Valen stares at a campfire, watching as the light dances to the wind of the forest. The slight ruffling of leaves and the crackling fire are the only sounds that permeate the night.

Shuffling his eyes away from the burning wood, he looks up; no sky is visible, the forest all but blocking any possible light that may enter the small clearing.

Sighing, Valen turns to his companion, Gang, who sits meditatively, eyes staring into the darkness like a statue. “Gang,” Valen calls out, grabbing his attention.” I know Diva and Lin are sleeping……and that Diva will be taking second watch when we are done……..but….I need someone to talk to.”

Gang looks at Valen, finding an unusual sad expression on his face. Smiling, Gang taps the ground next to him.” That's fine, but come sit here next to me, I would rather not be facing the fire and lose what little night vision I have.

Nodding, Valen gets up, and sits next to Gang, they both silently stare into the dark woods, Gang waiting for Valen to begin.

“When I was young…….my parents died in an accident,” Valen starts, eyes still looking forward,”and since I did not have any immediate relatives, I was sent to an orphanage.”

Gang remains silent, as he listens to Valen tell his story.

“The orphanage…….was a horrible place. The other children always ignored me…….even the caretakers wouldn't listen…...I was always ignored.”

A tear starts to form on Valens’ face, bad memories rising up from the depths of his mind.

Gang merely stays silent, letting him vent his stress…..the same way his own mother used to do.

“I was always distracted…..so much so that when prospecting parents were looking for a child…..I was quickly dismissed.”

Valen stops, taking a deep chilling breath.

“To lose your parents, and then be forced to live in a place where you were not loved…...it's hard….very hard.” Valen whispers, tears finally falling from his eyes, the stress hitting him all at once.

Gang listens to Valen cry, fighting back his tears, memories of his own parents resurfacing…….his mother's death…...and her dying last words…..

“Now,” Valen starts again, wiping his eyes with his arm,” I find myself in the same situation as those parents,” he says, eyes still staring forward, unwilling to look anywhere else.

“Lin,” Gang whispers from beside him.

“Yeah…..Lin lost her mother, then found out her father died, all within a week…...and her stupid older sister just outright abandoned her.” Valen says, a tinge of anger in his own voice. “Her only surviving family left her in the care of a stranger…....”

A silence descends between the two. The fire still crackling behind them, heat continuing to warm their backs as Valen breathes slowly, calming himself before he speaks again.

“ Lin may not show it, but she is in a great deal of pain, hiding it with a smile…….a smile so full of sadness and suffering.” Valens arm slowly extends, grabbing a small stalk of grass, roaming his hands over it.

“I have never known a family. It was always only me, nobody else to care for. Somehow…..Lin found her way into my heart, and…….only recently did I figure it out. She doesn't see me as a friend…...she sees me as a parent…..a caretaker…...and that scares me.” Valen says fearfully, the idea so foreign to him.

“ You make her happy,” Gang voices, not sure what else to say to the brooding man.

“Heh…..,” Valen chuckles sadly “ before I took a cannon shot to the face, I would have thought happiness was all that a person would need…..and then I woke up to a crying Lin.”

“It hurt Gang….It hurt so much to see her cry, the pain was outright unbearable.” Valen voices, ripping the grass from the ground.

“At the city, when I heard the explosion…..I was so scared. I wasn't even scared for myself…..I was scared for Lin…..for someone else…..”

“I don't know if I can be a parent, Gang. I never had a kid before…….nor did I have parents to learn from. She needs someone better than me…..I wish I left her at that village instead of taking her with me.

Finally Gang turns to Valen, upset at the idiot ”You are an amazing man, Valen. You own a ship, fight pirates, kill slavers, and somehow you keep a little girl happy, even after her parents were killed. You love her Valen, and that alone is enough to be a great father.”

Valen falls silent, Gang’s boring stare and the fact that his face is only a few inches from Valen’s causes him to feel very uneasy.

“Gang…...um….” Valen mumbles, shuffling away from the man, unsure of what to say.

Realizing what he was doing, Gang quickly moves back, straightening his back and staring into the darkness, hoping that the lack of light will block the sight of his blushing face.” Sorry…..but you have someone who needs you….you have to change Valen.”

Valen nods….his mind going back to Lin…..and how he needs to change for her…...if only he knew how.

Standing up, Valen heads towards the campfire, summoning a couple dry logs. With slow movements, Valen starts to add logs one by one, watching the fire devour the wood.

“Hey Gang,” Valen calls back, trying to change the mood “What do you think about Diva?”

“What do you mean?” Gang asks, turning around to look at Valen.

“Well…...I find her attractive. Granted I understand we come from different backgrounds…...and that she is very ignorant…..but I think we could be a pretty good couple.”

Gang stares at Valen with a critical eye. Finding a serious expression on his face, he starts to laugh hysterically, holding his stomach with his hands.

“Somehow…..hahaha….I think you are more ignorant than her,” he answers, trying to calm his laughter, hoping not to wake Diva or Lin up. “You….you really don't...snort….don't know anything about Amazons….hahaaaa.”

Valen just looks at the Radonian, confused and….slightly insulted. “ What the heck are you trying to say Gang?” Valen asks, annoyed at the Radonians reaction to his honest question.

Taking a couple deep breaths, Gang starts to calm himself, a smile is still splattered on his face.

“First off, Diva is a very weird Amazonian. From what I have heard, Amazonians are cocky, immoral women that will kill with but an order. The exception is children…..but they will kill the mother without regard for the child's life.”

Valen just stares at Gang…...not able to believe Diva would do such a thing. But then again…the way she bodyguards someone is through killing the other person first.

“And the biggest reason that you have no chance,” Gang continues, enjoying Valens facial reaction,” is that they only mate with their own species. Apparently, breeding with other species would weaken the magical ability of their own race.”

“Wait,” Valen interrupts confused,” I thought amazons are an all female race?” he asks the smiling Radonian.

With a wide smile, Gang answers,”They are.”

Valens mouth drops open…..the idea that….Diva…..”Oh god….,” he mouths.” So she…..with another...wow…….I can’t believe…..dayum…”

Gang starts to laugh again, giggling on the ground like a child, Valens expression too funny to suppress his laughter.

Valen puts his hands on his face, realizing that this night will be a long one.

****************************

Lin opens her eyes, the sight of the inner tent greets her. Quickly putting her hand on her stomach, she feels the pains of nature calling.

With a grimace, she gets out of bed, Valen deep asleep next to her. Her ears wiggle slightly…….listening….the sound of metal sliding on metal can be heard from the campfire.

Grabbing a roll of toilet paper that Valen left for her, she silently walks out of the tent, quickly noticing Diva.

Diva looks away from the sword she is sharpening, finding Lin leaving Valen's tent.

“Poopoo,” Lin says, wiggling the roll of toilet paper in the air.

Diva merely nods, going back to her sword, delicately sharpening the cutting edge.

With Diva’s approval, Lin walks into the dark forest, her night vision allowing her to see it as clear as day.

Walking through the woods, Lin looks for a proper pooping place…..somewhere peaceful…..and interesting.

Looking up, Lin finds a nice perch on a tree. Using her tail, Lin wraps the roll of toilet paper in it's embrace, allowing her hands to be free for what she is about to do next.

Extending her claws on both her hands and bare feet, she stabs into the bark of a tree. With practised ease, Lin starts to ascend, moving her way up the tall tree, aiming for a perch near the top.

Within a minute, Lin finds her way on the perch; the branch easily supporting her relatively light weight.

Looking around from her perch, she prepares to do her business…...only to be interrupted by a shuffling sound.

Looking down, about a hundred meters away…..a person shuffles through the woods, their form obscured by the sheer distance.

With a great deal of curiosity, Lin puts her business on hold as she jumps from branch to branch, moving closer to the person. Once she moves above the unsuspecting person, she take a good long look.

A young dark elf similar in age to Lin walks through the dark forest, jumping at the slightest ruffle of sound.

Lin examines the young girl, watching her every move, tail swishing in excitement at the prospect of a friend.

With a conniving smile, Lin slowly crawls down the tree, trailing after the unsuspecting girl, enjoying the hunt.

Slowly the cute predator moves silently through the grass, expertly avoiding branches as she closes in on the unsuspecting elf. Moving her head close the face of the elf, Lin takes a deep breath.

“PIKAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!” Lin yells into her ear.

The elf screams and jumps forward, falling on the ground, quickly turning toward the sound. She quickly finds Lin, laughing uncontrollably, rolling on the ground……..trying her best to hold her poop in.

The dark elf girl scowls at the laughing beast-kin, upset and confused at the situation she finds before her.”That wasn't nice,” she says to the other girl, watching her hold her stomach.

Slowly Lin's laughter dies down, regaining control of herself as she looks at the glaring elf.

Standing up, Lin brushes the dirt off her sleepwear and looks to the other girl,”I’m Lin, what's your name?’ she asks, ignoring the other girls glare.

Pouting at the lack of apology, the elf crosses her arms,” My name is Aisha and you should apologize for scaring me.”

Still smiling, Lin ignores the girls plea,”why are you in the forest alone, it's dangerous if you don't have a bodyguard.”

Remembering her predicament, Aisha’s expression quickly sours.”Daddy told me to run…...he said he would find me…...he said it was too dangerous to stay there.” she attempts to explain….grabbing hold the necklace on her neck…….the same one her mother told her to always wear.

Lin just stares at the mopey girl, getting annoyed over her talk about parents. Valy is way better anyway.

“You know, you should come to my camp. It's much safer.” Lin declares to the dark elf, having decided to help the poor girl.

“Umm….,” Aisha looks around, the dark forest seemingly far darker and scarier when alone.”It would be ok?” She asks.

“Yup, Valy is super nice and Diva is super strong and Gang smells like flowers.” Lin starts to rant, happy to explain to the girl about her amazing companions.

“Can we go to the camp now?” Aisha asks, wanting to get out of the dark, even if she can see relatively well in it.

“Almost,” Lin chimes in, holding up a finger.” I have to poop first,” she exclaims, raising her tail into the air, a roll of toilet paper still being wrapped by her tail.