Author's Note

"Takin' care of business, everyday.

Takin' care of business, every way.

Takin' care of business and workin' overtime.

Happy Tree Camp!
"Prophecy"

Starring

Ryder and the Redwood Cabin

And

Meth and the Weeping Willow Cabin!

….

With Gouge gone, peace had returned and for the most part everyone's minds were at ease and free to enjoy the camp. And most did. But, there was the question of what Ryder would be doing with his time, now that the entire reason he'd chosen to attend this itty bitty camp of children, was gone. It infuriated him a little bit, as he packed his bags, that a creature he'd hunted from his homeland of Russia, and tracked throughout these woods was killed by a group of little girls. Very infuriating, to be perfectly honest, that he'd never even gotten a clear sight of the beast for more than a fleeting minute, and never received the satisfaction of killing it himself.

But, such is life. His mother had taught Ryder better than to dwell in the past. He double checked the few clips of ammunition he'd bothered to take(He'd left most of it back where he hid the weapons, scattered around the campground. They'd benefit from it more than he; his homeland wouldn't need more service from him when he got back. They probably wouldn't even remember him, which suited him fine, to be forgotten and left alone is much more peaceful. That's why he'd elected to leave early in the morning, so even his campers wouldn't notice him.

He carefully walked across the old wooden floor, wincing at every creak that slipped out from under his feet, then reached out to open the cabin's screen door. It began to creek loudly, and he threw the door open quickly to try and minimize the sound, his most fatal error, as it squeaked loudly enough to wake a bear.

Ryder froze, his years of Spetsnaz training were suddenly blank from his mind. The rustling of some nearby sheets and a light thud of feet hitting the ground only confirmed his fears. He could hear Niki's voice, softly, and he cursed something in Russian beneath his breath.

"Ryder, what are you doing?" He slowly turned, and the moment he saw her he cringed. She was barely awake, fur mussed, and rubbing her eyes, and still dressed in a pair of pajamas.

He tried his best Grinch impersonation, and said sweetly, "I was just, going to the bathroom. Now go back to bed, it's still early."

"But then why did you bring your suitcase?"

He looked down at the bag, and tossed it to the side, "I don't know what you're talking about."

She pouted, "Hey, you weren't thinking of leaving us, were you?"

He muttered another curse under his breath, something in Russian, "When did little children get so curious? In my country little girls didn't ask so many questions, they woke up, milked goat, and harvested potatoes. I'm not leaving, now go back to bed."

Niki wrapped her arms around Ryder, "Good! I didn't want you to leave, you're a fun counselor."

Ryder smiled, for a moment, before stopping himself, and pushing her loose, "Great, now I need to go take a leak, go to bed."

"I can't, I'm already awake," She stared up at him with wide eyes, and rubbed her belly, "And now I'm hungry. Can we get breakfast?"

Ryder groaned, "Love to, but we can't the others aren't awake. Wait until then, okay? Good."

He turned to walk out of the cabin, but felt something tugging on his shirt. He didn't even need to turn to know exactly who it was.

"Niki, go back to bed."

"Please? Pretty please?"

"If I get you something to eat, will you go keep quiet until the other campers are awake?"

He didn't get an answer, per se, but he did get a little wolf jumping onto his back. He nearly tossed her off in a rage, but held himself back, and actually piggy backed Niki to the mess hall in what little light that the sun could provide them, because even it was barely over the horizon.

Surprisingly enough, when they arrived at the mess hall it was unlocked, but still empty. Apparently, in order to feed the campers, Mumbo had to wake up in the wee hours of the morning to start on breakfast, which today, as Ryder and Niki could smell, was flapjacks. They took a table by a window, Niki's choice (She wanted to watch the sun rise), and Ryder grabbed some fresh pancakes from Mumbo.

They sat and ate, in relative silence, save for Niki's messy chewing. Ryder ate like a starved lumberjack, and Niki seemed like she needed to eat her weight in syrup, and it was a little funny watching them both together. Fortunately for Ryder, no one was watching a hardened Russian soldier eat pancakes with a little girl.(Well, except Mumbo, but he wouldn't tell anyone but his batter, as he slaved over a hot griddle.) While Ryder polished off another plate, he asked his 'guest' something he'd been wondering for some time.

"Niki, you called me fun earlier. Did you mean that?"

Niki scooped another forkful into her mouth, and spoke, "Yeah, of course I did."

Ryder mused on this for a moment, "What is fun about me? When did I do something fun?"

"I dunno," Niki put her fork down, she was starting to get full, "I you're just fun."

"How?"

"You're funny. Like when you threatened to shoot us."

Ryder drew back, a little weirded-out, "That was funny?"

"Yeah, and you're always drinking and looking cool."

"What is cool about drinking? It is a bad habit, don't you ever drink."

"I wouldn't, but," Niki looked all around the room, before answering, "You're kind of like my dad. I suppose that's what I like about you."

Ryder was flabbergasted, he was at a loss for words even, "Your..dad?"

"Yeah, he drinks some. And he's a little foulmouthed, but he's a nice guy. He's got a lot of heart!"

Ryder smiled, a big warm bear of a smile. Niki didn't think what she said was that touching, but Ryder did. In fact, he remembered his own mother saying something to that effect, back when he enlisted. He was dressing in his fatigues for the first time, and still needed her help buttoning it.

"You'll do well out there, son," she said, "You're a fighter, with a heart so big you can barely button your coat!"

He reached over the table, knocking a few of the plates they'd accumulated to the floor, and grabbed Niki's shoulders.

"Niki, we need to get the other campers together, quickly!"

The little wolf was surprised, "Is everything okay? What are you doing?"

"It is not what I'm doing, little one, it is what we're doing!" He smiled even wider, and Niki had to ask,

"What's that?"

"We're going to have fun today!"

…

On what was just about the exact opposite spectrum, Meth couldn't have been happier with Gouge's death. The thing he was forced to dedicate his life to killing was out of his way, and now he could enjoy life like a normal Tree Friend. He could actually do his job as counselor, and damn it he'd have the time of his life doing it! The moment Tyler and Chunky were found(They had found their own way back to the cabin, thanks to Cro-marmot expert directions.), he decided that he would take the group to a spectacular spot in the woods that he had discovered a while ago. The group was reluctant, but honestly they were much more eager to go along with Meth into the woods than go along with the camp schedule for the day, which called for arts and crafts and a game of badminton.

"Over the river and through the woods to grandmother's house we go!" Caramel and Mint had broken out into song once again, as they marched through the forest. It was cute at first, but they didn't know much of the song, and ended up singing that same verse over and over again.

"Vould you both shut the hell up!" Tyler snapped, and everyone in the group stopped dead in their tracks to stare at the cat. He'd never acted like that, but he quickly covered, "Heh, sorry guys, I didn't get much sleep last night. You know, the whole bat thing shook me and Chunks up, didn't it big guy?"

"Whuh?" Chunky wasn't paying much attention, "I mean, I suppose so. I slept like a baby though…."

"You could sleep through a hurricane Chunkster!" Tyler laughed nervously, and gave him a friendly punch on the shoulder. The other campers didn't seem to notice though, and were already following Meth again. Tyler let out a little sigh, before following after.

"So," Mint, who was walking beside Meth, "Where are we headed anyway?"

"To a very special spot," Meth said, "I used to go there when I was young."

Mint gave a questioning glance.

"It'll be amazing, trust me."

"Oh boy! I can't wait!" Caramel sprinted ahead, until she found an intersection in the trail, and looked back and forth, "Which way? Left or right? Or backwards?"

Meth chuckled and called back, "Just wait, I'll show you in a second."

And with that, Meth ran after Caramel. And Mint, noticing Meth, ran too, and Tyler ran after. Leaving only Chunky and Flaky.

"Well, I guess if you can't beat 'em…" Chunky smiled, and ran off, his enormous frame looking like a stampeding elephant when he ran. Flaky looked around, and realized she was becoming quickly alone on a brightly lit trail in mid day near a summer camp, and of course panicked, screamed, and ran after the rest of the group.

They were all sprinting, like a group of marathon runners, in the bright sun. It was really the ideal summer camp situation, if I do say so myself. The whole lot of them hardly seemed to care where they were going, and were perfectly content to run through the forest, hopping from rocks to logs and shouting at each other, laughing. They hardly even noticed that they were headed to the mountain, and began skipping over the holes that had been dug by Handy and Lumpy. But slowly, they began to realize where they were. And Meth was the first person to stop running.

"What the hell?" He screeched to a halt in the dirt, staring wide eyed at the mountain side. Soon the other campers had stopped beside him, "Look!"

An entire side of the mountain had been blown out, revealing an enormous cavern.

"Meth," Flaky asked, "Is this what you wanted to show us? Your special hideaway?"

"No," His voice was slightly angry, slightly confused, "But it looks like someone tore part of my special hideaway out of the mountain! C'mon, let's see what's up."

Meth crawled inside of the cavern, which was barely larger than himself, and motioned for the others to follow him. They each squeezed in beside each other, (Even Chunky, who nearly blocked out the sunlight in the cave) and thankfully the inside was a bit wider than the outside. Meth pulled his car keys from his jacket pocket, and lit the tiny flashlight inside to guide the group deeper.

"Well, this is definitely the cavern," He shined the flashlight around the walls, "I mean, take a look around you."

The rocky walls of the cavern were at once grainy, like sandstone, glinting like the innards of a geode, and a turquoise blue like nothing of this world. All around them, even darkened, all they could see was this blue rock around them.

Flaky nearly fainted, and Caramel felt like she was going to wet herself from excitement, but Tyler summed up everyone's emotions the best.

"Whoah." He muttered, as Meth led them deeper into the cavern. While he guided the group, he began to talk, to no one in particular,

"I found this place back when I first came to Happy Tree Town. I was wandering on the outskirts, and it started to rain," He was whispering, maybe because the atmosphere made everyone want to keep quiet, just to preserve the setting, "So I went in here, and lit a match, and I was so freaked out I almost ran into the rain."

"W-what was s-s-o creepy about it," Flaky's teeth were chattering so loud they started to echo.

"Nothing, yet," Meth smiled, "But when we get to this one chamber, the drawings,"

He stopped, abruptly, in the middle of the cavern, and held his arm out to signal a full stop. Before anyone could say anything, he held a finger up, over his mouth. In the complete silence, they could hear footsteps, a lot of footsteps. Getting closer, Meth grabbed a small rock beside his feet, and held it over his head, waiting. Then, something crossed over in front of them, from around a corner somewhere, and Meth charged.

Some growling, and a brief struggle ensued, and the entire Weeping Willow cabin ran towards the fight, even Flaky, who was unfortunately still screaming. Someone, Mint, had the common sense to grab the flashlight Meth had dropped in the struggle, and shined it over their heads, across the cavern.

It illuminated the shocked faces of the other campers, and Mint suddenly realized that there was twice as many kids in this cave than they had thought, the entire Redwood cabin was present as well. She then shined the light down on Meth, who was shocked to find he was wrestling with Ryder. The two counselors stared awkwardly, and stood up.

"Uh, hey Ryder, what's up?" Meth asked, casually brushing the dust off his jacket.

"Nothing, nothing comrade. You?" Ryder replied, shaking some pebbles from his hair.

"Just taking the Weeping Willow cabin for a tour of my secret cavern."

"Ah, that's funny comrade, you imply that this is your cavern."

"Yeah," Meth was smiling, but in reality both counselors were getting a little angry, "Not like it would be anyone else's cavern."

"Perhaps," Ryder's voice had a little growl in it, "Perhaps I found this cavern when I come to this country to kill bat."

"Or maybe I found this cavern when I came to Happy Tree Town myself!"

"Or," A third voice between the two of them suggested, "this cavern was found by a certain bear years before either of your times."

Both counselors jumped in shock, before realizing that Sniffles had someone slipped between them, and was holding a few pieces of equipment, with even more slung over his shoulder in a satchel.

"What the hell, when did you get here Sniffles?" Meth asked, trying to slow down his racing heart.

"For your information," Sniffles adjusted his glasses, "I had been here before you even came to this town. The cavern was discovered by the same man who founded our town, Pop.

"And," He continued, "I was merely studying the hieroglyphs in the next chamber over. The one Lumpy and Handy found last night escaping from the bat."

"Or," Meth added, "The ones I found years ago."

"And didn't tell us about," Sniffles rebutted, just as fast, "I can assume you all want to see them? Come along then."

The little blue anteater lit up an electric lantern, and directed the two cabins towards a small chamber that they might have missed, had Sniffles not arrived to show them. They had to crawl on their hands and knees to fit into the small opening, but once again, the inner chambers were much larger than the entrance implied, and both groups could fit easily inside of the main chamber. In fact, most of the camp could fit inside the chamber, and most of them were already inside, so to speak. Lining the walls were some primitive carvings, things that reminded one of Aztec architecture, of each and every one of the campers.

Chunky, Lifty and Shifty, Nutty, Zehuva, and even some Friends some hadn't seen yet, Like Cro-marmot and the Mole, were depicted. And some, like Pop, and Lumpy, and even Disco Bear, were given great detail. And strangely enough, even the bat monster, Gouge, was pictured, looming over a small group of Friends. Some drawings didn't even make sense, like Mumbo, who was drawn twice, each one holding the other's shoulders, and what looked like a clown with one arm, and a soldier they had never seen before, locked in a cage. Pop was pictured too, sitting on a gravestone, and holding a heart.

But strangest of all was a little white rabbit, who was pictured sitting on the wing of gouge, and also drawn beside Disco Bear, with what looked like water over its head, and on top of Cro-marmot's ice block. And the same rabbit was drawn on the shoulder of Phoenix, depicted like a large gorilla, with writing on his chest. Weird runes that almost looked made up.

Sniffles snorted, "I'm sure you're also wondering about those symbols, right? Well I've taken my hand at deciphering them, but I couldn't get too far. It's some sort of native tongue, but different from any I've seen."

"Well, what do you have?" Meth asked, and Sniffles took a little notepad from his satchel.

"It seems to say something like this,

"The man came first, wrote the landscape, drew our faces. He hid something golden, he hid something blue. Immortality at a price. Told us stories. He told us about a man who will come next. A trespasser. He will bring a world inside ours, bring us to the edge of life, and nearly collapse the world. But,

He paused. The campers and even the counselors were watching him with bated breath.

"Sorry, I'm all out. Some of the writing's scratched out, and some is just plain nonsense. But I did find something near the bottom."

"Do I dare ask?" Chunky whined.

Sniffles cleared his throat, "Well, the last passage says something, very, um, plain.

Resistance Is Futile

"But!" He was quick to calm them, fearing panic, "but I'm sure it's just nonsense. Besides, I was going to go back to camp around now, I'm getting hungry. Anyone else?"

No one answered, they were all too on-edge. But Sniffles managed to herd them out of the cavern, and out of the cave, without any fuss. Which wasn't too surprising. Not many would want to remain in that cavern after what they had just heard.

…

She knew she was safe when there was silence, and darkness as well. She didn't care for trespassers, this was supposed to be her instructions. Of course, she'd served them right, and scratched out the most important bits. When she was certain that they were gone, she hopped out from her hideaway, and replaced the idol, right where the carvings said. She smiled at its grimace, and ran her little paw across its golden surface. Then, she slowly reached up and ran her paw across the carvings on the wall, tracing them. As if she knew them by heart.

"Almost time Guv, we're gonna make it."

Remember folks, I don't do anything just for the sake of doing it. Pay attention, and you might be able to figure out what will happen later on, when things get intense.

I wonder if I'm gonna do a Dead Rising 2 soon...

Nah, this is gonna be too big to shift attention to something else.

Phoenix Reece out!