The forest grew denser the further they walked, trees closing in like a beast hunting its prey. Lyra didn't like having to rely on a stranger, but everything that had happened so far was also never part of her plan. So she had to compromise.
The late afternoon air brought some chilly winds despite it being spring. Lyra was glad she wore a loose sweater, but her brother was wearing one of her old t-shirts despite her telling him to wear his own. Except for him and Nyx walking ahead in a tank top, the rest of the group seemed warm enough. She stopped Ryan for a moment without the group realising, and made him wear a hoodie over the shirt, bringing out one of her own zip-ups for Nyx. She wondered how they kept their clothes clean, but upon getting closer to her, she realised they weren't clean at all. Weirdly enough, nothing smelled bad. "Where do they shower?" she thought, before expelling the thought from her head. Asking that would be rude, and she needed to be on everyone's good side.
Lyra tapped Nyx's shoulder and she turned around, her short black hair swaying in the wind.
"Hey, uhm… It's cold. Here." Lyra handed her the hoodie, while Nyx stared her up and down before reluctantly taking it.
"Thanks." She put it on, catching up to the others. The jacket was a little big on Lyra, but it seemed to fit Nyx's taller frame perfectly. Lyra gave herself a bittersweet smile. She didn't know why she smiled, though. She just did. Quietly walking behind the group, pipe still on hand, just in case.
The girl suddenly made a sharp left and they entered a clearing with a dark green tent hiding near the trees, presumably her 'base'. The clearing was quiet, almost too quiet. Only the soft rustle of leaves and the low crackle of the wind brushing past the tent broke the stillness. In the middle of the clearing sat a fireplace with logs set around it, the girl sat down on one of the logs with a grunt, and looked around at the group in eerie silence, her dog dropping down on the ground beside her with a loud thud.
"Why'd you bring us here?" Lyra asked, unease settling in her chest. But part of her—an annoyingly hopeful part—wanted to give the girl a chance.
"At night, some rogues sleep in that library. They always leave at morning. They're not the worst, but we can't afford to take the chance. Sleep here. We'll stand watch." She responded, petting her dog, Kyro.
"But it's only afternoon…"
"But the sun's going down. It's still further away. Stay here."
The group exchanged reluctant glances. Then Nyx shrugged and sat wide-legged across from the short girl, leaning forward, hands on her knees.
"Do tell, what's your name?"
The girl laughed. Nobody else did.
"Pffft. My name? I don't have one." She paused for a moment, seemingly recollecting a past memory. "Well, I met an old man once. He said in a world ruined and ablaze, I was born out of the dying flames fury. That I'm what's left after the dust settles."
Her voice trailed off, growing colder—tinged with something bitter, almost angry.
"Ash. That's what he called me. I guess you could too."
This sent shivers down Lyra's spine. There was definitely something deeply wrong with this girl, or at least her background. She saw Ryan sneaking up to Ash and Kyro, but didn't stop him. Something told her it was safe. Maybe the people out here weren't so bad…just slightly traumatised. Definitely homeless. Probably scared, just like her.
Ryan stood in front of the dog, Ash eyed him but didn't say anything, while Kyro slowly got closer to the boy and began sniffing him. After sniffing him for a good moment, the dog lowered his head and pressed it onto Ryan. Ryan's eyes lit up and a big smile overtook his face as he began petting the dog's brown fur, pressing his own face onto Kyro.
The next few hours went by in a blur of them scouting the nearby area, finding some berries that Ash had told them were safe to eat, and Ryan playing with the dog. Jude sat a little apart from the group, scribbling something into a worn notebook, but helped out when asked. Lyra wondered what he was writing, but didn't ask. They cooked the berries in a pot Ash had scavenged with some sugar Lyra happened to have brought, and enjoyed the warmth of the fireplace with the lingering smell of the sweet berry jam they had all enjoyed. Lyra didn't know she could feel at such ease despite everything that had happened, but she was grateful for these quiet, warm, moments. It being only their second day in the wild, she didn't know what was in store for them.
"Hey, Ash, you never told us where you were from? Why're you out here? Where's your family, you know?" Nyx knew not to ask such questions to other rebels, but curiosity got the better of her at that moment, with her stomach full for once and the warmth of the jacket and fireplace thawing some of her intentionally-hardened personality.
Ash's face contorted, her whole body tensing up, a clear juxtaposition to her earlier, more relaxed, posture.
"You wanna know where I'm from?" she asked, scratching behind Kyro's ear. The firelight flickered over his big, dopey face as he sighed and thumped his tail.
"Same place as most ghosts: nowhere that matters."
She shrugged off her cape, her sleeves pulling up a bit, revealing some faded burn marks, but she covered them back up.
"Born in a shelter. One of the old ones, the kind where they stuff kids like bad memories. They trained us to load weapons before we knew how to spell our own names. Taught us letters, yeah, but only the ones they needed. 'Order.' 'Obey.' 'Erase.' The rest? Not allowed."
She tossed a stick into the flames.
"And I was good at it, too. Following orders. Until Kyro showed up. Mangy, loud, wrong kind of dog. They told me to shoot him."
She paused. Looked over at him. He yawned.
"I couldn't."
She pulled something from her pocket — a chunk of metal with faded etching. She ran her thumb over it like a worry stone.
"Found this in a ruin. Had letters I didn't know. Not the Regime kind. Something older. Beautiful, like a song I'd never heard but still somehow knew."
She looked up at them now — her eyes catching firelight in a way that made her look older than she was.
"That was the first time I lied to a soldier. Hid the piece. Pretended I was dumb. They beat the wrong kid for it."
Kyro growled low. She patted his side, Ryan did the same.
"I didn't stop lying after that."
She tossed the metal toward the fire, but it landed short — near Lyra, she picked it up secretly while everyone was looking away and stuffed it into her own pocket.
"I ain't trying to fix the world. Don't believe in heroes. But I collect pieces. Old truths. Broken things. Names that aren't allowed anymore."
She paused for a moment, and sniffled before continuing, her expression unreadable.
"Some nights I think if I find enough of them, I'll remember who I was supposed to be."
A long silence.
"Or maybe not. Maybe I'll just die holding them. Still better than dying empty."