The Challenge. (Started; accepting w/permission)

Katherine|Beach announcement

"Good, you're all here. My announcement is only this: Today you will come across some man-made obstacles. I'll tell you more about them when we get there. Another thing, NEVER let me repeat, NEVER, get ahead of me. It can be very dangerous out there if you don't know your way around. Feel free to fan out but never go ahead of me. Well that's all! I'm going to head out now and you guys can follow right away or wait awhile if you don't like company. Let's go!" After a couple hours of travel we stop for lunch at a clearing in the woods. The kids are kind of spread out so I sit down on the ground and begin to eat my sandwich as I wait for them to slowly arrive. First comes Teal in a huff and plops down on the ground staring at nothing. Then comes Noah a little sheepishly. He sits down on a fallen log and begins rummaging in his pack. The next one to round the corner is Rose. She looks tired. She sits down under a tree and closes her eyes. Mario comes storming in and sits down apart from the rest. Everyone seems happy! NOT! Now I just have to wait for the rest...

zohan

The day had just begun and i was really tired from last night. I went out of the camp and took pictures of the full moon, it was really beautiful, and also other pictures of the volcano infront of the moon, and the forest at night. but that wasn't my reason for leaving last night, i was hopping i could gather food and also i cut my tent on one side, big enough to form rags that covered my fingers. in the morning i woke up early enough to fold everything back together before they notcied anything.
I let out a huge yawn as rose talks to me, i really wasn't feeling well. i was just too tired to answer her properly so i said i didn't know. then i yawned again.
I would have held them back, so i told them, "I want to be alone now guys,"
Then i catch sight of the volcano that looked so near! but it seemed like we were heading the opposite direction. i sighed. i really wanted to get a picture of the volcano in the day.
The whole morning i lagged behind everyone else, hoping that we would make a turn towards the volcano. i could here kathrine announce that they were making a turn where thick bushes were, a few more minutes we would reach the lunch site. i stopped walking and bent down pretending to tie my shoes as one by one they turn and dissapear behind the bushes. then i get up and run the other direction.

Noah

I took notice of the fact that we were NEVER to get in front of Katherine on the tour, so that was one thing I wasn't going to forget.

I wondered about what we would see on the hike, we were walking for a while and I saw a volcano. I wasn't afraid of the volcano, but it had this cool glow to it. It looked powerful. I walked over Rylet,

"That's some volcano isn't it?"

Rylet

After I wake, I begin looking for Andy or Brigid, who had already left the tent. I take a few bites of the granola in my pack before remembering it has to last and slipping it away.
Katherine signals the start and I still look around for my group from last time, thinking it wise to stick with people I knew. After walking for a while, we reach the volcano and Noah walks over to me.
"That's some volcano, isn't it?" He asks.
"Yeah." I agree, flashing a smile. "But it's better to see it from higher up."
I glance at him.
"C'mon, I'll show you."
I pull him over to one of the tallest trees, where the top barely overseeing the mouth of the volcano, and begin climbing, making sure he's behind me. Once we get to the top, I point, smmiling at the magnificent beauty of something so deadly..

Deleted

Andy|Woods

We've been walking for an hour almost and I'm sweating buckets. I wipe my forehead with my equally sweaty hand causing no effect on my brow. I yawn. Brigid and I have been talking almost the whole way. We never did find Rylet and we assume she went off with someone else. Our conversation dropped of a few minutes ago and neither of us are in the mood to revive it. I trip over a stone and catch myself just before falling. Brigid grabs my arm reassuringly even though I don't really need it. Ahead I see Zohan, Rose, and Warren. Zohan stops walking and lets Rose and Warren turn and disappear from view then he looks both ways and dashes into the woods.
"Hey Brigid," I say, "Um you go on ahead. I'll meet up with you at the clearing."
"What?" she asks annoyed. "Ok I get it if you're sick of my company. I'm sick of yours too."
"No, no, no! Wait Brigid!" Brigid picks up her pace and continues ahead of me. "Brigid I'm sorry! There's just something I have to do..."
"Yeah I understand Andy. Go off and have an adventure. Have fun. I'll see ya later." She jogs ahead.
"Brigid!" Oh well. I'll have to resolve that when I catch up to her. For the moment, I have something else on my mind. Who is this Zohan? I know almost nothing about him. I turn into the woods where Zohan did. He left a very clear track behind him. He obviously knows nothing about tracking. I follow the broken sticks and the bent bushes until I see him ahead of me. Suddenly I bump into someone.
"Ouch!" I groan as the other person steps hard on my foot.
"Oh sorry! I didn't see you, I was watching Zohan." It's Warren talking. I wonder what he's doing in the woods too... I don't have much time to ponder the question when suddenly Zohan screams and I see something grabs him from behind.

Deleted.

deleted

****Okay. I'll change both of my posts.*****

Brigid|Woods

I hiked quickly, fuming silently to myself. I hated unreliable people. Andy wasn't unreliable, exactly, but he never gave any reasons for doing anything, and it was beginning to get on my nerves. I was used to people either (a) following orders, or (b) explaining themselves, not just running off whenever they felt like it. What did he expect me to do, just say, "Oh, okay," and keep going? On my airship, no one ever did anything without me knowing about it. If Andy wanted to keep this team thing going, he'd have to start talking to me. In a survival situation like this, a team had to function as one entity, not two complementary parts.

I slowed my pace a little, noticing for the first time that the chatter in the background had died down. Where were the others? I knew I hadn't gotten ahead of Katherine, but were they really that far behind?

Rosette| Woods

I've been walking with Warren this whole time, but we have both noticed something.
"Why is Zohan acting so weird? I mean, he's like being, I don't know, weird." I say.
"Hmmm. I know. I've been watching him too. Wait." says Warren. Before I can stop him, he goes into the woods, and when I look behind me, there is nobody!
"Uh, Warren? Andy?" I whisper. Something seems creepy. I jog nonchalantly until I reach Bridgid. "Hi... I'm Rosette... I mean, just call me Rose... Uh, I was wondering if I could walk with you... I kind of feel like something creepy is going on...." I blurt out.
"Oh, uh, yeah... But what's this about stuff being creepy?" She says.
"Well, I was walking, and Zohan, Andy and Warren were close to me... Then, Zohan disappeared, Andy disappeared, and Warren disappeared..."
"Oh... That does seem creepy!" says Bridgit.
"What do you think could be happening?" I whisper quietly.

deleted

Warren- Woods-
I'm walking with Rose when I see Zohan turn around and bolt into the forest.
"Wait," I tell Rose and head off after Zohan and into the woods. I rush into the woods after him.
I hear someone in front of me, and when I finally can see who it is, I see it's Albert or Andrew or something. We finally have Zohan in sight, but all of a sudden she's grabbed and pulled back into the trees.
"What was that?" I ask, my heart beating wildly.

Andy|Woods

“Zohan!” I run towards him. He screams again. Strangely it sounds awfully girlish. Not the way a guy would scream… I don’t have much time to think it over though. When I get to his side I ball my fist and send blow to the person’s head. He drops Zohan and swears. I give him another blow in the chin before he jogs off into the woods. I would follow after him but I want to make sure Zohan is okay.
“Are you alright?” I ask seating myself beside his crumpled form on the ground. Tears are staining his cheeks. Strange that a eighteen year old dude would be crying but hey, it was a traumatizing experience.
“Yeah,” he says in a really high voice I couldn’t mimic. “I mean of course,” he adds in a deeper voice then his face turns bright red. I have a strange feeling.
“Um… Zohan? Can I ask you something…” I pause gathering courage. “Are you a girl?” I blurt out.
The question hangs in the air as we stare at each other for a moment.
“Why do you ask?” answers Zohan slowly narrowing his eyes.
“Your scream… The tears… Your voice…”
“Can you keep a secret?” he asks. I nod. “So yeah, I am a girl. I’m in disguise because I didn’t want to have some sort of unfair disadvantage because I’m a girl.” I can’t say I’m completely surprised, but still, it’s kind of weird.
“Wow,” is all I can say. I hoist her to her feet and she brushes off her pants.
“Um thanks Andy. I don’t know what would have happened to me if you hadn’t come in and helped me.” She looks away.
“Is that actually a thanks from the impenetrable Zohan?” I ask smiling. We both laugh then we hear clapping from behind us.
“Bravo. I mean what a show!” It’s Warren. He’s standing in a nonchalant pose leaning against a tree. “Andy I loved how you gave that strange guy a piece of your mind, I mean fist.” He laughs. “And Zohan, I would have never imagined you were actually a girl! Crazy no? Imagine if they had stuck you in a tent with us guys! That would have been terrible!” We all start laughing at what could have happened.
“Hey guys,” says Zohan in her guy voice. “You guys promise not to tell right? About me being a girl that is.”
“Of course not!” I say.
“I promise,” says Warren.
“Come on, we should get back to the rest. They’re probably wondering what’s going on,” I say.
“Yeah, we probably should.” Zohan wipes her tear stained face with dirtier hand.
“Here let me.” I pour a little water onto a tissue from my pack and help Zohan wipe her face.
“Yeah lets go,” says Warren apparently tired and in need of lunch. On our way back we begin talking about who the person could be who attacked Zohan.
“Maybe he’s a crazy maniac who wants to kill innocent kids,” offers Warren.
“Or maybe he’s a lonely person who lives on this island all alone and only wants a friend,” says Zohan and we laugh.
“I don’t really care who he is. But we do have to be careful from now on and never go out alone. When we get back to the rest they don’t seem to even notice us. They apparently weren’t worried at all. I pull some of my powdered mixture from my pack, mix it with some water and down it all in one chug.

Brigid|Woods

"What do you think could be happening?" Rose asked, her voice barely a whisper.

"I have no clue," I answered, shrugging. "But whatever it is, I'd rather not get involved. Come on, let's just keep going. You can set the pace."

Rose started off into the woods, slower than I would have gone, but still at a decent speed. We were way out ahead of the others by now. I hoped Andy was okay--sure, he was acting weird, but he probably just needed some time alone. I knew the feeling--I'd do the exact same thing sometimes, just randomly walk off on my own. He'd probably be back later.

I looked up through the canopy of leaves. The sky was bright, bright blue here, almost unnaturally bright blue. I saw Katherine's helicopter high overhead, going around in big loops.

"What do you think the helicopter's for?" Rose asked. "I mean, we're too far away from the volcano to be in danger of lava, or something. And there aren't any really dangerous animals here, are there?"

"Well, there might be," I replied. "Back when Dad was alive, we had a beach house on another island kind of like this one, and there were--"

I stopped abruptly, reaching out in front of Rose. There it was--a very quiet rustling noise, far overhead. I looked around slowly, but I didn't see anything.

"So, as I was saying," I continued, striding along again, "there might be some nasty critters out here. I don't know what species live out here, but this island is in the same belt as the one with Dad's beach house, and back there, we had these things we called flying panthers. Just a rule of thumb--if you're ever stuck in a tree at night, don't go too high up. Those things swoop down and grab people like French fries. ...Don't worry too much, though. There may not be any living here."