as if time passed differently there as well. He wasn't sure how long he was walking before he realized it was suddenly getting dark very quickly. He decided that he would be most vulnerable while asleep, meaning he should find a secure, hidden place off of the main path to rest. He wasn't going to set up camp or start any fires, he needed to be as concealed and lowkey as possible.

He felt thorns poking at him as he tried to wander through the brush, hoping that none of them were laced with some sort of poison. He also made sure he kept track of each of his steps and avoided going to far to prevent himself from getting lost and being unable to find his way back to the main path. He also had to keep on his toes to make sure he didn't come across any hostile creature...or worse. It was a pain to keep track of all these things, but not exactly hard for him given his past experiences.

Just as it was about to get completely pitch black dark, he found a hollowed out tree. He examined it carefully and saw that it was full of dirt and wouldn't be the most comfortable fit, but that it would work. He plopped himself down beside it and took out a piece of bread and cheese from his satchel. It was among his most perishable food he had with him, so he best eat it now. He ate it, took a swig of water, and went into the log. It wasn't comfortable, just as he thought, but he was able to fall asleep just fine after he got used to the howling wind and odd, unsettling sounds of the Lost Forest at night.

He awoke with the rising sun. It actually surprised him somewhat that it was bright enough to do so, given how much of it was blocked out by the foliage. He pushed himself out of the log with a sigh. He made it through the night with all of his things unharmed. As he ate a bit for breakfast, he pondered that this was far easier than he anticipated. He examined the scratches on him and noted that none of them appeared to be in any way infected.

Maybe the rumors about the Lost Forest were greatly exaggerated. As he got up to go about his way he took a drink of water. His supply was getting low-he would have to keep his eyes and ears open for a water source at some point. As green and full of life as this forest was, it probably shouldn't be too hard.

He made it back to the main pathway moderately easily. He did worry himself slightly for a moment as the shrubs did appear to look different from before. He had worried that the rumors about the Lost Forest changing mysteriously were true, rendering him lost. Then he decided to stop worrying about it. If the landscape changed, then so be it. He remembered the number of steps he took in each direction, he didn't need to rely on visual cues. It worked, and soon enough he made it back to the main pathway. Comparing the path to the the direction of the sun, he knew that it was facing the right direction, and carried on about his way.

He went down the path the exact same way he did the previous day, only this time with more open ears to try and listen for any sort of running water. It had become easier for him to ignore the strangeness of the forest, to suppress the odd nagging feeling within him.

Realizing he had suppressed the nagging feeling only made him take notice of it again. That was annoying.

As if interrupting his thoughts, he suddenly heard a faint sound of running water. It had to be a river or stream of some sort!

He looked towards where the sound was coming from. The plant life here was especially thick, which was bound to be annoying to try and traverse. Still, he didn't know which way it flowed relative to the path, so he was just as well trying to get to it now. He started to navigate towards it as best he could, following the sounds while also taking mind of the way he was going to find his way back. As the sound of flowing water got louder, he knew it couldn't be far. It made him relieved, being close to the main path meant he didn't have to mind his was as much.

Just a little further, it opened up to a nice little stream with a decently wide river bank for him to sit down at. He plopped down The water was crystal clear with some fish swimming down it. He debated whether he should try to catch some to eat later, wondering if the fire he'd need to prepare them would be worth the risk.

He heard a snap of some twigs behind him. He quickly stood up and unsheathed his blade, fully alert.

Nothing.

He wandered a little closer and used his blade to pull back some of the vines and branches. Still nothing. He waited a few more moments on alert and hesitantly put his blade back. It might have been a pixie or a small animal or something. He sighed, letting his guard down, and reached for his canteen. He drank what was left in it to allow maximum space and held it to the water, allowing the current to flow into it. Then there was another snap.

From then, it all happened too fast for Craig to know what hit him.

One second he was minding his own business filling up his canteen and the next moment he was completely flipped over and pinned down on his back. The force against the back of his head hitting the ground hurt the worst, making him initially fear that he cracked his skull that was only barely padded by his hat. His ears rung and his vision was incredibly blurry. He tried to force himself to breathe and feel himself out. He determined that he didn't crack his skull, but a concussion was very much a possibility.

He only then realized he couldn't move his body. His right arm was pinned under his back, crushed by the force of his own body weight. His other arm, along with his torso, were pinned down by something. He closed his eyes tight and opened them once more. He slowly blinked to rid himself of the stars in his vision and get his eyes to focus. Something was on top of him, and if he didn't want to die, he had to figure out what it was. Gradually, his vision regained its focus, allowing him to view the figure on top of him.

It was...a person?

Craig blinked some more, wondering if his eyes were tricking him. They weren't.

It very much was a young male on top of him pinning him down. If he had to guess, they were probably about the same age. Of course, because of the way he was situated on top of him, limiting Craig's range of movement, he couldn't get a good look at him.

He could see that he had blond hair that was extremely messy, as if he hadn't attempted to take care of it a day in his life. He was also pale, much paler than Craig. His face was thin with a pointy, but not at all unattractive nose. Most interestingly, his face was covered with black lines snaking his face, even covering his eyelids. It was a very odd fashion choice that Craig had never seen before. Despite having attacked him and continuously pinning him down, he didn't look angry. More like he was confused, his gaze was carefully analyzing Craig.

The eyes that were analyzing him were deep blue, like the color of a twilight sky. Craig also noticed that there seemed to be flecks of yellow in them. He realized that he had never seen eyes like that before.

Craig slowly opened his mouth to speak, despite all the air being knocked out of his lungs moments ago. "Who-"

As soon as noise came out of Craig's mouth, the attacker's expression turned from inquisitive to on guard, angry even. In less than a second, the attacker took his free arm and pulled out a blade. He brought it up to where Craig's jaw met his neck, making it clear to Craig that he best not resist.

He started demanding something in strange words in a coarse language Craig didn't understand. When Craig didn't respond, he pressed his blade dangerously against Craig's skin, threatening to slit his throat. Any confused look in his eyes were gone, now glaring into Craig's own like daggers. He demanded things in the strange language again.

"I don't-" Craig managed. It was harder to speak than he expected. He hoped it wasn't from hitting his head too hard.

"Do you understand this?" the blond asked. He had a strange accent, but yes, Craig could understand perfectly.

"I...yeah, I do," was all he could manage.

"You're far from home," he accused, "What are you doing here?"

"Excuse me, but why exactly are you doing here?" Craig found his eyebrows furrowing, "I was minding my own business, thank you very much, and I didn't need someone attacking me out of nowhere unprompted."

"Excuse me? You're lucky I haven't killed you!" he scowled, "Don't you know that it is illegal for your kind to trespass in our territory? I have every right to take down an invader, just like you would if I wandered uninvited into yours! Which, I'm sure you know, is an action your kind never hesitates with."

"Your territory?" Craig raised an eyebrow, "What do you mean your-"

Craig froze mid sentence. To be fair, it was something that should have been obvious, something that he should have figured out right away. What sort of human did he expect to be in this forest? What other sort of person would have attacked him like this?

"You're a Barbarian," Craig stated. It wasn't a question.

"Obviously."

He was right. It was obvious, given the context. It's just, even if this guy could sneak up and get the best of him in a blink of an eye, even if he was covered in face paint and had extremely messy hair, even if he spoke a foreign language and had a thick accent, he still was absolutely nothing like he expected a Barbarian to be.

So he said it. "I didn't think Barbarians looked like...Well…"

Barbarians were supposed to be huge, brutish people. The men were tall and muscular with perfectly triangular shaped torsos that they showed off with their lack of shirts. The women were also very large and said to be noticeably more masculine than any other human woman. Both would have long flowing hair that was corse from lack of care. They lugged around large clubs or swords that most civilized people, even the best trained knights, would find difficult to carry. They lived in the forest or on clifflands, using their strong, warlike bodies to climb up trees or cliffs. They were brutal, able to crack open someone's skull with their mere fists. Even the youngest of children were said to be able to stone someone to death with a single throw or break a neck with a clean snap. Rumor had it, they often even ate the bodies of the innocent they killed.

Even if this guy on top of him was dirty and shirtless, he didn't seem anything like that.

"Like what?" the Barbarian frowned again, raising an eyebrow.

"Attractive?" he found himself blurting out. Instantly he regretted it. That wasn't the word he was looking for.

No, it wasn't that he was suddenly attracted to this guy on top of him. It was just, well...Barbarians were supposed to be...big and brutish and ugly. Not someone smaller than him. Not someone with a babyface, especially a baby face that was objectively pleasing. It wasn't that he found his face attractive, he told himself. Anyone would. If he showed his portrait to anyone on the streets of Kupa City, they would all respond that he was a perfectly nice looking young man...Well, except of course for the hair and face paint. If he cleaned up, brushed his hair, and wiped off the paint then surely he could pass as anyone from Kupa-

"What is that supposed to mean?" the Barbarian nearly growled, interrupting his thoughts, "You think we're all some ugly monsters or something?"

"Well…" Craig trailed off, "That is what we're told. You guys are supposed to be all huge beefcakes or whatever, aren't you?"

"You're from Kupa, aren't you?"

"Yeah," he said casually. He had started to completely ignore the direness of the situation and the fact that he was still pinned down. The Barbarian frowned.

"Has it ever occured to you that people from other parts of Zaron are just as complex and varied as Kupa? You don't, do you? You people from Kupa only ever think of yourselves, never caring about anyone from outside your own kingdom."

"Isn't that a hypocritical statement?" Craig raised an eyebrow.

"Excuse me?"

"You said I shouldn't paint people with a broad brush, but there you are presuming an awful lot about everyone in Kupa. Just thought you should know that."

The Barbarian frowned and said something in his language under his breath. Then with another sigh, he got off of Craig. This action surprised him.

Slowly, despite his pounding head, Craig sat up. Immediately, the Barbarian jumped to his knees, quickly grabbing his blade once more and held it out defensively towards him. This allowed Craig to get a fuller look at his attacker.

He was shirtless, with the wrapping, snake-like black body paint on his face winding around to his arms and torso. He had a bow and arrow set around his back, the leather strap holding it crossing his chest. He wore brown pants that looked to be made of some sort of animal skin. On his feet were black boots lined with a sort of fur. As he figured, he was small. Not tiny or petite, but smaller than average build, tall heighted Craig. He was definitely not ripped like Barbarians were said to be, but instead very lean. That said, there wasn't an inch of body fat on him, every bit of him covered in that very lean muscle.

He leaned forward more towards Craig with his blade in a more threatening manner, trying to create a more threatening scowl. Craig looked closer at his dirty hand that gripped the blade. It was trembling. This confused him greatly. This guy, this barbarian couldn't be scared could he?

"Listen," Craig raised both of his hands up in a surrendering motion, "You're right. I have been told that all you Barbarians are giant thugs who kill anyone on sight. I didn't ask for permission or anything to come through your territory or whatever, which yeah I guess is technically trespassing. Though since you haven't killed me yet and I'm clearly wrong about your type, maybe you should calm down and hear me out as to why I'm here so we can both go about our merry way?"

"That's what I asked from you in the first place," the Barbarian retorted.

"Oh yeah," Craig pondered, "You did, didn't you?"

"Get on with it before I actually kill you!" the Barbarian yelled. He was getting pissed now.

"Okay, okay, fine," Craig frowned, "You made me hit my head really hard, you know? I probably got a concussion-"

"You have ten seconds!" he threatened.

"I was getting there, geez!"

"Eight seconds."

"Yeah, yeah, I'm starting," Craig huffed, "You don't need to kill me, I'm not even here to stay in your precious forest territory or whatever. I'm just passing through because, you know, it's kind of in the way of where I'm actually trying to go."

"And where might that be?" he raised an eyebrow.

"The High Elf Kingdom," he crossed his arms, "On an important diplomatic mission."

The Barbarian laughed. So much so that he ended up dropping his guard and let his blade fall to the ground. While laughing, he muttered some things in his odd language again.

"What's so funny?" Craig asked defensively. He knew it was dangerous and all, but he didn't get how it was any way some laughing matter for him to find humor in.

"Didn't you say you were from Kupa?" he said as his laughter calmed down, wiping away a tear that had formed in one of his vibrant blue eyes.

"Well, yeah?"

"Then either you're absolutely insane or have a death wish," he said, "Everyone knows your two kingdoms hate each other more than anything. They'll kill you on sight."

"Well, yeah, obviously I know that. I knew when I took the mission that I'll probably be killed. I don't want to die or anything, but I didn't really have a choice. And, I mean...my mission could work."

"What sort of mission is it?" he asked.

Craig was thrown off by the question. There were various ways he could answer it. It probably wouldn't be best to tell the truth, that he was going to kind of attempt to steal the magical stick to give it to a kingdom to change the power structure of Zaron and all. Even if Barbarians were neutral, it wasn't exactly a good look. So instead, he'd give his cover story.

"I'm actually going on an attempted peace mission on behalf of the royal court," he shrugged, allowing himself to sit in a more comfortable position on a patch of soft moss at the riverbank. He reached for his spilled canteen and filled it up once more.

"Peace?" he raised an eyebrow, "There's no way your kingdom would want peace with them. Not after-"

"Well you know, things have changed," Craig droned on, swatting away another pixie that flew by his face, "The old king has been dead for years, the princess is kinda useless, power balance within the kingdom hasn't been what it was, all those sorts of things. The Wizard might hate the elves, but the fact is being enemies with them isn't exactly profitable."

"How do I know you're telling the truth?" he asked in a softer voice. Craig reached into his satchel and pulled out the letter from the Wizard and tossed it to him. He realized he wasn't entirely sure if the Barbarian could read, especially in this language, but he seemed to have no trouble as he opened it up and looked at the words carefully.

"Believe me now?" Craig asked.

"Feldspar," he said slowly in his thick accent, reading the name on the paper.

"That's me," he said, reaching his hand to take it back, to which the Barbarian thankfully complied, "Now if you don't mind me, I'll be going now." With that, he grabbed his canteen, got back up on his feet, and headed back towards the path which he strayed. His vision had stars, but he did his best to ignore it.

"Wait!" the Barbarian quickly scrambled to his feet as well.

"What?" he looked back over his shoulder back at him.

"My name is Tweek," he called out, "I think since I learned your name, it's only fair for me to tell you mine."

"I don't really care," Craig responded bluntly. Barbarians were sure weird. In a way different from what he expected, anyway. He couldn't wait to forget about this odd encounter forever.

"Well, listen!" he frowned once more, "There's a reason I'm out here on my own. As is customary, I was told to leave my family until I could come back with some big contribution to them."

"I still don't really care."

"Well, if you're going to try and make peace between Kupa and the High Elf Kingdom, then maybe I could try to make peace as well. Despite what you may believe, we don't like being enemies with everyone. At least...parts of the royal family don't. They would really appreciate me changing that."

"Well, you do that," Craig said uninterestedly. He wasn't aware that they had a royal family as well, but frankly he didn't care. Though he supposed it was typical, even this sort of warlike society would have privileged filth.

"We don't exactly have a good relationship with the High Elf Kingdom, but it's substantially better than that between that of them and Kupa. Unlike you, they wouldn't feel the need to shoot me on sight."

"What are you trying to get at?" Craig groaned, getting very annoyed very fast.

"I think I should go with you!" Tweek offered, "I could help you with your travels and make things far safer for you, and in turn now three kingdoms have the potential for peace. It would be a win for everyone involved."

"Absolutely not."