After 5 days, the group found a small settlement. They got out of the cart and began to walk around, Klepto to the blacksmith, Ulrich to the bar, and Zanithar, was tasked with watching Bonk, who just wandered aimlessly, asking passersby to get the sword off his hand. People would run away and keep their distance, which left him alone while Zanithar laughed from a distance. Eventually Zanithar got bored and began to head to the blacksmith.
When he arrived he found Klepto questioning the owner.
"Do you know about any nearby bandit camps?"
"Yes in fact, our village is raided frequently by some bandits up North, in The Thicket. I'll pay you 100 gold to get rid of them."
"Got it. I'll be back." He turned around and saw Zanithar in the doorway. "Aren't you supposed to be watching the bird."
"Yeah, but I got bored."
"God damn it!" He said pushing past Zanithar to find the kenku. They found him, sitting in the middle of the street swinging his sword at village police screaming for them to help. Kelpto ran up and picked up the small boi and continued walking to find Ulrich. He and Zanithar went to put Bonk in the cart before starting the search for Ulrich, who they found asleep in the cart. They set Bonk down and got up front and began moving towards The Thicket. As they entered the woods surrounding it, Klepto got a bad feeling.
"We're close." He said slowing down the cart. Before he could finish his sentence, a hand bursts through the wall, grabbing Bonk by the head, and pulled him outside. The cart immediately halted as the party realized what happened. They jumped out of the cart and prepared for the worst. Zanithar leapt over Klepto, landing in one of the bandits, killing him instantly. Another raised a sword to Bonk, but his killing blow was stopped by a dagger to the shoulder, courtesy of Kelpto. Zanithar grabbed his sword and charged a large bandit with a war hammer. Bonk rose to his feet and with the sword still welded to his hand, impaled one of the bandits, killing him. Zanithar continued firing his cannon at the bandits. Klepto, was engaged in an epic fight with another bandit, both of them swinging their knives and blocking it skillfully. Bonk turned his head to see if anyone saw what he did, but all he saw was a sword slash him across the chest. He was thrown from his spot and slammed against a tree. The bandit walked to the small bird, who was unconscious and raised his sword above his head. Ulrich saw, and being full of rage, let out a roar. A beam of light shine into him from the heavens. He looked back at the bandit with the war hammer and punched him in the chest. His armored fist going completely through him. He took the war hammer with the other hand and threw the bandit at the tree Bonk was laying under. The bandit about to kill him turned around and was promptly decapitated by a downward strike with the hammer. After hitting the bandits skull it his the sword attached to Bonk and shattered it, lifting the curse. He threw the hammer, and grabbed Bonk by the collar. He threw him into the cart and slapped the horse's ass and it sprinted back to Shanty Side. The rest of the fight ended as expected, all of the bandits were killed and the Obsidian Shards were aquired.
Now having no cart the group had to walk back to Shanty Side on foot. They walked for days. On the fifth day they ran into some goblins who Zanithar shot and fed to his mold. After a week, they returned to the city. They went to the palace to get a new cart. Ulrich went to check on Bonk who was stable and recovering. They walked around for a while as their cart was being prepared....again.
"Friends!" A small voice shouted from behind them. They turned around it it was Bonk, who now had a large hole on the front of his clothes. No one else said anything though. Their cart was prepared and they got ready to go to the winter. A dangerous place.
