Axcel: The World.

Maahes gave a big, scholarly nod. Nope, Zech hadn't seen them, then! If there could be a lot of worlds with one moon, he guessed there could be a lot of worlds with three moons too. But it would have been so cool if Odris and Zech met!

As the thought came to his mind, he frowned. He really did wish Odris was here right now. He wasn't trying to run away this time, and he missed his summoner greatly. Odris would have so many smart thoughts about this world and its people, and would show him how to be an awesome diplomat.

His lip quivered, and he let out a heavy sigh.

The fanged man--Lorcan?--turned his attention to him at the sigh, the girl next to him following suit a short time later. "Are you okay?"

He pulled his legs close to his chest. "I miss Odris," he said, his voice shaking a little bit. He rested his head down on his knees and stared sorrowfully into the fire. "I wish he was here."

The tiger had a few thoughts about Odris, especially concerning how Maahes had been working for all of his life, but chose not to say them. He certainly still had those nights when he'd wanted to run back to the people who'd owned him.

Zech set a paw on Maahes's shoulder. "It's not the worst thing in the world," he said after a pause. "At least you've got us. And you could always be a diplomat yourself when we all get back to our homes."

"I know," Maahes sorrowfully said, "but I still miss him. It isn't like...It isn't like the last time I ran away. I didn't mean to run away this time. I just want to see-see him again." His lip quivered some more, and he hid his face behind his legs as he tried not to look like he was on the verge of crying. He knew he couldn't actually cry, but he was really good at making it look like he was about to.

Zech sat a little closer to Maahes. He wasn't qualified enough to come up with a response that wouldn't bring his anger to the surface, but he could sympathize, and he'd been told he made a good blanket.

Tamika nodded and walked off, still holding her hands a foot away from the rest of her body. She reached a geyser and stick the offending appendages into the water, wincing a bit at the warm temperature.

After a moment of hesitation, Maahes threw his arms around Zech and buried his head into his chest. Silent, dry sobs shook his body--he just wanted to go home! He didn't want to be out here, at least not without Odris. Odris had promised to spend more time with him after that adventure with the cabin, and he had treasured every single moment since then. He didn't care what he was doing; he just needed Odris there with him.

He wanted his summoner, and he wanted him badly.

Eurgh. Zech could clean up wounds, bandage injuries, heal burned skin, fix broken bones, and even rebuild missing organs. But he couldn't cure sadness.

Still, after the initial shock, he returned the hug. It was strange, since he knew this was a kid in the body of an adult, but hopefully it'd make Maahes feel a little better.

Rose scooted over to Maahes and patted his shoulder.
"Hey, don't be so sad about it," she said, her voice soft.
"We'll get you back home, and then you can see Odris again!"

A few minutes later, the sun had dipped below the horizon, the land now being illuminated by the retreating rays that was left behind in the sky. Ryder had finished cooking and was handing out plates of food to everyone.
"Alright," he said, after handing the last plate of food to Tamika who had just returned, "time to eat!"

As the sun's weak rays retreated further away with the darkness of the night looming in from the east, the sky changed from orange to dark purple, while Exter - the large moon already in the sky passed the halfway point in the sky.
"Look! Iscar is rising!" Rose said, ignoring her food for a moment as she pointed to the horizon. There, rose a pale blue moon, different to Exter's stark white.
"Pretty, isn't it?"

Siren stared at the moons in wide, starry-eyed wonder.
She nodded vigorously at Rose, rather than reply, for her cheeks were stuffed with food.

Zech nudged Maahes. "Do you want to see them?" he said. "They look kinda weird, and they're probably not what you're used to, but they're still pretty neat."

Maahes slowly raised his head up. Then an quick, excited gasp left him, and he now was staring quite attentively at the moons above--though the food remained untouched beside him, as he had no desire to eat.

Nearby, Lorcan and Juniper were making quick work of their meals. Juniper had been more than a little hesitant about trying it, but Lorcan had wasted no time in devouring the meal; he had grown used to eating unfamiliar meals on both Minecraftia and Earth.

Zech didn't touch his food; he leaned back and set his head on the ground.

"It's been a long day," he said, watching the moons. "Think I'd better go to sleep. Need me to stay up, Maahes? Are you doing okay?"

As Ryder ate, he looked around at everyone.
"So uh," he began, after swallowing down his food, "does anyone have any campfire stories to tell? You know, to pass the time."

Zech shrugged. "I just have a lot of old war stories," he said. "I don't think anyone wants to hear about people losing legs, or all the times I almost died, or all the weird and dangerous places I went to."

Maahes finally pulled away from Zech and gave him a nod in response before turning his attention to Ryder's idea. He didn't want to let him know that he couldn't actually sleep. Odris didn't know, either. He usually dismissed him at night because he had always thought resting in the Other Place was better than resting on Altera.

A short distance away, Juniper was tugging on Lorcan's arm. Maahes glanced over in their direction, tilting his head ever so slightly to the side as he watched her try to convince him to tell a campfire story or two.

"Lorcan, you have to have some good ones," she said.

Lorcan shook his head.

"You traveled all across Minecraftia with Hero and Second," she argued. The names didn't mean anything to Maahes, but now he was scooting a little more towards Lorcan and Juniper with an eager look on his face. Lorcan had traveled? Didn't that mean he had gone on adventures, too!?

"Charlotte says that campfire stories are scary," he shot back, folding his arms and looking her over. "I don't think my life is scary."

"Well, you are a vampire."

Lorcan frowned. "I'm not-"

"You look the part, though," Juniper cut him off.

Maahes's eyes widened, and he immediately shot to his feet. He darted over to where Lorcan was and plopped himself down beside him. "You're a vampire?" he asked. He should have noticed that! He had fangs just like Kratzer had back in that funny cabin. "Do you suck blood? Can you suck my essence? Does that work? I tried asking Kratzer but then Aurick tried killing him so I never got an answer but I can't believe I've meeting another vampire!"