At the gates a figure could be leaving and entering the forest with a back full of hunting tools.
He made his way deeper into the forest and eventually found himself by a camp of a large group of people, as he made his way towards the camp the forest began to show visible signs of darkening along with the night sky as the moonlight shone a little through the gaps within the tops of the trees.
They mostly all had large builds, pale skin, the males had long and braided beards and the males and females had long braided blonde, grey or white hair.
Many of them sat around each other as some of them sharpened a carving knife and began to cut apart the corpse of a deer that they had previously hunted together.
A large cauldron was above the fire and a deer soup broth was cooking within it as they all had a small amount within their bowls and brought some of it to their mouths with a wooden spoon.
The leader was a larger man with a many scars on his body that looked like they had been inflicted by several different types of beasts and he spoke to the new person who entered the group. "Have you learned anything new?"
The man who arrived from the village displayed his anxiousness as he spoke in a hoarse voice. "Boss, I am afraid their defences are tight so we may lose many if we try to invade. How about we just try to settle down? I am sure we can build a place for ourselves with enough time."
The leader of the group looked coldly towards the man and spoke in a voice full of enthusiasm. "We finally arrived in these lands from the north and found ourselves in such rich lands full of resources and opportunities. We have the chance to take some of that for ourselves but you say we should work under the central lands people for scraps? Are you being corrupted by them or have you simply forgotten our trials to get to this day?"
The man hesitated and then spoke. "Boss… not every person is the same. You can't put the people in the village in the same category as the ones you have known to be fighting at the borders. If you keep looking at them as only central landers and not individuals we will never be able to get over our hatred and settle down."
The leader no longer paid any attention to his words and waved his hand to dismiss him. "It seems that you no longer stand for our cause. As northerners we yearn for what we were not born with. The lush green grass, the many trees, flowers and crops growing within the lands and the rich resources available to live a bountiful life. It is all just before us but as usual the central landers are in our way. Hold him down and kill him for betraying us."
The man was quickly held down but he struggled to escape from the others grip.
He was subdued but managed to life his head and put up a final resistance. "It's all us or we and then them. The northerners and the central landers. Your resentment towards them can make you do anything to them to take what is theirs but in the end if you look past that then you have defined them as your enemy without understanding them. You wish to kill and loot a village full of innocent people who have done nothing to us but be welcoming to those who entered without showing hostile intent and carrying weapons simply in the name of taking revenge and taking from our enemies. Kill me if you wish but you know it within your hearts that I am right."
The leader grew irritated and swiped his finger across his throat to signal his men.
Soon followed was a sword raising and then falling to cut off the man's head.
The leader looked at the corpse and spoke. "The central landers are evil. They are using tactics to pollute our minds, separate us from each other and weaken us from the inside. Let this be an example to all of you to stick to our mission to revitalise our bloodlines future."
As a group who maintained shared beliefs and a strong connection built upon bloodlines or the place they were born they could not help but look at their enemies as the same as themselves.
Rather than individuals they looked at others as a collective community or bloodline which allowed them to send their hatred towards the central landers and have no guilt towards attacking innocent villagers.
If they identified the villagers as they are then they may think twice before taking action against them but they were unable to look past their past viewpoints of the central landers which they had known and labelled them as.
It's as if any of the central landers inherited the northerners hatred towards them which was unfair because the northerners had long been confined to the northern ice lands.
The hatred had built up over thousands of years and many groups stayed together mainly because their shared hate and beliefs held them together.
If someone tried to bring forward an opposing voice to their beliefs and goals then they would be dealt with to set an example to the others.
A single voice is powerful if those that hear it are willing to listen and can change the course of history for the better but there are many examples where the voice is silenced and things take the wrong direction.
Bloodshed could of been avoided but those that could have listened blocked their ears and decided to stick to their group mentality.
The group began to sit down again to eat but unknown to them they did not notice that was going on in the background.
A small figure had snuck up behind them silently as they were distracted and began to pour herself a bowl of soup as she covered herself with a black cloak covering her main features.
After she had listened to the conflict between the group she brought the spoon her her mouth tasting the deer soup.
Using a subtle action as she took out some of the soup, she dropped many tiny things that were barely visible to the naked eye into the cauldron of meat and soup that was cooling down.
A cold light was in her eyes as she put the wooden spoon in her mouth. 'Ah.. it's been a long time since I have had a cooked meal in the forest under the moonlight.'
She had a large flask at her waist but carried no weapons or tools with her, under the dark forest the moonlight failed to cover her and show her features beneath the black cloak.
The leader and the group saw the small figure eating their food and displayed caution towards them and then ordered his men. "Who are you? Are you here to spy on us? Capture them and tie them up now."
The cloaked figure raised her shaky hand and spoke in a scared voice. "Can't I at least finish the food?"
The leader crossed his arms in disgust after noticing the accent wasn't from the north. "No, hurry up and capture her."
In his eyes the child was merely a central lander so he had no need to show any care or mercy towards them no matter how young and vulnerable they were.
The girl responded by placing the bowl on the floor and looked scared while shaking.
She raised her hands and pleaded in a scared voice. "Please… I just wanted something to eat. I smelled the food and couldn't help myself from taking some but I promise I can pay you back for the food."
The leader did not listen to her pleas and then ordered. "Hurry up and tie her up and search her in case she is carrying anything.
The leader had seen all sorts of plots between the enemy tribes, there was even cases of the enemy sending child assassins so the leader still showed no mercy towards the small girl who appeared to only be there for the food.
His men quickly searched the child's body and found a flask at her waist, they opened it up and smelled it.
Their eyes lit up and spoke. "Boss, this is an alcoholic drink! Can we have it?"
The boss remained cautious and shook his head turning to the girl. "What is this? Is this one of your plots?"