Family Camping 3
"Rise and shine boy and girls! It's morning and we need to get a move on," Rocco disturbs his subordinates' restful sleep.
"Uuhh, my beauty sleep," their priestess complains from her cot as she rubs her eyes.
"Alright, you can complain later. Go get breakfast and prepare to move out," he continues as he gently pushes them off their blankets.
If he never told me that he's a Sergeant training his subordinates, I would've thought he's their dad.
When he finally got them to move, he approaches me at the barbecue.
"Hey, thanks for preparing breakfast for us man," he says as he nabs a piece of meat from the plate.
"It's nothing," I reply. "Just make sure to not waste any. Adresin and Freya are getting water from the river so we can get coffee going too."
"Oh, that'd help a lot!" he says with excitement.
"Too bad we don't have doughnuts," I chuckle.
"Haha, old cop jokes," he says dryly. "You know, I know you're younger than me, but you really remind me of my grandpa."
"Haha you don't say..."
As we are talking, Adresin and Grace returns from their water run.
"Here, sir," he says while slowly putting down two barrels. "Enough water for a week. I must say, I hope you're not planning on making us carry this."
Grace also puts down her two barrels and stretches her arms.
"You know, Uncle Adresin, you complain a lot for someone your age," she says in her always calm manner.
"U-uncle?!" Adresin blurts out in offense. "I'll have you know, I'm still in my prime of 210 years."
"Oof so basically a grandpa," I chime in.
"Sir! You're the last person who can say if your story from yesterday were true," he whimpers.
"Hahaha you guys are hilarious!" Rocco bursts out in laughter. "I wish we could hang out more."
All three of us look at him quizzically.
"What do you mean?" I ask.
He cocks his head in confusion.
"We're parting ways after we pack up..." he says hesitantly. "Unless..."
"Un- dad told us that we're tagging along with you for training," Grace says.
"What?!" he blurts out in a panic. "Wait, wait, wait, what part of what I said last night made you want to come with us?"
I grin and say, "The part where you said some people went missing."
"Missing?" Adresin chimes in.
Rocco facepalms and sighs.
"You do know that police officers can arrest unauthorized people in the <
"Oooh so you figured that out!" I say. "Congratulations. You're not as dumb as the police officers that I knew."
Hearing my words, the young blonde guy steps forward and says, "Shut your mouth. I will not tolerate disrespect to the Sergeant."
In response, Grace steps forward and glares at him. She's already poised to fight if she has to.
"Look, Rocco," I say as I approach him. "We're going to Adirondack Mountains whether you like it or not. Now it's up to you to get us there and back safely, or arrest us right now. But let me just give you a hint: you'll have better luck with the former than the latter."
Adresin is starting to have his usual worried look while Rocco's trainees ready themselves. Meanwhile, Rocco locks eyes with me, unfazed.
"Fine," he declares.
"But Serg-" the blonde boy starts to protest but Rocco's hand stops him.
"But one fuck up, and you three are going to the slammer," he says.
"Good," I say and turn to Adresin and Grace. "Pack up everything and watch these guys like a hawk. Hopefully you'll learn a thing or two."
Grace nods and follows my instructions and with a bit of hesitation, Adresin does the same.
Rocco returns to his team and also prepares.
[Third Person POV]
"Sergeant, why did you just let him talk to you like that?" the blonde boy asks.
"Mark, you're still green so you probably didn't feel it" Rocco replies. "But my instincts are telling me that out of the three of them, that human is the most dangerous one."
The red-head girl approaches him and says in monotone, "Want me to keep an eye?"
Rocco nods. "No, it's fine. He might be dangerous but he's not evil. As an ally, he's the most powerful, but if we cross him in any way, we're done for."
"And this is all guts?" the priestess chimes in.
Rocco smiles and says, "When you get enough experience, you'll able to feel it too."
[Back to Richard's POV]
The pack-up goes smoothly and we proceed to head out.
"Ahem," Rocco catches our attention. "Since we're going to work together, I believe we need to get introduced. I'll start. My name is Sergeant Rocco of the NYPD. My hobbies are watching boxing and the casino."
"Dude, do we really have to say our hobbies?" I protest.
"Haha, you don't have to if you don't want to," he replies.
Adresin then steps forward and gives them his usual slight bow.
"My name is Adresin Windfall, an associate of the Lupinus family and now, tutor for Miss Freya Demain," he says gracefully.
In response, the priestess curtsies bashfully and says, "M-my name is Trainee Lina Marigold. I-it's nice to meet you."
Wow, elves do pull. Even in Garden of Days, they're the most popular race since they're the most good-looking. Good to see their race haven't lost their touch.
"My name is Freya Demain, nice to meet you," Grace says briefly but politely.
"Mark Lewis," the blonde tank says and glares at me.
"Richard Demain," I respond to his glare with my own. "Problem solver."
He unconsciously shudders. I know it's a bit childish, but the kid has to learn to respect his elders.
"Tabitha," the petite red-head says in her soft, monotone voice.
I look at Rocco who just shrugs bashfully.
"A-alrighty, let's get along now!" he says as he leads us through the forest.
The walks uneventful for the most part. The map that Rocco has says that we'll get to the mountains by nightfall since we started our hike just as there was enough sunlight to see. To pass the time, I taught him all I know about edible plants so they can survive the next time they run out. Now that I think about it, he never said how they really lost their food. Oh well, it's probably just an embarrassing story.
"Oh! Hi, Mr. Bunny," Lina stoops down to give attention to some kind of wild animal. "How did you find us?"
I crane my neck to see what she's fussing about and was mildly surprised. It's a chubby, one-horned rabbit that nuzzles itself in her hand.
"Rocco..." I call out to him. "Tell me that the reason your food was gone was not because you fed it to them."
Rocco laughs awkwardly and says, "It's embarrassing isn't it? Better to say they stole it."
With that confirmation, I waste no time and rush towards the rabbit.
*Thwack*
To everyone's horror, I kick the rabbit like a football and push Lina away.
"Hey you psycho!" Mark yells at me after successfully catching Lina.
I turn to them with a wide grin on my face.
"Rocco, good thing you met us," I say.
"What do you-?" Rocco's about to ask but the slight shaking of the ground interrupts him.
*Rumble*
"Adresin!" I call out to him. "Erect a barrier."
Understanding my intentions, Adresin chants a spell in Elvish.
[Crystal Barrier]
After he finishes, a translucent green barrier surrounds them. Just in time too.
*Whoosh*
From the nearby forest, hundreds, if not thousands of rabbits crash onto us like a tsunami. The group in the barrier watch as I get swallowed hole in the stampede.
[Third Person POV]
"Uncle Richard!" Grace yells and is about to rush to help me but Adresin stops her.
"No! Miss Freya," he says while pulling her back. "You must stay in the barrier. Sir, Rorschach will be fine."
"What the hell's all this..." Rocco gasps in disbelief.
Meanwhile, Lina has collapsed into a fetal position and mutters, "This... this is all my fault... I fed the rabbits..."
Rocco grits his teeth and puts a firm hand on Adresin's shoulder.
"Son, we gotta help him," he says. "This is OUR fault. We can't just let him die out there."
But Adresin is immovable. He silently watches as the swarm of rabbits gnaw at his barrier.
[Inventory]
*Shing*
Suddenly, a blue light pierces through the mass of bodies.
[Mortality Deactivated]
[Access to Mana, Granted]
[Access to Divine Traits, Granted]
[Legendary Mana Potion, Used]
"Vaccum," a voice emanates in the heart of the sea of fur.
At once, the ravenous rabbits slides off Adresin's barrier as an unstoppable force pulls them away. The group watches as the sea of monsters form into a huge ball. Underneath it is Richard, who's calmly waving his hands like a skilled conductor. No scratch is on him and even his clothes are unscathed.
"What the hell..." Mark mutters. "How can a human do this?"
Richard has a wicked smile on his face as more rabbits get added to the ball.
"Now, let's see how small you guys can get!" he yells with bloodlust in his eyes.
[Compress]
*Spurt* *Splat*
The ball gets smaller as an invisible force crushes it. The rabbits cry out in pain as their bones crunch and blood spill.
[Compress]
*Crunch* *Shriek*
The group in the barrier stare in awe. Meanwhile, Adresin heaves out his breakfast in a corner.
[Compress]
With one final burst of energy, the contorted bodies of the rabbits form into a smooth ball of flesh and bone 1/3 of its original size.
Richard looks at his companions and sighs in satisfaction.
"Didn't you know to NEVER feed wildlife when you're camping?" he says jokingly.