Walters whole body spun, his head pointed in the direction of the dark, unclear forest in front of him.

  Kira was practically glued to Lira, her mossy green eyes where still glistening with tears, her small frame was shaking with an overwhelming anticipating dread; her cat ears flattened against her skull.

  Lira whole form tensed her ears shooting straight up, she stepped in front of Kira and spoke in a low steady tone.

  "Kira, stay behind me. Get ready to run if I say."

  Rens fox ears arose, his tail straight up and he bared his teeth in a silent snarl.

  The figure announced itself...its familiar big chunky barrel of a body was now vivid.

  Barnaby's form came striding back into the clearing, arms piled high with dry branches and logs like a walking bonfire waiting to happen.

  His barrel chest puffed out with pride, he whistled cheerfully as he walked forward towards the squad in front of him.

  "See? Told ye lot! This is Prime stuff, might be dry as bone, but it'll born hot and clean. We'll-"

  His boot caught the edge of a sneaky root that was hidden under a bunch of pine needles.

  The big stack wobbled like it took his boot as a personal offence.

  "Whoa..wait..let's be steady now-" Barnaby muttered, shifting his weight.

  It was too late.

  The top log slid. And his body followed in a glorious,tumbling avalanche. branches bounced off his broad shoulders, one thick one cracked him square across the forehead with a loud.

  THUNK

  Off flew his head backwards as if it had finally had enough of him.

  Barnaby staggered, arms flailing, face frozen in cartoonish shock.

  "Oi! You traitorous sticks-!"

  The last armfuls of sticks dumped themselves at his feet. The wood had been clankered everywhere. pine needles stuck out of his beard like a second forest.

  The whole area was quiet.

  Just then Kira let out a tiny, startled giggle half hidden behind Liras sleeve.

  Liras mouth twitched, she tried to hold it in, it was a failure.

  Ren snorted, shoulders shaking.

  Walter watched the whole disaster happen, and for once, a small genuine snicker slipped out, a quiet one, like even he hadn't expected it.

  He leaned back against the wagon, his arms were crossed, the smirk still lingered on his lips.

  Hugo nodded looking at Liras laughing form, his gaze analysing Barnaby rubbing his sore forehead with that fat grin on his red face, the way Kira smiled, finally wiping off that scared anxious frown shed had plastered on her face for the whole entire time Hugo had been with her.

  , Hugo paused.

  Hugo raised an eyebrow at the duo of Kira and Lira. Hugo paused again, besides

  Hugos eyes twitched with a slight discomfort.

  Hugo smiled a rare genuine smile. Hugo chuckled to himself. I'll try my best to not take any lives that don't need to be taken this time.

  Kira glanced over at Walter, she spoke in a soft spoken voice that was barely audible, Walter himself didn't know if it was due to fear or if it was just the girls natural tone of voice.

  "H-Hey.. Mr Walter, sir? Are you okay?..Y-You look like your worried."

  Walter glanced over his grey eyes blinking, once then twice and then thrice, he shifted his gaze to Kira his silver hair catching in the firelight

  "Uhhhh...uhhh yeah im fine...just in deep thought."

  Kira had a curious look in her green mossy eyes, her black cat ears flickered upwards in interest.

  "Really? About what?..."

  Walter paused awkwardly.

  "Uhhhhhhh...just life."

  Kira snickered a bit.

  "Your funny mister."

  Lira noticed the interaction and swooped in, her sharp green eyes scanning them both, her black cat ears flickered up straight as well, mostly in irritation.

  "Lira, don't pester the poor guy."

  She shot Kira a gentle but firm look.

  Kira ducked her head, smiling shyly.

  Walter just raised an eyebrow, the corner of his mouth twitching again.

  Hugos thoughts were a mixture of amusement and surprise at the statement. Walter smirked to himself at the absurdity.

  Barnaby straighten up, his barrel of a body being stretched, Barnaby raised his right hand to dust off the last of the pine needles from his beard, he then gave the fire pit a satisfied pat, and straightened up with a grunt.

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  "Right then can't be faffin' around no more, let's get this camp proper sorted."

  Barnaby moved toward a patch in the ground,Walter watched, so did Kira,Lira and Ren all of them shared a similar curiosity.

  Walter’s eyes narrowed, his gaze drifting to the shovel at the back of the wagon

  Barnaby pulled a small tin from the inside of his leather woolen coat, popped it open, and sprinkled a generous pinch of black powder over the stacked kindling.

  Walter leaned in slightly and asked, "What's that?"

  Barnaby responded with a low educative tone, "Some merchants alchemical trick I picked up years ago."

  A quick flashing scrape of flint on steel sent a shower of sparks.

  Kira's eyes twitched a bit.

  The black powder caught with a soft.

   whoosh

  Blue tinged flames licking up instantly. Barnaby in response to this fed it twigs, then he placed branches until a warm blaze crackled in the pit.

  "See?," Barnaby glanced over at Walter. "Little help from the coat, and we're golden." He patted the side of his heavy wool coat like it was an old friend. "Gonna make us some stew, won't take too long," He took a short glance at the wagon.

  "Got some dried meat and roots in me sack in the back of me wagon." Barnaby paused and then glanced at of Ren who was leaning against a tree with a distasteful look muttering to himself. "Nothin' fancy, but it'll be enough keep us full."

  Barnaby straightened up from the fire pit, brushing his meaty hands together with a satisfied grunt.

  The flames were steady now, casting a warm orange glow across the clearing that pushed the darkness back just far enough to feel safe.

  The stew pot bubbled softly, filling the air with the faint, comforting smell of simmering meat and root vegetables.

  "Right," he announced, clapping his hands once, "This stew needs some good stuff i'll grab the dried meat from that wagon won't be long."

  His big beefy form lumbered off toward the back of the wagon, his boots crunched over pine needles, humming that same half tune had been whistling since he first picked Walter up.

  The four of them stayed where they were, circled loosely around the fire.

  The warmth felt almost luxurious after days of running and cold nights. Kira had scooted a little closer to the flames, her small hands outstretched, cat ears finally relaxed enough to twitch toward every small pop burning wood.

  Lira kept one protective arm wrapped around her sister's shoulders her own posture had eased just a fraction.

  Rens form predictably stayed on the far side of the circle, knees drawn up, arms crossed like he was guarding against the fire itself. His amber eyes flicked toward the wagon where Barnaby had disappeared.

  "That fat bastards probably gonna eat half the sack himself before he brings it back," Ren muttered, loud enough for everyone to audibly pick up.

  "Shut up, you ungrateful little shit," she said without missing a beat, voice dry as if she predicted Ren would say something so mean.

  She continued."Barnaby didn't have to share a single crumb with us, he could have left us on the road like everyone else typically does to demihumans like us. But NO he's feeding us, starting a fire for us and even letting us tag along on his wagon and your still sitting there whining like a spoiled brat. Show some damn appreciation for once."

  Ren's tail lashed once, hard enough to kick up a puff of dirt.

  "Appreciation?" he snapped back, orange fox ears pinning halfway.

  "For what exactly? Letting us tag along so he can boost his ego and feel like some fairy tale hero like in the legends? How can you be so quick to trust him? You don't even know the guy." Ren was huffing with anger his face red with venom.

  He continued in a low tone that slowly built up with anger. "All it took was one kind word, one promised bowl of stew. and suddenly he's our buddy? Lira, for Kiras sake and mine. Wake up. He isn't doing this for free, people never do things for free."

  Ren's continued with heavy breaths his chest rising and lowering, his tail stiff as a branch.

  His expression slowly calmed to a sour one.

  "Especially not humans."

  Liras cat tail gave a single, sharp whip behind her.

  "And you think everyone's out to get us?" She shot back. "You think everyone's just out to capture and sell us?" She fought back with renewed animosity. "You think Barnaby is secretly planning to sell us off the second we hit Grayhaven? He's not like the goblins, Ren. He's not those bounty hunters. He's just...a person. A tired,clumsy, loud person who's actually being decent to us. That's rare enough these days."

  Ren bared his teeth, his voice dropping to a hiss.

  "You're blind with delusion. You always have been. All it took was one nice wagon ride and you forgot what humans did to our kind for centuries."

  He spat out. "Are you going to seriously forget the cages? The collars that those fucking human nobles and royalty put us in. The wars that our people fought in order to just scrape by and just survive."

  Ren paused and looked down with a hint of hopelessness in his amber eyes. "All of that struggle just to suffer in the end."

  He gritted his teeth. "You're to eat this guys stew and sleep in his camp like it erases the threat he could pose to us? i'm definitely not. I ain't gonna pretend everything's fine just because someone's trying to feel good about his lonely life."

  Kira shrank a little smaller against Liras side, her cat ears folding down, her green mossy ears darting between them with visible discomfort.

  Lira's voice hardened.

  "I'm not ignorant, I have not forgotten a single thing they did, I remember every second in that cage. I remember every crude word and comment those barbaric goblins said they'd do to us and," She paused and Walter noticed a flash of fear perhaps even trauma flash in her sharp green eyes.

  "What th-...they-...they'd do to K-Kira, I remember thinking we were all gonna die. And then." She glanced at Walter with a flash of gratitude, Walter glanced back at her a slight bit of uneasiness in his grey eyes. "Walter freed us, even if it was accidental he at least freed us from that war crime of a dungeon."

  Her breaths grew laboured, clearly she needed some rest, but she didn't and continued her argumentative lesson, as if making it her life's mission to drill this into Rens thick skull.

  "Then came along Barnaby. Two humans who didn't even have to glance our way, and yet they did, So yeah, i'm willing to eat Barnaby's stew. I'm willing to sleep in the same camp as him. because right now thats the difference between being alive and being dead. You wanna starve and die? Fine, But don't drag the rest of us with your paranoid."

  Ren's ears flattened completely. His tail stopped moving.

  "You're gonna get us killed one day, your way to easily manipulated," he muttered, barely audible. "And I'm not gonna be the one in grief when it happens." Ren paused once more, his amber eyes in contemplation. "At Least...I won't be the one that gets hit with that realisation the hardest."

  Walter, now leaning against the wagon tailgate with the silver shovel resting across his lap, had been watching the whole exchange in silence. When the silence stretched just long enough to become unforgettable, he spoke, his voice took a low,monotonous, almost bored tone.

  "She's got a valid point there," he said, his grey eyes stared blankly at the fire. "Barnaby may be a clumsy, loud big guy, who probably eats more than his own weight. But he hasn't tried too..." Walter paused in thought, Walter eyes flashed with a bitterness at the disgusting reality of this world before continuing, "He hasn't tried to chain or capture you in anyway is my point."

  "Neither has he even attempted to ask you all for coins," He glanced at Kira,lira and Ren. Y. "He hasn't even looked at you all like your valuable high profit merchandise."

  "That's quite generous, and your seriously wanna hate him for it? Honestly," Walter put his gloved hands up in slight amusement,"Go ahead thats your choice, you wanna starve go on, however," Walters grey eyes hardened.

  Ren took notice and narrowed his amber eyes, his orange fox tail stiffened.

  "What?"

  Walter spoke in a low steady tone.

  "You saw what that Wendigo did to me boy," Walter continued with slight contempt.

  "I highly doubt thats the only thing in those woods, so keep that in mind if you decide to go solo."

  Rens ears flattened his expression slightly caught off guard in discomfort.

  Ren tried to open his mouth, he closed it. His tail gave another irritated flick before going still. he looked away, his jaw tight, his eyes now turned to the flames, staring at them as if they were a personal offence to him.

  Lira exhaled through her nose, tension easing from her shoulders just a little. She squeezed kiras arm gently.

  Barnaby chose that exact moment to reappear, his right hand triumphantly held up the burlap sack like it was a trophy of war.

  "I got it! Enough for all of us to last a couple days." He dropped the sack beside the pot with a loud heavy

  THUD

  Barnaby with his sausage fingers began fishing out thick strips of dried, dark meat. "This'll thicken it up nice. Few minutes and we'll eat like those royals,or at least like people who aren't starving." Barnaby chuckled to himself as if he were retelling a particularly humorous joke.

  He glanced around the circle, catching the lingering tension and the way Ren was glaring at the dirt. Barnaby's grin faltered for half a second the returned twice as wide.

  "Oi,I dunno what's got you lot lookin' like someone's just cursed ya bloodline, but when ya done daddling around come grab a bowl when it's ready. no fightin' over seconds there's plenty. And no," he added, pointing the wooden spoon at Ren, "I didn't eat half the sack. Thought...I'll admit I was tempted, smell =s too good not to."

  Ren muttered something under his breath that sounded suspiciously like "fat bastard" again.

  Lira rolled her eyes.

  Walter stared at Ren and Barnaby in slight shockWalters eyes softened,

  Barnaby just laughed a big, rolling sound that filled the clearing and went back to stirring.

  The stew bubbled on and the fire crackled.

  Time passed on because the night was young.

  Walters gaze snapped upward from the stew bowl, his grey eyes narrowed at the shadowy forest, firelight flickered across his face.

  His silver hair wooshed in the midnight.

  Then he noticed it.

  The shadows beyond the clearing had shifted.