The morning after the summoning came grey and slow. Smoke from the damp firepit curled upward in lazy spirals, and the air hung thick with dew. The camp was quiet, not in mourning, but in suspension. Like breath held between the before and the after.
The newcomers were awake early. Mira sat alone, sharpening a piece of bark against stone. Syl crouched near the fire, arms crossed, watching the smoke rise. Hennick chewed on dried root while casting glances at the partially finished wall. Rix was already pacing the edge of the camp, eyes scanning the treeline with a furrowed brow. Kael was nowhere to be seen.
Naera stirred first among the original group, then Eloin emerged from the shelter with mud still dried on his forearms from the day before. Goss, limping slightly, leaned on his crutch and mumbled something under his breath about the noise waking him too early. Lira walked a slow arc just past the perimeter, her injury healed, casting a watchful eye toward the underbrush before returning.
Raif stepped out from the shelter, rolling one shoulder. He hadn't slept well. Too many thoughts. Too many new faces. But there was no time to linger.
"Everyone," he called. "Let's meet near the orb."
They gathered slowly. The original group moved with quiet efficiency. The new arrivals came with guarded glances and folded arms. Mira stayed toward the back. Syl crossed her arms more tightly. Rix joined near the edge, as if measuring the distance to walk away.
"Morning speeches now?" Syl muttered.
"Only if you like poetry," Goss replied, yawning.
Raif ignored them. "We've got work to do. We split up into smaller teams."
"Splitting us already?" Rix said. "Fast track to trust, huh?"
"We don't have the luxury of easing in," Raif replied. "Everyone has a role."
He assigned Eloin, Lira, and Syl to reinforce the southern wall. Goss and Hennick would begin work on a proper food rack, with Naera joining them once she finished checking tools. Kael, though absent, was expected to return by midday. Raif would walk the outer perimeter with Rix, using the map to plan.
Mira didn't take an assignment. She drifted along the camp's edge, eyes fixed somewhere beyond the visible.
Raif gave a small nod. That would have to do.
Raif and Rix moved in silence along the inner perimeter, tracing elevation lines and water run-off marks sketched in bark and smudged with ash. The jungle loomed dense beyond the clearing, vines twitching with morning moisture.
"You ever considered drawing borders?" Rix asked suddenly.
Raif kept his eyes ahead. "You mean for territory?"
"Lines matter. Even fake ones. People act different when they think something's theirs."
Raif nodded once. "We've been focused on surviving."
"Which is fine," Rix said. "But that ends. Eventually."
He paused, then turned to glance at Raif. "So what is this place to you, really? A camp? A village? Something in between?"
Raif stopped walking. "A place that keeps people alive."
"Is that it?" Rix studied him. "You building a shelter… or a throne?"
"I don't want to rule anyone."
"But you do lead."
Raif didn't flinch. "Because someone has to. Not because I wanted it."
Rix's voice was quieter now. "You think that's enough? To lead just because you have to?"
Raif didn't answer immediately. He traced a gouge in the bark map with one finger, like he was comparing it to the map the orb gave.
"I think it's better than no one leading. And I think we all want this place to mean something. That's enough for now."
Rix let out a breath and rubbed the back of his neck. "You're either going to make something that lasts… or collapse trying."
"I'd rather collapse trying than do nothing," Raif said.
A brief silence followed.
Rix gave a slow nod. "Alright then. I'll help build your walls. But I reserve the right to knock if they start to rot."
Raif allowed a half-smile. "Wouldn't have it any other way."
At the southern wall, Lira shoved a thick plank of bark into place while Eloin applied a thick coating of mud to the frame. Syl stood nearby, inspecting the structural weaknesses with a squint.
"This whole thing leans," Syl observed.
"It holds," Eloin muttered.
"For now," Syl added.
"You always test things by trying to break them?" Lira asked, arms folding.
"Only the ones I expect to bend," Syl replied.
Lira nearly smiled. It faded quickly.
"You really didn't want to see me again?" Syl asked while binding a vine along the top edge.
Lira didn't answer right away. She worked the bark plank tighter, then finally said, "I thought you were dead."
Syl raised an eyebrow. "Rumour mill still turning, then?"
"There was a mission," Lira muttered. "No one came back. They said your body was never found."
"Wasn't," Syl replied. "Because I wasn't dead. Just smarter than the ones who were."
"You didn't send word."
Syl's voice lost its edge for a moment. "Didn't know if I wanted to be found."
Lira glanced at her. "I hated you for that."
Syl tied the vine, pulled it taut. "Good. That means I mattered."
Lira handed her another coil. "You still do. Don't make me regret admitting it."
Syl gave a lopsided smirk. "No promises."
Eloin, who had kept silent through the exchange, glanced up briefly from smoothing a fresh layer of mud onto the wall. He didn't say anything, but the shift in his posture betrayed it, he'd heard every word. Then he returned to his work, hands moving steadily, like grounding himself in motion.
Goss was sweating by the time Hennick propped the second crossbeam up. "You sure this'll hold?"
"If we lash it tighter and add a centre post, maybe," Hennick said, adjusting a loop of vine.
Naera arrived with a bundle of bark slats, wordlessly handing them over. Goss offered a nod.
They worked in rhythm for a time. Hennick hummed tunelessly while Naera bound the lower shelf.
"She looks at me like I'm a ghost," Naera said softly.
Hennick didn't look up. "She thought you were dead. You being alive breaks the rules she made to keep herself sane."
"I didn't mean to hurt her."
"I know." Hennick passed her a thicker branch. "Then help her, don't dodge her."
Naera took it. Quietly.
Goss leaned against the support beam, wiping sweat from his brow with the back of his wrist. "You know," he said, catching his breath, "you've got too many stormclouds behind those eyes for someone your age. That kind of weight leaves marks."
Naera blinked, unsure whether to deflect or accept it.
Hennick snorted. "He's right. You're carrying more than your share. And don't get me wrong, you carry it well. But you shouldn't have to."
"I don't really have a choice," Naera said.
"No," Hennick agreed. "But we do. So let us shoulder some of it, yeah?"
Goss looked at her more seriously, then offered a crooked grin. "Look, I'm not good at the soft talk. Never have been. But you don't have to pretend you're made of stone around us. Not all the time."
He paused, then added, "I can be the cool uncle who makes awful jokes and distracts you at the worst possible times. Hennick can be the responsible one who makes you eat roots and keep your back straight."
Hennick pointed at Goss. "See, that's why she needs me."
Naera's lips twitched, it was almost a smile.
"I'm not used to people looking out for me," she admitted.
"Get used to it," Hennick said, adjusting a vine. "We've got time now."
"And bad knees," Goss added, "but we work with what we've got."
By midday, Kael returned without a word. He emerged from the trees with a bark scroll tucked under one arm, mud streaked up one side of his leg. Without ceremony, he approached Raif and handed over the slab, etched in clean, deliberate lines. A map. Trails looping through the nearby jungle. Clear markers for elevation, rock clusters, even the water catchments.
Raif's brows lifted as he studied it. It matched almost perfectly with the map the orb had given him days before; the shapes were rougher, the lines hand-drawn, but accurate.
"He did this on his own?" Rix asked, stepping closer.
Raif nodded, still staring at the markings. "No one asked him to."
Rix gave a low whistle. "Damn. That's better than half the scouting reports I've ever seen. Sure, it ain't as pretty, but the detail... uncanny. Might need to keep this one close."
Kael glanced at him, expression unreadable. Then he turned deliberately back to Raif.
Rix raised both hands. "Fair. I get it. You've got standards."
Kael tapped a mark near the southern ridge, a spiral, then pointed to his ear, then to the trees.
"Sound?" Raif asked.
Kael nodded. Steady. Sharp. Still not looking at Rix.
Rix chuckled under his breath. "Yeah. Definitely not his type."
Before more could be said, the orb pulsed.
[System Quest: Stabilise the Camp Perimeter]
[Objective: Fortify the outer structure and establish patrol paths
Reward: +8 KE
Time Limit: 5 days]
Everyone gathered near the centre.
"Three days," Raif said. "We rotate shifts. No gaps."
"We start tonight," Eloin said.
"I'll scout the eastern side again," Lira added.
"We'll finish the wall," Syl muttered. "Even if it leans."
Goss looked at Kael. "You coming with us?"
Kael nodded.
Rix narrowed his eyes at the system message. "It's asking more now. Watching the edges. Like it knows something we don't."
"It always knows something we don't," Raif replied.
No one disagreed.
The group lingered for a moment longer, eyes flicking between the orb and each other.
"Feels like a test," Hennick muttered, adjusting his stance.
"It is," Raif said. "Every day is. But now it's naming them."
Lira folded her arms, looking toward the treeline. "We'd better start rotating patrols tonight. I'll take the first."
"I'll go after," Eloin added. "Can't sleep much anyway. Might as well walk."
"I'll tag along with Kael," Goss said, nudging the scout with his elbow. "He doesn't talk back. Perfect patrol partner."
Kael gave a slow blink. Not amused, but not hostile either.
Syl tossed a stick into the fire. "We should mark the blind spots. Some places feel like they shift when you're not watching."
Rix crossed his arms, still eyeing the system message hovering above the orb. "We've been reacting since we got here. Maybe it's time we start acting like this is ours."
Raif nodded slowly. "That's the goal."
That night, when the others had drifted toward the shelters or faded into work, Mira found Naera sitting at the edge of the camp, beside the cairn.
Naera didn't look up. Mira didn't sit down.
"You were my reason to keep going," Mira said. "Then you were gone. I woke up every day thinking I'd buried my failure."
Naera's voice came low. "And I woke up here thinking I'd stolen something I didn't deserve."
Mira's jaw clenched. "I don't know how to forgive that."
Naera didn't move. "Neither do I. But I'm here."
Mira stepped forward. Close enough to touch, but didn't. "Then stay."
Naera nodded once. "I will."
They stood like that, two shapes in the dark, separated by silence and memory.
Mira broke the silence first. "You know what I kept? After we buried you?"
Naera shook her head.
"A scarf. Faded blue. You gave it to me before the mines. Said it was lucky."
Naera swallowed. "I remember. You hated that colour."
"I wore it anyway. Every day. Even after it frayed. Made me think maybe you were still out there. Not alive, just… near."
Naera turned slightly. "I should've died there. Part of me did."
"No," Mira said, sharper now. "Don't give me that. You lived. You're here. So don't throw it away trying to feel sorry for surviving."
Naera blinked, surprised.
Mira's eyes shimmered in the dark. "You want forgiveness? Start by staying. Start by being better than the ghost I buried."
Naera stood. "I don't know how to do this."
"Neither do I," Mira replied. "But we'll figure it out."
A long silence stretched between them. Not cold, not warm either.
Then, in the distance, a branch cracked.
Both turned.
The jungle beyond the firelight stirred, just slightly.
Naera's hand drifted toward the knife at her belt. Mira's stance shifted.
They didn't speak.
Naera let out a long breath. "I was ready to give up when I arrived. Not just tired… empty. Like I'd already disappeared."
Mira's gaze didn't waver. "You never disappeared. You just stopped answering."
Naera's voice cracked. "I didn't know how to come back. I still don't."
Mira stepped closer. "You don't come back the same. You rebuild. Bit by bit. Day by day."
"I don't know if I'm strong enough."
"You don't have to be strong all the time," Mira said. "You just have to be real."
A long silence settled between them. Then Mira said, softer, "You remember the last thing I said to you?"
Naera shook her head slowly.
"I said, 'If we get out, we'll grow something. Even if it's just weeds.'"
Naera gave the faintest smile. "I thought you were joking."
"I wasn't," Mira whispered. "And now we have soil. Don't waste it."
A twig snapped to the west. The sound was light, but deliberate.
Mira's head turned sharply. Her body tensed.
"Someone's out there," she said.
Then, softly…dead serious
"We're not alone."