Quest: 1.16 (Week 2-Weekend (Pt.1))

--- Jon ---

--- Early Day ---

Waking up on the weekend did little to actually cheer him up like it would most people. This was mostly because while he may not have had any CIT duties on the weekend, well… he actually loved being a CIT. And taking a day off from it wasn’t as nice for him as it was for Andy, Jill, Miss Edna, or even Ying, who all worked so hard to keep the camp running for everyone.

Still, this meant that by the time he’d finished his morning routine and breakfast, he was left without anything needing him that day.

As he looked around the camp for someone in need his eyes eventually fell on the quartermaster slowly dragging a canoe down to the lake edge.

(Well,)

Honestly, he didn’t think he’d have considered the idea just a few days ago, after seeing the quartermaster covered in blood, but having seen and… (made not alive) that one wolf himself, he was a lot less reluctant to be around quartermaster Rogers.

(Well, I wanted to do something to help the camp…)

Once he’d walked up to the quartermaster, it took the older man a moment to notice him, and a moment past that to finally ask, “What do you want, kid?”

“You wanted me to help you out around camp, right?” He reminded the quartermaster as the man kicked the canoe into the water. “Well, I figure it’s better to volunteer than having you drag me off into the woods against my will again.”

“Eh, that’ll happen eventually.” The quartermaster shrugged, as he took a swig of his flask.

(Well, that’s not concerning at all…)

He shook his head. “Look, do you want me to help with something or not?”

Quartermaster Rogers stared at him for a moment before nodding. “Alright, go grab a shovel from the supply cabin. I have shit I need to bury where no one will find it.”

(And… I’m already regretting this decision…)

--- Afternoon ---

After dealing with all of the usual garbage that came about when dealing with the quartermaster, he decided to take a go at the archery range. (Largely because I feel like shooting something…)

Like usual the only person at the range when they didn’t have to be was Ying, firing away at one of the targets.

Unlike the last time they’d shared the range he decided to try and approach her, figuring that as the ‘last of the old guard’ maybe that made them friends (?) (Maybe…)

He couldn’t help but shake his head at that reminder of his own social awkwardness.

“Are you alright, Jon?”

“Huh?” He blinked, before noticing Ying was staring at him with a curious look. “Oh, uh, yeah. Yeah, I’m just… I was wondering if you uh, wanted to practice… together?”

Ying tilted her head a little. “I don’t mind.”

“Oh, uh, good… Yeah…” He nodded.

(Darn it! Why can’t I talk to people my own age?!)

Seeing that Ying had already turned back to her own target, he decided to go ahead and face his target and ready his bow.

Closing his eyes, he started to control his breathing, evening it out and pacing it.

(Inhale…1…2…3…4… Exhale…1…2…3…4… Inhale…1…2…3…4…)

He opened his eyes and started shooting, his arrows all hitting relatively close to the bullseye.

They continued on like this for several minutes, at least until he noticed Ying glaring at her target as another one of her shots hit the outer ring. A glare that shifted to his own target as one of his arrows hit much closer to the target than hers had.

“How are you hitting so close to the target?” Ying eventually asked him.

“Um, practice?” Or at least he figured that was what it was.

Ying gave him a snort of amusement. “I’m fairly certain I spend more time at this range than you do.”

“Maybe at this range, but me and my mom used to visit the range back home at least once a month.” What he didn’t mention was that that was a firing range, and that they’d quit when after five years his ma finally accepted that he couldn’t shoot the broadside of a barn with a gun.

(Honestly, you’d think archery would be the harder of the two…)

He shook his head away from that thought before realizing Ying was giving him another one of those weird quiet looks she tended to give everyone.

“Uh, is something wrong?”

Ying blinked, as if just realizing she’d been staring.

“No, everything is fine.” She told him as she turned back to her target. “It’s nice that you and your mom share a hobby like that.”

He just suppressed a grimace at that, because while they may’ve done a lot of things together, they didn’t actually share any hobbies or interests together.

His mom was a no nonsense, career-oriented woman.

Where as he… well he was into camping, cooking, gardening and stuff like that.

(Darn it, I’m bumming myself out here…)

Scene Choice:

What should Jon do?

[]- Offer to teach Ying the breathing trick he uses.

[]- Ask Ying about her own mom.

[]- Just focus on shooting the target.

--- Evening ---

“It’s nice of you to volunteer Jon, but I can handle cooking dinner.” Miss Edna assured him as they walked into the kitchen.

“Maybe, but I figure you cook normally cook breakfast, lunch, and dinner, so it won’t hurt for one of us to give you a break.” He argued. “And since I do a lot of the cooking back home, I figured I could go ahead and do dinner for a night.”

Miss Edna gave him a look before reluctantly sighing. “Alright, I guess you can cook.”

“I won’t let you down!” He promised her excitedly.

“I appreciate your enthusiasm Jon.” Miss Edna laughed. “But if you happen to burn dinner, please let me know so I can order the camp pizza or something.”

That, uh, that put of a damper on his excitement. “I’m not going to burn it…”

“I’m sure you will Jon,” Miss Edna assured him. “Just, uh, just let me know if you do. No pressure, aright.”

“Alright…” He nodded, still feeling like she was underestimating him.

He wasn’t sure why people tended to do that so much. (I mean I keep such a positive attitude that things can’t go wrong.)

“Well… I’m just going to have to prove her wrong then.” He nodded to himself.

--- Night ---

He tried going to bed once everyone had eaten but like with the week before he spent more time tossing and turning than actually sleeping.

(Darn it…)

Giving up on the idea of sleep, he sat up and ran his hands down his face.

Every time he managed to get comfortable, he started thinking about the wolf out in the woods and whatever drove it rabid. Then he’d start thinking about how much of a threat those would’ve caused if they’d made it to camp.

He was honestly grateful the quartermaster dealt with the beast when he did, because while he could handle one wolf gone rabid, two or three would’ve been more than enough to tear him apart. (And that’s not considering if they’d gotten one of the other campers…)

He was fully aware most parents didn’t give their kids basic military training like his mother did.

Taking a moment to consider that fact, he grabbed his knife and headed for the place he usually did his morning exercises. While it was fairly close to the forest edge, it was still far enough that he should be safe. (Besides I’ve been training there for years and never noticed anything dangerous.)

Once at the clearing, he looked the lace over noting the way the clearing looked different in moonlight compared to the morning light, and how much harder it was to actually see anything in the dark.

(Eh, my eye ‘ll adjust.)

Pulling his knife from its sheathe, he began doing the standard stretches he always did before a spar or shadow boxing.

(It’s been a while since I’ve done these…) The fact that he didn’t have to do them, was one of the reasons he like camp so much. (Still, I need to figure out what exactly I’m going to focus on today…)

Scene Choice:

What should we focus on? (Note: All [Combat] skills will still get XP, this just gives something extra.)

[]- Focus on Offense.

[]- Focus on Defense.