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Beatrice tugged at her sunhat for the thousandth time while she walked onto the beach. The dumb thing never wanted to sit right on her head to properly block out the sun. The walk to the beach from their cabin was pretty far and the blinding sunshine had made it all the more unbearable. She wasn't typically one to complain about something like this, but it was the start of yet another summer where she would go sit on a beach towel and soak up some sun while not talking to anyone. Festivals had become rather dull for her, but she had family obligations. Her dorky brother always barreled into her room the day of a festival, clapping his hands and singing a song about whatever festival they were going to. Today, he had performed a wonderful song about beach bods and sun gods. So here she was, dressed up and ready to go. She was pulling the cooler behind her, as she did every year. When had her life become so dull? She was in her mid-thirties and was still living with her brother and going on family outings practically every week. She continued walking across the sand until she found a spot that seemed to provide the best angle from the sun and towards people. She unrolled her beach towel and fanned it out before plopping down and grabbing herself a water. It was going to be a long day.

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The only thing that even kept Lyra returning to Beach Day was the fact that it was the only place that provided the ability for her to walk around practically naked, well legally anyway. Beach Day also usually signaled the start of the perfect tanning season and Goddess knows she needed to work on a better tan. She followed shortly after her aunt, taking a chance to look around and see who had already arrived. There didn't seem to be many she cared about and some that she really didn't care for at all, like Tshila. She tried to completely ignore the woman, but assumed it wouldn't be long before her dad invited her over. The more time spent without her, the better. Ugh, there were so many girls out right now. Where were all of the hot guys? From here she could see a couple older guys and some toddlers. Maybe some better looking guys would show up later, or at least some within her suitable range. She flattened out her own blanket near Beatrice's and sat down. She quickly rummaged through her bag to find a magazine to start reading through. She might as well catch up on some gossip while she worked on her tan. She noticed some gorgeous golden hair that instantly made her jealous. She almost contemplated marching over there and demanding the girl to tell her what product she used, when she realized that it was a man. That was quite the development. Who was that guy? Why couldn't she recall ever seeing him before? She considered introducing herself but thought maybe watching him some more first would be the best plan. Plus, he had a dog and she really wasn't a fan of that. She really just wanted some hair tips, okay and his body wasn't so bad. She'd take some of that too.

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Xeiro was feeling as great as ever. He was shirtless and his muscles were all ripply in the right places. Sure, he didn't look as good as he had in his youth, but he looked damn good for his age. He was out in the sun and ready to have some fun! Oh that was perfect! He would have to add that into his song for next year. "I'm glad we're here, girls." He was still standing on the very edge of the beach with his hands on his hips, taking in the glory of it all, when he noticed that his daughter and sister were up much further ahead. There was no way they could here his happiness from there. For shame! He stood there a little longer, looking over all of the people. There were plenty of people that he somewhat recognized, but none that he recognized as much as his beloved Tshila! He jogged over in the direction of his family before making it over to her. "Hey, girls. I'm glad you found a nice spot. I'm going to head on over there and see Tshila. You both look great by the way. I'm so glad we're here." He was proud of his daughter in this moment, taking after her old man and showing off the great Rameri body. He could stand here and talk about it awhile, but he was being pushed away. With a thumbs up from Beatrice and a shooing motion from Lyra, he was off. "Tshila! Hi!" He started shouting a little too soon before arriving next to her. "You look really great." He stopped a moment to take in the sight before lifting her up in a big hug and laughing. "Ah! I've missed you!" Okay, so maybe this was less about missing her and more about wanting to get his hands on her.

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Keegan was not really all that excited about going to the beach. Kids liked the beach, so dads went to the beach. Unfortunately, Keegan was a dad, so he was at the beach. He flipped his hair around a few more times before deciding he really didn't give two shits and should maybe just pay attention to the task at hand. In his hand, to be exact, was Sani's hand. A nice, soft hand of an itty bitty toddler who really needed to just go make a sand castle or something. He'd totally supervise and maybe take a little nap. That late night horror movie marathon was maybe not the best idea. Summers weren't really the best time for doing summer activities anymore. Now he had a kid to take care of. "You wanna play in the sand, Sani? Get it? It's like your name." Maybe the kid was still too young to get real humor. He laughed casually at his own stupid joke as they continued walking along the beach.

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Tatyana was so far on the prowl that there was hardly a prowl anymore. She had taken over the prowl and was not leaving until she found a suitor. That could mean that she would be on the prowl for the rest of her life, but she didn't have a job now so there was totally time for that. It was obvious that she wouldn't need that time, though. She was a downright catch and anyone that didn't think so was just stupid. She didn't need to waste her time on stupid people... like her brother. Like her stupid brother who was walking next to her wearing the skimpiest of swimsuits she thought she had ever seen on a guy. It was pretty disgusting and the first chance she got at running, she would most likely take it. "You disgust me." Why did Todd have to desert her and leave her to go with this reject?

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Riley was glad that Summer was in full swing. It always meant that there would be lots of scantily clad women, and scantily clad they were today. He brought his fingers to his mouth to let out a whistle at a few of them as he walked by. Ah, this was just so beautiful. There seemed to be a good deal of women, nothing like the dudefest the Goddess Festival had been. He turned his head over to Tatyana as she spoke and blew her a quick kiss. "Don't flatter yourself, dollface. I won't be wasting my time barking up your tree today." Not that he didn't mind barking up his sister's tree on sometimes, but today there was a lot better fruit to pick. Tatyana was the kind of troll that you went to when there was nothing else good to look for. That was probably why she was still alone, and he loved taking every opportunity to remind her of that. He spotted a decent place for him to spread out his towel and then spread himself out to provide the perfect angle of his nether region. He didn't wear this perfect swimsuit for nothing, y'know. While looking around, he spotted a familiar patch of white hair. Aww yeahhh! It was that b***h Todd had the total hots for, and she had a mini-me with her. Sweeeeet. If only Papa Bear would get out of the way and let Riley Bear slide in.

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Cameron was not going to let his baby brother leave him alone in their new house. So against his better judgement, he was following behind his brother. He wasn't really sure why they were at the beach, but there seemed to be some sort of event happening. Oh joy. The possibility of meeting new people was not particularly something that he had planned on doing today. He probably would have worn a shirt if he had thought about that. His pasty skin was probably enough to blind someone, so maybe it'd deter anyone away. He stopped in his place to watch Silas crash to the ground. Yup, just another day in their lives. Silas was off doing something (usually more destructive) and he was just standing here watching. He thought about maybe helping him up, but his initial instinct was to run on ahead and see how much of the food he could save. "Don't worry, ole chap! Your big bruvver is 'ere!" He called as he dashed by him and dropped down to start picking at the damp pieces.

Eoin was half distracted by his daughter's state of undress and half trying to keep his eye on the crowd for any leering perverts when he saw a flash of red that caught his eye. He did a slight double-take when he realized it was a woman (Beatrice)--one of the few who wasn't running around barely clad. Or, at any rate, she was wearing more than most of the women on the beach. Huh. It might be nice to walk over and strike up a conversation, considering she was alone...but...someone had to stay and keep the female members of his family from doing something stupid.

When Eoin stopped fussing momentarily, Angela and Christine both looked up to see what had happened to him. They shared an amused look when they realized he was staring at a woman not too far away. That was unusual. It was pretty hard for any woman to catch his eye (he really was a stuck up a** most of the time--except when his proximity to his offspring reduced his brain to a cesspool of daughter-obsessed weirdness). This was actually a great opportunity.

Angela and Christine shared a look. Yup. They had to use this chance to get rid of him. Christine wasted no time. She picked up the large sunhat Eoin had dragged along for Angela, and in a fluid motion, flung it frisbee-like across the beach. The breeze picked it up and carried it further than she intended. The hat landed on the other side of Beatrice and tumbled a bit further.

"Oh bugger all!" Christine said with feigned annoyance. "Eoin, Angela's hat blew away. She's going to burn like a slab of pasty bacon if you don't get it for her. Why don't you run over and do that, while I douse the poor thing in sunscreen."

Angela gave her aunt a scathing look. "I can bloody well rub lotion on myself and you are not one to talk about anyone being pasty."

"My complexion is ivory--you just look half dead."

"You are going to be half dead in about five seconds if you don't--"

"I believe I'll go retrieve the hat," Eoin said quickly, cutting them off. "And when I get back, I'll rub lotion on your back, Angela."

Angela gave him a look of disgust. "No thank you."

"Wait for me!" Eoin called, jogging off to retrieve the hat. He passed the woman in red, smiling faintly as he retrieved the hat, which had come to rest atop some scrubby dune grass a few feet past where she'd put her towel. He used it to briefly shield his eyes as he looked out to sea. "I really ought to take the boat out," he said more to himself than anyone. He sneaked a look toward the woman, and edged slightly closer. Well...he was already here....

"Lovely day for a beach outing isn't it?"

***

Angela breathed a sigh of relief when she saw her father seeming to talk to the woman in the red swimming costume. "He's actually talking to her," she hissed, grabbing Christine's arm.

Christine looked overly, slightly disinterested in her brother's awkward romantic endeavors. Still, the fact he was actually talking to a woman was a good sign. "Well, it's about time for him to consider getting re-married. Helene's been dead for over a decade and he's not getting any younger." She yawned and flopped onto the towel, then opened one eye to look up at Angela. "Sorry--I know she was your mother, but it's not good for him to be alone."

Angela shrugged. "Well, in the end, I agree with you. I'm not some child who can't stand to see her father fall in love with someone else. I never even saw them together anyway..." She stooped to pick up the forgotten bottle of lotion. "Sit up and I'll get your back."

Christine's lips curved into a slight smile, as she sat up. "Well then, I'll keep watch in case he comes back. If you have a head-start, you might be able to escape..."

***

Trevor already had his things all set up by the time the beach started filling up with people. He was already amused by some of the antics going on (did that poor bloke just step in a jellyfish? Ew...). The people on this island sure were interesting.

"What do you think, Maggs? Want to play a bit of catch?" He rifled in his beach bag for the bright blue frisbee, then gave Maggie a scratch behind her shaggy ears as she danced around him, her corded coat flopping around. She was always hilarious in motion--like a giant mop of dreadlocks. She let out a deep playful bark as Trevyn tossed the frisbee down the beach, away from the people. The large Komondor bolted after it, coat flopping everywhere. She managed a wild leap for the frisbee before it hit the sand, wheeling around and trotting back to Trevyn triumphantly. As she relinquished the frisbee, he gave her a good scratch. "Good job!"

He tossed the frisbee again, and it sailed toward the oppossite end of the beach with Maggie close behind. "Come on, DustMop! Get it!" he called over her barking.

Well, even if he didn't meet anyone, it was always nice to get out and have some quality time with Maggie, he supposed. While he waited for Maggie to return, he pulled a hairband off his wrist, and scraped his hair back into a quick ponytail to get it off his neck. That sun was hot!

***

Tshila let out a little pleased squeal when Xeiro lifted her into the usual exuberant hug. "Hey! Can you believe we haven't actually been to the beach together yet?" she asked, laughing as she wrapped his arms around him. "This is totally great! I haven't actually been to the beach at all since moving here--I mean, between practice and, you know, things. But this beach is totally awesome!"

She gave him a quick kiss, before wriggling free again. "Man, I totally miss the sand sometimes. Like, not so much the heat and giant spiders and scorpions and generally hot, dry, desert-yness. But sand is totally great!"

Tshila turned back to Xeiro and grabbed his hand, pulling him toward the water. "Come on! Uh--but not too deep. I totally do not know how to swim very well. Or, you know, like, at all. But the water totally feels great! Can you swim? You should teach me! I mean, if you do, you know."

"But like, not here because that would totally embarrassing! What kind of crazy person goes to the beach when they don't know how to swim--oh, did I ever tell you about that time I nearly drowned?"

***

Silas was mournfully watching Crumpets completely ignore his existence when Cameron popped up and tried to rescue the food scraps. He was momentarily distracted by the fact that his brother had just called him 'ole chap'--"What?" he asked, frowning slightly. Had Cameron always talked like that? He couldn't remember just now, though it seemed probable. At any rate, he picked himself up, brushing the mud off his arse, then off his hands. Sort of. His gloves were soaked and covered in sand. Ugh.

"I'm alright, Cameron," Silas said. "Oi! What are you doing? Just leave it!" he said referencing the food. He pulled Cameron away from the water. "It's already soaked and Crumpets is not going to eat that mess now. Besides, who knows what's in that water you're putting your hands in--all sorts of nasty little phyto-planktons just waiting to seep into your skin." He looked around the beach, frowning slightly. "Why are there so many people here suddenly? Were they here all along? Oi, Cam--are you listening?"

He trailed off thoughtfully. He wanted...he wanted to build something in the sand. Normally he might not want to touch dirt but he did have gloves (even if they were wet and squishy at the moment). And they had all this sand. They could make anything! An igloo for Crumpets, a mechanical squid made of sand, a death ray...

"I believe I'm going to build a death ray. Want to lend me a hand?"

The past few weeks had been complete and utter bliss for Junior. He woke up almost every morning wondering if he was in fact still dreaming and went to bed with the fear that he would wake up and it would all be over. However anxiety filled that may sound, Junior was still as happy as could be and maybe even growing a bit in his personal confidence. After all, if a girl like Yuri had decided he was worth a shot, how could he continue to believe otherwise? They hadn't done much outside of that one kiss, of course, but Junior didn't mind much at all – there was no reason to rush and ruin everything just because he may want to make some fantasies a reality. He was happy with holding Yuri's kid, even though an outsider might see and think they were the typical family and the very thought had him flustered as he held Jeffrey a bit higher than necessary to conceal his identity.

He kept the boy over his shoulder even after he sat down on the blanket, though he did eventually have to set him down as he realized that it was probably uncomfortable for the boy and he didn't want to risk the toddler spilling his juice all over his pullover hoodie. “Do you want some juice, Jeffrey?” He questioned softly as he set up a juice box for the boy, keeping an extra one on his lap for himself as beer wasn't really that appealing. Once he handed it off to the child, he sent a quick glance to Yuri that shortly turned into one long gawk. Oh. Oh, this was probably both the worst and best idea to come to the beach.

“A-ah, um, I – yes, please, I, I don't want you to get burnt, so..” He ended in a mutter as he carefully approached the girl from behind, which was such a good thing because he did not want her to get a good look at him right then. In fact, no one should get a good look at him right then, as Junior was employing his invisibility skills hardcore as he shakily grabbed the sunscreen from Yuri. It was a bit weird to just be silently spreading sunscreen on the woman's back, so, a moment after his hands made contact with her bare skin, he spoke up, “You look really, uh, good in that, Yuri, I,” He paused as he tried to find the words, chewing on his lip. They had been dating for three weeks, it would be okay to..? Right..? “I, I think it looks hot.. out today. We should swim later, does Jeffrey have floaties? I can put them on.”

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Despite getting to bed late, Sani had been up early that morning in eager anticipation for the BEACH! He hadn't gone to the beach in a long time and plus it was hot out so that meant he could play in the water and plus monsters might come from the ocean and try to eat girls and plus sand was not like his name at all. His mind was in overdrive as he alternated between running a few paces quicker than his dad and then stopping to let the man catch up as he rubbed at his eyes, then running again. “How do you spell saaand? Why is it like my name? I don't get it, why'd you say that? My name starts with an S.” He added helpfully as he stopped to shake his hand from his dad's, leaning down to scoop up a handful of it. But, before he could decide what to do with his newly acquired sand, something shiny caught his eye that was definitely not sand.

An AXE. He had seen that on TV last night and now he was seeing it in real life, which was just so cool he absolutely had to run over there and touch it now. He didn't bother to check with his dad as he immediately darted off, clumsily stumbling over the sand as he was just about to leap onto the man – when a lady thwarted him.

Lilia Sonata, to be exact. The girl had come to the festival with one thought in mind – to win that stupid Swimsuit Contest and prove that whatever bimbo had taken home the Goddess Festival trophy could simply shove it under her five dollar mattress. The swimsuit contest was the real competition of the year and Lilia was going to win it for certain. She had just been strutting down along the beach, parasol in hand to keep her flawless skin from being marred by the sun, when a small child rushed into her path. She hadn't noticed in time to stop herself from tripping over the boy, her umbrella flying out of her hand and rolling away from reach. She didn't bother to check on the boy – who was spitting out mouthfuls of sand into his hands – as she scrambled for her shield in a panic.

It was only after she had caught her breath and had the parasol in hand that she turned to throw a burning glare onto the small child, but Sani had already stood up to run back to Keegan. “Wait, I-- UGH.” She scowled as her command was unheeded; Sani had already latched himself onto Keegan's leg to open his mouth and showcase the sand that he was still trying to spit out. Maybe she should be glad that she didn't have to reprimand the child; children were absolutely disgusting and she would much rather deal with the boy in charge than risk getting vomit on her.

So, she marched up to the boy (Keegan) and threw an accusing finger in his direction, her hand twirling her parasol furiously over her shoulder, “Did you sire that little cretin? I demand you grovel if you want to assure I don't have him hanged for attacking royalty.” She turned her nose up, puffing her chest out proudly as she waited for the sobs and begging that would just cheer her right up.


((I'm sending more, I just didn't have time to get all their introductions in. ;w; I may edit this with the others and/or just throw them in later. uwu ))

Watching what transpired with the gal and the small boy, a small smirked form on Remilia's face. Almost letting out a chuckle it was apparent that he was trying not to laugh at the gal that scrambled for the umbrella, and watching her go up to the man that had the boy loose it came out. In a large roar of laughter he couldn't help himself. Collecting himself moments later, Remilia dusted some sand off and walked slightly towards the people he saw the commotion happening. With a slight sigh Remilia went towards some wood that could be seen. "Wonder if i could do something that would interest people, What you think Birtha?" Asking his axe, like a lunatic would ask non living objects. Expecting an answer he knew there would be none. Nodding to himself Remilia seized the long handle with both hands and adjusted his stance to that of a logger. With a loud thunk his axe drove into the dead tree limb fairly far. Coming at another angle a decent chunk came off the dead tree that is standing upwards to the sky. Not paying attention to who was around him, he kept hacking at the tree. With each thunk it started to get a bit louder than most of the talking within the area. With a soft laughter that could be heard from him (if any close by), the tree started to crack louder and fall. "TIMBER!!!" Yelling loudly the 6 foot section that was from where he cut had gave way and fell to his left. Landing in the sand/rocks with a loud thud and crack as it landed on some rocks that were near by. Smiling greatly Remilia placed his left foot on the log and looked around as he knew that this was going to take some time. "Wish i had some tools," saying to himself as he watched a bit of the commotion around him. With a sigh he felt alone as he knew that being to himself he was still an outcast for what is on the island, with another large puff of smoke he smirked again as the log was off a bit to the side and nothing ran to it as he knew or seen from the top of it."Now what to do with it?" Asking himself out loud as he stood there with his axe like a maniac over a freshly killed creature.

Standing there for a bit pondering what he could do with the log he heard the voice of a woman, being confused as hell for a moment he looked at her and nodded with out thinking. Shaking his head slightly he then spoke up. "B.but I am not working for anyone, just myself," saying calmly as Remilia looked at Chloe. Thank you for the compliment, but sadly I do this as a hobby at the moment due to I like chopping wood with Birtha," saying calmly as he pointed to his axe as he was referencing that was the name of the axe. Letting a soft sigh out he smiled. "Do you mind if i have the water still?" asking softly as he smiled as his tossed the butt of the cigarette to the ground and smashed it into the sand. Adjusting his sunglasses he looked at the lady calmly then smirked as he kept the axe near his shoulder. It was obvious that his body was well built from the life of a worker that lived in the mountains or somewhere that had a lot of heavy lifting.

"Oh, of course!" Chloe said, still holding the water out to him. He was working for himself? Hmm. Perhaps he was collecting wood for a bonfire. That would be just lovely. What a nice man. Very considerate. And, really, this sort of beach was just perfect for night time bonfires. It probably got a bit cold at night as well.

Then again, she wasn't sure when the festival would be over--they may all be headed home by the time it was cold enough to worry about it.

Chloe wasn't able to say much else before someone else showed up to inquire about the man's safety. How kind. "Hello!" Chloe said, smiling at her. "That's a lovely bathing suit. It's very fetching--you look quite lovely."

**

Eoin was sort of pleased when the woman not only said hello, but also invited him to sit with her. He was a little torn though, glancing back at Angela and Christine. They did seem to be doing alright without him and it had been a while since he'd had a conversation with a member of the opposite sex--that wasn't related to him. A few minutes couldn't possibly hurt.

The woman's blue haired companion scurried off rather abruptly, leaving the two of them alone. Eoin watched her go briefly, before finally making up his mind. He'd stay. For a few minutes.

He smiled down at Beatrice and bent toward her, holding out his hand. "I don't believe I've had the pleasure of meeting you before. I'm Eoin Tremaine," he told her. "And I'd love to sit for a while. Water would be lovely."

**

"Really?" She was surprised she hadn't told this story before. It was totally weird so she tended to tell it a lot. "Okay, well, I went to this totally weird high school, right? And one day we were all in swim class and this really mean guy-I mean, he wasn't always mean. He could be kind of funny sometimes, but he was also kind of a jerk? I mean, I'm sure he was nice to some people...but anyway! He totally just pushed me right into the deep end and I mean, you know, I kinda grew up in the middle of nowhere, in a desert. So swimming wasn't really something I'd ever learned and I just totally slipped under the water..."

"And what was really weird is there were like two other guys standing right there and none of them even tried to help, really. I kind of don't know what happened next because, you know, I sort of passed out due to asphyxiation and all that. But the next thing I knew, the teacher was giving me mouth to mouth..."

She paused here for a long, drawn out shudder. "And I think she'd like totally had sushi for lunch or something because she had really fishy breath and..." she shuddered again, then gave him a bright smile. "But anyway, yeah. I totally died or whatever, but I got better! Isn't that like the craziest thing?" She grinned at him and kicked a wave of water toward him. "I'll only let you teach me to swim if you promise to actually try to save me if I start drowning!" she teased. "If not, I will totally haunt you forever."

She paused again. "And ever!" And because she actually trusted that he would not, in fact, let her drown, she waded out after him and launched herself through the water in a vain attempt to tackle him. It was a bit like a small dog trying to tackle a mountain. But she did try...

**

Angela was surprised when it wasn't Eoin that came to bother her and Christine, but an unfamiliar man with an eye-patch. Wearing a tiny bathing suit. He didn't just walk over either. He strutted their way with a swagger that would put any egotist to shame. And then he stood their wagging his hips at them as he offered to help them--presumably with their sunscreen.

Christine let out an amused snicker, giving Riley a disinterested once over before going back to rubbing the lotion on her pale arms. She might have been interested if not for the fact that she and Todd were potentially starting a thing and she didn't want to bother with other men until she figured out how serious he was about it so she could decided how serious she was about it. And even then, she wasn't sure the eye-patch guy was good for anything but a potential one night stand anyway--and that was if she was unattached. Which, she was not at all sure she was.

Angela, on the other hand, let her gaze travel all the way up Riley's pale body, then all the way back down. Then up far enough to linger disdainfully on his crotch, before looking up to meet his eye.

"No, I think we're good," she said, trying to be certain her complete and utter disgust for him was excruciatingly obvious in both her tone of voice an expression. Imagining him as a pale, half dead roach with squishy roach innards oozing out of his face helped. "Thanks."

**

"Save your creepy pick-up lines for the ladies, Cameron," Silas said, clapping his hands together to try to get the sand off his gloves--despite that he was going to re-sandify them soon anyway. "Honestly. I can understand if you need to practice on someone but can't you use our sister instead? It's a bit more natural and I won't have to listen to it." He turned back to Cameron and put his hands on his brother's shoulders. "But if you touch someone with your...'plankton'...just be sure to use protection. You never know what diseases are out there!"

He whirled around and scanned the beach for a good spot. "Nonsense! A death ray is perfect for a beach like this! Just think, if it was a real one, I might be able to make it powerful enough to reach the mainland! AH!" He clapped his hands together. "Perhaps we'll make the death ray cleverly disguised as Crumpets!"

He started to wade away from the surf to find a less germy, seaweedy, dead-crab infested patch of wet sand. "Come along, Cameron! Let's do this!" He paused and looked back. "Where is Sis by the way?"