Chapter Three

The first thing Maka noticed about the medical tent was the smell. It smelled strongly of both disinfectant and the metallic scent of blood. Maka looked around and saw rows and rows of cots, some filled with injured people. There was a man in a chair writing on a clipboard and a cigarette in his mouth talking to a tall and muscular blue man with tattoos on his arms. His headband had a cracked metal plate on the front. The man in the chair was pale with grey hair and stitches on his face. Maka cocked her head to the side as she looked at the large screw protruding through the man's head. Despite the grey hair, the man looked around her papa's age.

"The blue man is Sid, he's a zombie. The one with the screw, that's doctor Stein. Sid is the tutor of the campground. He helps teach the children so that they can grow up going to some kind of school while the old academy has been taken by Medusa. He used to work there as a teacher." Soul walked in front of Maka and looking at Sid.

"That's sweet," Maka said. Soul turned towards her with a questioning look. "You know, that he decided to keep teaching. From the sound of it this place isn't in very good shape for the people living here."

"Yeah, I think it's really cool that he is teaching the kids," Soul agreed with a nod. "Well Black Star should be here somewhere."

"Black Star?" Maka asked. She hummed. That name rang a bell. "That's an interesting name."

"Yeah, I don't think that was his original name, but that's what he called himself when I met him," Soul said, scratching his head. "Anyway, his girlfriend should be here. Her name is Tsubaki."

Maka nodded and looked around the tent more. There was a partition at the very end of the tent where Maka assumed they did surgeries. In front of the partition was a tall woman with long black hair tied into a high ponytail.

"Is that Tsubaki?" Maka pointed to the tall woman. Soul turned and nodded.

"Yeah, see that blue hair on the bed?" Soul asked. Maka nodded. "That's him." Soul turned and nodded his head to the back of the tent.

Maka followed Soul through the long tent, and made sure not to stare at the injured people for too long. Some of them appeared to have fevers, while others had bloody bandages. There was one man with a splint on his leg who was breathing shallowly from pain.

"Hi Soul," said a soft voice. Maka looked up at Tsubaki. She had a beautiful and kind face, and was smiling. "Hello," she said, looking to Maka. "I'm afraid I don't think I know you."

"That would be because I just got here today," Maka responded.

"Oh I'm sorry, and you're so young," Tsubaki said said sadly.

"Oh no she isn't dead," Soul said calmly.

Tsubaki looked between Maka and Soul with wide eyes. "Does that mean…" Her eyes moved to Black Star.

"Yeah she fell down a manhole," Soul said with a chuckled.

"It's not funny Soul," Maka said, hitting his arm lightly. "Hello, I'm Maka," she said, holding out her hand.

"I'm Tsubaki," Tsubaki said shaking Maka's hand. She looked down at Black Star who was sleeping in the cot. His arm was bandaged and he had several scratches on his face and other arm.

"What happened this time?" Soul asked with a sigh, placing his hands in his pockets.

"He was too loud on the mission and his arm got cut up pretty badly. Nine stitches. He's resting now," Tsubaki said, brushing bright blue hair from the sleeping man's face. He was tan, and like Soul said, he had a star tattoo on his right shoulder. "He's so silly," she said with a small smile.

Maka knit her eyebrows together. He looks familiar. "Hmm…"

"Maka?" Soul said, interrupting her thoughts. Black Star grunted, and squeezed his eyes before opening them and turning his head to the side.

Smiling, he said, "Hey babe." He grunted again and sat up slowly, using his uninjured arm for leverage. Tsubaki bent down and kissed him on the cheek.

"Soul's here. He has someone from the surface with him," she said quietly.

"What." His eyes widened. He turned to look at Soul, who nodded in a greeting, then turned to face Maka. "Holy shit," he said, getting off the bed. "Holy shit," he said louder. He laughed, and swept Maka up in a hug. "Aw, it's little Maka Albarn," he exclaimed.

"Oh my god," Maka laughed. "Black Star! I knew you looked familiar. Oh, it's been so long!"

"How's Nevada?" Black Star asked, placing Maka back on the ground. Tsubaki smiled when she saw how happy Black Star was.

"Oh I moved away a couple years ago," Maka said. "I live in Seattle now. Well I mean I did. I'm here now."

"What? I used to live in Seattle," Black Star exclaimed. "Oh man, it was dreary there. Good thing I was able to brighten it up, I was such a star!"

"I bet you were," Maka said with a laugh.

"So you know each other," Soul observed.

"Yeah. I used to be Maka's best friend when were growing up," Black Star said happily. "She's like the little sister I never had."

"I'm only three months younger than you," Maka said.

"Yeah, but you're still younger," Black star said.

"It's so sweet that you guys get to meet up again," Tsubaki said. "Too bad it's in this place."

"Yeah, but this is really cool," Soul said with a grin. "I mean it would have been nicer if you guys met in Seattle," Soul started, "but this is so cool."

Maka smiled and sighed happily. She hadn't seen Black Star since she was fourteen. He had moved away when he changed foster families at the end of eighth grade, and Maka hadn't seen him since. He was the closest friend Maka had. Adjusting the cloak around her and putting her hands on her hips, she turned to Soul.

"So," she started as Soul turned towards her, "I haven't eaten for hours. Is there anything I can eat?" Maka hadn't eaten since lunch and her lunch had consisted of a blueberry scone and green tea from a locally run cafe near her house. Though the scone and tea were delicious, they only filled her up for an hour or so. Her stomach felt hollow as is grumbled from hunger and Maka laughed with embarrassment.

"Oh we can stop by the food supply on the way back to the tent," Tsubaki suggested with a kind smile. She nodded towards the exit of the tent. "Let's go."

Maka smiled and nodded. The four of them made their way to the exit of the tent. As they walked closer, Stein turned towards them and motioned for them to come over.

"Black Star, make sure to come back tomorrow so I can redress those wounds. If you don't I won't promise to not use force in bringing you back here," he said, glasses flashing. "Oh, who's this one?" he asked, turning towards Maka.

That's a weird way of phrasing that question. Maka thought with a twitching brow, her emerald eyes narrowing slightly.

"I'm Maka," she stated firmly before anyone else could speak. "I am from the surface and am still human."

"Hmm…" Steim hummed. "You look familiar Maka," Stein said, standing. He walked towards Maka and bent down in front of her, looking her in the eyes and searching her face. Maka looked at the stitches running down his face, and wondered how he got them to distract herself from the invasion of personal space. "Spirit," Stein said, standing straight up.

"Spirit," Black Star mumbled with recognition on his face.

"What?" Soul asked.

"That's my papa's name," Maka said. "Do you know my papa?"

"We went to the same high school. He was a year older than me," Stein said. He then chuckled as if remembering a funny memory. Spirit and Stein had gone to the same school, and Maka vaguely recalled her papa talking about a man who wanted to "dissect" him. At the time, Maka thought he was just making up stories as an excuse to talk to his darling daughter, but now she understood her father's weariness to an extent. "Is he still the same womanizer he was in high school?"

"It's what caused his divorce," Maka said quietly, looking down at her cloak.

"I'm sorry about that," Stein said with a frown.

"Thank you," Maka said softly.

Stein waved as Maka, Soul, Tsubaki and Black Star moved towards the exit of the tent. The four of them waved back with smiles and Tsubaki promised that Black Star would return to the tent the next day.

The four of them exited the tent, Soul bumping his arm on Maka's side. Maka smiled up at him, and bumped him back. As they walked to the food supply, Black Star started excitedly talking about the mission that he and Tsubaki had gone on to get more food. He had gone to a nearby market, posing as a demon with Tsubaki, but had gotten too loud about their cause. They had managed to get away without anyone following them, but not before someone's blade had slashed his arm. Black Star continued talking even as the four collected their bread and jugs of water as well as some stew for their dinner. Black Star had started telling stories about other missions that he and Tsubaki had gone on throughout the time the group ate their dinner. With Black Star and Tsubaki's stories and Soul's commentary, Maka had the most comfortable meal with people that she had in a long time.

She smiled with content.

I don't think I need that disclaimer anymore, so it's gone. I also will continue to try to update regularly on Monday, but I'm posting this on a Thursday because I think that since I've been writing ahead it would be okay to post other days randomly if I feel like it. I'll post Monday. thank you for reading.

Sorry about any spelling or grammatical errors.

-littlecat