The next morning, Greg woke up to the sound of waves and the smell of something cooking over a fire. For a moment, he was confused and forgot where he was. He thought he would hear the usual noise of his workshop, but he heard people laughing and talking easily instead.
When he came out of his tent, the Crimson Falcons were already up and moving around the camp with practiced ease. Kael was checking their supplies, Denna was sharpening her axe with long, methodical strokes, and Ryn was maintaining the fire while Marina cooked breakfast.
"Morning, sleeping beauty," Marina said without looking up from the pan. "I was starting to think you would sleep the whole way."
"What time is it?" Greg asked, still sleepy.
Denna smiled and said, "It's late enough that we've already finished our morning training."
"You city people and your soft sleeping habits."
Greg sat down by the fire and said, "Ferndale is hardly a city, but aight."
Kael said, "Compared to where we usually camp, it might as well be a palace." He joined them with a waterskin. "Every day, hot meals, real beds, and roofs that don't leak. Marina has been very spoiled while staying there."
Marina threw him a piece of bread, and he caught it easily. "Thank you, but I work for my money, so someone needs to make sure that Greg doesn't work himself to death."
"Is that what you call it?" With a smile that showed she was amused, Ryn asked. "Making sure he doesn't work himself to death?"
"What else could I call it?" Marina's ears got a little pink again.
Denna said, "Oh, I don't know," in a naive way. "Longing? Hanging around? Making sure your favorite blacksmith remembers to eat?"
"I'm going to poison all of your breakfasts," Marina said flatly, but her words didn't sound enraged.
Greg became more and more interested in what was going on. The way they made fun of each other, the comfortable pauses in their banter, and the little acts of kindness that didn't need to be acknowledged.
He realized that this was what a real adventuring party looked like. People who didn't just work together but really cared about each other.
"I felt so out of place here... but I don't know why I start to miss them all because I can see the Crimson Falcon is just not a party but a family..."
"How long have you all been together?" Greg wanted to know.
"Seven years for most of us," Kael said. "Ryn has been with us for about five years. We met Marina when she was still a bronze rank and had just finished whatever training she had done before."
"She was terrible," Denna added fondly. "She was all talk and skill, but she didn't like to work together with the team."
"She kept trying to do everything on her own."
Marina said, "I wasn't that bad."
"You once tried to take down a Dire Owl nest by yourself so you wouldn't wake us up," Ryn said. "We found you stuck in a tree, cursing at birds while covered in feathers."
Marina's face turned bright red. "That was only once!"
Kael said, "It was funny, but also a little sad. It took us months to get you to understand that asking for help wasn't a sign of weakness."
Greg noticed a change in Marina's expression when he spoke. She looked at each of them with something more than friendship or party loyalty. He realized that the group was family, not by blood, but by choice and what we've been through together.
"What changed?" Greg asked in a low voice.
Marina was quiet for a moment as she stirred the eggs in the pan. "They didn't stop caring about me."
'They kept coming back, even when I was hard to deal with and pushed them away. I finally understood that being alone might not be as safe as I thought it was."
"Safe?" Greg got the word.
"Old habits," Marina said quickly, her tone stressing that the topic was closed. "Breakfast is ready. Come eat before it gets cold."
They spent the morning doing their real job, which was to take the merchants to a trading post nearby. It was easy work, and there wasn't much danger.
The merchants were carrying handmade goods and rare textiles. These things weren't valuable enough to attract serious bandits, but they were still worth protecting.
Greg saw how the Crimson Falcons worked together, starting from Kael, who moved ahead, his sharp eyes looking for danger. Denna walked next to the merchants, and her presence made them feel better.
Ryn kept up detection spells that would warn them of magical threats. And Marina moved between all of them, coordinating with small gestures and quiet words.
"She's good at this," Greg told Ryn, who had come up next to him.
Ryn agreed, "She's the best."
"She is also a natural leader, even if she doesn't always know it. Before she came, the party was a lot more chaotic."
"How so?"
"Kael and Denna are both tough fighters. They would rush into situations without thinking about what might happen."
"I'm too careful, and I'm always worried about what could go wrong." Ryn smiled. "Marina made us all equal. She taught Kael and Denna how to think strategically, and she taught me that sometimes you just have to trust and do what you need to do."
"Sounds like she was good for all of you."
Ryn said, "We were good for each other."
"That's how families really work. Everyone gives something and takes something, and somehow it all works out."
When Ryn said that, all Greg could think about was his family back at the workshop. Even though they sometimes annoyed him, he still saw them as something worth protecting.
...
They finished the escort job without any problems and got back to camp in the early afternoon. The merchants paid them fairly and left with thanks. The Crimson Falcons had two free days at the Crystal Coast before they had to leave.
"Swimming!" Denna said right away. "I didn't come all this way to sit around the camp."
"Whoever gets in the water last has to make dinner!" Kael was already running toward the beach, taking off his outer layers as he went.
"That's not fair, Kael! You got a head start!" Denna ran after him, laughing.
Ryn went at a slower pace, and Marina shook her head in a loving but annoyed way. "They're acting like kids all the time, so this is what it feels like working with kids."
Greg said, "At least, they look happy. That's all that matters, right?"