It was a warm, sunny afternoon at Hexside Academy. A fairly large, outdated, wooden ship sits in front of the school. Standing in line, are a few students who are facing Principle Bump who is periodically looking up from his clipboard, calling out and confirming the presence of the six willing participants: Amity, Luz, Willow, Gus, Boscha, and Skara. Each one of them raises their hand and spouting out "here" once their names have been called. Swiftly drawing a circle in the air with his finger, Bump's clipboard disappears from his hands.
"Alright, students." He begins. "Now that you all are present, I am pleased to announce that you six are going to be partaking in a once-in-a-lifetime trip to the desolate woods of the Boiling Isles. There, we will learn to navigate and use a set of innate skills and abilities to survive nature itself."
"But we have magic." Boscha mentions. She looks at Luz, snickering to herself. "Well, some of us do, anyway."
Luz groaned, crossing her arms and looking away from Boscha.
"Wouldn't surviving out there be easy, then?" she continued.
Principle Bump puts his hands behind his back, leaning forward intimidatingly.
"Actually, Boscha, you and the rest will be stripped of your magical abilities upon arrival in the woods." He straightens himself upright, turning away from her.
"Oh, great. I wonder how that'll turn out." She grumbled, looking away.
Principle Bump dug his arm in the ship and pulled out his red, dusty, rugged backpack. Holding the backpack out in front of him, he continues addressing the students.
"I hope you all brought your own backpack as you will need it to help you with training and survivability."
Luz was bouncing with excitement. Sure, it wasn't like a simple camping she had been familiar with in the human realm, but it was worth exploring all of what the Boiling Isles had to offer. Even better, she actually had real friends to enjoy this trip with her for the very first time.
"Oh, my goodness! I'm so excited for this trip, you guys!" she squealed in excitement.
Willow, Gus, and Amity gathered around Luz, embracing her excitement as their own. Luz, then, wraps on arm around Amity while her other arm wraps around Willow, pulling them close to her.
"I'm so happy that you all were willing to tag along this trip with me. You all are the best."
Willow adjusts her glasses. "Wouldn't miss it for anything."
"Uh, yeah. I'm glad to be able to come on this trip with you, Luz." Amity adds, blushing lightly.
Principle Bump held a fist up to his mouth, clearing his throat, catching everyone's attention.
"Alright, students, enough chit-chat. Let's go ahead and board the ship before we lose and daylight we are spared with."
The students, along with Principle Bump, board the ship to embark on a relatively short journey to their destination. As she looked over the boat, Luz could see the entire Boiling Isles landscape in a new perspective. She saw the crystal-clear ocean-blue of the waters, the orange and red configuration painted across the horizon. These are sights she couldn't imagine seeing in the human realm. Amity, who had been sitting next to Luz, glances at her, smiling heartedly at the display of pure innocence.
"Don't you think it's beautiful this time of day?" Luz questions suddenly, still admiring the landscape.
Amity turns her head, still smiling. She places the palm of her hand under her chin, the knuckles rested upon her cheek. "You are quite beautiful, yes." She says dreamily.
She suddenly snaps out of her dream-like state, catching on to what she accidentally confessed. Her face turned a deep crimson red. "I mean, yes! I love looking at you…I mean I love the scenery too!"
Fortunately, Luz didn't seem to notice her slight slip up, only nodding her head in agreement. After some time, the group finally arrived at their destination, settling down on a cliffside that overlooked the treacherous waters that lay below. Principle Bump stepped off the boat and put his finger in the air to draw a gigantic circle. Holding out his other arm and scooping it towards him, he gestured the students into coming over to stand in the circle he had created.
"This will be the moment that I take away your magical abilities. Once I am done activating the spell, we will set up at that spot over there." He explains, pointing to a flat spot near a set of tall trees.
Principle Bump steps out of the circle. He raises his hands as the circle he drew rises above the students and closes in on itself, eventually disappearing from sight. Some of the students stand there trying to use their magic, only to find that the spell had, in fact, worked. Nodding his head and smiling at the sight of his successful spell, Principle Bump walks over to the boat and pulls out four tents, laying them on the ground.
"These will be your home away from home, so to speak. There are four tents here, so, one of you will have to be in a tent all by yourself, unfortunately."
Boscha and Skara walk over to grab one of the tents off the ground, looking at it disapprovingly. Willow walks behind Skara, grabbing a second tent.
"I guess I can sleep in this one by myself." Willow comments with a slight smile.
Principle Bump goes over and grabs the third tent, looking in at Gus's general direction. He walks back towards Gus, leaning over, whispering, "You and I can share this tent as we seem to be the only males on this trip.
Gus nodded his head in agreement. Luz spots the last tent on the ground, walking towards it. Grabbing the tent, she looks over at Amity, a hint of pink brushed on her face.
"Guess that means you and I are going to be sleeping together in this tent." Luz grinned.
Having all their tents in their hands, the group, then, strolls on over to the flat spot to set up for the night. Meanwhile, the sun begins to set even more, casting an elegant shade of pink across the open skies; the day is coming close to an end. Suddenly, a gust of high-speed winds and dust storms cover their camping spot almost immediately. Debris from fallen branches fly everywhere, every once in a while, hitting the sides of the tents, damaging them. Alarmed by the hazardous conditions, Principle Bump gets out of his tent, shouting to compete against the deafening noises caused from the high-speed winds.
"We have to find shelter! I know of a cave not far from here, follow me!"
The students scramble to get out of their tents, falling over one another due to the force of the winds. As the students follow Principle Bump towards the location of the cave, Amity notices Luz struggling to keep up with the rest of the group. Offering her hand, she calls out.
"Here, Luz, take my hand! I'll…"
A big branch hurdles itself towards Amity, knocking her unconscious. Luz puts her arm on her forehead, shielding herself from the dust particles that are momentarily blinding her. With a clearer picture of what is going on, she spots Amity on the ground. She sprinted towards her.
"Amity!" she screamed.
Luz inspects her for any damages to her body. The only thing she sees is a bruise on the side of her head. She picks up Amity bridal style, trudging through the harsh conditions, all while trying to remember where everyone else had disappeared to. Several minutes later, despite the grueling onslaught of rapid winds and blinding dust storms, Luz finds an opening to what seems like a cave. Once inside the cave, she sets Amity down on the cold, stone floor; she carefully positions head on her own backpack, acting as a pillow. Luz pulls out a piece of notebook paper, drawing the light glyph. Pressing down on the paper, a small orb of light appears and floats above her, lighting up the cave. Amity slowly opened her eyes, finally coming to.
"Where am I?" Amity murmured softly, sitting up and rubbing her head.
Luz's ears perked up to the sound of a faint, yet familiar voice. She turned around, edging her way to Amity.
"I see you have awakened." she sat next to Amity, putting a hand on her shoulder. "I was starting to get worried about you."
"No need to worry about me, Luz."
Amity looked at her surroundings, noticing a small light orb right behind Luz.
"Where exactly are we?"
"I think a cave or something, I honestly have no idea. I panicked when I saw you on the ground, unconsious, so, I had to carry you all the way here."
Amity noticed that it had been only them two in the cave. She flushed at the thought of some alone time with Luz, but realized that they were separated from the rest of the group.
"Luz, we have to get back with the others." Amity mentioned, a sense of slight fear in her voice.
"We can't go out there right now to look for them. It's dangerous." Luz informed. "Plus, I wouldn't want to see you get hurt again, not on my watch. We'll look for them when we get the chance, I promise." she assured her.