In the kingdom of Luxoron, lies the village of Greyroot. A lovely wooden thatch-roofed house is nestled along its outskirts, a gentle stream of smoke rising from its chimney. Inside, the scent of a delicious meal being prepared lingers about, while a beautiful melody is hummed by a striking woman in her early forties. Her snow-white skin and jet-black hair reflect a soft warm sheen of the fire, as she carefully stirs the pot hanging above it. All the while, a teenage boy glances at her from the passage, sneakily tiptoeing his way to the front door. Holding his breath, he carefully pushes down on the copper handle, when a slight creak escapes from the door hinges. Scrunching his face, the boy slowly turns his head towards the kitchen as a knot forms in the pit of his stomach. His gaze travels across the floorboards, trailing up to his mother looking at him with a loving smile. ''My dear Willfrith, where are you going without finishing your chores?'', she inquires in a gentle tone.

A forced smile curls across Willfrith's face as he grips the handle tighter, laughing nervously as he rubs the back of his neck. ''Well, you see, uhm, the thing is...!'', Cutting himself short, Willfrith slams the door open, frantically sprinting into the garden. He peeks back at his mother, who leans calmly against the doorframe, still smiling lovingly at him then vanishes before his eyes like a mirage of water. Willfrith's eyes widen and his heart races. He quickly looks forward, only to find her blocking the front gate. ''Since when have you become so naughty to run from your mother? 'sigh', You leave me with no choice, my sweet Willfrith'', his mother says as she cups her cheek, while looking playfully at her son.

Willfrith immediately changes direction, turning towards the stack of logs piled next to the fence, making a beeline towards them. A few steps before reaching them, he feels a sharp tug from his shirt collar, only to find himself on the ground staring at the cloudy blue sky where he is momentarily entranced by their tranquillity. Hearing approaching footsteps, he quickly springs back to reality, lifting his arms into a defensive position. ''Gone into defence now are we!'', his mother exclaims as she tries to break it. Just as another strike is about to land he flips the apron tied around his mother's waist over her head, rolls to the side and hops back to his feet, scanning for another route to escape. In his hurried search, he notices his best friend sitting atop the pile of logs near the fence and cries out to her, ''Bridget, save me!''.

Bridget leisurely carries on watching the show and flashes a smirk at Willfrith before energetically greeting his mother, ''Hello aunty''. Willfrith's mother snappily unties her apron and tosses it to the side when she notices Bridget waving at her, ''Oh good morning dear, how have you been?''. She pauses after catching a glimpse of Willfrith dashing towards the gate again. ''Sweety can you pass me the rake over there'', Briget salutes his mother playfully and hands her the rake. Willfrith, with a rising sense of hope as he reaches the gate, feels a hook from his pants, thrusting him backward. ''NOOOO! My freedom?!'', he sadly calls out but determined not to give up he loosens his belt and allows his pants to get pulled off, causing him to stumble a bit. Bridget bursts out laughing while his mother stares at his pants dangling on the rake and then back to him with a bit of competitiveness this time, ''Clever move my boy'', she mutters to herself before dashing towards him. She catches up to him, as they both race side by side to the gate. Willfrith is so preoccupied with outrunning his mother that he forgets about the trap near the gate. His mother abruptly slows her pace, bewildering Willfrith when 'Snap!'. ''Hahaha, what a fine catch of the day, won't you say so son.'', Willfriths mother says laughingly as she walks up to him dangling upside down in his underwear. ''Ha ha'', unenthusiastically, Willfrith sarcastically remarks.

After having a good giggle she cuts Willfrith free from the trap and begins to dust him off as she helps him up to his feet. From the back, Bridget comes skipping along with a scampy grin while holding Willfrith's pants and his mother's apron in her arms.'' AH, thank you my dear'', His mother kindly took the apron and began gently wiping Willfrith's pouting face. ''My sweet Willfrith, I hope you've learnt your lesson. You know I don't like to do this so promise me you will listen from now on'', she softly reprimanded as she cupped his cheek while smiling sweetly at him. Willfrith looks up at his mother with a cheeky grin then says, ''Mum I think our lunch is burning'', Willfrith's mother turns to the house in dismay, ''Ohh dear, the stew!''. Just as Wilfrith's mother is about to stand up, he leans in and kisses his mother on the cheek, smiling brightly as he says ''Thanks mum''. His mother kisses his forehead and then pats his head before standing up, tying her apron and neatening out her clothes. ''Alright you two, run along now, and try to keep out of trouble. Bridget, it was lovely seeing you again my dear'', with loving last words she heads back into the house, ''You too Aunty'', Bridget waves goodbye and then abruptly turns to Willfrith.

''Hi Will, so how's your day been?'', Bridget cheekily asks while handing over his pants. ''Do I really have to explain? You just witnessed the oh-so-terrible torment and did nothing to save this poor innocent soul!'', Willfrith says dramatically as he takes his pants back and slips them back on. Bridget looks at him with a raised brow followed by a chuckle. ''Innocent? I bet I can guess what your crime was'', she confidently says. A hint of competitiveness sparks between them, Willfrith buckles his belt then looks up with his brows slightly furrowed and stares into Bridget's eyes. ''Oh and if you're wrong, you buy me some honey buns, how's that sound'', Willfrith says with playful seriousness. Bridget grins brightly at Willfrith as she sticks out her hand to him, ''Fine, and if I get it right, you buy me honey buns''. They both nod their heads in agreement and shake on it. ''Alright then let's hear it, go on take a guess'', her eyes widen knowingly as she cheerfully answers, '' 'Ahem', Your crime, is trying to sneak out before completing your chores.''. His jaw drops, flabbergasted at her accurate guess. ''How did you know?!'' he asks. ''That's a trade secret. Now pay up''. Willfrith reaches into his pocket, takes out a copper coin, and flicks it into the air, over to Bridget. She catches the coin and places it into her pocket as she thanks him,  ''Pleasure doing business with you good chap''.

Willfrith perches himself up onto the stone fence and sighs loudly at his loss. ''Enough with the sulking Will, we've got more interesting things to do''. ''Interesting things you say, like what?''. Bridget pouts her mouth a bit and furrows her brows as she looks annoyed at Willfrith. ''You really must be an idiot. This is why you're always in trouble!'', she gestures to Willfrith with open palms, then places one on her forehead as she looks at him in disbelief. Willfrith scrunches his face a bit as he tries to concentrate and think about what exactly could he have forgotten. ''AHAH! I know!''. ''No you don't'', ''Yeah I don,t''. Bridget crosses her arms over as she taps her foot in annoyance on the soft grass. ''The festival you dumb dumb! Don't you remember announcing to the whole village last month that you were going to catch 'the biggest deer they've ever seen'?'', Willfrith scratches the back of his head while he stares blankly at Bridget, ''I did that?''. Bridget stomps her foot on the ground and smacks Willfrith over the head, ''Yes 'you' did that''. She hops over the stone fence and calls out to Willfrith as she starts jogging to the village square, ''Come on Will, we're burning daylight''.

 

Willfrith hops down and sprints to catch up to Brigdet, calling out to her from behind, ''Wait up will ya!''. They both run through a shortcut to the village square pausing for a moment when they reach the first water fountain there. ''I'll get the equipment while you get the provisions'', Willfrith tells Bridget. They each raise their hands and fist bump in agreement, with an added nod from Bridget. Then facing back to back, they both crouch down a little as they get into their sprinting positions, staring down at the paths they'll be taking, with a spark in their eyes and an energetic smile on their faces. ''We'll meet up at the entrance of the forest'', Willfrith reminds her then begins the countdown, ''Three. Two. One. Go!''.

The sound of Bridget's leather shoes echoed softly on the cobblestones of the main street as she manoeuvres through the chatty village folk, bolting past the tavern and inn when a horse and cart from a joining street suddenly turns into her path. Mere moments before crashing, she instinctively leaps over the cart, landing safely on the other side, carrying on running without breaking her stride. As she hurried along, she passes the tailor's shop and the puppet theatre making her way to Madam Beatrice's Bountiful Bakery. The smell of the sweet, warm, yeasty aroma of bread was tickling her nose the closer she got. A few meters away from the shop, she puts her fingers to her lips and whistles out in a distinct melody. The elderly woman rocking in her chair near the window at the storefront hears the tune and quickly gets a bag ready with honey buns, ties it up then makes her way outside and places it on the table before heading back in. Bridget blitzes past, and in seconds, the bag vanishes with her, leaving three copper coins clinking on the table in its place. ''Energetic as always, hoho'', the elderly lady happily chuckles to herself as she watches the scene from her chair. With the completion of her task, Bridget makes her way to the entrance of the forest. 

In the meanwhile, Willfrith decides to use a different route. He spots a few crates stacked near the wall of the apothecary, just a bit away from the tall school building and runs towards them. Using it as a stepping stone, he leaps off and grabs onto the slightly protruding bricks of the school and manages to scale the wall, making it up to the rooftop. He takes a moment enjoying the fresh breeze brushing past him as he uses the bird's eye view of the village to his advantage to map out a trail for himself. He readies himself and takes a breath then fearlessly sprints and leaps towards the next rooftop and continues across to the next, racing towards the blacksmith. As he draws nearer, a slight scent of sweat and steel reaches his nose until he hears the sound of metal clanging in the distance and whistles the same tune as Bridget. A teenage boy covered in sweat and soot walks out carrying daggers, a bow, arrows and a quiver wrapped and tied neatly together. He looks to his left then to his right for Willfrith when he hears a shout from above him, ''Mikey toss it!''. Mikey looks up and sees Willfrith dashing towards him from the rooftops. He stares wide-eyed at Wilfrith and flings the weapons up to him, yelling out, ''Are you insane!''. Willfrith grabs it mid-air just as he leaps over the gap onto the blacksmith's roof and throws a small coin pouch down to Mikey, ''Nice throw'', he laughs out cheekily, then swiftly jumps onto and uses the canopy on the next building, attached to the opposite building across the street, to make his way back to Bridget. Mikey shakes his head with a heavy sigh while spinning the pouch around his finger and mumbles, ''What an insane bastard'', as he grins to himself.

At the forest entrance, Bridget kicks up small clouds of dust beneath her feet, pacing up and down impatiently. ''Where the heck is this kid?!'' she thinks to herself when she hears the faint pitter-patter of footsteps in the distance. ''Huh?'', Bridget wonders if her mind is playing tricks on her. However, the sound begins getting louder and clearer, and that's when she hears Willfrith shouting, ''Bridget I'm coming in hot from the heavens!''. Bewildered, she looks up just as Willfrith takes a huge leap from the shed, straight into the forest and out of sight, landing with a loud 'Thud1', ''OOOUCH!''. Bridget rushes to Willfrith, pushing past the foliage while she cries out worryingly, ''Will are you okay?!'', only to find him lying on the ground huffing and puffing with a broad grin on his face and his eyes lit with adrenaline, covered in broken branches with a few scratches here and there. ''Hahaha, Man! Do I know how to make an entrance'', he says while staring up at the trees and sky from where he lays. Bridget purses her lips and furrows her brow as she angrily stomps up to him. Willfrith turns his gaze to Bridget's and gives her a big goofy grin as he sits himself up. Bridget furiously balls up her fist and knocks him on the head, then grabs him by the ear and begins lecturing him, ''Ouch, ouch, ouch, ouch!'', ''What entrance you idiot. You almost broke yourself and the equipment in the process!''.

Bridget releases her grip on him and drops down to sit next to him with her arms crossed, while Willfrith rubs his sore ear. He then pauses as if remembering something important and turns to Bridget with a sudden seriousness that catches her off guard, ''Bridget'', ''Wha... what?''. Wilfrith stares into her eyes with complete focus when he asks, ''Did you get the honey buns?''. Birdget's cheeks turn beet-red, as she irritatedly shoves him back. ''Oh, I got them alright'', ''hehe, I can't wait to eat...'', ''But I'm not giving you any''. Willfrith freezes up at the statement while Bridget calmly stands up again when she feels a light tug on he pants and looks down at Willfrith's glossy teary eyes gawking at hers, '' 'Sigh', What?''. Willfrith suddenly hugs her legs from behind and shoves his face into her knees as he starts balling his eyes out, knocking her off balance, '' 'sniff, sniff. Waaaaaah, No, please forgive me, Bridget. I accept my wrongdoings!''. ''OOF!'', She lifts her face from the ground, blows her hair out of her face, and looks back at Willfrith with a pinched face, who is still hanging onto her legs. ''UGH. Fine, fine, Let go already!'', she says while rolling her eyes at him and resting her cheek in her palm. Willfrith momentarily stops his weeping and lifts his slightly swollen flushed face from her legs, ''You mean it?'', ''Yeah, yeah. Now pull yourself together Will, we still got hunting to do". Willfrith immediately jumps up and salutes 

her while saying, ''Yes ma'am''. Bridget gets up with a long sigh, takes the daggers from the pile of weapons, fastening them in various spots around herself while Willfrith puts the quiver full of arrows around his back along with his bow looking to Bridget  confidently as he asks, ''Ready?''. Bridget nods and replies, "Let's go!" Together the two youngsters make their way into the Greywood Forest.