Quest: 1.5 (Late Week 1)

--- Jon ---

--- Morning ---

After agreeing to the quartermaster’s deal Jon hadn’t bothered trying anything else and returned to his cabin where he promptly passed out.

Of course, it wasn’t until the morning after that he realized just how badly he’d scraped himself up when he’d tripped over that tree root the night before. And from there, it wasn’t until he had to run all over the camp delivering messages between the various counselors and the quartermaster.

Between these two events he’d somehow made his various aches and pains even worse.

(Honestly if it wasn’t for all those morning runs ma used to drag me on, I’d ‘ve probably tapped out by now.)

He wasn’t sure if he should be grateful or not for all of those five A.M. runs now, largely because he wasn’t sure if he hurt more now or then.

Scene Consequences:

Morning Events:

-Jon made his scrapes worse -2 PHP.

-Discovered skill [Running] at E-Rank (Lv. 5)

---

--- Afternoon ---

Eventually, enough had become enough and even his stubbornness couldn’t push through the pain. So as soon as he was done with his CIT shift, he made his way over to the nurse’s cabin hoping for a couple of bandages or something to deal with scrapes that he kept (painfully) tearing open.

“Hello, anyone here?” He called as he knocked on the cabin door.

When there was no response, he began to push the door open, checking to see if there was anyone present inside. “It’s Jon! I sort of tripped and scraped myself up… Hello?”

After waiting another minute, he shrugged and entered the cabin. One of the things the camp had taught him over the years was the basics of working the medical station, and while he may not have been as good as the actual counselors he still knew how to treat some of the more commonplace injuries around camp.

(Since I didn’t use disinfectant or anything when I first got these, I’m going to want to clean these off before I bandage them…) That was going to sting.

Grabbing a clean cloth, some disinfectant and a few bandage patches he started making his way towards the cabin exit, figuring he could just take care of the injuries himself before taking a nap at his cabin. After all, it had been a long few days, and he’d barely gotten any sleep across them.

Halfway to the door Jill walked into the cabin as if it were own. (Which it kind of is, since she’s the standing nurse…)

It wasn’t until a moment after he’d frozen that the counselor caught sight of him with his arms full of first aid supplies.

“Jon, is someone hurt?” She started in a concerned tone as she began to glance around the cabin for an injured camper.

“Err, no,” He tried stopping her before she could get into one of her infamous worry-frenzies. “I just fell while running around earlies and figured I should do something about the scrapes before they get infected.”

Jill sighed before giving him a look. “On the bed Jon.”

“Huh?” He blinked.

Jill nodded towards one of the beds around the cabin, “On the bed, so I can get a look at these scrapes.”

“I, you don’t have to do that.” He tried waving her off.

“Maybe, but you don’t have to treat those injuries yourself either, so hop to it.” Jill told him, making another gesture towards the bed.

Giving her a resigned sigh, he eventually nodded and hopped onto the nurse’s bed.

“Now where exactly have you gotten yourself hurt this time?”

“I uh, I got a few scratches on my arms and legs when I took a tumble earlier.” He explained, while rolling his pant legs up to show the scrapes on his knees. He could deal with the ones on his back later.

“A tumble?” Jill asked amused by something.

“Yeah?” He nodded a little unsurely, since he wasn’t sure what she found so amusing.

“Ugh, that must’ve been a nasty ‘tumble’.” Jill told him as she looked at his shins.

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“Tripped over a tree root while running.” He admitted, not giving the circumstances as to why he was running.

“In the forest?” She asked with a look as she readied a spray can of disinfectant. “Also, this is going to sting.”

“There’s no rule against it so long as I don’t go too far.” He reminded her defensively, before wincing as the spray hit his damaged skin.

“I know how much you like being out in nature and everything, but you really shouldn’t go out in the forest without anyone knowing.” Jill continued, as she started wrapping a bandage around his leg.

“The quartermaster knew where I was.” He argued, figuring if the old man wanted to blackmail him, then he’d have to cover for him as well.

“The quartermaster is a drunk. Oh, don’t give me that look.” She chastised him. “You’re old enough to realize just what he’s always drinking from that flask.”

“Maybe but…” He trailed off since he’d never really been comfortable with direct confrontation.

Jill gave him a sympathetic look before sighing as she finished with his leg. “Hey, how much do you remember from all of those old first aid lessons we gave you kids?”

He thought about it for a moment. “Um, the basics?”

“Alright, then why don’t you help me out around here?” Jill offered as she stood up.

“Help you with what?” He asked, because while he was more than willing to help her, he’d still rather know what he was helping her with.

“Well given how often the kids are getting scrapes and bruises here, I figure I could use a hand taking care of everyone.” She explained. “You don’t have to help, but whenever you have some free time, I’d appreciate the helping hand.”

“Sure, that doesn’t sound too bad.” Besides, he loved helping people when he could.

Jill gave him a smile. “Thanks Jon, you’re a good kid.”

Scene Consequences

-Jill has taken care of Jon’s scrapes healing some of the damage.

-Jon can now help Jill out at the nurse’s cabin. Maybe she can even teach him a few more first aid skills?

-Discovered [First Aid] skill at E-rank. (Lv. 5)

---

--- Night ---

After they’d finished up at the nurse’s cabin Jill had reminded him that Miss Edna wanted him and Ying to check in with her and see how they were handling their first few days at the camp.

As he came to the base of the stairs to Miss Edna’s cabin the front door swung open and his co-CIT Ying stepped out while staring at something in her palm curiously.

“Oh, hey, Ying.” He waved in greeting.

Ying looked at him before blinking. “Oh, hello Mr. Whitaker.”

He internally winced at the overly formal address.

“Oh, uh, yeah…” He coughed into his hand. “So, uh, you just finished your meeting with Miss Edna, right?”

Ying nodded without saying anything else.

“Well, did everything turnout alright?”

Ying nodded again. “Yes, it was… interesting at the very least.”

“Mm-hmm…” He nodded back.

His fellow CIT stared at him for a moment. “If that’ll be all?”

“Oh, yeah, yeah, it’s uh, yeah…” He motioned for her to go ahead.

Ying continued to watch him as passed him by, before shaking her head and facing forward, leaving him free to grimace at his own awkwardness.

(Darn it… I’m really not good with people…)

He stood there for a minute contemplating his own inadequacies before going up the stairs and knocking on Miss Edna’s door.

“Come on in!” the head counselor called from within.

He went ahead and pushed the door open before glancing around Miss Edna’s cabin, his attention drawn between the various knickknacks she had lying about. From carved wooden owls to a wall covered in little art projects campers had left her over the years, but despite being something of a cluttered mess, he couldn’t help but appreciate the almost homey feeling the cabin gave off.

(Wish my home was half as homey…)

“Ah, Jon there you are! How’ve you been?” Miss Edna greeted, drawing his attention away from the room and back to the head counselor.

“Oh, I’ve been doing well.” He lied, figuring it was probably best he didn’t let her know he was aware of the camp’s difficult situation.

Miss Edna was a kind woman in her early forties with silvery grey hair, who’d founded Camp Bet decades ago and had run the camp every year since. Odds are the fact that the camp was being shut down was probably breaking her heart inside.

“And how’ve you’ve been adjusting to your work with the other counselors?” She pressed.

“It’s not really that different from when I used to help them.” Honestly, all the times he’d helped the counselors over the years were probably the only reason he was doing as well as he was.

“Aw yes, you’ve always been a very helpful boy.” Miss Edna smiled. “Always looking after the younger campers, and helping the counselors keep everything running.”

“I’m just glad I can help,” (someone.) He admitted.

Miss Edna gave him another smile before reaching for a box on a nearby shelf. “Part of the reason I asked you to come by is because I wanted to give you one of these.”

“One of what?”

“Oh, just these lucky charms I made in my free time.” Miss Edna told him, before giving him the box. “Feel free to take whichever one you want.”

He opened the box and laying inside were a number of charms that could be connected to a necklace or bracelet. Despite the number of different designs only three really caught his attention.

A pale star like charm that had an almost wonderous feel to it.

A golden sun charm that left him feeling physically warmer.

And a crescent moon charm that felt like a safe place.

(That’s weird…) He’d never gotten ‘feelings’ from accessories before. (Maybe they’re magic?)

Everyone that had spent more than a summer at Camp Bet knew miss Edna practiced magic as a hobby from time to time, though no one was sure if she was really an Arcane or just a practitioner.

“Well, what are you waiting for?” Miss Edna prodded. “Take one.”

Choice

Which charm should Jon take?

[] -Star

[] -Sun

[] -Moon

Something about that charm called to him, and as he picked it off the table, he felt something sort of thrum inside of him.

“Interesting…” Miss Edna murmured just loud enough for him to hear.

He shot her a curious look. “What is?”

“Oh, nothing.” The head counselor waved him off. “Just didn’t think that was your choice in fashion.”

He gave the charm a confused look before turning back to miss Edna. “Why not?”

“Oh, a couple of reasons.” Miss Edna told him cryptically, “But what’s important is you keep that charm with you, okay? That’s what marks you as a proper counselor here at Camp Bet.”

“Right, I won’t let it out of arm’s reach!” He nodded excitedly, the part of him puzzled by the head counselor’s words being overrun and trampled by the part that had spent the last few years wanting to work at Camp Bet.

Miss Edna gave him a soft smile at that. “You’re a good boy Jon, whatever the world throws at you… don’t let it take that from you.”

He blinked; his confusion once more growing. “Okay?”