Luke collapsed onto his knees in complete exhaustion. Despite the fact his body was not leaking of any vital fluids, he felt his vision begin to waver. It took all the willpower he possessed to even get his vocal chords working.
"Damn it, that has been the millionth monster we've run into and we still haven't gotten anywhere!" he complained tiredly.
It turned out that the young Fabre wasn't the only one sitting on his arse with a look of dreariness. Three other figures were also looking ready to surrender to the great power of fatigue. A young, blonde-headed man began to massage his aching muscles along with a golden-haired princess and dark-haired little girl. All whom seemed as if they were ready to take their last breathe.
Not really of course.
The dark-haired girl piped up, "Luke's right! We've been fighting twenty-four hours straight without rest! And to top that off, we're in the middle of nowhere! Right Guy? Natalia?" Both said people nodded in agreement.
"I believe Anise is right. We should really take a break." Natalia said.
The other two members of the group, Tear and Jade remained standing as they both watched their companions groan and mutter things under their breaths. It wasn't visible on her face, but Tear was also beginning to grow weary of all these endless battles.
Jade however, only continued to keep smiling.
"Actually, believe it or not. I bought this tent back in Baticul before we had left and I really think we ought to try it out." Guy suggested. This was followed by excited squeals from Anise.
"Ohh! So you mean this will be our first time not sleeping on the cold, dirty ground!?" With that, Luke also beamed.
"Yeah, we should do that."
"I wouldn't mind either." replied Natalia.
Tear sighed. "I suppose it wouldn't hurt…"
"Yes, it would save those dreaded stones pressing against my poor back." Jade said with his trademark smile still plastered all over his face.
That night, everyone was inside the tent Guy bought. They had spent their time telling ghost stories (of which Jade especially specialized in). In the silence and eeriness of the dark, it was guaranteed that no screams would not be heard during Jade's story-telling. Tear, who silently willed herself to not show her disapproval of ghost stories, had even let out a few gasps and shrieks of fear as the others did. It certainly wasn't often that the party did things that didn't involved Van and his maniacal plans; in fact, it was very rare.
However, it wasn't until everyone had hit the sacks that they realized there was much concern inside the tent. Concerns that had particularly involved…space. It wasn't until then they realized that this tent was best-suited for four people. And to top it off, nobody wanted to go outside, which was probably now infested with mosquitoes and nosy creatures.
"Let's throw Mieu out." Luke suggested, only to have Tear scold him. "Then how about putting our weapons outside then?"
"That's no good, what if thieves come and take them?" Anise retorted.
"Then let's put some of the leftovers from dinner outside."
"Do you want nocturnal hungry monsters with flesh-ripping teeth around us while we're asleep?" Anise said. Luke glared at the younger girl.
"Fine, then let's throw-"
"No, Luke. We are not going to throw Mieu out." Tear snapped.
It seemed there would be no conclusion to this dilemma. So it was agreed that everyone would limit their space to the best of their abilities. However, that didn't change the fact they were immensely cramped inside a very small space. It wasn't long until there were shouts and screams that shook the tent.
Over the noise being made inside, nobody could tell who was who anymore in the dark of the night...
"Wow, I have never felt anything more softer-"
"LUKE! Those are not pillows!"
"Ow! Oww! Owww! Someone's hurting me!"
"GAH! Someone help me!"
"Hey! Quite touching that!"
"What are you talking about? There's nothing there!"
"Jerk!"
"OW! Alright, who just slapped me!?"
"That's my-"
"I can't breathe!"
"GET AWAY FROM ME!"
"Guy, your foot is in Natalia's face!"
"AHHH!!"
"Rending Blast!"
"What the hell are you doing!? You'll kill us all!"
"My, my…aren't we having fun?"
"Hey, are these the melange gels?"
"Get your hands off me!!"
"Help! Don't touch me! AHH!"
"Can everyone just calm dow- HEY, GET OFF ME!"
"Eww, that really stinks!"
"Someone use a fonic art of fire!"
"Devil's ma-"
"Are you trying to kill us all!?"
"Oh my god, Guy are you okay? Heal! Heal!"
"Squishy…"
"!!!"
"The hormone frequency here is much higher than that of the fonon frequency of the planet storm…"
"AHH!"
"Help…help…help me…"
"Gee, whoever's on top of me really needs to lose weight!"
Nobody slept pleasantly that night, well, except for Jade. He had slipped out of the tent during the 'action' and simply slept peacefully. That, and he enjoyed every minute of what he had been hearing that night.
Happy New Year everyone!