Chapter Two: (Mostly) Happy Campers

The camp brochure went to the printers, and went out in the mail all over Hyrule within a week.

Over the next several weeks, the following conversations began to occur in households across the kingdom:

Kakariko Village:

"Please?" Koko and Cottla begged. "Please please please PLEASE?"

"Well, I don't know, girls, I'll have to think it over," Dorian said, looking up from the flyer. Neither of the girls had ever been to sleep away camp. He wondered especially if Cottla was able to handle it.

"But they've got all sorts of cool stuff!" Koko begged.

"Well…" Dorian smiled. He knew when to give in. "All right, I'll write to them tomorrow."

"Yayyyyy!"

Zora's Domain:

"And I want to ride a horse, and I want to try archery, and I want to…" Finley was rattling off.

"Settle down, Finley, you'll get yourself all worked up," Kodah said wearily.

Goron City:

"Give it a shot, Pelison," Greyson said. "You've always wanted to visit places down the mountain, goro."

"But Greyson, what if the other kids don't like me?" Pelison asked.

"Oh, I think they will, goro. I know all the counselors, and they make sure everyone has a good time," Greyson said. "And I'll send you lots of care packages. Rock roasts and agates and all sorts of good stuff."

Yiga Settlement:

"Here you go, little ones." Sooga took out the wrapped package he was holding behind his back and handed it to his niece and nephew. "A little present that I think you'll find useful at camp. Especially when it's time for Capture the Flag."

Olga and Taiga ripped the package open, and cheered with glee at the contents.

"Wow, cool!"

"Thanks, Uncle Sooga!"

The package contained two copies of Advanced Stealth and Tracking in Combat Situations.

Lurelin Village:

"Oh, son, they'll have fishing gear at camp," Sebasto said. "You can probably leave your gear at home."

"But Dad, I won the All-Lurelin Porgypalooza with this rod!" Numar held up a shiny, metallic green fishing rod. "How am I supposed to go fishing this summer with out it?"

"Okay, fine, you can bring that one. But everything else stays home."

"And my lucky silver bass lure?"

"All right."

"And my bait bag."

"Okay, the bait bag, but nothing more. Or you'll have no room for anything else in your trunk," Sebasto laughed.

Hateno Village:

The proprietor of the East Wind shop was on the phone.

"Yes, they're going to that camp. This will be Ivee's first year as a junior counselor, and if we don't get Azu out of this house when school ends, my hair's going to turn gray." He paused. "Well, okay, more gray than it already is."

Gerudo Town:

"I'm going to win every single archery competition!" Kalani boasted. "And then I'm going to win every mock sword fight. And then I'm going to save the camp from a band of marauding Bokoblins and Moblins and…"

"Let's just settle for having some fun at camp, shall we, dear?" Danda cut in.

Rito Village:

Komali sat on the front porch of his family's house, staring absently out at the mountains in the distance.

He barely stirred at the sound of Medli dashing over from next door.

"Hey, Komali, did you get the camp booklet?" she asked, waving her own brochure. "It's going to be so much fun! Aren't you excited?"

"No," Komali said flatly.

"Don't say that!" Medli protested. "Everyone else is going. Mr. Kass and Mrs. Amali are going to teach music. Besides - it'll be fun to see someplace outside of Rito Village this summer."

Komali only jumped to his feet and ran back into the house, just as his mother was coming out onto the porch.

"He'll feel better about it later on," Komali's mother told Medli. But both of them cast wary glances back in Komali's direction.

xLoZx

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