"Sure," I answered. He smiled, reaching for my hand but I moved it away, attempting to make it seem accidental as we walked toward the dock.

On the edge stood Nerris and Harrison, I smiled softly,

"Ship it." I chuckled. Harrison then pushed Nerris into the water, causing me to gasp slightly.

"Harrison!" David yelled.

"Oh, Nerris, you clumsy fool! Never fear. I shall save you out of the kindness of my gold heart." Harrison then lets out a line from his fishing pole, only to be pulled into the water.

"Can they swim?!" I asked. David didn't hesitate to jump in the water, coming out with two coughing campers. They both laid on the bank, attempting to breathe evenly.

"Thanks... David." Harrison breathed out, choking slightly. I stayed beside the two until they were on their feet again, soon leaving the area to their tents.

David placed his hand on my lower back, causing a chill to go down my spine.

"Uh, let's go eat some lunch?" He asked. I wanted to say no but ended up nodding to his offer.

We both sat at the mess hall, a sandwich on both our plates. Dolph then stood on the table, taking the sandwich from David's grasps. He sat there confused as he rose a brow at the German kid.

"David, please. Allow me to assist you with the consumption of your sandwich." He then chewed it all in seconds, before spitting it back out onto the plate. David leaned back from the disgusting mush, a concerned look on his features.

"There we are! All chewed up for you!", Dolph smiled. I gently scooted my plate away from the short camper.

"Um... Here comes the airplane!" Dolph smiled, grabbing David's cheek with a spoon of the already chewed food. I quickly stood,

"I don't think David's very hungry right now, Dolph..." I chuckled, moving David away. He quickly got up and left the cabin, I soon followed behind.

"Resistance is futile, Turkey-man!" Dolph yelled. David looked forward, his eyes widening.

"What in the-?"

Preston stood with a broom, a smirk on his lips.

"Hey, David! Like what I've done with the place?" He asked.

"Wh-What did you do to the camp!?" David asked.

"And how is this humanly possible?" I asked.

"I cleaned it!" Preston smiled. David covered his mouth with his hands, disbelief written on his face. "The floors were covered in dirt!"

"That's because it's the forest!" David yelled.

"I know! I really did some good today. So for my prize, I was thinking of a Broadway deal."

"Preston put it all back now! Please!" David begged.

"But-!"

"I'm on it!" Yelled Ered as a dump truck backed up to Preston. I and David stepped back, watching as the dirt fell on Preston and Ered skated down the mound.

"Uh, I'll take my hover boots now.", Ered said, putting her hand out. David covered his face, a scream ready to escape.

"David, witness me." Niel declared, pulling up the mascot, "witness my love for nature." He then attempted to kiss the animal, only to be bit. "Ow! You whore! Let me love you! Goddammit!" Niel yelled. I latched onto David's arm, not feeling comfortable with the scene in front of me.

"This doesn't count, David. They don't ACTUALLY care." Max said, leaned up against the cabin.

"W-w-what do you mean?! Of course, they do! Look at 'em!" David denied.

"No. They're just doing all of this because they think they'll get something awesome!" Max argued.

"A little motivation never hurt anyone."

"Until they find out there IS no prize."

"Of course there's a prize! It's a great prize!", David yelled. I let go of his arm, putting my hands into my pockets, looking at all the campers that gathered around the commotion.

"Money?"

"No!"

"A new pony?! A motorcycle?! An electron microscope!?"

"No! Its better than all of that!! It's symbolic and beautiful!"

"Is it a job well done'? Because that's a fucking cop-out, David!"

"ITS A BONFIRE!!", David screamed.

"What?!" The campers yelled.

David led all the kids deeper into the forest around the pond before stopping at a tall pile of logs.

"A bonfire!" He smiled.

"... A bonfire." Niel repeated.

"Yes! It's the highest honor. The fire is lit with a flaming arrow signifying the-"

"Wait. We don't actually get anything?" Nikki questioned.

"I mean... Of course, you do! Everyone gets their own sash. Like this!" He smiled demonstration the sash.

"But it's so ugly!" Preston complained.

"W-Well..."

"David, is this seriously it?" Gwen asked.

"Yeah, David." Max teased.

"Okay. You guys just aren't seeing it. I'm telling you. This is amazing! The big fire, there's music, a ceremony, oh! And the passing of the staff!" David explained, holding up the staff for everyone to see. "The chief chooses a new member to carry his staff and lead the new generation of sparrows!" David grinned.

"David-" I started.

"So, one of us gets a stick?" Niel asked.

"IT'S AN ANCIENT STAFF!" David snapped, the staff snapping with him. He gasped at the sight, realizing he let anger get the best of him.

"Welp, this is a Trainwreck." The quartermaster grumbled, leaving the clearing.

"No wait, I'll show you! Let me just get it lit!" David smiled, attempting to hit the fire starter together. Thunder then began to roll in, along with a heavy downpour of rain.

"David... Let it go..." Gwen said.

"No, no, no! I can still light it! You'll see!" He said, continuing to scrape the two objects together.

"I can't believe I frenched a platypus for this!" Niel complained. Gwen sighed, turning to the campers.

"Come on, kids," Gwen said, ushering them forward. She then turned to me. "I know you have an attachment to David..." Gwen started. I gulped at the word 'attachment'. "But if you wanna come with, you can. If not... Make sure to keep an eye on David... And come get me if something happens.", She finished before walking off with the campers.

I took a few steps to David, stopping at Max's words.

"Well, David, you were right. This IS amazing." Max said sarcastically.

"Max! Don't-!"

"If I could just show you..." David started.

"Do you really think a big campfire and some outdated... Honestly, kind of racist tradition is going to make anyone care about anything?"

David started scrapping harder, showing Max that he was obviously getting to him.

"No one gives a shit, David."

"MAX-!"

"Nobody wants to be here!",

David put more force, getting more irritated by the second.

"God. It's like you live in this stupid make-believe world where 'everything's great!' the universe doesn't work that way, idiot! Just look around! It's what I've been trying to show you since day one!"

David stopped, tears welling up in his eyes.

"Life sucks. And we live in a world of desensitized, apathetic assholes. Why don't you just get with the program and stop giving a shit." Max finished, turning to walk away with a proud smile on his features. Until David's words stopped him,

"You're right.", David said softly. I couldn't believe what I just heard. I turned to David, Max as well,

"What?" He asked. David hung his head low, facing the giant logs.

"Times have changed. Whether I like it or not. The campers don't care, Gwen doesn't care, even the founder of this place has better things to do." David then turned around. Glaring down at Max.

"That's why I'll never stop trying. Because somebody fucking has to." He finished, a loud rumble of thunder following soon after. I hugged my soaked self, watching the two. Max stayed silent, watching as David went back to scrapping the two objects together.

"David..." Max started.

"Samuel, take Max back to his tent... You'll both just catch a cold." David said the coldest tone of voice I'd ever heard him emit. Something I didn't even think was possible. He tried again, only for the item to snap in two.

"Give me a break!" He yelled, angrily slamming his fist against the logs. The wood then wobbled before falling toward the counselor.

"David!" Max yelled, reaching a hand toward the wood as they fell on top of him. I and Max paused, looking at the logs.

"GWEN!" I screamed.

//

"Here's your outfit." Preston smiled, handing me a (y/f/c) dress with gold lacing and patterns.

"Thank you." I smiled.

"You're gonna look totally fabulous!" He smiled before leaving the cabin. I changed into the dress, kind of admiring the way it looked before I walked out to the bonfire where the other campers stood.

"David's going to love this!" Space kid grinned. I smiled back,

"Yes, he will." I chuckled. Nikki then shot an arrow towards the male counselor,

"Wake up, buttercup!" She yelled.

"Nikki! No more arrows!" Gwen scolded.

"You can't control me, white devil!" Nikki yelled before running off. David groaned before he scanned the ones around the fire.

"You're all dressed up as..."

"Indians. Just like you said!" Niel smiled.

"We designed the outfits ourselves!", Dolph bragged.

"Do you love them? I LOVE THEM!" Preston yelled, patting his hair.

"But... Why?" David questioned.

"Alright, I fixed it. Everybody hurry up and... Ah, shit he's awake." Max groaned.

"Max? Did you-?"

"DO NOT look too deeply into this! You suck, this world sucks, and one day we're all gonna die and none of it will matter, but if we didn't do this, I'm pretty sure you'd kill yourself or something." Max shrugged, holding up the staff with a partial area of duct tape. David sniffled,

"Oh, Max!"

"Or shoot up the camp. I don't know. It was a possibility." Max finished. David leaned down to Max height,

"Thank you." He smiled. Max looked away,

"Whatever. Just take your stupid stick." He grumbled. The staff then broke, the tape no longer able to hold it together. David grabbed the top half off the ground before smiling and holding it up for himself. He then pushed the bottom half closer to Max as to tell him he could keep it.

"Awww. Lucky." Space kid whined. Max then hit him with the stick, a frown on his features.

David walked to stand beside me, admiring the beautiful flame. He turned to me, his eyes trailing up and down my dress.

"You look nice." He smiled.

"Thank you." I chuckled.

"Although, I did like my clothes on you more." He smirked.

"You know. This is kinda nice." Niel admitted. Quartermaster then softly strummed his guitar. Gwen smiled,

"There's a place I know that's tucked away~" she sang. I laid my head on David's shoulder, hearing a couple 'awes' from the kids.

"A place where you can and I can stay."

David gently kissed the top of my hair before laying his head on mine.

"Where we can go to laugh and play."

David then turned to look at Max, inviting him to join the rest. He rolled his eyes before walking to us. I wrapped an arm around Max's shoulders, giving him a comforting squeeze.

"And have adventures every day~"

Max didn't react but did lean toward me slightly.

"I know it sounds hard to believe~"

David rose a brow as he inspected the fire.

"But guys and gals it's true~"

"Hey Max, how'd you start a fire with wet wood anyway?" David asked.

"I'm not an idiot, David. I used gasoline."

My eyes widened,

"Wait, what?" I and David asked in Unison.

BOOM

The logs exploded, leaving my clothes black and charred.

"WOAH! DO IT AGAIN! DO IT AGAIN!" Nikki screamed.

"Camp Campbell is the place~ for me and you~"

(Word count - 1891)

(Written on Wed, Aug 8th)

And that's the end of season one :))