Quest: 1.13 (Week 2: Late Phase (Pt.1))

--- Jon ---

--- Morning ---

Once more he awoke with an ache of exhaustion, though this time it wasn’t because of his inability to sleep, but rather because of how late he went to sleep in comparison to his early-bird nature.

(Still a night without tossing and turning is an improvement over where I was before…)

After finishing up his morning routine, he set out with Jill today to help her out with Archery range.

“Okay, we’ve got a couple of newer campers who want to try out archery so I’m going to be spending most of my time with them, alright?” Jill told him as they made their way over.

“Sure, and you just want me to keep an eye on the rest, or did you have something else in mind?” He asked eyeing the dozen or so campers of various ages as they collected archery sets from where the quartermaster had left them out.

“Mostly, though you can give a few tips to the younger kids if you want. I’m sure they wouldn’t say no to the help if you’re nice about it.”

He ran a hand through his hair. “I’ll try, but I’m not the best at teaching.”

“Eh, you’ll do fine.” Jill assured him with a pat on the shoulder.

While there weren’t any problems that morning, he wasn’t actually able to teach the kids much of anything they didn’t already know, despite being the second-best archer in camp.

(Just… have to get better I guess…)

Spoiler: Spoiler

Scene Consequences

-Gained a little experience in both [Archery] and [Teaching]. (+1XP to both.)

--- Afternoon ---

As he was crossing the camp back towards his cabin, he heard Counselor Andy calling him from the sports field.

“Jon, hold up for a second!”

Turning back to the counselor he asked, “Something wrong?”

“No, I was just wondering if you’ve got anything planned for today?”

He shook his head. “Nothing important.”

“Good. I was thinking of taking the kids on a nature hike today and having an extra set of eyes to keep track of everyone wouldn’t hurt. And from there I remembered you always liked the nature hikes more than Ying did, so I figured it wouldn’t hurt to ask.” Andy explained.

This book was originally published on Royal Road. Check it out there for the real experience.

“Sure, I can help out.” Between the two CITs he was the one who spent more time in the forest surrounding the camp, so it’d be a little easier for him to help keep track of everyone while on the move. “Do you already have a group of kids together, or…”

“I’ve got them, about twelve in total.” Andy told him, nodding towards a small group of kids that had stuck around after the day’s events.

“Cool.”

“That said, I’m still trying to figure out which of the hiking routes to take the kids on.” The counselor admitted, before turning back to him. “Do you have any preference?”

--- Late Afternoon ---

Breaking off from the hiking group he started making his way towards the clearing the quartermaster had dragged him to.

While the night before had irrefutably left a level of fright filled trauma in him as far as the quartermaster was concerned. He still felt at least mildly obligated to try and investigate where all of that blood had come from, if only to make sure the quartermaster wasn’t secretly murdering the campers.

He figured since the sun was still out, he wasn’t technically breaking the quartermaster’s ‘advice’ about being in the forest after dark. (Not that that’s going to stop me from running if he comes anywhere near me.)

Finding his way back to the clearing was easy enough, as was figuring out which direction to head out in from there. The real trick in finding out what happened the night before was the fact that, (I have no idea what I’m looking for…)

He was fully aware that trying to track the events of the previous night would’ve been difficult for someone with actual tracking skills, let alone someone with his lack of those skills. Unfortunately, thanks to his ma’s efforts over the years, he’d developed this odd sort of tenacity, that made it difficult for him to give up whenever he was faced with a challenge.

(Come on, think. The quartermaster was chopping down a tree last night, and I did hear that, so that means if I can find that tree then maybe I can find out what happened last night.)

With that goal in mind he set out a little deeper into the woods, and though he did eventually manage to stumble upon what looked like a felled tree, it was more luck than anything resembling actual skill.

(I guess this is the place…)

Following the tree to it’s base, he found a small clearing of a sort where several deep gouges marked some of the nearby trees, dark patterns marred the foliage, and several patches of dirt were torn up as something ran deeper into the forest.

(Okay, not sure what I was expecting really but this is a bit… more. Do I even have enough time to really look at all of this?)

He checked his watch before looking up at the forest canopy, and while he couldn’t quite see the sun, he already knew that the forest tended to get darker quicker than the rest of the camp.

(Meaning I don’t actually have all that long before I should head back to camp...)

--- Night ---

Night shift at the nurse’s cabin was something of a rarity at Camp Bet.

Most injuries that the camp was equipped to deal with could be handled relatively quickly. Meaning either the kids were patched up and sent back to their cabins before dark, or if the injury was worse than they could handle, then one of the counselors with a driver’s license would’ve had to take them to the town hospital.

Which was why he found it so odd for the lights to be on after dark.

“Anyone here?” He asked, knocking on the cabin door. Figuring it wouldn’t hurt to check if anyone was present, or if they’d just forgotten to hit the lights on their way out.

After a moment Jill opened the door. “Oh, Jon, is everything alright?”

“Yeah, no, um,” He ran a hand over the back of his neck. “I just saw the cabin lights on and was wondering if something was wrong.”

“Mm, a couple of the kids caught a stomach bug or something.” Jill told him, as gestured for him to follow her inside. “It’s not a big deal, but we’re having them stay here for a couple of nights so it’s easier to keep an eye on them. I’m on shift for tonight, then Andy’s got tomorrow, and me again if things haven’t cleared up by then.”

He grimaced sympathizing with both the kids and the counselors.

While he’d only ever gotten sick once or twice over his years at camp, it didn’t change the fact that he remembered exactly how much of a nightmare it was for the counselors to take care of however many sick kids at once.

(Given how I was once one of the kids Jill had to take care of, it won’t hurt me to try and offer her some help.)