They had been walking for about an hour before finally settling down, the sunlight had slowly started to fade and the subtle sounds of crickets and birds filled the air. It felt amazing to be back in a forest after more than a week of villages, cites and meadows. Nothing peculiar had happened on their way, although Vagabond kept nagging about 'something not feeling right' to the Scholar. The latter had reassured him several times that there weren't any threats nearby, but it seemed like his mind still hadn't been put at ease. Marcus had kept quiet most of the way, focused on possible threats or a suitable spot to make camp. 

After a long walk, they had found it. A small clearing in the forest, surrounded by slim birches which wouldn't hide their camp that well, but they wouldn't obscure possible threats or pursuers either. Luckily for them, all three had been prepared for travelling when departing from Amaryth and soon they had put together something that had to pass for a camp, consisting of three bedrolls and their bags. After a short discussion, they had decided not to make a fire, to avoid attention, and instead share some of their provisions. Their three course menu existed of an appetizer of plain bread. Dried , salty meat had formed the entree and berries which the scholar had gathered were their dessert. Scholar and vagabond had been engaged in a long and heated discussion concerning relics and their users over dinner. The atmosphere could have been described as something close to cosiness, were it not for the menacing feeling that loomed over them as darkness fell for the second time that day. 

With some effort, they had agreed to take turns in keeping watch. None of them had a reason to trust the others and so they naturally didn't. The scholar seemed to be the most trustworthy of the three, they could all agree to that, and so he had taken the first watch. As he prepared to sleep for a few hours, Marcus placed Sang-Min under his cloths, letting it touch his skin as he prepared to go to sleep. He made sure the Vagabond didn't see where exactly he put it and he didn't change nor took off any of his clothes and simply lay down in his bedroll. It gave him a reassuring to feel the cold metal against his skin although he wouldn't be able to us the blade this way. More important than using its powers was that here was no way in Honomi that he'd let the Vagabond steal Sang-Min, unless it was over Marcus' cold, dead body. The lullaby of critters and birds, combined with the eventfulness of that day was enough to make him fall asleep in a matter of moments. 

Starry had found it difficult to sleep. It wasn't that he didn't trust his companions, on the contrary, he didn't feel scared of them at all. He had managed to get this group together well enough, but something was bothering him. He kept finding himself flashing back to his old days, when he was a farmer, but he couldn't remember anything that didn't involve the noble who had killed his family. He remembered his face, he remembered his fight with him, the use of the nobles relic, of starry taking the relic from him. Seeing the poster that announced the nobles death, and the wanted sign for Starry, looking over the poster, "100,000 wanted for the capture or confirmed death of S...."

Crackles, sparks, light. Somewhere the small sparks became a larger fire, igniting the bushes, catching the walls of the trees. Small flicks of flame flapped against the bark, rising up to alight the leaves, spreading across the treetops, the fire now free to grow as it wanted. What was a small fire upon one tree had now taken a forth of the forest, but the flames were not done growing. They spread around the campsite where a few poor travelers had come to rest, nearly surrounding them. The flames grew higher, and with the approaching darkness, they would draw eyes from a ways away.

Starry burst from his sleeping cot. [i]"Fire, there's a fire!"[/i] Starry quickly got out of his bed, grabbing his relic to throw some supplies to himself, grabbing what he could. He stepped over to Marcus, pulling him out of his sheets. [i]"Lets go, dammit! This fires going to eat us alive! Grab what you can!"[/i] Starry jumped over to his pack, quickly tying it around his shoulder, when he looked up and noticed Artemis' campsite was already ablaze. He stared intently at his stuff, trying to decide whether it was worth it to take what he could. He could, after all, claim he hadn't seen the books. And with the way Artemis acted about the story earlier, Starry suspected he wasn't going to be eager to help. He grabbed the books he could, opting to not risk taking anything else, he put them away in his bag, turning to check on Marcus.

The latter had quickly rolled up his sleeping roll and gathered his few belongings. Fortunately he hadn't really unpacked before lying down and once he had his sleeping roll, bag and bow strapped to his back, he was ready to go. Some of his provisions had been lost as they had been lying on the other side of the camp. The smell of both burned wood and meat filled the air.... Burning meat....
[i]"Vagabond.... Where is the scholar?"[/i] The flames were so close now that Marcus almost had to yell to make himself be heard over the roaring flames. Panic and dismay could be read on his face as his gaze shifted between Artemis' side of the camp and Starry's face. [i]"What are we going to..."[/i] He stopped mid-sentence to cough. The smoke was starting to become stifling. [i]We should wait-"[/i] Starry didn't let him finish his sentence, grabbed Marcus' arm and started running, away from the all-consuming fire.