[Loyalty] Come with me, please? [Banshee/Sugar Petal]

[Ruriska]

School camp had been awesome so far. During the day they went swimming, made things and even went orienteering (Banshee had been group leader and had immediately gotten them all lost for half the day). At night they got to eat marshmallows and told scary stories around the campfire. It was all perfect and exciting and- well, now it wasn’t quite so exciting.

Banshee opened the door to her room up slightly and peered out. It was a nasty night, pitch black with heavy clouds and a roaring wind. Normally she wasn’t easily scared but there had been those ghost stories and it looked really unpleasant outside. You could easily imagine some creature lurking in the dark.

She closed the door and whined. She really needed to go to the toilet.

Her gaze drifted over to the other occupant of the room. Sugar Petal was fast asleep but wouldn’t be for much longer as Banshee shuffled over and stared down at her. “Hey, hey, heeeeey,” she tried to whisper but because whispering wasn’t really something she was capable of it, it came out loudly in the quiet room.

Yushika

!<3

 

[NymiiNym]

Sugar Petal hadn't exactly signed up for camp. She didn't even show interest in it at first. Originally, when her parents brought it up she had shrugged, assuming they'd send Tough Talker or Wildflour. No. They sent her. Something about making friends was uttered. She didn't really protest much, though she did lecture her family on the proper care for her garden.

When she arrived Sugar Petal had a hard time blending in. They went swimming, or, they did. She wouldn't approach the water, instead trembling against a tree and shaking her head until they gave up. Ever since.... that day she had yet to be encouraged to learn to swim. Every time she spotted water all she could think about was her dragging Sugar under, laughing as the oxygen left her throat. Nope. No thank you. She rather stay firmly on dry land.

Finally, after making things and getting lost Sugar Petal was rewarded with marshmallows and scary stories. She always had low tolerance for anything vaguely spooky, but she enjoyed knowing everyone else was scared, too. At night they were assigned their partners and Sugar Petal had been placed with the filly who had promptly gotten them lost earlier that evening. It had been a quiet night as the two wiggled into bed and Sugar Petal fell asleep within ten minutes.

Well, it had been.

The sound of a failed whisper jerked her away, body jerking up and eyes widening as she was greeted with someone staring right at her. It took a good five seconds for her sleepy brain to register who it was, body slowly relaxing as she squirmed to sit upright.

"Mmmn, what's going on?" She mumbled around her hoof as it rubbed at her eyes, blinking back sleep.

Ruriska

<333

 

[Ruriska]

Banshee’s eyes were very big and very wide as she stared down at the suddenly awoken Sugar Petal. She had perhaps noticed that the other filly had not been enjoying the camp as much as she was but had just figured she was the type that needed a little bit of warming up.

At the question, a hopeful grin slammed into place and she inched even closer.

"I need to pee," she said.

Yushika

 

[NymiiNym]

The little filly leaned back into the bedding. Even if she knew who was staring at her, it was slightly creepy to have such wide eyes peering at her from above. It didn't help that a grin wiggled into place as Banshee wiggled closer. Her eyes flicked to the door at Banshee's comment, mouth tightening.

Oh.

For a second she debated just flat out refusing. It was dark. Pitch black, even. How many stories had she heard about children being devoured in the middle of the night by monsters? In fact, hadn't they just heard some right before bed?! Swallowing thickly, Sugar Petal sat straighter, tapping her hooves nervously together.

"O-Oh.... now?" She almost whispered as she spoke, eyes flicking right back to the door. Obviously Banshee was nervous, too. Why else would she wake Sugar Petal up? Couldn't she wait? What if a monster.... oh, what was that sound?! That was just the wind, right? Right...

Ruriska

 

[Ruriska]

“Yeah, riiiight now.”

Banshee sunk out of view. There was a long dragging, scrabbling noise from beside the bed and then the dark filly popped back up again at the end, propping her chin on top of the blanket and staring at Sugar Petal.

“We’re buddies. Buddies gotta stick together.”

She really didn’t want to have to go out there by herself but she was getting good vibes from her filly friend.

Yushika

 

[NymiiNym]

Now. Now as in right this second now. Sugar Petal chanced another glance at the door, swallowing thickly. No, she couldn't just ditch Banshee. If she was in Banshee's shoes then she'd want someone to go with her, too! And then there was the fact Banshee called her a "buddy". Call her sentimental, but that caused a faint smile. A new friend!

Nervously twirling her hair, the little filly nodded. Welp, time to go get eaten by a monster. "O-okay." She murmured, wiggling free from her covers and sliding onto the ground.

"Lets go then... " She wanted to add that they should go quickly, but instead she eyed the woods, ears flat against her head nervously.

Ruriska

 

[Ruriska]

“Thank you, thank you, thank you,” Banshee was attached to Sugar Petal’s side as soon as the filly left the bed. They travelled to the door and Banshee swung it wide open, revealing the dark, windy night in all its terror.

“OKAY!” She shouted the words to feel braver and then took a step, glancing at her friend to make sure they were walking out together. It was so much better to have someone warm next to you. Not at all terrifying to be next to the woods where there could be giant pigbears with huge claws and- oh dear.

“If you die first, I’ll wail so loud your soul will have to come back.”

Yushika

 

[NymiiNym]

Sugar let out a tiny squeak when Banshee attached to her, patting the other filly awkwardly. When Banshee thrust the door open she almost expected a monster to pop out right then and there, sliding behind Banshee and gripping her arm nervously, peering around. The hoot of an owl was all that greeted her, causing flicked back ears to slowly perk up. Okay. This wasn't so bad... Maybe the monsters were sleeping tonight?

Whoop, and then Banshee had to say that.

"Oh... thanks." She muttered, nervously rubbing her hooves together. She headed towards the door, deciding that if she was going to die she at least wanted to get out of the cabin at first! Make it memorable. Who wanted to be that phony at the ending credits who died in the doorway?!

"U-Um. Can we hold.... hooves. I mean, we might scare the monsters off by looking bigger... " Right. She wasn't fooling anyone.

Ruriska

 

[Ruriska]

"You’re welcome," she said forcing her voice to sound extra chipper in the face of death.

At the request Banshee looked down at her and then back at Sugar Petal with a shrug. "I’m yeah, sure! I mean, I kinda fall over a lot with four hooves walking, so I’m sorry if I tumble us into a tree but yeah, let’s hold hooves!" She wrapped her leg Sugar’s and squeezed.

"Into the unknown!" Then she was pulling Sugar Petal out the door because she still really needed to go to the toilet and standing in the doorway wasn’t helping.

Yushika

JUST FIXING MY BAD TYPOS HERE damn

 

[NymiiNym]

She instantly felt safer when Banshee wrapped her arm around her, tail swishing side to side. Suddenly, she was pulled, and Sugar Petal didn't have a moment to ponder what monster they'd be greeted by. Instead, she shut her eyes, clinging to Banshee in hopes the filly would lead them safely to their destination. If she didn't look then there weren't monsters. Simple as that. If you can't see it then it doesn't exist.

Well... there was one monster she knew existed, eyes open or not, but she doubted she'd find her in the woods....

Right?

Ruriska

Fixing my own dumb typo!!!

 

[Ruriska]

They had only taken a few steps outside when-

SNAP!

There was the sharp sound of a branch breaking out in the woods.

"Ruuuuuuuuun!" Banshee wailed but she didn’t push Sugar Petal in the direction of the cabin, no, she still needed to pee and that was exactly where they were going. So she started to run, pulling her friend along with her and screeching wildly all the way there.

"AAAAAAHhaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaahAAAAHaaaaaaaaa!"

Until they’d reached the girls toilet block and had slammed the door shut behind them.

Yushika

 

[NymiiNym]

Oh no. Oh NO. THIS WAS IT. THIS WAS THE DAY THEY WERE GOING TO DIE. She even had her eyes closed! Monsters shouldn't exist when your eyes are closed! Sugar Petal, if she hadn't been held, would have ran just blindly into the woods. Luckily, Banshee had the foresight to shove Sugar Petal in the right direction. Frantic, terrified, and absolutely certain the ghouls in the woods would devour them, Sugar Petal fled to the bathroom, screaming almost as loudly as Banshee.

"AIEEEEEEEEEEE!" She howled until they reached the girls toilet and shut the door behind them. Sugar Petal collapsed against the ground, panting heavily.

"We're here. We should ju- haaa - stay here until morning."

Ruriska

 

[Ruriska]

Banshee didn’t have time to gasp about their near death experience; she was already in the toilet stall, doing her business.

When she emerged, she washed her hooves and grinned. "Nothing better," she said, sitting down beside Sugar Petal and patting the other Phony on the shoulder. "Thanks for coming with me."

She considered the toilet with its cold tiles with the gravity and the leaky tap making the ‘drip, drip, drip’ sound that would definitely get annoying eventually. "Nah, we’ll just run back screaming. It worked the first time."

Yushika

 

[NymiiNym]

Sugar Petal leaned against the nearest wall, hooves rubbing her face. When Banshee returned and thanked her she offered a shaky smile, hooves lowering.

"I couldn't let you go alone." Now that she thought about it, she really couldn't. She had considered just rolling back to sleep, but the idea of sending Banshee into the monster-filled forest by herself? She couldn't live with that! That, and she was sure Banshee would have done the same for her. She really did remind her of someone..... but the name was stuck right on the tip of her tongue....

"Oh." Sugar audibly sighed nervously as she eyed the door, ears flicking back. What if they ran right into the monster? Or worse, what if the monster was waiting for them right outside of the door? She shook the thought aside, scrambling up and brushing herself off before nervously nibbling her lip, tossing her head to view Banshee again.

"O-Okay. Count to three and then we run?"

Ruriska

 

[Ruriska]

Banshee would never forget this moment and the way Sugar Petal had raced through the darkness with her. She would hold this memory like a talisman against scary nights for forever and a day.

"I’ll be right behind you," Banshee promised.

And then they opened the door and ran screaming into the night.

Yushika

fin!