Camp Lily

Night 2 - The Storm

Lily's Camp

Harsh winds blew through the Execrated Forest, whistling through the trees and forcing the woodland creatures to take shelter. Thunder and lightning crashed through the skies, causing the forest to tremble beneath it. Rain poured down and gradually worsened, coming down in bucketfuls at a time. Nobody would want to be caught outside during such a storm.

Inside the treehouse tent, Lily, Tei, kokone, Maika, Gumi, and Yuki huddled close together. None of them particularly liked storms, but Yuki and kokone were more frightened than the others. What a day to put a tent in a tree. To be closer to the sky on a day where the gods unleashed such fury on the world made for a bad stroke of luck. They found it hard to feel safe on such a night.

"We should try to sleep. The storm will go by quicker if we do," Tei suggested.

"How are we supposed to sleep in this weather?!" Gumi asked as she and kokone cuddled close to Lily.

"I don't know, just try not to think about it?"

None of them were going to sleep that night. Despite their best efforts, they could not keep their eyes shut with all the crackling and booming going on outside. It was worse than trying to sleep on New Year's Day with all the fireworks going off. No matter how hard they tried, they could not tune out the storm.

Great winds came from all directions, picking up speed and blowing branches off trees and uprooting a few plants. The tent trembled in place, while numerous objects flew at it from the outside. Even the Execrated Forest had not had a storm of such caliber in years. This was either a case of rotten luck or something did not want the singers in the forest.

A heavy gust of wind swung itself against the tent, rattling it and shaking everyone inside. If any of them were even close to falling asleep, they sure weren't anymore. Everyone screamed as another gust slammed into the side of the treehouse tent, slightly shifting it across the branches it rested upon. They were not sure how much more it could take.

One final blow struck the tent with full force and removed it from its sitting place entirely. The tent flew off the branches and hurdled toward the ground, bringing everyone inside along with it. Their screams were cut off by the sudden impact, which hurled the campers toward the fabric wall. Lily, Gumi, kokone, Maika, Yuki, and Tei were flung through the side of the tent, tearing through the material and hitting the muddy ground on the outside.

The tent was destroyed, and all its inhabitants were muddy and bruised. They were without shelter in such a terrible storm, their situation could not have possibly been worse.

Tei lifted herself from the ground and scanned everyone beside her. "Is everyone alright?" she asked, checking on Lily who landed beside her.

"I'm fine, thanks," Lily sat up and went to help kokone, who had fallen on her other side.

Once the campers were all up and sure they hadn't attained any serious injuries, they knew what needed to be done.

"We have to find Meiko's camp. We can't stay out here in this storm," Lily took charge, keeping an arm around a weeping kokone.

"You're right. We might not all fit in their tent, but it's the only choice we have," Maika seconded this idea. Without anywhere else to go, the six girls left their ruined campsite behind them and trekked out blindly into the wilderness to find their other friends.

Pushing on through the furious storm, Lily's group hurried through the trees as quickly as they could manage. The more it rained, the harder it became for them to see where they were going. Lily, Tei, and Maika each tried to lead the front of the pack, but none of them could keep a stable sense of direction for more than a minute. kokone clung to Lily the whole time as if her life depended on it, and Gumi carried Yuki on her back. They were all drenched, their hair falling down flat and their outfits becoming uncomfortably soaked. Many of them had to continually push their bangs out of their eyes, but they would just fall back into place afterwards.