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Eyy, @Chicken you’ve gotten yourself into a rather tight spot, no?

@CaptainSully @Raptra @MissCapnCrunch @Sockofpancakes @Vertigo

Yeah, sorry about that. New post up.



The group set to work as their introductions came to a close. Samuel found himself the resident expert on all things to do with tent building, with Robert not being all too shabby either. The older boy even showed off a large tent he’d ported with Duncan’s car, that could house all of them comfortably if need be. While Sam assisted untangling Duncan’s slight disaster, (the overeager trooper had been trying to build it inside out) Robert, Atlas and the girls joined forces to construct the large super-tent. There was a healthy amount of laughter and a lot of fooling around, but they managed to finish the project in good time, even finding an extra minute to finish Sam’s half complete fire pit in-between the three tents. When the final stake hammering, and tie down knotting had been successfully achieved Sam stepped back to admire their handiwork.

The tents had been arranged in an imperfect circular fashion around the fire pit, with the largest facing towards the lake, and the smaller two angled opposite of it. There was more than enough space for all of them in just one, but Sam saw no harm in the extra privacy if someone wanted it. Duncan could take up an entire tent on his own if he stretched out after all. Meanwhile, unnoticed by Samuel the chocolate lab Jake sat still for once, staring attentively off into the forest, where the trees grew thickest by the lake. The dog whined softly, perking his ears forward, as if something unheard was calling his name far away. His large pink tongue lagged out of his jowls and his doleful eyes scanned the horizon like a sentry on post.

“Let’s throw our bags in the tents for right now.” Sam was saying, he dug around inside the crate full of food, showing the many canvas bags and ropes to the others. “You’ve seen these before right Rob? Bear bags, to throw into the trees in case any sniff out our food and come along for a taste. You and the Dunk can probably get them up where they need to be. I made sure to color code them so we always knew what we were getting.” Sam picked up a green bag and rope, twirling it like a cowboy would a lasso. Cans clunked inside, and it sounded like something squelched. “Canned food and pudding packets, hmm. Maybe it wasn’t the best idea to put those two together… Oh well, c’mon this tree looks high enough, we’ll line them up there along that branch.” Stepping clear so that the two teenagers to could do this final task, (mostly to ensure he wasn’t struck by a wayward bear bag) Sam winked slyly at the girls. Pulling his button-down shirt off over his head and tossing it into one of the tents, Sam snatched up the fishing poles, scampering barefoot down the grassy slope towards the lake, yelling animatedly over his shoulders at the others.

“Haha, last one to the water is a dried up booger. WHOOP, WOOT!”

Relief and happiness at Eddie’s lighthearted reassurances brought a warm glow back to Tonya’s heart and she returned the friendly embrace before stepping away, slinging her backpack onto her shoulders. The atmosphere felt better somehow, as if this one reinforcement made the day just good enough to be happy. Sure there was her detention for the next week, and her father’s unbearable disappointment, and a relationship to try and amend with Bella, but Tonya was grateful for at least this breakthrough. A rustle on Eddie’s shoulder drew her gaze and she watched as the tiny eagle kwami climbed out of hiding, perching himself in plain view. His beedy black eyes stared back at her adamantly, as if he expected something to happen. Tonya winked, giving the bird a slight smile.

“I don’t remember all too well.” She admitted, returning her attention back to Eddie, the smile fading ever so slightly. “Everything’s kind of fuzzy from then, as if was weeks ago, even though it was only a few hours back. Strange, probably because I was still a bit loopy from that gas.” She shrugged, taking another step away and looking back over her shoulder. Her father was waiting at home, and it was probably best not to keep him that way for too much longer. “I better get going.” She explained, walking with Eddie out of the school doors. The stairs were abandoned now, with only the janitor remaining inside the school to lock up for the evening. Long shadows left the concrete steps shaded, casting a mysterious air in the late afternoon. Peaceful and quiet, nothing like the noisy bustle where she'd yelled hours before. “I do remember something though,” she paused feeling and looking nervous but excited and anxious, all at the same time. “You called me cute, that time back at the mall. I thought you were just Talon then. Remember? Right after you helped me escape Mr. Johnson. And then when I was blinded back at the Lounge, you helped me get out, and stuck by me no matter what. I guess, that shows you’ve always really cared...”

Knowing she could only act once, and at that moment Tonya took a chance. There on the steps of the school, unsure of what she was doing or why Tonya stepped in close to Eddie, kissing him lightly on the cheek. Her face flushing red at the unprecedented act, she hurried away from him, looking back only to wave and call out. “See you tomorrow Ed.” Before running down the street back to her home and father.
Reaching back Tonya brushed the sleeping serpent’s head gently, feeling the tiny forked tongue flicker out, brushing against her finger. “He’s fine, exhausted, but we all are. I’ll make sure to leave him at the stairs tomorrow so they can catch up again. Like your kwami asked. It must’ve been really lonely not having any friends to talk to, for all those years. The more I think about it, the more I realize how awful it’d be not to have any friends, or even have them angry at me. Especially over something trivial, well, not trivial but small. A mistake! They’re probably such great friends that they could forgive each other for a little mistake, they’d understand the one at fault didn’t mean it like how it sounded…” Realizing she was rambling Tonya stopped stammering taking a deep breath to gather her thoughts into complete coherent sentences. She didn’t want to mess this one up like she did with Bella. Unlike the other girls Eddie had somehow managed to stay mostly positive throughout the ordeal. Out of the four of them he seemed to have handled the previous few hours the best. Whether that was because he hadn't ended up unconscious in the hospital or something else entirely she didn't know. Now however, it was clear that something was troubling him, and Tonya couldn’t help but feel it was her fault.

“I’m sorry. I’m sorry for the way I yelled at you in front of everyone at school, and how I got mad at you back at the Lounge, and for Ossar’s, uh my kwami's rebuke. You were just trying to see what I thought about Talon – you, and help out and make sure I was okay. I wasn’t being helpful, blind and all. And, I was just hoping you’d forgive me and that we could still be friends. I know Alex doesn’t want to, but I was thinking we could. Like before… You know. That’s what I was trying to say.” It felt better just saying it straight out Tonya recognized, but she still turned her face away, embarrassed, and uncertain as to what his response would be.


@River Goblin Do you want part 2 to be posted in the character tab with part 1? Or here in the OOC?

So... Let's go yeah?
“None of us are pathetic, and you certainly aren’t.” Tonya argued, almost defensively. “We’ve only been at it for two days, stands to reason we aren’t professionals yet. You’ll see. We’ll get better. It was bound to happen sooner or later anyhow, us learning each other’s identities I mean…” Despite Tonya’s protests to the contrary Bella still seemed upset and shrugged her off. They worked together in abject silence from that point on, up to their elbows in greasy water and sticky pans. A few times Tonya glanced over at Bella, hoping to strike up a conversation again to little avail. She felt a little hurt, her own day hadn’t been too great either, they were all hurting, but Bella could’ve at least acknowledged the attempt at openness. Tonya decided not to stress on the issue, though she would’ve welcomed some remedy to the awkward silence. Sighing Tonya fixated on her work, trying not to think about her reception once she got home. Ossar being angry was the least of her worries.

When their time ended Tonya slushed some of the overflow into the sink with her wet towel and went to retrieve Ossar and the now empty milk carton. Behind her Bella uttered a heartfelt apology for the way she acted, but before Tonya could say a word she rushed out of the kitchen joining the others outside. “There’s nothing to apologize for…” Tonya trailed off, a confused, hurt look on her face. She’d hoped they could’ve cheered each other up working together, instead it was like Tonya’s presence had made things worse.

“I’m such an idiot, always messing up like this.” She grumbled to herself, sliding Ossar’s sleeping form onto her hand and depositing him at the base of her neck, where her hair hid him from prying eyes. “I hope she’s not mad at me.” First it’d been Eddie, their argument on the school steps earlier that morning. It made sense now why’d he’d been so interested in what she thought of Talon. Surely he still resented the way she’d yelled at him in front of everyone, Tonya winced just thinking about it. And now Bella was upset at her, and Tonya wasn’t even sure why, or if she really even was. Maybe this was just how Bella coped with her feelings. Her mind absorbed in these thoughts Tonya barely acknowledged the others, until Eddie showed the girls his kwami and Bella began crying.

“That’s what they wanted us to do.” Tonya said in agreement with Alex, the older girl made good sense, and clearly held strong reservations at the thought of all of them knowing each other’s identities. “But whatever they wanted was then and there, and the cat is clearly out of the bag here and now. We have to live with it, whether we wanted to or not. I suppose we should agree only to talk about it – if at all in secret, and secure places.”

After a minute, Tonya waited until the other girls had gotten a fair distance off, hesitating at her locker door. Seizing her chance she stepped forward, tapping Eddie on the shoulder. “Hey, Ed, can I speak with you for a minute.”
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