Sometimes, there was a lot of free time between setting up for camp for the night and packing up to leave in the morning. This was especially true when Igneous spent most of his time in curled up in his tent, too unwell to do much else. Gerben sat transformed in front of his tent and that was all the protection he needed. It was also getting late out, so people were beginning to turn in as well, Iniabi being one of the first ones to crawl into his tent. He was on patrol the night before, so it wasn't so odd that he was one of the first to go and those who were stuck with the patrols were typically one of the first ones in the bedroll the next night. Arder followed closely after.

Eventually, it was just Garath and himself, the two who were doing patrols for the night. Since it was still early in the night, they stuck to the fire pit, with Leigh on one side and Garath sat across from him. Leigh had no problems with Garath for the most part. He kept to himself, but he was also helpful, slowing himself down intentionally to accompany anybody who was falling behind on their travels. He didn't seem to contribute much to the conversations but when it came to helping out in any other regard, he was on top of it.

However, the one thing that did bother Leigh was that Garath seemed so familiar to him.

"Have we met before?" Leigh asked.

Garath offered a shrug. He either didn't know or wasn't willing to say it, but Leigh wasn't all that sure which one it was. "Perhaps. I've been around."

"I've stayed in Adoss all of my life, until well, now," Leigh muttered. "I spent most of my life in the military, just like my father did and just like my son."

"I didn't know you had a child," he mumbled simply. However, he did seem surprised – it was hard to read emotion from the squinted eyes alone but it was the tone and the change in posture. At least, he was expressive.

"Most people don't. I don't think even Igneous knows... my son is all grown up and he has been for a while. He has a family of his own but I haven't seen the grandchildren ever since I got assigned to Igneous." Leigh wasn't upset about this – his only son moved to the outer edge of the Adoss and lived along the coast, far from the The Barren and far from the action, so he was at least safe. He was also far from Dosia though, hence why Leigh hasn't seen him in so long. He was a tough man though, so Leigh wasn't worried. "If I think I know you though, it has to be through the military."

"I was in Adoss military for a while but I retired and travelled for a while. It's been a while since I retired but you must have been in the military long enough to see me come and go. I don't think we ever spoke but we might have seen each other while I was still on duty," Garath said, looking into the fire. A smile tugged at his lips and then he chuckled. "You know, I managed to get in when I was only sixteen. I faked all of my paperwork and impressed everybody, so nobody noticed or even asked."

"Some kids can fake it well enough, if they are built well and mature. I waited until I was eighteen but since my father was in the military, I was trained from a lot earlier. I can't say I'm in my prime anymore... I used to think that was why I was assigned to Igneous. The oracles always had bodyguards but the other two didn't need them, so I thought it was a way to let me know I was getting old, my last job before they force me to retire."

Garath looked up from the fire, tilting his head slightly. "What changed? You don't look so insecure anymore."

"I suppose I came to see him as my second son," Leigh answered fondly. "When I first met him, it was quite obvious he never had a caring, adult figure in his life. He could get very moody but not in an explosive way... he just seemed ragged and tried to hard too please. It was quite sad, really. I was told that oracles chose their guardians, so while I was assigned to him according to the military, they would have to pick somebody else if Igneous turned me away. I didn't understand what he saw in me, but I saw a boy who needed a parent. Sometimes we argue like a father and son duo, or at least that's how I look at it. I'm biased in that regard... I don't know how he views me."

"I would say he's very fond of you," Garath mumbled, tossing some wood into the dying flames. "It's not my place to say so, I haven't known either of you for that long, but Igneous quite clearly respects you, even if he's moody and doesn't want to talk to anybody. I don't think it's always apparent but the love is there. Just keep working at him... he's stressed and confused."

"You should give out advice more often."

Garah smiled. "I like to let people work things out on their own when possible. That's how people learn but it seems like you needed... something."

"I suppose I do. It's not like me to ramble about my personal problems," Leigh muttered. His personal problems were usually his own, especially considering what his job was. He felt it was imperative that his problems didn't become Igneous' problems because the poor boy had enough to deal with when it came to his own problems. What he told Garath weren't exactly problems but still, it was a lot more about his life than he was used to saying.

"Glad I could help then... but I think it's about time we make at least one loop camp, no?"

"Yes, it's about time."

Garath threw one more piece into the fire, and then they both got up, heading into separate directions.

I only have the time for a little tiny support here but at least these little supports gives me the opportunity to add a "HERE IS WHY I AM NOT UPDATING BUT I PROMISE THAT I AM ALIVE AND DIDN'T FORGOT" note at the end while giving you guys some relevant to read. I will never update a chapter with just an author's note because I hate it when people do that myself - no need to get anybody's hopes up. Rude.

For any of you who are interested, I'm in my fourth year as a biology major, going in for a fifth in September because I took too many Greek and Roman classes and fell behind (but hey, I have minor in that now). As you can guess, this means that eight months of the year, I'm busy with classes and assignments and in general, just being chronically stressed. For the other four months of the year, I go back to retail and being chronically stressed for different reasons. In other news, my stress tolerance is shot and it does not take much for me to get stressed anymore.

This is why I make no promises for updates, because I just don't know when I will have time or how motivated I will be to write when I do have time. I hold myself to the 'every main chapter will be at least 5k words' and I think I can only make an except with the supports because if they were also 5k long, they wouldn't happen.

So yes, updates are coming but they will take time. I will feel guilty for spending too much writing when I should be studying. I might be able to get a chapter up before May but you know me, no promises.