Chapter Text
The next time Jamie woke up, they were greeted not by a gruesome nightmare, but by the sun. With the kind of vision they’d seen the night before, they fully expected to be haunted in their sleep too, but it never actually happened. Instead, they felt somewhat rejuvenated and ready to go. They ached from not having a proper bed, but they were getting used to it.
For a moment, they considered staying put and watching as the clouds passed by. However, they had yet another day of climbing ahead of them, as well as that… talk… that Jade wanted to have with them. They weren’t particularly excited about doing either of those things, though they didn’t really have any other options at their disposal.
As much as they wanted to avoid the talk, they needed to get it over with. If it was anything like the previous talks they’ve had with Jade, it’d probably go fine. Jade was never a particularly angry person. In fact, they were usually understanding and sympathetic. That didn’t stop Jamie from dreading it every time, though.
After a moment of hesitance, they lifted themselves up off of the ground and—Wait… so it was true…
As expected, the fog receded at some point during the night to reveal their next challenge. What they weren’t expecting, however, was to actually see a desert. Maybe that Scoutmaster Myres guy was actually trying to help me then? Many of the details they saw in the vision were also present in the desert. However, something that they didn’t see before was a giant hole in the ground. Maybe they’d take a detour to investigate it if the opportunity to do so arose.
Luna was still fast asleep to their right. They had forgotten to hide the box of Thick Mints they stole from Jade the night before. They also forgot to wipe all of the evidence off of their face and hands. For such a cautious and stubborn eater, they appeared to be quite messy when they did eat.
Jamie considered sneaking the box back into Jade’s backpack, but they decided against it. Maybe they’d want some cookies later which would be a challenge if they went back into Jade’s possession.
However, they did want to have a quick chat with Luna. For a split second, they felt odd coming to that conclusion, but just as quickly remembered they were friends now. They did feel bad about being the one to bother them, but they didn’t really have anyone else to talk to. They weren’t ready to talk to Jade yet, and while Riley was an adult, they didn’t trust them quite as much as they trusted Luna.
They gave Luna a slight nudge on the shoulder and waited patiently for a response.
After a few minutes, Luna slowly opened their eyes and blinked in rapid succession. They initially appeared to be confused—and quite possibly overstimulated—but that washed away when they saw Jamie. They didn’t really say anything, but they did smile before turning back towards the desert.
“Good morning, sunshine.” Jamie finally returned the smile and tucked away any shame that tried to creep up. “Sleep well?”
“Mhm. D-Did you?” Luna rubbed their eyes and let out a yawn.
“Could’ve been better, I guess.” Luna appeared confused, so Jamie clarified. “I mean, I didn’t really have a bed to sleep in. So… like I said, could’ve been better.”
The two of them fell into awkward silence after that. Was I not supposed to say that…? Jamie cleared their throat. “Uh… anyways,” they pointed towards the desert. “Check it out. There’s a desert over there now.”
Luna rose to see what Jamie was pointing at. Almost immediately after their eyes landed on the desert, their smile quickly switched to a frown. “Oh…”
Jamie winced at how their entire interaction with Luna had gone so far. It was only back-to-back discomfort or pain and they were growing worried. They had just become friends not too long ago and they were already messing things up.
“…Sorry.” Jamie turned away. They didn’t really have it in them to look at Luna anymore.
“H-Huh…? W-Why are you…” Once Luna noticed Jamie wasn’t looking, they tugged on their arm to get their attention. However, Jamie refused to look. Luna gave up and continued regardless. “I-It’s not your f-fault…” They then leaned their head on Jamie’s shoulder.
Jamie finally turned back towards Luna, though they couldn’t see their face. Regardless, if they were truly upset, they would’ve had a different reaction. The more appropriate description of how they felt was likely closer to “sad.” Sad that the truth crushed their hopes of leaving, no matter how foolish they were.
As much as they wanted to revel in the contact and soak up the moment, they still needed to talk to Jade. They almost didn’t want to break that to Luna and risk getting a third strike, but they had to regardless. “Sorry, but I guess I’ve gotta talk to Jade. Something about yesterday, or something.”
Almost immediately, Luna moved their head from Jamie’s shoulder and gave an understanding nod. They didn’t say anything, instead choosing to observe a tornado that randomly appeared in the desert. They gave Jamie a concerned look, who simply shrugged, then once again looked over at the desert. The tornado had disappeared in that small window, leaving them extremely confused.
After a small laugh—which earned them an annoyed look from Luna—Jamie stood up and gave one last look at the desert. They breathed in and let out a deep sign before turning around and making their way to the center of the camp.
They didn’t spot either Jade or Riley at first, so they decided to just settle down near the now-extinguished fire. They tried to occupy themselves by fidgeting with the stake they broke the night before, though it did nothing to abate the underlying anxiety that had begun to resurface.
Fortunately, they wouldn’t have to dwell on that for long, since Jade soon joined them. “I apologize for keeping you waiting, Jamie. I wasn’t expecting you to be ready so soon.”
Jamie’s face was painted with confusion. “You… you weren’t?”
Jade shook their head. “Not after everything that happened over the past few days, no. I expected you to drag it on hoping I’d forget about it.” They eyed Jamie for a moment. “Though… I can tell you’re nervous. Is something bothering you?”
“No… just always nervous about these kind of talks…” Jamie chuckled. “As usual…”
“I won’t try to take up much of your time then. I just need a few minutes of your time and then I’ll let you get back to whatever you were doing, okay?”
Jamie hesitantly nodded. “Okay…” That sounded simple enough. Just… talk it out and move on. That’s definitely all it would be.
“Great.” Jade sighed. “So, the biggest thing I wanted to go over was that skull that you—uh, the wind, broke yesterday. Maybe this is an odd question, but do you feel okay?”
Physically? Sure. Mentally? After last night? They weren’t entirely sure. They were afraid of opening up about that, though. “Okay? I mean, I’m sitting here and seem fine, right? Why wouldn’t I be—”
“You zoning out at the fire last night in combination with what Riley told me this morning suggests otherwise.” Jade glared at Jamie. “So, let me ask you again. Do you feel okay?”
Jamie let out a defeated sigh. They weren’t really in the mood to keep up the jokes. “I dunno. I mean, physically, I feel fine. But, uh…” Jade stared intently. “Please don’t think I’m crazy when I say this, but… I think that skull breaking did something to me. When we were sitting at the fire, some creepy guy named ‘Scoutmaster Myres’ was in my head and showed me something.”
Jade hummed. “So… exactly what Riley was worried about.”
“You’re… you’re not gonna question why he’s there?”
“You’re not the first to tell me that.” Jamie’s face scrunched up in confusion. “Riley’s been dealing with him too. So, no, I’m not really questioning it anymore.”
“Of course they’d somehow mess up too…” Jamie shook their head.
Jade rolled their eyes at the remark. “I suppose that leads into my next question then. You mentioned him showing you something. What did he show you?”
Jamie shuffled in their seat anxiously. “I saw the desert. Kinda like the one over there.” They pointed over towards the desert. “Though, this one seemed kinda endless. Eventually, I tripped over something, like I did over the skull. I couldn’t see what I tripped over though, because I fell into complete darkness. I heard a lot of screaming, but then it randomly stopped and was replaced by laughing. Then he showed up, told me not to be reckless or I’d get everyone killed, and after that…” They considered commenting on him nearly killing them, but chose not to. “I was back at the fire.”
Jade hummed as they processed the information. That was a lot, after all. “So, if I understood all of that correctly, he warned you on both what’s ahead and to be cautious then?” At least they seemed to understand.
“I guess so. He didn’t actually hurt me or make me feel more tired or anything, so I don’t know how to feel about all of this…”
“Perhaps it’s just that for now: a warning. From what Riley told me about their nightmare involving him and what we already know about him… he seems to get unhappy if anyone gets left behind. So, maybe if we stick together, nothing will happen…?” Jade appeared to be a bit uncertain of themselves.
Jamie hummed. “Makes sense, I guess. I mean, if he wanted to hurt me, he would’ve already done it, right?”
Jade nodded. “Right. And he could’ve hurt Riley by now too, considering they’ve been cursed for longer.”
They both sat in silence for a while. They weren’t entirely sure how to carry the conversation forward, but it felt awkward to end it on that note. Jade did mention Riley several times, but never really elaborated on why they did. Maybe they could ask about that?
“Hey.” Jade looked at Jamie in anticipation. “Quick question, if it’s okay.” Jade nodded. “So, uh, you keep mentioning Riley with all of this. What do they have to do with this?”
“Good question.” Jade trailed off for a moment. “They mentioned having a nightmare about him back on the beach and seeing him occasionally since then. It only felt appropriate to consult with them about all of this.”
Jamie wasn’t really following. “But what do they know that you don’t?”
“The fact that something was definitely up with that skull. It appeared to be inactive to me, but to Riley, it had some… spirits? Flowing out of it and screaming. Its eye sockets were lit up too.”
Jamie lit up at the reminder of what they had seen. “I saw that too! It was pretty cool! You seriously didn’t see any of that?”
Jade shook their head. “No. So, we’re assuming that those that are cursed also gain a keen eye for cursed items.” Jade sighed. “And… as ‘cool’ as it may be, we really shouldn’t be messing with stuff like that, or…”
“You end up with two morons that are cursed.”
“Jamie…” Jade growled. They hated when Jamie talked bad about themselves.
Jamie shrunk in on themselves immediately. “Right… sorry.”
Jade let out an irritated sigh, then continued. “Anyways, that’s the reason why I kept mentioning them. They have a better idea about this stuff than I do.”
Jamie was content with the answer they got. They weren’t entirely sure how to reply though, so they instead stared at the fire, hoping that Jade would get the hint and push the conversation forward.
It seemed like Jade got the hint, since they followed up with another question. “Did you have any other questions?”
Did they? The only thing they were confused about was answered, and besides, it seemed that Jade was asking all of the questions earlier. “Not really, no. What about you?”
Jade hummed in contemplation. “If you’re really okay like you say you are… then I suppose that’s where my questioning ends.”
Jamie raised an eyebrow. They weren’t really buying that. “Really? That’s it?”
“Were you expecting more?”
“Yeah…? Like, maybe a lecture, or…”
“I’m sorry for not meeting your expectations, then.” Jade rose from their seat and offered a hand to Jamie. “But seriously, we’re all done here if you’ve got nothing else to say or ask.”
Jamie felt a bit sheepish after that. As usual, they overthought it. Jade really just wanted to know if they were okay, but they thought they were in for an interrogation. Had they known that, they would’ve come around a lot sooner… but they’d also likely forget about all of that by the time the next talk happened, so it didn’t really matter.
They still felt a bit skeptical about how fast that went, but they grabbed Jade’s hand regardless and allowed them to pull them up from their seat. “Okay then… I’ll, uh, go hang out with Luna for a bit, I guess.”
“Sounds good. Thanks for chatting. And, uh…” Jade giggled. “Try not to eat all of the cookies before we leave.” They winked, then promptly walked away before Jamie could respond. How the hell did they find out about that…?
All things considered, Jamie felt better after the chat. Fortunately, it didn’t drag on for long and it really was just a few simple questions. Other than the snide remarks that Jamie made, Jade didn’t show any frustration or anger, just concern. That’s all they always showed. Jamie wondered if it was even possible for Jade to get angry.
They still weren’t entirely sure what the implications of this “curse” were, but they weren’t going to dwell on it. As long as it didn’t hurt them or inhibit their ability to climb, they didn’t really care too much about it. They could handle a couple nightmares and creepy visions. They’ve seen, and been through, worse.
They shifted their focus back to Luna. Unsurprisingly, they were still seated in the same spot as earlier. Riley was seated to their right, observing them. They were fidgeting with something, but it wasn’t until they returned to Luna’s side that they could actually see it.
In the time that Jade and Jamie were talking, Luna had claimed the second backpack. They had already tucked the box of Thick Mints and their Bing Bong plushie into it. They were absentmindedly fidgeting with it and didn’t notice Jamie at first. However, once Riley waved at Jamie, Luna finally noticed and performed a similar gesture.
“I assume it went well?”
Jamie shrugged. “I guess so. All they wanted was to check on me and make sure I was okay.”
Riley said nothing in return, opting to just nod in response. They got up not long after and walked off. Was everyone really just satisfied with their answers? There was no interest in probing them for more, especially after dropping that bomb?
Luna poked Jamie on their arm and offered a single Thick Mint to them. They weren’t particularly interested in it at the moment, so they declined it. Luna appeared to be saddened by the refusal and dropped the cookie back into the box. They then closed the box and put it back in their backpack.
Luna raised up from their spot and suddenly ran off, presumably to find Riley. Jamie was appreciative of this, since it gave them some time alone to think about everything.
They couldn’t quite wrap their head around this “curse” still, nor how Riley was also affected, but again, it wasn’t really worth worrying over. The desert appeared to pose a formidable challenge, but they weren’t about to back down from it. Of course… their friends and Jade would have to be ready to tackle it as well, since they weren’t particularly interested in going alone. Not after… all of that last night.
They were ready to get moving, but they probably needed to do some clean-up as well. They learned by now that leaving any trace was frowned upon, and they weren’t really interested in a lecture. So, after taking one more look at the desert, they stood up and headed back into camp to help with clean-up so they could get going. Everyone else was already beginning to clean too, so the timing couldn’t have been any better.