The campsite was far behind them, not that they dared to turn around to look. Fishy, Robin and Callie continued their journey to the City of Va. They carefully traversed the forest in silence. Robin gripped Fishy hands tightly as she failed to keep up with him, being dragged behind to make sure they weren't followed.
"Slow down!" She screamed as if her arm was falling off. Fishy turned around to see Callie who was struggling to keep up. But he looked beyond her into the distant forest. The campsite was nowhere to be seen.
"Sorry…" He collapsed to the ground, "Let's rest for a bit."
They decided to set up a temporary camp and fire pit. They waited around for hours as night quickly fell again. They made far less progress than Fishy would have hoped.
Robin and Callie sat around the fire, cooking their dinner. Several tins of beans and some beef that they were given by Kane, the demi-human. Fishy sat atop a tree branch as he looked up at the glistening stars above. He seemed to bit sitting on tree branches a lot recently and had always wished to do it since seeing people in cartoons do it at campsites. Plus, it was a good lookout spot.
He could hear the sound of the fire below him along with the sister's footsteps, but apart from that, he was in isolation.
"Hey, Lilith…" Fishy said to himself only to get no response. "I guess you don't want to speak to me."
"It's not that I don't want to talk to you." Lilith's voice rang in Fishy's head as she appeared in front of him. His shadow moved along the ground before the small blonde-haired girl appeared in front of him. "I have to speak to my master but I need you to understand that I'm only harsh to be kind."
Fishy wasn't sure who he was talking to, as Lilith seemed to be acting as if she was his girlfriend and not some random vampire that he saved.
"Those two down there," Lilith peered off the side of the branch to see the two smiling sisters leaning on top of each other as they stared into the dancing flames. "You're like a parent around them. No, maybe more like an older brother. Do you have any siblings, Fishy?"
"I have a younger sister. She was the opposite of me. She was aggressive and protective. She was the one that would always protect me from bullies. She was cute and caring but I had also seen her at her weakest. She may only be two years younger than me, but no matter how old she was it always hurt to see her cry."
Fishy spoke as he counted the stars as if looking for one to wish upon.
"Where is she now." Lilith sat back down on the branch with crossed legs, looking at her master with sympathetic eyes.
"I don't know. I just hope that wherever she is, she's doing fine. I hope that she stopped skipping breakfast and started to study. I hope her hair didn't turn white like mine from the stress and that she kept being brave and fighting back against the world that hurt her."
Fishy continued to speak as his eyes illuminated at each word. A smile that was brought on his face from his sister's memories. A smile that quickly fell to sadness after remembering that she was left behind.
"You loved her, didn't you?"
"I did. I'd die for my sister, and seeing those two, I can't help but think about her. I'd give up anything to see my sister again."
Lilith didn't say anything and was about to jump into Fishy's shadow again, but was asked one question that made her stop,
"What about you? What about your family?"
"I don't have one... No parents, no siblings" She answered as if she prepared it, but stuttered throughout, as her throat tightened on each word.
"I see… shall we go back down?"
Fishy jumped off the top of the branch as Lilith stayed up there for a bit longer, looking at the sky above before moving back into Fishy's shadow.
"What was that for?" Robin screamed as Fishy landing almost put out the fire, "We will freeze if you aren't careful!"
"Sorry sorry…" Fishy laughed as if he couldn't just relight it with magic, "I'll be more careful next time."
"You better!"
Fishy laughed along with Callie who cheerfully covered her mouth with her long sleeves. The forest was cold at night, and the fire was the only thing keeping them warm, but as they laughed and talked until they passed out, they forgot about it all. They forgot about where they were heading and all the worries. Fishy shared stories of his adventures in the world he lived as well as some tales from his old world. Tales of civilisations and their brilliant inventions that have lasted for centuries. Tales of warmongering leaders who caused the world to turn against itself. And many more stories that entranced both Callie and Robin with words that they would remember. With the sound of the calm fire burning next to them, they all spent one last night together.