The rain has gradually ceased during Jayson’s trek to Derrick's nest. The soggy ground is squished underneath his boots, with some water seeping through to soak his scrappy socks. The moonlight and crack light gives him enough guidance to navigate the forest. It is composed of trees of various breeds and sizes, with many of them being young in tree-years. The older trees that remain healthy have houses built into them, which also provide some light through their windows or porch doors.

As Jayson walks through the forest, he passes a gutted tank here, a crashed plane there, a collapsed pill box in the distance, and a destroyed wall that has been reclaimed by nature. He's certain he's walking on graves, too, even though he hasn't seen any skeletons, but it doesn't shake the feeling off.

Jayson exits the forest and enters a clearing of mostly dead trees and lots of craters that have been reclaimed by grass or turned into miniature swamps. Some of the dead trees have been splintered to pieces, and others have collapsed to their sides or been uprooted. Yet despite this, twigs of young trees have managed to sprout in the desolation, and off in the distance is a large, old, yet dying tree with a circular house built high into it.

A flicker of a smile graces Jayson's lips and he trudges forward. When he gets to the tree, he climbs it with ease, using its branches and thick and sturdy bark. After ascending four dozen feet, he climbs over a railing and lands on the house porch. He takes a moment to catch his breath and wipes his hands on his pants.

Nearby is Derrick, sitting on a chair with a scoped rifle on a swivel platform and a patio umbrella fixed above him. He has a cigarette in his beak, and next to him is Lexia's bazooka and a coffee machine plugged to an outside outlet.

"Where's Lexia?" asks Derrick.

"She's on her way," replies Jayson.

Derrick grunts and uses his foot to nudge a dry crate to Jayson.

"Have a seat," says Derrick.

Jayson sits on the crate and puts his wooden sword between his legs. He and Derrick quietly watch the moon, the cracks in the sky, the mountains, and the burning smoke from Bliss Town. There are faint sirens in the distance, and Derrick leans forward and peers through his scope.

"Here she comes," says Derrick.

Jayson and Derrick wait, and a few minutes later, Lexia's grunts and angry mutters and ruffling leaves get louder as she climbs the tree. Moments later, Lexia's brown hand rises above the railing, grips it hard, followed by her white hand doing the same thing. Lexia pulls herself up, struggling and sweating. She flops over the railing and lands on her back, panting heavily.

Jayson and Derrick stare at Lexia, and she rolls on her hands and knees and glares at Jayson, her arms quivering and sweat rolling off her face.

"You…" wheezes Lexia.

"Yes?" says Jayson.

"YOU!"

"Yes?"

"You left me!"

"You shot a rocket at me. Twice."

Lexia points at Derrick. "And you stole my bazooka!"

Derrick points at her weapon. "It's right there."

Lexia gets up on wobbly legs, but before she can grab her bazooka, Derrick holds up his talon.

"Hold on. Before you get your tool back, you mind explaining why you two were butting heads again?" says Derrick.

"She shot a rocket at me," says Jayson.

"You were in the way," says Lexia.

"I was there first!"

"No, I was! This whole town is my territory and you're the one encroaching on my turf!"

"I'm talking about the alley, not the town."

"The alley is part of the town!"

"This town is big enough for the two of us."

"NO ITS NOT! FIND YOUR OWN TOWN TO LIBERATE, HOBO!"

Jayson looks at Derrick and jabs his thumb at Lexia.

"See what I have to deal with?" says Jayson.

Derrick sighs heavily and rubs his brow. "Lexia, we've been over this. Jayson grew up here. This is his home as much as yours. You need to share this town with him."

Jayson smiles smugly at Lexia.

This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report.

"Bull crap," snaps Lexia. "I've never seen him before. And I've never left this place."

"Check the Bliss Town Academy Yearbook. I'm in there," says Jayson.

"No you aren't," says Lexia.

Jayson frowns and grips his cosmic wood sword tighter.

"Lexia, if you want to beat Mama Bear, then you have to cooperate with him," says Derrick. "And I have an idea that will help you two deal with your rivalry while being a thorn in Mama Bear's side. Come inside."

Derrick tosses his cigarette over the porch, removes his rifle from the stand and escorts Jayson and Lexia inside.

The interior of Derrick's nest is a liminal space; brightly lit, but mostly empty. The walls are blank in a yellow drab, and doors are locked with padlocks and wood planks nailed over them. Only areas accessible are the kitchen, dining room, living room, and bathroom. The kitchen and dining room are spartan, and in the living room is a sofa, a coffee table, a makeshift nest made of pillows, cushions, and blankets, and an entertainment center that doubles as a dresser. There are shelves that are full of painted figurines of grimdark far-future sci-fi warriors, with more boxes and paint sets stacked on top of each other; and there is a broken grandfather clock tipped on its side in the back. Lastly, there is a white board on a rolling stand with a map of Bliss Town on it. The map is split down the middle. The left half is marked with a cartoony head of Lexia. The right side is marked with a cartoony head of Jayson. The line goes straight down Main Street, and curves over to the mountainous area. The Bliss Town Mall, Sam & Mann SuperMarket, Cindy's Cinema, and the Community Center are marked as "Neutral Zones".

"Seeing as how you two can't get along, I'll have to give you two your own territory so you can do your work without causing too much damage," says Derrick as he pulls the map to the dining room.

With that statement, Jayson looks at Lexia, and she turns her nose up. As they do this, Derrick goes to the dining table, grabs two marked maps, and gives it to the pair.

"Lexia, you get the West side. Jayson, you get the East side," says Derrick.

Jayson and Lexia inspect their maps for a few seconds before Jayson looks at Derrick quizzically.

"Why does Alexia get Arty's Arcade?" asks Jayson.

"Why do you care? You can't afford it," says Lexia. Then she squints her eyes at her map. "Hey, wait a minute. Your side has Samantha's Spa! Derrick, you suck at making borders!"

Derrick casually lights a new cigarette.

"I'll tell you what, you can go to the spa in exchange you let me go to the arcade," says Jayson.

"Fine. But you are only allowed on my side when I take spa days. They are every Sunday, noon to three," says Lexia.

"Fine by me." Jayson looks at his map again. "You have the Crystal Plate on your side."

"I know for a fact you can't afford The Crystal Plate," says Lexia

"Of course not. But their trash is really good. You have to let me over there. At least on Fridays and Saturdays."

Lexia wrinkles her nose. "And what could you possibly offer me in exchange for two days on my side?"

"Uh... Taco King?" offers Jayson.

"No deal."

"Taco King has amazing deals on Fridays and Saturdays, though. And their King Don burritos are criminally good."

"Maybe if I wanted to explosively lose weight I would take up your offer, but I happen to value my amazing physique and intestines."

Jayson rolls his eyes. "Give me a break. That's just a crappy rumor. I've never had 'explosive weight loss' incidents from Taco King."

"That's because you got the stomach from Hell! Literally nothing makes you sick!" claims Lexia.

"Are you two done?" says Derrick

"We're still negotiating," says Jayson.

Lexia folds up her map and stuffs it against her belt. "Negotiations are over."

"Great. Now both of you get out and if I see you two trying to kill each other again I'm going to be very angry with you," says Derrick.

"Oooh... Spooky threat," says Lexia while waving her fingers.

The room dims and Derrick's eyes glow bright red as he glares at the two rabbits. The two recoil with Lexia holding Jayson in front of her and cringing with drooped ears.

"I mean... Have a good night?" says Lexia.

Next thing Jayson and Lexia know, they are being shoved outside, with Lexia holding her bazooka tightly against her chest. The door slams shut behind them, making them flinch, and after a couple seconds of stillness, Jayson relaxes with a heavy breath, then he shakes his head and walks to the railing.

"Smooth," says Jayson.

Lexia walks after Jayson while clipping her bazooka to her back. "Well, none of this would have happened if you didn't get in my way."

“Bull.”

“No bull. You getting in my way all the time is causing friction, which is leading to stress, which is leading to mental problems.”

Jayson grips the railing and looks at Lexia, eyes heavy and lips tight with a frown while the beast masquerading as a female goes next to him.

“Have you tried being a regular hobo? You know, the ones that live at the homeless shelter with a warm bed, warm food, showers, job placement programs? I mean, Bliss Town doesn’t have them, but there’s a place one hundred miles from here that does,” says Lexia. She leans against the railing and flashes a smile. “I can even give you a ride free of charge.”

“No,” says Jayson.

Lexia’s smile drops, and Jayson climbs over the railing. He expertly climbs down using the tree branches and bark, and after a few seconds, Lexia fumbles her way after him, snapping branches, breaking bark, and grumbling about Derek needing to install a ladder.

"You know, Lexia, instead of blaming me for your woes, maybe you should look at yourself and not shoot rockets at everything. Or everyone. Specifically me," says Jayson.

Lexia makes a poor imitation of Jayson. "Oh, mer gersh, maybe you shouldn't be a meanie and blow-up people. Mhemhemhemhe~"

Suddenly Lexia's branch snaps and she lurches downward.

"OH SHIT!" screams Lexia.

Lexia tumbles down, bouncing off branches and falling past Jayson, who rolls his eyes and continues his descent with great skill. When he reaches the last branch, he jumps off and lands next to Lexia, who is face first in the soggy ground, surrounded by leaves and broken branches and her body leaving a perfect outline in the muck.

"You okay?" asks Jayson.

Lexia's groan is muffled in the mulch. "I'm fine. Now bug off."

"Sure thing."

Jayson pats Lexia's head and walks away, and Lexia remains in the mulch, fuming.

"Have a good night," says Jayson while giving Lexia a halfhearted wave.

Lexia growls. "You too... Prick."

Jayson smiles and keeps walking. It is a lovely way to end the night.