Triska smirked to that and slowly shook her head as she held the witch.

“Then I’m never dying, Alyssa, because you’re not going to win him from me,” she replied calmly. Alyssa opened her eyes slightly while she held onto Triska.

“Yes I will,” she said softly.

“No, you won’t,” Triska corrected, feeling some sense of amusement at arguing about such a thing again. After a moment she leaned back and looked at Alyssa, gently wiping the witch’s tears away while Alyssa glanced down to avoid eye contact.

“If it wouldn’t be too much trouble, could you please stop calling my sword worthless?” Triska asked. Alyssa slowly looked back up to her as the teen smiled a bit.

“That sword means a lot to me, it’s anything but useless,” Triska added.

“Why?” Alyssa asked.

“Because my mother got me that sword, she had it forged just for me back home. It was one of the finest weapons she had created for all the fighters. When I’m holding it, I feel like my mother is nearby with me,” Triska explained. Alyssa watched her for a moment then looked down as Triska glanced to her focuser crystal.

“It’s like your focuser, your mother gave that to you didn’t she? Well, I don’t think it’s stupid at all,” Triska reasoned.

“Of course it’s not stupid, it lets me use magic that’s much more powerful and useful than your sword,” Alyssa replied with a shrug. Triska narrowed her eyes at the witch for a moment before Alyssa looked up to her again.

“It means more to me than you could imagine, and not just because it lets me use my magic,” Alyssa said softly. Triska crossed her arms before her with an expectant stare, waiting as the witch stood up and gently brushed some grass off from her skirt.

“It’s all I have left of her,” Alyssa said sadly. Triska closed her eyes and looked down as she breathed out slowly.

“And the difference between your focuser and my sword is?” she asked with discontent. Alyssa looked at her for a moment then started walking back towards the campsite, with Triska jumping a bit before spinning around to seeing the witch making her way through the bushes.

“Hey, hey! Alyssa!” Triska shouted out before she quickly followed after.

Back at the campsite Daniel was eating his fish while Specca was happily munching on hers while holding the one Squeak didn’t want to eat. Next to her Squeak had eaten her apple down to the core, the ant girl now starting on the sandwich that Triska had prepared for her. Daniel finished eating his meal and drank his water before looking down to the fire with concern.

“Maybe I should go see if they’re ok, they’ve been gone a while,” he suggested. Specca and Squeak looked to each other then back to Daniel as the boy rubbed the back of his neck with a worried expression.

“I hope they’re not fighting again,” he said softly.

“Don’t worry about them Daniel, I’m sure they’re fine. And them fighting with each other is normal behavior for those two, frankly I’d be concerned if they didn’t fight with each other at least once per day,” Specca reasoned with a shrug.

“I don’t want them to fight at all, it’s just those two seem to really have trouble getting along still. I wish there was something I could do to help them,” Daniel said while watching the fire burning in the pit. Squeak made some gestures with one hand while squeaking something to him, the squeaks being muffled slightly as she had food in her mouth still. Daniel glanced to her and shook his head with a small smile.

“Squeak, don’t talk with your mouth full,” he said simply. Squeak blinked then nodded before swallowing her food, then repeated the same gesture while squeaking at the boy again. Daniel just slowly nodded and looked back to the fire again.

“Much better,” he said, with Squeak looking at him curiously then to Specca as the nixie merely raised an eyebrow at her.

“You do realize by now that we can’t understand you, right?” Specca asked. Squeak just looked at her curiously for a moment before down with regret as she nodded slowly. Specca shook her head then looked back to Daniel with a hopeful smile.

“Anyway, don’t concern yourself so much with them, Daniel; those two will be just fine. Besides, they’ve certainly come a long way with each other since they first met, they have to be warming up to each other to some degree by now,” she reasoned with a few nods.

“Alyssa! Don’t you walk away when I’m talking to you!” Triska yelled out from nearby. Daniel, Squeak, and Specca looked over to seeing Alyssa walking out from behind the trees and bushes towards them with Triska stumbling out of the shrubbery after her.

“Of course I could be wrong,” Specca commented.

Alyssa walked towards Daniel while looking down at the grass, her hat hiding the view of her face while Triska marched after the witch with a scowl on hers.

“Hey! I was talking to you!” Triska yelled out before a vine popped up from the grass and snagged her foot, causing the human to trip and drop onto her face with a thump. Alyssa walked over to Daniel and stood beside him while the boy looked back and forth between the two with a puzzled expression.

“Alyssa? What’s going on, why did you leave like that?” he asked.

“What was Triska talking to you about?” Specca asked.

Squeak merely squeaked something while tilting her head curiously.

“What was that for?” Triska barked out as she looked up to the witch with frustration.

Alyssa paused for a moment then slowly looked up to Daniel with remorse.

“Please, give Triska her sword back tonight,” she said softly. Everyone just looked at her with wonder as the witch gently held her focuser crystal with one hand.

“You can’t take it away from her ever, never ever, Daniel. It means the world to her,” Alyssa begged. Daniel looked over to Triska, who had a stunned expression on her face, then back to Alyssa as the witch smiled gently at him.

“Please, don’t keep it from her, not even for one night,” she said softly. Daniel opened his mouth to speak before pausing and just staring at Alyssa as he wondered if he was hearing her right. Triska slowly stood up and watched as Alyssa just waited for Daniel to respond, the boy glancing over to Triska then back to Alyssa again.

“Is that what’s been bothering you tonight?” he asked.