Chapter Text
As Riley opened their eyes, they saw the ever-so familiar blue sky that they’d acquainted themselves with over the past two days. It was cloudy today. The sun struggled to creep through the fluffy white clouds in the sky. It felt a bit colder than usual, but perhaps the fire had gone out during the night. They’d grown used to it at this point.
The ground felt a bit softer than usual. When they went to sleep, they recalled it feeling grainy and warm. What they felt now was soft and fluffy. Maybe someone found a blanket or something and gave it to them? That begged the following question though—who would’ve been selfless enough to give up that comfort for them?
They rose from where they laid and were greeted by a hill dotted with flowers. They had laid at the base, surrounded by a bed of flowers of varying colors and proportions. How did I get here? There was not a single soul in sight. Where is everyone? All that stood at the peak was a flag and a box of… flares? What…?
They heard a grotesque crunch behind them. For a moment, they dared not to look. Maybe if they ignored it, it’d go away. Unfortunately for them, it only got louder until it got so loud and so close that they simply couldn’t ignore it anymore.
When they turned around, they were face-to-face with a tall, lanky monster towering above them. Upon closer inspection, it looked like… Scoutmaster Myres? He still wore his scoutmaster attire, but it had clearly been mangled by his transformation and by time. Why does he look like that?
They had no time to process their own questions, because he immediately grabbed them by the neck with his right hand and lifted them up effortlessly. In his left hand, he pulled up a singular piece of paper.
RULE 0
RULE 0 RULE 0
RULE 0 RULE 0
Never Abandon a Friend in Need!
Never Abandon a Friend in Need!
Never Abandon a Friend in Need!
Never Abandon a Friend in Need!
DON’T FORGET
RULE 0!
Big, red, erratic writing stood out in front of the otherwise neatly written page.
THEY LEFT
ME
BEHIND
Scoutmaster Myres gave a disapproving shake of his head. Did I… abandon everyone? Why… would I…?
Riley was suddenly thrown off of the side of the mountain. They rapidly reached terminal velocity and could only helplessly watch as they fell closer to the ground. They couldn’t cry. They couldn’t scream. It didn’t matter. Nothing would stop the inevitable. They deserved this. They left everyone behind.
They accepted their fate and closed their eyes as they neared the ground.
But…
Nothing happened. In fact, it felt like they had stopped falling, too.
They opened their eyes and immediately shot up in a cold sweat. They were back at camp. The sun had just started to rise above the horizon and the campfire was still faintly crackling. Everyone was still asleep. Well, everyone except Jamie and Riley. Great timing to have a nightmare, I guess.
Speaking of Jamie… where did they go? After a quick scan of the camp, Riley spotted Jamie staring out at—wait… where’s the fog? The wall of fog that was once there was now gone, which left behind… more of the mountain to climb. Fuck. I guess that question’s answered now.
Just as quickly as Riley’s motivation spiked the night before, it crashed down with the newfound revelation. They really didn’t know how to feel. They really thought that was it. Just… climb a small mountain and leave. That’s it! But no, there’s just more to climb. Who knew what would happen at the next peak? Maybe more would spontaneously appear? What a sick joke.
They rubbed their eyes and rose from where they laid. They took a few steps towards Jamie, but stopped to look back at Luna. Surprisingly, they remained undisturbed. Maybe they were really tired… Can’t blame ‘em. Yesterday was a busy day.
They continued their trek onward. Jamie glanced back after they heard Riley’s footsteps, but said nothing. They instead returned their gaze back to the mountain ahead of them. They exhaled a defeated sigh and sat down. They gave Riley another glace, which Riley took as an invitation to sit beside them.
As soon as Riley sat down, they felt the need to apologize, for some reason. “Jamie, I’m s—”
Jamie finished their sentence for them. “Sorry. Why?”
That was a good question. Why were they sorry? “I… I thought… we’d be free. But now? I feel like I’ve just… failed us all, somehow.”
“Lemme ask you a question. Were you the one to put this mountain here?”
“…No?”
“Then stop apologizing already. Because…” Jamie scoffed. “Surprise! I’m not mad at you. I’m mad at whatever sick fuck put this here.”
“But…”
“Don’t even think about giving up, ‘cause I’m not. We’re getting out of here and beating up whoever did this, got it?”
Riley appreciated Jamie’s determination in a moment like this. It was… admirable. Someone so young had such strong resolve to survive, even if their heart wasn’t exactly in the right place. They never thought Jamie could be the one to pull them out of a rut, but… these kids proved to have plenty of surprises up their sleeves. Anything was possible at this point.
“Right. Let’s… add it to the list of reasons to get out of here.”
Jamie raised an eyebrow in confusion. “There’s a list?”
“Well… my only reason to get out was for you three, but we can also add kicking this mystery person’s ass to the list, too.” Riley quickly cleared their throat after noticing their vulgarity. “Uh… I mean, kicking their—”
Jamie laughed at Riley’s slip-up. “Oh please, Riley, I’ve heard worse. And besides, you said nothing about me saying ‘naughty words.’ Who cares? We’re in the middle of nowhere.”
“I care. It sets a bad example. And I said nothing because it’s not my place to control how you talk.”
Jamie rolled their eyes. “Whatever you say.” A few moments passed before they spoke again. “Oh, it might be a good idea to check out what we’re working with here.” They shook their head. “Already looks preeeeetty gnarly from a first glance, though.” Riley nodded and focused intently on what was ahead of them.
Jamie was not kidding when they said it looked gnarly. It was certainly a change of pace from what they had dealt with before. The worst they dealt with on the shore was the occasional urchin and jellyfish, but this? This was a complete nightmare in comparison.
The biome ahead was a redwood forest with giant mushrooms and extraordinarily tall trees. Some of the trees had vines and bridges connecting between them, and the others had platforms built upon them. A handful of these platforms had luggage, but from what Riley could see, it’d likely be dangerous to go for them. They couldn’t make out much else because of all the foliage and… mysterious red clouds?
A tired voice came from behind the duo. “I figured there would be a catch…” It was Jade, and while they were not as expressive as Jamie, their disappointment was just as apparent. To make matters worse, Luna was right behind them. They didn’t say anything, but waved at Riley and Jamie. They both responded in a similar manner.
Jade sat to Jamie’s left and allowed Jamie to lean their head on their shoulder. Neither of them told Riley to leave, but they assumed that the two of them wanted a moment alone. They stood up and motioned for Luna to follow, to which they complied.
The two of them returned to the campfire and sat in silence. There really wasn’t anything to say. Riley wanted to tell Luna that everything would be okay, but they weren’t even certain of that anymore. The words slipped past their grasp, so instead, they wrapped an arm around Luna. It probably didn’t mean much in the moment, but they wanted to believe it did. Luna returned the gesture and let out a content sigh. Maybe it did mean something after all.
After a few more minutes, Luna broke the silence. “I’m… I’m okay, really. Just… a l-little sad about…” They pointed towards the next part of the mountain. “...that.” They raised up a pinkie to Riley. “P-Pinky promise! Y-You can’t b-break those!” They softly giggled.
Riley interlocked their pinky with Luna’s. Pinky promises. That was something Riley had learned about when they were younger. They didn’t really do them now, but they still knew that it was a serious gesture. Luna had a point though. You couldn’t break a pinky promise.
“Oh, Luna?”
“Y-Yeah, Riley…?”
“I’m gonna tell Jade and Jamie once they’re done too, but… please… stay close. I have a bad feeling about what’s to come.”
Luna’s eyes widened in horror. “W-What do you mean!?”
“Wait, no! I just mean… there’s a lot of trees and some strange looking clouds. It’s probably going to be very easy to get lost. I just think we need to stay closer so none of us can be separated.”
“O-Oh! I… thought y-you meant like—”
An awfully familiar voice—Jamie—chided in from behind Riley. “Oh, like, I dunno, zombies?”
Jamie suddenly darted past Riley with their arms raised up like a zombie, and grunted and groaned as they ran towards Luna.
“Z-Zombies?! Aaaaah! Nooooooooo!” Luna jumped up and ran away from Jamie. Their laughter betrayed the act of fear that they tried to put on.
To Riley’s surprise, Jade popped up beside them. “Hello—” Riley jumped at the sudden contact. Jade took a step back. “Oh. Sorry. I didn’t mean to scare you.”
“Don’t worry about it.” Riley smiled at Luna and Jamie roughhousing. “Looks like those two are in a better mood now.”
Jade returned to Riley’s side. “That would appear to be the case. It looks like it’s rubbing off on us, too.”
Riley didn’t respond. Instead, their mind started to drift back to their nightmare.
Was it a bad omen? Did those pages they found yesterday have something to do with it?
Scoutmaster Myres did hold up a page that looked eerily similar to the other pages. The theme of “never abandon a friend in need” being repeated on that page stood out to Riley. Maybe Scoutmaster Myres really hated the idea of scouts abandoning each other, even in death?
It made sense. It was rumored that he was abandoned by his troop and presumed to be dead. Of course, his troop survived to tell the tale. Maybe that’s why he went after Riley in their nightmare? They had no recollection of ever abandoning the children, nor would they ever think about doing such a thing, but… clearly they had. It had to have been a warning.
A hand popped into their view and waved in front of them, but they failed to process it as such. It began to wave more erratically at the lack of response. When it was met with no response once more, it decided to slap Riley across the face. That was what got their attention. It turned out to be Jade’s hand.
After being snapped back to reality, Riley noted that Jade had a concerned look on their face. Luna and Jamie were still roughhousing, but Jamie had pinned Luna to the ground now and emulated biting them. Luna was in the midst of a laughing fit despite the unfortunate predicament they were in.
Riley once again looked at Jade with a hint of befuddlement on their face. Jade was immediately apologetic. “Sorry for doing that. You zoned out and didn’t respond, so I… didn’t exactly have a choice.”
“It’s… okay. Sorry. Just… thinking.” Yeah. Thinking. Good one, Riley.
It seemed that Jade didn’t buy that excuse, based on the unamused look on their face. “There’s more to it than that. Just be honest with me, please.”
Riley sighed. They didn’t really want to retell the nightmare, but… they needed to. At least, so someone else could know. “Scoutmaster Myres. Remember him?” Jade nodded, prompting Riley to continue. “Right. So… I had a nightmare. About him, I mean. Saw and felt some interesting stuff. I was alone on some hill, then he grabs me and shows me a page that repeated Rule 0.”
“Rule 0… that’s ‘never abandon a friend in need,’ correct?”
Riley nodded. “Yeah. That’s the one. Anyways, he seemed pretty upset that I was alone, then picked me up and threw me off the mountain. He looked kinda… disheveled? And he looked more like a monster than a human. Maybe it’s some kind of warning to stick together?”
Jade hummed. “Maybe. We probably shouldn’t find out regardless. If he looks or acts even remotely close to what you saw…” They shuddered at the thought. “Well, let’s hope we never find out.” A small yet warm smile crept onto their face. “Thank you for trusting me with this, Riley. I’ll keep it in mind.”
Riley returned their gaze towards Luna and Jamie. The two of them were splayed out on the ground, smiling and laughing. Truthfully, Riley never got to see this side of Jamie, and based on Jade’s reaction, they likely hadn’t seen it in a while.
Jade let out a wistful sigh. “They haven’t been this happy in a long time. Uh, Jamie, I mean. They… also haven’t really had any kid take this much interest in them, either. Usually, anyone that comes up to them ends up just walking away. They’re… not the greatest at making friends.” That same small smile once again crept onto their face. “I’m glad that Luna has broken through to them, even if it wasn’t entirely by choice, given the circumstances.”
The younger duo had been talking about something until they noticed the elders watching them. They stood up and ran over to chat. Jamie was the first to speak of the two. “Who would’ve thought I’d make for a badass zombie?!” Luna laughed, then chimed in with their own input. “Y-Yeah! Uh, you’re… r-really good at it!”
Jade hummed. “You’re good at a lot of things, Jamie, but I’ll add being a zombie to the list. Just, uh, don’t actually turn into one, okay?” Jamie rolled their eyes in response.
Riley couldn’t help but smile at their antics. It was likely that neither child really had the opportunity to “have fun” for a long time, so it made them happy that both of them got to experience it. However, it was time to go. The day was still young, but they didn’t want to spend that time idle. Especially not with the knowledge that he could be around.
“As much as I enjoy hearing about you two having fun… unfortunately I think we need to leave.” Both Luna and Jamie whined in disappointment at the news. To no one’s surprise, Jamie was vocal about it. “You’re so boring…” They blew a raspberry at Riley. Nevertheless, they did end up cleaning up after themselves.
With all of their belongings in hand and children in tow, they began the trek down the opposite side of the campsite. The redwood forest was rather intimidating, but as long as everyone stuck together, they’d make it out alive.
Out of the corner of their eye, they saw a silhouette lurking behind a tree. They couldn’t make out all of the finer shapes, but it looked eerily similar to… no. It can’t be.
Scoutmaster Myres.