[h3][i][color=#9CAADB]K[/color][color=#9DA9D7]a[/color][color=#9EA9D3]t[/color][color=#9FA9D0]h[/color][color=#A0A8CC]e[/color][color=#A1A8C9]r[/color][color=#A2A8C5]i[/color][color=#A3A8C1]n[/color][color=#A4A7BE]e[/color] [color=#A7A7B7]&[/color] [color=#A9A6B0]C[/color][color=#AAA6AC]a[/color][color=#ABA6A8]m[/color][color=#ACA6A5]e[/color][color=#ADA5A1]r[/color][color=#AEA59E]o[/color][color=#AFA59A]n[/color][/i][/h3][hr]
[color=B1A597]“You remembered to pack your toothbrush, right?”[/color]

[color=9CAADB]“Yep!”[/color]

[color=B1A597]“Your clothes?”[/color]

[color=9CAADB]“Definitely. Swimsuit, too!”[/color]

[color=B1A597]“Did you pack your homework?”[/color]

[color=9CAADB]“Huh? Isn’t this a holiday? We don’t have any.”[/color]

[color=B1A597]“We did. It’s alright, though. I brought your worksheets anyway. Hairbrush?”[/color]

[color=9CAADB]“Yeah, it’s in my bag. See?”[/color] Katherine rummaged around. She grimaced. [color=9CAADB]“Uh, never mind. I must’ve left it in the bathroom.”[/color]

[color=B1A597]“Don’t worry, I brought three.”[/color]

[color=9CAADB]“Great! I’m going to take a nap, then.”[/color] She was asleep before the plane even started moving. Cameron breathed a sigh of relief- Katherine hadn’t slept at all the night before. He was feeling a bit sleepy too… He stared out the window as the plane accelerated down the runway, eventually drifting off into sleep.

[hr]
Cameron stared over the side of the boat, trying to keep his stomach in control.

[color=9CAADB]“You good?”[/color] Katherine called out, rushing to his side.

[color=B1A597]“Yeah, I’ll be... alright... just need a moment.”[/color] He felt the pretzels from the flight turn over and suppressed his urge to hurl over the gunwale. [color=B1A597]“How close are we to the island?”[/color]

Katherine pointed off into the distance, which wasn’t much use to Cameron, who was staring down at the water. [color=9CAADB]“It’s right there! Not long now.”[/color]

The island drew closer through the fog, eventually coming into full view. As soon as Cameron caught sight of solid land, he immediately straightened.[color=B1A597] “Oh, how wonderful! I need to get a picture of it as we come in.”[/color] He raised his camera, sighted, and clicked the shutter. [color=B1A597]“Kath, get in the shot.”[/color]

[color=9CAADB]“Sure! What kind of pose?”[/color]

[color=B1A597]“Something exciting, or maybe…”[/color] He paused.

[color=9CAADB]“Hm?”[/color]

[color=B1A597]“Wait, wait, wait! Kath, look at the island!”[/color]

She turned. [color=9CAADB]“What? It’s nice, isn’t it?”[/color]

[color=B1A597]“No, no, no! It’s… it’s all wrong.”[/color] Cameron pulled out a thick packet from inside his coat. The booklet was already well-worn from constant consultation, with numerous sticky notes protruding from between the pages. Cameron had taken notes and done some extra research on the island as well. [color=B1A597]“Look, on page 3, Ms. Opal provided a picture of the island.”[/color]

He lifted it up for Katherine to see. The 10 year-old photo showed a very different image of the island- more ruins and much less vegetation.

[color=9CAADB]“And? They probably just fixed it up a bit. Being more environmentally friendly.”[/color] Katherine smiled.

Cameron thought for a moment.[color=B1A597] “Ah, well, I suppose it [i]is[/i] an older photo,”[/color] he conceded.[color=B1A597] “And they definitely could have done some rebuilding.”[/color]

The two grabbed their bags as the group prepared to disembark. Both carried a decently large hiking pack, complete with utensils hanging off survival ties and sleeping pad bundled on top.

Katherine lifted up a sealed box about a meter across. [color=9CAADB]“Hey, what’s this? It’s super heavy. Not that it’s hard for me to carry, of course.”[/color]

[color=B1A597]“Oh, that? I just packed some camping stuff.”[/color]

[color=9CAADB]“Some? What’s in here, an oven?”[/color]

[color=B1A597]“No, that one’s the dried food and consumables.”[/color] He pointed at another, smaller box on the deck. [color=B1A597][i]“This[/i] one’s the dutch oven.”[/color]

Katherine bent down to stack the boxes on top of each other, picking them back up. [color=9CAADB]“Huh. Yeah, I’m not surprised.”[/color]

The two followed the rest of the students off the ferry.

Ms. Opal’s panic was the first of many things that was about to go wrong. Cameron’s mouth curled into a frown as Katherine bounced on her toes, thinking about the trip. Sure, they had a job to do, but it was just a holiday. She’d never gone camping before, but it sounded fun.

Then… things went south very, very fast. The locals ignoring all requests for assistance, Ms. Opal turning into a sheep, and the ferry leaving the island.

Cameron whipped out his vomit bag from the plane and began to breathe in and out.

[color=B1A597]“It’ll be alright, it’s just another normal paranormal occurrence. Just like our daily lives. Just like the war. Nothing bad’s going to…”[/color]

[color=9CAADB]“Huh? What’s happening?”[/color] Katherine said, peering around the side of her boxes. [color=9CAADB]“Oh. Isn’t that a cute sheep?”[/color]

Cam stared at her. [color=B1A597]“That’s… Ms. Opal.”[/color]

[color=9CAADB]“That’s a joke, right?”[/color]

Katherine blinked, staring at the fluffy creature as Cam muttered to himself. He definitely wasn’t the type to make a joke like that. Plus, all of their companions seemed to be in a few different states of distress. There were definitely a few colorful characters in their group.

[color=9CAADB]“Yeah, what she said,”[/color] Katherine chimed in, nodding her head at Judea. [color=9CAADB]“We can go to the campsite. I’m sure that there’s something there. Cam, you know where that is, right?”[/color]

[color=B1A597]“Right. We can formulate a new plan of action from there. That’s a good idea, Kath.”[/color] Cameron folded up the bag and put it away, then pulled out a map of the island he had printed. It was a bit old, but the campsite wouldn’t have changed [i]that[/i] much, right? [color=B1A597]“It’s a short walk from here, I think.”[/color]