Winter had fallen on the Twilight college in the form of blankets of icy white snow. The tree's shed their leaves and hunkered down for the winter. Animal's became scarcer in the wilds and people began spending less time outside. The colleges many hearths and other heat sources served as a good way to throw off the cold that gripped the land, but still people would come in shaking bitterly from the cold and cling to what warmth they could find. Those that did walk the outside wore thick coats to try and fight off the cold or were of bloods they could use to fight off the cold. At times snow seemed to fall endlessly from the sky, coming down in little flakes or ragging storms, each flake added to the blanket that coated the land. 

To those in lands that went through similar seasonal change this was nothing new, but to others this was foreign and inhospitable. Both Deven and Jenna found themselves easily adapting to the snow, being from Wintercrest a place that well earned its name. Winter's were no less aggressive here then it was back at home, something Deven and Jenna were keenly aware of. 

The college bustled with its around two thousand students and the arriving delegates. But outside in the wilderness, it was a different story. As always in winter life made its way along, only slowed by the bitter cold but never stamped out. The landscape was a dreary gray devoid of the colors that once filled the land. Icy winds would send up swirls of loose snow into the air only to float back down gracefully into a new place. But in the trees some way from the college something stirred. Hidden in the bushes, something that in another season would have gone by invisible barely making a sound, but in the dead of winter every breath was made clear in small puffs of frozen moisture. 

There nestled in some bushes sat a lone archer, wrapped in fur clothing that blended well with the brown of the plant they sat. In their hand they clutched their bow, the string already pulled back and an arrow in place. A few seconds passed as the archer waited, waited to take their shot. Another faint soft breath. A small cloth had fallen down revealing the archers mouth, nose and jaw. The cold nipped at the exposed skin but the archer did not make any move to fix it, their focus was entirely on this shot.

Once more an icy breath.

As son as the breath ended, in a tiny movement of releasing the string the archer let the arrow fly. The arrow whistled through the air, the silence of the forest finally being disturbed. For only a few seconds the arrow flew until it met its mark. The arrow plunged into the neck of a female deer that had been grazing. Crimson gushed from the wound and the creature's eyes shot wide open. But before it could move or the adrenaline could start pumping through its veins, another arrow whizzed through the air and plunged into the deer's skull, this one from the opposite side. 

The deer collapsed to the ground in a loud thump, small wisps of loose snow went up in a small cloud before slowly settling back into place. From the bushes the archer stepped out and jogged lightly towards the deer. As they did another figure appeared, a feminine figure whose features were still notable through the coat. The two met by the deer. The first one looked up and nodded towards his partner.

Deven smiled softly from under his hood, his face now fully visible under his hood. He dropped to his knees by the deer and reached up pulling the mask over his chin, mouth, cheeks and nose, which had began to sting from the cold. 

"You have gotten better." Jenna commented as she kneeled setting her bow at her side. 

"Well I have a good teacher." Deven replied his eyes shooting up towards her thankfully before returning to the deer. Her reached for his knife at his side, taking it from its sheath and moving it towards the deer. He needed no teaching in how to skin an animal, he had learned a long time ago. But rarely had he been so lucky to bag himself a deer, let alone at this time of year. Slowly he slid his knife in.

"Strange." Jenna said her voice breaking the silence that feel over the area, "Something must have separated it from the rest of its herd. It's unusual to see one alone in this weather, let alone in the college area...though it does seem to have only recently arrived...given the fact here are no other deer tracks around the area." Jenna said making conversation as Deven did his bloody work..

"Yeah, that's what I was thinking." Deven answered.

It took a rather long period of time before Deven had stripped the deer of its useful meets and its pelt, putting the two into separate bags. He had only paused twice to warm both him and Jenna up with his pyromancy. Once he was done the two began to make their way back to the college. The two of them had advanced in the skill of their bloods since they arrived at the college. They both trained as regularly. Jenna even volunteering in the infirmary helping in anyway she could with her blood. It served as a good way to do some good and practice. Deven, practiced regularly, he was looking into speaking with the pyromancy teacher about taking some private lessons but he his introvertedness always kept him from posing the question. In class both he and Jenna payed absolute attention, they tried their hardest in their classes ad rarely messed around. 

When they were not in class, training or socializing with the few people they had met, they were helping out in whatever way they could around the college. They had received a letter some days ago from Wintercrest. The letter had been written by Jenna's father and spoke of the goings on at Wintercrest and asked them how their studies have been going at the school, it spoke lightly of the conflicts, saying only that they were nothing more then small bands of what little remained of Redwoods small garrison. Many of the Redwood garrison had deserted after Wintercrest took the city. Redwood's soldiers had been offered amnesty and were told if they lay down their arms they would be allowed to live their lives as normal citizens at this offer many of what remained of Redwoods army accepted and laid down their weapons. Those that didn't fled and had taken up raiding Wintercrest caravans and trade routes. But the letter did not delve into any of this, this was all knowledge that Deven and Jenna already knew, the letter only stated things were going well into their favor. 

But that was not all the letter spoke on, they spoke of the meeting of nations. Eanian and Djarkel delegates will be arriving at the college and many more delegates from other factions would arrive as well. In times before Wintercrest had never taken part in the meeting of nations, but this time was to be different, they would contribute to the meeting of nations sending a small contingent of soldiers and delegates who will bear gifts for the college. This band would be led by Jenna's uncle, Trystan Fellrien. Trystan had been close with both Deven and Jenna when they were younger. He had taught Deven almost everything he knew about swordsmanship. Recently he had been one of the many charged with leading the capture of Redwood. But as it seemed he had been brought back home and given a different mission. This mission did not surprise either Jenna or Deven in the slightest. Trystan, though magicless, was as skilled with his tongue as he was with his sword, both Jenna and Deven agreed that he was a good choice for them to send on a delegation mission. 

The two hadn't spoken with anyone about the details of the letter instead keeping it to themselves, they had been told that they should not talk about anything relating to Wintercrest's plans, no matter how small unless told other wise. They had no idea who could possibly be working to thwart Wintercrest and they were in no position or mindset to let them have any information that could aid in this quest. Something though that did spur the pairs curiosity was a small mention in the letter about Trystan having gifts for the two of them. There was no attempt at making an explanation of what the gift was just that there was one coming. 

Now the meeting was nearing its point and the two could feel their interest and curiosity welling up inside them as well as a want to see some friendly familiar faces again.

The pair soon began to near the gates. It didn't take long for them to close the distance, as they arrived they were met with the gate guard, Jenna explained as she had when they left that she was part of the hunting class and that she was just going out for a little, the gate guard put up a fight to Deven going along for he was not a member of the hunting class, but Jenna managed to get the Gate guard to buckle, at one point claiming, "Hey, I need someone to carry the bags.".

Jenna pulled down her hood and face cover as they entered the college courtyard. Her eyes switched back to Deven who was doing the same, She took off her bow and quiver and held the two out by their straps in her right hand while holding her left hand out expectantly. "Mind taking my bow back to my room while I deal with our spoils?" Jenna asked.

Deven nodded and un-slung the two bags, "Of course, here, try not to drop them." Deven said as he gave her the bag and took the bow and arrow, slinging them over his shoulder. "Alright, see you in a bit." Jenna answered as she began to walk away.

Deven nodded his head in good bye and began to make his way back to his room. He had managed to memorize his way to the important areas such as the library, his room, the main gate, his classes, the gym, the mess hall, the infirmary and the garden, but other smaller areas, such as some of the teachers offices he hadn't bothered with. But this was something that had little president to him, if he ever needed to find a teachers office he could ask one of the golems or perhaps a fellow student but, he hadn't had such a need yet.

Jenna turned her attention to the merchants that had taken up residence in the main courtyard, it did not take her long to sell the furs off to an Eanian merchant, after which she began to make her way to the mess hall, her end destination being the kitchen. She knew she could sell the meats off to the merchants as well, but she had no need of the gold, Wintercrest had supplied them with more then enough gold for the year but, both her and Deven agreed to save it for when they needed it. So instead she chose to give it to the cooks at the college for the other students to enjoy.

Deven rounded a corner and closed the distance to his door, unlocking it and opening it without reservation, he still did not have a roommate and his attempts at finding one had already run dry and nonexistent, he felt a little left out at not having a roommate like so many of the others but, this feeling was nothing new to him, it had been something he had grown used to in life and payed no mind to it. He shut the door behind him and dropped his pack at the foot of his bed. The pack contained supplies for if an issue should arise during the hunting trip happily they had no need of it. He then turned to the mannequin that stored his armor. He had taken to leaving his weapons leaning upon it. Already his sword and sheath leaned on its right side, he had given up on strapping it to the mannequin's side and instead just let it lean on the mannequin. He un-slung his bow that Jenna had bought him from the college armory. It was a decent quality bow but nothing like Jenna's it served as a good "starter bow", he leaned the bow on the mannequins left side along with the quiver before unslinging Jenna's and placing it on his bed. He then undressed himself and changed into some more comfortable clothes. A dark brown cloth, long sleeve shirt with dark leather pants and a coat that was primarily black with white fur around the shoulders and neck for greater warmth.

Once dressed he grabbed Jenna's bow slinging it over his shoulder once more before stepping over to Jenna's room. She had been yet to find a roommate as well, something she complained about every so often, unlike Deven her searches were still open. One thing they had learned was that they could room with people of the opposite sex, but this seemed uncommon and the two had mutually agreed that it would just be easier to keep their own rooms if they could not room with other people. They already roomed next to each other so it made little difference. She had given him a key and him her so entry was no issue, he pulled out the key and unlocked the door before stepping in. He shut the door behind him and made his way to where she kept her bow, he placed the bow in its spot and then made his way out. Once out he began making his way to the mess hall where he and Jenna had agreed to meet before they left to go hunting.