Flames And Blades

Chapter Twenty Four: We Are Family

We enter the campsite, now located far outside of Nocty, far enough that the ride was well over a few hours. The second we pull into the man-made parking lot, made by strategic firewood cutting, I can feel that the haze is back in town, even though I'm nowhere near it. The feeling hits me so hard that I lurch over in the car, gasping for air.

"What is it what happened?" Warrison asks, the others asleep, most likely having taken twice the amount, maybe three times the amount of sleep medicine as me, or learned how to stack sleep in some way or another.

"The Haze. I don't know. This has never happened before. It's stronger now, though. Way stronger." Is all I can cough out. My head is spinning and I feel as if I've just been drop-kicked by a pile of bricks. He gets out of the car, destination arrived. I go to do the same when I realize he's already made it to my side of the car and is helping me out of it. He leads me towards the fire pit that the group here has made. This one looks like a child refugee camp. Littles running everywhere with a few exhausted parent figures chasing closely behind their tails.

Through deepened pants of exhausted and pain filled air, I can't help but smile at it all. The kids aren't at all frazzled by the events around them; their games are far too interesting.

When I sit down, a group of girls come up to me. They look about seven years old. The middle of the group clearly their leader.

"You look like a princess. But we don't know which one, or your title." Their leader looks at me, he little voice adorable and almost intimidating with her stare. A little boy comes in tiara in one hand, mud in the other.

"Duh guys, she's Tiana's and Rapunzel's kid. Honestly, how could you not know this?" His vocabulary and sass impress me for his age; maybe six. He runs off, a tutu stuffed in his pocket.

I look at the girls, a smirk covering my winces, "Why be a princess when I can be a queen?" They gasp, looking at each other, then at me, as if I'm in insane. It's really quite cute.

"Because all the queens are evil...um, duh!" A sassy little bunch.

"Ah yes, but that's from the view you see. What about theirs? What about the happily ever afters perspective? They do have to get some credit, ya know. Anyways, what're your titles?" Harrison comes over cocoa in hand for the both of us, and sits beside me, the first actual snowfall lightly joining us. They introduce themselves to us.

Amelia is their leader, ridiculously curly brown hair and huge hazel eyes. Short yet lanky and pale. Jackie was her right-hand woman, strawberry blonde hair, obviously just working through a growth spurt, looking tall and wispy. With translucent freckles facial features. Charlotte was the third bandit, stark black hair with brilliant hazel eyes and flawlessly dark skin. She was the quietest of the group, but her eyes told me she had the most fire in her. I admired that.

"And what's your princes' title?" Amelia asks, looking at me but nodding her doey eyes to Harrison. The two other girls blushing and staring at him.

"He's not, my. I'm not his-" I start.

"Prince Warrison. Princess Indi over here is just hesitant with titles." I look at him, then down. He laughs with the girls. Great, now we have cheerleaders.

"YOU GUYS LEFT US IN THE CA-aww they're so little and squishy!" Luce storms in, at first scarily and then melting. Seriously, what was happening to her? Warrison just shrugs a laugh out.

"You were sleeping. All three of you are so much more entertaining when your unconscious than when you're conscious. Much less of a headache too." Trevor smirks at Luce, completely entranced by the littles surrounding her. He nods at her too, as if to say 'well, it's true hun'. I thus assume they have a thing going on. Adam walks in, on the phone, a strong blush on his face. The girls assume their positions and give Warrison a makeover. I can't help but let out a giggle at him.

Adam hangs up, sitting on the other side of me. "And that was...exactly what now?" I ask, already knowing it was the boy on his screen saver.

"His name is Leif, I just convinced him to stay another week with his grandparents in Florida." Why is everyone's grandparents in Florida? Immortal juice, I answer my own question. The beaches are the immortal juice and the oranges are what kicks it all into action.

"Well, as the new little sister you never wanted, it is law that I evaluate him. He shall come over for coffee with me when this whole kit n' caboodle is over and done with." He laughs, then side hugs me.

"I'm sure he would love that." Just after this, Trevor starts cackling uncontrollably. And Luce's cooing comes from a few feet back. We turn around to quite a site.

Warrison. Blue eyeshadow up to his forehead, and a muddied fluorescent tutu low riding on his hips. Luce walks in with a toddler on her hip and Trevor beside himself laughing. Warrison seems proud of himself, as the girls were too occupied to play with the firepit. All in all, it was really cute.

We spend the rest of the darkening afternoon chasing and playing with all the littles at camp, having more fun together than we've ever gotten the chance to. Once we get them all up to bed- including a still melting Luce, we decide to look over the map for clues.

"Guys I think we just have to cut the shit and go for it." Adam comes in, with the point I've been dying to say since Warrison pulled out the thing. Trevor and Harrison again share hesitant glances and then agree.

"So we start dawn tomorrow? I want this solved soon so it can be cleaned up before winter, so the littles have an actual home for the cold." The snow was already lightly falling and frost was sticking all day round, so we needed to hurry.

"Sure." Warrison nods, hiding something from behind his back.

"What's that?" I ask, suddenly intrigued.

"Nothing..." He was trying to tempt me, I could see it in his eyes.

"Tell me." Trevor and Adam are entertained by our interaction.

"Kiss me and I might." Flirt. A ridiculous flirt of a man he's becoming. I stomp over, kiss him on the cheek, and while he's in shock at my boldness, reach around to behind his back and snatch the bloody mystery.

A s'more kit.

"Yes! I love smores." I take the box with me all the way over to the fire pit, arranging everything as if it's a surgery kit. "Although I'm crap at making them, they always burn. The chocolate part is good though."

"Of course Mrs. Inferno can't do anything but burn the marshmallows." Warrison recovers, and takes the box back, putting a marshmallow in the fire for me. I was about to complain about the fact that I can do a lot of things instead of burning marshmallows, like gee I don't know, blow up houses at will, but he was making me food, so it was okay.

"Does this mean campfire stories too?" Trevor asks sarcastically, not at all expecting my response.

"Totally man, let's do it."

The fire was totally epic and very postcard-worthy, with all of us surrounding it and laughing at intervals. Somehow or other we start talking about our family lineage.

Warrison comes from a rather wealthy of army men, where Luce comes from a small foster system outside of town. Trevor shares the lovely tale of our dating status, then our neighbour status and Adam cuts in.

"You guys all have a cute story or something, I just have a small town lineage, with parents that gave me a bravado all my childhood." He shrugs sighs and spears another marshmallow.

"What do you mean bravado?" I ask nudging his shoulder.

"Well that's the thing about too normal parents, there's always something their hiding, or me it was that they were actually my aunt and my stepfather. Ughh, the whole thing is just exhausting." His marshmallow comes out crazily burnt and catches on fire, so I have to stamp it out.

"Well, at least parents are parents...right?" Luce does a squeak whisper that makes him laugh.

"Yeah, and at least this whole 'Destruction' thing gets us out of algebra..." Adam responds with a smile back on his face, and Trevor halves a non-charred s' more his way.

We continue on to spend a good deal of the night telling old stories and myths and legends until we all eventually fall asleep on each other.