The day after the autumn solstice holiday, Rahul and Citar signed up with the Bolacsuk tribal chief that they would go on a moonwalk together in the coming months. It's true that they no longer reported to the tribal chief where they were going, but according to Citar, he didn't usually tell them where he wandered during the winter months anyway.
So in the end, they took the lands together and after a few days of walking, they joined Teveli, with whom they continued towards the Valley of the Floating Rocks. But this time they traveled on the border of the territories of the Bolacsuk and Vojk tribes. Because, as Rahul found out, the autumn solstice holiday is the official end of the summer peace period. The result of which is that if someone sees them together afterwards, they are free to end their lives.
Finally, on the day set by Razvan, not far from Kristályvár's cave system, Rahul and his two friends reunited with the rest of the Athamana. To the chüvigh boy's surprise, they were exceptionally not the last to arrive. Because Suk didn't arrive the designated place until sunset. According to him, it was terribly difficult for him to get through the Boklós and that is why he was late.
Fortunately, however, the delay was not a big problem, since Razvan had planned to leave for this year's moonwalk only the next day anyway. In light of this, the team retired early for the next day and since they were in a safe area, they didn't even have to keep watch, so they could all relax. The next morning, they enthusiastically sat around their campfire and ate their breakfast.
"Where exactly are we going this year, boss?" Suk asked with a wide smile on his face.
"Up to the Karrabata mountains. Somewhere near the eastern border. You have to get used to extreme weather." Razvan explained in a serious voice.
"To the mountains?" Rahul asked enthusiastically.
"Oh, what happened to Rahul? You look like you got raspberries dipped in honey." Achilleus grinned.
"Raspberries dipped in honey?" The boy frowned.
"Don't tell me you don't even have this!" Citar was horrified.
"There is honey and raspberries, but why do you want to put the two together? Honey is too expensive to waste on raspberries." Rahul spread his hands and looked at the team in bewilderment.
"Dear Athira!" Citar leaned back and spread out on the ground.
"What now?" Rahul looked at him suspiciously.
"Don't bother Rahul, Citar is just overreacting." Razvan waved. "Here, eat this." He gave him a small red flower.
"Another weird plant. I'll end up thinking you're trying to poison me, Tapló boss." Rahul shook his head.
"With that he won't." Suk snorted.
"How do you know?" Rahul blinked at the boy, but in the meantime he had already eaten the strangely sweet red flower.
"If you want poison, come to me. We Zovárds are famous for our ability to tolerate poison. You can't show me a plant growing in Madüjawr that I don't know what it does." He pulled himself out while the other Athamana just rolled their eyes.
"So what did I eat?" Rahul tested him.
"A small stamina booster." The boy shrugged. "We are going to climb a mountain. You are the only one among us for whom climbing itself will be a new experience. I'm guessing you didn't want him to have trouble climbing in the cold, right boss?" He asked looking at the leader of the team.
"Zovárd." Razvan shook his head, but did not deny the accusations.
"When do we leave?" Rahul asked.
"As soon as you pull yourself together." Razvan chuckled, with which he managed to get the team to start collecting their things so that they were ready for the trip. After this was done, the Athamana's team of ten men took to the mountain paths of the Zaukáns.
In the beginning, the team's journey was simple and calm. The trails were easy to follow and wide. Then, as they got higher and higher in the mountains, the paths suddenly ended. After that, they moved on a little more carefully, climbing over a rock barrier here and there.
"We're damn high." Rahul swallowed when he climbed through such a rock barrier.
"Would you be more relaxed if I went outside?" Razvan asked the question, but barely audible.
"A little." Rahul admitted, but he only got a nod in response and from then on the Zaukán boy always made sure to stand between him and the edge of the mountainside.
"The white blanket." Rahul whispered when they reached a plateau between the mountains.
"Ah! We've come to the damn snowy terrain!" Achilleus growled.
"Be glad it's not snowing, stone head!" Benkó blurted out.
"Snow?" Rahul blinked in front of him.
"This is the snow." Razvan said as he bent down and shaped a part of the white blanket covering the ground into a ball, then gave it to Rahul.
"It's cold." Rahul smiled strangely.
"Haven't you seen snow yet?" Citar blinked. "But we met in the mountains." He scratched his head.
"Then I saw it for the first time, but I didn't know what it was called. It wasn't like that at home." He explained as he turned the ball of snow in his hands. "And what can be done with this?" He asked, raising the ball.
"Snowball fight!" Suk yelled and the next thing Rahul knew is that Razvan was pulling him behind a rock from the flying snowballs.
"Playing." Razvan chuckled as he turned to Rahul. "Try to hit one of them with it."
"Ah! Like mud!" Rahul grinned and suddenly joined the game. The snowballs then flew across the plateau for an hour or so before the team was completely exhausted.
"Compared to the fact that you didn't even know what snow was, you are quite good at the snowball fight." Benkó gasped, grinning.
"Well, after I realized that it's like mud, it wasn't difficult anymore." Rahul laughed.
"Do you do it with mud?" Suk scratched his head. "Maybe I'll try it at home just to see Izmen's head covered in mud." He pulled his lips into an evil smile.
"You want to try to drown him in mud, huh?" Teveli rolled his eyes.
"How do you know me so well, Tev?" The Zovárd boy grinned like a madman.
"It's okay guys. Enough of the game! We should go on and find a place to stay for the night, we shouldn't stay out for the night." Razvan looked up at the sky. So the team started walking again. Time passed slowly on the white plateau, then the sky grew grayer and grayer. The team's movement quickened, but the sky only grew darker. The cold began to grow, and then the snow began to rise around the team.
"Stay close to each other!" Razvan shouted, when from one moment to the next the wind increased so much that they could hardly see anything. Not far in front of them was a wooded area, the team was making their way there.
Although the blowing snow hit them outside, the forest wasn't so far that they wouldn't find it. They moved slowly in the snow cloud and sometimes stumbled in the accumulated snow. Then the team finally reached a more sheltered spot among the bald trees and bushes. They could see each other here, but...
"We don't have everyone!" Razvan stated nervously, while the team looked at each other.
"Where did Suk, Citar and Rahul go?!" Teveli turned back in the direction they came from, but like the rest of the team, he saw nothing but snow, as far as the eye could see the platou was snow-white.
"We have to find them!" Razvan stated, as his hands clenched into fists. Losing someone in the mountains is not funny, especially not in snowy mountains.