KEEPER (Open RP)

Lou rubbed his eye until it could focus on the world around him. He noticed weapons sprawled about and kids running around with them. How fun!! He also took note of the books and fishing poles for their use.
"Ah, I see, I see!" He sprung back into his usual state (be it for better or worse.) He wanted to go on a hunt, but he's never used a weapon before! He wanted to go fishing, but he'd rather just go swimming! The one thing he was reluctant to do was use that book for any reason. He frowned at it, quickly returning to his composure and turned to look at the other kids.
Ultimately, he did not need a weapon to hunt. He is an incredible ball of energy and adrenaline, and his bite has been rumored to break bone. Surely, he will be fine.
"Weapons'll jus' slow me down, hehe" he humored.

Archie leapt into the air with a loud shriek as a new but familiar voice addressed him. As he turned around, slightly shaking, he found it to be his new 'Keeper,' Carmella. The boy quickly wiped away any tears on his face in an attempt to hide the fact that he'd been crying but figured it was probably to late for that. Especially with four puffy eyes and a runny nose.

"N-nothing, ma'am..." He whimpered out, clutching the book tightly to his chest. "I-I'm okay.... I just wanted to find some berries and stuff..." His voice was still raspy from his sobbing. He hesitated for a moment when the other children were mentioned, the boy gulping for a moment as he held the book tighter. "I....I'd just get in the way and slow everyone down... at least this way I'm more u-useful.." He stuttered out.

"I'm o-okay ma'am.. really.. You don't need to wor-" Archie quickly stopped mid sentence and dropped the book, bringing his napkin to his face as drool began to trail down his chin. His face went a beet red as he wiped the saliva away and quickly squeezed his eyes shut out of embarrassment.

---

Machi's smile twitched slightly at one of the ends as the boy began pouring on the sugar, his manners far exceeding what she'd expect of an average child. Especially after seeing the way he'd addressed the other kids the night before. She let her head tilt to the side as her smile widened slightly. "Oh, well aren't you absolutely adorable~! You're almost as energetic as Earnest here~! You two would likely make great friends!!" She chimed, cheerily.

She knelt down to eye level with the young boys and cupped her hand around her mouth as though she were going to tell them a secret. "You know, there's a secret pond up stream that has the biggest fish you've ever seen, if you two are up for the challenge~! I'm sure Earnest could show you the way, he's been here plenty of times." She whispered, softly, winking at the bunny boy. "Spear fishing could be an excellent bonding activity! Why, you could even bring some of the other kids along and make a game out of it~!" 

Machi stood up once more and peered down at the two boys. "But, I suppose at the end of the day that's your decisions to make~! You're here to have fun, not listen to some maid tell you what to do." She chuckled, peering up towards the sky and noticing Carmella had already descended some place. Machi bent back down to Theo's level once more and cupped her hand near his ear.

"And, sweetheart, don't pour it on so heavily next time, my little lyrebird~!" Her voice was soft, yet held a strange eerieness to it. "It would be such a shame to have to punish such a sweet boy~!" Her tone was cold, and was only made that much creepier with her smile still in tact. She gave the boy a pat on the head and stood back up. "Welp, off you two go~! Enjoy your day! Carmella and I will be around if you need anything." 

And with that, the maid began to walk off, towards the equipment pile.

After being in a long carriage ride, which made Lucy feel hungry and anxious, her and the others arrived outside the forest.

While she is not too sure if she is a hunter, Lucy is excited that she is able to go fishing.

When she got carriage and was received equipment, Lucy ran and jump way high in the air and lands closely to the lake. She looked back to the orphans went passed.

"If anyone wants to join me fishing, feel free to!" Lucy called out cheerfully. She used the fishing pole and began her activity.

Her ears lowered down a bit, only have one of them kept up, in case she need to hear if somebody is coming.

"...It's alright," Carmella's stern voice finally softened as she watched the boy wipe nervously at his chin. "Don't be ashamed." She started to reach out, as though she were going to touch his shoulder for comfort, but her hand froze in the air awkwardly before closing into a fist and being brought close to her chest. "Hunting it not necessary, you are quite young and it would be awhile before you'd be allowed to do so without supervision. Why don't we go look for some berries together?" She nodded her head towards the book Archie had dropped, picking it up a moment later and holding it out for him to take. "There are some lovely flowers in the area that make splendid additions for teas."

---

Earnest watched Machi go, seeming unaffected by her strange behavior, as if this was something he'd seen before. He turned back to Theo with a giggle already slipping between his buck teeth. "Machi is so funny!" He chortled, his shoulders shaking slightly as he clutched his spear tighter in his fist. "Well! Fishing does sound quite lovely! And there's a few apple trees in that area too for a snack!" He put one hand on his hip and tapped a foot expectantly. "We should get oooooooone more buddy before we head to the pond though! I want to make friends with EVERYONE! That's my job!" He gave Theo a thumbs up before hopping over to the nearest kid he found.

He approached Vulpe with an outstretched palm. "Hiya! I'm Earnest! One of the welcoming committee members! Me and Theo were gonna go fishin'! Wanna come along?!"

Archie flinched slightly as the woman's hand made its way towards him, and even more so once it turned into a fist, but quickly shook the fear away and listened intently to what she was saying. He looked at the book being held out to him and hesitated, gripping his handkerchief tightly before wiping his chin one last time and letting it drop. He took the book from Carmella's hand and held it close to his chest.

"O-okay..." He squeaked out. The spider boy began to scuttle around the area, looking for any plants that deviated from the usual grass and weeds that covered the forest floor when he stumbled upon a small batch of flowers. He quickly opened the book and began flipping through the pages, looking for anything that may have matched the flora in question, when he stopped upon a page in the C section.

"Cha....Ch....Cham-o-mile..." He stuttered, this having been the first time he'd heard of this Chamomile. He stared at the page for a moment before realizing it had a pronunciation citation beneath the name. His cheeks flushed slightly as he spoke again. "Uh.. I mean, chamomile... It says its for tea.." He looked back to the Keeper.

Sylvie didn't have too great of luck finding any animals near the coast. She purposefully didn't enter the forest area due to it reminding her of previous memories. After running for a decent amount of time, Sylvie's attention was interrupted by a bird boy. Her confidence at the moment was immensely greater than when she originally entered Crawford in her response.

"Who's you supposed to be?" Sylvie replied with a confused look which turned into grin, "You here to challenge me?"

Gear got little sleep the night before the camping trip, which really wasn't a bad thing considering how early everyone had to be up at the orphanage. Fortunately, today's camping trip was limited to the kids he met on their voyage to Crawford's, along with the two that were a part of the welcoming committee. Gear preoccupied himself with his imagination as they ventured out into the forest, with several of the other kids opting to catch up on some shut-eye that they likely would not have gotten had this been just another day at the orphanage. Most if not all orphanages operated in the same way; providing activities and work throughout the day for the kids so that they wouldn't suffer from the mundanity of the reality of their situation. After all, a bored kid is the worst kid to have.

Upon their arrival at the camp grounds, their Keeper had immediately tasked them with finding their own food. Gear was pretty hungry, but knew that he didn't have the skills OR the stomach to hunt for wild game, so instead he took the book Carmella had provided and a rather large knapsack as he made his way into the forest. Most of the other kids had already paired off and split up, which left Gear alone. He inched himself further and further into the forest before stopping to collect a couple berries he'd found. He heard leaves rustling from somewhere behind him and looked over his shoulder only to find not a thing in sight. He cautiously turned back towards the shrubbery he was facing and sped up his berry picking process. Oi... I really wish I wasn't alone right now... he thought, and right on cue, something had collided with his backside, shocking him and causing him to instinctively smush the berries in his hand. Gear shook the gunk free from his hand and rapidly turned around, prepared to bolt if need be when...


Gear stared blankly at the fellow as they lay on the ground, wincing from their fall. Gear recognized the kid from the orphanage and let out a breath before quickly offering a non-goop covered hand to the badger kid. "H-hey, are you alright?"