As the morning rose with the shine of the high-placed gem shone down through the trees, the young Dragonheart found himself yawning, already long awake. Though there wasn’t much joy in his tired eyes as he sat there on a fallen tree log in front of the stoked flames.

It was his guard duty this time, however, he was given a much unexpected schedule–that is, he ended up staying there through most of the night.

The bear-like snores of Everett filled the camp grounds as the shielder was sprawled out on his back, resting on a pile of leaves.

Seriously..I should’ve kicked him hours ago, he thought.historical

There was only one reason he was sitting there, not asleep through dawn as he should be: Everett never woke up for his shift on watch.

A yawn left his lips as he looked up towards the upside down portion of the forest, finding the scenery to hardly become any less disorientating even after nearly an entire week.

At the very least, the warmth and crackles of the campfire along with the complicated journal he read kept him awake, though he was feeling famished right about now.

“Morning.”

Causing him to jump slightly as he caught his journal from his hands, he looked up to find Yuna sitting across from him, having taken him by surprise with her completely silent movements.

“..Morning,” he responded.

The demi-human rogue stretched her arms over her head before leaning back, relaxing and allowing her body to wake up as she looked over at the young Dragonheart.

“Looks like you didn’t get much sleep,” Yuna said.

“Yeah, well, blame the snorer over there..” He sighed, glancing over at Everett, who was still snoring like a bear.

There was an expected silence when sitting by Yuna, who wasn’t much for words or social interaction entirely, for that matter. Still, the wordless sitting gnawed at his tired mind, finding himself unable to even concentrate on the shoddy handwriting he was trying to read as he decided to try and make conversation.

“So..are you going to wake them up? Would’ve thought you’d do that first thing,” Emilio asked.

Yuna looked at the campfire, “In a bit.”

“I didn’t expect leniency from you of all people,” he chuckled.

“It’s just as important to be lenient at times as it is to be strict,” Yuna told him, “This trial has been a difficult one for us all–those two are different from us.”

“How do you figure?” He asked with a raised eyebrow.

Yuna clarified, “You don’t look like much, but I figured it out quickly after our first encounter. Well, I had an idea about it–but our encounter with Amon and the battle against Collector proved it: you’re a warrior–through and through. You’ve been through the flames of this world and have endured its hardships.”

The words coming from the demi-human woman were one-hundred percent the truth, though the poker face she naturally held would make lies indecipherable from sincerity.

“I think that’s a compliment so thanks, but..You don’t think they have? At least Everett?” He asked.

“They’re getting there. This trial is making sure of that, anyway. I’m not disparaging them, I’m simply stating the truth; this path isn’t something they’re adjusted to yet,” Yuna said.

“So what you’re saying is, you’re taking it easy on the newbies?” Emilio asked.

“Essentially,” the woman nodded.

As the red-haired demi-human held a cup in her hands, empty and looking towards him, Emilio let out a small sigh before casting a spell of water, filling it up with fresh aqua. For some reason, this particular usage of magic felt demeaning, but he knew it was necessary.

Seriously, am I a water boy now? He questioned.

Even though he felt that way, he did the same for himself afterward, filling up a canteen and drinking from it as he felt the smooth, refreshing liquid rejuvenate his dry throat.

“Aaahh..”

A feminine yawn, that Emilio found almost too adorable in the brutal trial, was heard as he glanced over, seeing Melisande getting up and tiredly rubbing her eyes.

“Did you sleep well?” He asked with a smile.

Melisande groggily nodded before sitting by him around the campfire, adjusting her skirt as she sat, “..I had nightmares about those geckos from yesterday. So many geckos..”

It had happened the day before whilst the group was wandering through the forest to search for proper grounds and resources: a group of aggressive geckos chased them, possessing far-stretching tongues that provided a disgusting weapon to the reptiles.

“Yeah, I hear ya’..” Emilio agreed.

“I got rid of most of them,” Yuna said.

Providing evidence for such, the cat woman revealed the preserved bodies of large, yellow-skinned geckos to the other two.

“Ah–when did you do that?” Emilio wryly chuckled.

“Gross..” Melisande mumbled.

Yuna began to place them above the fire, using a stick above to keep the hunted geckos steady, “Well, we need nutrients, don’t we? Even if it isn’t exactly gourmet quality, in this trial, it might as well be.”

The two young mages were hesitant about it, though there was undeniably a necessity for a meal, whether it was monstrous lizards or not. While Melisande fully woke up, she watched as Yuna carefully spun the geckos over the flame, allowing them to cook properly.

Emilio nodded off for a few minutes, getting some rest in before being rudely awoken by the boisterous morning call of another–

“What smells so good?”

Getting up from his blanket of leaves, the bumpkin shielder asked with a boorish yawn, plopping down beside the campfire.

Once more finding his sleep ruined by Everett, the young Dragonheart shot a nasty glare at the man before deciding it wasn’t worth being upset about.

After the lizards had finished being properly cooked, through-and-through, eradicating any parasites or diseases held in the meat of the prey, Yuna cut it up and divided portions to the group.

..I just need to be happy we’re all making it, he thought.

Perhaps not the most savory seeming dish of all, with a large lizard leg being served on a stick like a kebab out of hell, as they each tried it out, they were all pleasantly surprised by what they found meeting their mouths.

Emilio chewed, finding the texture to be tender and the meat to have its own natural flavor to it.

“Hey, this ain’t bad at all!” Everett said.

“Yeah, you’re right..this is actually kind of nice,” Emilio noted.

Though as he said that, agreeing with the burly man who likely would eat anything so long as it wasn’t poison itself, he found himself wondering if his tastes had simply adjusted over the last week.

“..It’s still gross but it is tasty,” Melisande admitted.

Yuna didn’t have any remarks, not seeming to care one way or another, so long as she got the bare necessity calories she needed to function.