"Do we need to go through this little town?" Lasair asked as he prodded the fire that he and Helath sat across from each other at. Sammael, sitting on a thick branch not far above them, was watching the forest for any sign of movement. "We need to stock up on some food and concoctions for the road Lasair." Helath said as he looked at the map, half of a bone from a rabbit in his mouth. "It's the only nearby town for a few days in each direction. And although Sammael can live on nuts and berries alone- ow! hey, it's a compliment!- ugh, we really need to get some supplies. If we don't-"

"Stop sucking on that rib bone Helath. It's not healthy to ingest all the marrow." Nialas said, coming up from the opposite direction that Sammael was watching, one spear on his back and the javelin in his hand being used as a walking stick. His other hand carried a fairly large fish and his boots were wet. "We can split some of this before we get into town so we aren't buying food on empty stomachs. It's a quick way to empty our purses." 

While Helath mumbled to himself about the deliciousness of rabbit marrow Sammael chimed in with a quiet observation. "If we ALL knew how to survive on just 'nuts and berries' we wouldn't have a need for money." As he spoke the archer took his knife against his arrows feathers, shortening them by barely a nail's length. "Nialas and myself cannot keep provide food without either of you two dolts ever contributing. Besides eating the meal, that is." he muttered, jumping down from the tree just as a quarter of fish was tossed at him. Helath and Lasair were both roasting their pieces over the fire, but Sammael was fine with eating it raw. Nialas was also taking large bites out of his own meal. 

"Can we eat on the go then?" Lasaiar asked, standing up and beginning to stomp out the fire. "The sooner in and out the sooner we reach a town with some gold to spare." As their few belonging were already packed to go, the brothers put their packs on and began their walk towards the town of Charten. 

---

"Stugmarr or Stalliga is fine with me, I just do NOT want to go to the Rak'Thurr Empire. Do you know what they do to Laguz and Branded there?!" Lasair dramatically spoke as they walked into town. "Trust me, let's avoid heading north when we get to the edge of the mountain range." Their first turn took them to the marketplace. While there seemed to be a lack of goods because of the war, there were plenty of stalls still open with food and trinkets. Helath broke formation first, finding a place that sold "authentic Goddess Dolls and Talismans". Nialas groaned at the childish actions of his brother, holding his head in both his hands. Feeling a slap on his back, Nialas jolted forward as Lasair walked by him. "Oh, loosen the reins! Lets get a little trophy for our journey, yeah?" he shouted back, then turned toward the vendor and got his bartering face on. 

With another groan Nialas and Sammael walked towards the food vendors. After spending a couple minutes gathering a few select fruits and breads the lancer muttered to himself under his breath. "He won't be too happy when he remembers I'm the one carrying the money." Nialas said in a matter-of-fact tone. In response the archer let out a rare chuckle that astonished Nialas to turn and look at him. "What could possibly be so funny?!" Sammael simply pointed to his brother's belt buckle and a pair of loose strings that used to hold their money sack. Even after a few seconds of staring at the strings Nialas looked up at Sammael, whose eyes glanced over toward their other two brothers for a quick moment. With it finally registering in his head, Nialas stormed back over to the stall with random trinkets and hit Lasair in the head. "Give me the money back! We have more important things to buy then some stupid... I mean, endearing, trinkets. Escuse us Ma'am." Nialas said with a bow to the redheaded female vendor before snatching the significantly lighter purse back from his brother. Giving it a jingle, Nialas groaned again. "What the hell did you buy?"

"These!" Helath exclaimed, showing off a pair of blank, metallic badges. One gold and one silver, each were circular and had intricate markings on the outside edge. "She was selling them at half price, so I figured I should pick them up while I could. She called them "Earth and Ocean Seals" and they look awesome."

Hard pressed not to kill either of his brothers, Nialas jabbed his finger into Lasair's side. "You know we're stuck finding some work now, right? We barely have enough for a day's meal now because of this." 

"Yeah, yeah. Lets join a merc group or something for a week. That usually gives us some decent money plus we can steal a couple meals while we're in town!"

"We don't even know if they're in need of defenders. There may not even be one in this town Lasair!"

"We passed one on the way in the city." Sammael muttered, shaking his head before walking off in the direction of the camp of mercs. Lasair caught up to Sammael and put his arm around the other's shoulders. "Thats the spirit!"

two paces behind them Helath was polishing his new seals and Nialas was retying his coin sack, mumbling profanities along the way.