11/25/12 –
Hello my lovely readers, sorry for the wait, I'm desperately trying to remember how I balanced this with homework last spring. I'm sure I'll figure it out soon. I'm not going to waste any more time here (look at the review I posted for excuses, etc.) except for mentioning reviewers, favorites, and followers. Writing of which, my reviewers are:
Story Lightning
WolfButler
Hitthefloorrunning
Shadow914
will trolliam (only because I promised to mentions all reviews, since yours was only negative with nothing constructive)
Owltide
44lefty
I-am-a-Firefly
Amaryllis5498
HollyArty fovea
Rynn Wolfe
BLURPENSKIRF boom
Insanity
Sleekpelt
Sunfall
IzzyPure
terrance
hpfan10101
Nectardishidafimo
And 3 Guests. Thanks also to:
roseandfudge – for putting me on Author Alert
I-am-a-Firefly – for putting this on Story Alert
Amaryllis5498 – for putting this on Story Alert
LittleRedRidingWolf1998 – for putting this on Story Alert
XxHuNt3rxG1RlxX – for making me a Favorite Author
bismarckenterprise – for making this a Favorite Story
AthenaOwl10 – for making this a Favorite Story
TheFoolishTheif – for putting this on Story Alert AND making this a Favorite Story
Nectardishidafimo – for putting this on Story Alert
Well, I think that's everyone, so now here's the next chapter, about the second day. Refresher of last chapter: Mulch didn't tie the food into a tree so a bear came and ate it all.
Disclaimer – If I owned Artemis Fowl, don't you think there would be a Butler looking over my shoulder right now to make sure I didn't make this stuff happen to his charge?
The following morning, breakfast was held off for obvious reasons. Butler had oh-so-generously offered to take the place of Artemis Senior in driving back to the convenience store to get more food. While he was gone, Mulch had let slip a complaint about how he was starving and that Butler was taking too long. This had resulted in Juliet giving the twins their iPods and Angeline and Artemis Senior taking them into their tent so that the Trouble, Foaly, Holly, and Juliet could (loudly) exchange a few words with him.
When Butler returned, he and Juliet cooked bacon, pancakes, and other breakfast foods on miniature grills and they sat down and ate. The Fowls, Butlers, and Mulch sat at one table while the rest of the fairies sat at the other so the tables were split into vegetarians and non-vegetarians. No1 sat with the other fairies because he became a vegetarian after his return from Hybras.
The day crept by uneventfully, while everyone busied themselves with restocking on food, playing with the twins and Orion, eating lunch, and just sitting around talking to each other.
At around 3 pm, Artemis was enduring the glares from his mother as he surfed the internet on his phone, bored.
"Artemis," said Angeline, realizing her son was not going to stop anytime soon. "We're camping. Put your phone away and enjoy nature."
Artemis sighed. "I've been 'enjoying nature' for two days. There is nothing interesting to see. Look, even the dog is bored!"
Orion was lying on the grass a few feet away from Artemis with his head resting in his boys. When Angeline looked over at him, he looked up at her and sighed.
"See," said Artemis, not taking his eyes off the screen of his phone.
Juliet, who just happened to overhear the whole conversation, stood up.
"I know a game we can all play, Mrs. Fowl," said Juliet, smiling. "Except for Myles and Beckett, they're too young. And too short."
"That's alright," said Angeline, snatching Artemis's phone out of his hands as she got up. "Timmy and I will take them on a hike with Orion."
"Okay, everyone," said Juliet, beaming. "Gather 'round, we're going to be playing Red Rover."
"No, we most certainly are not," said Artemis, repressed memories of playing the game in gym class at school. At least until enough people were sent to the nurse to get the game banned.
"I really don't think Artemis should participate in this," agreed Butler.
"No Artemis is going to play," said Angeline, starting to walk onto the trail behind Beckett. "He needs something to stop him from being so bored. Juliet, you're in charge of not letting him sit out."
"It would be my honor," said Juliet, saluting Angeline while trying to look serious. Angeline laughed and disappeared behind the rest of her family into the forest.
"So what is this game anyway?" asked Holly.
"Well," smiled Juliet. "First we split into two teams and each team makes a line with the players holding hands so the lines facing each other with about fifteen feet between them."
"We have to hold hands? What kind of stupid little girly game is this?" asked Mulch.
Juliet continued on, ignoring him. "Then one team picks a person on the other team and calls 'Red Rover, Red Rover, send that person on over."
"This game is sounding dumber by the sentence," muttered Foaly.
"Finally," said Juliet, louder over the mumbling. "The person chosen has to run at the other team and try to break through one of the pair's arms. If the pair lets go and the person breaks through, they go back to their own team. If they just end up slamming into the pair's arms then they have to join the other team. We keep going back and forth until there's only one person left on one side."
"Oh, I think I'm going to like this game," said Trouble, grinning evilly at the group's weak links.
"Alright, fairies, use your coin things to change into human form so we're all about the same height. Trouble, for the enthusiasm, you're a team captain. I'm the other one. Everyone else, line up!"
Juliet picked first.
"Butler," she called, and her older brother came to stand by her side.
Trouble picked next.
"Holly," he said.
"Mulch."
"No1."
"Foaly."
Artemis sighed. This really was like gym class all over again.
Trouble echoed Artemis's sigh.
"Fine," he said. "I guess I'll take the Mud Boy."
Artemis walked over and stood by Holly. He desperately looked at Butler, who moved his head in a small nod. Hopefully no one would notice . . .
"Wait!" yelled Juliet, studying the teams. "Trouble, I'm trading you Foaly for Artemis. We can't have Butler on the opposite team as him, or he'd just let Artemis through."
"You're right," said Holly. She looked at Artemis and made a fake pout. "No cheating."
Artemis scowled and swapped places with Foaly.
They lined up to start the game. The order was Butler – Artemis – Juliet – Mulch and No1 – Trouble – Foaly – Holly. Put a weak link between the strong links, and the chain doesn't break.
Juliet's team called first.
"Red Rover, Red Rover, send Foaly on over!"
"D'Arvit," said the Foaly, running fast and hard at Artemis and Juliet. Artemis tried to pull away but Juliet would not let go of his hand. Artemis and Foaly cringed and turned their heads, not wanting to see the train wreck that was about to occur. Butler saw this and when Foaly was about a foot away, he yanked Artemis hard, the sudden force surprising Juliet so that she loosened her grip just enough for Artemis to slip his hand out. Foaly made it through just before Juliet could snatch Artemis's arm again. Smiling, Foaly walked back to his cheering team and joined the end, grabbing hold of Holly's hand.
Artemis was called over next. He saw Trouble and Holly whisper to Foaly and No1, and when they finished, Artemis did not like the way they were looking at him. He ran hard anyway aiming for the gap connecting Foaly and Holly, since it looked like Trouble had as much as a death grip on No1 as Juliet had had on him. He might just be able to make it through if he hit hard enough . . .
When Artemis was three seconds from impact, the whole line shifted six feet, so he collided as hard as possible into Holly and Trouble's arms instead. Their arms hooked him at the top of his stomach, just under his ribs. Holly and Trouble didn't let go, causing Artemis to do a flip around them, as though they were a bar at a gymnastics competition. Artemis landed under them, his back slamming into the ground. Artemis struggled for breath, as the wind had been knocked out of him. Butler was there in an instant, checking for any serious injuries on his charge. There weren't any, so he stood up, leaving Artemis on the ground to catch his breath.
"What. Was. That?" growled Butler, taking deep breaths to keep his anger in check.
"An incredible acrobatics display that was not thought possible by this teenager," suggested Foaly.
"I thought it was mean and voted against it," No1 piped up.
"Well at least one person on this team is sane. You could have seriously hurt him!" yelled Butler.
"Casualty of war," said Trouble.
"I thought," gasped Artemis, struggling up on his elbows and looking at Holly. "That you said . . . no . . . cheating."
"That wasn't cheating," answered Holly. "That was strategy."
"That was definitely cheating," said Juliet who had joined her brother in front of Holly.
Butler helped Artemis to his feet.
"Okay," said Butler. "You're done. Go lie down."
"But Angeline said – " started Juliet.
"He did play, even if it was just for one turn, so it's okay," interrupted Butler.
"Thank you," said Artemis, allowing Butler to direct him towards the tents. Artemis sat at one of the picnic tables and laid his head down while Butler went back and the game continued. Artemis perked up a few turns later after a call he had not expected from Holly in the game.
"Red Rover, Red Rover, send Butler on over!"
Foaly and Trouble's wide eyes showed that this had not been a team decision. Trouble was now between Foaly and Holly, and No1 had been caught by Mulch and Juliet on the previous turn. Butler was charging at Holly and Trouble, but at the last second swerved away to hit Foaly and Trouble. Trouble tightened his grip so Foaly couldn't pull away early, although he desperately tried to. Regardless, Butler obliterated the pair, and after shrieking several D'Arvits, Foaly came to join Artemis with a severely bruised arm. Foaly turned back into a centaur and sat back to watch the show with Artemis.
Juliet's team failed to acquire Holly, and then Juliet almost had a fit when she was stopped dead by Trouble and Holly. Trouble was captured by Butler and Mulch, and he just barely made it through Holly and Juliet when they called him back on the next turn. Trouble and No1 somehow managed to stop Holly on the next turn, ending the game.
"Wait a minute," said Mulch. "You're the only one left over there, but you started on the other team. So who won?"
"That part has never really been understood," answered Juliet. "Some say that everyone but me wins, some that only I win, others that anyone who was never captured at all does. Personally, I usually go by the rule that the original players from the winning side are the victors. So that would be me, Butler, Mulch, and Artemis."
"Are you kidding me?" said Trouble. "Artemis barely even played!"
"He did go out with flair though," said No1 thoughtfully.
"Blah, blah, blah, all I'm hearing is that we won," said Mulch, turning back into his true form like the rest of the fairies were.
"You did not win!" said Holly.
"Actually, Juliet's logic makes sense in this situation," said Artemis walking over with Foaly. "In the end, everybody on your team was captured, so you lost. If Trouble was the only one left instead of Juliet, that rule would have to be adjusted to be the second rule you mentioned."
"See," said Juliet. "The genius here agrees with me. If you guys really don't agree with me we could always play again tomorrow and see what happens."
"Um, how about no," said Butler. "We don't need any more injuries, and if Angeline ever saw this game played out, she would probably have a heart attack."
"Yeah, probably," said Juliet. She elbowed Artemis in the side. "I guess you, me, and Dom . . ."
Juliet ignored the intense glare from her brother.
". . . will just have to play at the Manor sometime when your mom's away and the twins are older."
"What about us being older?" asked Beckett, walking out of the woods with Myles and Orion and coming to stand by Juliet.
"We'll play a really fun game with your brothers!" said Juliet excitedly. "Don't let me forget."
"Okay!" smiled Beckett.
"Why can't this just be over already?" moaned Artemis.
Juliet heard him and glared, then looked back down at Beckett.
"Since Artemis is so excited, do you want to see him demonstrate the game?" she asked, smiling down at Beckett.
Before the toddler could say yes, Angeline and Artemis Senior emerged from the path.
"That was a long walk," said Artemis Senior, and the Butlers noticed that he was out of breath.
"How did things go here?" Angeline asked.
"Oh, fabulously!" beamed Juliet, giving Artemis a small elbow to his stomach to make up for him not having to play again.
"That's nice," said Angeline. "Juliet, could you help me start dinner?"
Juliet left the group to cook hamburgers on the grill and Butler started a fire to cook pasta. The rest of the group dispersed soon after, and to Artemis and Foaly, the game was nothing but a bruise and a repressed memory.
The end! I'm not surprised Foaly repressed the memory, who would want to remember a Butler charging at them? I love that game so much! My camp counselor won't let me play it anymore though because she had a panic attack and was covering her eyes the last time I convinced my friends to play. Unless you have permission by everyone in your group and good medical insurance, don't try this at home! I don't need any lawsuits ;-)
Alright, that's all I have to say, now I have to go study for a Social Studies test. Yay. Reviews are always extremely appreciated, and you get that mention on the top! Who doesn't want that? Don't lie, you know you do. So review, and I'll see you next time!
Sayonara, Sweethearts :-P