Hello again, everyone! Sorry it's been a while since the last update. I could make a whole bunch of excuses for the time gap right now... but you all know how it goes. I'll leave it at that.
Your background info for this Fill-In-The-Blank: This follows Leshawna during Search And Do Not Destroy while she's spreading her Trent/Heather rumor for Gwen. It should be fairly easy to follow.
Disclaimer: Total Drama Island, Leshawna and the gang, and Camp Wawanakwa all aren't mine.
"Heather is so off this island!" Leshawna shouted to no one in particular. She was too busy planning a course of action as she raged away from the Gopher cabin. After the tear-filled conversation she'd just had with Gwen, Leshawna was ready to do her part to destroy Heather—once and for all.
Her hands moved to push up the sleeves of her shirt (that being one of her angry habits), but she winced as they met nothing but shallow cuts and torn fabric. "Stupid crocodiles," she muttered, pulling to a stop mid-march. Annoyed that her mission had been deterred, she held her arms out in front of her to survey the damage.
Damn, she thought, that is NOT good. Her arms were caked with dirt and the remains of dried-up lake water, her shorts shredded, the water in her sandals making squishing and squashing noises with each step she took. She touched a hand to her head to examine the damage done to her hair, and a horrified expression made its way over her features.
The expression must have been incredibly comical, because an amused snort snapped Leshawna out of her thoughts. She whirled around to face the source of the noise, expecting to find the snarky cameraman who was generally stationed outside of her cabin, but found herself face to face with the camp's insane redhead instead.
"Whoa, Leshawna!" Izzy called, recovering from the jump she had just taken out of a tree. "You look totally messed up! Like you got attacked by one of those rare South American rhinoceroses or something!"
Unsure of whether to be insulted or not, Leshawna settled on pointing out that rhinoceroses don't live on the South American continent.
"Oh," Izzy said, "You wouldn't think so. But that's why they're rare, see? My Grandpa's the only person who's ever survived seeing one! He told me all about it." Izzy spontaneously switched into story mode and began acting out her words. "He was trying to find the continent between Africa and South America—" She mimed being a sailor, "—when he stumbled upon the giant creature. It attacked him!" She yelled and pounced at her imaginary Grandpa, hands shaped like claws. Even though rhinoceroses don't have claws…
"But then," she continued, "When all hope for capture seemed lost, he used his titanium tent poles, water bottles, and an avocado to slay the beast!" Izzy appeared to be miming a complex procedure involving those three items, eventually diving into a victorious pose.
Rebounding back off of the ground, she faced Leshawna again. "So then, when he escaped, he was all scratched up and stuff, just like you! And then the Guatemalan police locked him up in jail for the illegal poaching of an endangered species…" She sighed happily, as if she'd just finished reliving one of her finest moments. "But Grandpa's free now. He still hasn't found South-east Amafrica, though." She shrugged.
Then, without warning: "Anyway, I'll see you later!" She turned on her heel and ran off in the same way that she'd acted out the part of the rhinoceros. The saner of the two girls (Leshawna, of course) stared after the substantially less-sane one until she hurtled behind the mess hall and out of sight.
Leshawna shook her head quickly and looked to the snarky camera guy. She threw her hands up angrily and hollered, "I didn't just imagine that whole thing, did I?" The intern blinked out of his thoughts and slowly shook his head. Leshawna hoped the guy had been too shocked to capture any of that last exchange on film.
_-=-_
After deciding to clean herself up, mainly for the purpose of avoiding any more encounters like that of which she'd had with Izzy, Leshawna charged back into her cabin. She grabbed a change of clothes out of the bag under her bunk, along with some medical ointment she'd been smart enough to pack, and went to head back out the door.
"Leaving so soon?" Gwen sniffed and offered her friend a weak smile.
Loaded down with the means by which she'd erase all evidence of the crocodiles, Leshawna turned to face the bunk Gwen was still huddled on. "Sorry, girl," she said. "But this story isn't gonna spread itself, and I've gotta get cleaned up before I start digging Heather's grave." Hands too full to wave to the depressed, let alone open the door, Leshawna used her shoulder to nudge it open. She sprinted back down the steps, leaving Gwen alone to wonder if her friend had been serious about Heather's grave or not.
A minute later, Leshawna pushed through the door of the washrooms and dumped all that she'd been carrying onto the counter. She took the time to change her clothes and to fix up her hair, doing the best she could to cover up her scratches—only a few of her beauty products had survived her stay at Camp Wawanakwa. After ten minutes of intense damage control and repair, she looked at her reflection with satisfaction. "Not bad, Shawny, not bad!" she congratulated herself.
Deciding that the washrooms were as good a place to start looking for campers as anywhere, she walked down the length of stalls, peering into each. Leshawna would have passed them all, seeing that they were empty, but stopped to inspect the last stall; her peripheral vision had caught a glint of faded blue. Pushing the door wider, she saw Geoff's lucky cowboy hat sitting forlornly on the floor next to the toilet. The hat looked rather strange without a blonde head to sit on.
"Yo, Geoff!" Leshawna called, looking around. "You in here?" She didn't know where to expect the answer to come from, but she wouldn't be leaving without one.
"Whoa, Leshawna, s'that you?" Geoff's voice echoed through the washrooms as if it were coming from …the toilet? Leshawna cautiously stepped around his hat and looked into the bowl, hoping that Geoff was not where she believed him to be.
She answered his question and then asked her own. "Leshawna, the one and only! …You can hear me?"
"Loud and clear, dudette!" Geoff responded. Leshawna could picture him punching his fist in the air, had he not been in the septic tank; she had chosen to assume he was in fact in there, not wanting to actually ask the question.
"If you say so." She took a breath of clean air before giving the toilet the sentence that she'd been rehearsing in her head. "Anyway." Three, two, one. "We need you in the alliance so we can vote off Heather. She's playin' around with Gwen's boy, Trent!"
A loud, metallic 'Thunk!' resounded from the septic tank along with an 'Oh, dude, ouch!' There was a short silence while Geoff took a moment to recover. Leshawna was just beginning to become impatient when he said, "Trent and Heather? No way! Where'd you hear that?"
She crossed her arms and cut the conversation short, saying, "Geoff, you're gonna have to either come out of there to get the low-down or just trust me on this one, 'cause I feel really stupid talking to a toilet."
"But I don't have my key yet!" Geoff protested, a round of thunking resulting from his efforts to get out of the filth. "Leshawna? Leshawna!" A second later, his blond, hat-free head popped out of the plumbing and glanced around the stall.
Leshawna was already gone.
_-=-_
After finding the cabins and mess hall empty, with the exception of Gwen, Leshawna went to search through the woods. She hated them, no doubt, but she'd been forced through enough times to know her way around. Keeping up with her position on a mental map, she jogged through the trees, occasionally calling out something to make her presence known.
After about an hour, nearly ready to give up on the woods and hit the mountain, Leshawna leaned against a tree and thought about where everyone would be. She was almost certain that DJ had picked out a tablet with a picture of a tree on it…but everyone had run off so quickly after Chris set them loose that she couldn't be sure. She sighed and pushed herself up off the tree and started walking back to camp.
She cupped her hands to her mouth on the way and yelled, "DJ! Deeee-jaaaay! You've got to be in these woods somewhere!"
"Leshawna?" DJ's voice squeaked from above her. "What are you—eek!—doing up in here?" The girl tipped her head back and spun in a quick circle to spot DJ's bulky figure, which wasn't too difficult. He clung to a large tree's branch for dear life, his key hanging a sad half meter away. It was an unnatural sight, a big jock hugging a branch and attempting not to break into hysterics.
But, too tired to entertain niceties, Leshawna walked to the base of DJ's tree and shouted her phrase: "We need you in the alliance so we can vote off Heather. She's playin' around with Gwen's boy, Trent!" And that was that.
"Eeeeeeeeeek!" A snap, crackle, and pop later left DJ blinking on the forest floor, still strangling his branch. At least he'll be able to get his key now, Leshawna reasoned.
She shook her head and raised her eyebrows. She didn't worry for DJ; he was big, and he could take a fall. Having wasted enough time in the forest, Leshawna set out to find Bridgette. She'd probably be on the mountain somewhere, or maybe by the beach… Leshawna had hiked a little way from DJ's broken tree when he called out to her.
"Oh, so what, you're just gonna leave a brother hangin'?" he asked. "Now that's just cold."
Leshawna turned back around to face the recently fallen. She watched DJ struggle to pull his key around the thick branch and took a few steps back to him. "Aw, Deej, you're fine," she said, waving an arm in his direction. "And I've got bigger fish to fry."
"Yeah, yeah," DJ joked, still yanking on his key. Leshawna was just turning to leave when he shouted, "OH NO!"
"What?!" she called back. She jogged back to his branch and stood over his kneeling figure. A moment later he popped up, a small squirrel curled up in his hands.
He scratched the little thing under its chin and adopted a fatherly tone of voice. "I just destroyed your home, didn't I, little guy? Didn't I? I'm sorry, oh yes I am!" He smiled at the creature fondly and continued his loving murmuring.
Leshawna stuck her hands on her hips. "This is what your 'Oh no' was for? A squirrel? Hon, that's barely worth a 'Shoot'." She shook her head and spun back around. It was time to find someone else.
_-=-_
After finding her way out of the forest, Leshawna figured it would be a good idea to pass by the cabins before heading up the mountain. Following a bout of hardcore (for her, anyway) running, the trees parted to reveal the Bass cabin, which included Duncan sitting carelessly on the steps. Leshawna, still a good hundred meters away from him, but too tired to do any more running, rested her hands on her knees and panted for a moment.
Because of her breathing, which didn't look like it would be getting steady anytime soon, she called out to the delinquent instead of closing the space between them. "Yo—" gasp, "—Duncan!" she yelled, waving at him with one hand. "Come 'ere!"
He raised his head slowly and glanced around before spotting Leshawna's figure off to his left. Leshawna couldn't exactly tell from such a distance, but she would have guessed he'd cocked his eyebrow in a 'why should I go over there?' sort of way. "How about 'no'?" he called back, not making any move to get up. His key spun idly around his finger.
Leshawna's breath began returning to her, and just in time; she felt a confrontation coming on. "How 'bout 'Get your skinny white self over here before I hurt you'?" she shot back.
"How about 'I'd like to see you try?'!" Duncan's unconcealed smirk, visible even from such a distance, was enough to get Leshawna running again. Duncan folded his hands behind his head and leaned back as she approached, fuming. He didn't look at all worried, and even went far enough to jab, "Well, that took you long enough."
It probably doesn't need to be said that Leshawna wasn't the fastest sprinter.
Her hands balled up into fists, and she had to fight the instinct to rip that boy to shreds for arrogance. Voice aggravated, she said, "You know what, save the jokes about my physical fitness another day." She pointed to herself, saying, "I have something that I've got to tell you."
"Well, obviously," Duncan retorted. "Why else would you be wasting my time?" He fiddled with his pocket-knife, his face revealing no curiosity at Leshawna's she'd had the time to think about it, she would have wondered if he'd recently gotten Botoxed. But she didn't have that time.
"Ooooh, you are about to ge—" Leshawna cut herself off. She needed Duncan's vote no matter how much his attitude irritated her. "Okay, look. We need you in the alliance so we can vote off Heather. She's playin' around with Gwen's boy, Trent."
Duncan looked up at this and seemed to take the time to consider his next words. "I'll just tell you this now," he said after a moment. "I have absolutely no problem with voting off Heather." He paused to narrow his eyes, and then continued. "But the Bob Marley wannabe and Gwen? That's not my problem. Don't tell Gwen to expect any sympathy from me."
Gwen's closest friend was about to backhand the lightweight lounging in front of her when she came up with a better idea. A plan to teach that specific lightweight a small lesson in hypocrisy.
She started walking away without another word, but paused as if she'd just remembered something of minor importance. "Ooh, Duncan? I forgot to tell you."
He folded his arms and rolled his eyes. "Just spit it out."
She harrumphed, and then informed him, "You're just lucky I'm telling you this at all." Duncan didn't look like he thought he was very lucky.
Leshawna then continued on. "Before Justin left, I caught him making out with Courtney. After the talent show. I though you should know." Leshawna turned around to walk away and waited for him to take the bait. Three, two…
Duncan's hand yanked her around by the shoulder to face him, face furious. "You'd better tell me exactly what you're talking about or else you will be extremely sorry." There was murder in his eyes.
Leshawna smiled in satisfaction, her point proven perfectly. "Exactly." Just one little mention of his girlfriend with someone else had made the boy absolutely furious! She smiled and waited for Duncan to absorb what she'd just pulled on him.
He gathered himself to a minimal degree and asked, though it sounded more like a threat, "WHAT are you talking about?" He looked pretty menacing, Leshawna had to admit, but she'd seen scarier. Little white boys don't scare you when you've grown up in the hood.
Slowly comprehending the significance of his own reaction, Duncan sat back down on the steps breathing hard.
Leshawna walked up to him and leaned down to whisper, "I think you understand why you should give Gwen some 'sympathy' now." She strutted away in triumph while Duncan scowled at her back.
That fool could be as vicious as he wanted, but he had it bad for Courtney. Leshawna smiled to herself and stored this information away as ammunition for later use. She had a feeling that she'd be able to bring Courtney up against Duncan again before their time at camp was over. She also had a feeling that Courtney would completely approve.
_-=-_
Feeling satisfied after her encounter with Duncan, Leshawna headed towards Camp Wawanakwa's great mountain to find Bridgette, and Owen if he was up there. She hadn't seen either of them since they'd picked out their key's location, so where else would they be?
After a few minutes, Leshawna found herself standing at the base of the incline, staring in the direction of its peak. "This isn't going to be fun," Leshawna decided, saying it aloud. But she had to make the climb for Gwen; Leshawna didn't break her promises, and telling absolutely everyone was the only way to send either Heather or Trent (preferably Heather) home. Leshawna sighed and started to walk.
Not too much later, Leshawna stopped, throwing her arms out to the side. "Okay," she said to no one in particular. "There's got to be a faster way than this!" Not even halfway up the mountain, she was already covered in sweat, and her legs hurt! She would keep going if she really had to—she had been through worse before—but there had to be an easier way. Marching all the way up and then all the way back down seemed like too much work.
Leshawna sank down onto a relatively flat rock and thought for a moment. Chris probably knew exactly where Bridgette was right now. He was probably laughing at her efforts to find her, too. Leshawna's lips pursed at the thought of the host, when an idea struck her. "The cameras!" Her eyes lit up and she stood, running to find one.
The cameras, she figured, had the best view of each area of the island; Chris, the cheapskate, would want maximum area coverage from each one. Leshawna jogged a small distance up the mountain before she spotted one of the cheap machines up in a tree. "Yes!" She ran to the base of the trunk and looked up into the lens. "What now, Chris, what now? You're not the only one who can get use out of your cameras!" She began climbing the tree without hesitation, silently thanking her greasy old gym teacher for making her climb that cursed rope.
Once she'd pulled herself over several branches, she situated herself in a sitting position on a branch above the camera. Rubbing her hands on her pants to get the bark off, she took a minute to rest and listened for any signs of movement. Not even five minutes later, she heard the type of leaf crunching that only results from human footsteps. Congratulating herself on having chosen such a strategic vantage point, she pushed a few leaves aside and peered down to the ground. Bridgette!
The girl was walking up to a little rabbit sitting next to a key. Leshawna was momentarily annoyed, (she'd had to fight off two crocodiles, and all Bridgette got was a bunny? Now that was unfair) but the bunny then growled, revealing a set of deadly sharp teeth and the possibility of rabies. "Aaaaaaaaaaaaah!" Bridgette shrieked and scrambled up the same tree that Leshawna was occupying, eventually clinging to the trunk one branch below Leshawna.
Leshawna leaned down and delivered her phrase to the girl in a whisper, trying not to startle her—that freaky rabbit was downright creepy. "We need you in the alliance so we can vote off Heather. She's playin' around with Gwen's boy, Trent," she said quietly, but with the same amount of urgency as with all of the others.
Bridgette screamed again, but collected herself quickly. She looked ready to speak, but was interrupted by Chris's voice blaring out of a loudspeaker. "All right, campers! Meet me at the campfire in ten! And bring your keys." The girls sat for a moment before Bridgette spoke.
"Leshawna?" she said, straddling the branch to get a better view of her friend. "What are you doing here?"
"Girl, I was trying to find you," she told her. "And maybe Owen. But I'm not too worried about him."
The girls eased themselves down from the tree and headed back in the direction of camp. They chatted on the way back, Leshawna taking the time to explain the entire Heather/Trent situation to Bridgette. The blonde, being the first-class listener that she was, waited through the whole story, a concerned look making its way over her features. Leshawna finished up with, "So that's that! I've been tellin' everyone about those two. Heather has GOT to go." She jerked a finger over her shoulder.
Bridgette shook her head sadly as she walked and looked down at the passing ground. "Poor Gwen," she started. "I really didn't think Trent was the type of guy who would do something like that. I mean, I'm not surprised that Heather was involved, but I thought that Trent was…" She let the sentence drop off, and the girls walked in silence for a moment. "Well," she said eventually, ever the optimistic one. "It looks like you're taking care of it." She shrugged and smiled. "I'm sure things will work out."
"You bet they'll work out!" Leshawna responded. "I went and found everyone who would listen to me, except for Owen. And he won't be a problem." A few more steps and they were left at the edge of the campfire pit area.
Bridgette looked to her friend beside her. "Why won't Owen be a problem?" she asked.
"Oh please, girl, Heather's not the only one who can use bribery to win that boy over. And I've got pudding cups!" The girls laughed together, and Leshawna held her hand out for a high-five that Bridgette was glad to return.
Leshawna smiled to herself as she found a place among the other campers. Phase one of Mission Destroy-Heather was complete! All that was left to do by that point was wait. And maybe go visit the Confession Cam.
I hope you all liked it! I really like Leshawna as a character; I hope I portrayed her correctly.
And does it take serious skill to work a DxC moment into a story where the C isn't even there? I think it does. Or maybe that's just my unhealthy obsession talking. XD
Requests? Comments? Complaints? Please review or PM me and let me know!
