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Questing was incredibly serious business; There was the constant threat of attack, gobs of spooky things in the woods, terrible fates to stumble across, and of course a multitude of unfortunate and spoiled food to be eaten that would send a hero stumbling home.
Which was precisely why Abbi was hopping around in front of the Guild Master, all bubbling questions, asking for another quest. To say she was a bit determined was partially true, only somewhat in the wrong because she still was a bit nervous venturing outside the castle.

But the Guild Master relented, handed over to her a map, and the teen merrily set about collecting some food for her trip. The last time she'd gone alone hadn't been much fun, so she cast about for someone to tag along.
"You look so cozy, all bundled up like that!" Abbi remarked when she saw what she first mistook for a pile of discarded fabrics. "Would you like to partake in a daring adventure with me?" As if it would entice the person further, she wiggled her bag full of food at them.

An echoing "oh!" left Abbi when the bundle of fabrics that was a person dropped their bag, startled that she had startled them and immediately apologetic about it. She is about to launch a stream of sorry's when the person nods and Abbi smiles instead. When they stoop to retrieve their bag she mimics the motion in attempt to help, trying to peek through the layers to get a better picture of who she will be questing with.
"Its lovely to make your acquaintance! I do not think I quite see, but I am sure in time I will." The teen smiled and stepped back to sweep into a quick curtsey. "I am Abbi and... Oh! This is Joker!"

She turns and takes the blonde pony she'd requested from the stable boy, rubbing its side.
"He likes to try and push me off cliffs!" Somehow she found it endearing...

With introductions and supplies all ready, the girl lead them from the castle and toward the trail. Unfortunately, she didn't at all look where she was stepping and stumbled into another's bees nest that sent Joker racing back to the castle... Again.

Lurks tumbled down after Abbi, colliding into her with all the force that a bony little body could muster. The bees swarmed, heavy and hungry from their buzz, and Pony reared up in terror, exposing her round pot belly to the air. She cantered back to Camelot, eager as could be, carting with her some of the food for their trip.

"I think we messed up very very big," they murmured, watching her dappled silhouette fade into the horizon, nervously wringing thin and bony hands together in sorrow. Wasted food always put them distraught, worried and afraid of the ever nebulous future. Food was precious, and two days of food had just vanished into the ether.

Lurks was, fortunately, very oblivious to such dire consequences. Instead, they happily bounded towards a nice store of food, alongside some very dead bodies.

"Look!" they said, happily rolling over a rotting corpse, and began rifling through their pockets. "Food!"

They looked at the bodies with a longing sigh. So much food, wasted because they didn't get there in time. Lurks licked their lips forlornly anyway, and returned to Abbi with a few stale and half mouldy rolls, taking a bite of one in the process. Ew.

Lurks looked at Abbi and shrugged.

Lurks wobbled through the forest and up the hill, if such a mountain could be reduced to this. Despite having no shoes-- nothing but worn feet and bandages-- the child did not complain. Resolutely, they climbed up the path and delved into the labyrinth. The cold stone felt nice against their toes, and the musty air felt a lot like home for reasons unknown.

"This is nice," they breathed, afraid to talk too loud lest the dead listen in, and--

Click. They had tripped a trap. Axes dropped down from on high, sending Lurks running and screeching to escape them. They were safe, but-- some food was not.

"Oops," Lurks mumbled, looking bashful at their obvious failure.

null

At first, there was only silence as the echoing reverberations of Abbi's cries petered out into nothingness. And then there was a torrential roar, snow falling all around them. They were so close to their goal, so close to another artifact to keep for their very own. The snow covered them from head to toe, the ice a frigid blanket smothering out their life. Panic raced in their veins, and Lurks began to claw upwards through the snow, until the first gasps of mountain air hit their lungs.

Freedom, they thought. Freedom at last.

"You are very very loud," they said to Abbi, crawling from the white banks much like the living dead might emerge from beneath the soft and loamy earth of its grave.