Disclaimer: I do not own Mountain Dew.
After all of the pairs were announced, everyone exited the bus and gathered in a group on the pavement, waiting for an employee of the camp to show them around. Lined up along the road were three cabins, and three more stood at the top of a small, nearby hill, which was covered in grass. After a few minutes, two women approached them from the top of the hill.
The students quieted when the pair arrived, staring at them in anticipation. One of the women was quite tall. She had pale skin (although not as pale as Bakura's) and silky blonde hair. She wore a plain, lavender t-shirt and a pair of skinny jeans. Smiling cheerfully, she announced, "Hello, my name is Ann. I'll be one of your camp counselors this week. I can't wait to get to know each and every one of you, and I hope that you're all ready to get to know each other a little better, too. For the next few days, we'll engage in many team-building activities that are sure to be lots of fun!" She finished her speech with a broad grin plastered to her face and her hands clasped together.
Bakura snorted. Marik elbowed him in the side.
The other woman stepped forward. A smile was on her face as well, although hers seemed more mischievous than friendly. She was slightly shorter than Miss Ann, and she had long, curly brown hair and freckles. She wore a dark purple shirt with a collar, a pair of baggy jeans, and black cap with the Mountain Dew logo on it. The cap was turned backwards, which, coupled with her particular facial structure, gave her a bit of a boyish appearance. She grinned wolfishly and stated, "The name's Marie. I'm getting paid to stand in your general area and make sure that you don't die. If you do die, I won't get paid. So don't die. Or I'll kill you." She stepped back towards Ann and looked at her, expectantly.
Ann rolled her eyes at Marie, and then directed her attention back to the kids. "The cabins located behind you are where the girls will sleep. The cabins on the hill are for the boys. Marie, please show the boys to their assigned cabins."
The boys followed Marie up the hill to the cabins. Once they reached the top, they could see that a grassy field spread out in front of the cabins, and another small hill rose to their left. Beyond that hill, nothing could be seen except trees. Marie began to list which boys were assigned to which cabin.
"Alright, Cabin 1, the one furthest from the cafeteria, has been assigned to Yami Atem, Florence Bakura ('Florence? Oh, sweetie, the girls' cabins are back down the hill,' Marie commented. Bakura glared and put a hand on his pocket, but he didn't say anything.), Ryou Bakura, Duke Devlin, Marik Ishtar, Melvin Ishtar, Seto Kaiba, Yugi Muto, Tristan Taylor, and Joey Wheeler.
Seto looked indignant. "What is the meaning of this?! There's no way that all ten of us are going to fit into that small cabin."
Marie shrugged. "There are four bunk beds, so two of you can either sleep on the floor or share a bed. If you share beds, just make sure that you have all of your clothes on before cabin inspection in the morning. Ann is sensitive about that kind of thing."
With that said, the boys entered their cabin and began placing their bags wherever they could find space on the floor.
Tristan voiced the concern that was on everyone's mind. "OK, how are we going to decide who has to sleep on the floor?"
"Actually," Yami commented, "I wouldn't mind sharing a bed with Yugi."
Yugi blushed, but he didn't deny this arrangement. "Alright, that means that only one person has to sleep on the floor, but who?"
Ann stuck her head into the door. "Boys, please come outside when you're done unpacking. I think that we have just enough time before dinner for an activity."
The girls were already outside, waiting for the boys. Once everyone was ready, Ann led the group up the second hill towards the woods. She strolled briskly to one of many dirt paths on her left. After a few minutes of walking, they came to a small clearing where three round targets sat on stands. Each target had four colored rings, the outermost ring being white, followed by blue, yellow, and red. Marie approached a small shack nearby, unlocked the door, and withdrew multiple bows and arrows.
Ann took an armful of bows and arrows and began to distribute them. "Our first team exercise is going to be archery. Everyone, line up at one of the three targets with your partner." Everyone shuffled into place. "Good, now, in this activity, one partner will shoot an arrow, and, after everyone has shot one arrow, their partner will fetch it for them. Then, the partners will switch jobs."
"Oh, this is the perfect activity for you, Joey. I know how much you love to play fetch."
"Hey, what's that supposed to mean!?"
Duke raised his hand. "How does that teach us about teamwork? We aren't really working together to do anything."
Marie smirked. "It doesn't. We just didn't want to pick up after you."
"Oh, oh! Me first! Me first!" Melvin stepped forward, eager to master a new weapon. He planted his feet, raised his bow, and placed the arrow into position. A look of pure concentration and determination on his face, he pulled back the arrow, and…
It stuck into the dirt about a yard away.
"Ra, damn it!" Melvin threw his bow to the ground and stomped to the side. "This is dumb! Who needs bows and arrows when you could use a perfectly good knife?" He sat in the dirt, sulking.
Yami smirked and faced Seto. "Hey, I think I know how we can decide who has to sleep on the floor. Hey, members of Cabin 1, listen up!" The boys turned to look at him. "Whoever takes the worst shot with their last arrow doesn't get a bed tonight."
Melvin jumped to his feet. "Hey, that's not fair!"
"I think it's fair. Hey, guys, do you all think it sounds fair?"
"Yeah!"
"That's nine against one, Melvin. Of course, we could make an exception and exclude you from our competition, if you aren't up to a challenge."
Melvin sneered. "Oh, I'm up to the challenge. I'll show you with my next shot, pharaoh."
Yami chuckled before raising his bow and shooting his first arrow. It stuck into the middle of the yellow ring, one ring from the center.
Seto raised an eyebrow. "Have you ever shot with a bow and arrow before?"
"Never."
Seto narrowed his eyes and aimed, determined to shoot better than Yami. However, his arrow landed in the blue ring, one less than Yami.
"Beginner's luck, Yami."
"Oh, so does that mean that you've shot arrows before, Kaiba?"
"…No."
Duke's arrow stuck into the white ring of the target, although he seemed satisfied simply to have outdone Melvin. Marik smiled, happy that Bakura had allowed him to shoot first. Bakura watched him try to mimic the posture of his classmates, unaware that he was aiming too high. He released the arrow, only to have it soar high above the target and disappear into the trees.
Joey chortled. "Hey, Melvin, you might not have to sleep on the floor after all."
The others joined in his laughter. Marik blushed and growled, "Hey, I was just warming up!"
"Is that why your face is so red?" Bakura commented, smirking amusedly.
Marik's face grew darker. He huffed and turned around, crossing his arms over his chest. "Whatever, Florence."
Bakura rolled his eyes. He didn't bother to join the others when they went to collect their partner's arrows. He held out his hand towards Marik. "May I?" Marik shoved the bow into his hands wordlessly. Bakura looked to his left at Ryou, who happened to be looking at him as well. Ryou smiled, and Bakura nodded. He glanced at Marik to make sure that he was watching. After making eye contact one more time, Bakura released his arrow at the same time the Ryou released his. The arrows whizzed through the air. Everyone watched in disbelief as the arrows hit the center of the same target at different angles.
Marik blinked. "Whoa."
Everyone looked back and forth between the two archers and the two arrows in silence for a moment. Then, Yugi let out a cheer. "Wow, guys, that was amazing!" Without looking, he raised a hand to close Yami's mouth, which he knew must be hanging open.
Brought back to his senses, Yami blinked and said, "Uh, yeah, where did you guys learn to do that?"
Ryou blushed and put a hand on the back of his head. "Oh, well, I have a cousin back in England who's made a hobby of archery. He gave us a few tips at the last family reunion."
Melvin, who was also previously awestruck, broke into a grin. He stood up and clapped Ryou heartily on the back, knocking him over. "A few tips?! You're a regular pro! You've got to teach me that, Ryou-kun." He extended his hand towards Ryou.
Ryou blushed and smiled shyly, taking Melvin's extended hand to help pull himself up. The others took turns shooting their arrows. Yugi's arrow stuck into the yellow ring, right across from Yami's. Joey's flew into a tree directly behind his target. ("Stop laughing at me, Kaiba!") Tristan's landed in the dirt beneath the target.
Marik stepped into position when the time had come for his second turn. He turned red, the eyes staring holes into him practically tangible. Raising his bow shakily, he prepared to aim at his target. Bakura decided to take his partner's nervousness as another opportunity to gain favor. He stepped behind Marik and placed a hand on his arm. Marik flinched, almost releasing the arrow on the spot.
"Bakura, what are you doing!?"
"I'm making sure that you don't sleep on the floor tonight. Relax."
Bakura pulled Marik's arms down so that he was no longer aiming at the sky and pushed his elbows into a better position. Bakura sighed as he felt Marik tense at his touch. "You need to ease up. Otherwise, you won't shoot correctly." He started kneading his fingers into Marik's shoulders.
Marik spun around, looking flustered. "Are you just coming onto me again, Kitty?"
"I'm not a kitty. And, no, if I was coming onto you, I would've offered to let you sleep with me after you lost our little contest."
The skeptical expression on Marik's face told Bakura that he didn't believe him, but he turned around anyway. "Very well. Continue."
Sporting a triumphant smirk, Bakura came up behind Marik and repositioned his arms again. He began giving Marik another gentle massage after he felt Marik's muscles tense again. Once Marik seemed sufficiently relaxed, Bakura inched closer to Marik, using his own legs to nudge Marik's into the correct posture. Marik never looked at Bakura or said a word during this, concentrating on the task at hand.
"Fluffy, my arms are getting tired. Can I let go yet?"
Bakura opened his mouth to give Marik the affirmative when something caught his eye. He smiled mischievously, pushing Marik's arms up. He leaned into Marik's ear, his hot breath ghosting over Marik's skin. Marik involuntarily shuddered, earning an even wider smirk from Bakura. He whispered, "Alright, let go… now."
The arrow was released. It whizzed high into the air, similar to Marik's previous shot. He turned to stare at Bakura in disbelief.
"What the frig was that, Bakura!? You completely missed the target!"
Bakura smiled smugly, crossing his arms and staring up at the sky. "Wait for it."
Suddenly, a small, blue object plummeted to the ground, right in the middle of the shooting range. Marik's arrow was lodged in the middle of it, and the area around the arrow was red and shiny.
"Oh my Ra! Marik and Bakura killed a bird!" All of the boys (except Ryou) gathered around to examine the specimen, still twitching with a remnant of life. Melvin squatted down next to it, poking it with his finger. He giggled every time it had a spasm at his touch. "Poke. Poke. Heh heh."
The girls (and Ryou) whined about how inhumane and gross the boys were being. Ann looked like she might throw up. "OK, boys, that's enough! Everyone, step away from the bird."
They begrudgingly obliged, backing up in favor of forming a wide circle around the bird. Ann whipped around to face Marik and Bakura, a serious frown marring her once cheerful features. "I don't tolerate the abuse of innocent animals at this camp. Marie, take these two to the Arts and Crafts shack. They can wait there for their classmates until dinner."
Marie chuckled and ruffled her co-counselor's hair. "Relax Ann, I can salvage this." Ann swatted Marie's hand away, still sulking. Marie stepped through the crowd towards the bird and picked it up in her hand. The arrow was dislodged from the bird's middle and tossed carelessly to the ground.
Still carrying the bird, she marched towards the path that they had taken to get there. Bakura and Marik scrambled to catch up with her. Marik punched Bakura in the shoulder for the third time that day. "This is all your fault, Fluffy." However, his seemingly aggravated words and actions were betrayed by the amused smile on his face.
Bakura smirked back, putting his arms behind his head lazily. "Oh, no, that was all you, Marik. You're a natural hunter. I'm sure that first shot you took endangered countless wildlife."
"Oh, shut up."
Meanwhile, back at the shooting range, everyone else was still excited about the bird. Tristan commented, "Well, I guess it's clear of who won the contest."
"It's also pretty clear of who will lose." Duke smirked and gestured to Melvin and Ryou.
"Melvin, you're aiming far too high! You'll never hit the target."
"Who's trying to hit the target? I want to kill a bird too!"