The sun was setting and the forest was turning into more of a dense shrubbery as the group made their way into a small clearance that was a small, grassy circle with a few rocks strewn about. One in particular was about four feet tall and had a completely flat surface on top. As the four fell through a small wall of bush and into the clear Bren dropped his bags and simply passed out, mumbling as he slept. Next to come through was Chase, panting slightly and sweating. Then Dax, then Jinja who was the most energetic of all of them, still smiling and almost skipping. And of course, the last one through was the ever tranquil Beyal, his arms up near his chest gripping his backpack straps. Everyone set down their bags and things almost immediately Chase began to set up one of the tents. "Well, look who's got their energy back." noted Dax, grudgingly getting out another tent set and got to work. Beyal walked over the large rock, slumped his pack beside it and climbed, sitting cross-legged on top he began to hum gently. Bren raised his head, moaning groggily he sat up and rubbed his head.

"Did I pass out? Geez, I gotta get some sleep, or some food." he said while fumbling around in his pack for a pan and a few other things, "Anyway", someone's gotta set up the fire, so I might as well do it, hey Beyal, aren't you gonna set up your tent?" asked Bren.

"No, I have not a tent, nor a need for one, I have been trained for such conditions and besides, the stars should be splendid tonight." Replied Beyal, not even opening his eyes and continuing with his meditation; "I had one, but lost it, somewhere behind us, most likely a long distance back in the rocks near the river."

"Geez, forget I asked." Grumbled Bren as he finished setting up his one man tent "Hey Dax, can I have a word?" he questioned when the Australian walked by.

"Sure, what about?"

"Beyal."

"What about him?"

"He's confusing, he seems to spend too much time with me, and always backs anyone else in an argument, like this one or two times I was in an argument with Jinja, he instantly takes her side, not even when she is completely wrong but then says sorry after she leaves. I just don't get him." He whispered.

"Right and you're telling ME this why?" questioned Dax.

"Because I figured you could figure what's up with him!"

The Australian adjusted the beanie on top of his head and put a hand to his chin, kneeling on the ground as Bren tossed a lit match into the fire and it crackled to life; warm, glowing embers dancing amongst the wood as the heat began to project itself on to his face. "Righto, I think I have got it down to three options, however ludicrous they may be.

One: He is just being friendly cuz he's your mate, as am I.

Two: He's learning more about you or technology either is good right? The monkfish probably couldn't use a cell phone if a manual was right in front of him and you know how he likes books.

Three: Take note that this is the most ludicrous of them all and is probably NOT the case… He's gay, and he likes you, I mean really likes you." He stated smirking while Bren suddenly grew pale and fell back on his bottom. "Right! With that sorted I might as well look around for some grub, or some other insects I can cook up for yas."

Jinja looked up from a book she was reading just in the door way of her tent "You're not serious are you?" she groaned, frowning.

"Sure am Princess." He retorted with a smile that looked eerie in the sunset, with only half his face visible and light reflecting off his visible eye it looked rather demonic. Combine that with his Australian accent, usually coated in a soothing or suave tone and it sounded a lot creepier than intended. She shuddered as that thought ran through her mind and continued reading.

Bren brought out a pan and set it on a tripod that was positioned over the camp fire. He reached into a pack and brought a bag of sausages. "Oh forget that, no chance I'm trying any of that crazy outback food," he said as soon as Dax was out of sight, "besides, I brought some real food, just in case. They should be ready in about twenty minutes." All the while, Chase Suno had finished setting up his tent and was busy studying something on the datapad. He looked frustrated and somewhat angry and was frustrating pressing the screen trying to do something. "Chase what are you doing? You're going to break it!" pointed out Jinja, once again looking up from her book, but this time she put it down and crawled over to Chase, who had stopped trying to break the datapad and was rather frustrated, his face buried in his hands.

"Dammit!" he whispered and was about to pick up the datapad again when Jinja stopped him.

"Seriously! What has got you so frustrated?" she persisted. Chase replied, but not with words, more of a grumbling mumble. "What's that?" chase replied again, this time slightly louder, but still nonetheless not understandable. "You are going to have to speak up Chase." Continued Jinja frowning.

"CROSSWORD PUZZLES!" shouted Chase.

Jinja gave him a sarcastic look while Bren burst into laughter, almost knocking over the pan atop the fire. Just then Dax broke through a small section of shrubbery, holding a sack filled with what most likely would have been their meal, if it had not been for Bren, then it would have been expected that all but two of the five would lose their lunch. "What's so funny guys?" pondered Dax walking towards the campfire which was now large and lovingly warm, emitting a caring heat that seemed to make him smile.

"Nothing too important Dax, just chase getting frustrated with the datapad."

"Something to do with crossword puzzles." Added Beyal, who had not said a word over the past few hours, not even moved as he sat atop the stone meditating.

Dax brought out a pan and moved the other one off the tripod, noting the perfectly cooked sausages in it. "Huh, guess you guys were planning on eating without me eh?" he said as he filled the pan on the tripod with various insects and grubs which immediately began sizzling. The group quickly sat down to eat, with the exception of the tan monk, who had turned to face the group, though still on the rock. Then he did the unexpected, he climbed off the rock, opened his pack, drew out a smart phone and started doing something with it.

Everyone just stopped and stared except Bren, who had a rather sheepish look on his face. "B-Beyal, what are you doing?" stuttered Jinja.

"I am playing Angry Birds. It is strangely amusing, Bren showed it to me."

Bren's face went red as he finished eating. "Well I'm going to bed early, night everyone."

An hour passed and the sun had fully retreated behind the horizon and a full moon sat high in the sky. Chase had gone to sleep and Bren was already sleeping like a baby, so that left Jinja, Dax and Beyal, who was back on his rock meditating once more. Dax was sitting by the campfire, which had now shrunk to nothing but glowing coals, which were a brilliant orange. Dax himself was just about dozing off and was barely awake. Jinja approached the ever tranquil monk in tan robe and scampered up the rock. Surprisingly there was easily room for two, even three if you huddled together. "You seem to meditate all day Beyal, what exactly to you think about?" she wondered.

"It is not all meditation, some of it is prayers, other times it is reflection on the day and sometimes, just sometimes; it is thinking of the one have feelings for."

"Aw, so sweet, who is it?"

"I-I can't say, but shall we pray? I have yet to have someone join me in prayer yet." Jinja raised eyebrow but still nodded, she sat opposite him in a cross legged pose and he took her hands. "For the things we did wrong, to the things we did right, to pray that we should survive the night. To the road ahead, treacherous and long, to the days and the people long gone." As he continued his little chant Jinja could not help but notice that his voice was always so calm and almost quiet. His tones were so calming and nice, it made her happy. Beyal noticed a chill and goose bumps on her hands as a breeze rolled by and then found she was slightly shivering. He rolled up part of her sleeve to find it riddled with them. "You are cold, you should stay warm, here." He said, taking off his robe and draping it over her shoulders and clutched it there with her hands.

"Th-thanks Beyal." She stuttered. Then she noticed something, Beyal was not wearing a shirt, exposing his tan chest to the moonlight which reflected off it, giving it a slight shine. She thought he looked rather fit and handsome, although she would never voice this aloud she also found him rather cute with the way his silver hair was an almost opposite to his tan skin, the robe always fit rather snugly and his voice was always so calm and happy.

"Is something the matter Jinja?" he questioned, raising a curious eyebrow with a hint of a smile playing in his face.

"Oh, nothing, listen, if you want to you can share my tent with me if you like. T-that is, if you want to."

"That would be nice Jinja; however, there is something that troubles me. Whenever I am near you, around you, talking to you, I get butterflies in my stomach; I am not quite sure what is wrong with me. I am fairly certain I have feelings for you, but my time as a monk has never given me any sort of insight into a single particular topic: Love."

Jinja did not say another word; she simply reached forward and hugged him tightly. Beyal did not have time to even react; he simply let out an 'oof' as a small amount wind was driven from him. Jinja was thankful for him speaking out about it so she did not have to; she was no good with confessing things such as this. "It's okay Beyal, I feel the same way." She did not want to let go of him, she felt so safe and warm clinging to his chest. He returned the hug and whispered in her ear.

"Perhaps it is time we got some rest as well, for no one knows what the next day brings."

She nodded as she yawned; climbed off the rock and walked to her tent, unzipping the front she crawled in and unrolled her sleeping bag. "There is only one sleeping bag, so we will have to share, if you don't mind again."

"No, it is quite alright, shared body warmth is good for when things get cold."

"Right, that's exactly what I was thinking." She said but under her breath she whispered "Oh, so innocent. Poor little Monkfish." She took off his robe and dropped it on the floor of the tent and climbed into her sleeping bag. Beyal crawled in behind her and snuggled up to her in the bag. The redhead turned and faced him, their faces mere centimetres away. She leaned slightly closer and closed her eyes but after ten seconds nothing happened, she opened her eyes and smiled somewhat. "Beyal, have you ever kissed someone before?"

Beyal nervously smiled, "All these questions, I thought it would be obvious considering I am a monk so these things that are happening are almost a complete mystery. That's not to say I haven't heard of these things before, it is like a foreign food; you can read about it all you want, see pictures but until you try it for yourself all you gain from it is confusion."

Jinja sighed and smiled at the same time "It's okay, I'll show you." And she kissed him passionately. When this happened Beyal's eyes flew wide open but slowly closed as he returned the embrace. After about thirty seconds something tried to get into his mouth and he instantly pulled away from her and turned to face away, clutching the sleeping bag to his face. "I'm sorry Beyal! You didn't like it?"

Beyal didn't turn back, "What was that?" he asked, flicking his eyes back towards her for a second.

"Oh that's right you haven't done this sort of thing before. It was a French Kiss."

"I found it strangely likeable. Can you do it again?" he asked sweetly.

"Why are you asking?" she smirked and she turned him over and kissed him again. This time when her tongue protruded into his mouth again he let it in. It felt soft and comforting in him and decided to try it himself. After another thirty seconds Jinja pulled away this time "Not bad Monk Boy. I have to say though, your chest, it's getting slightly moist." Beyal looked down and saw that he was slightly sweating and instantly his face went bright red as he smiled and closed his eyes.

"Now I see why Dax calls you 'Princess'" he said which made her blush and giggle.

Meanwhile, Chase Suno had barely been seen for the last few hours. What was he doing? Well right now he was in his tent, curled up in his sleeping bag, with something lying next to him. He patted the one man tent and sleeping bag to his left and whispered "Mission accomplished."