[Name] II

Going Home, Part 8

Hey what's up lmao.

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Your friends all trickled back to the campsite to report what they found: nothing. A fire was started in the fire pit once everyone returned. The smell of the smoke made you feel a little queasy. The scent brought back memories of your last stand-off with Rufus.

You closed your eyes tightly and tried to wish the memories away. You didn't want to think about what he did and how scared you felt. At the time, you didn't think it bothered you much, but that must've just been adrenaline. Now, you couldn't bear the thought of the danger he put you and your friends in. Sometimes, you felt lucky to have made it out alive. You would not be disappointed if you never smelled smoke from a fire again. Cid spoke up and you were glad to focus your mind on something else.

"So what now?" While the question wasn't directed at anyone, you found yourself looking at Auron, Fang, and Leon for an answer.

"I guess we keep looking," Leon sighed.

"Have you seen how big this rain forest is? Do you know how long it'd take to search every fucking nook and cranny here?" Vanitas huffed from beside you.

"Ignore him. The kid's probably just hangry," Cid said as he rolled his eyes.

"Can you blame me? I'm starving over here," Vanitas said. Now that he mentioned it, you realized you were pretty hungry as well. What you wouldn't give for a big, juicy burger right now. Maybe with a side of fries, too. Oh, and also a strawberry milkshake. You continued to fantasize about fast food until you were snapped out of it by the noise your stomach made.

"Looks like I'm not the only one," Vanitas said as he gave you a smirk.

Once everyone had finished eating their lousy excuse for a dinner (seriously who thought it was a good idea to only bring that freeze-dried garbage), darkness blanketed the forest. This wasn't your everyday darkness either, this was advanced darkness. Without a flashlight you couldn't see a foot in front of you. Even having a flashlight on only allowed three feet of visibility. Suffice to say, the search was put on hold until the morning. For now, everyone was to set up their tents and get ready for the night.

"[Naaaaaame]!" Yuffie sung as she grabbed you by the elbow. "I've decided that we're going to be tent mates!" She said as she dragged you over to the tent supplies.

"Do I get any say in this?" You joked as you picked up the tent poles.

"Nope!" She replied as she led you to a space to set up. You chuckled and began to start working on the tent. It was nice to have some busy work to do, you wanted to keep your mind busy and away from the topic of Rufus.

After finishing setting up the tent, you decided to join your other friends who had finished in front of the fire. The rest of the group moseyed over once they were done, too. Considering the fire was the brightest light source at the moment, you weren't surprised.

"So [Name], did you pick out who you're bunkin' with?" Axel asked as he took a seat next to you.

"Miiiiiine," Yuffie sang from the other side of you.

"Good luck, [Name]", Riku said as he plopped down on the other side of Axel. "Yuffie snores like a lawnmower."

Yuffie huffed and stuck her tongue out at Riku. As the rest of your friends started various conversations, you turned your gaze up towards the sky. The immense darkness did have one benefit: the stars shined brighter than you'd ever seen before. Looking up at the constellations, you realized that you didn't recognize any of them. Not even the big dipper was up there.