Camp camp! Jasper's return!

The other side

The group stood around the fire and chanted deeply. Their robes only slightly illuminated by the flames and their chants echoed around a cave nearby. In front of them was a half rotted corpse. Few blonde hairs remained, the eyes almost gone and the skin... the skin was a dead green-pale white. 

The chant continued as circle they surrounded the corpse with started to glow. They continued with wavering voices but the light continued. The skin gained colour, the eyes closed, the hair returned. After some time the chant stopped. Moments go by and the circle was silent. The body in the center of the circle sat up with a frown.

They then smiled. Laughed. And stood.

"Boy! Was that an adventure! But, as glad as I am to see all these wonderful faces again, you disturbed the order. And you better run before I kill you myself." With that the robed bodies shuffled slightly but few stood tall. One, even brave enough to speak.

"Daniel. We did this because we needed your guidance. We needed you." The figure kneeled on their knee and faced downward. Daniel, from the center, spoke up. 

"Hmmm. True. You all do need me. Considering you even thought about bringing others back from death. But for our first order of business, how about something to drink? I'm parched."

The day started with David screaming loudly that it was a great morning for breakfast and that all the campers needed to wake up and feel the sunshine! 

The campers, of course, were not in the mood to "feel the sunshine" no matter how happy David was. Gwen of course followed the campers in this mood and as did Jasper. They all felt 7 am was a bit too early on a Saturday. 

"Come on guys! I hear there's a great breakfast today!" Firstly, few agreed and most disagreed. The mystery meat that was added moved. The potatoes were half cooked and had sprouts but the eggs were fine. They were just eggs.

"This is bullshit." Max spoke blatantly starring at the food in front of him.

"I dfft knoo wfft yffre talfin abbt." Nikki tried to speak around the food. Max rolled his eyes and looked to Neil. 

"Well?"

Neil looked over to max. "Well what?"

"What about breakfast? You haven't said anything."

"I mean. It moves, which is slightly gross but I don't know what you mean." Neil stated honestly. Max once more rolled his eyes.

"Okay."  

Jasper sat down by the three campers and put a hesitant smile on his face. "Hey guys. Just wanted to see if everything was going okay." Nikki raised her brow but swallowed her food and replied.

"It's a bit early but the foods great!" Nikki smiled and Jasper smiled back.

"That's good to hear. Neil was it? What about you?" Neil, shy at first, answered. 

"I mean... fine I guess..." Jasper nodded and once again smiled. He then turned to Max.

"What about you little-"

"Piss off" 

Jasper paused. "Okay."

"What?" Max replied to Jasper questioningly.

"I don't want to annoy you, so alright. I still hope you have a rad day today dude." With that Jasper got up and waved at the trio and walked away. 

Max sat there puzzled as Nikki and Neil started talking about anything. Who did this guy think he was? Or was that just him?

In any case the day continued with small, simple activities which involved colouring and a little bit of crafts. David explained they were supposed to be making safety patrol officers, a very good example in his opinion but of course, not everything goes to plan. Soon the main picnic table was covered in snapped popsicle stick bodies, melted and pared down crayons, and something that resembled pee but Gwen swore was apple juice (if only to reassure herself).

Max sat scrolling away on his phone while Nikki tried making climbing gear from her craft stuffs and Neil read a couple of his own books. Jasper wandered over and sat by the trio again. No one acknowledged him there and continued their work.

"Hey you guys. What plans do you have with those crafts?" Jasper asked. 

"Nothing." Neil responded. Jasper nodded.

"What are you reading?" Neil finally looked up. 

"It's just something about robotics." Jasper nodded.

"What all do you know?" Jasper asked genuinely. Neil gave a slightly questioning look but went on. 

"Well... I can do some basic wiring... coding is simple... Haven't memorized any languages yet though. But I think that summarizes it well. Don't want to bore you." Neil rolled his eyes. 

"I wouldn't mind." Neil looked back at Jasper and his genuine smile.

Neil then went on to explain a few different things about what he knew and jasper listened intently unless he had some input or questions. Max looked on in slight disgust. Once again, who did this guy think he was.

"Well, you seem really into all that. That's awesome!" Neil smiled and had not realized he had even started gluing popsicle sticks together to represent things he was talking about. Neil continued with his work happily and Jasper turned to Max.

"Find anything cool on there?" Jasper inquired about max with his phone. 

"Just David's dating profiles."

"That's not actually your phone is it?"

"Nope."

"Oh my gosh that's hilarious." Jasper started chuckling and max looked up. 

"I mean... yeah. That's that point. What about you." Max questioned or rather stated. 

"I'm wondering about what you guys are up to."

"No, I mean, really. What is it you're after." Max continued. 

"Listen. Kiddo. I just came back from the dead okay? I've been trapped on that island with... ugh... You know. I honestly just want a conversation and want to know what people like." Jasper said honestly and max looked at him for a few more seconds and went right back to the phone.

"Alright. And if you must know, I just hooked David up with some furry from Canada. They seem nice but it's going to be hilarious if they show up here." Jasper nodded and laughed.

"Yeah, yeah. We'll see." Jasper finished and then turned to Nikki and spoke with her.

The rest of the day went along without many hitches and Max still questioned jasper's motives but eventually just rolled with it. Everyone was sort of content. Still not happy with being at camp but were okay for a little while. A little while.