Day 6

Children wildly gallivanted through the campgrounds, nearly unchecked. Tired counselors chased after groups of children begging them to slow down. Drones chased after children who shrieked happily as Anax hovered near a small group of children teaching the interested group about squirrels while holding a chubby black squirrel in its pinchers.

The front door to the lodge cracked open as some of the security detail filed out taking in the scene of chaos. Gemma flicked her eyes down to her notebook and scribbled quickly. Aiden sat next to her watching over her shoulder as she wrote. "What's up?"

Her hazel eyes flicked towards Mello who folded his arms and shook his head in disapproval. "They aren't supposed to be out for another three hours. Meaning: the younger kids have poked the bears. We'll likely do ourselves the service of just keeping our heads down. Out of sight, out of mind." Gemma sighed discontentedly. "I stole snapshots of their military records, but our phones got taken away when we checked in, so I never got to evaluate them. So, I don't know what we're dealing with."

Caspian stepped off the steps and shouted at a larger group of children evading Johnathan and Nootau. His commanding voice automatically grabbed everyone's attention in the nearby area, stopping most of the children dead in their tracks. "Right then. Now that I have your attention. Line up here." The irritable blonde pointed directly in front of him.

Gemma watched the small children line up with little resistance as her eyes glossed over the other few that were out. "Oh shit."

Aiden shot her a worried glance. "Oh shit?"

The silver haired girl tossed her notebook back onto the porch of her cabin. "Yep. We woke the hardasses. Look, it's just a few of them, not all of them are out here, the two I can confirm that are kind of push overs."

The brunette boy glanced up to see Caspian, Mello, Matt and Beyond. "And what a presence they have." He chuckled nervously as the other three guards rounded up the energetic children and teens.

Gemma sighed softly as Matt stood in front of her and Aiden. "You too, kids." Both teens sighed and hung their heads joining the lined up group.

Caspian nodded to the other three as they dispersed through the lines of kids and teens, evenly spacing them apart. The blonde guard nodded to the panting counselors before smirking slyly. "Let the professionals handle this for a bit. Get some water and rest, because when we get back, they'll be your problems."

The group of young adults eyed each other and grumbled as the other three guards made their way back up to Caspian's sides. The blonde bent over, resting his hands on his knees. "We're going to play a game! Okay?" All of the children bursted into excited chatter before Mello shouted, quieting them down. "I'm going to pair you up with an instructor okay, we're going to go on a run, let's burn some of that energy? Hmm?"

The teens all groaned but complied with the men. Caspian nodded. "Okay, all the little kids, okay, if you're ages 7-9 you're going to follow Matt, okay, he's the one with really bright red hair. Okay? I'm going to call you guys team Matt." All of the small children cheered as they were separated from the grouping and lined up in a formation style by Matt.

Matt gave a thumbs up to Caspian who nodded once more. "Okay, now all the kids that are ages 10-12, you're going to follow Mello, okay? So let's get to shuffling out of the way." The kids excitedly followed Mello away from the large cluster and lined up as they were told.

"Where are my 13-15 aged kids, raise your hands." The cluster in question raised their hands timidly. The blonde nodded and gave a thumbs up. "You kids are with me. And anyone left is with Beyond." The teens all shifted a stare towards the ravened guard with his arms folded with a tired scowl on his face. The older group shuffled towards Beyond and lined up in a formation. Caspian smirked as the group he'd assigned himself lined up, mimicking the formation style of the other groups. "Alright. When I, or the group leaders say 'left' I want you to stomp with your left foot!"

Matt smirked and shouted 'left'. A loud resounding stomp was heard from the groups. Caspian nodded at the readiness to listen. "Great job. Okay. Beyond's group is going to lead us, then mine, then Mello's and then Matt's. We're going to have Light running behind us, so if anyone gets tired, just make your way to the side of the trail and stay put until he comes along and you guys can walk the remainder with him. Understood? Let me hear a 'yessir' if you understand." Light stepped out of the lodge in some light workout clothes and happily waved to the children.

Everyone shouted together "Yessir!"

Caspian smirked at the astonished camp counselors. "Great, when one of the group leaders says something, I want you guys to repeat it, alright?" All of the kids clamored happily amongst each other as Caspian took his place in front of his group.

Beyond nodded to Caspian and lifted a countdown with his fingers to his group. As the last finger went down, he coarsely shouted "left." Provoking the teens to run behind him in militant formation behind him, their steps in sync with his. "Left… Left… Left, Right, Left."

The other groups slowly took off behind them, all of their steps in sync with Beyond's count. Nadie placed her hands on her hips and chuckled as Natilly wiped the sweat off her brow. "I'll be damned."

Light jogged behind the children in sync with the groups and shouted from behind them. "I don't know what I've been told!" The kids mirrored the call. "But, Camp Northway is really cold!" Some of the groups chuckled, others called back. "Full of trees, huge and old!" The counselors also chuckled at the rhymes the kids were chanting as they ran. Mr. Wallace furrowed his eyebrows while wrinkling his forehead in worry as he watched from the window.

1 Hour Later

The counselors that were all seated around the lodge's front porch, perked up when they heard thundering steps, still somewhat in sync and the loud chanting of cadence. As the largest portion of the formations filed into the main camp area, there was a distinct volume difference in the group as Beyond stood in front of them all. "Great job! Now, hydrate, hydrate, hydrate!" The groups laughed and all sprinted to watering stations. "Don't let those muscles get sore, remember, you get to go swimming after your lunch has settled!"

Matt clapped his hands together. "Great job kids! Get changed into some clean clothes and get some chow into you! I'm very proud of you guys! Great running! Think about how good that water is going to feel!"

Mello ruffled a kid's hair as he was passing him and gave him a thumbs up. "I know that wasn't easy, but you did a really good job, that's hard, a lot of adults can't do that, you pushed through like a proper soldier." The blonde smirked and saluted the child who grinned from ear to ear, improperly returning the salute.

Caspian walked past all the kids and headed towards the lodge, not saying anything to anyone. A couple counselors looked up to him as Sarah smirked. "That was hot as fuck."

Caspian rolled his sapphire eyes as he spoke in a monotone as he pulled the door open. "Children need structure. Do better, the beach excursion is next, if you don't try a little harder, you're going to lose some kids to that water." The blonde's words sunk in bitterly with the counselors.

Light walked up with the remaining children all happily chatting at him as he smiled in polite interest. "You did a good job kids, get some water, change your clothes and go get some lunch in your bellies. That's a hard run to do, you did great." The children all happily smiled as they high-fived Light as they went their separate ways. Light lifted his watch to check the drone locations before narrowing his eyes and making his way towards the lodge.

-x-

L glanced over his shoulder as Caspian entered their bathroom and Light ran up the stairs. "Mm, Light, it appears while you were out, the drones became very interested in the mountains. Some of their attention was pulled away, however, the majority seem to still be quite intrigued with the cave in sites."

Near printed out a spectrograph. "Yes. They are recording an interesting spectrum of sounds. At first, it seemed to just be rocks moving, but as you guys ran past the mountains a spike in different frequencies were recorded by Anax. However, it's hard to distinguish exactly what Anax recorded. The frequencies seem to be matching human patterns, but are definitely from inhuman sources."

Light clicked a couple of times before typing some commands into his computer system. "The hell? That doesn't make sense."

Caspian emerged from the bathroom towel drying his hair. "Your turn, Light."

The brunette glanced up from his computer screen. "Yeah, just a second."

"My turn then!" Beyond flew into the bathroom, slamming the door behind him while cackling. Spurring a quiet laughter through the room.

-x-

Children of all ages rushed towards the water as counselors chased after them frantically. The counselors stopped short when they noticed all of the kids waiting in a formation like grouping, all excitedly talking to each other.

"What's up with that?"

L stood behind the counselors with an amused smirk. "Impressive. Even following orders after tasks. Children really are interesting." Most of the counselors jumped slightly at the sudden closeness of L's voice.

The remaining security detail walked around the counselors as Caspian blew a whistle. "Alright kids! Remember what we talked about, buddy system, no showboating or horseplay!" He blew the whistle once more as the kids shrieked in joy, splashing into the water.

The guards took their places evenly throughout the children, leaving the counselors to just chuckle and fill in the gaps. Sarah eyed Caspian who stood on the dock watching the children carefully with crossed arms and a stoic expression. She smirked as she tiptoed onto the dock and sighed happily as she stood next to the blonde. "Nice day."

"Do not grow complacent. Every moment there is a child in the water, there is hidden danger."

Sarah eyed Caspian oddly. "My guy, it's a summer camp, chill. It's okay to relax."

Endless blue eyes shifted towards her as Caspian's jaw tightened as he spoke. "I did not come here to relax. I am hired to do a job. I will relax when the children are safely in their cabins for the evening. Every single one of them."

The redhead sighed and also folded her arms in mild defeat. "Okay, so what about after the kids are all tucked away. Maybe, I could help you relax a little, if you catch my drift." She winked suggestively.

The blonde crinkled his nose in distaste. "Beyond is more my type than you are."

Sarah scoffed and shifted her weight onto her left hip. "What, you're gay?"

Caspian smirked evilly at her. "Not in the slightest. He's just competent, you, on the other hand, are not."

The redhead scoffed once again but in disgust before storming off. "What the fuck ever." Caspian sighed happily at her discontentment as he clutched at a golden ring that hung from his neck.

Nadie spotted Beyond in knee high water amongst the kids and slowly approached him, taking notice of the Celtic tattoo in the center of his back, between his shoulder blades. "Wow, interesting ink." She gestured towards her own back.

Beyond scooped a kid up who'd called face first into the water at his feet. "Mm. The Quaternary Knot. It's allegedly the symbol for protection of the soul from negative energy. My mom drew it up, I really don't know if she thought that little piece of paper would stay intact, so I got it tattooed on me."

Her eyes drifted towards his right shoulder which was covered in tribal markings. "Whoa!"

His eyes casted towards the markings and chuckled. "Done traditionally. Not by a modern machine. The chieftain's wife of my father's tribe did them when I turned 16." He turned his left arm over, on the forearm was an arrow tattoo with a distinct arrowhead*. "She did that one too."

Nadie touched Beyond's shoulder with wide eyes. "Amazing work, they've aged well."

Beyond jerked himself away quickly. "Hey! I'm not that old!" Nadie giggled politely with her hand over her mouth as some kids circled around them chanting that Beyond was old. He chuckled at the kids before splashing them with the cold water, sending them screaming in different directions in elation. "My mother was a proper pagan, my grandmother on her side is from Ireland."

The raven haired girl nodded in thought. "So, Celtic Irish and Algonquin Native American? That's some strong roots." Beyond nodded at her wordlessly with a small smile. Nadie's eyes shifted towards Sarah who was stomping towards the lodge. "Hey! Sarah! Wait up!" She waved happily at Beyond, "Madjashin, Kitchi."

He waved briefly at her. "Later."

Nadie jogged up to Sarah who'd stopped to wait. "Where are you going?"

The redhead groaned. "These guys suck!"

Nadie glanced back towards the counselors and security guards talking amongst each other while keeping an eye on the children playing in the water. "I don't think so, they're okay." Her eyes fell on Beyond and Nootau casually chatting. "A little rough around the edges and kind of scary, but I think their hearts are in the right places."

As her sentence finished, children started screaming in a panic. Both of the female counselors started searching wildly for the upset. Sarah had noticed Caspian was no longer on the dock. The surrounding counselors and security guards started ushering the kids out of the water and taking a head count. The lake seemed to have come to an eerie stilling after all of the kids vacated the water.

A young teen started crying loudly. "I can't find my buddy!"

Near stared at the water intensely. "Come on, Caspian."

A head of golden hair raised abruptly from the water's surface and started towards the shore with an unresponsive teen in tow. Security started separating the gathering of children as Caspian lifted the limp body and carried him to shore.

Gently laying the teen on his back Caspian lifted the chin of the brunette teen listening for breath. "Get the kids back now!" The counselors attempted to begin ushering the children back up to the main lodge with the assistance of L, Near, Matt and Mello. "Light, get a towel and anything warm." The brunette nodded quickly as he dashed for the main camp. "Beyond, hold his left shoulder down." The ravened guard gave an uneasy glance before applying a small amount of pressure.

"Not today, kiddo." Caspian grumbled as he performed CPR. Beyond eyed the boy especially the odd markings and lacerations around his ankles. In under a minute, the teen sputtered and immediately attempted to raise, but ran into the pressure Beyond was applying and turned towards his left side. Caspian patted his back firmly. "Let it out, it's okay." The boy sputtered more water out before throwing up and coughing wildly. Caspian took the towel and warm blanket from Light as he ran back and wrapped it around the boy. "Easy now, slow, purposeful breaths."

Beyond and Light shared a startled stare as Caspian lifted the wrapped up boy and carried him towards the lodge. "I'm okay. I can walk." The boy attempted to protest the assistance.

"I fully believe you can, but you're bleeding from your ankles, I'd rather not risk further infection."

Gemma ran up to the boy as he was set on the steps of the lodge. "Aiden! Are you okay!? What happened?"

Aiden inspected his ankles as Caspian expertly wrapped them after applying first aid. "I don't know. It felt like I was being pulled."

Nadie and Nootau shifted a suspicious stare towards one another before whispering to one another in their native language. Caspian stared at the young teen intensely with analytical eyes. "Being pulled, huh?" Deep blue eyes drifted to the two whispering counselors before darting to Beyond. "Translate." His eyes flicked back towards Aiden. "I think it's best if you stay in the lodge, so I can monitor this injury."

Beyond listened carefully to the exchanged whispers while remaining discreet. Crimson eyes widened in fear before he shot a horrified expression to Nadie and Nootau, causing them pause. "You can't be serious."

44 Days Remain

10 Counselors Surviving

100 Campers On Site - 1 injured

Arrowheads have the symbolism of strength and protection. An icon of courage and inspiring courage to those who bear the marking and to those around them. Is also noted to keep the wearer/bearer safe from negative energy and sickness.

Madjashin roughly translates to "see you later".