CAMPING
This prompt was given to me by Animation Nut. This should be interesting….
MCPlayer26: Here you go! And if you mean a follow up to the last chapter, there will be eventually.
TheSakuraHunter: No problem! I really enjoyed it!
JGameCartoonFan: Thank you!
Norsk Unicorn: Not as of right now, but there will be a follow up at some point.
Th3 Pho3nix 2.0: Actually an AU is an alternate universe story, or a story that takes place outside of the shows universe. In svtfoe, an AU would be if Marco were the magical princess and Star was the normal earth boy. Fanfiction is a fictional story written by a fan of the show/book/movie that goes further in depth than the actual story line. My stories don't change the canon plot line, they just add to it.
Imaginativegoody2shoes: I will absolutely get to that idea, but I'd want to take some time and write it so that it's not the same as every other "Star goes back to Mewni" story.
AnimationNut: Thank you for the prompt, and I hope you enjoy it!
I don't own Star vs. the Forces of Evil.
GENERAL POV
Marco knew that things on Mewni differed vastly from Earth in regards to a lot of things, but he didn't think that one of those things involved camping.
He stared up at Star with a tiny smile twitching on his lips, watching as she struggled to tie up their bag of food in a tree. Her wand was in her mouth and her knees were hooked around a thick branch and one hand was wrapping the rope of the bag around the branch as the other one clutched onto the bark.
"Star, are you sure you don't want help?" Marco called up to her, glancing over his shoulder at his parents. He was silently relieved that they had offered to set up the tents; he didn't trust Star to not accidentally turn them into something.
"No…I….GOT IT!" she yelped, tying off the bag and letting go. The bag of food promptly unraveled and smashed to the ground, making Marco wince. Star groaned and thumped her head against the trunk of the tree. "Camping is haaaarrrrrrrd, Marco."
Biting back a smile, Marco picked up the bag, tied the rope securely around it, and tossed the end of the rope over the branch. He pulled it up and tied the rope around the trunk of the tree in one swift mood, tugging on it to make sure it was taut.
"Right," he agreed, grinning up at her. "Hard."
Star pouted and jumped to the ground carefully, bending her knees to absorb the shock of her fall. "Yeah, well….show off."
Marco chuckled and they headed back to the campsite to find Mr. and Mrs. Diaz pounding in the last stake on Mr. Diaz's and Marco's tent. Star and Marco's mother would be sharing the other tent for the weekend.
"Need any help, Mom?" Marco asked, stopping next to his mother but keeping well out of the way of his father's swing.
Mrs. Diaz wiped her forehead and smiled up at her son. "We should be good, dear, but thank you. You can help Star move her stuff and my stuff into our tent though, or get dinner started. The supplies for tonight's meal are still in the car."
Marco nodded in agreement and turned to Star. "Will you put yours and my mom's stuff away while I start dinner?"
Star saluted with her wand, nearly setting a bush aflame, and hurried off to grab her stuff from the trunk of the car while Marco ventured around to the front to grab the charcoal and matches and starter fluid for the fire pit.
He had just tossed in some charcoal and was dowsing it in starter fluid when a muffled scream came from his left. He set the bottle down and whipped around to see Star's tent billowing down around her, the girl thrashing around inside.
Marco winced and got up, jogging over to the tent and grabbing onto the opening. He pulled the door over until he found Star and she stepped out, tripping on the fabric and collapsing against Marco with such force that they both went tumbling to the ground.
"Are you okay?" Mrs. Diaz called to them, standing up from her spot on the grass.
Marco cautiously sat up and pushed Star off of him, grabbing her shoulder. "Star? You good?"
She nodded, somewhat dazed, and clambered up off the ground shakily. "Yeah I'm…I'm fine. I'll fix the tent," she promised.
Mrs. Diaz waved her hand as she walked over. "It's fine honey. All of the poles and everything are still inside, so I can set it back up. Why don't you help Marco start dinner?"
Star smiled hesitantly and followed Marco to the fire pit.
Over the course of the next thirty minutes, she set two trees, one can of pork and beans, one of Marco's socks, and the end of her ponytail on fire. Finally, Marco had her sit down on one of the logs next to the fire pit while he set up the grate over top and started cooking the hot dogs and remaining can of beans. Star relented sadly and sat with her chin in her hands, watching the flames flicker quietly.
It started to get dark as they ate, and Mr. Diaz broke out some sticks and marshmallows to make S'mores before bed.
Somehow, and Marco would never figure this out, Star dropped her entire S'more into the fire and just stood there for a long minute, watching it burn.
"It's okay," Mr. Diaz promised, pulling out more chocolate. "You can make another."
Star shook her head and glanced down at the ground. "No…that's all right. I'm kind of tired, I think I'll go to bed."
Marco looked up at her in concern. "You sure?"
She gave him a tight smile. "Yeah. Night, everyone."
Star trudged into her tent quietly and Marco sighed, turning his S'more over in his hands and losing his appetite for the treat. "I feel bad," he finally said. "She was just trying to help. I've never seen her so clumsy."
Mrs. Diaz frowned. "I haven't either. I know they don't have camping on Mewni, but it really isn't that hard."
Marco glanced back at Star's tent and pursed his lips. "She'll be okay," he decided after a moment. "She's tough."
The next morning, just in the time it took to get out the cereal from the bag they had hung in the tree, Star tripped over three logs and nearly dropped her wand into the fire that Mr. Diaz had built for coffee.
Marco calmed her down by handing her a bowl and spoon, something he knew she wouldn't mess up, and the four of them sat in silence and munched on bargain brand cereal. While they cleaned up, Marco looked over at Star. "Want to go hiking? There's a great little trail that leads to the top of the mountain."
Star hesitated a second too long and Marco tilted his head. "Star?"
She glanced at him and nodded, washing her spoon. "Yeah, that should be fun."
They finished cleaning up and gathered up water bottles, a camera, extra socks, and each of them packed a lunch to take with them. Marco told his parents they were going, and they set off on a trail that wound into the woods and gradually climbed the mountain.
After a couple minutes of silence, Marco began talking, pointing out different birds and trees and plants, occasionally leaning down to pick up a cool rock that he would tuck into the side pocket of his backpack.
When almost fifteen minutes had passed and Star had yet to do more than make an interested sound, he chuckled. "Sure beats the woods in Mewni, huh? At least nothing out here is trying to kill us."
Star flinched so slightly that Marco wasn't sure he had actually seen it. He frowned and stared at the ground, watching his feet slog along the dirt path.
They continued on in silence, one of them occasionally taking a swig of water or pausing to snap a picture, but no words were spoken between the two of them.
Star dropped her water bottle twice, nearly fumbled the camera off of a waterfall, and tripped over seemingly nothing. When she tripped for probably the seventh time and actually hit the ground, dropping and cracking her water bottle in the process, she stayed on the ground and burst into tears.
Marco froze, immediately dropping his backpack and kneeling next to her. "Star? Hey, did you hurt yourself?"
She shook her head, her shoulders trembling against the dirt. Marco reached out and gently pulled her into a sitting position, sinking down on her left side. He rubbed her back slowly and stared at the trees for a moment. "What's up?"
Star hiccuped and leaned heavily against him, shaking. "I keep screwing up," she finally said. "I'm never this clumsy, I don't know what's wrong with me!"
Marco winced and squeezed her shoulder gently. "Well," he said thoughtfully, "it is your first time camping. I expected a couple mishaps."
Star swallowed. "I did too," she murmured. "But not this many."
Marco glanced at her and frowned. "Hey," he said softly, reaching over and brushing a tear from her cheek. "It's okay. We all screw up. It's all right. Do you want to keep hiking, or go back?"
Star shook her head and rested her cheek on his shoulder. "Can we just sit here? I don't really want to do either."
"Of course," Marco mumbled.
They sat there for a long time, and after a while Marco dug around in his pocket and pulled his cellphone out. It had no signal, but he tapped the camera icon and switched to the front facing camera. "Say cheese!" he said, holding the phone up.
Star frowned. "Cheese?"
He snapped the photo and studied it for a moment, shaking his head. "No, this is all wrong. Gotta take the selfie again."
"Selfie?"
He ignored her. "Smile!"
Star managed a halfhearted smile, but Marco tsked softly. "Nope, nope, nope. Let's try again."
He held the phone at arm's length and made a goofy face while Star smiled normally. When she saw the photo, she burst into giggles, and pretty soon they were taking selfie after selfie, some serious and some silly.
When Marco's phone battery warned him that it was dangerously low, he turned it off and put the cell away, turning to Star. "Feel better?"
She grinned at him. "Yeah. Thanks, Marco."
They headed back to the campsite laughing and talking. When Star nearly walked into a tree branch, she hesitated for a moment, and then chuckled. "I have got to be more careful," she declared, ducking under the branch.
Marco smiled and they greeted his parents as they stepped back into the clearing for dinner, mac n cheese. It looked like it was planning to pour, so while Marco and Star had been gone Mr. Diaz had torn down camp. They had been planning to go back in the morning anyway.
"Marco, honey, can you and Star go get the bag of food down from the tree?" Mrs. Diaz asked, looking up from her boiling pot of water. "Dinner will be ready in five."
Marco nodded and they deposited their bags on the ground, going to get the bag. Star held up a hand as Marco reached for the knot around the tree. "Let me do it. I think I got it this time."
Marco stepped back, hands in the air and a smile on his face as Star carefully undid the knot and grabbed hold of the rope, reaching her arms above her head so that the bag lowered far enough to grab.
In a split second, Star was dangling from the tree branch, having been pulled up by the weight of the bag. She clutched onto the branch and glared down at Marco, who was trying hard not to laugh as he gathered up the bag.
"Not one word, Diaz."
So, not so much camping mishaps as "Star sucks at all things camping and Marco cheers her up." Still….camping.
Reviews?
