"The camping trip is a go! We are about to embark on the greatest Vocaloid adventure ever!"
It all started with a tweet. Lily's decision to host a massive camping trip was made on the fly without much regard for consequences. The Twitter post read "I'm going on a camping trip. Who wants to come with me?" and it received ten responses. That meant there would be eleven campers. Lily's lucky number, so this must have been a premonition for good things to come. Right?
The weather was bright and sunny, and if things went well, the entire five-day trip would go off without a hitch. No bad weather in sight. The perfect week for a bunch of friends to get together and enjoy the great outdoors. Not bad for plans made completely on the fly.
The eleven campers left their van back in the outskirts of Synthania, opting to walk the rest of the way. A simple sign sticking out of the ground read "Execrated Forest," with a tiny arrow pointing forward. "I wonder why it's called that," Lily asked herself as she led the team onward.
Lily was an ambitious leader. Her bright blonde hair and uniquely indescribable outfit were part of her signature appearance, and her fans would always recognize her white and yellow color scheme. While she wasn't the most popular singer in her troupe, the Internet household, she often sought adventure and did not back down whenever an opportunity presented itself. In cases like this, she created the opportunity. To her, that's what living in the world of Vocaloid was all about.
The blonde leader guided the pack while ten others hiked behind her. The first to accept Lily's offer was the great and powerful fairy of darkness, Merli. Normally, she stood at the height of a mouse, but she cast a spell to make herself the same size as everyone else (she would have made herself taller had she been more experienced in that level of magic). Kaai Yuki was also quick to join, despite only being nine years old. She knew Lily and Merli would not likely survive on their own, and offered her survival skills that she picked up from her wise teacher.
Others who accepted Lily's invitation were Kagamine Rin, Meiko, Xin Hua, and Yanhe. Rin and Meiko were members of the biggest house in all of Vocaloid, but Meiko insisted they needed to get out of the house and spend more time in the great outdoors. Rin only agreed to come along to get away from her irksome twin. Xin Hua and Yanhe thought it would be fun after seeing them join.
Gumi, Lily's best friend and partner in crime, offered to join both in real life and on Twitter, just to make sure Lily didn't forget. Lily extended the invitation to her other friends CUL and Otomachi Una, but CUL was too busy with her hit radio show and never received the invitation. Una, on the other hand, preferred to stay at home with her precious technology.
"It'll be fine," Gumi assured Lily. "If we get into trouble, Una can come and save us!"
Among the last people to accept Lily's offer were Sukone Tei and Maika. Tei never missed an opportunity to spend time with Lily, and Maika insisted she was "great at camping." The two of them never saw eye to eye on much, but they were able to put their differences aside to go camping together.
The final person to join in on the adventure was Lily's other partner in crime.
"I-I think a camping trip sounds like a lot of fun! Can I come, too?" kokone feebly asked her blonde pal.
"I don't know. It might be a little rough for you, kokonut," Lily teased her brown-haired buddy, but eventually came around and accepted her request. "Just stay close to me and Gumi at all times."
These eleven hapless adventurers trekked deep into the Execrated Forest, abandoning the sun behind the many tall trees above them. The sweet feeling of nature embraced them, with the sounds of birds chirping and rivers flowing filling the air. The plants and trees covered the scenery in a blanket of green, mixed with the brown from the tree trunks and the blue from the sky peering in through the leaves overhead. Nature could not be more beautiful.
The grass completely covered the ground, without a hiking trail in sight. The Execrated Forest did not usually serve as a spot for campers, but there weren't any laws against staying there, either. The people of Synthania preferred to stay away from it, and often discouraged people from venturing into it, but words of warning had a habit of going over Lily's head.
The trees that took up most of the forest gradually began to part. The campers knew they were reaching a clearing in the forest. While such a spot proved ideal for camping, Meiko and Yanhe preferred to take refuge under the trees. The crew continued walking until they reached a spot they deemed perfect.
"How much longer do we have to walk? My feet hurt!" Rin complained, not being used to the physical exertion.
"Yeah... and my back hurts..." kokone struggled to keep moving with the massive backpack Lily convinced her to carry. All the supplies necessary for two campsites were stuffed in two large backpacks. While kokone carried one, Merli simply levitated the other. Lily deemed this use of magic "cheating," but Merli did not care for criticisms.
"We could all use a bit of exercise, girls," Meiko pushed on, unhindered by the tiresome trekking. Her confidence was admirable, which always provided great morale in the hardest of times. To Rin, this was one of those times.
Upon reaching the center of a large clearing, the group drew to a halt. Merli let the pack she levitated fall to the ground, rattling everything inside. On the contrary, kokone hesitated to put her own backpack down, fearing she would have to go through the process of picking it back up.
"This looks like a good spot to set up our tents, don't you all think so?" Lily happily turned to the others who moaned and groaned behind her. As celebrity singers, most of them were not used to walking such lengths. Lily's eagerness kept her from tiring out, but her legs weren't exactly thanking her, either.
"Hold it, Lily," Meiko came forward. "There's such a big forest here. Wouldn't it be better to find a spot closer to nature?"
"What do you mean? We're IN nature."
"I mean... like among the trees and animals. This is a pretty clear space here. Not much to see."
"We can go in there on hikes and stuff! This is the best spot to set up a base camp, though. Lots of sunlight, no wild cats to attack us..."
"I don't like it. I'd rather camp somewhere else," Meiko put her foot down.
The sternness took Lily by surprise. She didn't expect any of her campers to rebel against her word, so she did not know how to handle such a situation.
"I'd rather stay here," Rin chimed in. "I can't walk any further than this."
"Me too..." kokone agreed, her knees buckling from the load on her back.
"Well, we do have two tents. If we wanted to put up two different campsites, we could-" Lily suggested, but Meiko cut her off.
"Sounds great. Two camps it is, then," Meiko turned and addressed the crowd. "Anyone who does NOT want to be led by Lily, come with me!"
Without hesitation, Xin Hua, Merli, and Yanhe came forward. Lily's personal friends stayed back, but most of them were likely too tired to move.
"Rin, you're coming, too," Meiko said to her blonde housemate.
"Do I have to? I can't go much farther than this."
"Understood. Merli?"
Merli took Meiko's cue and waved her hand. In that instant, Rin lost control of her body and slowly lifted off the ground into a levitation.
"Wha-wha-hey! What's going on?"
"I'll levitate you for most of the way, but someone else is gonna have to carry the backpack," Merli explained, keeping Rin afloat in the air.
Not wasting any time, Yanhe lifted the stray backpack and hoisted it onto her own back. Unlike kokone, she did not appear to be struggling at all. The weight of the camping supplies did not burden her.
"Let's go, then," Yanhe said with a smile as the others watched in fascination.
"We'll go that way," Meiko pointed to a small passageway to the right. "When the five days are up, we'll meet back here and leave together. I'll show these girls a real camping trip."
Lily huffed at such a claim. Without saying anything, she nodded and watched the five go off. Meiko, Merli, Yanhe, Xin Hua, and the levitating Rin shrunk in size as they moved further to the right. The other six were quiet until they disappeared into the forest, leaving them alone with a single backpack. None of them knew what to say about this whole situation.
The silence broke when Tei put a hand on Lily's shoulder and spoke to her.
"Don't worry about them. We're sticking with you through thick and thin."
"Thanks, Tei."
"We're the cooler camp, anyway. Mostly because we have me, but you're awesome, too!"
Lily chuckled at Tei's self-indulging flattery. All in all, the people she liked the most stuck with her. Her best pals, Gumi and kokone, the pleasant Yuki and Maika, and the ever-reliable Tei. She didn't need Meiko, or any of them. She had the perfect team right there.
"Anyway, should we get started?" Yuki spoke up, bringing the attention to her. "If we put the tent up now, we won't have to worry about it later, right?"
Everyone agreed with this idea. kokone had all the camping supplies in her backpack, they just needed to take the supplies out and put up the tent. Simple.
"Great! Who knows how to pitch a tent?" Yuki asked the group.
Upon hearing this question, an awkward silence befell the six campers. Gumi and kokone exchanged an uncertain glance, Tei and Maika stared nervously at the ground, and Lily scratched the back of her neck.
"I forgot... Meiko and Yanhe were the only ones who knew how to pitch a tent..."
Silence again. The six campers stood in disbelief before Yuki finally uttered "We're doomed."