Order of the Sparrow.

It was early morning at Camp Campbell.

All of the campers were awake and out of their tents, rubbing their eyes and yawning. None of them were sure why the counselors had gotten them up so early. To their knowledge, Max hated getting up super-early and even discouraged the campers from doing so because one of them would wake him up. But today, something was different.

"Anybody know what's going on?" Nerris asked.

"Nope," David replied. "I'm sure it'll be great, though!"

Suddenly, a flaming arrow lit the firepit in front of them. They looked up to see Max, Nikki, Neil, Tabii, and Quartermaster wearing traditional Indian garb—the kind that was from India, not the Native American stereotype. Max even had his hair down and was holding some kind of staff.

"Shubh prabhaat," he greeted the campers.

"What?" they asked.

"I said, 'good morning'."

"What language was that?" Jaspar asked in admiration.

"Hindi."

"Why are you all dressed like that?" Gwen inquired, looking slightly disturbed.

"Because today, you'll all be initiated into… the Order of the Sparrow," Nikki replied, wiggling her fingers mystically.

"Do we have to?" Harrison whined.

"Yes," Max declared stubbornly. "This is something that I wanted you guys to experience the way we did at Camp Campbell… except Tabii. She's being initiated, too."

The kids groaned.

"Hey. Part of it is being nice so you can try and get the prize—"

"Prize?! There's a prize?" gasped David excitedly.

"Uh, you didn't let me finish."

"I want that prize!" yelled Nurf.

"Kids—"

"No, it's mine!" Dolph snapped in Nurf's face.

"Shit. Well, it worked for us. Why wouldn't it work for them?" he asked Nikki.

"True. We'll give it a try. Just don't take it too far."

"Yeah, kids. There's a prize. None of what you specifically want, but it's the same thing we got as a prize as campers."

Nobody was listening.

"I'm gonna win!" declared Jaspar. The group dispersed before the counselors could do anything to stop them.

"Aw, shit," Max grumbled.

"What is the prize?" Tabii inquired.

"There's a bonfire, everyone gets a shitty sash, and one camper gets this staff." Max held it up. "It used to be a Native American thing that claimed to be Indian, but now it's actually Indian."

"Because Max is our… Indian chief," Nikki giggled. He blushed and shoved her gently, much more gently than he would've shoved anybody else.

"Aw…" Tabii cooed. "You two should just get married already! Seriously!"

"Shut up, Tabii!" they both said in unison.

Quartermaster had put up the law of the Order of the Sparrow outside the mess hall. All the campers read the list as Max and the other counselors walked up.

"So, we do all this and we win the prize?" Gwen asked.

"Well, if you kids would let me finish—"

"Max, you know how much I love nature!" David piped up. "And I'm the nicest camper here!"

"You all have until the end of the day to prove to me that you're worthy of being initiated. If you can't, then it's fine."

The kids quickly dispersed and dashed off in different directions. Max got a feeling down his spine about it.

"This is going to be great," he grumbled.

"I think we should tell them what the prize is," Neil suggested.

"But then they won't do it!" Tabii pointed out. "It's the only way any of them will try to win the prizes."

For the rest of the day, the campers attempted to show the counselors that they could follow the law of the Order of the Sparrow. Nerris and Harrison almost drowned. Dolph chewed Neil's sandwich for him. Preston cleaned the entire campground. Ered and Space Kid dumped dirt back on it. Gwen tried kissing the platypus.

"That's it," groaned Max. "Everyone, stop!"

They obeyed and stared at their head counselor.

"Kids, I know you're all doing this because you want the prize. I was going to let you because I thought you wouldn't do it unless you didn't know what the fucking prize was. However, this is going too far."

"You're going to tell us what the prize is?!" Jaspar gasped.

"It's a bonfire and a sash. If you're accepted into the order, you'll go to the bonfire and receive a sash. One of you will receive this staff." He held it up. "It's not cigarettes, a Broadway deal, a trip to space, hover-boots, or whatever the fuck else you guys think it is."

All the campers immediately backed down, except David.

"What does the staff mean?" he asked.

"It means that you're the new head of the Order and it will your job to hand it down to the next generation."

"That's stupid!" Harrison yelled.

"I know it's stupid. You'll also get to design your own costumes like mine and the other counselors."

"Ooh," Preston breathed. "Nice."

"Can ve get started on zat?" asked Dolph.

"Go ahead."

Down at the bonfire spot, Max and Nikki arranged the logs while Neil and Tabii supervised the kids. Nikki held the bow and ceremonial arrow on her shoulder, prepared to light the fire when the kids got down there. And, of course, with Dolph and Preston working together to design and make the costumes, they looked fantastic.

"You all look great!" Max complimented. "Now, here you all go." He handed each camper a sash and then Nikki fired the ceremonial arrow. It lit the fire with no problem at all.

"So, who gets the staff?" Jaspar asked excitedly.

"Give us a minute," Max sighed. He stood in front of the fire.

"Pipe down!" Nikki declared.

"Okay, kids. You've all done your damnedest to win the prize today. However, the camper we've chosen to carry the staff into the next generation has shown the qualities for it all summer. There were two campers eligible, but we chose based off a certain criteria that they refuse to break the rules, no matter how tempting it may be. So… say hello to the winner, David!"

David gasped and walked up, receiving the staff and jumping up and down excitedly. Max pulled out his guitar and strummed it.

"There's a place I know that's tucked away," he sung. Nikki, Tabii, and Neil joined in.

"A place where you and I can stay.

"Where we can go to laugh and play

"And have adventures every day." David and the other campers began singing, too.

"I know it sounds hard to believe

"But guys and gals, it's true.

"Camp Campbell is the place for me and you."

Nikki smiled at Max and Gwen knew. She had an idea.

"Neil, remember how you said to come up with a plan?" she whispered.

"You got one?"

"Hell yeah."

I know this chapter was lackluster and sappy, but I wanted to get to the next one, where things go off-the-wall crazy because the campers try to get Max and Nikki together.

So long and thanks for all the fish!