Achelois

6: Camping

"Wake up, lazy bones!" Faria groaned at Dahlia's call. "Come on, Faria, you promised you would go camping with me this weekend."

Faria's eyes widened and she grinned, sitting up. "Oh yeah!" Dahlia laughed and shook her head, while Faria moved quickly around the room to pack up some clothes for their camping trip. Soon, she was ready to go, and they made their way to Dahlia's car, putting their stuff in the trunk. Just as Faria went to make her way into the car, an ambulance drove up, and Faria smiled at the thought of Ratch. When he exited the vehicle and made his way over to her, her smile grew wider.

"Ratch!" she exclaims, refraining from hugging him. "How are you?"

"I am well", Ratch says, a smile ever so gently crossing his face. "How have you been, Faria?"

"Pretty good. My leg still isn't completely happy with me, but it should be good after this weekend. Hopefully." Faria was feeling much more bubbly than she had felt in a long time, and she wasn't entirely sure why.

"Where are you heading?" Ratch asked, gesturing to the car that she had been about to climb in.

"Oh! We're going camping! We'll most likely be back Sunday evening or something like that", Faria says. Ratch nods. 

"I see. Well, I'll let you get going then", he says. Faria smiles and gives him a quick hug before hopping into the car, to which Dahlia started driving away. Faria glanced back once to see Ratch frozen in his place. She giggled softly before turning back around to watch the road and talk with Dahlia.

After a long drive, the finally reach the campsite they had chosen. Setting up their tent was a breeze, and soon, they were all set for that night, including having a fire set up. However, while they were getting ready to eat dinner, Faria heard a strange noise. Like... the sound of voices. 

"Dahlia, do you hear that?" she asks. Dahlia listens for a moment, before shaking her head.

"All I hear is the wind, and some mosquitos", she says. "Man, these mosquitos are huge."

Faria chuckles softly, before standing up. "I'll be right back. I'm gonna go check something out."

"Okay, but take your whistle and compass with you just in case you get lost", Dahlia says, getting distracted by something. Faria nods, and makes her way out into the forest, following the sound of voices. She soon came across a log with what looked like bubbling green acid on it. She shuddered but continued onward. Soon, she came across Jack? stuck by something white to a tree. Frowning, she looked around, and soon a spider looking robot came into her sights. Faria shuddered as the spider bot transformed to walk on two legs instead of the six legs she had originally. Those six legs instead stuck out of her back. Faria grimaced when the spider bot ran her fingers across Jack's face lightly. Faria was about to go and distract the spider bot when the blue robot from a few days ago came out of nowhere and punched the spider bot in the face, sending her back. Faria ignored the fight, and instead went to go help Jack, trying to pull what she assumed was webbing off of him.

"Faria?" Jack questions. "What are you doing here?"

"I'm not going to ask how you know my name but I'm here, because I went camping with my friend, and heard you and that spider-esque robot talking or whatever", Faria mutters, continuing to try and pull the webbing off. She didn't succeed, but when she heard footsteps coming towards them, she turned to face them, seeing the blue and pink robot coming towards them, seemingly very worried.

"Are you okay?" Her voice was filled with worry as she knelt down beside him, looking him over for any injuries, before pulling off the webbing. He stumbled forward a bit.

"Yeah, of course", Jack says, reassuring his friend, though a bit breathless. He reached behind him and pulled out something. "Survival kit."

Faria hears the sound of something whirring and turns to see the spider bot digging into the ground. The blue and pink robot starts shooting at the spider bot, before running over, Jack following her, Faria nod to far behind, albeit a bit nervous about seeing the blue and pink robot again. 'I really hope she doesn't recognize me as Viper...'

"Airachnid!" the blue and pink robot yells down the hole that the spider bot left. She sighs. "So much for closure."

"Now Airachnid's stuck here on Earth", Jack says softly, looking to his friend. Faria payed attention to none of this as she tried to slip away unnoticed to go back to Dahlia. Unfortunately, the blue and pink robot was paying attention more than Faria had originally though, and her plans to escape were thwarted.

"And where do you think you're going?" Faria heard from behind her. She sighed, turning to face the robot and the human.

"Um... back to my friend at our campsite", Faria says. The blue and pink robot sighed.

"I can't let you do that, kid", she said. "I gotta bring you back to base with me and Jack."

Faria shook her head. "You don't understand, Dahlia will worry if I'm not back soon. We'll be back home tomorrow evening most likely, so you can take me to your base then."

The blue and pink robot sighed. "Fine. What city do you live in?"

Faria smirked, knowing the robot would be surprised. "Jasper, Nevada."

The blue and pink robot's eyes widen. "So you and Jack must know each other?" Faria tried to not flat out laugh at the fact that the robot technically knew her too, but she fails. The robot speaks again. "What's so funny?"

Faria stopped laughing, realizing her mistake. "It doesn't matter", she answers, turning to leave. "Jack, you know where I live, don't you?"

Jack nods. "It is a small town after all."

Faria nods, and makes her way back to the campsite, where Dahlia was waiting, worry evident on her face.

"What took you so long?" she asks. Faria rolls her eyes and just points to her left leg. Dahlia's mouth opens in an 'o' as she remembers her friends limp. Faria grabs what was leftover from the meal Dahlia made, and ate it quickly, before moving into the tent. It was getting dark, and Faria was ready to sleep after the excitement that happened today.

Laying down on her sleeping bag, she stared up at the top of the tent, and smiled softly, ready to finally meet the giant robots she had seen as Viper. And they would have no idea that Viper and Faria are the same people. With that, Faria closed her eyes and fell asleep.