Chapter Text
As the group trekked down towards the super dangerous forest, a lone vine caught Jamie’s attention. It connected from a small plateau to a tree with a platform. Was it super dangerous? Sure. Would it be super badass to climb across and impress their frie—they’re not my friends—fellow scouts? One thousand percent yes.
Fortunately, Riley had decided to take charge—finally—which left Jamie with plenty of opportunities to slip away. As soon as the group passed by the plateau, Jamie slipped away and quickly jumped onto the vine. Despite its appearance, it wasn’t thorny at all. In fact, it felt pretty nice!
Jamie only made it halfway across when they heard their name being shouted from below. They decided they’d dangle from the vine with one hand to get a better look at who it was. Unsurprisingly, both Jade and Riley appeared to be annoyed—what a surprise—and Luna appeared to be freaked out. The words they were all saying were nearly indecipherable. Jamie almost frowned when they saw Luna’s reaction. Am I seriously feeling bad for that kid? They shook their head and blew a raspberry at the group before continuing onward.
A small breeze of wind brushed by them, but they paid no attention to it. Not long after, they made it to their destination. Though, there was a slight issue. The end of the vine hovered roughly ten feet above the platform. They could land that fall, but—oh, who am I kidding? This is awesome! They let go of the vine and landed gracefully on the platform on both of their feet. They gave themselves a small clap before a rush of embarrassment suddenly washed over them.
They scanned the platform from where they stood. Nothing immediately stood out to them, aside from the worn down boards holding the platform together. Dangerous. Cool! Just how I like it. It wasn’t until they walked around the tree that they noticed a large suitcase laying down. A suitcase? Here? Huh. Neat.
Just as they were going to open the suitcase, they heard hurried steps and shouting from the other side of the tree. “J-Jamie!! W-Where are—o-oh! Uh, h-hi!” Great. The last person I wanted to be up here. Jamie groaned then stepped away from the luggage. Luna paced nervously. “Uh… hi, Luna. Who invited you to my awesome tree house?”
“Uh, I… I g-got scared, so I…” Luna looked back at the vine, then at Riley and Jade—now even angrier—then back at the vine. Their eyes widened in horror as they realized what they had done.
“Climbed across all by yourself despite the grown-ups telling you no, right?” Jamie stepped up to Luna’s right and gave them a pat on the back. “Congratulations! You’re learning how to become a rebel, like me!”
Luna started shaking more than they usually did. “N-No, I… I d-didn’t w-want t—” A sudden gust of wind cut Luna off. This time, it was strong enough to knock both of them off of their feet.
Without a second thought, Jamie scrambled to their feet and grabbed Luna’s hand. They hadn’t intended on doing that. They weren’t about to let go, though. They used their other hand to grab on to a stray branch and silently prayed that it’d do the trick.
Sure enough, the wind eventually died down, allowing the two to detach from the tree. However, neither child made an effort to return to what they were previously doing. The wind had startled Jamie, probably enough for them to reconsider being up there. Okay, maybe a little too dangerous. They felt a tight squeeze around their hand. Oh. Right. Luna. Luna made it clear that they were not disconnecting any time soon.
Jamie sighed before finally detaching from the branch. “As much as it sucks to leave… this might be too dangerous, even for me.” They expected a response from Luna, but they heard nothing. They turned around to see Luna, who was beyond scared and on the verge of breaking down into tears. A twang of guilt overwhelmed Jamie for just a moment. “…Yeah. Maybe we should get down from here.”
They spotted some kind of fungus jutting out of the tree just beneath the platform. They dragged Luna along, who offered no resistance, to find an opening. Luckily, there was a hole just above the fungus. Jamie stood above the hole and looked at Luna, who gave a hesitant nod.
For a moment, Luna allowed Jamie to let go of their hand. Jamie then jumped into the hole and landed on the fungus. It was firm, but soft at the same time. It appeared to be safe to stand on, so Jamie waved for Luna to jump down as well. Luna climbed down to the fungus and almost immediately after landing on it, they grabbed Jamie’s hand once more.
For a moment, Jamie considered pulling away from the contact but… it felt wrong in the moment, even if they weren’t really comfortable with it. Consider this your lucky day, Luna. They instead tightened their grip just a little bit before they returned their focus to their next move.
To their front was a thick branch. It was just a few feet down and wide enough to fit the two of them, but it’d barely leave them with any safe space. Behind them was yet another fungus, though it was a bit more of a fall than the one they were on now.
“GO BEHIND YOU!” Jamie snapped to the source of the sound. It came from Riley, who was at the base of the tree with Jade. Jade appeared to be just a little more irritated than usual. “THE FUNGUS! THERE’S A WAY DOWN FROM THERE!”
Jamie groaned. “Jeez, you don’t gotta yell! I can hear your loud mouth just fine without you hollering!”
Riley responded with a death glare. “I’m really not in the mood for your attitude right now, Jamie. Get. Down. Here. Now.”
Jamie shuddered at Riley’s sudden switch-up. They’d never seen this side of Riley before. Though, to be fair, they also never pissed Riley off enough for that. They only tested their patience a few times and made some snide remarks. Completely disregarding their orders though was a whole new level of bad.
Luna stifled a sob then gave it their all to speak. “D-Do… d-do you t-think w-we’re in… t-trouble…?”
No shit we’re in trouble. Jamie sighed. They weren’t particularly excited about that. “Yeah… for sure.” Luna started crying on the spot almost immediately. You really can’t handle being in trouble, can you? Jamie crouched down to once again be on their eye level. I can’t believe I’m saying this, but here goes nothing… “Look. If they give you any crap, I’ll get ‘em off of you, ‘kay?”
Luna wiped their nose across their arm. Gross. “B-But…”
“You have a believable excuse. I don’t. You’ll… be fine, maybe.”
Luna cocked their head in confusion. “W-What do y-you mean…?”
“Well. I went across for the hell of it, and you went across because you were scared, right?” Luna nodded. “Right, so… if you had two kids in front of you with those excuses, which one would you be least likely to get angry at?”
“Uh, I w-wouldn’t g—”
“Okay… let me rephrase it, then. Which one would you be more likely to believe?”
Luna hesitated for a moment. “T-The… scared… one…?”
“Exactly. So…” Jamie stood up and offered a hand. “Let’s go. No point in crying over it.” Luna stared at the offered hand in confusion for just a moment before they grabbed it. They allowed Jamie to pull them up. Again, Jamie considered pranking them. Why does it suddenly feel so wrong to think like that…? They shook that thought from their head. Ugh. Stupid kid. Stupid forest. Stupid EVERYTHING!
Once Luna rose, Jamie once again dragged them along to the opposite end of the fungus. Just as Riley had pointed out, there was another fungus for the two of them to jump down to. Just like last time, they both landed on it without a problem. Luna appeared to be gaining confidence, though they also appeared to be very scared still.
However, as Jamie peered over the edge of the fungus, they came across a pretty big issue: there was no way down from there. They did see the ground, but it was a pretty high drop and would most definitely break something. They didn’t even want to think about what kind of trouble they would be in then, or… abandoning Luna.
Luna hadn’t noticed the problem yet, but was growing concerned that Jamie had once again paused. As much as Jamie wanted to tell them the truth, they had a feeling that would be the worst thing to do. They’d freaked out over something less insignificant just moments ago, who knew how they’d react if they knew they were stuck?
It turned out that Jamie wouldn’t have to worry about that, because Riley spotted them in their predicament. “Hey! I, uh… crap. I’m sorry. I didn’t know that was a dead end… guess that’s why you’re in charge of climbing, Jamie…” They tapped their chin for a moment, before they caught sight of something out of Jamie’s line of sight. They pulled out and revealed a fungus that looked almost identical to the one Jamie and Luna were standing on, but smaller.
“You know… as soon as I grabbed this, it felt like some kind of magic was flowing through it? Dumb, I know, you can mock me later for it, but… maybe if I…” Riley threw the fungus at the tree with all their might. To everyone’s surprise, it exploded into a much bigger fungus that had embedded itself into the trunk. “Well, uh, you two have a way down now.” Jade was entranced by their own bewilderment of what unfolded.
Jamie looked back at Luna, who only shrugged in response. They were still nervous, but noticeably less tense now that they knew they weren’t far off from safety. Without further hesitation, the two of them jumped onto the newly grown fungus, then onto the ground.
Almost immediately after Jamie and Luna landed, Riley and Jade ran up and scooped up their respective kid. Much to Jamie’s discontent, they pushed Jade away before they could smother them in hugs. That’s enough physical contact for today, thank you. Jade seemed to be saddened by the notion, but chose not to pursue it any further.
Riley sighed. “Alright, now that our heartfelt reunions are done… would either of you care to explain why you did that?!” Luna almost immediately flinched at Riley’s frustrations which only fueled Jamie’s irritation more. Okay, seriously, what’s wrong with me?
“Look. If you’re gonna be angry at anyone…” Jamie glared at Luna. You owe me a marshmallow for this, Luna. “Luna’s not the one. If it weren’t for me being stupid… they wouldn’t have followed. They’re too… caring… for their own good.” Luna eased up just a little bit.
Riley and Jade looked back and forth between Jamie and Luna for just a moment. Jade shrugged their shoulders, while Riley shifted their focus towards Luna. Luna tensed up, but Riley gave them a reassuring pat on the shoulder. “If what Jamie said is true… I can’t exactly be mad at you. But… please… don’t do that again. I was scared I’d lost you…” Riley looked at Jamie. “Both of you. I’ll save you both the lecture, since this isn’t really the place to do it, but…”
Jade finished Riley’s sentence for them. “Do better. Please. I…” Jade sighed. “I was worried about losing you two, as well.”
A heavy feeling of guilt weighed on Jamie’s heart. They hated it. They hadn’t felt this for such a long time, and now it returned in the worst possible place at the worst possible time. They knew why they felt that way. They disappointed Jade and put Luna in danger. Yet, they didn’t want to acknowledge it. Things were easier when they ignored their true feelings.
Jamie was snapped out of their thoughts when Jade placed a hand on their right shoulder. “Look, Jamie… as much as I want to be upset, I’m just glad you came around and made the right choice in the end.” Jade looked back at Luna, who was considerably warmer and back to their normal self around Riley. “You could’ve let Luna fend for themselves, but you didn’t. I think both them and Riley appreciate you for that.”
Heh. Appreciate? Who? The kid that caused another kid to be put into danger? The kid that is reckless and mean and stupid and—
“Jamie. It’s okay. I forgive you.”
And just like that, the walls Jamie had forcefully placed around themselves for years collapsed. Without a second thought, they threw themselves into Jade’s arms and they cried. All of the pain and frustration they had bottled up… they let it all go. Forgiveness is what got through to them. Not a life-altering event, not the aftermath, not barely scraping by. Just… forgiveness. Deep down, they knew it was just because of their stupidity today, but even deeper… they wanted it to be for everything, so that’s what they chose to believe.
Jamie pulled back from Jade and only stared at the ground. As good as it felt to get everything out, they felt shame for it. How would everyone else feel about someone like them being broken down like that?
They’d find out soon enough. Luna and Riley walked up to the two of them. Luna spread out their arms for a hug, to which Jamie hesitantly accepted. While they were embraced, Jamie muttered something to Luna. “I… I’m sorry, Luna.”
“S-Sorry…?”
No point in hiding it now. “For being so mean to you. For scaring you. For… everything, I guess.”
“I-It’s okay, really! I-I’m just…” Luna grinned. Jamie felt butterflies fluttering in their stomach. Ugh. “Happy w-we made it out alive! And, uh, y-you’re not mean…”
Jamie scoffed. “Liar.”
“N-No, I-I mean it! I’ve…” An agonizing look suddenly washed over Luna’s face. “D-Dealt with worse…”
“If you say so.”
Their reunion was brought to a screeching halt when they heard a groan from behind. Jamie laughed. “We just left camp and you’re hungry again? Hah!”
Nobody laughed. In fact, they were all paralyzed in fear.
There was another groan. This time, though, Jamie didn’t have it in them to crack a joke. Instead, they turned around.
They were nearly face-to-face with a… scout? Though, they looked… weird. They had mushrooms growing out of them and appeared to be lifeless. The scout took one step forward towards Jamie; Jamie took one step back. They were suddenly trembling in fear too. “H-Hey! Back off!”
No response. Instead, the scout only took another step forward. Once again, Jamie took another step back and grabbed a branch off of the ground. “I-If… If you don’t step back, I’ll… I’ll…”
Without warning, the scout lunged at Jamie, their mouth wide open revealing sharp blood-stained teeth. Jamie raised the branch up in front of them as quickly as they could. Only one thought raced through their mind now.
I don’t want to die.