Val leaned against the building, his breath rising in a cloud as he tugged the coat he wore tighter around his body. Boredly, he flicked his eyes toward the few people that, like him, were milling about. He had stormed out of the hut that morning, barely acknowledging the heavy spoon his mother had flung at his head, and forgetting the harsh words his older 'perfect' brother had yelled after him.<br/><i>I'll probably be sleepin' out in the snow tonight, losin' my job and such. </i><br/>He had hated that job and hadn't been very good at it either. His mind wandered too much to remember the numbers of stock in the store, let alone how much one of the nobles had ordered.  He had been more focused on what he did while<i>not</i>at the store- fixing things. Little things, mostly, a vase with a nick, or someone's pen that had quit writing. He liked restoring things to what they used to be. It made him feel more useful than wasting time inside a storeroom.<br/>Val blinked snow out of his eyes as he noticed two unknown people walking through the Countryside. They looked nobler than most, but the unfamiliarity that they had- plus the constant looking at a map- betrayed them to what Val already suspected; they were not of the Three Families.<br/><i>Huh, I wonder what's brought these two to the Countryside? The older guy's coat is really not thick enough for Ashburn. </i><br/>Silently, Val kicked himself off of the wall of the building. Determined to follow these men. Curiosity had killed the cat, his Ma said.<br/><i>Satisfaction brought it back.</i>