ToT: Campfire Woes

“Aveline, is this a good spot?”

Aveline didn’t immediately answer. She was gazing reflectively at the setting sun, wondering. Was her family alright? Could her-

“Aveline!” David tapped her shoulder very hard. He had a pen, a map, and an annoyed expression. “Does this look like a good spot to you?”

“Oh… sorry.” Aveline shook herself out of her reverie and looked around. They were atop a large sandstone crag. It was within walking distance from the town, and it was the tallest landmark for miles. On the other hand… “I’m not sure, David” she said. “The stone would probably get great reception here, but climbing up here every day wouldn’t be very convenient.”

“The guilds might be able to do something about that, so I’ll mark this spot anyway” said David, drawing a small ‘x’ at their location on the map. “I think we have enough. Let’s get back to camp.”

As they started back down the mountainside, Aveline looked at the setting sun again. Her old home was out of her hands right now, she thought. Just concentrate on the task at hand.

_______________

David looked archly at his Weavile partner. “Samara, give it back.”

“Just a moment, David.”

“Samara, that’s disgusting” said Aveline.

“Ah, let her do it, guys” said Bossa Nova, lighting a cigar and inhaling deeply. “For science.”

“Nah, I’m with Aveline on this one” said Salsa. “That’s really gross.”

“I’ll just hide behind Margaret, just in case” said Ian. The Chikorita glared at him.

Teams Lancer, Starstruck, and Mobster Rollers were all sitting around a campfire roasting marshmallows. Except David, who, given that they were in a desert, hadn’t been in the mood for a hot sticky treat, and had elected to drink a cold beer instead. Samara, always eager to try new things, had snatched the beer out of David’s hands, and was now pouring some of it on a marshmallow.

After a few seconds, she finished soaking the marshmallow, handed the beer back to David, impaled the marshmallow on a stick, and held it over the fire.

Faye piped up. “How in the world did you manage to get a cold beer out here, anyway?”

“It wasn’t cold when I bought it” said David, holding up his hand and letting frost form on it.

“Lucky…”

Bossa Nova shrugged and blew a smoke double helix. Samara pulled her beer-soaked marshmallow out of the fire, looked at it dubiously for a few seconds, and put it in her mouth.

“Well?” said Aveline.

Samara chewed experimentally for a couple of seconds, swallowed, announced: “I have made a horrible mistake”, pulled a bucket from the Bag of Holding strapped to her thigh, and threw up.

“I was going to ask if there were any marshmallows left, but now I am not sure if I want one.” Lin Lin was walking over to the campfire. With her were Birch and…

“Penny!” said Aveline, handing Samara a bottle of water. Samara drank deeply. “You evolved!”

“Yep.” The newly evolved Houndoom smiled and sat next to the Buizel.

“Glad to see you managed it without being captured by a witch” said Samara, who had dug a hole in the sand. She poured the vomit bucket into it and started covering it up.

Bossa cleared his throat. “Speaking of which, I’ve been meaning to ask you guys- what exactly happened in Darkhowl Woods?”

“Don’t you already know?” said David.

“Most of us just know that Prier went into the woods, and you six went after him” said Salsa. “And now you’ve all been promoted and Prier’s in trouble for working with Morgan.”

David sighed. “You know how we captured Morgan’s apprentice Molly a couple of months ago? The shiny Woobat?”

“What about her?”

“Prier wished to take her place” said Lin Lin. “He was going to bring Morgan ingredients and materials, and in exchange, Morgan was going to teach him about magic.”

“Wait- seriously?” said Faye. “Couldn’t he just look that up at the library or something?”

“That’s what I kept saying” said Samara. “Anyway, Penny and I tailed him and found out what he was doing. Thing is, Morgan found us and captured us.”

“So that’s where you were all month?” said Ian.

“Pretty much” said Penelope. “Morgan wanted to harvest us for ingredients. The others showed up just in time to stop her from carving my heart out with a bread knife.”

“How did you guys find out?” said Margaret.

“You wouldn’t believe us if we told you” said David. “Anyway, we got to Morgan’s house as fast as we could, beat up Morgan, and rescued Penny and Samara.”

“Wait… you beat up Morgan?” said Salsa. “Just like that? How’d you manage that? When I fought her, I barely survived!”

“Birch came through for us” said Aveline. “One Worry Seed was enough to take away Morgan’s biggest advantage in a fight.”

“…come again?”

“Flash Fire is what makes Morgan dangerous, not magic” said David. “She can throw fire around in close quarters without burning herself. Without it… well, she’s still a dangerous witch who throws fire at people, but she’s also a scrawny little Vulpix.”

Bossa Nova whistled. “Not bad, kid” he said, clapping Birch on what was technically the shoulder. Birch looked uncomfortable at the attention. The Honchkrow blew a smoke gyroscope. “Is she still alive?”

David and Lin Lin both looked a bit surprised by the question.

“We don’t actually know” said Lin Lin. “David stabbed her several times, and I punched her hard enough to throw her half a mile, but we did not have time to look for her afterward.”

“Why not?” asked Salsa.

“The fight had set the forest on fire” said Lin Lin. “We had to get out of there quickly.”

Penelope was roasting three marshmallows. “Plus, she’d been thrown so far away that we might not have been able to find her anyway.”

“Quite an adventure” said Bou. “I see that the six of you have more than earned your newfound ranks.”

“Er… thanks?” said Penelope. “At the time, it seemed like a lot of yelling, fighting, and burning.”

“That can probably be said for any grand tale” said the Bunnelby.

“Fair enough” said Samara, who had recovered from the beer-marshmallow incident and was now roasting roughly twelve marshmallows at once. She looked around. “Hey, has anyone got any ketchup?”