The group trudged as they began to head out of the forest, turning every once in a while to make sure Thatch was keeping up alright. He was still limping greatly due to his ankle, but he was managing fairly well. They just wished they could slow down so he could rest. But they were late enough as it was.
They were hurrying over to the clearing, as it was now noon and the headmasters were surely waiting for them. However, they could only move so fast with Thatch's ankle as messed up as it was. They just hoped he'd be able to get a note to get him out of gym class. There was no way he could run right now. The fact he was walking this fast was incredible.
They really were hoping he was doing alright. After all, it was a miracle he could even walk right now. They hoped he could make it...
Finally they made it to the clearing, finding the school already there. The headmasters also looked slightly ticked by their tardiness. The four slowly walked up to them, Casper, Mantha and Ra looking down nervously.
" You're late. "
Dash said sternly.
" The others were here a half hour ago. "
" Well? Were there any issues? "
Alder said, grinning and turning to the vampire.
" Thatch? "
Well that was it. Game over. If it were up to Thatch, he'd tell them exactly what had been going on since they'd gotten out here. Mantha's rudeness to him, the sleeping in a tree, the fight with the bear... this was it. There was no way they'd get the reward now. But hey! At least they could safely say they did try.
" It went very well sirs. "
The trio immediately jumped and looked at the vamp as if he were crazy. They felt like they were hearing wrong. Like he hadn't really said that. He couldn't have, could he?
" We didn't fight during the camp out. We all got along great, and I hope we go camping again soon. "
Now, the three instantly knew he was layering it on rather thick. Milking it. Making it seem like they had more fun than they really did. But why?
Dash suddenly leaned in close to Thatch, obviously curious about the stitches on his cheeks.
" What happened to your cheek? "
To their amazement, Thatch had no problem answering this.
" I fell and cut my face against a thorn bush. "
" And your ankle? "
Clearly they had noticed how he'd been walking. Still Thatch answered with ease.
" I twisted it when I fell, cutting it a bit on the thorn bush as well. "
" But things really went alright between you all? "
Thatch gave a curt nod, clearly growing annoyed by the questions. The twin headed creature looked at each other before slithering back, looking like they were consulting the results of this experiment. Thatch took this moment to sit down, gently rubbing at his ankle stitches.
The trio looked at each other before they sat beside him, disheartened when he turned away from them.
" Thatch, that was incredible. "
Mantha breathed softly.
" The way you lied, it just... seemed like you knew what you were doing. And it all made sense too. How did you...? "
The zombie stopped when she found Thatch beginning to cling to his jeans. His eyes also narrowed before he grabbed his walking stick, forcing himself to his feet. Slowly he began walking closer to his friends Slither, Mosshead and DummyGirl, leaving the three to ponder how the vamp made his lies logical.
Finally the headmasters cleared their throats, easily getting everyone's attention.
" Before we announce which team won, we just wanted to show you all a certain video tape the gargoyles recorded while you all were camping. "
Dash announced, pushing the tape into a large cam corder. Upon getting a closer look, the students were horrified to find it was Casper's group. From Mantha giving the vampire a hard time, to his freaking out over the phone call with his parents (thankfully they couldn't hear what they were saying), to his fighting a bear. Thatch blushed horribly and groaned, covering his eyes and slipping to the ground. The headmasters simply smirked and looked towards the students, slowly beginning to speak again.
" I think it's pretty obvious that this team has won! "
" What?! "
The four yelped, looking confused as heck. Dash simply smirked, pointing at the vampire.
" After everything Mantha put him through, he was still willing to fight a bear to keep everyone safe. I think this group got along the best this week. "
Thatch smiled and looked down, clearly very relieved to hear this. The other three simply cheered, following the crowd as they went to the ship.
A few days after the camp out, and Thatch refused to talk about what happened. Every time the three tried to ask him about it he simply shrugged it off. Not to mention that after his ankle got a little better, he was back to pulling pranks. He was basically acting as if nothing happened. They would've expected this under normal circumstances, but why now?
Casper, Mantha and Ra decided they'd let it be though. After all, they could've been killed or seriously hurt if it weren't for him. If something like this ever happened again, they'd do something about his behavior. But for now they'd leave it alone. They owed him that much...
