The Hike

The fire crackled, sparks floating into the night sky as Estella nearly fell over laughing. “I still can’t believe one of them tripped over his own dagger!”

“I told you I had it handled,” Ishaan said, puffing his chest.

“Handled? You were screaming like a banshee,” Aaron muttered.

Isabella’s smile lingered as she watched them. Just twelve hours ago, they’d been four strangers on a quiet trail. Now? They looked dangerously close to friends or maybe more.

—But the day hadn’t started that way.

“It's upside down, dummy”

“Will you give me a minute? I am trying to interpret it”

“That's not how maps work, Ishaan!!”

Aaron pinched the bridge of his nose, Estella was laughing too hard to help, and Isabella was two seconds away from snatching the map out of Ishaan’s hands herself.

“ I am just hoping this hiking trip doesn't bring the end of us”, cried Aaron with a sense of frustration, as if he had lost all hope.

“Honestly, the most fun part of the hike, instead of the hike, is looking at these two like, damn, wish I had popcorn with me, what a cinema” Estella was still smiling from ear to ear.

Today's goal for the group was to climb to the peak of this hill, which is considered one of the best places to set up camp and watch the landscape during sunset and sunrise. But things didn't go as planned. They spent the afternoon and yesterday buying up all the supplies they would have needed for the trip, but they forgot about one thing: coordination.

“Well, I just hope we reach the top before we actually reach the top”, said Aaron with a concerned look.

“Relax, man, no need to worry so much”, replied Ishaan, grinning from ear to ear while Isebella was lecturing him.

They continued their journey up the hill, things were going good and bad, Estella rushing through the hike too see the view and get the best place to setup the tent, Isabella commenting on how Estella looks like a kid rushing to buy a toy that the parents had promised to buy and Ishaan still trying to figure out how a map works and Aaron although had a concerned look yet he felt a sense of happiness like a feeling he couldnt explain although it was so chaotic it wasnt that bad either.

Well, they continued their travel across the trail until they entered the deeper part of the forest, and then things got quite too quiet.

“Something feels off”, commented Aaron

“You sensed it too, right? Something is not very good about here”, added Isebella

“You guys are such worrywarts, just enjoy the hike”, reaffirmed Estella

“Well, you might be rig…..”

“Please, someone, help me,” came a scream from nearby

“Well, I think sis you just jinxed our hike”, said Isebella after hearing the sound

Before Aaron could remark

“Fear not, buddy, your hero’s on his way”, screamed Ishaan as he ran off into the wild.

“Wait, bro, it could be a traa..” Aaron stopped mid-speech, knowing full well that Ishaan was not going to come back

“Well, I am going to follow up with him, can't miss this action sequence”, screamed Estella as she followed Ishaan's footsteps.

“Might as well follow them”, suggested Isebella

The three tried to catch up to Ishaan, who had already reached the place where he saw a small girl who was separated from her parents, as soon as Ishaan tried to approach her.

The bandits stepped out from the trees, half-hidden in mismatched cloaks, brandishing rusty daggers and clubs. They weren’t terrifying—more like the type that relied on numbers to look scarier than they really were.

“Well, well,” one sneered, “what do we have here? Four little hikers all alone…”

Before he could finish, Ishaan had already stepped forward, cracking his knuckles. His grin was wider than ever. “Finally! Some action. Took long enough.”

Aaron sighed. “We’re not here to—”

Too late. One of the thieves lunged.

Aaron moved like water—silent, precise. He sidestepped, caught the man’s wrist, and twisted just enough to send the dagger clattering to the dirt. In the same breath, his elbow nudged the thief backwards, knocking him flat without so much as breaking Aaron’s calm expression.

“Textbook,” Isabella murmured under her breath, impressed.

Meanwhile, Ishaan charged headfirst at two others. “YAAAHHH!” His fists flew like a storm. He wasn’t elegant—he was loud, messy, and unstoppable. One bandit tried to block, only to be lifted off his feet by a wild uppercut that nearly sent him flying into a bush.

“Go, Ishaan! Knock him to next week!” Estella cheered like it was a sports match.

“You’re not helping!” Aaron shouted as another thief came at him.

But even Aaron had to admit—chaos worked in Ishaan’s favour. His energy filled the clearing, every punch leaving shockwaves of laughter and panic. Where Aaron’s movements were quiet and efficient, Ishaan was pure noise and fire.

At one point, Ishaan grabbed a thief’s club mid-swing, spun him in a dizzy circle, and let go. The poor man stumbled backwards—straight into another bandit. Both went down like bowling pins.

Aaron, shaking his head, ducked low to sweep another off his feet. “You’re going to get us killed with that nonsense.”

“And yet,” Ishaan said, planting his foot squarely in the chest of the last standing thief, “here we are. Victorious!”

The final man fell with a grunt, groaning on the forest floor. Silence followed—except for Estella, who burst into uncontrollable laughter.

“He—he tripped over his own dagger!” she wheezed, pointing at one of the fallen thieves.

Aaron dusted off his hands, calm as ever. Ishaan raised his fists to the sky like he’d just won a wrestling match. Isabella shook her head, hiding her smile.

The four bandits lay groaning in the dirt. Not defeated by skill alone, but by the absolute chaos of the unlikely team.

Then Isabella and Estella approached the little girl.

“Hey, no need to cry anymore, look the those big boys saved you, didn't they?” calmly said Isabella, trying to calm the little kid who nodded back.

“What's your name?, Where are your parents? Are you lost?” asked Estella

“Well, Duh, he is lost, or else why would he be here, genius?” commented Ishaan on Estella’s question

“Well, unlike certain someone, I am at least more pleasant to talk to, isn't it, kid?” replied Estella while giving a sarcastic grin to Ishaan. The little girl sniffled, clutching Estella’s sleeve. “M-My name is Lyra… I was with my mama and papa, but then… then I couldn’t find them anymore.”

Aaron’s expression softened. He knelt, lowering himself to her eye level. “Don’t worry, Lyra. We’ll take you back. Just stay close to us until we find them.” His voice, though calm and measured, carried a gentleness that surprised even Isabella.

“See?” Estella said, ruffling Lyra’s hair. “We’ve got a painter, a banshee, and two babysitters. You’re in good hands.”

“HEY—who are you calling a banshee!?” Ishaan protested, but Lyra actually giggled at that, and the sound eased the tension in the air.

They didn’t have to search for long. A frantic couple soon came running from the other end of the trail, voices breaking as they cried their daughter’s name. Lyra wriggled free and sprinted toward them. The reunion was teary and loud, but warm.

“Thank you,” the father said, bowing his head to the group. “Those men—if not for you, I don’t know what would’ve happened.”

Aaron waved it off. “We were just… in the right place.”

“Speak for yourself!” Ishaan puffed his chest. “You saw that uppercut, right? Bet I looked like a hero.”

“You looked like a drunk goat falling uphill,” Aaron replied flatly, earning another burst of laughter from Estella.

Once the family departed safely, the four continued their trek. The adrenaline faded into the calm rhythm of hiking again, though their banter refused to quiet down. By the time they reached the peak, the sky was painted in strokes of orange and violet, the valley below glowing like a living canvas.

“Whoa…” Ishaan’s voice actually dropped to a whisper. For once, even he was struck silent.

Aaron stood still, eyes tracing the horizon. His fingers twitched, itching for his sketchbook, but for the first time today, he chose not to draw. He just… looked.

Estella flopped onto the grass, arms spread wide. “This view alone was worth all the chaos.”

“True,” Isabella admitted, setting her pack down. “Even if one of us nearly killed us all with a map.” Her gaze flicked toward Ishaan.

“HEY—!”

But the protests faded quickly. As the sun dipped, they worked together to pitch the tents. Estella nearly got tangled in the ropes, Ishaan insisted on “engineering” the campfire (nearly burning his fingers off), while Aaron and Isabella quietly handled the rest.

By nightfall, they sat around the fire, the forest alive with quiet hums and distant owls. A pot of stew bubbled in the centre, filling the air with warmth.

It didn’t take long before the embarrassing stories began. Ishaan bragged about sneaking cookies from the kitchen as a kid—only to admit he’d been caught because he tripped over the dog. Estella countered with how she once fell asleep on stage during rehearsal.

Aaron, surprisingly, shared how he once tried to paint a portrait of his mom… only for Ishaan to doodle horns and a moustache over it before the ink dried.

The laughter carried into the night, soft and warm.

For Isabella, watching Aaron’s quiet smile under the firelight was like seeing a rare glimpse of dawn. For Estella, Ishaan’s over-the-top retellings made her laugh so hard her sides hurt.

They weren’t just travellers anymore. Somewhere along the hike, through chaos, danger, and laughter, they had become something closer.

And as the fire crackled, sparks floating into the night sky, none of them said it out loud—
But every single one of them felt it.

Tomorrow would bring more. But tonight, they were exactly where they were meant to be.