It wasn't so much where she was at or what she was doing that was making Rydia nervous – more so it was the green-haired girl across the room arbitrarily glancing at her, then looking away and smiling, that was putting her on edge. Why is she constantly staring at me? Do I have something on my face? Rydia thought,trying to nonchalantly catch her reflection in her spoon.

This was her first morning here. She had arrived to the summer camp for magic, located just north of Mysidia, late the night before and hadn't really been able to sleep. She was here as a camp counselor for the summer as one of the few remaining Callers, the only others being old and senile… and well, senile. Luckily, Rydia noticed nothing on her face in the dull and distorted reflection the spoon cast back at her; unluckily, that did not explain the fascination the green-haired girl had with it.

Eventually, the green-haired girl got up and emptied out her tray and walked out of the mess hall, but not before flashing Rydia one more smile as she walked out the door. Glad that's over with, Rydia thought as she finished her bowl of oatmeal and toast in quiet seclusion – the last quiet time she would have before the kids arrived for the summer. Yeahhh, toast! Rydia thought, munching down on the slice of deliciousness covered with strawberry jam.

As she walked out of the mess hall, finishing the last bite of her toast, she noticed several busses pulling into camp. Many of the other counselors, none of whom she knew yet, were making their way to the greeting area where the kids would be dropped off. It was clearly obvious that most everyone here had close bonds with each other. Everyone but her, making Rydia feel rather homesick already.

"Rydia?" a man's voice said, startling Rydia out of her thoughts of home. She hadn't thought anyone would know who she was, since the only correspondence she had was through carrier pigeon during the early spring months. The camp was eager to find a Caller to be a camp counselor, and Rydia had thought she was ready to get away from home for the summer. Turning around, Rydia could only guess that this was Cid, the head camp counselor, the one who had so eagerly requested her for the summer. A little too eagerly, Rydia had thought while reading his letters, but the old man still seemed rather harmless, just overtly jolly and friendly.

"Yes?" Rydia responded, still slightly startled. Standing behind her was a gray-haired man, wearing a bright yellow cloak with red trim. Perched upon his nose was a small, flimsy looking pair of spectacles. This has got to be Cid, Rydia thought as the old man's expression turned to complete joy the instant he heard her response.

"I thought it was you! You are the only counselor I didn't get to meet last night at orientation. Must have been a long journey for you, but we are all glad you could make it. It will be nice to have a real Caller in camp with us this summer," exclaims Cid, starting to sound more excited with every word. "And oh, would you look at that! The kiddos are here! Come on, Rydia, let's see which two will be yours for the taming this summer!" He was chuckling more to himself now, as Rydia did not like the idea of having to 'tame' children this summer.

The two made their way towards the busses just as the kids were getting off and an instant look of dread swept across Rydia's face as she watched the madness unfolding in front of her eyes. Clearly full of pent up energy from the long bus ride, the kids were already running every which direction, chasing each other, poking each other with sticks, attempting to light each other's hair on fire with the little bit of magic they know.

What have I gotten myself into? Rydia thought as images of the little monsters catching her own green hair on fire came unbidden into her mind, though she couldn't suppress a giggle or two when she thought of Terra running through camp with her hair set ablaze.

Just then, Cid blew his whistle, catching Rydia off guard, almost causing her to fall backwards. "Sorry about that, Rydia. It's the only way to get their attention at this point," Cid stated, chuckling softly to himself. Rydia was not finding anything to chuckle about at this juncture, especially with the green haired-girl now standing next to her, casting her glances once again.

This is going to be a long, long summer... Rydia thought, but gave a smile when the thought of the green-haired girl being tortured by numerous children crossed her mind again. She glanced at the girl, now wondering if it was because they shared a similar hair color that this she seemed to have this awkward fascination with her.

"Children! Children. Please, if I can have your attention, we can get you introduced to your camp counselors for the summer and the real fun can begin!" exclaimed Cid, nearly euphoric now as the prospect of another summer camp crossed his mind. He had been the head of this camp for a decade now, and had seen many children come through, and some return as counselors themselves. He had many fond memories himself as a kid coming here for summer camp, pulling pranks on his counselors and even disturbing the Tonberry in the cave just north of the camp grounds, causing all sorts of grief for the camp that summer. It did not end well for him that summer, to say the least.

Starting again as the children finally began to resemble something less like a pack of starving animals around a freshly slain Antlion, and more like an unorganized pack of recently fed animals, Cid continued, "Children... excellent! I'm so excited to see some familiar faces and some new ones!" He paused to chuckle that chuckle Rydia didn't think she would get used to. "Now, let's get you all introduced to your counselors for this summer! Ummm.. Terra, do you have roster assignment sheets?"

Handing over a clipboard to Cid, the green-haired girl stepped back to her place next to Rydia.

So, Terra is her name, Rydia thought to herself, returning Terra's smile to her with more of a grimace than a smile. In Rydia's mind there was nothing to be smiling about.

After examining the roster, Cid began to introduce the children to their counselors, most of whom Rydia had seen in the mess hall this morning but had no real desire to introduce herself to, having only four hours of a mostly restless sleep the night before and not nearly enough coffee in her to be overtly friendly or outgoing towards anyone.

Ugghh... why can't I just go back to bed for a few more hours? What the hell is with Terra and her constant staring at me? And why does she always flash that smile as she turns away? I wonder who I am going to have to bunk with? Hopefully not Terra.. I can just see myself waking up to her staring at me... and smiling... God! That smile! And her stupid green hair! I totally had the green hair thing going on before she did... that bitch!

Rydia had noticed she had mostly zoned out, lost in her thoughts, and was actually getting rather close to falling asleep standing there when mention of Terra brought her to.

"...Terra," Ughhh, Terra! "you will have Krile and Relm under your wing this summer," said Cid, and the two girls, obviously close friends from previous summers, jumped up and down before running up and latching on to either side of Terra. "And Rydia, you will be in charge of the twins, Palom and Porom! Now, everyone, you are free to spend the next few hours getting acquainted with each other. I shall be around should you need anything," Cid stated as he walked over to a few of the counselors with far too much pep in his walk for someone of his age.

The twins, either not caring or just not paying attention, did not move from where they were huddled, both staring intently at something on the ground and talking amongst themselves. Ready to get this day over with, Rydia walked towards the twins – and just she reached them, an explosion of magic knocked her back as a very confused beetle simultaneously grew in size and flew towards Rydia.

"eeeeEEEEEEEEEEEEKKKKKK!! GET IT AWAY!!!" squealed Rydia as she instantly began to cast a spell in defense, not knowing exactly what she was defending herself from at this point.

"Noooo!!!!" The twins yell yelled simultaneously, "Don't hurt it!!" as the beetle finally landed back on the ground. Still looking rather confused, the beetle hurriedly scampered off. Rydia, still on the ground in shock, watched as it shrank back to its original size and went to hide under the nearest log, where it was probably going to drink itself to oblivion after that experience... if beetles drank, that is.

"Palom, you doof! You totally messed that up!" Porom screamed, grabbing the nearest stick and whacking Palom over the head with it.

"OWWWWWwwwwwWWWW!!! I totally did not mess that up! It was all you!" Palom retorted, grabbing his own stick to fight back with.

Still recovering from the surprise of a mostly random, giant beetle flying towards her, Rydia now looked upon what could only be described as two twins gone bat shit crazy. Finally fed up with most everything for the day, Rydia quietly started to chant a spell, and seconds later, the dust started to settle to reveal the twins collapsed upon each other, sticks in hand, silently sleeping.

What could those two have possibly been trying to do? Rydia wondered, but before she could begin her next thought, she eyed Terra walking towards her with both Krile and Relm in hand. Great! I bet she'll have something to say about this. That bitch!

"Wow, quite impressive, Rydia. I was curious as to how you were going to be handling those two," Terra said, once again flashing Rydia a smile, but seemingly somewhat friendlier to Rydia this time. "Not that I didn't think you'd be able to, it's just the whole camp knows what a handful the twins can be. Catch up with me later, we should definitely talk and get to know each other – we are bunk mates for the summer, after all," she finished, giving Rydia a wink as she walked off with Krile and Relm in hand.

Friends! Ha! She probably just wants to know how I keep my hair such a vivid color of green. Unlike that tangled mess of seaweed she calls hair! Figures I would have to be bunk mates with her... perhaps Cid can make a bit of a switch for me.

The twins started to awaken, mumbling to each other about what just happened and blaming each other for putting the other to sleep. Before they could realize they were both wielding sticks, Rydia yanked them out of their hands, seriously contemplating bashing both over the head with them herself, but she forced herself to reconsider since she had just put them to sleep. That was probably good enough for a first impression.

"Hey, lady! Give those back!" the twins squealed in unison, both making grabby hands for the sticks Rydia was now holding above her head. "We had those first!!"

"I don't think so, kiddos, " Rydia said, not about to give into the twins. Can't let Terra see me as a pushover already… even though I totally can be at times. Both twins were now looking up at Rydia, pouting slightly, just enough for Rydia to find it adorable. "Let's go grab some lunch, then I'll give them back if you two don't cause me enough trouble. Plus, if you super good, we might just get that beetle again and I'll show you a super fun prank you can pull on someone with it."

The twins were instantly intrigued by the prospect of making someone scream in fear; Rydia was instantly intrigued with making Terra scream, which she fully intended to do before the summer was over with.