This is going to basically be a throwaway chapter... sorta, the ending kinda isn't, but this is because I'm going to have another duel before the next shadow game with Nightshroud. So yeah, after this chapter will be the duel with Jaylin and Alexis. Until then, have fun with this one! Review please!
Zane and Atticus were packing their backpacks with clothes and supplies on a Friday. Atticus seemed very excited and enthusiastic at the same time. They all were going to be camping out with Jaylin and the rest of her friends. Since they were all in charge of protecting the school from Nightshroud and were a team, they all felt they needed a day of being on their own. Camping was a perfect way of spending time with one another.
At Duel Academy, the students were allowed to camp on the island outside of the school premise as long as they returned to the school at a certain time and day. There also had to be an adult or a group of students that extend up to five. The number of the kids camping were eight, so it was a large enough number of students to go out onto the island on their own, though still had to return by the next day before curfew.
"Hey Zane, I decided that maybe I could bring in some hot cocoa. What do you think?" Atticus grinned, showing the cans of instant heated hot coca.
"Whatever. We can bring whatever we want extra," Zane replied.
"Like shish kabob?"
"Actually yes," Zane grinned, showing the bag of sticks from his drawer. "By the way, aren't you supposed to bring the green peppers?"
"They're in your mini refrigerator. Lexie says she'll be with the ice box in any moment."
"And here I thought you lost your touch."
Alexis entered into the room with the ice chest, which was being carried in by Syrus and Jaylin, since it was very heavy. Atticus got out three green peppers and placed them inside the ice chest, making sure they were at an area where they wouldn't be crushed. Zane placed the sticks for the shish kabobs at the front pocket of his backpack.
"Ah, bringing hot cocoa? Yum!" Jaylin asked, her mouth almost watering.
"Jaylie, you don't need to carry that heavy ice chess," Atticus said sweetly.
"It's not that heavy, Atticus," Jaylin assured.
"Jaylin could carry Syrus on her back and run a mile around the track without breaking a sweat. I think she can handle an ice chess," Zane stated bluntly.
"I was just trying to be nice," Atticus defended in a mopey tone.
"Anyways..." Jaylin stepped in, wanting to break the tension. "we've got the fish, green peppers, sticks, seasoning, chicken, now we need the shrimp from Ronda and yellow peppers from Carl."
"Don't forget the paper plates, cups and drinks," Syrus reminded Jaylin with a small smile.
"Bastion said he'll take care of that and Atticus is bringing hot cocoa anyway."
"Speaking of the devil, we should probably get to Bastion's place."
"I'll help carry in the ice box," Atticus offered.
"You don't have an invite to Bastion's room," Zane reminded Atticus.
"Don't worry. Syrus and I do. You boys and Alexis can be at the cliff of the Slifer Red dorm to watch over our stuff. We'll meet you there, when we gather the rest of the gang," Jaylin assured, lifting the left side of the ice chess, while Syrus had the right side.
"Who's watching over them now?" Zane asked.
"We haven't brought them yet. Carl will bring hers, mine and Syrus' stuff," Jaylin replied before her and Syrus left out the door.
Syrus and Jaylin carried the ice chest down the stairs, trying hard not to bump into anything or get in anyone's way. The Obelisk Blue students let the two through, giving them room to move the ice chest. Two of the boys even opened the double doors of the Obelisk Dorm for the two to walk through. After walking through, Jaylin looked back over her shoulder.
"Thanks!" Jaylin thanked the two Obelisk Blue boys.
"You need help with that?" One of the boys asked.
"Na. We're good, but thank you anyway," Jaylin replied cheerfully before her and Syrus walked to Bastion's dorm.
Bastion was able to get the drinks and place them into the ice chest, then decided to help carry it, so Jaylin could catch up with the others. The group had two large tents. One was for the boys, and the other one was for the girls. Each had their own backpack of clothes and supplies, and the group had an ice chest full of goodies. Bastion brought plastic cups and paper plates to bring, Carl carried the fishing poles, and Ronda carried the tents.
After everyone gathered together, they grabbed their stuff and journeyed out into the forest. They traveled up the hill, through the trees and tall grass, and deep into the thickets. Atticus and Zane each carried one side of the ice chest, while walking through the forest. Jaylin led the group, being that she was the one, who decided on where to camp at.
"Wow, Josephine is so gonna be pissed," Ronda smirked, watching something on her iPhone.
"What happened?" Alexis asked.
"Gerald used Josephine's donation to Rala's Daycare Center to buy him and his friends a 25 pack."
"Oh f**k, she's gonna be piiiiiiiiiiiiiised!"
"What the hell are you girls blabbering about?" Zane asked with furrowed eyebrows.
"They watch Gerald," Atticus replied as Zane gave a sour look.
"You're kidding, right?"
"It's a comedy!" Ronda replied with a huge smile.
"It's obnoxious! It's about four shallow idiots, who make a big deal over shallow things and do shallow shit."
"That's why we love it," Carl smirked.
"Oh brother! That show is stupid as hell!"
"To you!"
"Hey, I think we're here!" Jaylin cried out, walking to an open area with grass and leaves over the top.
Everyone dropped their stuff and began setting up camp. Carl, Ronda, Syrus and Alexis set up the tents, while everyone else gathered firewood for the campfire. It wasn't huge like a bonfire, but a simple campfire. Everyone unfolded a folding chair for themselves to sit in. They sat and talked for a while, then decided to go fishing, Zane, Ronda and Alexis watching the campfire in the meantime since they weren't interested.
It took about a few hours, being that the teens went swimming after fishing, before the gang returned to camp. It was close to sunset at this point, and everyone was gathering around. Jaylin decided to grill some shish kabobs on the mini grill that was gas-powered.
"How did you learn to cook like that?" Alexis asked impressively.
"It's not that hard to cook shish kabobs," Jaylin stated with a smirk up her lips. Everyone laughed, including her. "Though really, I helped Daddy with cooking alot of the times."
"I guess that explains."
"Yep!"
"What does your father cook?" Carl asked curiously.
"You know... fried rice, chicken bits, vegetables, soup, sometimes stir fry," Jaylin replied, taking a couple of cooked shish kabobs and placing them on the serving paper plate. "And shish kabobs, of course."
"One thing I've always loved was the food Mom would cook for me," Bastion stated.
"Yep, nothing can surpass food Mom always cooks," Alexis grinned.
"Did your mom ever cook for you?" Ronda asked Jaylin.
"No," Jaylin muttered in a slightly darker tone, which made everyone puzzled. 'She couldn't cook anything to save her life. She couldn't even make me a damn rice ball!'
Zane began wondering why Jaylin seemed to turn so dark all of a sudden when talking about her mother. It was obvious she was meaning her real biological mother, but there seemed to be a dark edge with her. Zane decided not to go deep into this, since it was non of his business anyways. Yugi was a good father for Jaylin, even if taking her from her real parents seemed a bit much.
Everyone gathered around, Bastion bringing in the soda drinks. The hot cocoa would be saved for the morning. They ate, talked and laughed. Many times, they'd goof around or listen to music on someone's iPhone. When music would play, sometimes the group would start dancing. Of course, Zane and Jaylin were the two dancers that hit it off with the group. Everyone had a great time throughout the whole experience.
"Hey look, there's billions of stars out here!" Alexis called the group as they dashed from the campfire to where she was located and saw the sky filled with stars. They were enough to connect the dots and make any pictures they could think of.
"WOW! This is awesome!" Ronda cried out as the group laughed together.
"Hey, I remember we used to watch this when we were visiting our uncle in New Zealand," Atticus remembered, turning his face toward Alexis, who smiled at him in response.
"Yeah... I remember," Alexis replied quietly.
"Say, how about we use this time to say something to the group that we usually don't discuss or talk about?" Jaylin suggested. Everyone faced her. "I mean we're a team and I think it might help us grow a little closer, if we're more open to each other."
"I'm not a virgin," Atticus said as everyone snorted.
"I don't think that's what she meant, dodo brain," Alexis glared.
"I have the biggest crush on Dark Magician Girl," Syrus admitted with a slight blush.
"You have a crush on a duel monsters card... cute," Zane muttered sarcastically as Syrus shot him a glare.
"I'm adopted," Jaylin said as her friends paused and slowly turned their heads to face her, even the ones that did know about this. The ones that didn't know were completely speechless. "Daddy... he adopted me when I was five. My parents... my real parents..." Her voice became dark again, showing cold dark eyes. "they often wasted their money on alcohol. They had a big ol' dog that would often chase and try to eat me. Because this dog often would hurt me, the police warned my parents that, if they didn't put the dog to rest or sell him off, I would be taken away. They dropped me off at an orphanage. Daddy came one day, and I kept hanging onto him, and begging him to adopt me. He refused at first, but promised to talk to my parents later on. After that, they took me from the orphanage to keep Daddy from having me. This time, I couldn't protect myself from that dog and he finally bit me..." She looked at her hand. "My dark powers saved me, but paralyzed the dog. D... Jason Yuki kicked me out of the house, while my arm was still bleeding. Daddy found me and took me to the hospital before fighting for custody rights."
Everyone stood silent, Zane and Syrus growing terribly speechless. They had felt guilty about judging Yugi's character by the fact Yugi adopted a child, but now felt even more terrible. Not only was Yugi a good father, but he saved Jaylin from abusive parents. Her real parents treated her horribly! Zane had to admit that his and Syrus' parents weren't the best, but they'd never leave their young children out to die. That was a fact!
"So, that's why you're afraid of big dogs," Carl said quietly.
"How bad was the dog's bite?" Bastion asked as Jaylin slid her black elbow-sleeved shirt, showing bits of her scar at the end of her shoulder that connected to her arm.
"Oh my god," Ronda whispered.
"That's why I don't talk much about Daddy, like who he is or show pictures of him. Too many people have harassed him when I was young, because he adopted me. I've had to watch him get beaten, and I even sent a couple of them penalty games, because they wouldn't leave us alone. I can't take him being hurt again, because he saved me from the real monsters," Jaylin admitted. "It might take a while for me to trust you guys enough to know more about my father. Zane, Syrus and Atticus know, because they figured it out themselves."
"Jaylin, you don't have to say anything, if it makes you uncomfortable. We've never forced you to reveal anything. Real friends don't do that. While we should be honest with each other, it takes time to build enough trust to be open to anything personal and not everything has to be exploit. A friend has the right to keep things from even his most trusted friend without question or thought. If not for any reason, we should give and respect our friends' personal space," Carl said as Jaylin smiled and nodded.
"Thank you."
"Anytime hon."
"I know I've always been a smarty playboy, but I've been scared during our entire adventure," Atticus confessed with a sleepish smile.
"You mean of Nightshroud?" Zane asked.
"What if he uses me as a puppet again? I think he's purposely letting me go for a reason. He could've hired one of his minions to retrieve me, but he didn't. There has to be some reason Nightshroud is letting me go. I don't want to wake up and find out that I tried to kill my best friend."
"Everything's going to be okay. You've got us," Alexis said, placing a hand on Atticus' shoulder.
"And I'm scared too. I had to stay without you and Fuki for two years, clinging onto a couple of guys I knew nothing about, your sister of all people, and eventually Jaylin," Zane confessed.
"You never really let any female talk to you, Zane. Though, Jaylin seemed to be a special case. Why?" Alexis asked curiously.
"At first, I just let Jaylin hang around, since she was Syrus' friend or possible girlfriend. I didn't really know or gave a damn. Though... Jaylin was the first person to believe me about the Abandoned Dorm without me having to give solid evidence," Zane replied, looking at Jaylin. "It... meant alot more... than I'm expressing."
"I... have a confession," Bastion stated, sighing and rubbing the back of his neck at the same time. "I'm a helpless romantic. All of my life, I've always wanted to find the person of my dreams and every girl I go to turned me down. I'm never smart enough, handsome enough, strong enough, bad enough, nice enough, or even good enough at Duel Monsters. I've been average all my life... even in school. The fact I'm the only Ra Yellow student in this group doesn't help."
"There's more to you, Bastion. You're really great at being social and interacting. From the first day you came you wanted to talk," Alexis pointed out.
"Well, yes... I suppose," Bastion replied, showing some blush on his cheeks.
"I was going to offer my services, but I suppose you're a hopeless romantic anymore," Atticus said as Alexis shot a glare at him with a reddened face as Bastion's eyes widened with even redder cheeks.
"I'd kill to be in Ra Yellow. My parents think I'm such a failure with my grades. The highest grade I can get is a C and just one B in PE. I hate being stupid and dumb. I hate not being able to succeed in anything. Even Jaylin could make herself an Obelisk Blue student, if she stayed awake in class. I've never fallen asleep once during class, always arrive on time everyday, study more than the average Obelisk Blue student, and here I am still wearing the color red," Carl stated, folding her arms and showing a face of anger.
"Carl, I know you can make it there," Ronda said with a small smile. She grabbed her friend by each shoulder blade. "We can help each other."
"But you're in a lower grade than me."
"Maybe Zane and I can form a study group for you. I'm in a lower grade, but I know things above my grade," Atticus suggested.
"I'll be glad to help, if you need it," Zane offered. "Just like a few days ago."
"I can't believe how much we've learned about each other. We should take a picture of us!" Alexis suggested.
"Let's set ourselves up!" Jaylin thought, running to the camp and placing her camera on the arm rest of the folding chair. Everyone lined themselves up, the tallest's standing up in the back with the two ends kneeling and the shortest's being in the front sitting down. Jaylin set up a five second countdown on the camera, sat herself down among the group, then the camera snapped a picture of the entire group. She checked the picture. "PERFECT!"
"I love it!" Alexis said.
"I'll make copies and send them to all of you through email," Jaylin promised.
"Great!" Syrus replied with his bright smile.
Everyone enjoyed each other's company, goofing around for a while before getting themselves ready for bed. Bastion snuck himself away from the campfire to see the stars once more. This time, he sat down and looked up at the sky from the edge of the hill. It was very pretty to look at, and it felt wonderful he could join with his friends to see this.
"Guess that beauty was irresistible," Bastion heard Alexis state, which made him jump almost, turning his head around.
"Oh... didn't see you," Bastion said.
"That's fine."
"Alexis... thanks... about what you said earlier."
"No prob. Sorry that my brother was a bit annoying back there."
"Atticus is Atticus," Bastion chuckled as Alexis made one herself. He got up and walked to Alexis, who was leaning against the wall of the hill. "Alexis, I want you to know that... I think you're amazing."
"I think you are too," Alexis said as Bastion slowly, but nervously, took the girl's hand into his. Alexis smiled, responding to this by gently wrapping her arms around Bastion's waist and leaning her head against Bastion's chest. Bastion brushed his hand through that gold blond hair. He could kiss those lips, but didn't. He didn't want to go too strong on Alexis.
Alexis slowly closed her eyes, letting her head rest on Bastion's soft chest that felt like a pillow.