Arin opens his eyes. He had a dream of when he was saved and brought into the orphanage from so long ago that it now seemed like it was just that. A dream.

  Arin yawns and rubs his eyes. The tent's ceiling was the same uninviting blue it always was, that he'd woken up to for so many months now.

  A large figure shifts to Arin's left, also sleeping in the same tent. A light but loud snore emanates from their slumbering form. Arin pushes his body up and stretches his arms. He reaches over to the sleeping person next to him and shakes them lightly.

  "Come on, Agar," Arin says lightly, still waking up. "Time to get up. We don't want to make the others wait."

  "Let them wait," Agar grumbles while turning over onto his side. Arin sighs, and gets up without Agar. He shuffles over to the tent entrance, and walks out to a camp set up on the edge of a forest. The sun slowly rising to in the east and to Arin's left greets him as he fully stretches his body; Arin looks around and checks to see who's awake.

  "Finally up," a voice calls, the person who called not even turning to look at Arin. The person hunches over where the campfire was that the group had set up the previous night. Black baggy clothes cover their entire body, to the point to where you can't make out any distinguishing qualities about them.

  "Hey, Ajneya," Arin yawned, stretching some more. "Where's Alyssa?"

  "Hunting," they respond. Arin was tired of Ajneya never talking much, only speaking in short sentences or a word at most if they could help it.

  "Mm. Ever going to show your face to us?" Arin asks, leaning forward, hoping to see what they look like at least once. He doesn't even know what gender they are.

  "No." They state it simply, in a tone that told Arin to drop the subject.

  "Fine," Arin sighed. Ajneya stands up, and the fire that ran out the previous night was now crackling again.

  Arin saunters over to a backpack that had been seated on a stump nearby, and starts rummaging through it. Ajneya perks up at what Arin is doing, but says nothing.

  "I'm going to use Alyssa's cup," Arin states matter-of-factly, noticing eyes were on him. "Don't forget we lost Agar's cup because he dropped his pack, mine I lost some days ago because of the racoons, and you won't let us near any of your stuff."

  "Just don't drag me into the argument," Ajneya grumbles. Arin slightly nods and continues rummaging for the cup. After only a couple beats, he finds the cup and tries his best to return everything else back the way it was.

  How is she always so organized? Arin wonders as he stands and returns to his tent. He finds Agar still sleeping away like a baby; Arin notices his staff laying nearby along with his belongings. He thinks for a moment, then grabs his staff, setting down the cup, and moves forward to a good position. Arin positions his staff, and quickly, smacks Agar's head with the butt of the staff.

  Agar yelps loudly as he grabs his head where Arin struck him. "I told you it's time to wake up. Come on Agar," Arin says unsympathetically.

  "Ow! Arin, that hurt! Is that really how you treat your big brother?!" Agar howls, scowling at Arin.

  "Yes, if they don't get up on time," Arin coolly responds while moving back to where his belongings lay. He picks up the cup and a small pouch that had sat next to the staff. "Ajneya and Alyssa are already up getting everything ready," he adds.

  "Well, did you have to hit me on the head?!" Agar exclaims.

  "Unless you want water splashing you or Alyssa yelling in your ear again, yes, I did." At that, Agar doesn't say anything back and just grumbles.

  "I'm going to clean up by the river. If Alyssa comes back, don't tell her I have her cup," Arin says as he grins and leaves the tent.

  "Wait, you what?!" Arin hears behind him, before some rustling and a thud as Agar stumbles and falls over inside the tent.

  Arin chuckles as he attaches the pouch to a belt around his waist, staff in one hand, cup in the other. He starts walking north, along the edge of the forest with the sun now shining to his right. The terrain as far as the eye can see to the east stretches long fields of grasslands, with a heath far off in the distance.

  A short walk later, Arin arrives at a small river, heading off to the east as well, and according to Alyssa, leading to the port town they're traveling to.

  Arin himself had received a summons from a prestigious noble to head to the town called Kernth as he needed something but didn't say what he needed in the letter he sent. Arin was originally going to turn it down as he was on the opposite coast, but the insistence from his party (mostly Alyssa) made him go on the journey.

  He leans down and fills the cup with water, stands, and checks it. "Just in case," he mutters. He sets his staff down next to him, and holds the cup of water in front of him with his left hand while he sets his right hand above the water in an open palm facing down.

  Arin inhales deeply, and concentrates. The air lightly breezing by. The river running in front of him. The trees swaying peacefully. After a moment, Arin feels what he was searching for. The energy of the world, flowing everywhere, all around him. Arin exhales, this time focusing inward. The thump of his heart. The churning of his organs. The activity in his brain. He finds it. The energy flowing throughout his entire body, what was giving him his strength to move.

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  He carefully redirects some of the natural energy coursing throughout his body, and connects it to two places, his right hand and his brain. The energy that he connected to his brain retrieves an image from his memory. A circle. Intricate lines weaving together in complex patterns, each line having their own meaning and purpose. To disrupt one line would to cause the circle to take on an entirely different meaning and could cause disaster.

  Remembering the circle's design from his mind, Arin carefully guides the circle along the circuit he created. The circle is guided from his brain, past his neck, along his right shoulder, through his arm, to his right hand, where the circle appears on the outside of his hand, right where it was guided.

  Arin breathes in deeply once again, and the circuit he made with his body's energy starts to flow into the circle now above the water. The circle glows with a slight blue light, and begins absorbing energy. The energy that the circle is absorbing is no longer from Arin's body, but instead from the world's surroundings. The gales in the wind. The flow of the river. The life in the trees.

  The energy from the world flows into the circle, empowering it. Arin breathes out one last time, and pushes the circle to complete its purpose. A green light shines from the circle, casting its glow over the water. After a moment, the light fades, and the circle has dissipated from Arin's hand.

  The water for the most part looks unchanged, albeit a bit clearer. All in all, it took Arin about six seconds to complete the entire routine. Arin takes a sip from the cup, and swallows. "Hm," he just says simply. "I feel like I've gotten a bit better with that circle," he mumbles.

  Arin puts the thought off as he sets the cup of water down and reaches for the pouch around his belt and searches for a moment. He pulls out a couple of herbs and a cloth from the bag, spreads the cloth out on the ground, and crushes the herbs in his hands as best he can. Arin then places and rolls the crushed herbs in the cloth and wraps the ends so that the herbs couldn't escape.

  He moves over to the cup, and dips the cloth in the water, and starts rubbing the cloth against his teeth. Arin takes his time brushing his teeth, making sure to get every tooth. Some times passes, and Arin finishes by emptying the herbs in the cloth into the river, washing them away. Arin makes sure the last of it is gone by washing the cloth, and wrings out the cloth.

  He tucks the cloth in his belt, making sure it's spread out so it can dry with time. He returns to the cup, takes it and also empties the contents into the river. Arin sets the cup down, and kneels by the riverbank. He reaches down, and splashes his face with the cold water. He starts rubbing, occasionally splashing more water, trying to get every part of his face, making sure no blemishes would remain if there were any.

  As Arin finishes up, a shriek fills the air, sounding from not too far, seemingly originating from the camp. Birds in the distance fly off, startled by the sudden noise. "ARIIINNN!!!" A sudden follow up to the shriek rings out in the same direction.

  Arin winces as he stands. "Guess she found out," he chuckles nervously. He dries his face, gathers his items, and sets off back to camp. Along the way, Arin tries to think of a way to explain the situation without getting an earful, but comes up with nothing as he walks back.

  Someone was waiting for him as he returned, arms crossed and fuming. Arin winces once again and approaches. "Before you say anything, can I at least defend myself?" he asks, bracing himself.

  "Go ahead," Alyssa growls, scowling fiercely. Arin cautiously takes note of Alyssa's bow still strung, still in her hands.

  "Well, uh, you see... Agar and I lost both of our cups, and you were out, so I had to...borrow...yours...?" Arin was uncertain on how this predicament would turn out.

  "And that makes you think you have permission to go through my bag?" she snaps, making Arin flinch slightly. "You just had to ask! Instead, you go through my bag, invade my privacy, all without asking!"

  Alyssa huffs, before taking a deep breath. "If you needed something from me, just ask me before you go through my stuff," she says, pinching the bridge of her nose.

  "Yeah, sure," Arin says, trying to avoid eye contact. He could feel Alyssa's eyes piercing him, making him uncomfortable.

  Alyssa sighs, and says, "Fine. Go help Agar pack up. We need to move quick if we want to reach Kernth before nightfall."

  Arin quickly walks by, thankful Alyssa let it go. He walks back to the center of the camp, where Agar and Ajneya were waiting. Ajneya was busy cooking some meat on the campfire, likely the food that Alyssa hunted. Agar was sitting nearby, next to his sword and shield, shaking slightly.

  Agar, seemingly like he couldn't hold it in anymore, bursts out laughing. "Oh, shut it, Agar!" Arin yells, slightly embarrassed.

  "I always wondered why you would laughing when Alyssa yells at me, but now I get it!" Agar hollers. The laughing is cut short as Alyssa suddenly appears behind Agar and punches him on the head.

  "I believe I told you to start packing everything up," Alyssa says, trying to stay calm.

  "Why is it I'm the only one who gets hit?!" Agar cries out, clutching his head again. This time it was Arin's turn to try and hold in his laughter.

  "Because you have a hard head," Ajneya speaks up, surprising everyone as they turn to look at Ajneya who didn't even look at the situation. Arin and Alyssa burst out laughing as Agar just looked shocked and dumbfounded.

  "So Ajneya CAN make jokes!" Alyssa says between laughs, and Arin could swear he saw a slight change from Ajneya that resembled a smile, before he clutched his gut from laughter.

  It took some time for Arin and Alyssa to stop laughing and calm down. Agar only shakes his head and chuckles.

  “We should really start packing up,” Alyssa says after taking a deep breath and calming down.

  Arin nods and returns to his tent once he calms down. He grabs his pack, which he checks, as it has his life inside it.

  Clothes, cutlery, bandages, herbs for use other than hygiene, a pot and pan, a kettle, flint and a small piece of steel, and a water-skin.

  Arin rolls up his blanket and puts it in his pack, making sure everything is secure. Arin leaves the tent, which Agar was waiting for him outside.

  “Done?” He asks. Arin nods, and the both of them start taking apart the tent. They take out the stakes, and throw away the sticks holding it up. The two of them then fold and roll up the tent and secure it onto Arin’s pack.

  Arin looks over to the others who have already finished packing up, the fire now out with Ajneya throwing dirt onto the ashes to make sure it’s fully extinguished.

  “Ready?” Alyssa asks the group, and when they all nod, she starts walking off to the east, to which the group follows.

  Get ready, Kernth. We’re coming.