(GS3) Camping Trip - Camping Ground

[Jello]

It was like a flash before she was gone. Haruka had stood up straight as she ran past him, giving one last jab at him. The kind they had shared in the past weeks. She had sucked all of it up for him in those last few moments, and Haruka felt his shell fall apart, revealing an inner true self. Shackles came undone, only a few, but some did. He had a few things to fix back at home... But it could wait. Haruka stood there, a couple of tears fell. He was smiling all the way back to the camp, despite the dampness on his face. He wiped it off with his sleeve before anyone saw him though.

She was something Haruka had needed for a long time. A new experience to force Haruka into new situations and learn something. Hana had been one of the biggest saving grace's Haruka ever had. He had no complaints about her. Not one. All he could do was try to help her now when she needed it. But it was Hana after all, she was kind of the strongest person Haruka knew. No arguments there, not from Sera nor Overlord.

"H-Hey guys, what did I miss?" He ran over joining Seifer, Darren and company. Even Satoshi made an appearance at the camp. Right. He was the Wildlife expert here working with them. Haruka buttoned up his flannel, starting to finally get chilly out. He was going to hoodie-up, but it wasn't that bad out yet.

[Golden Sage NovaRaizer]

"I guess you know a lot of the people here then," Darren said as he moved his deckbox into his pocket now. "Hana told me some things about that War of Liberation thing. Sounded pretty fun for the time."

He then realized that Satoshi asked for a cardfight. After the one he just had, he did want to have another. Taking out his deck again, he said, "I don't mind taking you on if you wanna Cardfight. Learning as much as I can about my deck will always be helpful. I'll go after Seifer if you have time."

[Beryl]

Two fights? Sounded good to him.

Satoshi smiled, flipping his gold box onto the table as he took a seat. "I'm all set up camping-wise, so I'm up for however many fights you guys want to do. Let's have at it, right?"

[Hope]

"No Guard!" The sixth damage fell after.

Isabella lost.

Somehow she found herself fighting someone, who it was, she wasn't sure. This person even opted that they fight despite being on opposite sides of the tree and turned away from each other. Isabella was able to use her star gazing power to see the person's field, but she didn't know how this other person saw hers, yet this stranger was able to plan ahead even beyond her and defeat her. How?

The stranger had a soft voice, definitely meant for singing, but unlike Isabella's, it was much more rigid and filled with determination. This was the person who had just won against her. This girl,  this woman- who was not to be taken so lightly.

She introduced herself as Catherine.

"Naisu faito." Isabella commented as a usual endgame suffix.
"Not bad!" Catherine retorted.


Upon reaching the tree, Isabella sat along it, waiting for her clan to speak to her, but instead, Catherine was the one who spoke up from behind her, on the other side of trunk. "You made the right choice!" The voice was congratulating and full of confidence.

"Haha, I really don't know how you fell for someone else other than Mi-hime, you must be really stupid.. I kind of want to punch you for that." Catherine teased.
"Oh you know Mi-hime?" Isabella found it strange that the nickname was being used, but perhaps this person was one of her classmates and Mi-hime's best friends.
"Yep, what a cutie! Just the best. Honestly, she's a gem isn't she. So tell me, what would you give up for her? After your stupid little affair, let me hear it." The voice was having a blast, probably finding Isabella's struggle to be really cute.
"Well I.. want to wait for her... I wish I could do something." Isabella struggled to respond.

"What was your vow to her?"
"That we would explore the ends of the Earth together."
"Why not change it... You'll give her everything, anything that exists from here til the very ends of the Earth and beyond it... All for her sake."

It wasn't a bad idea, but Isabella could've sworn that in that statement of a new promise, Cathrine's voice was more filled with bloodlust than determination. It was probably just in her head... It was a very bold statement.

"Right... For what I've done... Mi-hime deserves nothing but the best!" Isabella said with a newfound determination.
"Good. Mi-hime deserves nothing, but happiness."

It was strange how this person talked about Mi-hime. They were correct in every sense, but it seemed like they had a crush on her too. Isabella took note of her name, hoping to not forget so that she could search her up once she returns back to the camp site.

[Hope]

Isabella texted a staff member to put a notice on the tents saying the following.

SOMEONE START A CAMPFIRE FOR THE NIGHT ONEGAI XOXOX 420 BLAZE IT - HANA BANANA

[Beryl]

Kagero. Seifer's clan. A clan he had played numerous times in the past, alongside his Neo Nectar friends initially. This time, however, Satoshi was at the helm of Genesis, a rather rare clan to most other players. A spin of the Wheel of Destiny put a double critical trigger in his hands against Dragonic Overlord, sending Seifer's damage from two to five in an instant. The other champion retaliated rather strongly with a crossbreak ride, something the farmboy hadn't been expecting, but somehow, he managed to pull through and hit once again, winning the game. A severe trigger drought appeared to happen on Seifer's side, unfortunately, but nevertheless, the game was still quite interesting, even with the indifference towards Satoshi's moves.

"Well, maybe I'm less rusty than I remember!" He laughed. "Nice fight, though, Seifer." He turned to Darren. "I think you said you wanted to go next?"

[Golden Sage NovaRaizer]

Seeing the battle between Seifer and Satoshi pumped Darren up for fighting even more. Seifer was as strong as Haruka with Kagero and Genesis was a new clan to Darren. Seeing them both in action made him want to see what he was able to do.

When the match finally ended, Darren put his deck down and said, "Yeah, I'm ready to go!" He took a breath as he could tell Satoshi wasn't someone to laugh at. Still, he wanted to do his best with his clan and deck, even if he still hadn't discovered all of its hidden powers just yet.

[Cipher Izanagi]

At the end of the fight, with Seifer checking next to nothing, he shrugged, gathering his cards up again. He was mostly indifferent to a lot right now, given Rose had to go for an emergency. But it didn't matter much in the long run. A fight's a fight. Waving he nodded in return to the nice fight while standing up, gathering his cards.

[Jello]

Well that was odd. Haruka had never seen the clan that Satoshi brought to the table... Genesis? A new beginning? That was all too fitting for the circumstances going on right now, but he was still interested in what it came to offer. His ace was named Fortuna it seemed, a card that by paying a soul blast cost, allowed him to drive check again if a trigger didn't show up. Handy.

Seifer got crushed due to a lack of triggers. Seriously. He got three all game and that was sort of depressing to watch all on its own. Haruka looked at the sky for a moment, seemingly praying everything was alright considering Rosalia's sudden departure. Haruka was also still somewhat worried about Hana simply disappearing into the woods a bit ago.

"I hope she's alright..." Haruka approached Seifer, giving him a light pat on the back.

"Overlord, huh? Glad to see you have Kagero back after all. But that fight was rough man. Wanna chat or something?" Haruka had a water heater in his tent, and he was about to make tea for the evening. He hated cold drinks, so water was not his favorite thing. Tea was pleasant.

"I'm making tea, if you're interested."

[Cipher Izanagi]

Seifer almost flipped out at the pat on the back but noticed it was Haruka, calming down a bit. "Ah you saw huh? Yeah, I'll be alright but... I wouldn't mind some tea honestly." Seifer's nerves were admittedly shot and it was getting a bit dark so a fire should be made soon. He'd probably try to do that in a bit. "Lead the way." he responded to Haruka, stretching a bit.

[Jello]

"Cool man, cool. Let's go!" Haruka hopped backwards in a very shota like manner. He was in fact a shota. He declared himself one today. Whether people or not liked it.

Haruka waved him over to his tent. It was the closest one to the campfire, considering Haruka's innate affinity for the heat. He was so used to it by now, he just loved it. He opened the entrance, allowing Seifer inside first. Manners, of course.

Once inside, Haruka left the zipper open, so he could just stare at the fire. Plus letting the natural heat in was very nice. He went ahead and took out two mugs from his backpack, allowing hot water to pour into each then promptly handing a tea bag to Seifer, and one for himself.

"If you need any sugar or anything, I brought a baggy of sugar packs with me. It's in the backpack." Haruka let his mug sit for a moment, so the tea flavoring could set it. He stirred it occasionally with a metal stirrer from work.

"So, what's up man? You seem... off?"

[Cipher Izanagi]

Seifer sat down, accepting the tea bag to place in his mug of hot water, letting it permeate. "Ah... I uh..." he chewed on his lip a bit before sighing softly. He knew he shouldn't act down but he couldn't help it. "Rose had to go early, and won't be back for at least a week I think." after the tea had brewed and sat for a minute he looked at Haruka scratching the back of his head. "I think I'd like a bit of sugar for the tea."

[Jello]

"Hmm? A-Ah, right. Right." Haruka reached into his back pack, handing a sugar pack over to Seifer. Haruka's 'customer is always right' attitude was showing through. Working in the serving industry made him work rather quickly which was a bit of a perk on his side of the whole thing.

"So, Rose. She had to leave early? Well that's a bummer, huh?" Haruka was pulled out the stirrer, lightly shaking off the liquid in the distance. He but it down, and took one long gulp of his tea. It was still pretty hot, but he's had worse from just Cardfighting. The first time he used DOTE, he was at the same level of being on fire so this was nothing compared.

"Know why? I mean, why she had to leave anyways." First step to comforting your friend is knowing the details. That's a lie. The first step is just accepting what is bothering them is bothering them and try to help them either way. But it was obvious Haruka was going to help, no reason to further question if he didn't intend to make some semblance of a difference in the situation.

[Beryl]

Satoshi's fight against Darren was equally nuts. This time, he soulcharged his soul to a massive number, mostly to use as fuel for Himiko's Break Ride and Fortuna's repeatable Limit Break and base skill, as he intended. While he didn't make it to four damage, there was a very good reason to not do so.

Four criticals.

Darren's Dimension Police were the archetype "Dimensional Robo," a group of robotic alien superheroes that were intending to save the world or something. At least, that's what he remembered someone quoting in the shop. But not only did he have a Break Ride of his own in Daikaiser...thanks to Goyusha, he had the ability to superior ride Goeagle, a Dimensional Robo that gave itself two additional criticals as part of its limit break when its power reached a certain number. Coincidentally, that number was met by break riding over Daikaiser, who added yet another critical and threatened to remove Satoshi's guards in an effort to break through, if Darren happened to check a grade 3. Luckily, he overguarded to prevent such a circumstance, but considering the checks themselves, if Darren had in fact checked a grade 3...he would've taken a massive five damage. Which likely would've killed him had he not checked at least two heal triggers during those five checks, but only on five damage.

The Wheel of Destiny kept him going, and using Fortuna's massive soul, he built up a strong Vanguard column without a Limit Break, and checked two triggers for yet another victory. Both games were quite scary in what was coming at his face, but pulling through meant a lot, especially for adjusting to this new clan, Genesis.

Wiping the sweat off his brow, Satoshi extended his free hand. "Nice fight, Darren. You really had me worried, there." Fights this intense from people that weren't even technically on the level of Neu Edelweiss, who was the last person to throw him against the ropes...was this what the new generation had to offer? Criminy.

[Golden Sage NovaRaizer]

Darren was actually panting after the battle. It was his second intense match and, like the first, it was draining. He saw on the field as he was gathering his units, he had the ability to end the fight that turn had he done things differently. If his boost unit was behind the Vanguard and not Daidragon, he could have attacked an intercept first. With all the hand Satoshi would have after that, it would have been a 1 pass, which would have been broken through by the critical trigger. To come so close only to lose in the end. It was becoming a recurring theme for Darren, but not a bad one as he was learning more and more about what his deck was capable of.

Darren accepted Satoshi's hand, shaking it with his own hand as he said, "Yeah, it was a great match. I thought I could survive if I didn't give you limit break, but I guess it didn't matter." All in all, Darren had fun with the battle and he could feel he was learning and growing even more with each fight.