June came slowly and with it Anya's eighteenth birthday. The group celebrated the even by throwing a village party. It was a huge turnout. Everyone was drunk with wine and merriment. A few days later the group planned to camp out in the fields just outside of the village. It was late afternoon by the time the group had reached their usual campground and night was slowly falling. After their campsite was set up, they had a large fire going when Cal brought up the group's deal to explore Malfur.
"So..." Cal said, unsure how to word his question.
"So what? If you want to say something then say it." Saya said with a hint of annoyance.
"When will we go on our adventure? We got everything packed and planned out. And it's been a few days after your birthday already."
"Seriously?" Saya gave a lethargic expression.
Cal became discouraged and looked to Seth for suport.
"We did say that we would go after your birthday." Seth looked at Saya with a begging look.
"Since when was it up to me? We all talked about it." Saya replied.
Anya quickly interjected, "Let's go tomorrow! Or the day after. I really want to go on our adventure."
Cal exclaimed excitement. "Well it's official. We are going to travel Uutana."
"I have my old map my mentor gave me. My mentor gave it to me during the war with Dres'na and it's pretty detailed in drawing. Sev trailed off starting to wonder where he last left the map.
"You know, we could just buy a more recent map from a trader." Seth stated. "That way we won't miss anything that could help us. Like a newly founded village or something."
Sev laughed before he spoke. "My map is still going to be better than any map from a trader. My mentor and I added hunting trails, hidden roads, and anything that we found useful. Plus I added some landmarks on my way to Samen."
"So where do we go first?" Cal asked.
Sev thought for a moment before answering. "If I remember correctly I came through a forest from the East. We could go through there or go in the northwest direction. But that leads to the mountains and out of Malfur. I don't have any illustrations outside of Malfur."
"I choose forest," Saya said "I don't like the idea of climbing up mountains."
"Alright, forest it is then." declared Sev.
"Wow, I can't believe we are actually doing this." Cal, lying on his back, looked up into the night sky. Dreaming of the adventure that is about to happen.
The group lied in a circle enjoying each other's company out in the fields. Night had come and stars littered the blanket of darkness. The moon was nowhere to be seen. The land was black with night, but it was peaceful and non-threatening.
Sev exhaled loudly from his relaxing state. "You know, being out here are one of my favorite times. It's quiet and I'm here with my best friends. No noisy people around me and no parents always checking to see if we sneaked off."
"But my parents don't tell you what to do." Cal said. Believing that he got most of the chores.
"Yeah they do, considering I live with you. They wouldn't just let me live there and not have to do anything.
Don't get me wrong, that would be awesome. But I gotta pull my own weight, you know?"
Cal thought about his reply before answering. "Yeah, true. But I do know what you mean by not having to worry about being caught. At least they let us camp out from time to time." The group nodded in agreement.
"My house is pretty loud. Everyone seems to be so busy or likes to talk a lot, right Saya?" Anya was swaying her head to music she played in her head.
Saya, lying next to Seth wasn't paying attention to what Anya said.
Cal laughed and pretended to be Saya. "Yeah, I totally know what you mean. But you talk more than anyone."
Sev laughed loudly from Cal's joke. Anya picked up a pebble and threw it at Cal. The pebble hit Cal in the face and Cal jumped up in surprise. Both Sev and Anya laughed. The group settled down and talked about the past, reminiscing in good memories they had together. As the night went on, the fire died and the group gradually fell asleep.
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