Destiny Among the Stars - Scifi - LitRPG - Adventure

What is to give light must endure burning.

— VIKTOR FRANKL

The Specter settled down with a hiss of stabilizers, kicking up wet leaves and steam from the forest floor as Luca throttled into a gentle landing.

The rock formation loomed above the clearing, shielding the camp from the worst of the wind. The bonfire was already going, low, steady, casting warm orange light onto the overhang's jagged wall. He could see their shadows first. Folded chairs. MRE wrappers. Someone had even rigged a tarp hammock.

Ryan was standing next to the fire, sleeves rolled up, half-soaked, with his plasma torch in one hand. He looked up as Luca cut the Specter's engine.

Ryan raised an eyebrow and gave him a little nod.

Luca climbed out, his boots splashing in the runoff, and dragged the quartered Silvane carcass off the rack with a grunt. Blood trailed down the slope in a clean line.

Joey stood from the firelight, took the rear haunch from him without a word. His eyes flicked to Luca's bandaged chest, to the new dirt scuffs on his armor.

"You good?" Joey asked, quiet.

"Yeah," Luca said. And weirdly? He meant it.

Zoe looked up from where she sat cross-legged on a folded blanket, eyes catching the firelight. Her mouth opened like she wanted to say something, but didn't. She just gave him a half-smile, one leg bouncing with restless energy.

Danny patted the folding chair beside him and tossed Luca a canteen. "You missed the most glorious fire-starting in history. Ryan almost set himself on fire."

"Fuck off," Ryan grunted, still shaking out his left glove. "The wood was soaked. I didn't choose combustion."

Chris looked up from his laptop, seated just behind the fire like he was surveying a war zone in spreadsheet form. "Perfect timing. We needed protein. MREs taste like chalk."

Luca dropped into the chair hard enough that it creaked. His whole body followed, slumping like gravity had been on pause until now.

They'd saved him a seat around the bonfire. The fire was steady, the food was cooking, and the world hadn't collapsed while he was gone. Now that he was back, something in the air shifted. It was subtle, but real. Everyone eased up, just a bit, like the tension had loosened in their shoulders without them even realizing it.

Like they were all waiting for him to feel like himself again, on his own terms.

And yeah... he did. Almost.

The Silvane meat hissed over the grill, and for a moment, with the fire crackling and the rain hammering the forest just outside the shield's edge, Luca let himself breathe.

The fire had settled into a steady crackle. Most of the team had drifted off, Zoe and Danny vanished into the canopy earlier, probably chasing bioluminescent bugs like weirdos. Ryan was snoring half in, half out of his hammock. Chris and Joey were still on comms, arguing quietly about perimeter sensors.

Luca was standing just inside the bonfire's protective zone, leaning on a large boulder, with the stars cut off by the massive rock overhang above. The rain had let up, but every so often, a flash of lightning would light up the forest around them. It was beautiful. His scout suit itched at the collar. His chest ached, but it was the kind of ache he didn't want Joey poking at. Not tonight.

Emily approached without a sound. No boots, just soft socks from the ship, her hair damp from a quick rinse. She stopped beside him, arms folded, eyes watching the fire.

"You always this broody after dinner?" she asked.

"Only when I nearly get skewered by a flying lizard, punched in the ribs, and then lose my last piece of dignity squeezing into a level forty-eight suit."

She smiled at that. "You still look good in it."

Luca rolled his eyes. "Please. I'm one bad flex away from splitting the crotch seam."

A comfortable silence settled between them. The firelight flickered behind her, painting her face in shifting yellows.

"You've been off," she said. "Not just since the fight. Before."

"Yeah," he admitted. "I've been spiraling. Not enough armor. Too many mobs. Not enough answers. I keep pretending I've got it under control, but... I don't. Not all the time."

"And us?" she asked, softer now.

Luca swallowed. Here it was. The thing that had been eating at him. "That too. I haven't known where we stand."

Emily stepped closer, her warmth reaching him before she even touched him. "What do you mean?"

He looked at her, really looked. Her hair was frizzed out from the rain, her cheeks flushed from the firelight. The same girl he'd grown up with, who had chosen to stick around.

"I told you I loved you," he said quietly. "Weeks ago. And you... you never said it back."

Emily's expression shifted, something vulnerable flickering across her face. Her arms tightened around herself. "Luca..."

"I know you care about me," he continued, the words tumbling out now. "I can feel it in how you look at me, how you stay close when you're tired, how you... how you are with me. But I said the words, and you didn't, and I keep wondering if maybe I'm reading too much into everything."

She was quiet for a long moment, her fingers fidgeting with the hem of her shirt. When she spoke, her voice was smaller than usual.

You might be reading a stolen copy. Visit Royal Road for the authentic version.

"You want to know why I didn't say it back?"

"Yeah," he said. "I do."

Emily took a breath, her eyes fixed on the fire. "Because every man who was supposed to love me either left or... didn't. My dad walked out when I was seven. Just gone one day. And my stepdad?" She let out a bitter laugh. "He made it pretty clear I wasn't part of the equation. Had two daughters with my mom, and I was just... there. Taking up space."

Luca felt something twist in his chest. "Em..."

"So when you said those words," she continued, finally meeting his eyes, "part of me wanted to say them back so badly it hurt. But another part of me was terrified that saying them out loud would somehow make you realize you could leave too."

"That's not—"

"I know," she said quickly, stepping closer. "I know that's not who you are. But trauma doesn't always listen to logic, does it?"

Her hand found his chest, fingers resting over his heart like she had all those weeks ago when they first kissed. "You want to know something terrible? I've been practicing saying it. In my head, in the shower, when you're sleeping next to me. Because I do, Luca. I do love you. So much it scares me."

"Emily."

"I love how you worry about everyone even when you're hurt. I love how you make terrible jokes when you're nervous. I love that you came back from that hunt tonight looking like yourself again." Her eyes were bright now, unshed tears catching the firelight. "I love you, and I'm sorry it took me so long to say it."

Luca reached up, cupping her face gently. "You don't have to apologize for being scared. I just... I needed to know."

"Now you do," she whispered, leaning into his touch. "I love you, Luca Rossi. Even when you're being an idiot about armor sets and mission timelines."

He laughed, the sound shaky with relief. "I love you too. And for the record? Your actions have been telling me that for weeks. I just... I'm apparently the kind of guy who needs to hear the words sometimes."

"I can work with that," she said, echoing his words from the woods. "As long as you can be patient while I learn to be brave with them."

"Deal."

She kissed him then, soft and sure, and when they broke apart, she rested her forehead against his.

"I'm not going anywhere," she murmured. "No matter how scary the words are."

Emily leaned her head against his, her fingers curling into the edge of his bodysuit just above the bandage. Her eyes fluttered shut, the sound of the fire crackling behind them, soft against the backdrop of rain pelting the forest just outside the shield radius.

Lightning split the sky above the overhang, casting her face in a flash of white-blue light. She looked ethereal in that instant, damp hair, flushed cheeks, lips parted like she was about to say something and decided not to.

"I don't want to lose this," Luca murmured. "Any of it."

"You won't," she whispered back. Then she leaned in, her forehead pressing to his. "You're mine, Luca. No matter what happens, no matter how messy things get, you're mine. That doesn't change. Ever."

His heart stumbled a little. Then steadied.

"I know," he said. "And you're mine."

Then she kissed him, slow at first, then deeper. Her hand slid under his suit at his side, warm against skin that still stung in places.

Another boom of thunder rolled overhead, but all Luca could hear was her breath against his.

The rain kept falling.

Luca woke up warm, sun-drunk, and smug as hell.

The light hit his face first, real sunlight, not the hazy gray forest-filtered glow they'd been trudging through for weeks. No, this was golden. Bright. Fucking earned.

Emily lay beside him, half-curled on her side, the thin blanket they'd shared pulled up to her shoulder. Her hair was a tangle across her face, her breath slow and even. He didn't move. Didn't want to.

The rock beneath him was warm. The shield hummed faintly somewhere out past the overhang. The fire had burned down to embers. And Luca?

He was absolutely not moving.

His chest still throbbed, a deep muscle ache, like someone had boxed his ribs with a wrench, but it wasn't unbearable. Not after last night. He was content in ways he hadn't been in weeks.

Last night...

Luca exhaled slowly, smiling like a dumbass. His hand brushed his sternum without thinking, fingers tracing the edge of the bandage where the Vireling had torn through his armor. Emily had been so careful with him, so gentle around his injuries.

That conversation had been exactly what he needed.

The world around him stirred. A breeze rustled the canopy of the forest beyond them. Somewhere out in the trees, he heard birds, if you could call them that, singing in clicks and warbling whistles.

Even the forest looked different in the morning light. The trees were redder. The leaves practically glowed with violet sheen. The weird vines that had seemed like claws last night now looked like lazy fingers curled up to nap.

New Dawn, for all its death traps and acid-spitting wildlife, was alive.

So was he.

Emily shifted beside him with a small, sleepy groan, her arm over his chest. He didn't look away from the sky. Not yet. Just breathed. Just let himself feel it.

They'd made it through another night.

The crew was intact, and the storm had passed.

And for the first time in what felt like weeks, he wasn't carrying the weight of everything on his shoulders. Not alone.

Today, they moved forward. But right now?

He was going to enjoy the hell out of this patch of sun and the girl beside him.

Luca let himself sink back onto the sun-warmed rock, arms folded behind his head. Emily shifted beside him, her breath brushing against his shoulder as she stirred. She groaned softly, then curled closer, resting her head on his chest like it belonged there, her hand finding his over the blanket.

"Morning, sleepyhead," Luca murmured, pressing a kiss to her forehead. She was warm. Still a little damp from the night air, but warm.

Emily mumbled something incoherent and shifted closer, nestling into the space beside him like she'd claimed the territory. Her hair was an absolute disaster, strands sticking out in every direction, half-dried and wild.

His was probably worse. First order of business once they were back on the Triumph, assuming he didn't have to fight someone for the clippers.

They lay there for another minute, wrapped in a blanket and sharing warmth, the sound of birds, clicks, and whistles, and weird alien harmonies were filtering in from the canopy above.

"I can't believe we slept out here," Emily said finally, yawning. "When the entire world is now crawling with mobs and mutated beasts."

"Yeah," Luca said. "Kinda insane."

"Worth it though."

He turned his head to look toward the Peregrine, tucked behind them. The clearing was quiet. No movement. The sky had puffy marshmallow clouds, white and gorgeous.

The coast looked clear... Maybe.

Ehh. Who cares.

Luca let his eyes close again, breathing deep. The ache in his ribs was manageable, more of a dull protest than a threat. The worst of it had passed.

"You know," he muttered, "We should really log the Silvane. We haven't cataloged a glade-grazer herd since landing. And I've still got five unallocated attribute points. I should boost Perception. Or maybe Willpower. And the unallocated XP, there's so much of it—"

Emily sighed dramatically against his shoulder, her finger tracing lazy patterns on his chest through his shirt. "You're spiraling already."

"No I'm not. I'm being productive."

"You're being predictable."

Luca tilted his head, just enough to peek at her. "There's a difference?"

She didn't answer. Just reached up, grabbed his face with both hands, and pulled him into a kiss. The kind of kiss that said shut up, captain. Her fingers curled into his stubble, her thumb brushing the corner of his mouth.

"Relax," she said softly, lips still grazing his. "I'll help you with all of that. Later. But right now? You're warm. I'm warm. The [Bonfire] protection's still going, and no one's screaming. Let's just enjoy it."

Luca exhaled against her mouth. "Before Ryan shows up and ruins it?"

"Exactly," she said, smiling as she pressed her forehead to his. "We've got maybe seven minutes before Ryan or Zoe come snooping around, pretending they're looking for us."

"Let 'em," he muttered, pulling her closer. "I'm not moving."

"Good," she said. "Then shut up and kiss me again."

So he did. And yeah, he was probably going to check the logs later. He was definitely going to allocate those XP points.

But not yet.

Right now, he had Emily curled up beside him, the sun on his face, and a jungle that demanded to be explored.

And the signal, of course.