Night was usually dark, but never this dark. Probably because the fire was brighter than Aleah and Rain have seen years. The food tasted like something they ate back in Millberry. Something made by his mother. She was always so kind to Rain, at least better than his father. She’d actually look at him, actually be a parent.

“Thank you for making this,” Rain said to Duane. He just took a bite of his food, so all he could do was nod. Lucinda was playing with a wooden toy, pushing a small club into a wooden bowl. Rain walked over to her to see what she was up to.

“Hello Mr. Rain,” she said, not looking up. There was a small leaf and a bug. It looked disgusting.

“What are you up to?” Rain asked curiously.

“I’m making a fire elixir. I’m going to water it down once I put it in it’s bottle though, so I don’t burn my only brewing bottle,” she said. She seemed to enjoy it, just smashing a leaf and a bug. Aleah got up and walked over to the tent. Rain knew exactly what she was going to do, so he followed.

The pair changed next to each other sense they were young kids, so it wasn’t necessarily awkward between them. Aleah’s back was covered in scars. Nothing new showed up, expected because she wasn’t in a fight today. Aleah didn’t notice anything new on Rain’s back either, again expected by her.

The dog was barking loudly. Not just to bark, like he was in danger. It could have just been an animal, or the people outside, but Aleah didn’t trust it. She finished getting dressed quickly, putting her shirt on backwards by accident.

There they were, walking around outside the light of the fire. From prior experience Aleah learned how to best deal with bandits. Rain usually became too nervous to do anything of much importance or assistance, clearly bothering Aleah. She never shared anything with him.

Rain took his chance to prove he could be effective, “Hey Lucinda sweetie.”

She looked up from her bowl, “Hey Mr. Rain!” Her voice was full of excitement.

“Hey there, Duane told me about an elixir that could burn nearly anything down, do you have more of that?” He asked sweetly.

“I don’t sadly,” she said in her childish voice, “but I do have an elixir that can burn the skin.”

Rain was starting to fear the child. She was so young, yet had such dangerous knowledge. “I’ll use that,” Rain said fearfully. It was usually Aleah doing the protecting, but today was Rain’s turn.

A few bandits were closing in on the fire. All that could be seen was the metal of their teeth, weapons, and belt buckles. Even then it was nothing but a reflection. Something about one of the bandits seemed familiar, maybe she had fought them before. It would explain the odd behavior, most bandits just run in and leave. If they knew Aleah, that would explain the sudden sneaking. Then she saw the reflection of fire in his eye.