• Nate, Vincent, Marissa and Nita walk among a crowd.
  • A playing card is placed on the floor, alongside other cards. “Hey, Vincent..” says Nate as he places down the card. “Can we actually go out and do something today?” Beside him are Nita and Vincent, playing a game of poker against each other. “One more round and we’ll call it off, Nate” says Vincent. “Maybe we can find some work at the market’s bulletin board” says Nita. “Yeah, something easy that pays good.” says Vincent. He instructs Nate: “Now put the next card on the floor”. Nate is bored out of his mind. Marissa walks in, surprised to see them. “Hey, there you are, guys!” she says as she approaches. “W-wait, are you gambling right here? Inside of the building? We are going to get in trouble!” she whispers, trying to not draw more attention to the situation.
  • Nita turns around to Marissa. “It’s fine, we’re in a blindspot where Faulkner can’t see us” she says. Nita turns around to Vincent. “Raise you 20” she says as she places down her bet. Vincent thinks about it for a few seconds, nervously deciding what action to take. He finally gives up and folds his hand, throwing them up in the air. Nita happily picks up the coins they were playing with and stacks them up on her palm. “So, what do you say we go buy something nice?” she asks. “Actually, Mister Faulkner just asked us to do something for him…” says Marissa. “Awesome! Are we going on an expedition!” says Nate with excitement. “Nope, just going shopping for some provisions!” says Marissa, as she holds up a shopping list with a few simple items.
  • Marissa and everyone else walk across the hallways of an outdoors market. It’s busy. “Whew… now we have to find a stand to buy from…” says Marissa, leading the group. Nate looks around with excitement while Vincent and Nita walk alongside them uninterested. “Wait for me right here!” says Marissa before heading out. It’s not too long before Vincent and Nita decide to have their own plans. “I’m talking a look around if you don’t mind” says Nita. “Me too” says Vincent”. “Catch you guys later”. “Yeah, whatever”.
  • Nate looks how Vincent and Nita walk away, turning his head back and forth. He decides to tag along Vincent. “So, where are we hanging out, Vincent?” says Nate. “The good ol’ adventure duo?”. Vincent doesn’t pay much attention to him. He sits down at a bench and takes out a book from his bag. “Nowhere, really. I’m just going to sit here” he says. “That’s so boring though! C’mon, let’s go check a stand!” pleads Nate. “Knock yourself out, the world is yours! Or this whole market, at least” says Vincent, in an effort to get Nate off his back. “The whole world…” Nate looks back, thinking to himself of the endless possibilities. “Okay, see you later Vincent!” he says as he heads out, waving Vincent away.
  • Marissa walks among a crowd in the market. “Let’s see…” she says, as she reads her list. Paying little attention to her surroundings, she bumps into another person, knocking both of them to the floor. The other person drops all the items she was carrying on the floor. Marissa reacts quickly and apologizes. “Oh my gosh!! I’m so, so sorry!” she exclaims. She quickly picks up the stranger’s belongings and continues to apologize to them. “I’m sorry for breaking your stuff!” she continues. The other person reassures her “Don’t worry, happens to me sometimes too!” they say. “Is there anything I could do to make up for it?” asks Marissa. “Maybe you’d like to buy something?” the other person suggested.
  • “I got goods from all places in the region! Special drinks, souvenirs, anything you’d ever need!” said the stranger Marissa bumped into. She wore a chullo hat and had her hair styled with braids, carrying a large sack on her back with a multitude of miscellaneous items. She looked like she didn’t have a care in the world. “You look like you are a good cook!” she said to Marissa, making her blush. “Heh… can you tell?” said Marissa, flattered. “Perhaps you would be interested in this chef’s knife?” the merchant said as she held an enormous double-handed sword. “Why would you need that for cooking?” said Marissa while she looked at her reflection on the shiny blade. “A big knife for a big hunger!” said the merchant with a smile on her face. “Don’t you have something more… portable” asked Marissa, nervously. Perhaps she regretted asking this person to sell her one of her goods. The merchant pulled up a much smaller version of that same sword, probably more suited to actually cut vegetables. “Sure, I’ll take it…” said Marissa, reluctantly, as she held the knife pondering over her odd purchase.
  • Nate walked around the streets of the market, glancing at the stalls behind him. A trail of discarded, eaten apples caught his attention. He followed it and found a boy sitting atop of a stack of crates, eating the apples without any shame. “Hey, are those yours?” asked Nate innocently. “What are you, a pathfinder? Go away” said the surly kid with impatience. His hair was scruffy and unkempt, and he wore a large red scarf around his neck. “How did you know!?” said Nate with excitement, honoured at being addressed as such.
  • Nate hurried to climb the stack of crates. He had something very important to say to this kid he just met. “I don’t mean to brag, but…” he said as he reached the top of the stack. “Once, I beat a condor this big!” he bragged, opening his arms wide to emphasize the greatness of his feat. The other kid looked at him with indifference. “Meh…” he said, unimpressed by what Nate just said. “Hey, what about you then?” complained Nate. “Have you heard of the lost caravan?” said the other kid. “Huh? What is it?” asked Nate. “Years ago, a merchant went missing in the mountains with all of their gold left in their carriage. It’s been a mystery where it could be found” said the kid. “That was… until the Red Scarves found it!” he said as he stood up heroically. “Huh? Do you know anyone” asked Nate. The kid points at himself with pride. “No way, you did it? That’s amazing!” said Nate with excitement.
  • Marissa walked around carrying two heavy bags. Tired, she looked around for her friends to help her. “Gosh, where are Nita and the rest? I should’ve told one of them to help me with these…” she said to herself. As she walked, she finally found one of her friends. Unfortunately for her, they were fast asleep on a bench. Marissa approached Vincent, to politely ask him what he was doing. She yells at him “Vincent, wake up!! What are you doing?”. Vincent jumped and shrieked in terror. Soon as he saw Marissa, relaxed and asked her calmly “Oh, it’s just you, Marissa”.
  • “Wasn’t Nate hanging out with you?” asked Marissa, flustered. “Yeah, he was…” answered Vincent. “Probably telling some poor guy how cool is to be a Pathfinder.” Marissa asked him back: “Aren’t you worried about him?”. “ Nate can do by himself just fine.” said Vincent, confident on the situation. “He’s friendly and he will follow anyone who…” he continued before stopping himself, thinking over what he just said. He got up and looked back at Marissa: “Okay, I guess you have a point”. He said. Marissa dragged him by his arm in a hurry, “Let’s go find him then! And Nita, too!”
  • Nate and the other kid walk around the market. However, it could be argued that it was Nate following him instead. “So, can I become part of the Red Scarves?” asked Nate. “Eh… I dunno. We are not taking signups…” said the other kid. Nate was taken aback by this rejection. “I’ll just make my own team, then! It’s gonna be... Nate… Nate’s Gang…” he rambled. Good names escaped Nate’s brain unable to come up with something clever. Finally, he said with pride: “Nate’s Fluffy Gang!”. “Keep trying” said the other kid. As they were walking along, someone yelled at them. “Hey, you two! Stop right there!” said the person. “Think you can just eat my apples like that?” he questioned them. “Yeah? Whatcha gonna do about it?” the other kid said, mocking the vendor who just lost an entire crate of apples to these two kids. “Yeah, what?” asked Nate, genuinely wondering what this man would do about it.
  • The vendor took out a whip to admonish discipline onto these kids the old-fashioned way. He chased them down the street yelling at them. “Get back here! I’ll teach you a lesson!”. The other kid pulled Nate into an alleyway, losing the man chasing them down. “Whew.. that was close” said the kid, relieved. “So, do you know of any cool treasure to hunt for?” asked Nate. “You know, there is an easier way to get our hands on something juicy…” said the kid. “Do tell!” said Nate.
  • Still in the market, Nita walked down the street with a pair of shopping bags filled to the brim. Marissa finally found her and shouted at her to get her attention. “Nita! Nita! Thank god I found you!” she exclaimed with relief. Nita turned around calmly. “Is Nate with you?” Asked Marissa, worried. Nita, confused by this question, asks back to Marissa. “Nope, I thought he was with Vincent?”. Vincent pointed to the bags Nita is carrying. “Hey, whatcha got there?” He asked. “Oh, this?” She said. “Thanks to Vincent’s collaboration, I just bought 57 disposable cameras. With these, I won’t be missing my old camera in a long time!”. Indeed, the bags contained an enormous haul of disposable cameras. “Here, you can have one!” She said as she handed over them to her friends. “Don’t worry, I’ll let you have one too.” She said, mockingly offering an unamused Vincent one of her many cameras. Vincent tries one of these cameras, taking a photo of Marissa. “Agh! Careful with the flash!” Said Marissa, turning her eyes away from the camera after being blinded by the flash.
  • “Come on, we gotta focus…” said Marissa as she recovered from the camera’s flash. “Sorry, I had to try this one out” said Vincent, somewhat amused. Behind a corner, the kid Nate met spied on them, hatching a mischievous plan. He turned around to Nate, who was sitting around a few meters away, unaware of what his friends were up to. “Okay, here’s the plan” said the kid. “I’ll sneak up those guys around the corner and snatch their bags. I bet the stuff they bought is worth a good chunk!”. Nate objected to the plan for a moment. “Isn’t that stealing? I’m not sure about that…” he said. The kid shrugged it off and reassured Nate, instead. “No, no, nope, no, no. We’re just taking away their stuff because we want them more!” He said.
  • “Think about it, we will be happier with their stuff. If they knew that, they would let us keep it for sure!” Said the kid. His explanation was enough to clear Nate’s doubts. “I hadn’t thought of it like that!” He said, relieved. “‘Sides… these guys look kinda lame, anyway.” Said the kid. Nate could picture what these clueless people looked like: a guy with a fat nose and a hunched over pose, a tall girl with a ponytail and a blank expression holding two shopping bags, and a short girl with a dumb look on her face wearing a plain bowl cut and a bow. “I can imagine…” he said, amused. “Anyway, I need you to drop these crates on them so we can get away. Then we just blend into the crowd and leave!” Said the kid. “You got it boss!” Said Nate. Before he could say another sentence, Nate’s conscience acted upon him. “Nate, I can’t believe you are stealing!” said a voice from his head. A small version of Alfonzo, Nate’s idol, manifested on his shoulder like a guardian angel. “How would you feel if someone took your hat?” He asked him.
  • “W-well...” Said Nate, somewhat uncomfortable at the question. “Don’t listen to that nerd” another voice called from his head. A small version of Vincent manifested on Nate’s shoulder, as a devil. Wearing a onesie with horns on his head, the imaginary Vincent advised Nate to do whatever he likes. “This kid has a point! How much more will you enjoy their stuff than them?” Said the imaginary Vincent. A fierce inner turmoil was brewing in Nate’s consciousness with both sides arguing over each other. “Just take a little bit more, treat yourself!”. “Nate, no! Don’t forget your values!” “Your values are just having fun!” “That’s not what a good hero would do!”. The kid watched Nate space out, confused. “Dude… are you okay?” He asked. “Yeah, yeah! I’m alright!” Said Nate, caving to the pressure. “Cool, wait up here. I’ll give you a signal” the kid instructed.
  • Meanwhile, Marissa worried about where Nate could be. “Oh my gosh, oh my gosh!! I’ll have to put up missing posters right away!!” She said. The situation was getting out of control for her, thinking up the worst scenarios for her. At the same time, the kid crept closer to them to snatch their shopping bags. “Mister Faulkner is going to kill me! What re they going to do to us!? Am I going back to jail!?”. A somber vision of her future flashed before her eyes, seeing herself being escorted to the gallows to pay for her terrible crimes. “No!!!” She shrieked. She noticed someone behind her and quickly turned around to see who was it. She saw the kid Nate met and greeted him. “Oh, hi buddy” she said to him. He was taken aback by her reaction. Despite being inches away from stealing their belongings, he froze in place wondering what to do. “Maybe we can ask this boy” suggested Nita. They asked him questions about their missing friends, but he wasn’t paying attention. “Crap, I have to think fast…” he thought to himself.
  • The kid’s best plan was to strike fast on his victims. He swiftly kicked Vincent’s shins, making him yell in inimaginable pain. The kid took advantage of Vincent’s reaction to snatch his backpack and run away. “Hey, my backpack!” Said Vincent, furious. “Come back, moron, I’m going to kill you!” He yelled as he saw the kid stick his tongue out at him in mockery.
  • The kid yelled at Nate, who wasn’t paying attention to the situation. “Hey, Hat Guy! Don’t forget your part!” He said. There was no way for Nate to witness who was chasing his new friend, or for Vincent to know who was his accomplice. Nate pushed the crates with his body, knocking them over Vincent. Nate and the other kid got away successfully, as Vincent only saw the silhouette of two kids running away. “Vincent, are you okay?” Said Marissa. Vincent barely shrugged it off “Yeah, yeah, I’m fine” he said, dragging himself up to keep looking for the kid. He looked around the crowd.
  • Vincent walked past Marissa and Nita without saying a word. “Where are you going?” Said Nita. “Getting back my shit and beating down that punk” he said. “Wait!” Said Marissa as she grabbed his arm. Vincent ignored her and kept walking for a second until Marissa dragged him down to the ground. “What’s your deal?” He yelled back at her. “What about Nate?” She said. “What about him?”. “We have to find him first!”. As they struggled, Marissa looked to Nita for help. “Nita, tell him something!” She said. “Yeah, uh, Nate must be shivering with terror!” said Nita, with her best reasoning. “You are not helping” said Marissa. “Okay, fine. Back to the guild, and then we look for the thief.” Said Vincent as he caved in. “And Nate, too!” said Marissa.
  • Back at the guild, Everett waited impatiently for the group to get back. Behind him, Marissa, Vincent and Nita waited to come up with an idea. “What are we going to do? He’s going to notice it’s only three of us!” Said Marissa. “Well… Nate’s got one of his stupid cutouts upstairs. We could use one of those meanwhile.” Suggested Vincent. “But we gotta get past him to get there!” Said Marissa. Nita stepped forward, confidently, with a plan of her own. “No worries, guys, I got this.” She walked up to Everett, peeking her head from behind him. “Hello, Everett” she greeted him. “Hey! What took you so long?” He said, impatient.
  • As Marissa and Vincent ran past the hallway, Nita continued to keep Everett distracted with pointless conversation. “What are you looking for?” She asked him. “Where are the rest of your friends?” He asked back. “I haven’t seen them, it’s just you and me.”. Everett hunched forwards to look at Nita in the eye, while she continued to play dumb. He gave up on asking her more questions and walked away from her. “I’m going to look for Vincent and the rest.” He said. “W-wait!” Said Nita, panicked. She would need to think of something better than that. She let her body fall on the floor, yelling for help dramatically. “Oh no! I’m feeling faint!” she uttered with desperation. Everett quickly turned around. “My vision is going blurry… is someone there?” Said Nita. “Wh-what?” Asked Everett, dumbfounded. “Come closer…” asked Nita. Everett knelt to check on Nita, somewhat concerned and confused. Nita gently placed her hand on his cheek, her agitated breathing calming down and looking at Everett with a delighted expression. “Oh… it’s you, Everett. The sight of your eyes… It comforts my aching body…” she whispers at him. Unable to make a move, Everett froze in place listening to Nita’s words. “Hey, were you looking for us?” said Vincent, peeking his head from the door. Everett turns around with wide open eyes while Nita lays on the floor, unfazed.
  • Marissa props a cutout of Nate, greeting Everett. “It’s us, me, Vincent, and our dear friend, Nate” said Marissa. “Good, I was looking for you all morning” said Everett as he walked towards them. “Wait! Don’t come any closer!” Said Vincent, warning him. “Nate’s having… a bit of a cold!” Said Marissa. “C-come on, Nate, you will feel better soon!” she muttered nervously, sweating profusely. “Nonsense… I’m already good to go! Let’s um… go exploring!” Said Marissa with her best impression of her friend. “Okay…” said Everett. “Just put away the stuff you bought. Go clean up the east courtyard after.” A little exhausted, he left scratching his head. “R-Right away sir!” said Marissa eagerly, still pretending to be Nate, as he cutout’s head split off from the neck.
  • “What are we gonna do about us? They’re going to notice we’re gone” said Marissa. Nita picked up the torn off face from Nate’s cutout. “Oh, I know… I could make some cutouts like this for ourselves!” she said. Moments later, Nita showed her creation. A cutout of her, Marissa and Vincent with hyper-realistic eyes, luscious lips and with hands behind their backs. Vincent, unamused, questions her. “How many years of art school you said you have taken?” He said. “I don’t need to take advice from a library rat” Nita retorted. Unbothered, Vincent reassured her “They’re fine” he said “Faulkner won’t see a difference “.
  • At the market, Marissa, Vincent and Nita look around for Nate. Back at the bench where Vincent was sitting, they wonder where he could’ve went. “So… he was here at first?” Asked Marissa. “He was… then he wasn’t.” Said Vincent “The market is huge, I assumed he was still looking around”. “What if he was kidnapped?” Asks Nita. Marissa freaks out at the thought of this. “No!! We gotta be positive!” She says. “Yeah, I think he could put up a fight” says Vincent, confidently. As their discussion ensues, someone recognizes them and greets them from a distance. “Hi, miss adventurer! Did you change your mind on the knife?” she says. It’s the merchant Marissa met just a few hours ago. Marissa hands her over one of the missing posters. “No… we’re looking for our friend…” she said. The merchant seemed to recognize his drawing right away. “Oh, green poncho boy!” She said. “He was hanging out with another kid.” Marissa and the rest were surprised by this detail. “Another one?” Said Vincent. “What did he look like?”
  • The merchant tried to remember more details about Nate and the other kid he was hanging out with. “About the same age as him… I heard them talking about heading out the old temple ruins.” She said. “Ruins?” Asked Marissa. “There is an old site just out of town…” said Vincent. “Treasure hunters go look for relics even though it’s off limits”. “Sounds like a fun hangout spot” joked Nita. The merchant was seemingly surprised by this as well. “Oh, it’s a restricted area?” She asked Vincent. “Did you not see all those ‘No trespassing’ signs?” He said. “…Maybe” admitted the merchant while she held a suspiciously old looking vase. Marissa was still more concerned with figuring out where Nate could be over whether someone could commit grave robbery. “If that was Nate… then who was with him?” She thought to herself. While she kept herself immersed in thought, more discussions were going on between the merchant and her friends. “…So, how much for the ‘XL sized skewer’” she overheard Nita. “Oh, great choice!” Said the merchant. She hurried to get her friends out of there and not waste any more time. “No, thanks! We will be on our way!” She said as she pushed them away elsewhere.
  • “So, Nate made a friend?” said Vincent. “Looks like we’re not enough for his daring expeditions.” Said Nita. “I think she mistook Nate for someone else…” said Marissa. “Nate is a bit of a wildcard” admitted Vincent. “Let’s just put up more posters.” Said Marissa, reluctantly. Everyone scattered across the market to put up posters and ask people about Nate. Nita walks to one of the bulletin boards before she notices something on them. “Oh my god” she exclaimed. Among the many posters, one stood out. A poster of a familiar figure was on display. “What is it?” asked Vincent. A girl with blonde hair who looked suspiciously similar to one of Nate’s friends was depicted. Marissa joined them. “Could it be…” asked Nita. “No way…” said Vincent, as they all looked at the poster that caught their attention.
  • On the bulletin board, a portrait of a kid labeled with large, red letters stood out. It was the poster that caught their attention. “WANTED. Also known as: ‘Chuckie’”. A sketch of a kid with black spiky hair wearing a red scarf looked back at them with a smug grin. “That’s the kid who stole your stuff, Vincent!” Said Nita. Vincent ripped the poster from the board, ignoring the other one beside it. Not even Marissa had a clue of the other poster they ignored. “Chuckie, huh…” said Vincent. Marissa pointed out the details written in. “Look! He could be in the same place as Nate!” She pointed out, as it said this felon was seen previously at the abandoned temple. “Maybe… this was the boy he was seen with?” Said Nita. More clues pointed to the truth, but Vincent was in disbelief. “No way.. Nate… I mean… he couldn’t be…” he tried shrugging it off. “A bit mischievous but…” he said before pausing himself. “God damn it!” He said, as he fell on his knees. “What are we waiting for, then! Let’s hurry up!” Said Marissa.
  • A trail of papers was strung across the abandoned temple’s plaza. Although it had remained empty for hundreds of years, it still saw some visitors who looked for a shady hideout close to town. Such was the case for Nate and Chuckie today, who were sitting on top of one of the buildings as they rummaged through Vincent’s belongings for something interesting. However, only notes and books could be found in his backpack. “… This is the worst haul I have stolen this week. This wasn’t worth the chase.” Said Chuckie. “Tell me about it…” says Nate. Chuckie gets up and carries on. “It’s like that sometimes. We can go back to town and find another poor idiot.” He says, as Nate continues to empty the bag in a hopeless attempt to find something interesting. A ragged piece of paper falls out from one of the books.
  • Chuckie picked up the piece of paper that fell from the book. “A napkin?” He wondered. Nate takes a closer look. “No.. it’s a map!” said Nate. On closer inspection, the paper contained an intricate drawing of a mountainous region. A large mountain is depicted somewhat close to the middle, with a large X drawn and an illegible script beside it. An arrow seems to trace a path towards it. “Hm… X marks the spot?” said Chuckie. “Wait…” said Nate. “This… is a map of Mount Mataraju!”. He pointed to the large mountain behind them. Right away, both of them started dreaming of what could be the found atop of the mountain. “Dude! There has to be a treasure in the summit!” Said Chuckie. “Relics made of gold to sell for money!” he continued. “A thief’s buried loot!” Said Nate. He prepared for an adventure with excitement. “What are we waiting for!? Let’s go, let’s go!” he said as he urged Chuckie to get moving. However, on a closer inspection, he noticed an important detail was missing. The arrow drawn towards the summit was cut off at some point, making it impossible to figure out where it was coming from. “Wait.. where is the starting point?” He asked. Nate came back to his senses. “Good question…” he said.
  • A camera zoomed in Vincent’s face. “My lens is catching the sight of an odd creature…” said Nita, as she followed Vincent. She zoomed in further, focusing Vincent’s facial features with an uncomfortable amount of detail. “A nasty, unsightly creature… I wonder what species it is?” She said before he could turn back at her, unamused. “Please, no flash allowed in archaeological sites” said Vincent, shrugging her off. Him, Nita and Marissa delved further into the ruins. “Is it okay for us to be here?” Asked Marissa. “It’s fine. Faulkner doesn’t have enough people to watch over this place. The off-limits thing is just a formality” said Vincent. The fog became a bit thicker as they kept walking. Nita noticed the paper trail across the road towards the temple. “You guys got a littering problem ‘round here too.” She said. “That’s weird, people usually come dump garbage on Sundays…” said Vincent. “Hey, isn’t this your handwriting?” Asked Nita as she picked up one of the papers on the ground. “Five year plan: Buy 1000 lottery tickets. ???. Profit” it said. Vincent snatched it from Nita’s hand, embarrassed. “That kid must be close…” he said.
  • Still trying to figure out how to make use of the map they just found, Chuckie asked Nate about the rest of the notes found in the bag. “Maybe there is a clue inside this book” he said. Nate starts going through the pages of what could be a journal. “Let’s see… here’s an entry from a month ago.” He said “Mountain watch… yada yada… Bring lunch… Pathfinders’ Assistant...”. Chuckie interrupts him. “Ha! A Pathfinder nerd, too?” He joked much to Nate’s disdain. Nate continued to read through the entries. “Taken back to the guild with these three loons…” He could picture the same goofy bunch he thought about before stealing this backpack from that guy. “Hiked up the mountains and fought a condor…”. A familiar event to Nate. “Visited my grandfather to retrieve my map piece… Found a weird animal”. The events described painted a clearer picture for him. “Wait... this…” he checked the book’s cover page, confirming his suspicion. “VINCENT. Do Not Touch, Nate!!!” Was written on the page. “Oh no…” Nate thought. His face turned pale with horror “Oh no, no, no!! T-this is Vincent’s! B-but how!?” He asked to himself.
  • Chuckie asked him about the book. “So? Found anything interesting?” He said. Nate snapped out of it for a second, bursting in nervous laughter. “Ahaha! I think it’s written in French!” He said, barely composing himself. “Say… Chuckie, how did the guy who took this from you looked like?” Asked Nate in denial. “Uh… Brown hair, scrawny, pink jacket… Why?” Answered Chuckie. Nate’s head became dizzy with anxiety, with regrets and worries racing in his mind. “Oh no. This is terrible! What am I gonna do? I need to get outta here! I need to give Vincent his stuff back! I should’ve listened to Alfonzo!” He thought. Nate’s thoughts couldn’t be stopped until he heard voices coming from a distance. “Is it them?” One of the voices said. “I see two figures over there!” The other voice said. Nate was paralyzed with fear.
  • Next update will be uploaded next Saturday!