The world was a level 1 Deathworld, to humans, it was damn near a haven world. The storms that DID blow up were no where near the level that Earth could throw at them, and the few predators, although somewhat dangerous, were terrified of the smell of smoke, and therefore were kept well away.
The Humans chatted cheerfully as they set up the tents in two sets of circles. The larger tents for the adult Humans on the outside, smaller tents for the young trainees on the inside, and in the center of the campsite, a fire that was burning cheerfully in a carefully set firepit lined and encircled with large stones to keep it well controlled. The level one Havenworlders, and level one Deathworld youngsters were, at best, dubious. But they DID agree to this training camp, after all, it would help them be stronger in the future... right?
(( This is basically loosely based off the Scouts, and the JROTC programs of Earth.))
link text -- Anon Guest
Sparks from the fire shot into the sky, the tents had long since been set up, dinner had been cooked on the fire, and now one of the Humans had brought out a guitar for traditional Earth songs. "Ging gang goolie goolie goolie goolie watcha, Ging gang goo..."
Considering some Human songs, this was neighbouring normalcy. It wasn't a hard song to learn and, indeed, the hard part would be getting it to go away. It was Human Sora's knee that warned of the storm before the clouds and distant rumbling told the rest of the campers. The young Havenworlders, to cogniscent, screamed.
Human Dora changed her song. "There's a storm coming in..." shrieks and bedlam, "Faster than you can run/ Don't worry, darling/ This shelter is strong..." The effort, though well-intentioned, failed. So too did I Hear Thunder.
Sora was the man of the hour, singsonging, "When you're feeling tense, tense, tense/ Get into the tents, tents, tents/ Don't you cry, cry, cry/ They'll keep you dry, dry, dry." As long as the Humans were singing and joking about it, all would be well. Or so they thought.
One supervisor per child's tent, each playing games, singing songs, or telling stories to keep the young ones calm. The outer circle of adult tents was left with one supervisor each. Yet it was a pleasant night. The rain was gentle and the thunder only a distant threat.
All was well. Until morning. The rain had put out the fire, which meant that the shy and retiring wildlife had come to visit.
The first of the campers to wake came face to snoot with something that looked a lot like a jackal, and immediately zipped the tent closed again. She jostled the tent supervisor awake with urgency.
"N'hdunwannagot'sch'l," mumbled Supervisor Ab. Further jostling and urgent whispering resulted in bleary wakefulness and "Wh'zz't?"
"There's a thing outside the tent."
Supervisor Ab was not exactly a morning person. He slid from his sleeping bag to peek outside. "Doggy...? Nah wait not a doggy." Blink. Squint. Stare outside the tent as the beast whuffled about the camp. Sniffing and apparently coughing at everything. "Kay I'm'unna try something. Block your ears."
The waking campers obeyed and watched Ab in amazement.
He zipped open the tent, carefully keeping the opening shut, and coiled himself ready to spring. A clearing of the throat. A deep breath. Then he burst out of the tent hollering, "YAAARGERRONOUTOVITYABASTARD!"
There was a second in which the beast tried to run while still sorting out which way each leg was going, so the resultant progress was moot. If they had cam footage of it, someone would inevitably add cartoon sound effects to the footage. Then there was the fact that there was an entire pack of the creatures doing the exact same thing.
Four jackal-like critters scrambled out of the campsite in non-cardinal directions as if the forces of evil were after their soul. Which was marginally close to the truth.
Never prevent a Deathworlder from getting their coffee.
The Havenworlders treated it like a magic word. All the way home.
[Image (c) Can Stock Photo / Morphart]
If you like my stories, please Check out my blog and Follow me. Or share them with your friends!
Send me a prompt [53 remaining prompts!]
