Day 5

Unlike most of the other council members, Jason didn't have a usual spot for himself and his friends to hang out at, so this time the kids met up at the Trading Tree. While they waited for today's host, some of them decided to trade for some snacks.

"I take it things are the same as the last four days?" Craig asked after getting a choco-roll.

"Afraid so." Kit said. "But it could be worse. I could've been the only creek kid for a while."

"Yeah. I've been there."

After all snacks had been eaten, Jason finally arrived with perfect timing and a backpack.

"Sorry I'm late." he said. "I brought as much as I could for what we're doing today. Is everyone here?"

"We already did a headcount." Wren answered. "Now that you're here, we have eleven kids and a dog."

"Make that twelve."

All of the kids turned and were shocked to see Eliza after how yesterday went.

"I thought you said you were done with this." the Junklord said.

"Yeah, what gives?" Paintball Mike asked.

"What gives is that Daddy brought some of his employees home with him and I wasn't allowed to watch or listen to their meeting. Then I got so bored that even my soap operas couldn't satisfy me." Eliza explained.

"Soap operas? That explains a lot." Craig thought.

Some of the kids did not like her reason at all, but Jason continued anyway.

"Well now that that's settled, it's time to announce today's activity." Jason said. "Today, we're going to practice scout activities!"

"You know the rest of us aren't scouts, right?" Wildernessa asked.

"Yes, but we had a deal." Jason replied before opening his backpack and adding "Our first activity will be... camping practice!" while pulling out what was basically a rolled up tent.

"You mean we're going to set up right here?" Yustice asked.

"Of course not." Jason replied. "We're going to find the perfect spot surrounded by nature only and set up camp. Any other questions?"

Wildernessa raised her hand and asked "Do we have to make a fire?"

"I promised my scout leader that I wouldn't do that without an adult, so no." Jason said. "But if we did, we'd need some nearby water, therefore our campsite will be near the creek itself."

"Works for me." Eileen said.

"Alright, let's go. Single file." Jason led the way to wherever they would all end up.

The line order behind him was Paintball Mike, Eileen, Wren, the Junklord, Eliza, Kit, Yustice, Craig, Bobby, Cannonball, and Wildernessa atop Cheesesticks. As they all walked alongside the creek, Cannonball noticed that Bobby looked a little grumpy.

"Is something wrong, Bobby?" he asked.

"Of course there is." Bobby said. "You know how bossy Jason can get, claiming to know how to do everything."

"We all know how he can get." Craig said after listening to the conversation. "But he's actually gotten better, so let's give him a chance."

Bobby agreed to the suggestion and remained silent.


The group found a couple of potential spots, but Jason rejected them. After a little while, they found an open area that was perfect.

"This will do nicely." Jason said. "Plenty of room, perfectly safe if we were making a fire, and flat enough for everything a camper needs. Now for the supplies."

He then pulled out the tent along with apparently two more tents.

"You have three tents?" Kit asked.

"I borrowed the other two from Tony and Boris." Jason explained. "Don't worry. I was careful and made sure both of these are safe. Now does anybody besides me have any camping experience?"

"I do." Craig said.

"Does fishing count?" Eileen asked.

"Not on it's own. Besides, none of the fish here are big enough." Jason answered. "Let's split into three teams and then we can get started. I brought a bag of numbered papers to make this easier."

After all of the kids drew their numbers, they formed their respective groups. Team 1 was Jason, Eliza, Cannonball, and Yustice. Team 2 was Craig, Wren, Kit, and the Junklord. And lastly, Team 3 was Eileen, Bobby, Wildernessa, and Paintball Mike. Each team grabbed a tent and Jason handed two out of three sets of instructions to Craig and Eileen.

"Normally I'd show you how to do this, but I'm trying to be less bossy." Jason said. "Well actually that and I've only learned how recently."

So each of them started putting up their tents. Jason let his team read his instructions while he got all of the pieces out. When they finished, they joined Jason starting with the folded tent poles. While Cannonball got one pole ready, Yustice started spinning part of the other like a pair of nunchucks.

"Don't do that! You'll break it!" Jason yelled.

"Sorry. I couldn't resist." Yustice said.

She then assembled it and gave it to Eliza who started putting it through one of the corner holes. But for some reason, it stopped half-way. She kept trying, but got nowhere.

"Why won't this go any further!?" she whined.

Then she looked up and saw Cannonball trying to do the same with the opposite hole.

"Oh. My bad." Cannonball said.

"Ugh." Jason facepalmed.

Meanwhile, Craig and his team had gotten the poles through their tent and started the next step. They bent the poles to get their ends in, but slipped and accidentally whacked Kit in the face.

"OW!" Kit cried.

The others made sure she was okay and tried again successfully. Then they took turns hammering one of the tent stakes into the ground except for the Junklord who used a hand-sized rock as a hammer. Once it was Wren's turn, she swung and hit her thumb.

"AH!" she shouted.

Some of the kids couldn't help laughing. Thankfully Wren's thumb wasn't broken.

As for the third team, they were getting the rainfly which was the final step. While they were almost done unfolding it, Bobby tripped and fell on the rainfly, rolling himself up in it and losing some of his candy again.

"Bobbyyyyy." Eileen, Wildernessa, and Paintball Mike moaned.

My candy." Bobby said.

After they unrolled him, they all carried the rainfly and tossed it over the tent. Unfortunately, it went past the tent and fell on Craig.

"Oops. Sorry, Craig." Eileen said.

"I know what'll make this easier." Wildernessa said. "Cheesesticks, could you give us a paw?"

Cheesesticks came over and took the rainfly with his teeth. He then placed it over the tent easily and the kids did the rest.

Finally all three tents were done and Jason checked them all for any flaws.

"Well everybody, we've all had some trouble. But I can honestly say that you all did a good job in the end."

"So what's next?" Cannonball asked.

"Knot tying." Jason answered as he pulled out a dozen ropes. "Everybody pick a knot from the scout book and start tying."

Just as they were about to get started, Wren felt something on her head. It was tiny and wet. She looked up.

"Everyone, I think it's about to rain." she said.

The other kids looked up and a few more drops of water fell. Then the wind started to blow. Cheesesticks then started making sounds of worry.

"It's a big storm!" Wildernessa shouted.

"Quick! To the tents!" Jason said.

However, the second and third tents were blown away due to poor hammering. So everybody ran to the only tent left. Thankfully it was big enough to hold twelve kids and a bear-like dog, the latter of which took up a lot of room, making the kids huddle close together. Jason closed the entrance just before the storm kicked in. The rain fell faster and harder while the wind grew stronger and colder. All of the kid's phones went off suddenly. The kids answered them and spoke to their parents. All of the conversations more or less went the same way.

"Hi, Mom/Dad."

"Where are you!? There's a big storm going on!"

"It's okay. I'm in a safe place. But I can't get home right now."

"Well I'd rather you stay safe. When the storm ends, I want you to come home immediately."

"Okay. Bye."

"Bye."

After the phone calls ended, Craig noticed Wildernessa not holding a phone at all.

"Oh that's right. You don't bring your phone here." he said. "Here. You can borrow mine."

"Thanks, Craig." Wildernessa accepted the phone and called her parents.

One similar conversation later, she returned Craig's phone and looked away from the whole group to hide her blushing face. Craig pulled his hood up to hide his own red cheeks. As the storm kept going, Cannonball noticed Jason looking absolutely miserable.

"You okay, Jason?" he asked.

"I would be if it weren't for this stupid storm!" Jason complained. "You guys get your turns and have a great time. But once it's my turn, I get the short end of the stick! I had so much planned and it was all for nothing!"

All of the other kids then felt bad for Jason, for this really was unfair. Then the least likely kid in the tent spoke up and surprised the others.

"That's not completely true." Eliza said. "You got me to actually do some work. I've never done anything like that before. And somehow, it actually felt good."

"Well you should feel that way." Jason commented. "You managed to do a better job than everyone else. Believe me, I watched and checked."

Eliza was speechless.

"You know, if you think about it, we are kind of camping." the Junklord said. "We're in a tent, keeping warm, and roughin it."

"He's got a point." Paintball Mike said. "All that's missing are some scary stories and a treat."

"I don't usually do this, but I can help with the treats." Bobby said as he pulled out some candy to share.

One by one the kids managed to cheer up the poor scout.

"Thanksh you guys." Jason said. "So who's got a good story?"


All through the storm, the kids told stories, shared laughs, and played guessing games. Then after what felt like forever, they realized that the rain had stopped. Jason opened the entrance and saw the sky peeking through the clouds. The storm was over. They all got out and stretched their bodies.

"I didn't think I'd say this." Eliza said. "But I'm glad I came."

"Good to hear." Jason said.

"Who wants to spin this time?" Kit asked.

"I'll do it." Wren volunteered.

After finding the blown away tents, Cannonball, Eliza, Eileen, and Jason disassembled them all while the other eight stood in a circle again. Wren flicked the arrow and eagerly watched it like a kids waited in excitement to see who would be next. The arrow slowly stopped and pointed at...

Bobby.

"I get to be next!" Bobby cheered. "Don't worry. I promise none of you will be disappointed!"

The kids bid each other farewell and went home. Some of them couldn't help wonder one thing. What does Bobby have in store for them?


Author's Note: Jason has become a more interesting character as this show went on. Originally he was a disgrace to any kind of scout, but now he's yet another complex jerk turned friend. The thought of somehow adding his personal issues while typing this chapter crossed my mind, but I feel like I need more info than what we got (Even if fanfics are meant for full-out imagination). But I bet you're wondering why I added a storm to mess with this day. Well when I was originally writing this, the chapter just felt boring and I needed a way to liven it up. So I decided to be realistic and make this day's weather less pleasing. After all they're in a forest, not a desert. Overall I think I made a chapter that'll keep this fic interesting.