They made camp under the crooked arms of a wind-warped oak, its branches gnarled like a sleeping giant's fingers. A small fire crackled merrily in the center of a ring of stones, spitting sparks up into the indigo sky. The stars blinked above like bored gods, half-watching as the trio of misfits slowly drifted from "pleasantly buzzed" into "absolutely wrecked."
The smoke drifting from Draj's pipe was thick and sweet — bloodthistle and something else, something stronger, smoky and resinous. Boo passed the pipe to Nyxia with a grin so lazy it threatened to fall off her face.
Nyxia hesitated. "This smells like it should come with a warning label."
"It does," Draj said, leaning back with his arms behind his head. "In Orcish. Boo burned it off."
"Wasn't my fault!" Boo said, now comfortably seated sideways on Draj's lap, her legs draped over one of his thick arms like a lounging cat. "It was an accident. Fire is an unpredictable mistress."
Draj snorted. "So are you."
She grinned and ran her fingers down his broad chest, nails dragging playfully across firm muscle and soft fur. "That why you keep me around?"
"I haven't figured it out yet."
Loque lay by the fire, watching them all with the kind of long-suffering patience only ancient spirit beasts could muster. His tail flicked lazily, blue glow pulsing like a heartbeat.
"I hope you know," he muttered inside Nyxia's mind, "that I could be sleeping in the Fade right now. But no. I'm here. With these people."
Nyxia chuckled softly, her cheeks pink. The high settled in her differently — quieter, deeper. She leaned back against a log, her armor unbuckled and boots off, letting the cool breeze touch her skin.
"You're smiling," she whispered.
"Only because you're laughing again," Loque replied, his tone gentler now. "Even reckless joy suits you better than silence."
"Mm."
Boo, watching Nyxia from the corner of her eye, raised a brow. "You talking to your big kitty again?"
Nyxia blinked. "…Sort of."
Boo smirked. "Thought so. You get this weird dreamy look when he's whispering sweet nothings."
"He says you're loud."
"I am loud."
Loque rumbled a purr in her mind.
"And dangerous. She's like a little thunderstorm in boots."
The mood was perfect. The stars were bright. Boo was two minutes away from finding out if Draj was ticklish under his ribs when—
Snap.
Nyxia's ears twitched. Her relaxed posture sharpened.
Another snap. Louder. Closer.
Loque was on his feet in a blink. "Company."
"Company?" Boo asked, voice slurred slightly. "Like… party crashers?"
Draj was already rising, lifting Boo effortlessly and setting her behind him as he reached for his axe.
Figures burst from the tree line — five, maybe six. Masks. Light armor. Bandits. Desperate ones.
Their reaction?
Absolutely disastrous.
Nyxia scrambled up, snatching her glaive and nearly tripping over her own bootlaces.
Boo reached for her daggers, realized they weren't on her, and instead threw the spoon she'd been using to stir the stew. It missed by a wide margin.
Draj charged — and immediately tripped over the log Nyxia had been leaning on.
Loque lunged at the nearest bandit but clipped Boo as she tried to sprint to Nyxia's side, sending her tumbling into the dirt with a curse.
One bandit got clotheslined by Nyxia's wildly swinging glaive — entirely accidental. Another slipped on a spilled waterskin and belly-flopped into the firepit, screaming.
It was chaos.
Sloppy, smoky, stoned chaos.
Nyxia punched someone. "Ow. My wrist."
"You're holding it backwards again," Loque sighed.
"I know!"
Boo, now riding Loque's back in total confusion, held on with one arm and shouted, "I just fought a guy with a ladle!"
Draj finally regained his footing and swung his axe wide, roaring: "OUT OF MY CAMP!"
That was enough. The remaining bandits — bruised, confused, and definitely not paid enough for this — turned tail and vanished into the woods.
Silence fell, broken only by panting and the slow bubbling of the stewpot, which had somehow survived.
Boo dropped to her knees, laughing breathlessly. "I think I stabbed someone. With a stick."
"I hit myself," Nyxia mumbled, rubbing her wrist.
"I crushed a guy with my entire body," Draj added, blinking.
Loque was wheezing with laughter in Nyxia's head, pacing in a circle and then collapsing with a heavy flop beside her.
"That was the most beautiful disaster I've ever witnessed," he said. "I don't care if it was sloppy. I live for this."
Nyxia wiped her brow with the back of her arm and sank down beside him. He promptly laid his massive head across her lap.
"Loque says he loved it," she said, smirking faintly.
Boo flopped beside her and leaned against her side. "Of course he did. That beast has better taste than most mortals. You okay?"
"Think so."
"Good." Boo sighed at the stars. "Because that was the worst fight I've ever been in. And I once fought a tree."
Nyxia glanced down at her. "…A tree?"
"Long story."
Loque stirred. "Don't ask. Just be glad you're not that tree."
The fire popped. Their stew was still warm. The bruises would heal.
And though they might not remember every second of the night, they would remember the laughter — and the bond quietly forming between them, ridiculous fight and all.
The fire settled into glowing coals. Bandit corpses were dragged out of camp and half-heartedly looted. Draj wiped blood from his arm with a rag that might've once been a shirt and tossed it into the bushes with a grunt. Boo had found her daggers somewhere in the grass, one of them stuck in a melon she swore wasn't there before.
They all sat again, this time with weapons within arm's reach and senses still buzzing — less from fear now, and more from the adrenaline-sharp edge of shared chaos.
Loque's head remained heavy in Nyxia's lap. His eyes had slipped shut, but his presence in her mind was warm and content.
"That was terrible," he murmured lazily, "but I haven't seen you laugh like that in years."
"I haven't felt like that in years," Nyxia admitted softly, brushing her fingers behind his ear.
"Alright," Boo announced, reclining against the log beside Nyxia, "that was a complete disaster. Which means we absolutely have to do it again sometime."
Draj barked a laugh. "We'll be dead within the week."
"Maybe," Boo said, flicking a small pebble at his leg. "But we'll be laughing."
"Reckless," he grinned.
"Always."
There was a soft pause, and Boo leaned into Nyxia's side, nudging her. "Hey. You good?"
Nyxia nodded, then glanced at Loque, who gave the faintest nod in return.
"She's good," Boo said, answering her own question. "But she's quiet."
"She's always quiet," Draj said, lounging now beside the fire, pipe back in hand. "She's broody. Mysterious. The strong, silent, scary type."
"She's adorable," Boo corrected, nudging her again. "And deserves to be part of the conversation."
Nyxia raised a brow. "I am part of it."
"Barely," Boo teased. "You and big blue over there have your little psychic book club going. I'm stuck here talking about soup and butts with this guy."
"My ass saved the day," Draj added proudly.
"I think you bruised a rib just falling over."
"I made them run, didn't I?"
"You tripped into their leader!"
"Still counts!"
Nyxia shook her head, biting back a smile. She wasn't used to this — being seen, included, pulled out of her shadows. But it felt good. Real. Warm.
Loque's voice brushed against her thoughts like wind over snow.
"Let them love you, little one. It doesn't have to hurt."
She swallowed. "…Trying."
"You're doing better than you think."
Later, when the fire was dying low and the stew had turned to a lukewarm, vaguely edible paste, they unrolled bedrolls. Boo curled beside Nyxia like a cat, her head pillowed against Nyxia's shoulder, one arm thrown around her waist. Draj sprawled on his back not far off, snoring already, one boot still on.
Loque kept watch, nestled close, his eyes half-lidded but alert — his presence always just beneath Nyxia's skin.
As the night settled around them, Nyxia didn't feel alone. For the first time in what felt like years… she felt found.