"There it is, that fire there." Serenity points in the distance to a flame rising out of the darkness. Hope sniffs the air with a sigh. "Potatoes, onion, carrots and beef. That's a good stew you've got there."

"Wait till you meat the chef." Niara pipes up. As they reach the camp, there comes a chirping "Welcome back!" in Serenity's voice. But her lips have not moved. Stirring from out of one of the three tents around the fire comes a bird-like creature nearly four and a half feet in height, feathers red as a cardinal. "Visitors!" The bird thing chirps in Serenity's voice, looking down at the bowls available; only three, and with four new guests, the creature lowers its head. "Uh oh." This time in Niara's voice.

"It's fine, Drum. We'll just have to deal with it for now." Serenity waves her hand dismissively and dismounts. "Everyone, this is Drum Beat. I'm teaching him how to be a bard."

"Big bird. Least he's not angry." Anna mumbles, dismounting with Hope's help. The elf holds out a hand. "Hello, Drum Beat. My name's Anna."

"Hello Anna!" The bird thing chirps in the elf's own voice, startling her. "Holy cr-...I mean, wow. How does he do that?"

Hope laughs. "He must be a birdfolk. A race of bird people who lost the ability to fly or speak with their own words and voices a long time ago. They can mimic the voices of other people, even sounds they hear. That's where alot of them get their names. Clinking Coin, Anchor Dropping, Owl Hoot, I even knew one named Hammer Beating Sword On Anvil." Hope kneels, holding her fist out to the birdfolk, who chirps and bumps his own against it. "Nice to meet you. I'm Hope."

"That's kinda cool!" Anna sits down, the others following suit. Tyrion sniffs the stew and licks his lips. "That looks good. Too bad we don't have any extra bowls."

Hope raises an eyebrow and laughs, rustling through her pack and removing a quartet of mess kits. "I've got experience in the wild. Figured if we were hankering for food, these would not go unmissed. May I?" She gestures to the boiling pot hanging over the fire. Drum waves his hand dismissively, ladling out portions of the stew to each bowl available before sitting. "Happy food, happy mood!" An unrecognized voice.

They eat in comfortable silence, the lack of noise broken only occasionally by the chirping of crickets. Amadeo at last speaks up. "So what are YOU doing out here, then? You clearly aren't meant to be fighting little spirits, not with the amount of power you showed back there."

Niara shakes her head. "Nonsense. My goddess abhors the undead. They're a blight on this world to be dealt with. And you looked like you needed help, so there's that too."

"We're also traveling. Just seeing the sights, mostly. It's a nicer place compared to where I used to be." Serenity slurps her remaining stew, stoking the fire. "Been saving up for a dream of mine."

"What dream is that, if you don't mind me asking?" Hope asks. Serenity looks over at her red skinned counterpart with a smile. "I want to reopen the orphanage I grew up at. I want to rebuild it, restaff it. I want a place where kids can grow up unafraid of the world or each other."

"Huh. Sounds...nice." Hope rubs her tail and looks away, but Serenity seems unfazed by the sudden change in mood. "You too, huh?"

Hope looks back at her. "Huh? Me too what?" Serenity just nods her head. "You know. We can spot each other a mile away. Kids who grew up with next to nothing. Only two kinds of people respond to what I said like you did; the sympathetic or those who lived it. You and I are the same. So...Where'd you grow up at?"

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Hope clenches her tail tightly, until Anna nudges her shoulder. With a sigh, she looks down. "Haelga's House for Lost Children. It was a hellhole." Serenity nods "In Loheim. I remember hearing about it. I'm a Theo's kid, myself."

Hope blinks, tilting her head quizzically. "Wait, Theo's? As in Theodora's Institution for Orphan Education?" Serenity shakes her head. "That's a story for another time, Red."

Hope looks away, clearing her throat. "Ok...So why are you traveling together?"

Tyrion looks between Serenity and Niara, then chuckles, and Niara shakes her head. "No, not for that reason, sneak thief. I don't think my wife would like that. We met about a year ago, struck up a conversation about being out and about and how we could do more by walking the world than staying in one place. I figured she had some truth in her words, and that was that."

"Well that was simple." Anna giggles. "We four just met like...what, a day and a half ago?"

"Yeah. It's been quite the show since then." Tyrion laughs.

"You seem remarkably tight knit for a group that just met." Serenity smiles behind her stew bowl.

"We learned some things about each other, figured we should stick together. I learned real quick as a lad that you bond faster with people if you're risking your life together, or at least trying to stay alive together." Tyrion nods to himself, and the other three nod in agreement.

"Good. It's a fact that saved my life quite a few times." Serenity sits back, setting her empty bowl down. "But sadly for me, it's time for bed. Much as I'd love to hear more of your tales of heroism and near-death experiences, a girl needs her beauty sleep." Waving to the party, she crawls into one of the tents to lay down for the night.

Niara yawns, as does Drum. "Yes, I am very sleepy." The birdfolk coos, moving toward the second of the three tents and ducking in. Niara in turn stands and stretches. "You're welcome to stay until the morning at least. Sorry we've no other tents."

"It's fine. We've got it covered." Hope waves her hand dismissively, and the party lays out their bedrolls, laying down as Niara goes to her tent.

After some time, Anna calls out. "Hope? Are you asleep?"

"Not yet." Comes the sighing voice of her companion.

"So what's up with this Theo person?" Anna turns over to look at Hope, who shifts to face her in turn.

"I've got the same question. The name's familiar, but I dunno where I know it from." Amadeo folds his arms behind his head.

Hope sighs. "It was an orphanage. Theodora's Institution for Orphan Education. I hear it wasn't half bad, but then the place burned down and some kids went missing. It's been abandoned ever since. I didn't know anyone survived or had been found." She looks to the tent Serenity went into.

Anna nods, thinking to herself before she looks back at Hope. "So who named you, if you were an orphan?"

"Ah, this old chestnut. I wasn't given a name. Not until I was about seven. See, some people name their children. Names like Jack or Elena-"

"-Or Anastrianna!" Anna chimes in, and Hope nods. "Or Anastrianna. I didn't meet my parents, so I never got a name. But that's ok, cause in our culture , we will sometimes choose what's called a 'virtue name'. A devilkin will choose a virtue, like Faith or Charity, even darker things like Despair or Pain, to either represent or strive to achieve. I named myself Hope, because I wanted to be a symbol of hope for people who had lost theirs."

Hope turns a bit red. "It sounds silly, I know. But I was inspired as a child by..." Her face falls and she shakes her head. "I always dreamed of being a hero for another little kid some day. But every time I look in the mirror, I'm reminded of what I am, and it gets hard to remember the good past all of this."

"Being a hero isn't all sunshine and rainbows. You'll always have some dark days, sure. But I think you can make it. If someone can believe in me, then I think I can believe in you." Anna holds out a hand to Hope. "But you have to promise to do your best not to let down the people who are counting on you. We all do."

Hope smiles softly, taking Anna's hand. Amadeo chuckles and leans over, linking hands with the two of them. "I know you're awake, little man. You snore like a dragon when you're really asleep."

Tyrion chuckles, turning over to face them. "Didn't want to break up this tender moment. I'm used to being on my own. But I think working with you bunch is gonna be good for my spirits." He takes their hands in his and smiles brightly. "We should do this more often. Talking like this. It's good for us, I think."

One by one, they each drift off to sleep. The fire burns a while longer, the logs shifting to coals, then embers, and finally ashes.