During his time of scavenging for food, he had found a good herd of deer. Sneaking up on them was easy enough, but usually when hunting with his father, he had a bow and arrows. Unfortunately, that was not a luxury he could afford. So he had been forced to find a new method. And honestly, the young man liked this method much better. Speaking of which... Some more venison would probably be nice. Askold had quite the appetite, of course. So food was a constant necessity.
When he heard a deer in the distance, the young man turned his head to find it. His eyes locked onto the target, his next meal was in sight. He held his axe in his teeth by the shaft, body shifted to loosen his frozen joints and he jumped up silently, latching himself onto the nearest tree. With a bit of effort, Askold managed to shimmy himself up the tree, with any unnecessary gear hidden in the snow at the base of that very same tree. Once he found a high enough branch, the adventurer slid himself out far enough, until he was over a clearing on the ground. His axe was now firmly planted in the branch for now, and he brought up his hands to his mouth, cupping them and making a sound.
The deer in the distance turned its head as it heard the familiar sound of his own kind. It headed over in a hurry, not at all worried about what was to come. When the animal stopped in the clearing, curiously searching for where its fellow deer were hiding, he was completely unaware of the hungry young man that loomed overhead. With axe now in hand, Askold dropped down from the branch and onto the deer. Before the animal knew what was coming, the weapon was buried deep into its flesh. It didn't take long for the deer to die after this. The deed was done.
With a low grunt, the young adventurer pulled his axe from the back of his prey, before hoisting the meal up onto his shoulders. It took some effort, but he had found himself some food. Now... It was time to make himself a fire. But that would be difficult, with all this snow, and the damp sticks that had fallen from trees. Regardless, the young man picked up his gear and brought it with him, in hopes of finding a clearing.
A great deal of time had passed during his search for anywhere to set up a camp of sorts. But he did eventually find a clearing, and a whole strip of it no less. Completely uncovered by snow. It looked as though it went two ways, further north and south, and all the trees had been cut from the area. Huh. What an odd way to make a place for people to camp. Well, that didn't matter to him. Askold got out his gear, using the pelts he had collected as a makeshift tent, big enough to cover him and keep the wind out. Troll pelts were quite large, so he was lucky that his first kill was so big. He had even found some dry sticks and made a fire large enough to fry some venison up for himself. Life was good, despite the hardships of being in the wilderness on his own. The adventurer ate his meal and laid down the deer's pelt on the ground to lay on. Yeah. Now this was the life. With a comfortable makeshift bed and a full belly, Askold closed his eyes, quickly falling asleep.
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He had slept well for a few good hours, the sun rising from the east. The young man had set the opening to his tent in the opposite direction for this very reason. However, something seemed a bit off. Not that the sleeping adventurer took notice of this fact. The sound of rickety wheels attacked to a wooden carriage could be heard faintly in the distance, and it drew closer. The driver let out a call to stop his horses, and the wagon had stopped right in front of probably the oddest sight he had ever seen. A dead troll? In the middle of the road? No... A fire had been set here as well, but now only small embers remained. The older gentleman stepped off his wagon to look into the skin of this troll, and saw something even more odd. A rather large young man, laying down and sleeping.
"Umm... Excuse me, young sir. But you're blocking up the road." The man stood there, completely baffled by the sight before him. This boy didn't even look in his twenties yet, but here he was, out on the road. And did he kill this troll as well, or was he lucky, and managed to find a dead one in the wilderness. Regardless, this was a dangerous place, and the man wanted to make sure he was safe.
Askold awoke as he heard someone talking, and felt something kick his foot. He grunted and mumbled incoherently, lazily opening his eyes and sitting up. He looked up at the scrawny looking man with the well groomed beard. And he was wearing quite fancy clothes too, well, by his standards. Red robes with gold trim, really. Fancy boots covered his feet as well. The adventurer took a moment to wake himself up, blinking a bit to clear his eyes. "Huh? Road?" Askold moved passed the man as he stepped out of the tent and onto the clearing, looking at it in daylight now. Oh. So, it was a road. The young man let out an awkward laugh, stamping out the embers and kicking the burnt sticks to the side. "Sorry 'bout that. I've been out here for a few days now, and I can't seem to find any towns."
The man blinked curiously at the boy before him. This adventurer was a broad, muscle-bound giant, especially compared to him. He was getting a bit nervous now, seeing as he had obviously underestimated the size of this boy. But... He really couldn't find any towns? The boy was out here without a map, and didn't even know his way around. So apparently, he was new to this whole adventuring gig. And judging from his size, there'd be a good deal to be made from this encounter. He cracked a smile, curling the edge of his thick mustache. "No need to worry, my boy. I was just on my was to the nearest town to trade some of my wares." If he was judging the young man correctly, he was some sort of northern barbarian. They were always built with more muscle and less brain. This would be perfect. "My name is Armand Bethero, a traveling merchant of sorts. Would you like to come with me, at least to the next town?"
The young adventurer looked at the man with curious eyes as the little man outstretched his hand. But expression lit up when the man promised to take him to the next town. He quickly brought up his large right hand, firmly grasping Armand's and giving him a firm handshake. "And I'm Askold. Just Askold. And I'd love to find a town. I have all these pelts I can't really carry." He let go of the small man's hand and turned around, picking up a large bundle of animal skins he had been carrying with him. Without so much as asking, Askold took the bundle and found an opening in the back of his wagon, placing it down without damaging anything. That's when he heard something rather odd. Glass clinging against glass? "What's in this box?" The young man asked, legitimately curious about this merchant's wares.
Armand Bethero had been shaking his now crushed hand, trying to get it to go numb. He looked up when the boy said something about pelts, eyes widening in surprise. How many animals and creatures did he kill out there, and with just an axe. Hell, the adventurer's choice weapon wasn't even meant for combat of any sort. Regardless, this boy seemed to use it well. When he heard Askold ask about the box, he answered nonchalantly. "Oh, that's just some liquor. I have plenty of it from the last town, and I figured I'd-" He stopped talking when he heard the sound of the box being pried open. Before he could say anything in protest, he witnessed the young man opening the completely sealed crate with his bare hands. He sighed, stepping onto the wagon and signalling his horses to move.
Askold kept at pace and took up one of the bottles, inspecting it carefully. It didn't look too fancy to him, like this merchant's clothing. So why did he have so much of it? With a shrug of his broad shoulders, the young man opened the bottle up and took a long drink of whatever liquid was inside. Hmm... It actually tasted rather good. "No wonder you have so much! This is pretty good!" The adventurer took another drink from the bottle in his hand, rather enjoying himself. The man on the wagon simply smiled. This would be interesting.
"Here's a deal." Bethero the merchant stated, eyes straight forward, but still obviously talking to the young man walking beside his wagon. "If you help me make a bit of money in the next town, I'll buy you all the liquor you want. What do you say?" The sly merchant didn't hear a reply from the young adventurer, but saw him nod his head before taking another swig from the bottle. He smiled, making the horses move at a slightly quicker pace. The town was near, and they'd be there within the hour.
