Author's notes: this chapter has some original lyrics in it. If they are not that good it's because I am both not good with lyrics and English is not my first language. I want to apologize beforehand.
"Come on, we need go now so we can set up camp before night falls" John Dory told to his younger brothers.
"Wait, what are you doing here?" Branch asked him.
"Well, Floyd told me that he wanted the three of us to spend time together, now that we are roommates" John Dory replied. "And I think it's a great idea! I can't wait to show you some tricks I learned when living on the road."
Turning to Floyd, who was pretending to have an innocent look, Branch said:
"You told me it was going to be just us."
"Branch, you must be a little confused" Floyd said. "I never explicitly said that it would be just us. And I also didn't say I wouldn't ask John to come."
"Really, did you just set me up like this?" Branch asked.
"In my defense, this really is going be a nice way to spend time together... and possibly helping you and John Dory to overcome this phase you're going through" Floyd told.
But Branch just rolled his eyes, while grunting. John Dory then approached them and told:
"Come on, guys, we still have a lot to walk to reach the camping site."
"Wait, we won't take Rhonda?" Branch asked.
"That was the plan... until I discovered Rhonda fast asleep... as if she had entered into a small hibernation sleep" John Dory replied. "You guys didn't give her anything to eat besides the food I specifically set up for her, right?"
"Uh..." Floyd said, while trying to make an innocent look.
Flashback...
Floyd and Poppy had gone to Rhonda's garage, where they found her excited to see them. Poppy had a bag full of red round berry-looking candy.
"Are you sure those are safe?" Floyd asked her. "John Dory is very capable of putting me back in a diamond bottle, if something bad happens to Rhonda."
"Relax, Floyd, these candies are harmless" Poppy said, as she took one. "I think..."
"You think?" Floyd repeated.
"Sky Toronto gave them to me so I could test the product" Poppy replied, while making air quotes. "They are supposed to fill the stomach and give you that a big warm feeling that make you feel like you are being embraced by a cozy pillow."
Floyd made a disconcerted look and Poppy said:
"Yeah, I know, I also made that exact same face when he explained it to me. The point is... this will make Rhonda to not be available to take John Dory and Branch so they have no other way other than walk to camp and increase their chance of bonding."
Turning to Rhonda, while taking a candy, Poppy said, while using a baby voice:
"Hi, Rhonda! I have something for you..."
She extended a candy towards her and the armadillo bus started sniffing it, curious.
"Do you like it? I know you like the smell... Do you want it?"
Rhonda then opened her mouth and Poppy tossed the candy to it. The armadillo bus tasted the candy and, after a few moments, she made some strange movements, as her face became a little flushed for a few moments and then she just yawned and curled around herself to sleep.
"Wow, what do you know... it only took one" Poppy commented, taking then her recorder to make an apart. "Note to self: warn Sky Toronto to adjust the ingredients for troll consumption."
Back to the present...
"No, not really" Floyd replied.
"Well... I guess she just ate something she shouldn't" John Dory said. "She is now very well capable of sleeping for quite some time. And it was right before our camping trip..."
"Yeah, very coincidental..." Branch said, turning to Floyd, who would pretend to not know anything. "You know, Floyd, you are not the scheming type. If I didn't know what is happening here, I would say this all was Poppy's..."
At that moment, Branch was able to connect the dots. Why hadn't he thought of that? It was so obvious.
"No... Please, don't tell me..." he started.
Suddenly, Poppy arrived there.
"Hey, guys!" she greeted.
"Poppy!" John Dory exclaimed, happily, while Branch frowned upon her arrival. "What are you doing here?"
"Yeah, Poppy... what are you doing here?" Branch repeated the question, with an unamused voice.
"Oh, I just came because I am having this big problem and I need some help to solve it" she said.
"Well... we were about to leave for a camping trip... but I am certain we can give a helping hand before going" John Dory said.
"Actually... I came to ask for Floyd's help" Poppy said.
"Of course you did..." Branch said, still unamused.
"Oh, for sure I would help you, Poppy" Floyd said. "But... I was the one to suggest this camping trip, so..."
"Don't worry about that, Floyd" John Dory said, as he placed his arm around his brother's shoulders. "Poppy needs your help, so you have to help her. Branch and I can go camping by ourselves."
"Yeah... no" Branch said, with his arms crossed. "If Floyd is not coming, so I won't go either."
"Come on, Branch, it will be fun!" John Dory told, approaching his youngest brother. "Just the two of us! It will be as if Floyd was with us."
"Yeah, Branch, you have to go with John Dory" Poppy said, with her making the mischievous look that Branch knew too well. "As your queen... and your girlfriend... I insist for you to go."
"I don't mind skipping this one" Floyd added. "We can go just the two of us next time..."
Despite Branch's best efforts to try to get out of that situation, the fact that he has been cornered again by one of Poppy's schemes, this time helped by Floyd, didn't give him much of a choice. He sighed and, seeing that he had resigned himself, Poppy said:
"That's settled then!" Poppy exclaimed.
"Great!" John Dory exclaimed, excited. "Come now, Branch! We have so much to do once we get to the camping site, if we want to have total fun."
And he started moving away, marching joyfully, while Branch just sighed and started following, dragging his feet, while saying to Floyd and Poppy:
"You so owe me one..."
Noticing his youngest brother was too much behind and walking slowly, John Dory turned to him and said:
"Come on, Branch, don't get too much behind!"
And so he used his hair to pick up Branch and started walking away with his youngest brother behind hold by his hair.
"You owe me big time!" he shouted to Floyd and Poppy, as he and John Dory moved away.
After they were away, Poppy asked Floyd:
"So... do you want to go to Country Coral to eat some chili cupcakes?"
"I could eat" he replied.
Branch and John Dory went on their camping trip. Despite being dragged into that, Branch (who managed to convince his older brother to put him down) was determined to get it done as fast as possible. However, even the journey to their camping site proved to be a challenge, as John Dory kept asking him if he could take his backpack a few times.
Soon enough, they arrived to the perfect camping site at the middle of the forest.
"Now this is a perfect place!" John Dory exclaimed, as he dropped his backpack and stretched.
"Yeah, it is..." Branch replied, as he also dropped his backpack. "Now let's get this done so we can..."
It only took Branch a moment dodging his look, just to take out all he needed to set up his tent, that, when he came to turn to John Dory, he had already set up his, with him dusting his hands off.
"But, how..." Branch started, as he tried to find the right words to say. "How did you set up the tent this quickly?!"
"Well, when you are living on the road for twenty years, you learn to set up a shelter as fast as you can" John Dory replied, with some pride in his voice. "If you want, I could..."
"No, don't even think about it!" Branch replied, knowing full well what John Dory would suggest. "I can perfectly set up my own tent. This is not the first time I camp, you know? I may not have done it as much as you did, but I am still capable of doing it myself."
John Dory just shrugged his shoulders and went on to check on his tent and bring his backpack inside of it, while Branch prepared himself to set up the tent. As he had everything ready, he noticed he still needed his favorite hammer, so he went to his backpack to try to find it. Once he had it, he turned around to start set up his tent, when he saw that it was already done.
"What..." he started, before seeing John Dory near it and looking at it with a proud smile.
"Now this is a well-settled tent!" he admired, while turning to Branch and giving him a big smile and a thumbs up with both hands, before going back to his.
A feeling of frustration started to build up inside Branch, as he closed his fists with so much strength that the wooden handle of his hammer just broke and the head fell on his foot, causing him to instinctively grab it and jump on the other, while moaning in pain.
Later on, after John Dory gathered the wood for the fire, Branch started trying to make fire. But he was so much angry at having to endure his older brother's condescending and overzealous brotherly behavior that he simply couldn't focus on lighting the fire.
"Come on... stupid fire... light up!" Branch grunted between his teeth as he rubbed the sticks together.
"Need some help, little bro?" John Dory asked, as he arrived dragging a pair of tree stumps for them to use as seats.
"No, I can do this... alone... solo... by myself... without any help" Branch replied, making sure to accentuate every single one of those words.
"I can see that..." John Dory replied, keeping his smile and seating on one of the stumps. "And the way you accentuate your determination to make fire makes it very evident. Take your time. I'm going to check on the best sticks for our marshmallows."
And he went on to check on the pile of sticks he had there. Meanwhile, Branch was losing his patience while trying to make fire.
"Come on... stupid sticks... How hard is it... to make one little..." Branch kept saying.
It was then that he felt a spark nearby, followed by a flash of light and a warming sensation. Making his unamused face, he said:
"Don't tell me..."
He turned around and saw that there was a campfire already lit and John Dory was there, admiring the fire.
"Now, this is a fire!" he exclaimed, while smiling and blinking his eye to Branch, who couldn't help but snapping the twig he was holding.
It was then that John Dory took a bag of marshmallows from his hair, while he gave Branch one stick for him to put a marshmallow. Despite his frustration boiling up inside, Branch just grunted, rolling his eyes, and accepted the stick and a marshmallow from the bag, putting it on the stick and letting it roast on the fire. Soon, they put up a few more.
"Isn't this nice?" John Dory asked. "Us two... under a beautiful starry sky... roasting marshmallows... The only thing that would make this any better was to have the others here with us. Maybe we can plan a camping trip with all the brothers. Wouldn't that be the best?"
"Yeah, sure..." Branch replied, as he watched his marshmallow roasting.
Noticing how his younger brother seemed to not be enjoying their moment together that much, John Dory thought of something that could really bring them together.
"Oh, I had a great idea! Wait here!"
He moved away for a little while to go to his tent and, when he returned, he was bringing his old guitar with him.
"Remember this?" he asked, enthusiastically. "Do you remember when we and our brothers would gather and sing improvised songs?"
"Of course I do" Branch said. "I remember always loving to listen you guys singing... and sing with you..."
As he mentioned those memories, Branch couldn't help but reliving them. He could see himself as a baby, sitting beside his brothers on a circle, as John Dory played the guitar and each one took turns to sing some lyrics. Some of them were so random that they would laugh together... while others would become part of some of their songs.
When Branch found himself, he was smiling. John Dory noticed that and realized he was finally getting to Branch and so he played an accord.
"Okay, I will start and then you follow it... Let me see... Two brothers camping under the starry night/Around the campfire, singing something tight...
"Tight?" Branch repeated. "Don't tell me that's the best Brozone's genius composer can come up with."
"Well, you can try to do better" John Dory teased. "Come on, try to follow up. Reliving old memories and making something new/Rekindle a bond once lost, that is just me and you."
Without realizing it, Branch let himself be swayed and started singing, while John Dory played his guitar:
"Even twenty years apart they keep on trying strong/Two brothers singing together and try to get along/As the fire burns beneath the stars and moon/Their voices reach one another to form one single tune."
And just like that, Branch and John Dory got so in sync that they started to sing together, while making a few dancing steps:
"Oh, brother.../I missed the times we spent together/Singing and playing as if forever/Two ends that never seemed to connect/A bond that neither of us can reject/A bond that will tie us both until the end/'Cause we are more to the other than just a friend/We are... brothers."
They ended the last part, sharing a fist bump, and, after that, John Dory made a happy jump, while exclaiming:
"Now that was some great improvised song! I have a feeling we have here a base for a new song for BroZone. We need to share it with our bros."
"Yeah, I guess..." Branch said, sitting down, smiling.
Even if it felt great to do something like that again with John Dory, Branch, seeing the fire burning, couldn't help but remembering the problems he was having with his oldest brother...