text: [Themes: fan fiction]
  
  Wind blows across blades of grass in an open field. Leaves fall from trees with the color of Autumn. Red, yellow, and orange. The Sun is setting in the West as darkness approaches. You finally spot your destination below the cliffs. Raven Rock.
  
  "Time for a drink..." you say after an arduous journey.
  
  You push the heavy wooden doors of the tavern. Lamp light flickers in the room filled with the smell of smoke, wine, and ale. You approach the bar and sit on an old-worn stool. It creaks beneath the weight of your sword and armor. The owner of the Tavern seems to size you up with his glance.
  
  "A cup of wine, sir."
  
  The man fills the cup without saying a word and pushes it towards you.
  
  You reach into your coin purse and put some silver on the counter. A look of worry comes over the keepers face as he says,
  
  "That won't be necessary..."
  
  "What do you mean? Take it" you insist
  
  The heavy wooden doors behind you swing open carrying the chill of the night with it. Three men approach the counter, pushing other patrons out of the way as they sit down.
  
  "Alright! Bring me wine, old man!" his loud boisterous voice breaks the calm of the tavern. You spot a dagger tucked into his belt.
  
  "Ri...Right away, Sir." The Tavern owner pulls out three cups and begins to pour. His hands are shaking as the wine spills onto the counter.
  
  "Give me that!" The man snatches the bottle from his grasp, finishing it in seconds.
  
  His attention shifts to you.
  
  "Hey, you. You a warrior or something?" Stumbling over his words. This isn't the first drink he's had tonight.
  
  "The names, Dorian. You are going to pay for that, right?" You say.
  
  "What? This?!" He breaks the bottle on the table. "No this is mine for the taking. You didn't answer my question, boy!!"
  
  His two companions crowd around you, each carrying a short sword in hand. You can feel their hot, stinky breath upon your neck.
  
  > Here is fine
  "Well if we must..." You say, standing up from the stool.
  
  You crack your knuckles together. Squaring your shoulders, you raise your fists up. You can't draw your weapon here, the massive thing is too big and you risk destroying the whole tavern. The patrons back away to the corners while some run outside to safety. The loud one pulls a knife from his belt and lunges in for the kill.
  
  You dodge left, trapping his right arm in yours.
  
  "Walk away or lose it." your tone serious and cold. His left hand comes up to strike you in the face. Guess he wants to lose it. You snap his arm as he drops the knife with a cry. The other two run for the door leaving their friend behind.
  
  "Well, now that that's settled." You sit down to finish your wine.
  
  "Sir, do you know what you've done? Those men work for the bandit leader Grif! I'm sure they are heading back now to bring the whole force back with them!!!" The Tavern owner exclaims with his scared voice.
  
  A shadow stands over you as the loud boisterous man before says, "I'm not done yet!" His left arm swings the knife toward your face as you shove it under his chin. Blood runs down the blade as he falls heavy upon the stone floor.
  
  "Say, you have rooms here? I could use a place to stay tonight."
  
  > The next day
  You wake up as sunlight pours in through the window. You rub your shoulder remembering the fight last night.
  
  "So. I wonder what I can find out about this Grif guy."
  
  You lift your titanium armor off the floor and fasten it across your chest and back. Sitting down, you squeeze your feet into heavy steel boots. Your great sword rest on your back as you buckle the strap across your front.[Themes: sci-fi]
  
  You can't see the shore, or the bay that you should arrive at today. Every passenger is given a few hours to stand on deck, so they can get some fresh air and sunlight. You're taking yours now hoping you can get a glance of the land that you'll soon call home for the next few years.
  
  You made your mark on a piece of paper that says you'll be living at this new settlement for the next three years. You can't read, so you made sure to memorize as much of the contract as possible. You're required to work for your new lord for thirty to sixty days every year. You have rights as a citizen of the community and a vote at the village moot of what ever towns, settlements, or villages are formed that you live in. You may practice what ever trade you are a member of, and are not required to be a member of a union to do so.
  
  Your new lord is George Godbole. He doesn't have a title. He's a fourth son of some petty noble family, and since his father is still alive, George hasn't inherited his title yet. He won't either so long as his three eldest brothers are still alive.
  
  Most of the people coming with you on the voyage are Georgians. The Kingdom was named after Captain George the second. You think that George Godbole was named after him, but you can't be certain. George is a common name among Georgians.
  
  You aren't a Georgian though. You're Front, or a Frontsman. Georgians are part of George's Kingdom, or the Georgian Kingdom. Front are the people that didn't want to live under the Captain's rule. So you moved beyond what the Crew could rule. The Crew being nobility among Georgians. You were told you could receive additional payment as a scout and prospector for being a Frontsman. Since Georgians think all Frontsman are from the very Fringe of civilization, and have done that sort of work before. Of course you match that stereotype, so you don't mind getting paid for it.
  
  One of the sailors calls out that he can see land. You stay in a spot where you know you'll stay out of the sailors way, and you think you'll be able to see the land from your vantage point.
  
  "Arthur!" You hear your name called. The other migrants are making their way to the deck to get a view of the land ahead.
  
  As you turn you see your friend David Singh, making his way to you from the crowd. His older Sister Marissa following him.
  
  "Can you see it yet?" David asks
  
  "Of course not. it's only just been spotted from the top of the mast." Marissa answers for you.
  
  You watch for a few minutes and see a mountain covered in snow slowly climb out of the horizon.
  
  "I'm going to go down and get my gear ready for landfall." You say to your companions.
  
  A passing crewman interjects before you can move below deck. "Mount Jut is the first thing we'll see, but it goes up beyond where the air goes. We might still be a few days out from the harbor proper. Wait a little bit before you get your things. At least until we can see the harbor."
  
  You watch for some time longer as the mountain comes into better view. Watching for over an hour you don't even see the range the mountain is a part of before your time on deck is over. You return below deck with the excited chatter of David following you.
  
  "...that mountain is going to be visible from just about any point on the continent. We'll never be able to get lost with something like that on the horizon."
  
  "One point of reference won't be enough to stop everyone from getting lost. It will help though." Marissa corrects.
  
  "Don't be a spoil sport Marissa. We'll always be able to tell which direction is North with that mountain."
  
  As long as you've known the siblings, David has always been excitable by most prospects, and Marissa has always tried to temper him and keep his exuberance factually correct. You'd probably be bothered by it if she corrected you like that too. David once explained it to you that she was told by their father that because they're sub-crew that they were expected to be educated and correct in as much as is possible. She was given the job of correcting her younger brother.
  
  You make your way over to the common area and find a place to sit with your friends. They've always had so much to say that you never needed to say anything yourself, so you add very little to the conversation. You listen to the siblings argue and talk for a few hours. Then you go to bed. You were fortunate enough to get a top bunk. David picked a bottom bunk and once on the trip while hanging his head over the side of his bunk with seasickness, the man in the bunk above him became sick as well. He wasn't given anymore water than his normal ration to get clean. It took a few days for the smell to leave him.
  
  [Author's Note: "The world is what we'll make of it, and there's furs, iron and gold aplenty to the north!" The princeling told us. He was gathering the coin, and he was gathering us. He promised us riches, so we followed him on a few ships he had chartered to claim the land to the north. First landing is about to commence.]
  
  > First Landing
  You wake and take your time before getting ready to see the deck. You take your time dressing and eating breakfast. David interrupts this.
  
  "Arthur! They can see the bay!"
  
  You immediately tip the last of your breakfast into your mouth and run to where you keep your equipment. You have a small knife and a heavier one, a Frontsman musket, that can shoot accurately up to nearly three hundred meters because of it's rifled barrel, a small spade, hatchet, folding saw, mess tin, and heavier clothes. You quickly gather up all of your gear with the ammunition and a worry stone that you carry.
  
  David is still struggling with his effects. As a silver smith, his tools will likely take longer to make it to shore than yours will. You helped him load both his and his sisters belongings on the ship, but seeing as there's no dock here you think he's getting ahead of himself. You don't imagine the smiths will be offloaded before the miners will be.
  
  You walk up the stair case that the sailors keep calling a ladder and find yourself on the deck of the ship once more. The cold wind bites the bare skin you have exposed on your face. You find a place to look over the land that stretches out before you. Everything is currently covered in snow. Mount Jut stands above you beyond the nearest mountain range. The best way you can think to describe the mountain, is that it's like a prize bull standing among chickens when compared to the other mountains. Nothing poetic about it, it's just that big. The nearest mountains are still a few miles away. There are still wide plains and plenty of forest to build shelter and find fuel.
  
  It's still early spring but you hope summer comes soon all the same. You help some of the sailors load up one of the longboats, keeping your gear on your person as you do it. You do a good bit of the loading from inside of the boat and before you know it, all of the gear is loaded up, yourself included.
  
  You realize that it's a first come first serve going to shore. Maybe you should have helped the Singhs with their things, but it's a bit late for that. Then again, there's only one sub-crew on the boat, everyone else looks like Frontmen.
  
  Everyone is quiet as the boat is rowed to shore. The pair of sailors at the front of the boat jump out early and cuss when their feet hit the water and pull the boat closer to land. Everyone helps unload the boat as quickly as possible. Once unloaded the sailors push back off to the ship.
  
  You look around the bay where you've stopped and see that the forest comes up to the edge of most of it with the exception of the rocky protrusion that cuts off the bay from the rest of the sea.
  
  An older Front speaks up. "Longteeth over here, striplings over there."
  
  You walk over with the other youths to where he indicated the striplings should stand. He points at you and another youth then motions you to follow him. After that he gestures the other old timers to go in other directions. A few are left behind to watch the supplies. You follow the old timers and listen to the forest around you. Most of the birds are the same that you're familiar with down south. Only two maybe three birds you'll need to figure out.
  
  You walk in the direction for awhile. You see sign of local rodents, and a set of tracks for a opax, which is the local version of a deer. Neither are anything you can eat, but it's something with a skin that will keep you warm and fat that still burns. Your group stops when you see the side of a tree that's had the bark torn up twice the size of a man. "Bear." Is all you say. You wouldn't be surprised if bear made it this far north. Most terrain Predators can't eat Heran animals. The bear decided that rule didn't apply to it. It could be a a bear or the local equivalent of that. Apex predators are worth reporting though. Your group turns around an goes back to where the supplies were dropped.
  
  You get back to the supplies and see where one of the other scout groups have come back. You wait for the others before the longteeth give the reports to the group.
  
  "Deer sign, Opax sign." One said.
  
  "Opax sign, Rain deer sighted." another said.
  
  "Opax sign, Bear sign. Four meter high reach." Your longtooth says.
  
  "Indig sign." The last scout says.
  
  No one says anything about the last report. Indigs are the name for the native Sapient population. The first Captain brought the colony ship down in the most fertile least populated part of the world. That didn't mean there weren't indigs there. It's a mixed history humans have with indigs. Some of the tribes were uplifted and are now a part of the Georgian nation, others joined the Vics and raided other indig and human settlements. Some were destroyed a few were turned into slaves after a lost war. It all depends on who the indigs ran into first and how they respond to outsiders.
  
  You wait with the others watching the treeline and the ship. More Longboats come ashore and you take turns, taking watch and helping unload the boats. After awhile, some people start setting up large low tents and fires.
  
  > Establishing the settlement
  You wait for a while with the gear. The longboat makes several trips back and forth as you take guard. Eventually one of George Godboles handpicked officers has you move the supplies to an area that's having some earthworks dug out. Nothing really impressive, just throwing enough dirt up to make it a bit harder if the local Indigs decide to charge the camp.
  
  "You'll all be serving your month of service starting now for this year." the officer informs you before giving out instructions. A few of you are sent to set up a watch, while most of your group, including yourself, is sent to go cut lumber to quickly throw up log cabins for a more permanent shelter.
  
  You find space in one of the tents to stow your gear and help both cut down, saw, and haul trees into position to be made into more weatherproof shelters. For the next several days you get up before dawn, eat the rations that are made available, and work until you're given a break for lunch and then dinner. After dinner you go to bed, and the next day you do the same thing all over again.
  
  You don't even see the Singhs for the first several days. You see David on about the third day.
  
  "Arthur! Hey Arthur!"
  
  You turn and wave to David as he leaves the cabin he's building.
  
  "Arthur! Have you been assigned a cabin yet?"
  
  "No."
  
  "Oh good! Marissa and I have one that's planned out already. We're assigned four people to a cabin with exception to married couples. I can get a cabin with Marissa because we're family, but I have less control of who stays with us. I was hoping you'd be willing to room with us."
  
  David wasn't bad company on the trip here. Living in the next bunk wouldn't be really all that different than how things were on the ship.
  
  "Sure David. I'll live with you. Most of my work is going to be out and about, so it'll give me a place to keep my things and you'll mostly have the space to yourself."
  
  "That's great Arthur! I'll put your name on the list!"
  
  David then ran off to go back to what he was doing before. You went back to move the next log. Two weeks later you are rooming with the Singhs and a friendly miner by the name of Ander Olson. In three weeks the town was built. The Cabins weren't pretty by any means, but they kept a good bit of the heat in and the majority of the wet out. The officer in charge of your work crew let everyone know that they still owed a week of work, but that would need to wait for later in the year.
  
  Finally a free man you find yourself in a position to begin scouting. No one really knows much about the land here besides there's plenty of metal in the mountains, and a lot of fur bearing animals just about everywhere. You'll be given some fresh fish eggs to drop into the ponds lakes and streams so that next year there will be plenty of trout and salmon to eat, You can do just about anything you would care to and after living in the Georgian kingdom the freedom gives you a high no ale ever has.
  
  "Arthur?" Your thoughts are interrupted and you finish packing to leave. "David and I know how to smith silver, but nothing's been brought down from the mountains. Would you mind if David and I went with you? At least until a mine opens up." It's Marissa.
  
  You take a moment to think over your answer. It's a common enough Frontsman practice to think before you speak. It drives most Georgians crazy though.
  
  Going with two people with you would be safer. If you get hurt you would absolutely be able to get help. On the other hand neither of them are at all familiar with so much as how to set up a shelter. You would need to teach them just about everything but how to make a fire. That will slow you down and may very well lose you time, money and very possibly food in your belly at times.
  
  > bring the Singhs with you.
  "Alright. Get any warm clothes, tools, and food that will travel well."
  
  "Oh thank you Arthur! I'll get David! We'll be along shortly!"
  
  You get the sudden feeling that things are going to be moving much slower for you after this. Hopefully they have warm shoes at least. When the pair of them are finished packing you need to spend a while adjusting the straps of the packs they've chosen. You also have them put a few things back in the cabin. A cotton blanket will likely kill them as keep them warm. Cotton absorbs water to easily for it to be a good choice. With that you make your way out of the settlement.
  
  You walk past the fence that's been built up around the town that's just been started. Passing by open ground that's covered in the stumps of trees that now make up the town, you find yourself in a position to make another decision about your future.
  
  You can head up to the mountains and start prospecting for the metals up there. The scan printouts that George Godbole saw before bringing you here only stated that the mountains had metal in them. Never did he mention anything about what kind of metals. One of the fastest ways you can help the Singhs is to find a vein of silver ore for them.
  
  On the other hand you don't know a ton about prospecting. Sure you can recognize gold, silver, copper, tin and the like. You just couldn't say much more than that. Maybe that's all you need though.
  
  You do know how to hunt though. You know how animals think for the most part, and you know what they need. You've killed and skinned plenty of animals, and you have the gear you need to process the carcass. If you can bring down an earth beast you have food, a hide, and maybe even the oil you can get from the fat. A Heran animal will get you a hide, and the oil. God knows you can make a decent living off of lamp oil and all the furs you're going to be able to ship back. It's the trade you had in mind when you came on this voyage, and it's the trade you came equiped for.
  
  > take the Singhs prospecting.
  Might as well try your hand at prospecting. The animals will still be there when you're done looking for valuable metals. If you can find a silver vein it'll get the Singhs work they know too. Best get started now though, because once someone lays claim to the land the metal is under, you won't have access to it.
  
  You start walking to the mountains. The pair of siblings bring their own food, clothes and a constant stream of chatter. David is to much of a social creature to not speak to whoever is near him, and Marrissa is mostly picking your brain about anything you know about prospecting. Which admittedly isn't much.
  
  You spend the next several days walking. You walk through the open areas and the forested areas and little bit by little bit the incline increases. You eventually hit foothills and start meandering through those. You see sign for some of the same creatures that were reported before. You occasionally see smoke from the fires of other prospectors or maybe some of the natives.
  
  While looking through the hills you find a few roots you can add to your rations. Not much else seeing how early in spring it is. Traveling slowly up the mountain you look back and see the settlement on the horizon. It's a brown patch surrounding a stony outcrop, that itself is surrounded by the large fields and forests still covered in snow. Beyond that is the slowly rolling waves of the sea. You take it all in for a moment before continuing to where you think streams have dug into the mountain side.
  
  You've chosen one of the deep draws up the side of the mountain range that no one else has bothered with. You know copper is green and gold glitters much like it does when it's smelted. After that you don't really know what you're looking for. You come across some brownish rocks that are crystaline in form.
  
  "That's Hemetite! Good find Arthur. We're going to make a fortune off of this. DAVID! OVER HERE!" Marrissa inturupts your thoughts as you handle the crystal.
  
  "It's what?" You say.
  
  "Hemetite. It's a crystaline form of iron."
  
  "What did you find?!" David says as he jogs up.
  
  "Hemetite." Marrissa replies.
  
  "What's that?" David says and you are absolutly certain you are going to hate that word in the next hour.
  
  After the sibling finish repeating the conversation you just had, the three of you collect as many of the crystals as you can carry in your packs and pockets. Marrissa ties a shawl to a stick she plants in the ground at the bottom of the draw.
  
  "What's that for?" you ask.
  
  "It's a land claim. We now own that mine up there." Marrissa replies.
  
  "Not much of a mine is it?
  
  David pipes up. "It's the Singh Donaldson Iron mine, and we're going to make a fortune off of it."
  
  "Wait. We're not going to sell it? I thought you two needed silver!" You say.
  
  "We need silver to be silver smiths. We need an iron mine to be mine owners. One of those things makes a lot more money than the other."
  
  You don't have a reply to that, but there goes your plans for a simple life as a seasonal hunter.
  
  You bag a few of the opax and take the fat and hides off of them as you go back to the settlement. You're out of rations the last day of walking back. You get scrip for the hides near where the administrative tent has been set up and sell the animal fat for much of the same.
  
  While you do that, David and Marrissa sell the iron ore you've collected and get tools for your new joint business venture. They also register the mine as yours and you find yourself with a few more tools, and a jointly owned pack mule and cart. The three of you go back to your shared cabin and you crash on your cot. As you go to sleep you hear David chattering away at your other roomate Ander. Ignoring that conversation you ease off to sleep.
  
  > start the Singh Donaldson Iron Mine.
  The cart and the mule make the trip out take a few more days than you would like it to. You can't quite follow the same path you took back. The trip is still under a week so you call that a win.
  
  When you get there you imediatly set to work. That work for you starts with taking care of the mule and making sure it isn't hurt or sick, and that it stays that way.
  
  Following that you set up camp, making sure that there will be warm food and at least a basic shelter for when night comes. While you're doing all this the Singhs are gathering up the iron ore. It turns out that hemetite doesn't always take a lot of work to mine, so they have a respectable pile of near iron needles sitting by. David has even found a couple of rather large quartz peices that he's set to the side as well.
  
  Once they've tired themselves out they settled into the camp and you all sleep for the night.
  
  The next morning you have visitors.
  
  "Hello the camp!" comes from a band of miners down the draw from you.
  
  "Ha! We haven't even got our first shipment back to the settlement and we already have people lining up to work for us." David crows.
  
  They look like claim jumpers to you, but you don't want to smother Davids joy just yet. Who knows, you could be wrong. You pick up your rifle, and put your hatchet and knife on your belt just in case.
  
  You stand a bit off to the side of the Singhs as you stand in a line. The miners form up a line about fifty meters down the hill from you.
  
  "You can't just be setting up a mine without the miners union. We'll be taking over the hassle of getting all of this iron out of the ground for you." A barrel chested man with grey hair and a craggy face yells up to you. He does it in a joking tone of voice, but there's something about it that puts you off.
  
  "I don't believe you will. This mine has been registered in town as belonging to the Singhs and mister Donaldson here. It isn't owned by the union nor is membership in a union neccessary as part of the charter for Godbole's respite." Marrissa replies in a firm voice that the sides of the draw carry down clearly.
  
  You look over the faces of the miners down below you and you can see that not all of them are willing to attack you. You think the man leading that band of men down there is going off script.
  
  "That's all good and fine for the good people of Godbole's respite, but we aren't in Godbole's respite now are we. You need to work with a union outside of Chartered Georgian land!" The miner yells back.
  
  You think Godbole's respite is the name of the settlement. No one's actually mentioned it to you, but that would make sense. A few of the miners say something in hushed tones to the foreman but he cuts them off with a sharp gesture.
  
  "Why don't we just hire them Marrissa?" David asks.
  
  "If the union takes over this mine we'll only own this place in name. We won't actually make any money off it and we'll be back to square one." Marrissa replies.
  
  You slowly pull the hammer back on your rifle to half cock. All of this talk sounds like banditry to you. It might be dressed up with half laws and the like, but they're here to take your land all the same. The click of the hammer setting at half cock echoes down the draw in the clear morning air. Everyone stops speaking.
  
  "Are you going to try to gun me down for looking for work!? You think you can aviod the law on this!? Georgians hang murderers!" The grey haired foreman yells up at you.
  
  "Frontsman shoot bandits. You've come up to take my land trying to hide behind half laws. It's the bullet or the rope for you my friend."
  
  "I'm talking about the full law, here. In the Georgian kingdom you need to work with a union unless the city charter says otherwise. We aren't in the city, so the full law applies here!"
  
  "That's all good and well for the good people of the Georgian kingdom, but if the city charter doesn't apply here, then we're in Frontsman land. Seeing as you're trying to take a mine that was registered in Godbole's respite. I'd say that makes you a bandit no matter how you pretty it up." You speak clearly and calmly. You think you may very well need to kill this man and that means you need to make a conscience effort to keep the shake out of your voice.
  
  "Be reasonable..." The man says and takes a step forward. You line up the sight posts of you rifle with his chest and pull the hammer back into a full cock.
  
  "Do you think you can take us all!? You're a fool if you think you can!" He screams at you.
  
  > shoot the Foreman.
  The rifle jumps in your hand and the mine foreman slumps to the ground.
  
  You slowly measure out a charge of powder and pour it down the barrel of your musket waiting for the smoke to clear. You've got another round in the barrel before anyone moves and it's a few of the miners stepping back slowly from your claim.
  
  "Any of you looking for work can get fair pay from us. This isn't a union mine though. It will never be a union mine. Now I'm certain none of you came all this way to start a life of banditry, so I'm willing to forgive your indiscretion here. Mr. Olson if you're willing I have need of a mine foreman."
  
  "I'd be more than happy to help Mr.Donaldson." Your cabin mate replies.
  
  > A month later.
  Ander Olson makes a good foreman and Marrissa has forgiven you for hiring him without talking to her about it first. You've reached a point to where you don't know what to do at the mine anymore. Most of the miners have enough experience in the trade to where you get in the way more than help. Ander is keeping things running smoothly, and the Singhs are managing the books making sure that there's enough food and tools on hand without spending more money than you're making.
  
  You've taken to running one of the supply wagons with a partner that varies each trip. You'll go down to the settlement which was named Godbole's respite at first landing, though no one mentioned that to you for some time. One day while you're unloading the ore a man aproaches you.
  
  "Are you Arthur Donaldson?"
  
  "I am."
  
  "I'm Marcus Hefran. I work for George Godbole. It has come to my attention that you have experience as a hired gun."
  
  You don't but you did shoot one bandit which is more than what most have done.
  
  "I've killed a bandit before."
  
  "I have been given the job of finding someone to hunt down a Jeffrey Simmons. He murdered his wife two nights ago. We need someone to track him down and bring him in. Dead or Alive."
  
  You take a moment to think this over. Mr. Hefran doesn't say anything and just waits for your answer. He's obviously dealth with Frontsmen before. You can't spend the rest of your life driving a cart as a part owner of the mine anymore. Even if this job kills you, you'll take it.
  
  "I'll take the job Mr.Hefran."
  
  :"Glad to hear it. Here's the description of the man."
  
  > begin your career as a bounty hunter.
  Mr. Hefran gives you directions to the last direction he was seen leaving. You gather up your gear and make a quick purchase of a mule before letting your partner know that you won't be going back with him this trip.
  
  After that you take the description of the man and follow his trail to the west. The snow hasn't thawed so it isn't a difficult trail, but he has a full nights head start on you. A day and a half later you find him curled up in the foetal position, half dying from the cold.
  
  It'd almost be a mercy to shoot him and put him out of his misery, but then you would need to carry the body back. On the other hand you could just pick him up and carry him back on the mule.
  
  > take Jeffrey Simmons back alive.
  You pick up the poor murderer and put him on the back of your mule. He's wrappen in furs and is a fair sight less pathetic after you get some soup in him that night. You both nod off to sleep. You wake up to him sitting on your chest.
  
  "I'm sorry. You've done good by me saving me as you have, but I can't go back and you'll put hunters on my trail if I let you live."
  
  You feel a sharp pain hit you in the chest three times. You manage to get your right arm free and pull a knife on him. You make a quick slash at him at an odd angle he thinks he gets away from. Never thought you would use the knife trick your own mother taught you, but here it is helping you get revenge on the man that's killed you.
  
  Your world fades starts to fade and you fall down on your face in the snow. You don't even feel the cold. That's not a good sign.
  
  "It's a pity that the life you saved is the same that took yours."
  
  You can hear the half gloat in his voice. The fool doesn't realise that when he thought he dodged the slash at his throat you cut the artery under his arm. You nearly laugh at him but all you can manage is a weak gurgle. Then you stop caring.