Crystal Bloodlines

Chapter Four: Urban Camping

They got to the town, and the town was empty.

At least the streets were empty, which made sense given the time of night. The two came into the town close to what appeared to be the town's business district, "we should make sure to come back here when the sun comes up to trade in some of the copper wire we brought, hopefully it'll get us enough coin to get started" Dell more or less thought out loud.

"If only we could have gotten here earlier, now where are we going to sleep Dell?"

"We could set up a tent somewhere? Use the same one to consolidate body heat? Luckily these roads seem to warm up the town, so we won't freeze to death"

"Yeah. But where are we going to set up the tent? And I swear if you say i dunno"

"Lets search around more Cyrus?" Cyrus let out a huff and they continued on their way of exploration. Ice Cube had stopped leading them, and had resumed hovering over Dells shoulder and 'humming' his soft harmonious tune.

The town seemed like something out of a fantasy movie, with most of the homes being made out of wood, some run down shacks, and from what they could see in the little exploration that they had done some better off stone homes with what appeared to be large driveways around the back. They stopped exploring when they came across an [flavor text about the inns appearance, the apparent parking lot, and two stables] inn, and went around back to what looked like stables, "you know, i think we could set up shop back here as long as we leave before anyone finds us"

"For once that sounds like a good idea man"

"I have good ideas occasionally ho" Dell chuckled before unstrapping the rolled up tent from his pack and got to work setting it up with Cyrus's help and Ice Cubes almost chirp like encouragement.

When they entered Ice Cube quickly followed before they could close the tent flap to seal in the heat, "Well, luckily your new pet doesn't seem to be putting off as much cold as i was afraid of."

"Hey, he seems to be a considerate creature" Dell said, which seemed to please Ice Cube.

As they unclipped their sleeping bags from their packs and got settled in Cyrus turned to Dell, "So, why did you decide to actually come along"

Dell got an almost sour look upon his face while deciding how to phrase his answer, "I was walking the razor edge, I was living day to day with no hope for the future." He sighed and broke eye contact with cyrus, looking down at his sleeping bag, "I honestly didn't know how much longer I had in me before the shitty state the world was in, and my dull existence finally made me make that final leap into the unknown, because lord knows the void was begging me to trip up, and then this opportunity arose, and life had hope again, if only just because it was something new, something I could actually experience and feel alive again." He leaned down until he was fully laying in the bag, using the backpack as a pillow, his face slightly wet, and Cyrus hooked onto every word. Dell sighed, and his next words had more joy infused into them, albeit his words were softer, "so I took the chance to make the jump into the void on my own terms, except this way I get to be the one who wins, because this void lead me to a new world, an adventure."

Cyrus was quiet for a few moments before softly responding, "Maybe the universe has its own way of working out."

And with that they both settled into an almost comfortable silence and the two drifted off into sleep.

And then the rising sun woke them up.

There were few words passed between the duo, the 'chattesiest' being Ice Cube who seemed excited for a new day, and after his close call yesterday one doesn't need to wonder for long as to why.

They had mostly disassembled the tent when what they could only assume to be the stable boy waltzed in, "who the fuck are you two"

And with that the two looked at eachother, and Ice Cube hid behind dell, and there was a unanimous "GRAB IT AND RUN", and with that they tossed their bags, sleeping bags, and poles into the now deflated tent, picked it up together and took off running, and rhey didn't slow down until they felt they were far enough away, and then they jogged until they were in a secluded back alleyway, and began organizing and consolidating their stuff.

At some point Cyrus started cracking up, "man that was a close one."

To this Dell joined in on the laughter

"Maybe next time we won't have to book it after waking up"

They laughed for a bit, seeming to let the stress for the past day, and of their old life melt off of them like the snow in the enchanted roads and walkways, and when the laughter died down, and their sides began to hurt they resumed their packing, and began to wonder what today would hold.