text: [Themes: family friendly]
  
  A faraway land, a land where Winter rules every edge. A land where snow fully covers the outdoors without exception. A land where beasts secretly roam around. A land called the "Winter Continent".
  
  "Who do you think you are?" shouted a young boy to a girl walking just ahead of him. "You should be honored and happy that I showed you the most expensive and warm gloves that ever existed!"
  
  Turning around the girl said,"So what? I don't care. You always show off your new things to everyone, it's nothing surprising either. Just plain gloves that are extra thick. My gloves are warm too."
  
  "Are you insulting me?" asks the boy shaking in rage.
  
  Then he runs forward and pushes her to the ground. She gets back up and punches him square in the face so fast he had no time to defend. Other kids gathered around cheering on the intensity as both the boy and the girl took off their school bags. The fight went on between the two for six whole minutes, but those six minutes proved to be life changing minutes. Unknowingly the two kids were fighting next to one of the village's Barrier Stone Stands that form a barrier around the village, protecting it from high level dangers (such as wild adult beasts and strong snow or ice storms). There are five of these Barrier Stones in the Snowy Village equally spaced around the border, and if one is removed, the barrier doesn't work anymore. That's why when the young boy took the girls bag and threw it so hard away, accidently hitting the Barrier Stone Stand close by making the Barrier stone fall out of place. The whole village froze in shock. For a moment, every creature living in the village silently watched as the barrier slowly disappeared.
  
  You live in the Snowy Village, one of the small villages surviving on its own in the Winter Continent. Your parents passed away 9 years ago in an accident leaving you with a little sister named Moonlight. She's 9 now, whereas you're 15. With no parents to provide for you siblings, you had to work since the young age of 6 with the help of your kind neighbor Auntie White. She would let you clean some of the furs and skins of hunted animals, in addition to helping her cook and bringing coal from the village storage shed. Auntie White would always pay you gold coins around sunset so you can go buy some food for you and your sister to have a meal before sleeping.
  
  As you along with Moonlight grew up, your kind neighbor grew old and weak. You began helping her with house chores for free while getting jobs from other villagers. Moonlight would on days help you, while on others go to school. You collected ice with others for the village water (in which we get by heating the ice over a big fire, then distributing it to everyone). You also help the village merchants carry their products (mostly food) to and from their sledges. Their crates brought from Market Town are by no means a light load. One day the hunters needed an extra person to help, and you went because some of the hunters were down in Market Town. From then you would regularly go with village hunters to hunt along since you did a great job the first time. At times you would help with building sledges or houses for our village. In exchange for gold coins, you worked with many villagers helping them with many jobs from starting fires and doing chores, to butchering and collecting ice.
  
  It's very unusual for those under 19 years of age to be working. Usually they'd be going to school to learn reading, writing, history, traditions, hunting, martial arts, sewing, embroidery, math, and many other life essentials. They have their parents that work to provide them with money and food. They would never fully understand the hard work you and Moonlight do to live. Perhaps it's that inexperience of a hard, parentless life that lead other kids into bullying Moonlight and you sometimes. It would always start by one of the village kids either showing off (something they posses or have done with their family), or making fun of you both for doing adult jobs so young. Being bullied by others of your age isn't a big deal when you have important jobs to finish. However, one day that was not the case.
  
  [Author's Note: You and your younger sister are orphans living in Snowy Village on the Winter Continent. A village where disobeying the leader is the worst thing you can do. You do some hard jobs for a living (such as cleaning the skins and furs of hunted animals, collecting lake ice to heat into water, and other jobs) despite your young age. The village like many other villages is protected with a barrier from severe storms and wild animals by the 5 barrier stones. However, one day one stone breaks during a fight. The village leader puts the blame upon your younger sister. Now, do you dare? -Entry for "End Masters Manifest Destiny Contest"-]
  
  > Punishment
  An incident occurred due to a fight between two kids, a boy and a girl. Filled with fear of what he did, the boy ran away. A friend followed him and told him that it wasn't his fault, but the girl's fault because it was her bag that hit the Barrier Stone. Wanting to believe his friend and to free himself of responsibility, the boy went to his grandpa (who happened to also be the village leader) to tell him it was Moonlight that caused the ruin of the barrier. Yes, Moonlight your sister is the girl. Not knowing any better than he was told, and losing his sharpness to old age, the boy's grandpa headed out to the scene in a hurry.
  
  Picking up her school bag with intention of leaving right away, Moonlight noticed that the Barrier Stone had fallen upon a boulder close by. The Barrier Stone was cracked, and it had lost its glow. Usually Barrier stones are purple with a little glow around them, but this one had lost its glow. Worried about what had happened to the village's Barrier Stone, Moonlight came to find you. She would always talk with you about her joys, sorrows, and worries since you're her only sibling. She finds you while you were carrying a large back basket filled with ice chunks. You knew its not a simple issue when you saw your sister's worried eyes, especially since the barrier just vanished not too long ago. Moonlight relays her story to you.
  
  On the way home after school, Rock (the village leader's grandchild) was showing off expensive gloves that his parents recently got him. Some classmates wanting to benefit from making friends with Rock were complimenting him and acting happy to see his gloves. Thinking that Rock's new gloves are not surprising, she ignores the ruckus and walks ahead. The selfish boy then accused her of insulting him. After putting their school bags on the ground, the two fought with their full power. But then Rock threw her bag (which was close to him on the ground) in frustration accidently pushing the Barrier Stone off its stand. Then he ran away while she took her bag and came to you.
  
  Without warning the village leader appears before you siblings. Old with wrinkled skin, draped with a brown furry gown, standing on a wooden cane, and bearing a serious face. As villagers began to silently gather around, he began to speak.
  
  "Is it true that you broke one of village's Barrier Stones, Moonlight?" asked the old man.
  
  "I was not. It was...it was Rock," declared Moonlight pointing at the old man's grandchild.
  
  "How could you!! How dare you point a finger me!" Rock shouted in anger.
  
  The villagers began worrying and whispering amongst themselves. They worried about the future village leader's character, Rock's character. Some were worrying about the village's safety as there is no barrier to protect them from big dangers such strong storm or wild beasts. Slowly the commotion grew.
  
  "Silence!!" loudly yelled the village leader. He didn't want the problem to grow any bigger and out of his control. The old village leader also refused to believe that his grandson had a part in the barrier's ruin. With his bloodline's reputation on the line, the old man states "It was your bag that caused the Barrier Stone to fall off its stand, was it not?"
  
  The Moonlight replies "Yes, but I was not the one who..."
  
  "Enough! You shall bear responsibility for this incident. You are banished from the Snowy Village as punishment," interrupted the impatient village leader.
  
  With all this playing in front of you, you ask yourself if you should do something? You ask if this is right?
  
  > Yes. You need to do something, this is wrong
  This is wrong. Moonlight was not the only child involved in that fight. She was not even the one who threw the bag that pushed the Barrier Stone to its end.
  
  "Village leader," you hesitantly speak. "I think that you need to reconsider your punishment. My sieter was not the only one who was involved in the incident."
  
  "You dare speak against me?" shouts the elder back at you.
  
  "No, I just think that there may be a better course of action to take," you answer with despiration to save Moonlight.
  
  "Then...you shall pay for your sister's irresponsability. You shall take her place and be banished from the village till you bring back a replacement Barrier Stone. Do you understand?"
  
  "Yes, village leader," you reply calmy.
  
  However, as soon as the crowd of villagers left, your knees gave in. Falling to your knees you were thinking about the strong percense of the village leader. Shortly after you head back home to pack your things along with some food and water. Right before you headed out, Moonlight came to you asking if she can accompany you. But you refused saying it'll be dangerous to be out there with you day and night. Some daylight still remains, but the sky became shrouded with grey clouds. Not long after that did a blizzard begin. On your path to Market Town were information flows with the air, you met a chubby merchant with a fairly big caravan. Even though he was a stranger to you, he asks if you would like to accompany him to a nearby cave to rest with his caravan untill the blizzard passes. What do you do?
  
  > refuse to go with the merchant
  You travel to Market Town where someone tells you about an abandoned mine. You go to the mine and find a Barrier Stone in the very depths of it. Despite almost falling off a cliff in the mine, you managed to get out and back to your village with the Barrier Stone in a week. Your sister was glad to see you again.