"Will do! Just you watch, I'll catch a huge one!" Ethan was determined to catch some fish, even if they didn't have the proper equipment for it. He'd seen some of the villagers catch some barehanded before, and while he'd only managed to do so himself once, and the fish got away, he had a general idea of how it worked. No doubt the currents of the river would make things a little difficult, but then nothing worth having was easy to get now was it? Wading through the water didn't prove terribly challenging, and in no time he was standing around waiting for some signs of fish. Before long the white-haired boy caught signs of life, but it was life he wanted nothing to do with; a highly poisonous ringed cobra swam out from its hiding spot in a fallen log, causing the Magi to practically run across water as he bolted for the shoreline. Panting as he finally came to a skidding halt on the sand he placed his hands on his knees, glancing up when he heard Amuné shouting for him.

"I'm fine, I'm fine! Just got spooked is all!" Ethan called back, laughing as he shook off his legs to get some water off. That was a bit of a close call, those things were known to be highly poisonous; one of the villagers had been bitten by one and ended up bed ridden for nearly two weeks, albeit they'd survived thanks to a quick administration of an antidote. They hadn't any of that on them though, best to avoid the slithering cesspool of pain at all costs. "I'm thinking we'll just gather some edible plants, maybe catch a squirrel or rabbit or something. At least those won't try eating me!" he joked, grinning as he reached down and playfully tapped Amuné's nose before he hurried back up the bank and onto the grass. Chances were there wouldn't be anything for them to eat near the road, as anything that had been here was already picked or probably kept clear of the path to avoid becoming lunch. Anything they would have then, he reasoned, was hiding in the trees.

Finding something to snack on ought not to be terribly challenging, not when you had a decent head about you when it came to hunting. In most cases Ethan would set a trap and wait for something to catch it, yet when he had a young girl and moorcat to feed as well he couldn't well just sit back and waste time waiting it out. Instead, he grabbed himself a fairly sturdy twig and, using a rock, sharpened the edges into a point. Carrying that along with him he then began seeking out some kind of furry animal to nab, figuring something small enough to cook quickly but large enough to at least give them some energy. While sneaking through the brush he managed to come across a moderately sized water mouse, essentially a muskrat except far more like a typical mouse than anything. Smiling triumphantly he held out his hand flat and laid the stick out, aiming it at the rat that was busy picking away at some fallen nuts. Eyes glowing a slight gold, he breathed out a wisp of air that enveloped the sharpened stick before he let it fly, firing it off like an arrow and nailing the rat square in the head. "Sorry little guy, but we've gotta eat," Ethan said, heading over and scooping up his latest kill, taking it back to the group.

"Here we are! This ought to keep us going, at least until the next town," Ethan announced, beaming as he held up his acquisition, "I can skin and gut it if you want to get some sticks for firewood. Cecil, think you can help her with that?" That was one nice thing about traveling in a group, he no longer had to hunt, prepare the fire and clean the kill all by himself, albeit he would still if need be. Placing down the rodent by his feet he started back for his bag to get out his sword for cleaning purposes, having nothing smaller than that to use. As he was standing back up from getting it out he noticed someone coming across the bridge from the far side, narrowing his eyes and putting a hand over them to try and get a better view of who it was. From here it was hard to say, but he could tell they were pretty big and wearing a coat, so maybe a traveling fighter or something? He knew people like that existed, sellswords or some such that made a living fighting. Not the most friendliest sounding of folk, but then you could never know until you met them. Might as well give it a shot, he supposed, and at the very least make sure this individual was safe for Amuné to be around.

Tucking the folded sword up on his side, Ethan grabbed his shirt and slipped it back on, as well as his coat which he left open. "You guys wait here a sec, okay? I'm just gonna go say hi," he shouted, smiling at the others and holding up a finger before heading onto the bridge. By now he could see it was an older man, and a fairly imposing one at that. Still though, it wasn't right to judge by looks alone, so he stood at the end of the bridge with a smile and waited, lifting a hand in greeting when the stranger drew close enough. "Hey there! Nice to meet you!" he said politely, giving a slight wave, "Kind of surprising to see someone else out here, been a while since we crossed anyone else. Want to join us for a meal?" One easy way of befriending folks, Ethan had found, was offering them a nice hot meal and friendly conversation. He'd befriended a fair number of travelers on his way out here, and if it worked once then it'd work again, right?

The old man didn't seem to respond to him, looking at the young boy as though he were scrutinizing him. Feeling a bead of sweat trickle down his face, Ethan chuckled slightly and rubbed at his neck, glancing over at the others before gesturing to them. "If you're wondering if we have enough food then I can always get more, it's not a problem. There's tons of things to eat here, you only need to know where to look. You can take a seat and just relax while we get things ready." Again there was nothing, no kind of reply or anything from the man, just that stare. Shifting his weight about nervously he wondered if maybe the man might be deaf, or if he'd really struck up conversation with one of those nasty mercenary types. After a silent moment he cleared his throat, itching at his nose and opening his mouth to speak, getting cut off this time.

"What's your name kid?" the man asked, frowning as he looked the young Magi over.

"Uh... My name?" Ethan asked, blinking as he pointed to himself, "Oh, sorry, completely forgot! My name is Ethan Campbell, nice to meet you sir!" That was rude of him, he really ought to have given his name before he said anything else. Extending a hand in greeting he smiled cheerfully, hoping now they could finally settle down and get this meal going.

Hm, so this was him then? Rather unimpressive for a Magi, especially one that managed to knock out four armed men. Shame, the boy might have been able to live if he hadn't done something as stupid as use magic in the middle of a town. Looking at the boy's hand he sniffed a bit, tucking his own away in the pockets of his coat as he lifted his head up slightly in defiance. "Sorry Ethan, but orders are orders." Ignoring the puzzled look on the boy's face, the man's eyes glowed with a dulled bronze hue, and as they did so two spouts of water burst up from either side of the bridge, twisting and turning as they seemed to direct themselves directly at Ethan, shooting forward like a geyser. 

Crap! This guy was a Magi too? Startled by the sudden attack Ethan quickly flipped back away from the spout, jumping back again as he avoided the second one, staring at the man in shock as water rained down around them. "Hey, what's that for? I haven't done anything wrong by you!" he shouted, "You must have the wrong person, I've done nothing wrong!" What was that noise? It sounded like a waterfall crashing, but there was no waterfall here. Turning his head his eyes widened seeing another large spout shooting up at him, this one coming horizontally across the surface of the bridge. Not thinking he could dodge it in time he pulled his sword free, the blade flipping open and promptly glowing, a slightly green hue dancing around the blade. With a concentrated effort he swung forward hard, sending a slash of air along that sliced the spout in two, sending buckets upon buckets of water spilling every which way, some barely catching him and making him stumble. Spitting out a bit he looked back at the man again, gasping as he ducked under a large arm, rolling to the side to avoid getting grabbed by him as well. "I said cut it out, I don't want to fight you!"

"That's not for you to decide, or either of us for that matter," the man remarked, frowning as he held out a hand to Ethan and formed several shards of ice from the water, shooting one at a time at him. The boy was fast, even without his magic it seemed, as each of his strikes narrowly missed and found themselves embedded in the ground. "As I said, orders are orders, and you're to be eliminated."