-Camp Wewa part 2-
The first actual day of camp started out in a rather dazed blur to Nick. They were roused from their bunks by a trumpet near their cabin playing a rather upbeat tune that Nick would later learn was called Reveille.
It reminded him of an old western film he and his mother had watched during one of their movie nights. As the trumpet played a frontier soldier raised a flag and gave it a curt salute, signaling the start of the day.
The mammals at Camp Wewa, however, were far from the trained soldiers Nick had watched on screen.
He slowly sat up in bed and stretched, looking around at his fellow campers as they were roused from their slumbers.
Delta groaned and sat up, his fur, which was normally somewhat unkempt, looked even more so. Mat the skunk hopped from the top bunk above Nick and stretched, his tail going up caused both Nick and Delta to scoot away nervously.
Nick looked up at Atom's bunk and had to stifle a laugh. The painted dog was still out, buried underneath a pile of pillows and blankets. Nick suddenly realized he was missing a pillow and Delta was missing a blanket. Apparently in the night Atom had gone around and procured more cozy materials to make a kind of painted dog nest in his bed.
"Oi!" Delta barked as he stood up and noticed how his blanket had gone missing in the night. The painted dog looked up at the still snoring Atom and let out a soft growl. He then began to climb up towards the top bunk and grabbed Atom by the ankle, causing the sleeping painted mammal to stir. "Give us back our stuff you thieving vermin."
"I didn't steal anything," Came a shout from somewhere in the cabin.
"Not talking about you Stuart!" Delta shouted to the field mouse that was somewhere in their cabin.
Delta then turned towards Atom who slowly crawled in bed towards his friend. Nick and Mat watched in mild amusement as Atom lifted his head up only to rest it on top of Delta's, a pleased smile appeared on Atom's face as he yawned and made himself comfortable.
"Oh good morning Atom," Delta grumbled. "Have a good sleep?"
Atom simply nodded and smacked his lips as he began to drift off again in the rather odd position.
"Well that's good," Delta growled as he grabbed his blanket. "Would hate for you not to get enough beauty sleep."
Delta tugged at his blanket which caused Atom to suddenly move forward, the painted dog's bright yellow eyes shot open as he realized what was happening. He looked down at Delta and then at his pile of borrowed pillows and blankets and let out a snort. He then put a paw in front of Delta's face and made a series of gestures.
"Oh really? And why should I stop?" Delta asked as he gave the pile of blankets and pillows another tug, causing Atom to move closer to the edge of the bed.
Atom made another series of paw signals.
"Really? Regret it? You going to make me regret it or something?" Delta grumbled as he gave the pile one last firm tug.
Nick had wanted to say something but knew the end result was too good to miss so he remained silent. He watched as Atom was finally pulled to the edge of the bed where gravity did the rest. The painted dog began to tumble forward right towards Delta, the pile of pillows and blankets coming with him.
"Oh dang it!" Delta managed to shout as he fell backward off the bed, Atom following closely behind. The two painted dogs landed with a thud on the ground, quickly covered by a cascade of pillows.
"Not a word," Delta barked, his voice muffled from the pile of cozy materials.
Nick watched as one of Atom's paws came up from under the pile and made a series of gestures.
"I said not a word!" Delta growled from under the sheets, causing Atom's paw to retreat beneath the jumble of blankets.
When they were finally ready for the day the boys headed towards the center of camp and back to the main mess hall. As they approached the building Nick noticed one of the camp counselors was busy attaching flyers to a large announcement board. Nick tilted his head and trotted over to the young-looking moose who was busy with his duties.
Before Nick could see what the flyers read the moose seemed to stand up a little straighter when he detected movement behind him. He turned around and gave Nick a warm smile.
"Hop in and get some chow camper, not done putting up the stuff yet," The moose nodded back up towards the mess hall and then looked at Nick. While he was somewhat firm he still gave off a friendly demeanor.
Nick simply nodded and hurried back to the others who had already made it halfway up the steps.
"What was on the flyers?" Delta asked as Nick joined them.
"Not sure," Nick grumbled as he looked over his shoulder. "Looked like a bunch of names."
Atom made a series of paw signals and Nick looked to Delta, waiting for a translation.
"Why would they split us into groups according to ice cream flavors? They don't even know what flavor we like."
Nick snorted and looked at Atom who, despite the bad news about ice cream, had an open-mouth grin.
Once in the mess hall, the boys made their way over to the gang's table. For the most part, everyone seemed to be sitting in the same groups they had the night before. Nick noticed some mammals here and there were in different spots. It made sense, some kits probably made new friends and they were all getting a chance to get to know one another over breakfast.
The gang exchanged greetings as the boys arrived at the table. Trisha made sure to waddle around to each of the new arrivals and give them a quick hug around the waist. Sarah was close behind and would wait patiently before scurrying forward to hug each of the boys.
The small doe buried her head into Nick's stomach before looking up with her bright pink eyes.
"We built a fort," Sarah announced happily.
"More like a burrow," Emily teased from across the table.
"Burrow fort," Trisha chimed in as she took a seat between Delta and Emily.
Nick looked over at Judy who was sitting in the same seat as last night, a playful smile on her face as she eyed the tod.
Once Sarah had gotten her fill of affection she hurried over to sit in the same seat as Trisha. Since the does were so small they had no problem squeezing together.
Nick made his way to his seat. Before sitting down though Judy leaned over, the fox got the hint and gave the small gray doe a good morning hug.
"It was adorable Nick," Copper said as she began to pour syrup on the waffles currently stacked on her plate.
"What was?" Nick asked as he let go of Judy who seemed a little saddened the hug had come to an end. The young fox sat down and looked over at his classmate from Zootopia.
"The burrow," Copper began as she looked over at Judy who blushed slightly. "They fell asleep all curled up."
Nick grinned and looked over at Judy who was suddenly interested in the ceiling, "Really now?"
"Oh yeah, they made a little fort out of sleeping bags and blankets and then just passed out all curled up together," Copper teased.
"Bunnies make the best pillows," Trisha said from across the table as she busied herself with making some kind of small waffle house.
"Beph philloph," Sarah added, her cheeks full of waffle.
"Already knew that," Nick said casually as he looked at the various breakfast fixings on the table. It took him a second before he realized all eyes were on him, a series of curious looks staring him down. Nick let out a sigh and raised his paw, counting out each event. "Aquarium, Halloween, Winter-"
"Someone is a snuggly bunny," Trisha giggled as she looked over at Judy who was blushing like crazy.
The gray bunny simply looked at Trisha, a pair of purple eyes locking with bright blue ones. A kind of confident smirk crossed Judy's lips before she spoke.
"Library."
Trisha's eyes went wide as she looked at Judy. The brown bunny looked over at Delta who looked equally shocked. The two glanced at one another before suddenly looking away in opposite directions.
"Library?" Copper asked in curiosity.
"Oh, you didn't hear about that from your cousin?" Emily asked smugly.
Before the vixen could continue a waffle smacked her on the side of the head and thanks to the liberal amounts of syrup it remained stuck there. Emily turned to look at the culprit, Trisha, however, was busy inspecting the ceiling as if it had just appeared over their heads.
After the campers had gotten their fill of the breakfast foods spread across their tables the mess hall started to get a little rowdy. Most of the young kits had been allowed to make their own waffles which meant lots of extra syrup, whip cream, and powdered sugar. Needless to say half of the hall was currently experiencing some serious sugar rushes.
Before the hall descended into complete chaos the cheetah from the night before walked up to the stage and blew a whistle. The piercing noise caused some mammals to jump up in surprise. Nick noticed how all the bunnies at their table winced and lowered their ears quickly.
"Good morning Campers," The cheetah said as she placed her strong paws behind her back and stood in what Nick felt was some kind of military stance. "My name is Counselor Melissa Flowers-"
There was a series of chuckles and laughs from the crowd of young mammals. The lighthearted mood however quickly vanished when everyone saw the cheetah flex her muscles and grit her teeth. Unlike Ed, this mammal seemed to be all business.
"We have a lot planned for you all today. I would have liked to go over the rules with you last night but….Ed… felt it was unnecessary. So I will be brief because we have a schedule to keep."
"She isn't as fun as Ed," Nick heard Sarah murmur. The tod had to agree with the bunny in that regard.
"I am the head counselor here and it is my job to make sure our camp runs smoothly which means enforcing the rules. It is very simple. As long as you behave, listen to your counselors, and follow all posted signs and instructions then we will have nothing to worry about."
Flowers took a moment to scan the room. She must have noticed the nervous and somewhat frightened looks on the camper's faces but she didn't seem to care too much.
"Break the rules and you will be sent to my office. If I have to talk to you too many times then I am afraid your camp experience will have to end and you will be sent home early."
All eyes at the table went to Trisha who put on a shocked look that didn't fool anyone.
"I can behave," Trisha whispered.
"Really?" Delta asked.
"Well I can try at least," Trisha said with a mischievous grin as she looked at her painted friend.
"Outside of the mess hall is the main camp bulletin board. Its where you kind find the schedule for daily activities, phone numbers, meal times, and most importantly your group assignments."
Nick suddenly remembered seeing the moose early and now understood what the flyers all were.
"You have each been assigned a group which you will do all camp activities during your stay with us. You are free to eat here in the mess hall with whoever you like though. If anyone causes trouble in these groups though they will have a long talk with me," Flowers said sternly.
The hall was silent for a moment or two before Flowers raised her whistle and gave a quick blow, causing the hall to suddenly burst with activity as mammals of all shapes and sizes hurried towards the large doors, curious to see who they would be spending their camping adventures with.
A few buildings away a tired-looking Ed was laying in bed with his eyes closed. The young white-tailed deer from the night before sitting in a chair next to the older looking mammal, staring out the window in concern.
"Sounds like she found that whistle of hers after all," the young doe said with a sigh. The deer fell silent though when she felt a hoove gently grasp her own. She glanced over at Ed who gave her a weak smile.
Outside of the mess hall, all the campers gathered around the large announcement board Nick had seen the moose working at earlier. There were several large red flags with numbers on the top spread around the grassy field nearby. A camp counselor of various species stood by each flag, waiting to meet their groups.
"Alright kittos," the moose counselor said as he raised his hooves up to get everyone's attention. "Find your name on the board, it's in alphabetical order by last name. Next to it is a number, that will be your group. Just head on over to the flag with your number on it."
There was a mad dash for the board as the excited campers hurried to find out who they would be spending their days with.
Nick was lucky since his name began with a W which meant he was at the far end of the board, only a paw full of mammals were at this end of the board.
"Those of you who don't have last names," the moose announced. Nick glanced over and stifled a laugh, several painted dog's had gathered around the moose, all of them looking somewhat worried. "We put you on a different list so just come to me and I'll tell you which group you are in."
Unlike the rest of the campers, the painted dogs formed an orderly line and waited their turn.
Nick tilted his head slightly when he noticed a porcupine fall into line behind Copper.
"That's Alley," Trisha explained as she followed Nick towards the far end of the board. "She goes to our school, was adopted by a painted dog family."
"Alley?" Nick asked as he tilted his head.
"Yeah, weird right?" Trisha said as she scanned the board for her name. "Especially since they live on a street and not an Alley."
Nick was about to point out how else it may be considered odd but had finally found his name on the list.
"Group 4," Nick said aloud.
"Uh oh…" Trisha said, her ears drooping.
"What?" Nick asked as he looked down at his friend whose bright blue eyes seemed to have some worry in them.
"Group 2…," Trisha said softly.
They weren't in the same group…
For some odd reason, this actually made Nick a little upset. He had just assumed they would all be in the same group, that may be one of their parents had requested it like the Spring Science Camp.
"Group 5!" Sarah announced as she scurried over and stood between Trisha and Nick, bouncing up and down. "Judy and I are group 5 with you right?"
Nick looked down at the adorable painted bunny and shook his head, the doe froze and her ears drooped.
"What? Why?" Sarah asked, her smile turning into a frown.
There was some commotion over at the painted dog line and the gang looked over to see a rather angry looking Delta waving his paws about.
"What do you mean we are in different groups?!" The painted pup started to shout.
"Listen here pup, calm down, this is about meeting new mammals and learning how to-" The moose tried to explain.
"I am his translator!" Delta shouted as he waved his arms over at a nervous-looking Atom.
"We are aware he uses paw language which," The moose began, looking somewhat annoyed that he had to explain this to one of his campers. "We have a counselor who understands it and will be helping him out."
"Sir that may not be-" Emily began, having walked up to Atom's side, grabbing one of his paws and giving it a squeeze.
"Groups! Now!" The moose snapped before returning to giving out assignments.
Everyone looked at one another, to say the gang looked defeated was a bit of an understatement.
They all slowly trudged to the different flags, it was only then that they could see what damage had been done.
Judy and Sarah were together in a group that seemed to be filled with all larger mammals. The next smallest sized mammal to them was Alley the porcupine who looked equally shocked at how she was surrounded by all the larger kits.
Copper and Delta were in a group that seemed primarily composed of bunnies from BunnyBurrow.
At the sight of the painted dogs arriving all the bunnies suddenly shifted so they were on the other side of their gazelle counselor.
Much to Nick's relief, he noticed that Emily was walking with Atom, still holding his paw and comforting him. The two arrived at their own flag where a female pig suddenly bounded up to them.
"Well here there Adam! Its super swell to meet ya!" The pig was bright-eyed and rather flamboyant with their movements which caused Atom's eyes to go wide as he simply stood in shock.
"Excuse me, ma'am," Emily began. "Its actually Atom."
"Atom?" the pig asked, her smile never faltering. "Well gosh, golly that is a bit of an odd name. My name is Jessie and I am going to be your super special translator. Making sure that your voice is heard!"
Atom whimpered slightly and looked at Emily
"Come on bud," The vixen said and gave her friend a weak smile. "I will be here to try and help ok?"
The only one who seemed to be enjoying themselves was Trisha who had scurried up and stood on top of a tigress in her group. The predator looking just as confused as all the others at the doe's antics.
"Minions! Welcome to the Pumpkin Queen's army, forest division," The doe said as she raised her paws upward. "I like to think I run a fun but effective fighting force. So now who here has superpowers which we can use against my enemies?"
"Superpowers?" Another bunny asked, looking around the group.
"Yeah, sure!" Trisha exclaimed. "Like Mat over there. He has a superpower, right Mat?"
Everyone looked over at the skunk who had a shocked look on his face. Nick wasn't sure if it was from being put in the spotlight or the fact he was stuck in Trisha's group.
Nick finally arrived at his own group and put on a brave face. He was no longer the same loner he had been so long ago. Thanks to his friends he liked to think he was actually a nice kit and had started to make friends a little more easily.
"Hey I'm Nick," The young tod said as he smiled at some of the mammals nearby.
"Hey Nick," The counselor, a large male Hippo said with a smile. "Welcome to group 4. We are currently working on a name for our team. Have any ideas?"
"Why did he ask the fox?" Nick's ears shot up as he caught the whisper from somewhere in the group.
"Don't know, but keep an eye on him," Nick could feel himself falter as he began to hear the familiar slanderous words. "Mom says they can't be trusted."
As the brochure that Vivienne had shown Nick said, Camp Wewa had lots of fun activities to offer. The only problem was sometimes how things are advertised and how they end up are two different things.
-Ropes Course-
Nick hurried down a dirt path towards the next obstacle that was in front of him. His mouth was open as he panted but he couldn't help but smile. Though he was separated from his friends he knew he would see them all soon for lunch.
The young tod reached a large wooden box with a big square rope ladder leading to the top. It was easily wide enough for 4 mammals to be climbing up at once.
Nick grasped the ropes in his paw and began to climb the ropes with ease.
"That's right bucko you got this!" The Hippo counselor named Henry boomed from beside the course. "Remember campers this is about teamwork, help each other out!"
Nick heard the words just as he made it to the top of the rope ladder and managed to lift himself to the top platform. He quickly turned around and saw a small white sheep having trouble just below him.
"Hey," Nick said excitedly as he reached down. "Grab my paw!"
Nick tried to reach the young sheep who seemed to be struggling, his paw reaching for her wrist.
Before he could get a good grip though the sheep let out a startled squeal as she tried to get away from Nick's grasp, she nearly fell off the rope ladder if it weren't for Nick who managed to get a hold of her.
"Let go!" She screamed as she tried to get away from Nick, fear in her eyes.
Nick let go of the sheep and gave her a frightened look, "Are you ok?"
"Just go on your own," said a buck who made it to the top next to Nick and reached down, grabbing the sheep by the hoove and helping her.
"Yeah, we got this fox," said a boar who eyed Nick with contempt.
"But I just want to help," Nick tried to explain.
"Sure," the buck grumbled. "Go tell lies somewhere else."
-Arts and Crafts-
"Whatcha building?" Copper asked as she looked over at her cousin's current arts and crafts project. "A boat?"
"Model boat," Delta said as he inspected the jumble of wood before him. He looked over at his cousin and gave her a weak smile. "Think it should be a boat?"
"Well its made of wood, so it shouldn't sink," Copper suggested.
Right on cue part of the odd wodden object Delta had been working on fell off onto the table.
"I mean...maybe it can be a submarine?" Copper suggested.
"Think Trisha would like a submarine?" Delta asked as he raised the wooden craft only for another part to fall off.
"Oh? It's for Trisha?" Copper asked with a smirk.
Delta's eyes went wide and his ears flicked slightly.
"In that case, it should be bright orange like a pumpkin," Copper said excitedly as she looked around the crafts tables.
While most of the groups were comprised of various mammals of different shapes and sizes Copper and Delta found themselves in a group mainly made up of bunnies from BunnyBurrow.
Copper hadn't seen so many of the small mammals before in one spot so she had to stifle a laugh at the sea of ears currently pointed in the air. The painted dog spied a can of orange paint nearby between a black and brown bunny.
"Excuse me," Copper said with a smile towards the two does. "Could we borrow the orange paint, please?"
The two bunnies looked over at Copper for a moment, their eyes slowly going up the mammal's fur pattern which was composed of several different colors. The does then looked at one another and went back to their crafts.
Copper tilted her head slightly and cleared her throat, "Excuse me? Ummm….can we get the orange paint?"
The two does continued to ignore Copper.
The confused canine looked back at her cousin for a second who had an equally puzzled look on his face.
Delta looked over at another pair of bunnies and noticed how they would occasionally glance at the two painted dogs before getting back to their own projects. A can of green paint was in front of one of them which gave Delta an idea for an experiment.
"Hey buddy, can I please borrow the green?" Delta asked as he pointed at the green can of paint.
Even with manners thrown into their words the two painted dogs were being ignored which was odd. They felt they had been nothing but nice to all the mammals they had spoken so far at camp.
Delta however suddenly remembered when they had first gotten together as a group that most of the bunnies hadn't even looked at them. In fact, he couldn't remember a single bunny saying a word to him.
"Are….are we invisible?" Copper asked as she leaned against her cousin.
Delta slowly leaned forward and stared right at a bunny at a nearby table. He tried to get her attention by whistling at her but no luck.
"Maybe we are," Delta admitted. "Want to go raid the mess hall for ice cream?"
Copper giggled and shook her head, "We can't, not without Atom. Think he can turn invisible too?"
"The quads think they are invisible…" Delta and Copper heard one of the bucks nearby grumble.
"Gosh they are almost as bad as that Hopps quad," a doe whispered.
There was a crash and the craft cabin fell silent as all eyes went to Delta who had suddenly leaped up so he was standing on top of the table he had been working at. Copper felt her jaw fall open as she looked up at her cousin who was towering over all the other campers.
"Wanna say that again?" Delta growled, a fire in his eyes.
-Scavenger Hunts-
"We have already passed that rock," Sarah whispered to her older sister, tugging on the doe's arm.
"I know Sarah," Judy grumbled, an annoyed look on her face.
Judy's tone wasn't directed at her sister, oh no, Sarah had been amazing through all this. Judy had been worried the young doe would be scared the whole time surrounded by all the large and strange new campers.
The multi-colored cutie, however, had done her sister proud. She had jumped right in and introduced herself to the rest of the group and had even seemed to be making some friends with the other members of their team.
That all changed however when the scavenger hunt started.
They had been given a list of clues and a map to follow that would lead them all over a series of hiking trails not far from camp.
There were tons of beautiful landmarks and vistas. All of which the gang had managed to enjoy at least two to three times over because they were…
"We are not lost," growled a wolf who had been put in charge of the map.
"Then why haven't we found anything yet?" Asked a large brown bear with a lovely pink bow on one of her ears.
"Judy," Sarah whispered as she tugged at Judy's arm once more.
"What's up Sarah?" Judy asked and looked down at her younger sibling.
Sarah was pointing towards a pile of old mining tracks that had been covered with grass and pine needles, the area having become very overgrown.
Judy suddenly remembered one of the clues had to deal with mining equipment, Sarah had just found a clue!
"Hey!" Judy piped up as the rest of the older kits continued to argue.
"One sec," the wolf said as he flipped the map over, again and again, trying to find the right side up.
"Hello?" Judy asked as she put her paws on her hips and began to stomp her foot.
"Yeah! Hello?" Sarah mimicked as she struck the same pose as Judy, only looking less intimidating as she continued to smile happily.
"Oh my gosh! Bunnies be quiet, if we need someone to dig for a carrot we will ask you," A badger groaned as they joined in trying to figure out where they were.
Judy simply rolled her eyes and grabbed Sarah by the paw, "Come on sis, let's let them stay lost, bet we can make it back before the lunch bell."
"Can I sit with Atom this time?" Sarah asked sweetly. "I wanna ask how his camp stuff has been going."
"Sure sis," Judy said with a smile as she wiggled her nose at her sister. She then looked back over her shoulder. "We are heading back to the mess hall for food. Have fun staying lost."
"We are not lost!" The wolf barked again.
"We shouldn't split up this far from camp," someone piped up.
"We aren't far from camp," Judy said smugly as she pointed ahead, just over a steady hill one of the camp flags blew in the wind."
"Wait...we are back by the camp again?!" The bear groaned in defeat.
"No, we can't be," The wolf said in disbelief.
"Should have made a right at the rock that looked like an eagle," Sarah suggested to Judy.
"I agree," Judy said as she gave her sisters paw a gentle squeeze.
-Canoeing-
Camp Wewa sat right on the edge of a large freshwater lake which made it an ideal place for water activities such as swimming and canoeing.
There was always a lifeguard on duty. A lovely looking black wolf in a red swimsuit stood on top of a white painted wooden seat.
She had a pair of sunglasses on and was chewing on some gum. While she gave off a casual vibe she was actually actively watching all the campers currently paddling along in a series of small canoes of all sorts of sizes.
"Please don't let the elephant fall in," she mumbled to herself with a bit of a smirk as she spotted an elephant sitting in a very strained looking boat. The rear was close to the water while the front of the canoe sat high in the air, a scared-looking koala looked as if she was regretting her boating partner.
As she took in a deep breath the vigilant wolf glanced over at the shore where several campers were preparing other boats to go into the water.
One of them caught her eye though. A cute painted dog pup with light fur was waving his arms about as he pointed at a canoe and then the water.
"What are you up to cutie?" The wolf asked with a chuckle as she leaned forward and tried to figure out what was going on at the shore.
"Adam! Honey calm down," Jessie exclaimed as she tried to calm Atom down.
"Its Atom," Emily snapped as she looked over at the pig that had been nothing but a burden when it came to trying to translate for Atom. The young vixen had almost had it with her.
Atom let out a whimper and began to make more odd paw gestures as he frantically pointed at a canoe nearby. He then made several different signals that neither of the ladies before him could understand.
"Atom I am so sorry I don't know what is wrong," Emily said as she raised a paw. "Maybe try to act it out?"
"Now that is just silly," Jessie said with a snort as she came over and stood between Atom and Emily. "Now sweetie I need you to calm down and get into the boat ok? You are going to miss out on so much fun if you don't."
Atom rolled his eyes and walked over to the boat. Everyone thought that was the end of it but Atom stopped and began to point at the boat and make more paw gestures.
"Act it out," Emily suggested as Jessie tried to say how silly this all was.
Atom wagged his tail and thought for a moment. He then took a few steps forward away from the boat.
He made a circle with his digits and looked through the hole he had made right at Emily.
"Zero?" Jessie suggested.
"See-through?" Emily suggested. Atom shook his head and looked through once more. "Oh wait! Hole!"
Atom snorted happily and wiggled in place as he prepared to act out the next word.
Behind him, a jackal and wolf began to fiddle with the canoe. Chatting with one another excitedly as they began to push the canoe down the shore and towards the water.
Atom acted like he was knocking on a door and opened it, stepping inside his invisible home.
"Knock knock?" Jessie asked, now getting into the little game of charades. Several other campers began to gather around and watch the spectacle play out.
Atom shook his head and repeated the movements, this time exaggerating his movements when he opened the door.
"Door?" Someone suggested.
Atom shook his head.
"Come in?" Emily asked. Atom nearly jumped up into the air with excitement but then held his paws up and brought them together. Making it look like he wanted the sentence shortened.
"In?" Emily asked hesitantly but she had a feeling she was right with how Atom winked at her.
The painted then dog held his paw steady in front of his chest. He began to wiggle his arm and made his paw look like it was going up and down like it was a-
"Boat?" Emily asked.
Atom hurried over and wrapped his arms around Emily's waist and lifted her up, giving her a big hug.
"Hole in boat," Jessie said with a smile. "Well, that was a fun game."
Emily's eyes went wide as she heard the whole sentence spoken, "Hole in boat?!"
Everyone gathered on the shore looked over at the canoe Atom had been pointing at. The wolf and jackal pair had managed to get it into the water, that's when the trouble started.
The jackal let out a yelp and began to scramble back towards the wolf. The smaller canine leaped into the wolf's arms and held on for dear life as the canoe began to sink into the water.
"Help!" The young wolf shouted and began to wave their free arm.
There was a blast from a whistle at the lifeguard stand and everyone hurried over to the edge of the shore and watched as the lifeguard grabbed her floatation equipment and dove into the water.
In the end, the canoe actually didn't sink beneath the water, mainly because they were only a few feet from shore and still in the shallows. The wolf managed to stand up and carry their frightened friend out of the water, the lifeguard walking beside them and making sure everyone was alright.
"Did I mention how I can't really swim?" Emily asked nervously as she looked at Atom who had a worried look on her face. "You saved me from a sinking canoe." Emily leaned close to Atom, pressing her lips to his painted cheek.
As the lifeguard finished making sure that the two campers from the canoe were ok she heard a frightened squeal from the crowd. She looked up and saw one of the camp counselors trying to get her attention.
"We need help over here!" Jessie screamed.
The wolf hurried through the crowd and came upon an odd scene.
An embarrassed looking vixen had her paws to her mouth as she looked at a young painted dog pup currently passed out on the soft ground.
"What happened?" The wolf asked as she got on her knees next to Atom and began to inspect the shocked looking pup.
"He just seized up," Emily said, sounding mortified. "I kissed his cheek and he just...well he...oh my gosh did I kill my friend?"
The she-wolf glanced up at Emily and tried to hold back a laugh as she looked down at Atom, his tail twitching slightly.
-...Trisha…-
Two mammals were sitting in front of head counselor Flowers. The cheetah had her strong arms crossed as her bright yellow eyes stared directly into a pair of bright blue ones. Try as she might the cheetah just couldn't get a rise out of the small brown bunny sitting in one of the chairs.
"Explain," Flowers said firmly, hiding the growl that she wanted to throw towards the young kit, but she had to restrain herself. She wasn't in the special forces anymore after all.
"Explain?" Trisha asked as one of her ears lowered slightly, the other staying up. "What did you hear?"
Flower's eyes widened as she waved a paw at the other young mammal sitting next to Trisha.
The brown bunny looked over at her friend Mat, the skunk, however, didn't exactly look like himself. A series of different color paw prints were spread over his fur. A heart had been drawn on one of his cheeks, his tail looked like it had been dipped in some kind of tye-dye mix.
"Oh, that?" Trisha asked with a chuckle, letting out a relieved sigh which caused Conselour Flowers to wonder what else the trouble maker had been up to. "Well, you see the art counselor said to use the world as our art studio so I just thought."
"I think she meant as inspiration," Flowers groaned as she put a paw to her muzzle and let out an annoyed sigh. "Look at your poor fellow camper."
Trisha looked Mat up and down and gave her friend a weak smile, "Sorry Mat."
"Well that's a start-" Flowers began before Trisha continued.
"I really thought the tye-dye would come out brighter," Trisha said as she eyed the skunks tail.
Mat raised his tail up slightly and inspected it, "Its ok Trisha. I know you tried. I like the green and blue mixed together though."
Flower's pupils dilated at this point, "You aren't mad?"
Mat lowered his head slightly as he looked at Trisha, "Are you mad at me?"
Trisha waved her paws about, "Of course not Mat. We will just have to try a lighter mix next time. But first, you promised to do my ears."
Flowers couldn't believe what she was hearing, "Not what I meant! I meant Mat should be mad at you."
Mat and looked at the strong cheetah sitting behind the desk, both of the confused kits tilted their heads as they stared at the large predator.
"I should?" Mat asked.
"Yeah what gives lady?"
"Counselor Flowers!" The cheetah barked.
"Lady Conselour Flowers," Trisha corrected herself before her eyes went wide. "Oh my gosh! Are you a princess?"
"Out!" Flowers barked as she pointed towards the wooden door to her office.
"Yes m' lady," Trisha said as she stood up in her seat and bowed.
Mat looked a little confused at first but mimicked Trisha before he hopped off his chair and waddled towards the door. Trisha hurried and grabbed the skunk by the paw and skipped out.
Once the two smaller mammals had left Flowers let out a long sigh. She looked at a small black telephone that sat on her desk, a binder with all the camper's family phone numbers sitting next to it.
"Must follow procedure," Flowers grumbled to herself as she opened the binder and flipped through the pages.
She found the number she was looking for and dialed on the old rotary phone. On the second ring, a sweet voice answered.
"Butler's residence. This is Debs," The voice said excitedly.
"Mrs. Butler, this is Lady- I mean this is Counselor Flowers from Camp Wewa."
"Oh hello love," Debs answered, sounding somewhat hesitant. "What can I do for you? How is my little Mat?"
"Well about that," Flowers said as she looked over at the now-vacant seats, noticing how some of the paint on Mat hadn't exactly been dry and had come off where he sat. "Another camper...well they...I am trying to figure out how to say this."
"Is this camper a certain brown bunny?" Debs asked with a chuckle.
"Yes they are ma'am," Flowers said quickly. "So this young bunny has had trouble with your son in the past?"
"Trouble?" Debs asked, sounding confused. "Oh goodness no! We love that little trouble maker. She is absolutely wonderful for our little skunk."
"Well you should know she put paint on his fur," Flowers said hesitantly. "I want to assure you however that its all water-based and we will, of course, get it out before-"
The laughter that filled the other end of the line caused Flowers to falter.
"Oh, that is brilliant!" Debs exclaimed over the phone. "Hold on dear I have to tell my husband."
There was a pause in the conversation as Debs explained what had happened. Moments later a deep voice said something Flowers couldn't quite understand, it was quickly followed by booming laughter.
"Sorry about that Counselor Flowers," Debs said as she returned to the phone.
"Why aren't you mad?"
"Pardon?"
"I mean….you aren't mad?" Flowers quickly corrected.
"Well…" Debs paused as she tried to think of a way to explain. "My sweet Mat has trouble making friends you see. He is so very shy but such a sweet young kit. Heaven knows we try and get him to meet kits his age and go outside. Some little ones have trouble though you see. That was until Trisha came along."
Flowers sat back in her chair and listened to Mat's mother explain.
"One day he came home from one of his bike rides and he had the biggest smile on his face. Took us forever to get it out of him. He is so shy even with us sometimes. Well, this little brown bunny had just, pardon the pun, hopped into his life. It snowballed from there. Next thing we know he hurries home from school and is out the door. Meeting with Atom, or Delta, or Jeffery, sometimes Emily, oh and that sweet Hannah doe. All of them introduced to our Mat by the same bunny you just called me about."
"So you aren't mad she tie-dyed your son's tail?"
"Tie-dyed?!" Debs asked before letting out a snort as the laughter started a new. "Dave listen to this. Trisha tye-dyed Matty's tail."
"I nearly spat out my tea love! You can't tell me these things mid-sip!" Came a playful shout from somewhere in the background.
"You see dear," Debs said as she returned to the call. "I spoke to the Rose family about this ages ago. Turns out that's what Trisha does. She saw our sweet little Mat sitting all alone and decided to adopt him as her friend. She loves meeting new mammals and treating them like her best friend from the get-go. Sure she is a pawful, trust me I know. She is, however, one of the best things to have happened to our Mat. So if she wants to paint on him you let her. If she wants to take him on an adventure, let her. We all here learned something here in Manta Bay a long time ago."
"And what is that?" Flowers asked, trying not to smile.
"Let the Pumpkin Queen do what she wants. It's just easier that way"
At the end of the day, a dinner bell rang across the camp, signaling it was time for the campers to gather in the mess hall for supper.
All the campers looked a little tired but for the most part, excited as they gathered in the large hall for food.
The gang was finally reunited after their long day.
"Hole in boat?!" Delta exclaimed from his end of the table as Atom signed a series of signals to his friend.
"Yeah," Emily said as she put some mac'n'cheese on her plate, "Good thing Atom stopped us from using that canoe because I can't swim too well."
"Good thing," Delta said as he looked over at the vixen, a look of realization coming over his face. "Wait! So that was you two?!"
Emily froze and looked at the now smug painted dog sitting next to her as Atom suddenly looked at the ceiling, his ears drooping.
"Was what us two?"
"Everyone is talking about it!" Delta exclaimed as he held his sides from laughter. "Some vixen kissed a painted dog. Oh my gosh. This is awesome."
If Delta had his eyes open then he probably would have seen the mac and cheese flying towards him. Instead, he found himself with a big old glob of it smacking him on the side of the face.
Sarah had been scooped up at Copper who was being especially affectionate towards the small bunny. Letting Sarah sit on her lap and occasionally nuzzling her chin between the doe's ears.
"Hehehe, that tickles," Sarah cooed as she wiggled in her painted friend's lap.
"Sorry Moon Princess," Copper whispered as she gave Sarah a squeeze.
How could they treat her like that? She is so sweet.
"You want some?" Sarah asked as she lifted up a half-eaten carrot. "I don't mind sharing."
Copper held back the tears and simply nodded as she opened her mouth. Sarah raised the carrot for Copper to nibble on and laughed.
I am going to throw all your bullies in the lake this week.
Sarah set the carrot back down and looked at one of Copper's arms which was wrapped around the bunny's waist. She ran a small over the pattern and smiled.
"Your fur is so fun," Sarah said as she traced along the borders.
"Yours too Princess Sarah."
Sarah grinned and wiggled once more as her ears went up so they were on either side of Copper's muzzle.
Trisha was watching her two painted friends and grinned happily when Sarah and her locked eyes. Sarah waved a paw at Trisha who wiggled her nose.
The brown bunny's ears shot up as she overheard a conversation coming from the table right behind her.
"Oh my gosh your tail is so cool Mat," A female's voice said excitedly.
"Seriously dude that is neat."
"Thanks," Mat said sheepishly.
"How did you do it?"
"My friend Trisha did actually? She showed me how."
"So you could do it for me too right?"
Trisha glanced over her shoulder and saw several mammals gathered around the normally timid Mat who actually looked rather pleased at that moment.
Most of the table was circled around the skunk. A sheep ran a hoove through the multi-colored patterns.
"Hannah!" said a bunny nervously.
"Oh gosh. Sorry Mat got lost in the colors."
"Its ok," Mat said as he looked over, his green eyes meeting Trisha's blues. "I don't mind."
Trisha grinned and gave her friend a wink before turning back to her plate. She let out a pleased sigh as she watched her friends catching up and munching on their dinner. She then glanced at the two vacant seats next to her and let out a soft cooing noise as she wiggled in place, knowing full well where Nick and Judy were.
Outside of the mess hall, a full moon was slowly rising into the star-speckled skies.
The whole scene was rather serene.
"Forgot how beautiful it was out here," Mary said as she helped Ed along the side of the mess hall.
"Oh yeah dude," Ed said with a chuckle. "Why do you think I stay out here?"
"Because your sister was tired of the rock music coming from your room?"
Ed let out a laugh and patted Mary on the arm gently as she helped him, "Your mother just doesn't appreciate the classics is all."
Mary suddenly froze as she spotted something sitting ahead of them on the steps.
Ed stopped and looked at Mary in a concerned manner before he looked in the direction of her gaze. He suddenly stood up straighter and began to waddle to the side into the shadows, leading Mary to do the same.
The two adults looked ahead, both of them with knowing smiles as they watched a rather adorable scene play out.
Sitting on the steps nearby were two small mammals. A young fox tod and a bunny doe. The fox had his arm around the small bunny who was nuzzling her head against the fox.
"Oh my gosh," Mary mouthed as she looked at Ed and tried to contain a squeak of excitement.
"Cute dudes," Ed mouthed back.
"Can we do this every night?" The small bunny asked softly as she closed her eyes and buried her face into the fox's shoulder.
"Of course Officer Hopps."
"Mmmmm, missed you, Ranger Scout Wilde," Judy said sweetly as the tip of one of her ears brushed against Nick's cheek.
"Missed you too," Nick replied. "Wish we were in the same group…"
"Me too," Judy replied with a sigh. "Why did they have to split all of us up?"
"Don't know," Nick grumbled as he rubbed Judy's arm with his paw. "It would be fun if we could be all together."
"Sarah was asking about you today," Judy said with a chuckle. "Think she wanted to spend time with her foxy brother."
"Is that what she calls me?"
"That's what Trisha calls you so, well you know."
"What Trisha does."
"Sarah follows," Judy said with a smile.
"Heard Copper and Delta got into a bit of a fight with some of your fellow bunnies from the Burrows," Nick said with a sigh.
"Yeah, Copper said they were ignoring them because they had fur like Sarahs so Delta got mad."
"Because they ignored him?"
"Because they ignore Sarah," Judy corrected.
"Bet Emily wishes everyone would ignore Atom and her," Nick said playfully.
Judy giggled as she looked up at Nick, "Last I checked you did the same thing on Halloween."
Nick's tail flicked slightly and he suddenly looked skyward.
"That's what I thought," Judy said as she nuzzled into Nick once more.
"Should we go back inside and get some dinner?" Nick asked as he leaned against Judy.
"Not yet," Judy whispered as she closed her eyes. "I don't know when I get to see you next. So can we just sit?"
"You got it, Officer Hopps."
"Thanks, Ranger Wilde."
Hey there Campers!
So first off I am so sorry this one took so long. I just moved into a new place and guess what? No internet for a whole month. Was not happy about that.
We are all settled in now though and finally have internet.
I had originally hoped to keep this as a 2 parter but darn it the words escaped me again so looks like we have a part 3 coming soon.
Hope you are all enjoying the adventures at Summer Camp...even though summer is kinda over .
Cya in Manta Bay.
-Blue