Sparrow (IC!)

[Boss-Lolita]

Eara stood outside her shabby tent, looking over the camp. It was early in the morning and nobody had woken up yet. Shivering, she took a few steps back, away from the cold snow and harsh wind. Inside her tent, a few coals burned, giving her much needed warmth.

Turning quickly, she marched over to her small cot, grabbing the thick coat that was resting there. Putting it on, she sat and also tugged on fur boots before leaving her tent. " OI! CHILDREN! Get up! We don't survive by lazing around, now do we?!" Eara's voice rang though the camp as it did every morning, the early morning ritual of waking up.

Eara had no patience for slow risers and every single tent's flap was opened to assure they would get up fast to avoid the cold. Then she went to the center of camp and waited for her troops to arrive

((Sorry for being slow, I fell asleep))

[Taylor]

I yawn and stretch as I wake up in my freezing cold tent, I had gotten used to the cold and Eara's voice in the morning but I was still not used to waking up so early. I get up and put on my big warm coat over my sweater and slip on my boots, then I head out to the center of camp to let Eara know I was awake before heading to the kitchen to prepare breakfast for the troops. I go through the kitchen to check our inventory and then begin to prepare breakfast, some oatmeal and some eggs. After having breakfast well on the way I head back out to the center of camp to say good morning to Eara and let her know what food we are low on.

[Alice]

The second the sound of light footsteps reached her ears, Stefani was up and going. She was an extremely light sleeper - a cricket, shuffling, strong wind, anything could wake her - so the sound of loud footsteps were sure to succeed in making her jump. The girl shivered in the cold air as she changed her clothes. After putting on her top and pants, she reached for her shoes. After a few minutes of fumbling with the shoelaces, she gave up and plopped back into bed.

A sigh escaped her lips, and she raised herself from the cozy cot again - now determined to succeed. The problem of the laces was solved when she actually sat down on the ground and tied them. After finishing all her morning necessities, she walked out of her tent to the freezing morning weather of Russia.

[Boss-Lolita]

Um, Alice, I would like to tell you that Stefani is on the yellow side, aaaaand Eara is the red team leader XD... So you'll have to wait for Maxwell's command C: )

[Higurashi]

Maxwell was already awake when the sun rose. He almost never slept these days. It seemed to him that he no longer needed it. If you weren't tired, and your body showed no signs of needing it, then why sleep at all? Maxwell wasn't sure what it was. Was it the cold? Did the icy wind and sheets of frozen water somehow energize him? He honestly didn't know. It puzzled him. All the others obviously slept normally. He shrugged the thought off.

Maxwell then rose from his seat, a branch in a tree close to the camp. He silently dropped to the ground, and walked to the circle of tents. As he went among them, he noticed Stefani was already up an about. He wasn't sure just how she did it. She was always awake when he went to do the morning wake up. He regarded her coldly as she exited her tent. She may have been second in command, but she was lazy in his opinion.

He walked over to her and took her by the shoulders, leaning in so that his forhead touched hers. "Now listen here." He whispered. "I know its hard to get up to this air, but you MUST be quicker."

[Alice]

Stefani's eyebrows went up as she smiled in surprise. A little laugh escaped her as she said, "Woah woah. First of all, there's this new thing called a personal bubble. See it?" she asked as she pointed to an invisible bubble around her, showing that Max was intruding her space. The female took half a step back so that there was no contact between them, but they were still standing pretty close. "Second of all, I think my waking time's fine. You're in charge - you wake up first. I'm second-in-charge - I wake up second. See? There's no math involved, just some logic."

She stepped a bit closer to him for extra tension, saying, "And anyway, Max.. You know that I could've been in charge if I'd chosen so. I just didn't want the responsibility. Just keep that mind, m'kay?" She smiled a sheepish smile as she patted him on the back, then gracefully walked past him.

[Boss-Lolita]

Lark wandered out of her tent, and yawned. Her eyes lifted to Maxwell and Stefani and she blinked " Gooood morning Maxy <3" Her bright blue eyes link with his, and for a second something evil and devious passed through them, and then she skipped over to Stefani and grabbed her hand " Morning Stefi. Its colder today, don'cha think?" Her blonde hair twisted around her face as a wind blew harshly through the camp

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Elsewhere, Eara shrugged at Taylor's requests " Alright, I'll send in for new supplies. Look, can you take care of camp for a while? I want to do some scouting. Don't bother sending anyone after me when they wake up, but make sure Ed take over when he is up and running." Eara smiled and turned, zipping up her jacket to her neck and walking out of camp. Not ten minutes later, she was tucked high into a tree right outside of yellow camp. Her eyes followed Maxwell, the leader

[ForeverEnd]

As the cold morning came Kai had been awake before it in fact he hadn’t slept at all, he was in the Recovery tent it was bigger than most of the other tents it was for those who were wounded during this war. He was sitting on top a chair opposite of where his eyes were on a large stained cloth covering what appeared to be a small body, he looked toward the floor he let out a cold breath into the air and stood up knocking the chair over.

Kai looked back at the body then back to the chair, clenching his fist and gritting his teeth he spoke evil whispers to himself, he grabbed the chair furiously and threw it outside the tent then as trying to recover from his small burst he ran his fingers through his hair. He walked over to the cold body and carried it outside the tent he didn’t care for the others waking right now he simply walked past them with a cold expression, he made his way toward the farthest part of the camp where they kept the dead.

There were always a couple of extra open graves since you never know what will happen, he rested the body inside slowly muttering something kindly then letting the extra dirt around the side fall in with a push it was somewhat crude but it seemed well enough to serve the purpose. Kai dusted of his hands and shirt and walked toward the main part of the camp he was a bit calmer now and focused his thoughts on today.

He watched the others get up shivering he actually went over to a few and made sure they were getting good nutrition and if they were functioning correctly. They would easily get sick or have a mental break down with all the things that had been happening constantly over time. He sighed making rounds with his clipboard through all the tents making sure everyone was up he supported the idea of no one sleeping alone especially during these nights where the cold took you in.

He took notes on some that would need extra watching over and started signing everyone off for the day last he would check the leaders and Lark apparently she wasn’t in her tent the others said she had went off, Kai already had a idea of where she might have gone. He stared into the lifeless sky, it was always gray, yesterday was gray, today is gray, and I wonder what tomorrow will be? He looked forward now looking for the last of the others.

[Taylor]

I nod at Eara's commands and thank her as I watch her leave camp, no doubt to spy on the other camp and gather information. I personally cannot wait for Ed to wake up so I can possibly go meet up with Kai, it has been days since we have had an opportunity to see each other. I know how wrong it is that we are... involved but it just happened, I hate how I am betraying all my friends but I cannot seem to give him up.

I let my eyes scan camp continuously though somewhat lazily because I know I would be dead if something happened on my watch but my mind is somewhere else. I shiver in the freezing cold wishing I had a warmer coat and I glance over at Ed's tent hoping to see him come out. He was second in charge after all he should be awake. Although it is really not my place I am very tempted to go wake him up if only to get out of the cold for a moment but doing so would leave the camp unguarded so I decide to just stay at my post.

[Higurashi]

Maxwell narrowed his eyes. He hated it when his second teased him. It was severly getting on his nerves as of late. While this may have been the purpose of it, the teasing had to stop. To make things worse, Lark came out with her usual, ear grating greeting. He REALLY hated it when she called him Maxy. It was akin to an insult for him, wether or not she ment it as such. Then she went of and started talking with Stefani. Maxwell sighed and went to make preperations.

The other children had woken up by now, and were gathering in the center of camp. Maxwell set about giving out duties. Things needed to be done. Food needed to be gathered, the fires warmed, and scouts sen out. All these had to be done. Max finally came to Stefani and Lark. "You two." He said firmly. "We have to talk." He then walked over to his bunker. It was more of a deep, natural hole in the ground, covered with an assortment of foilage and a entrance hole in the front.

[thesouleater]

Ed was already awake when most of the others started climbing out of their tents. He had been taking care of his katana and wasn't bothered enough to go out of his tent to start barking orders at people. He tapped his finger lightly against the edge of his katana. It almost instantly started bleeding and he smirked with satisfaction.

When Ed started to hear more people up and about getting ready for the work of the day, he decided to finally climb out of his tent. But before he did so, he hid his katana underneith his long black coat. Not many people in the camp actually knew about the katana he carried. Only Eara, Taylor and the Medic.

After efficiently hiding the katana, Ed pushed open his tent flap, ignoring the burst of cold air that blew in his face. He stepped outside, tying the tent flaps shut. He walked over to Taylor. "Where's Eara?" He asked, no emotion visible on his face. "I need to talk to her."

[Boss-Lolita]

Eara slid down the tree silently, sneaking through the enemy camp and hiding behind Maxwell's burrow :3. She huddled down and waited till Maxwell was alone, staring at the sky. This wasnt the first time she had snuck into their camp, and probably not the last. She found it fun to sidle in, hiding with the shadows. Back at main camp, the soldiers were starting to wake up and wander out of their tents, gathering around Ed and Taylor

-------

"Hm? Why...?" Lark followed Maxwell to his hole in the ground, her blue eyes wide and innocent. " If this is about me calling you Maxy, Imma still call you that. You know you secretly like it" She glared up into his face, her eyes narrowing and taking on an almost overly intelligent look. Then they widened back out and she yaaaawned " Im hungry!" and with that, she hopped away for find food

[Taylor]

I turn as I hear Ed's voice behind me, "oh she went somewhere, I am assuming to spy. She left me to guard camp until you got up, but now you can have that lovely job" I say smiling sweetly at him. I then turn to leave towards the kitchen so I can get some more of breakfast done and then maybe go see Kai.

Once I reach the kitchen I finish up preparing the little food we have left and setting it aside for once everyone was up. Morning was a risky time to leave camp because people might be looking for me for breakfast but I was dying to see him. After I have cleaned up I slip out of the kitchen and begin to walk into the forest. I check to make sure I have the ribbon I always carry with me. Only about a month or so we devised a way to know when each other wanted to meet. It was really quite simple we would walk up to a tree close to the enemy camp, but somewhere no one who was not looking for it would notice and tie a ribbon around it. The other person would see the ribbon and come to the meeting spot, the key was being stealthy.

As I walked through the forest I thought about the last time we met and how short it was cut. After a reasonable walk I reach enemy camp, I sneak up to the tree I always use and quickly tie the ribbon around it. Once the ribbon is tied I sprint silently away from the camp towards out meeting spot.

[thesouleater]

Ed frowned and stood in the middle of camp, muttering to himself. He kicked the snow around and stared down the people that passed. About ten minutes later he started yelling for everyone to line up, rank order. He then told them that they had five more minutes before breakfast, twenty minutes to eat and after another five minutes to clean up. In that half-hour, Ed would be setting up the schedule of the day and what everyone's jobs were.

Ed let them off for their half-hour and went to the small fire pit near the middle of camp. He sat down on the damp log and made sure that his katana wasn't sticking out at an obvious angle. From there he watched as everyone ran around getting ready for the day.

[Alice]

She was just about to answer Lark when Max interrupted and started acting all 'I'm-the-boss-here'. Although she didn't really feel up to a lecture, Stefani followed Max with a roll of her eyes anyway. She would take Lark's company any day over Max's. In her opinion, the female thought that Max took the whole boss business waaay too seriously. If he wanted to, he could be fun and responsible at the same time. But he chose to be boring and sour. Urg.

They arrived in his hole if a living space and waited for Max to start scolding. But Lark, being as sneaky as she was, took the easy way out and ran away before he could say anything to her. Stefani crossed her arms and thought about following her, but when she finally did decide, it was too late. So she just prepared herself for whatever was coming. Not that she was afraid, but she just didn't feel like it.

[Higurashi]

Max stared after Lark as she fled the bunker. It was annoying, but he would deal with her later. He had built a small cupboard in his spare time, and now he opened it with a special key. He took out a small bottle filled with a dark liquid. He took out the cork with a small opener. He then poured a small shotglass like object with it and handed it to Stefani. "Drink this if you don't mind. Its a special brew. Tastes minty and gives energy."

[Alice]

First she looked at the drink, then she looked up at Max. She looked deep into his eyes, trying to guess if he just wanted to use the easy way out with getting rid of her by poisoning her, or if he had just had a miraculous mood change and was being sincere. The first option seemed silly. So, before she changed her mind and had the chance to throw the glass at his face, Tana gently took the drink and took a sip. It tasted good. Since it didn't look like Stefani would faint anytime soon, she raised the cup to her lips and drank a bit while looking up at Maxwell. She wanted to say something. Something - because she didn't know what she wanted to say. But definitely something. But then decided against it and remained silent.

[ForeverEnd]

Kai made his way to the usual spot where Max and Stefani held their meetings he was hoping to even come across Lark, he looked toward his clipboard again she seemed to always get away most of the time when he did his checkups, he sighed as he looked up from his clipboard to see something waving in the wind hidden but Kai kept a close eye for things such as this.

A simple lone ribbon dancing with the wind, he looked around the camp everyone seemed preoccupied with what they were doing, he wasn’t being watched and walked over to it causally he pulled gently and it quickly became undone he placed it in his inside jacket pocket making sure no ends could be seen he walked a little faster he needed to check on the others before he could go to Taylor.

As Kai came in waiting for Stefani and Max he saw and noticed drinks were being held here instead of the usual bickering between the two, Kai raised an eyebrow and made a small smirk, “You two seem awfully cheery this morning or maybe you both are under the weather either way I’m here to do the routine checkups, “He said writing down on his clipboard trying not to laugh a little it was just too much of a odd sight to see he suppressed his chuckles and look a little more serious, “ Now if you don’t mind who wants to go first?” he said crossing his arms, he was acting normal but he wanted to hurry this up as fast as possible he knew if he waited too long he might lose his chance to see Taylor again.

[Higurashi]

Max only got as far as, "What I wanted to talk abou-" When Kai walked into the bunker. As far as Max could tell from what he said, he was here for routine checkups. The way he spoke always seemed to long and drawn out, like he was trying to pack a whole speech into one breath. Regardless he was here for a reason. Max said, "I'll go first", and walked over to the boy, rolling up his sleeves to expose his main arm veins.

[Taylor]

I sit alone in the freezing forest as I do on so many days waiting for Kai, then again he does the same for me. As I sit there I begin to worry about getting caught, I should be there, at camp about to serve breakfast. I begin to try and think of excuses to explain why I was not there, after all it would be easier since I had already prepared breakfast so no one would go hungry. I couldn't exactly say I was sick since they would look for me if I am not there and if was sick I would be in bed. I continue to sit and think until Kai shows up.

[thesouleater]

When one of the soldiers came up to Ed saying that Taylor wasn't at her usual place in the mess hall tent, he was ready to brake the chef's nose. He was angered by her absense when he knew that she knew that she should be there. At the camp site. He looked at the soldier in the eye. "Do you think you are responsible enough to serve the food?" He asked. The soldier hesitantly nodded. "Then go serve it." Ed said. "Make sure you give about the same amounts that Taylor does when she serves." He said, turning around and marching off to her tent to see if she was there.

Ed found the tent empty and sighed angrily. He went around the site and, again, did not find Taylor. He went about 20 feet into the forest surrounding them, with no luck. After going about 30 feet into the forest, he gave up, not wanting to go any farther since he had the chance of losing the camp. He strode to the mess hall and stood in the back, ignored by those enjoying their food.

[ForeverEnd]

Kai quickly did his check up carefully poking and prodding Max to find something out of the norm. Kai finished up and wrote something on his clipboard, as he was writing he thought about Lark, she always slipped through him so maybe this time he’d let her slide, “Alright you seem to be in good health Max, well as good as health can be out here.” He placed his clipboard underneath his arm looked toward Stefani, “Come on Stefani let’s get this over with.” She’s the last one after this I’ll go see Taylor before it’s too late.

[Alice]

She watched silently as Kai took care of Max. He seemed kind of in a hurry today. Hmm... While Kai and Max were busy doing the check-up, Tana heard a small shuffle coming from the back outside of the tent. Right away she knew who it was. She'd been hearing small sounds that no one would hear since morning, and now her doubts were confirmed. A spy.

Stefani didn't make any movement to show that she knew, but just stood there until Max was finished. When he turned around and their eyes met, she didn't say anything, but her eyes were screaming "there's a spy". In small, tiny movements, she pointed her head towards the back of the tent, hoping he'd gotten the message. Then she walked up to Kai and held out her arms.

[Taylor]

I try to push my worry of how I will excuse my disappearance out of my head because it is just making me more and more anxious. I decide to just try and calm down and continue to wait for him, I have already missed breakfast it can't get much worse. Serving was always my job and though it sounds easy it really wasn't very, people would hate you if you gave even slightly more to someone else. On top of that you cannot give everyone too much or too little... I was being very unsuccessful at forgetting about missing breakfast.

[Higurashi]

Max finally got the message. He faded into the shadows, leaving the bunker unnoticed or seen. He circled around the back of the Spy's position, and crept up behind it. In a flying leap,he tackled the spy, flinging it from it's position into the middle of camp, him on top of it. It was then that he noticed that it was a girl. He put this thought aside for later and proceeded to beat the spy. He was vicious with the enemy team, giving no quarter or mercy.

[Boss-Lolita]

Max only got a few hits in before he was sliced across the face. Eara pushed him off and stood, knife held firmly. Spitting, she stared at Max. " Pity the big bad boss can't get a girl" And then she ran, almost gliding, out of the camp. Her nose was bleeding and she was pretty bruised up, but ok besides that. Suddenly, she saw someone. Taylor. Slowing, she climbed a tree, sitting unnoticed in it and watching.

[Crow]

Balistica wandered through the snowy path with ease, it was going to be a cold one... Her red hood bilowing in the breeze. She cracked her neck a bit before begining to stealthfully walk through the forest towards the yellow camp, she quickly began to walk behind a tent... Sticking to the shadows.

[Alice]

By the time Stefani had ran outside, the spy was nowhere to be seen. She was just beginning to sprint after them when she thought better of it and hung back. There'd be no way she could catch up now. She turned her body around sharply and glared at Max with lifeless, cold eyes. Here had been a chance to get ahead of the other team, and he had missed it. The feeling she was experiencing at the moment was the equal to losing. And if you knew Stefani, you'd be hiding. The female and losing had a very, very dark background.

The first thing that came to mind was running up and tackling him, which was really hard to resist. So she just went along with her thoughts, which was the most stupid and bizarre thing to do at the moment. But she just couldn't think straight. She ran, then tackled Max, knocking him down, while screaming "You let him go!", since she didn't know that it had been a girl.

[Crow]

Balistica looked around as a girl exited the tent, she moved closer to the tent as the girl left to go and takle another boy... She then saw this as an open window of oppertunity to learn about this team. She took out a pocket knife and cut open a part of the tent so she could peek in. She picked up a small knife from off the ground of the tent and examined it before putting it in her pocket, it had a pretty "S" insignia on it.

[Higurashi]

Max wasn't expecting Stefani to go and tackle him. He reacted quickly though, shoving her off of him. "I did not let HER go. She slashed me, SEE?!" He said pointing to the long cut on his face. He turned away, and grabbed a bow and arrows. He stormed out ofasi camp, chasing after the spy. He soon had to stop however, the cold was getting into the cut. He turned back only to see a girl in a red hood. He raised the bow slowly and notched the arrow.

[Crow]

Balistica could feel like someone was watching her. So she quickly took out two of her knives and turned around and faced him with her icy cold stare, she then ran towards him and threw her knives at him. One barely missed and the other clipped him in the shoulder.

[Higurashi]

Max barely flinched as the knifes flew at him. It did however throw off his aim, and his arrow flew wide, catching the girl in the leg rather than the heart as he had intended. He pulled out his knife and rushed at the girl, whirling around her at the last second and coming behin her, then putting her in a headlock and forcing her to the ground, knife at her throat.

[Crow]

A yelp of pain came from Balistica as the arrow landed in her calf. She tried to keep her senses about her as she gasped for air, her body was against the cold snow. she began to struggle as she then lost consciencness.

[Higurashi]

Max was panting. The blood loss was starting to get to him, but he still got up, dragging the girl along with him. As he re-entered camp, several of the children stared at his catch. They had never seen the girl before, but they assumed that she was on the red team from the color of her cloak.

[Crow]

Balistica remained knocked out as she was dragged inside, a set of red eyes gazed from inside the forest as it watched it's master was captured. Some thoughts were running through Balistica's head as she was dragged inwards 'Did I do something wrong? why is this man so angry with me'

[Boss-Lolita]

Eara watched Taylor for a minute before shuffling back down the tree and over to her. " Taylor! What are you doing here?! I expected you to be taking care of breakfast! UP! Back to camp now! And you're on probation until I say otherwise. There will be an escort for you from now on" Eara glared down at Taylor