Penn was just about to come around the bend, he was walking along a mountain pass that he had traveled many times, this was his favorite view point, he came around the pass and there was fort buxton.
Fort Buxton was located near a calm stream in a valley between two tall peaks, one of those peaks was covered in snow all year and during the coldest months the snow would just barely reach the fort the other peak was green and lush and didn't get snow quite as often as the other peak, it wasn't as tall and it had a great big crevice they called "the gap" running down the side of it. That crevice ran directly towards the fort as if every drop of water that ran down the side of that mountain just happened to go that direction.
The gap is where the stream came from and it ended a ways from the fort. Most of the woods around fort Buxton had been cleared so the valley was pretty bare. Except for a dense patch of trees near where the stream exited the valley.
There were too many creatures with thier second mutation in the forest and so the people of fort Buxton hadn't been able to clear the area.
Penn walked down the road and approached the gates where saw his brother, Tom on the guard tower, Tom recognized Penn from a distance of course but he didn't dare open the outer gates until Penn was closer, they didn't want to have to deal with any creatures getting into town, even a cricket could be an issue if you couldn't kill it.
Tom looked pretty simaler to Penn. They both were fairly short, slim features and wirey builds, Tom's hair was brown while Penn's hair was jet black, they both had very green eyes and sharp faces.
Tom raised his hand and said "its my brother, open the gates" the other gates slowly opened, Penn stepped inside where he was greeted by two guards. he didn't know thier names but he recognized them and were freindly with each other since he traveled outside quite frequently. the outer gates closed and the two guards started to search the gate area, once they were certain nothing was inside they gave the signal and the inner gates swung open.
Tom was already on the ground inside the inner gates and walked up to Penn. "What took you so long penn"? Penn expected this, he had been outside the gates for almost a week by now and he only took a few days worth of food, his brother always seemed cold and unapproachable but he was always thinking of his family, and worried about them quite a bit. It was why he took on guard duty, he felt like if he did his job well he could keep everyone safe.
Penn told Tom "its something really good ill tell you more at home tonight, I might need your help when its time". Excitement flashed in Tom's eyes for a moment, he told Penn he would see him at home, there would be fresh vegitable soup and he would bring some cheese for dinner, father had been at home today with their sister cutting carrots and potatoes for this weeks soup.
Penn left the gate and walked through the fort, fort Buxton was big enough that they had two inns, he passed by the bigger one and saw a familier face, a girl name Clara he grew up with.
She was very cute and they got along very well. Clara saw Penn looking at her, she yelled his name and ran over. She put her hands on her hips and planted her feet right in front of him. she blew up her rosy cheeks and looked like she was about to yell at him, and she just stood there just like that until she couldn't stand it anymore , she gasped for air and her brown hair bounced when she relaxed a little.
She looked up at Penn who was laughing at her by now. Clara said "you disappeared for almost a week! you promised me you would take me out to the stream to pick flowers!"
Clara was the daughter of the innkeeper he was standing outside of and he had told her he would take her outside to gather flowers for her mother who was very sick, of course Penn hadn't expected to run across the buck, he had been planning on being away for only a few days.
She didn't say it but she had been worried about Penn, he traveled far from home and it was dangerous out there, even for experienced hunters who could hold thier own against the Bones.
Penn apologized and explained what had happened. He didn't go into too much detail because he didn't want anyone overhearing what he found before he was ready to sell.
Clara's features got noticeably softer as he explained and when he was done she looked up at him again and said "my family is going to have some meat in three days, my dad said you're welcome to have dinner with us if you would like to come over that evening, we can go get the flowers before dinner"
Penn quickly agreed, he hadn't had meat in months, it could be hard to get any and beside he quite liked having dinner with her family, everyone was nice and always asked about his travels.
Clara's brother Dawn was a fairly well known hunter in town who had managed to come across some broken bones a few years back, he was one of the few in town who had been able to consume any Bones's marrow and he was definitely the strongest. In fact Penn thought this was perfect, he was hoping to sell the information about the buck to Dawn.