Chapter 4 - In The Woods
Author's Note: You guys are awesome, and I'm elated that you like my stories! Thanks for the support!
In response to Sherona849: If you're looking for something real romantic, you won't find it here. I don't plan on adding romance to my stories (sorry)
In response to Lady Luck: IT HAS BEEN UPDATED! HERE YOU GO!
Disclaimer: You guessed it, I don't own Miraculous Ladybug.
The gate creaked as it was quickly pushed open. The tour guide got back in, drove the jeep through the gate, got out to close the gate, then hopped back in the vehicle.
The campers wiggled in excitement as they sat in the jeep. They were going to be taking a tour of the wildlife preserve that was located next to the camp.
"This gate is to keep some of the larger wildlife from getting out into the camp," the tour guide, Sarah, explained as the gate grew out of sight. "If anyone of you have been here before, you would know that this preserve is home to Flint, our resident bear."
"Cool!" Kim, Alix, and Juleka exclaimed in unison.
"Flint was rescued from a small zoo that mistreated him. He is old, grumpy, and can easily be provoked. So if we run across him, please refrain from calling out to him or doing something stupid, like trying to pet him," Sarah said in a tone that showed she said this often.
"Okay," they all chimed, some less enthusiastic than others.
As the trip went on, Sarah droned on about the number of species the preserve contained, facts about different types of animals, and was on the topic of the preserve's history when the group showed clear signs of boredom.
"Blaaaah," Alix moaned, quiet enough to not be heard by the tour guide.
Alya was -quietly- rambling on about her LadyBlog to Marinette, who was flopped over the side of the jeep, half asleep.
Adrien was on his phone, secretly watching the LadyBlog and stuffing his face with oreos -he never got to eat them at home-
Max was messing around with his calculator, and Nathanael was sketching an image of Marinette while she slept, while the rest of the group was watching Kim challenge Nino to an arm wrestling contest, which Nino was inevitably going to lose.
"And that was just the beginning of how this place came to be. I have much more to tell you," Sarah said, turning to look at all the teens.
Everyone immediately stopped what they were doing and acted like they were listening.
"Mhm, fascinating," Alya fibbed, feigning intrigue.
The tour guide narrowed her eyes at the blogger. "No one usually finds this interesting," she stated suspiciously.
"Well... I happen to enjoy learning about the history of wildlife preserves!" Alya said. "And, um, don't you have to look where you're driving?"
Sarah just humphed and turned back around, proceeding to educate the campers on topics they could care less about.
Alya wiped imaginary sweat off her brow.
Everyone took it as a sign that they were safe to go back to what they were doing.
Kim flexed his arms. "You're going down," he mouthed to Nino, getting ready to arm wrestled again.
-Later-
The group was informed by Sarah that the tour was almost over, and they silently cheered. It was boring hearing the tour guide rambling on and on, and they never saw Flint, the bear -which was a sore disappointment-
Nino joined Marinette and Alya near the back seats. He had already been defeated in the arm wrestling contest, and Kim was now competing against Alix.
Marinette tried to fall back asleep, taking her circular pink bag off from around her shoulder, and set it down on her lap.
Chloe, who was also bored, scootched over and snatched Marinette's purse.
"What in here could possibly be important enough to bring in around everywhere, if it's so small?" Chloe hissed, lifting the bag in the air.
"Give it back!" Marinette growled, reaching for the bag.
Chloe tossed it out of the jeep carelessly. "Oops, I bet it wasn't worth much anyways," she laughed.
"Oh no, Tikki!" Marinette thought frantically.
Thankfully the jeep was not moving, since Sarah had stopped to point out a giant bird's nest.
Marinette rushed out to find her purse, with Alya, Nino, and Adrien at her heels. They had gotten out of the jeep unnoticed by everyone except Chloe.
Chloe must have thrown it pretty far, because it wasn't anywhere near the jeep. When her friends split up to search for the bag, Marinette heard a tiny, high-pitched groan come from a bush nearby.
"Tikki!" Marinette exclaimed, scooping up the purse and checking inside.
"I'm fine, Marinette! I was just surprised, that's all," the ladybug kwami assured.
Marinette smiled with relief and closed the bag.
"Hey guys! I found my bag," she called out to them.
Once the four got back to where the jeep was, it had disappeared.
"Did they leave us behind?!" Alya asked in disbelief.
"Only Chloe knew we left, and something tells me she doesn't care," Marinette said bluntly.
"Well we don't have to worry, cause we can just follow the dirt path back to camp," Nino stated, gesturing to the dirt road in front of them.
The rest agreed to the plan, and set off down the path.
-Later-
It was getting to be late in the evening. The air cooled down and became slightly breezy. The chirps of crickets and croaks of frogs were interrupted by a groan.
"Seriously? A fork in the road?" Nino grumbled.
"Does anyone have an idea as to which one we take?" Adrien asked.
"Nope. How about we choose a random one," Alya said.
"No! We can't do that! We need a legit way to choose," Marinette exclaimed.
"Do you have an idea how?" Nino raised an eyebrow.
"Uh... eenie meanie minie moe... How about that one?" Marinette suggested, pointing to the path on the right.
"That was your 'legit way to choose'?" Alya inquired, crossing her arms.
"What? Don't judge me," Marinette held up her hands.
"Right sounds right, and it's better than standing here all day. Let's go!" Adrien urged.
Just as they started walking, a rabbit bolted out of the woods and ran smack dab into Adrien. It let Adrien pick him up, and just as he did, a fox wandered across the road. Alya, Marinette, and Nino ran at it and shooed it away. When the fox left, the group got a good look at the rabbit.
"Aww," the girls cooed.
The rabbit had yellow streaked eyes and was a deep gray with white speckled spots down it's back.
"We should name him," Marinette stated.
"Name him what?"
"How about Ralph," Alya said.
"Ralph?"
They laughed as the rabbit perked his ears up at the name.
"Okay Ralph," Adrien said, setting the rabbit on the top of his shoulder. "You can join us until we get back to camp. It would be best to leave you in the wildlife preserve."
It wasn't much later when they heard slow, heavy footsteps approaching them.
"You think someone found us?" Marinette asked hopefully.
They peered into the trees and saw a large, bear-like shadow coming closer. A loud growl blocked out all other noise.
"Not someone, something!" Alya shrieked.
The shriek startled the bear, and it began to lumber towards them, increasing in speed.
"AAAAAAHHHHH!" they screamed, running up to a massive, branchy tree.
Marinette started hoisting Alya and Nino up the tree exremely quick, practically launching them up to a branch.
Adrien ran up and grabbed Marinette, basically throwing her up with Nino and Alya, and then started climbing the tree with Ralph balanced on his head.
Once he reached the branch, Marinette pulled him up with the others. The bear was now directly under their branch, standing on his hind legs and trying to swipe at their feet with his massive paws.
Alya plucked Ralph up off of Adrien's head, and nervously squeezed him like a plush toy.
It was now night, and the bear still wouldn't give up, pounding the tree trunk and ripping the bark with its claws. The teens hung on for dear life while the branch swayed to and fro.
Author's Note: And I'll end this chapter here, bwahaha. Next chapter should come out soon :)