Marshmallows

~0~

It was an unsympathetic chilly evening. The sky was dark; a smudge of black, lazily littered with stars. Four silhouettes in the light of the fire sat hunched over near the flames on logs that had been arranged to encircle the small camp fire in a square shape, hands outstretched in search of warmth. None of them spoke. The samurai sat in a rather comfortable silence, something they didn't get often. They were in the middle of a war, after all. It was at times like this that they could just sit in hush.

All eyes seemed to be focused on the flames, crimson wildfire dancing in the breeze. It chuckled and cracked, refusing to share their silent vigil. The four of them had been entrusted with the responsibility of keeping watch, more specifically to make sure the camp wasn't ambushed in the middle of the night. It had happened plenty of times before, and due to all the injuries that their army now bore they couldn't risk having any more casualties.

"Well isn't this nice?" A voice stabbed through the soothing lull of the silence. One of the samurai seated around the fire retreated his hands from the warmth of the flames and clasped them together, offering his comrades an upbeat grin. Gintoki lifted his head, averting his dull gaze from the fire and turning to look at the black-haired samurai seated nearby, completely ignoring Sakamoto's conversation starter.

"Oi, Zura."

Katsura looked up to meet Gintoki's gaze upon hearing him slur his annoying nickname, furrowing his eyebrows. The long-haired samurai had his hands hidden beneath the fabric of his green clothing to stay warm. "It's not Zura, it's Katsura." He replied irritably, folding his arms.

Gintoki had his finger up his nose and didn't seem to be interested. He blinked at his comrade with his signature deadpan look, before flicking the contents of his nose aside. "Where are the marshmallows?"

"Why would I have marshmallows?"

"Tsk," The silver-haired samurai clicked his tongue, shaking his head and looking ashamed. "And you call yourself a samurai..."

Sakamoto turned in his seat and retrieved a bag of marshmallows from behind the log, holding it up triumphantly. "Don't worry, Kintoki!" He chucked the bag in Gintoki's direction. "I have them!"

Gintoki rolled his eyes and caught the bag, before picking up a stick and throwing it in the other samurai's direction. Sakamoto simply laughed his loud, irritating laugh, dodging the attack. "Ha ha ha ha ha, ha ha! That was a close one, Kintoki! Just missed me!"

"Shame."

Gintoki then took the liberty of opening the bag. He picked up a stick from the ground and picked a marshmallow from the bag. "I'm disappointed in you, Zura..." He commented, as he allowed the marshmallow on the end of his stick to hover over the fire.

"It's not Zura, it's Katsura!" Katsura corrected, reaching over and picking a marshmallow from the bag.

"Ne, Zura," Takasugi called over. "Chuck me a marshmallow."

Gintoki gave Takausgi a hard stare from across the fire, almost what could be described as a childish pout. The two had more or less always been on bad terms with each other, always quarrelling; though, this mostly consisted of Gintoki making remarks about Takasugi's height, and Takasugi calling Gintoki a 'Natural-permed idiot'. The two samurai had once fought over the same girl, though she had picked Takasugi over Gintoki. Hence why the two were always at each other's throats.

The White Demon beat Katsura to the bag and rummaged around inside it.

"Since when was your name Zura?" Shinsuke asked, his voice laced with a hint of challenge. He returned the hard stare that Gintoki had offered him.

"Zura janai, Katsura da!"

Gintoki was still looking through the bag. "Zura has a bad taste in marshmallows," He replied simply, finally pulling a marshmallow out. "See, if Zura got a marshmallow for you, he wouldn't give it a second thought," The samurai held up the marshmallow he had chosen. "They need to specially chosen for each person." It was a small pink one, slightly deformed.

"Ah ha ha ha ha, ha ha! I see what you did there, Kintoki!"

Takasugi furrowed his eyebrows, not impressed. "Tsk," He folded his arms in obvious distaste. "It seems your taste in marshmallows is just as bad as Zura's." He retorted. "Yours is too square. I don't see a natural perm."

"Ha ha ha ha, ha ha!" Sakamoto leaned over and patted Gintoki's shoulder. "He got you there, Kintoki!"

"Don't touch me."

Gintoki inspected the small, pink marshmallow in his hand. "Actually, this might be a bit big for you..." He commented thoughtfully. "I can split it in half if you want."

"I can split you in half if you want."

Gintoki put a finger to his chin and thought for a moment. "Maybe another time," He replied. "When you get taller."

Takasugi pulled a face. "Are you doubting my skill with a sword?" He challenged.

Sakamoto grinned. "No my friend, he's doubting your height!"

Whack.

"Ha ha ha, ha ha! Ow..."

"My taste in marshmallows is just as good as yours, Gintoki." Katsura claimed as he passed a marshmallow to Takasugi.

"What kind of marshmallow did you just give him?" Gintoki asked.

"A small pink one."

Takasugi scowled at the two of them but began to toast the marshmallow anyway, leaning forwards and allowing it to hover over the flames. Gintoki pulled his marshmallow away from the fire and inspected it to see if it was cooked enough.

"You're learning well, Zura." He praised, taking a bite of his marshmallow.

"It's not Zura, it's Katsura!"

"Kintoki, pass me a marshmallow would ya?"

Gintoki pulled a marshmallow from the bag and threw it over to Sakamoto a little too forcefully. Tatsuma caught the marshmallow with one hand just before it went flying past his head. "Another close one! A ha ha ha, ha!"

"Stop laughing and stay still so I'll actually hit you next time."

"Ah ha ha ha!"

The four comrades then once again fell silent, each one of them occupied with marshmallows. The fire continued to chuckle and crack, radiating an almost ominous glow that adorned their facial features in golden light. The clouds in the sky, puffs of grey mist, drifted slowly apart to reveal a full moon. It's light settled over the base like a layer of fresh snow, soft and gentle. Now that the silver orb was no longer obscured, it outshone the stars and embellished the sky.

"The Bakufu army's awfully quiet tonight," Katsura commented when he had finished eating his marshmallow. He lifted his head and turned to gaze out into the darkness where the opposing army had settled, his hair silky with silver light. "Well, I do suppose they have just as many casualties as we do."

"Yeah," Sakamoto agreed, still chewing his marshmallow. He swallowed and smirked, his expression almost devilish. "We gave em' hell!"

Gintoki picked another marshmallow from the bag. "Everyone apart from Takasugi," he said, popping a big pink one into his mouth without bothering to toast it. "The reason why he doesn't have any injuries is because he's too small-nobody saw him coming."

"And the reason why you have injuries is because of that awful hairstyle," Shinsuke growled in response.

"That short temper won't get you anywhere."

"A ha ha ha ha, ha!"

"Sakamoto."

"Yes Kintoki?"

"Go jump off a cliff."

Takasugi finished eating his marshmallow and glared in Gintoki's direction. "Tch, shut up you natural-permed bastard."

"Ah, now now, children." Sakamoto butted in. "I hope you're playing nicely."

"Hm," Gintoki finished chewing his marshmallow. "Playing with Takasugi's height."

"You two are hopeless," Katsura remarked, shaking his head and sighing. "We shouldn't be fighting amongst each other."

"Ah, Zura. Where's your sense of humour?" Sakatmoto said with a grin.

"Tatsuma, where's your common sense?" Gintoki interrupted, treating himself to another two marshmallows. He pushed them onto his stick and started toasting them.

"A ha ha, ha!" Sakamoto rubbed the back of his neck and laughed loudly. "I think I lost that a while back!"

Katsura picked up another marshmallow and began to toast it, as did Takasugi.

"Ne, Gintoki," Taksugi looked over at Gintoki, taking note of the number of marshmallows the samurai had eaten. "Do you think if you attempt to eat half a packet of marshmallows your hair will go straight?"

"Tsh, go suck on some Yakult."

"I have some inside if you want me to go fetch one for you." Sakamoto offered with a smirk in Takasugi's direction.

Gintoki began to eat the marshmallow he had been toasting. "Yeah. Go choke on Sakamoto's Yakult."

Takasugi scowled. Katsura simply sighed and began to toast another marshmallow, and Sakamoto laughed. Again.

"Ha ha ha, ha ha!"

And so, the four samurai continued to toast marshmallows, talk of sucking Yakult, and how much of a midget Takasugi was.

No camp fire is complete without marshmallows.

So yeah. This was my first Gintama fan fic, so I apologize due to it being so crappy. Also, sorry if any of the characters are OOC.

I just really wanted to write something set in the Joui War because it really interests me, for some strange reason. Oh, and if I messed up anything, or got something wrong, it would be awesome if you could point it out xD