[Kitsumi]

Roman bolted upright, momentarily startled by the rude awakening. He was prepared to complain about having been woken up, but then he noticed the figure walking towards him. He would have hated to have been caught sleeping by their father. Malcolm would have taken it as a sign of weakness, surely.

"Father," he spoke solemnly as the older man approached. "We set up camp, as you asked. Do you find everything acceptable?" He looked completely calm on the outside, but he was actually quite anxious as he hoped to gain his father's approval.

[Kitsumi]

Before answering, Malcolm had to check everything for himself. He shook the tents a bit, checking that they were properly staked into the ground and sturdy. Then he circled the firepit, and checked the supply of kindling that Rylan had gathered. Finally, he allowed Roman to lead him to the place where the two of them had dug out the latrine, and gave that a once-over. Finally, he nodded. "It's acceptable," he said. "It'll do for now, at least."

[Kitsumi]

That was close enough to praise for Roman, who was practically beaming with pride. Rylan, however, didn't seem to care whether or not their father approved. He was simply glad that their work for the day was done. "So, when do we eat?" he asked. "You brought back food, right?" He had already opened his father's backpack, and was sorting through the contents. When he found a strange, useless-looking pipe, he tossed it to the side without a second thought.

[Kitsumi]

"Hey! Be careful with that," Malcolm growled, quickly retrieving the item. "It's our only water source, and it was pretty expensive."

While Roman looked confused, he didn't dare question his father. Rylan, on the other hand, had no problem voicing his doubts. "What, that thing is supposed to be our water source?" he scoffed. "What are we supposed to do, use it as a straw while we drink out of the river? I think you may have wasted your money, dad."

[Kitsumi]

"Hush, Ry," Roman warned. Their father didn't anger easily, but he didn't like being questioned. Especially not by his two sons, who were still practically children to him.

Holding up the pipe, Malcolm frowned at his younger son. "I understand your skepticism," he said, surprising both of them. "I had doubts as well, until this item's worth was proven to me." Kneeling down in the ground, he gestured for his sons to draw closer. "Do you want to see it in action?"

[Kitsumi]

"Uh, sure," Rylan said.

At the same time, Roman said, "Of course, father."

Both boys came to stand near their father, watching over his shoulder as he pounded the pipe into the ground. They exchanged a look behind his back, both of them clearly doubting that this would actually work. But both of them remained silent, not wanting to anger him.

"Now," Malcolm said once he had everything ready. "All I have to do is tap the pipe, like this."

[Kitsumi]

He lightly tapped the pipe with one finger, just as he had seen Gail do outside of her shop. Just as before, water immediately began bubbling out of the top of the pipe. Malcolm smirked as his sons stared in astonishment, amused to have proven them both wrong.

"Whoa, cool!" Rylan exclaimed, as Roman asked, "How does it work?"

Malcolm shrugged. "Don't ask me," he said. He didn't feel like explaining that the item was enchanted. That just sounded silly.

[Kitsumi]

"Will it run out of water?" Roman asked. "Can we use it for things like showers and cleaning our clothes and dishes?" Already he was thinking about the more practical uses of the mysterious pipe. Of course drinking water was important enough on its own, but it would be all the better if the object had multiple uses.

"It shouldn't run out, at least not for a year," Malcolm answered. "And I don't see why we couldn't use it for those things."

[Kitsumi]

"Can we stick it in other things?" Rylan asked, somewhat more enthusiastic than his brother. "Like a tree, or a rock?"

Malcolm hesitated for a moment, thinking. He remembered that Gail had said that the pipe drew the water from the ground, not created it. "I think it would work in a tree, but in limited amounts, and I'm not sure if it would be safe to consume or not," he said finally. "And I don't think it would work in a stone. That would be more trouble than it's worth, anyways."

[Kitsumi]

"Oh yeah, it would be a pain in the ass trying to drill a hole that deep in a big rock," Rylan said, chuckling. Then, as the water began gathering into a puddle, he backed up a bit to keep it from soaking his shoes. "So, uh, how do we make it stop?"

"The same way that you make it produce water, you can make it cease," Malcolm explained. He demonstrated for them, tapping the pipe and watching as it stopped spewing water.

[Kitsumi]

Roman nodded, seeming quite satisfied with his father's purchase. "This item should be quite useful during this trip," he said. "We won't even have to search for water the entire time we're out here."

"Exactly," Malcolm said. "That's why I bought it. Now, come on," he began to walk towards the tent. "We've done enough for one day. Let's refill our water bottles, eat, and go to sleep. We'll need plenty of energy tomorrow if the two of you are going to start your training."

[Kitsumi]

"The sun is still up," Rylan complained, as the three were preparing to go to bed. "Don't you think it's a little early to be going to sleep?"

Malcolm shook his head. "We want to get an early start tomorrow, before the heat gets to be unbearable. Unless you plan on doing your training in extreme heat."

Before Rylan could say anything else, Roman quickly stepped in. "Of course we don't want that. Come on, Ry, let's go to sleep."

[Kitsumi]

The three men had only brought two tents, but each of them was large enough to comfortably fit two fully grown men. Malcolm, of course, insisted that he shouldn't have to share a tent with one of his sons. So while he retreated to the isolation of the first tent, Roman and Rylan laid out on the air mattresses in the second one. It was still bright outside, but they had covered the tents in order to keep it shaded and cool inside.

[Kitsumi]

As always, Roman had worked as hard as he could that day, eager to gain his father's approval. So he was exhausted, and knew that he would have no problem falling asleep.

Rylan, on the other hand, was expecting a restless night. So it came as a surprise to him when, as soon as he laid down, he immediately began to feel tired. He may have slacked off a little earlier, but he had still worked hard that day.

[Kitsumi]

Half an hour after all of them had gone to their tents, Malcolm decided to check on the boys. He had half expected his sons, or at least the youngest, to be rebelling and staying awake despite their father's insistence that they head to sleep early. So when he found their tent to be silent, he was a little surprised. Unzipping the tent, he peeked his head inside and found both Roman and Rylan fast asleep, both of them snoring softly.