New moon

Waning Gibbous

It had already been a day, and a tiring one at that. The mission had a hit few bumps, but otherwise was going alright. Nobody expected their first mission to be absolutely flawless.

The fire of the small assassin camp lit up the area and gave off a comforting heat. Runaan was perched up on a large rock, sharpening his blade.

"Good work today, Runaan." One of his fellow assassins said, walking past and sat down on a fallen log closer to the fire.

"Thank you Biaba. You too." He replied, looking back down at his sword and running the sharpening stone over the already dulled metal blade.

There was quiet chatter amongst the group, a laugh every now and then. It was quieter than it usually was, in training, but again everyone was a little more on edge. The elves were no longer in the familiar territory of their hometown.

Oh what Runaan would do for a soft bed right now.... Sleeping under the stars had its perks, but comfort definitely wasn't one of them. He would just have to grow used to it. They all would.

"Where's your conjoined twin?" Runaan's friend asked, her 'other half' few steps behind her.

"Hey! Lunae, where is the bedroll again?" The moonshadow elf's boyfriend asked, and at the new nickname Runaan raised an eyebrow.

"Over by that tree, with the others, Sol." She replied. Apparently the pair had a new set of nicknames for each other. How fun!

"Lunae? Sol?" Runaan questioned, face contorted in confusion.

"Kind of like Lunar, because I disappear with the power of the moon. And Sol because he lights up my life like the Sun does the sky during the day." She explained with a shrug as if it was the most casual thing ever, "You can use the nicknames on us too if you want. Actually, it sounds cooler so please do."

Runaan laughed, shaking his head a little at the slightly absurd request, but complied anyways, "Uh... okay, Lunae. Anyways, what were you saying before you were interrupted?"

"Oh yeah, where's your pal?" Lunae asked, hands on her hips.

"Who? What pal?" Runaan asked, eyebrows furrowing. He had no new companions.

"Y'know, your rival? What's his name... Why can I never remember names?" She continued, one arm dropping to her side and the other coming up to tap at her chin.

"Ethari?" Sol asked from the ground, on one knee as he rolled out the bedroll.

Runaan's eyes went wide. He looked around and sure enough, Ethari was nowhere to be seen.

"Yeah! That's his name!" Lunae cheered with a snap, leaning against the rock her friend was sitting on.

"Ah, maybe he had to take a leak. When you gotta go, you gotta go." Sol mumbled, still struggling with the bedroll. He threw his hands up after a few more minutes and stood up, "I give up! You do it!"

Lunae walked towards her boyfriend and they sat together on the ground, talking and ending whatever conversation they had been having with Runaan.

The moonshadow elf sighed and looked around once more. Still no sign of Ethari.

Runaan went back to sharpening his sword, trying to keep his thoughts from wandering. From worrying.