Morning was heralded by birdsong, the return of light, and fire in her lacerated arm.

  Danielle groaned. “I shoulda got up for more Fever-Ace when I was thinking about it,” she muttered.

  “Me too,” Sadie said quietly beside her. “But moving kinda hurts.”

  Danielle looked over at her. She seemed a bit red, and was lying quite still. She had her eyes closed at first, but she opened them to look at Danielle, carefully not turning her head.

  “I have less injuries, I’ll bring you some Fever-Ace,” Danielle said, rolling toward her less-lacerated side and getting up. “Ow. After I take my own,” she added.

  “Thanks,” Sadie said. She closed her eyes again.

  Danielle crouched through the tent opening and found Heather tending to the fire. She yawned widely, then said, “G’morning. Did we wake you up?”

  “I don’t think so. Light, birds, and pain woke me up,” Danielle said. She looked around. “Nobody put more tents up, huh?”

  “We decided whoever was on watch could protect the bags and fish and everything. Nobody had the energy for more camp setting last night,” Heather said.

  Danielle went to her bag and got out her bottle of Fever-Ace. “I slept, but I’m still exhausted,” she said.

  “You slept really hard,” Heather said. “Cassy and I tried to borrow your watch, but we couldn’t get it off; Cassy said it means it’s got a non-Skill System Enhancement brewing. You slept through us trying several different things, and then using your wrist like a wall clock. I don’t know whether to be scared or impressed; you never were easy to wake up by accident, but it seemed extreme.”

  “Dunno,” Danielle admitted. “I don’t remember any of that. I did wake up once with pain, and almost got up for more of this, but I fell back asleep before I could muster the will to actually move. How much is that higher safe dosage?”

  “Um, three pills if you have the 325 milligram tablets,” Heather said.

  Danielle checked her bottle. “Says 500,” she reported.

  “Two then,” Heather said. “With a full canteen of water this time, not just a sip. I don’t think you’re supposed to keep that up very long, either, but a few days should be OK if you need it.”

  “We got full canteens for everyone?” Danielle asked, tapping pills out of the bottle in pairs. “Sadie’s at least semi-awake too, I promised to bring her some.”

  “Yeah, Cassy got that ready during her watch,” Heather said. “I went first and she got a few hours of sleep, then she took a turn and used her Defer Sleep Skill to make sure she wouldn’t fall asleep before the sun came up, and now I’m up again while she sleeps off her Deferred hours. I’m taking a nap this afternoon after we get back safe.”

  Danielle took her Fever-Ace, then another long drink of water. “Bleah. Distilled water tastes lousy. Be right back.”

  She ducked back into the tent and crouched next to Sadie, nudging her hand. “You awake enough to take pills?” she asked.

  “Yes please,” Sadie said, opening the hand Danielle had nudged.

  Danielle put the pills into it. “Water’s here. Heather says you gotta drink the whole thing,” she told Sadie.

  “OK. Give it to me in a second,” Sadie said, and put the pills in her mouth, then held out her hand for the water.

  Danielle handed it to her. “You want some help sitting up? It’s kind of hard to drink water that flat on your back,” she pointed out.

  “Mmm.” Sadie carefully tipped some water into her mouth from one side and swallowed the pills. “I managed, but you might have a point. Also, I gotta put pillows on the list of stuff to make.”

  Danielle laughed briefly, moving around Sadie to get her un-injured arm under her shoulders. “OK, lifting on three – one, two, three.”

  “Nng! Ow.” Sadie swayed just a bit where she sat, then took another drink. “OK. It’s not so bad now that I’m up. I’ll just stay in this position until I’m done with the water, then lay down again.”

  “OK. I might be doing the same thing – Cassy’s gotta sleep off her Skill, and Heather’s doing all right on watch.”

  “I didn’t get woke up for a watch,” Sadie said with a frown.

  “Cassy and Heather handled it,” Danielle said. “Not what we were planning on, but neither was the vine thing.”

  “True. If you come back at the right time, I might take help lying down again,” Sadie said.

  “I’ll make sure Akari’s got meds, then come join you in drinking water,” Danielle said.

  She exited the tent she’d slept in and went into the other. Akari and Cassy were laid out on their own cloaks/ponchos/bag-pillows. Danielle nudged Akari’s hand. “Akari. You awake?” she asked quietly.

  “Nope, I’m asleep,” Akari said. “I’ll wake up for some Fever-Ace, though.”

  “Heh. I brought water too,” Danielle said. “Heather says you have to drink the whole thing.”

  “I heard,” Akari said. “Help me sit up, too?”

  Danielle did so, much as she had with Sadie, then gave Akari the pills.

  Akari took them with a drink of water, then took another long drink. “Sitting up wasn’t so bad. I think I can lay down myself if I’m careful,” she said. “Thanks for bringing the pills, though.”

  “No problem. Get a little more sleep if you can,” Danielle said. “I’m not sure how walking back is going to be, pretty sure we’re going to have to redistribute the load – you can’t take a strap across your chest, and Sadie shouldn’t have one across that shoulder.”

  “How about you?” Akari asked.

  “It’s all on my arm, so no straps or anything will rest there. I might have to be pretty careful putting the bags on, though,” Danielle said.

  “So it’s you, Heather, and Cassy, carrying maybe all our stuff home,” Akari said.

  “We’ll manage. We need to get stronger anyway. We’re out here for the duration, whatever that is; and if camp got unsafe to the point we had to get out of the proverbial high rise? We’d be carrying everything again,” Danielle said.

  “Stupid saying,” Akari muttered.

  “What is? Get out of the high rise?” Danielle asked.

  “Mountains are the safe places, why do we still use a saying that makes tall things sound dangerous?” Akari complained.

  “I think it’s one of those apocalypse things. Like using ‘rot-stink’ as a curse and talking about schools of fish like they’re super deadly. There are still people alive who remember when that stuff was all happening,” Danielle said.

  “Geriatric politicians, mostly,” Akari said with a snort, then added, “ow.”

  “Whatever. It’s just a saying, and you know what I meant,” Danielle complained.

  “Yeah, yeah. I’d just rather complain about older-than-dirt politicians than imagine how we’re getting home,” Akari said. “If you even count the Rooms as home!”

  “They’re as much ‘home’ as the dorms ever were, and we called them that sometimes,” Danielle said. “Anyway, don’t worry about it. We’ll work together, and it’ll work out. We’re Outside. You know that saying that ‘anything that doesn’t kill us makes us stronger?’ We’re living the reality of that one for ourselves. We really could get rapid healing Traits from this. Heh, or herbicide Skills – I mean, two mana bursts from killing mutant plants?”

  “Rule of three,” Akari said, then paused to take a long drink from her canteen. “Bleah. Is distilled water supposed to taste bad?”

  Unauthorized duplication: this tale has been taken without consent. Report sightings.

  “If we have to fight another vine monster, I want it to be one without thorns, so we better get those identify plant Skills unlocked and in use,” Danielle joked.

  “Hah! Ow. Yeah, so we can ambush it next time, instead of the reverse,” Akari agreed.

  “I’m going back to my tent to drink my own water,” Danielle said.

  “Pretty sure it’s Sadie’s tent,” Akari said.

  “I’m going to go sit on my own weather gear and thank Sadie for setting up her tent before we tried to fight a living blender,” Danielle corrected herself.

  “Hahaha! Ow. Stop making me laugh!” Akari sputtered.

  “Heh. All right. Get some more sleep if you can,” Danielle said.

  “I’ll try. I don’t know how Cassy’s sleeping with all this light,” Akari said.

  “I think her Skill is keeping her asleep. I wonder if she dreams when it’s like this?” Danielle moved back to the tent opening. “Anyway, see you in a few hours. Rest at least, even if you can’t sleep.”

  “I’ll try,” Akari promised again.

  Danielle ducked out of the tent again and checked her watch. “So. It’s just about six thirty now,” she said to Heather. “Do you know when Cassy will wake up? How long do we have?”

  “Three and a half hours,” Heather said. “Maybe closer to four, even. She pretty much just got settled – that’s why I thought we might’ve woke you up.”

  “Oh. I guess it might’ve helped? I don’t remember it though,” Danielle said. “If we’ve got that long, I’m going to see if I can get back to sleep, though. Or else I’m going to rest quietly out of the sun. I’m feeling the sunburn a little. It’s not as bad as my arms, but my face is actually weirdly hot.”

  “Cassy was feeling it a little, too,” Heather said. “She took some Fever-Ace and said it helped.”

  “Wish we’d thought to bring that lotion,” Danielle said with a sigh. “Oh well. I took the Fever-Ace, I’m going to finish my water and see if I can get rested.”

  “OK. I’m going to pack up the dried fish, maybe do something with fish and berries for breakfast, and try out my new Skill,” Heather said.

  “New Skill?” Danielle paused at the entrance to the tent with her spot.

  “Oh, uh, from the mana-burst. I got 20 mana and Identify Plant,” Heather said.

  “Oh. Akari’s going to be jealous,” Danielle said. “I might be a little jealous, too.”

  “You can work on unlocking it with Akari, then,” Heather said. “Heh, and I can check your work!”

  “Hehe, sounds like a plan,” Danielle said and crouch-walked into the tent.

  She sat drinking her water with Sadie, rushing a bit toward the end when she saw Sadie was nearly done. She helped her lie down when they were both done, and then lay down herself.

  She woke up later with a full bladder. It took some doing to convince Heather to let her go to the latrine alone, but with everyone else in camp magically unconscious or in too much pain to get up easily, Danielle finally talked her into staying at her post. When she got back, Heather looked incredibly relieved – and then surprised her by immediately demanding that she stand guard while Heather used the latrine herself. Danielle laughed and agreed, and started eating berries from her foraging bag while she waited.

  A while later, Heather asked her to check the fish trap, and there was a fish. “I wonder if there are fish wandering in there a lot, and they just find the way out if we leave them long enough?” Danielle speculated.

  “Maybe, but I’m pretty sure we also still had fish heads and tails in there,” Heather replied. “If we keep dumping bones in it like that, we might need to move it once in a while so it doesn’t just turn into a nasty rotten spot.”

  “Mm. Good point, but I think as long as we’re not here baiting it multiple times a day every day, it’ll probably be OK,” Danielle said. “Yesterday we put a lot of stuff in, but we’re not planning to be back before Friday at the earliest, right? That’s plenty of time for everything to get eaten or washed away.”

  “Maybe I’ll move a few sticks after I kill the breakfast fish,” Heather said. “You can guard the fire and stuff while I get it, right?”

  “Sure, no problem,” Danielle said. “I do think it’s just one, too, so no worrying about whose turn it is.”

  “I’m pretty sure I’m behind everyone after yesterday,” Heather said. “I’m not exactly sorry, though. I don’t have Skills to help me with thorn monsters, and what Cassy did was just crazy.”

  “I dunno, it was pretty effective,” Danielle said. “It never occurred to me you could use a sling up close like that, but I guess she just didn’t release either string when she did the throwing motion? I think I need to figure out how to add that to my sling training.”

  “Maybe. It’s kind of cool it can be up close or ranged,” Heather said. “I just wish I didn’t need to train weapons at all. I mean, it wasn’t my favorite even back in school, but it was just another of the many sports I didn’t really care about. Now?” She shook her head.

  “Now it’s something you don’t want but still need to add to your System, and that’s worse,” Danielle said.

  “The worst part is how it’ll become part of me,” Heather said. “I mean, all of it! Skills and Careers and Classes and everything. This isn’t what I – I mean, being a Healer’s not exactly a bad thing, maybe I would’ve gone for nurse or something if we’d been allowed to stay Inside? I don’t know, we’re middle school students, Danielle! I don’t know what I wanted to do with my life, but it wasn’t ever this! Why are we out here? Why do we have to stack our Systems full of wilderness Skills like Outsiders? Why do they want us to become – whatever it is they even want out of this insanity?!”

  Danielle patted her awkwardly on the back. Heather sniffled.

  “No words of wisdom?” she asked after a while.

  “I don’t know why,” Danielle said. “I don’t know why they do Sendings at all, I don’t know why they picked us in particular, I don’t know why they didn’t wait until we graduated, I don’t know why God let us stumble on a thorny vine-monster.”

  “Can we not get into religion right now,” Heather asked in annoyance.

  Danielle shrugged. “You’re the one asking the Big Questions. I’m just saying, I don’t know why. I’m not God, and I’m not a Representative, let alone President of Firmitatem. I’d like to ask any of those people a few questions and get some clear, straight answers, but it’s not going to happen. I’m just doing my best to handle what’s in front of me, and become the best person I can in the situation I’m in.”

  “Great. Helpful. Thanks so much,” Heather said sarcastically.

  “Yeah, not so much. That’s why I wasn’t saying anything,” Danielle admitted.

  “Oh.” Heather looked down. “Sorry.” She seemed like she was about to say something else, then thought better of it; after a moment, she finally just said, “I’m going to go get that fish.”

  “Right. Thanks for getting it,” Danielle said.

  Heather caught the fish, killed it, gutted it, got it spitted over the fire to cook, and buried the guts (or possibly tossed them down the latrine, Danielle wasn’t sure which), all without another word. Danielle didn’t try to break the silence – their more-injured party members were presumably still trying to sleep, after all, she told herself.

  Still, she felt a lot better when Heather finally spoke up again.

  “Do you think I’m crazy for being sad about losing something I can’t even – even say what it really was?” she asked.

  “What do you mean?” Danielle asked back.

  “You know the, um, the future I would’ve had that wouldn’t involve ever needing weapons Skills, or even Rapid Muscle Recovery or speed Traits or, or Find Edible Plant even. The, the, the me that I’ll never get to be because I’m turning into, I mean, this Sent ‘me’ that can’t refuse those things because she needs them to survive.” Heather stared into the fire, rather than looking at Danielle as she spoke. “I sound crazy even to myself,” she admitted in a low voice.

  Danielle thought about it for a minute. “I don’t think you’re crazy,” she finally said firmly. “I think you’re wording it kind of weird, that’s all. You’re not turning into someone else, you’re just growing up a different path than you expected. Like, um. Like a tree! A tree that could actually think would expect to grow upward and put leaves out in all directions; but if it turns out to be under an overhang, it’ll end up growing outward and mostly having leaves on one side, and it’ll look really different. It’ll still be a well grown and healthy tree, it just grew a different direction.”

  “That make sense I guess,” Heather said.

  “Right, but also, you’re not a tree and you had plans, or at least ideas about what your future should look like. You had a shape you wanted your growth to take. You were working on it, and now your plans are in ashes and your normal life is gone and your family is out of reach and everything your life was is gone or changed,” Danielle said. “You’re not crazy for being sad about losing all of your everything. Practically the only reason everyone in the camp isn’t falling apart is because we’re too busy trying not to starve.

  “I don’t know,” she continued, “maybe trying to pretend we’re not sad is even crazier. Maybe we should be doing something to, you know, to acknowledge what we’ve lost? Like, um. I know I just said this wasn’t like dying, but I almost want to say, something like a funeral? In the sense of having a time to say, ‘I lost this,’ and be sad and not-OK and have that be OK. Um, that was kind of contradictory, sorry, I’m not sure I’m making sense here.” Danielle sighed. “Still kinda tired, honestly, I think my brain’s only on 90%.”

  “I get it, though, I think,” Heather said. “Like, if someone had died, you’d have a funeral to mourn. If you had moved, people would understand you being homesick for a while. Out here, it feels like we’re just supposed to jump into this new adventure and do the things and get the Skills and nobody’s breaking down crying because they can’t see their mom or their dog or their little sister anymore.”

  “Well, not outside their rooms,” Danielle said. “Not where it’d be showing weakness. Actually, maybe some of them are breaking down, and it just doesn’t look like crying. Being desperate enough to get back Inside that you decide to kill people seems like kind of a breakdown, really.”

  “Yeah, I guess. I think having a funeral for our old lives would be a, um, a much better direction to grow in than going murder-desperate,” Heather said.

  “It would,” Danielle agreed. “Maybe we should try actually doing that? Or, um. It could be a solemn holiday, like Meteor Day, where we remember something bad that happened; but this would be just for the ‘town’ of Camp Constanza. Send-Out day or something.”

  “Wouldn’t that have to be a whole year away, though? June first, the day we actually left,” Heather said.

  “Maybe. We could celebrate it with the date we’d usually go back to school, though. That’d make sense too,” Danielle suggested.

  “Isn’t that going to be catalog day?” Heather asked doubtfully.

  “So it’ll be a break from whatever routine we’ve got going anyway, right?” Danielle said.

  Heather laughed. “Like we’ve been here long enough to really have a routine. I mean, we’re maybe getting there, a little, but still.”

  “I know,” Danielle said. “It might be a crazy idea anyway. Too soon, even; I was talking to some people yester- uh, Sunday, and I feel like there’s probably a lot of people in camp like them, that haven’t really admitted to themselves that they’ve actually lost it, you know? They still think if they can just get back fast enough, they can have that ‘normal’ future, and they can get a little hostile if you try to tell them otherwise.”

  “I can understand that. If that’s where they’ve got their hopes, it’d feel like taking away all hope,” Heather said.

  “Yeah, maybe. I don’t know. If that’s their only hope, what happens when they find out why Sent don’t normally make it back Inside in a year? Has to be a reason. I just hope they figure out how to live with reality before it catches up to them too much,” Danielle said. “Anyway, as far as you and being sad though? No. Not crazy.”

  “Thanks,” Heather said.

  https://discord.gg/u5dtzpShv2