Part 2: Survival of the Fittest Idiots

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After a few minutes of going through the forest, Epel's face popped up, relieving Charlie with some familiarity.

"Hey there!" she waved, approaching them.

"Oh! Grim! Charlie!" Epel took notice first.

"We came to check on you guys." Grim notified. "This is one of the prime areas, right? For collecting firewood?"

"Yea!" Epel showed them the pile of sticks he had gotten thus far.

"Ruggie told me to grab specific sticks." he explained.

"Yea, but you also got thin branches, too. You sure they're meant for a fire?" Grim was doubtful.

"Don't sweat it." Ruggie, overhearing their talk, jumped in with a subtle wave o his hand. "Thick sticks burn longer, but they waste up time tryna make the actual fire. So with the smaller twigs, they'll burn faster.

"If you say so...."

"Well, how are we gonna start the fire?" Epel asked. "We've no matches or a lighter and using magic is breaking the rules. We're in a pickle...."

"Nah, it's pretty simple. Just follow me and I'll show you how it's done. You too, Charlie! I'll need your help."

"Sure!" the girl smiled, following after the two, Grim clinging onto her shoulder.

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As soon as the three had came back to home-base, Leona twitched and his eyes opened to see the trio approaching.

"Huh, you're back pretty early." he mumbled.

"Leona, you've been here all along?!" Grim said. "No surprise since you're a free loader...."

"Yea? And you wanna say that to my face, Fur Ball?" Leona sat up, glaring hard at Grim, who cowered behind Charlie's leg.

"N-N-No thanks!!!" he shook in fear.

"Charlie! I need you!" Ruggie called for her.

"Coming!" she called back, kicking Grim away lightly and running towards the pyre as Grim wailed for her to come back and protect him.

"So, again, Ruggie, how are we gonna start this fire?" Epel asked.

"First, get some dry rock on the ground. And pile on leaves and twigs." he instructed. Epel and Charlie got to work, as she laid down the rocks in a perfect circle and Epel layered on several small leaves and twigs in the circle. Ruggie lifted three tall sticks and had Charlie hold them together at the top as he coiled strong rope around them and knotted them together securely. "Okay, now with these last two stones, we'll use a steel file as well-"

"Did you bring that from home?!" Grim interrupted.

"No, it's from the toolbox." Ruggie corrected. "Now, we just strike the stones against the file." he held the rocks in one hand and the file in the other, striking down on the metal sharp and fast as small sparks flew onto the kindling, setting a few alight.

"Ah! We got fire!"

"Yep. Now we just need to place some wood on top to keep it going.: Ruggie went on as Epel stuck up shorter sticks of wood together into a teepee underneath over the rocks and kindling.

"See? Easy!"

"Amazing, senpai!" Epel gushed. "You know a lot on camping."

"Well, it's not like camping, more like survival where I'm from. Learnt a few things on the streets." Ruggie nodded. "But besides that: we've got a fire going!"

"So I see." one mine ghost had floated over to them to analyze the work. "That's one task done! Your badge!" the small red button and given to Ruggie.

"Yes! One down!"

"The fire will be useful for future tasks and be a source of heat during the cold nights. So keep it aflame."

"Got it! Ah, on second thought, it can stand against the wind if the flames get bigger."

"I wouldn't celebrate too early if I were you." Leona negated, confusing the others.

"What do ya mean?" Ruggie's question never got answered, when something flashed in front of them, a small creature with wood skin wearing robes of moss and tree bark and leaf-like wings.

"Wood fae!!!"

"GAH?! Why are they here?!" Grim ducks for cover.

"They weren't here even a second ago!"

"What do they want from us?!"

"U-Uh, senpai, they look pretty agitated..." Epel grew nervous.

"Was it something I did....?" Ruggie mumbled.

"You lit a fire, what else, genius?" Leona spat.

"Not the time, Leona!! Ugh, let's just get rid of them!"

The students flew into a frenzy, trying to swat at the creatures like flies, but they dodged their attacks and started to snuff out the flames, chanting something under their breaths. Something that sounded like, "Red Flowers"....

"Okay, my turn." Charlie's hand lit up with light as the small Opal was clutched in her hand. "Solar Wind!" Charlie summoned a gust of wind and light from both her hands into a strong vortex to blow away the little sprites far back into the trees. The force of the wind current was too strong against the fairies and it sent them hurling far into the trees and out of sight.

"Whoa!" Epel gaped at her. She had stopped the attack once every fairy was gone. "Thanks, Charlie!"

"Don't sweat it." she shook her head.

"Well, you got rid of 'em for us!" Ruggie thanked. "But WHY were they here?"

"They were scared of fire." Leona answered.

"Wh-What are you talkin' about?" Ruggie shook his head, confused.

"It happened years prior..." Leona sighed. "Back when the mines were still open, a group of miners caused a fire that destroyed over half the forest. Ever since that day, several fairies who lived around these parts referred to fire as "Red Flowers" and both feared and hated it. That's why they attacked out fire pit."

"W-Well, I can understand why they would so such a thing..." Charlie sympathized. "It brought back horrible memories of a disaster that destroyed their home...they've every right to be scared and angry....." her voice took a deep and sad tone. "Yet...I'm still surprised you can recall these things by heart, Leona."

"It was taught to us in class." he answered. "Aside from the Fresh-Meats, it's no surprise Second years are unaware of this..." he shot Ruggie and a few more students a dirty look as he said that, making them look away, laughing awkwardly. "You're lucky Rabbit saved our asses or else we'd risk Vargas screaming his head off at us."

"W-Well, is there anything we can do?" Epel raised a hand. "They're bound to come back and put out our fire if we try and light it up again...." he stared over at the semi-burnt wooden sticks.

"Well, you know, Leona here~" Ruggie smirks. "He can be our lookout~!"

"No fucking way. Do it yourself." Leona snapped. "They're just pipsqueak fairies. They're scared of fire, just use that against them."

"I knew that, but it couldn't hurt to ask~." Ruggie nodded. "Maybe...we'll take turns keeping an eye on the fire. While that's going on, the rest of us can handle the last two things!" the other club members nod in agreement as Charlie decided to leave them be and check on the others.

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Moving towards the lake, Charlie kneels carefully by the side, dipping her hands in the cool and clear waters, tingling her hands with cold. She sighed in bliss, making a reminder to grab some water for her and Sol later.

"Alright. Fish bait's on the line, so let's drop it in." she perks up, looking over to see Jack and Deuce together, starting to fish.

"Alright!" Deuce nods and together they reel their lines and cast them into the waters. "..........So now what?"

"It's more difficult than told. You gotta have patience when doing this. I was always told this when my siblings and I've done this before." Jack explained. Charlie smiled as she watched them silently as a few pickers began to circle under one of the hooks. "Hey, Deuce! Looks like you got something."

"Oh sweet! Now to wait until the bite and-"

"HEY guys!!!" Grim pops up between the two like a whack-a-mole. The sudden outburst caused the several fish to swim away.

"No! We almost had them!"

"Grr, Grim! You did this!" Jack growled at the cat.

"Oi, don't blame me! I'm not the ones stuck with this job! GEH!!" Grim started to retort until he felt himself get picked up by his collar and came face to face with Charlie.

"No, your little outburst had caused them to lse something they've worked for." she chided him and sent the two an apologetic smile. "Any luck so far? I saw you two had something til Maggots-for-Brains disturbed the peace."

"HEY!!!"

"Well, none so far." Deuce reports back. "Grim, just stay quiet now, okay?"

"Eh, can't be helped, but okay." the tanuki relents. "But, uh, you sure you can only catch fish by waiting? Try moving it around!" he catches himself free from Charlie's grasp and skips towards the two. "Lemme try! I'll show ya how it's done!! Look, simple as-!" but just as he took Deuce's pole and jerked it around, another school of fish swam off frightened. "EH?! They got away!!"

"GRIM!" the two boys began to growl as Charlie hauled him up again, tighter gripped, and wrenching the pole from him.

"Alright, that's it! You just earned yourself a timeout in the Solar Sphere!" she summoned the familiar yellow bubble and shoved him inside.

"HEY! I-Im sorry! I was only trying to help!!!" he begged, until his eyes darted to the lake. "Hey, hold on! What's that shadow?!"

Charlie looked over her shoulder to see a long-tailed thing slinking around the bottom of the lake and her eyebrows fold down in confusion.

"That's a fish, isn't it? I think it's coming towards us!" Deuce smiled slightly. "That may hold us off for a few days! Let's get it!"

"I-I guess, but....don't you think it's a bit too huge for a normal fish...?" Jack sounded confused. Charlie knew instantly what he meant and by looking at the shape, had a qualm about who it may actually be.

"...That ain't no fish, guys...." she shook her head as water gurgled under the dock they stood on. Her eyes widened and she pushed them back. "Get away from the edge!!" The boys followed her just as the creature broke the surface.

"Eh? It's Lil Mackerel, Sea Urchin, Sea Star nd Sealy. Why are you guys here?" Floyd, in his mer form, asked as he sat on the dock, his scales glisteing under the sun's rays.

"S-Senpai! We were gonna ask the same thing!!" Deuce sputtered.

"I'm doing my job. But I got too hungry so I took things in my own hands. Or fins!" he shrugged. "I don't wanna wait just for the fish to come to me, so this way's a lot easier!....Oh yea, I'm still looking for prey. Bye, guys~!" he waggled his fingers and pushed himself back into the water with a splash and swam off towards another part of the lake.

"I-Is he even allowed to do that...?" Jack asked.

"Well, it's not like he's breaking the rules in the first place." Charlie points out logically. "Vargas said you can't use magic, but he never said anything about physical action. So, Floyd actually found a loophole! For once...."

"W-We're getting off track! We need fish soon!" Deuce gets them back to the task until something shot out or in of the water. "Ugh now what?!"

"Did someone just throw a rock?" Jack was confused until he picked up something and got on guard. "Hey, look over there!!" He points forward at the other side of the lake and there was another fairy, but this one was composed of water. Clear hair tinted blue with a dress to match and crystal wings on it's back.

Several of them taunted the group as others threw pebbles or stones into the water.

"Fairies?! I dunno what they want, but I now they're making fun of us! Enough's enough! Jack, let's take 'em out!"

"Read my mind!"

As the two managed to hold off the fairies slightly, Charlie slipped away off the dock and ran towards the water's edge, procuring the Stone in her hand, the cool white slick against her palm.

Placing her hands palm down on the grass, she closed her eyes and concentrated. Hands swathed in light, she felt the water before her swirling, growing into a tiny vortex, growing bigger and bigger until it was a quarter of the size of the lake. Several began to shoot up like razor spikes, growing more agitated as she opened her eyes and pushed her hands forward. "Moon Maelstrom!!!" Just like before in the fight with the twins in the ocean, the water vortex obeyed her command and shot out of the lake circling up and out towards the group of fairies, spiked waves surging towards the fairies, bashing into them with such force that it sucked them into the lake or forced them to retreat.

Charlie stands when she sees that the last of them had vanished and regroups with the others.

"Charlie! That was amazing!" Deuce smiled as he thanked her. "You got rid of them like nothing!"

"Wasn't that the same attack you used on both Jade and Floyd back in the Coral Sea?" Jack asked.

"Yea." she answered. "After that, I managed to perfect it with some help. So, no sweat!"

"But now thanks to you, we can finish the job we came here to do! Let's go!"

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"7, 8, 9.....I got 10!" Deuce announced.

"8!"

"13!"

"And I've 22!" Jack finished. "Since this was an easy task, we'll just cook what we've caught. But that fight with the fairies set us back a bit...If it hadn't been for Charlie, we'd never have made it this far."

"Quite an amount!" another Mine ghost analyzes their work. "But be sure to clear the mission when one is cooked. There's seasoning and utensils back at base, so use what you wish."

"Okay! Lets move!" Deuece gathers his stock. "But what do we make? I usually help my mom out in the kitchen, but unless something's difficult...What about you, Jack?"

"I can't do anything with a complicated process." The wolf admits. "I usually stick to frying it. How about that?"

"I guess we can try..." Deuce sounded unsure.

"Boys, Culinary Class 101 with Chef Charlie is now open!" The girl smiled. "I can show you how to skin and grill a fish even with your eyes closed!"

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Charlie's hands worked like magic as she started to work on the fish. Deuce and Jack watched her work like she was Gordon Ramsay and they were the contestants. Using a knife, she scaled the fish and shaved several scales on both sides. A cut near the gills until she reaches bone and then slices into the backbone of the fish. Layering off one side, she gets to work on severing the bones from the other half until the bone and tail are clean off with the head. After discarding those pieces, she works on skinning away the scales and fins, any remained of backtail and ends up with evenly thick pieces of cut fish. After seasoning with a bit of pepper and salt, and grilling over the open fire on a hot pan, all the members of Track and field decided to follow her lead. But believe the term: things are not as easy as they look. Most had ended up failing, while others decided to try the fish she had cooked for...future use.

"Amazing~!" Grim burped after he downed his eighth piece of fish.

"Yea, both pieces are crispy! And the seasoning's good too!" Deuce comments.

"Just salt for me, but I'll give Charlie the credit." Jack chuckled. " 'Sides, it's better to eat together when were around the fire."

"Can I get more?" Grim asked.

"No way, you. We've two more clubs to check on!" Charlie denied.

"Aww, c'mon! One more and then we'll go, I promise!!"

"Charlie, he's right. You've helped us so much, you deserve to rest." Deuce supports. "I'll admit, If my mom were here and she'd see your skills, she'd be a bit jealous!"

"Well....Alright." she smiled and sat beside him. "Thank my dad for teaching me what he learnt."

"So, Jack." Deuce chewed and swallowed the piece he was eating. "What's next?"

"We should check out the others and see if they need some backup. They may need assistance in getting those stones."

"You read my mind!"

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After their fish lunch, Charlie and Grim moved up to the mines, where they had soon crossed paths with the Horseback Riding Club.

"Charlotte." Silver greets her first. "You can to check on our progress?"

"Yea." she nods. "You guys okay? You seem to be in a pickle." he noted the worry in his eyes.

"Yea, it's much harder to find stones when the mines are shut down. And we can't dig around blindly. We're trying to remember what we've learnt from class lectures." he nods his head over to where Riddle is in charge of a smaller group.

"Now, can anyone tell me the detail of what we've learnt?" he asked.