Chasing Dreams | tag: Flare & open

[Maddox]

Maddox slung his backpack over his shoulders and prepared to set out. Pushing the screen door open, he stepped out onto the steps of the dilapidated cabin. He had water, he had snacks, he had a compass. His hat in his hand, he was going to find a Sasquatch.

Upon stepping onto the porch, he noticed that one of his shoelaces was untied, and sat down on the steps to tie it back up. Setting his hat on the steps beside him, he quickly transformed his shoelace back into its usual "bunny-eared" form. Then, with a sigh, he nodded. He was ready to set out and finally find and document proof that Sasquatches actually existed.

He reached for his hat.

[Flare]

And he would have gotten it, too, except for one teeny, tiny, minuscule detail that's so insignificant that I hesitate to even bring it to attention... His hat was no longer there. "Hiya Doxy!" Flare suddenly dropped from the roof in front of him to land on the ground in a crouch. She reached up to fix Maddox's hat on her head with a challenging smile, just daring him to try and get it back. "Where ya headed? Can I come with? If I spend one more minute breathing the same air as Elizabeth, I'm going to either punch her or dye all of her clothing black."

The blond cocked her head a little when she noticed his backpack. She understood the need to get away for a day, but wasn't an entire bag kind of excessive? What if Chris used this as blackmail when the first challenge came? It was a bit too early in the show to be eliminated. "What'cha got in the bag?"

[Maddox]

When his hand closed around thin air, Maddox blinked in shock. "Huh?" He responded automatically before Flare dropped off of the roof onto the ground in front of him, wearing his hat. He couldn't help smiling at the girl. She really had a thing for his hat. Well, at least it was his hat and not his lucky bandanna. That would have been bad. Like, really bad.

"Hey Flare." He responded to her greeting with a friendly smile. It was such a shame that they were on opposite teams. Flare was probably the closest friend he'd made at camp so far, although he wasn't ruling out that redhead who not only claimed to have seen a Bigfoot, but dated one. Well, maybe that was a little far-fetched for his tastes, but perhaps not. He'd never been close enough to a Sasquatch to know how close to humans they really were. Maybe she wasn't just being theatrical. Maybe it was possible. Maybe he could even find a female Sasquatch that he could date.

Or maybe not. On second thought, he'd much prefer just to befriend a Sasquatch. Dating a Sasquatch? No, way too creepy to even consider.

When Flare asked what he was up to, and if she could come with him, he stood up, and nodded. "I'm going hiking," he told her. "I'm going to find a Sasquatch." Adjusting the straps on his backpack until they were comfortable, he nodded with satisfaction. "You're welcome to tag along if you want to." Then he glanced over his shoulder at his backpack. "I'm sure I have enough supplies in my backpack for two people."

[Flare]

Flare's green eyes widened when he said he was looking for Sasquatch. She thought he'd been kidding when he announced the other day that it was his dream, or at least making fun of Izzy for saying she dated one once. But then again, he did like the type to believe in legends. After all, all legends were once based on fact, right?

She grinned at him and rocked back on her heels. "I'll stick around, but you can keep the stuff in your bad. My uncle once made me and my cousin go through survival training, in case we ever had to take care of ourselves." She spun around and ran to the edge of the forest, turning back to smirk at him. "Come on then, buddy, we've got a Sasquatch to find!"

[Maddox]

Well that was strange. Normally, girls tended to ditch him after he mentioned searching for a Sasquatch - not that Maddox had ever actually noticed and made that connection. He was pretty oblivious and when girls hightailed it out of there after he insisted that his search for Sasquatch was not a joke, he was never sure why.

He didn't even notice the shock on Flare's face when he mentioned what he was doing.

He did, however, notice and return her smile. And when she urged him on, saying that they had a Sasquatch to find, he couldn't help his smile from widening. "Awesome!" Maddox said, giving her a double thumbs-up. "I was thinking that we should start looking in the forest, see if there are any Squatch shelters."

He jogged to catch up with Flare, then fell in step beside her. "It would probably also be a good idea to follow the river - I mean, Squatches gotta drink too." He cracked his knuckles. "We might even find a footprint!"

[Flare]

Flare waited for him to catch up before leading the way into the forest. She skipped a few steps ahead before turning around in mid-air to skip backwards. Flare looked up at him with a curious tilt to her head. "Not to put you down or anything, but why do you want to find Sasquatch? Do you just want to go down in history as the guy who discovered him, or is it for a more personal reason?"

It didn't really matter to her why he wanted to find it. She'd help him anyway, if only for the chance to explore the island. No one had wanted to go with her when she went before, so her adventure had only been half-hearted at best. Now that Doxy was with her, she could actually have fun!

The blond spotted an outcropping of stones in a clearing off the trail, and she ran over to climb onto the top of the biggest one. "What do you think a Sasquatch den would look like?" she called back to him, looking into every gap she could find. More to see what's in them than an actual Sasquatch hunt.

[Maddox]

Flare was certainly amusing, that was for sure. When she turned to face him and began to skip backwards, he almost laughed. She was definitely fun to be around, and she was probably the most entertaining girl he'd ever met in his entire life. If he kept in touch with only one person after Total Drama Island was over, he hoped that it would be Flare. It was such a shame that they were on different teams.

When she asked her question, he shrugged in response. "I don't know, it's just always been something I've wanted to do." he said, touching his lucky bandanna subconsciously, remembering the day he'd first seen that magnificent Sasquatch. If only he could see another, and get close enough to get photographic proof that they existed. "It's been my dream since I was little."

"I mean - why do anything? Some people love model trains - why? Who knows, they serve no purpose, but they like them anyway." he said, his hand abandoning his bandanna and instead ran his fingers through his hair. "I guess I've never really given it much thought, it's been what I've wanted to do, ever since I first saw a Sasquatch - I was ten."

Now this question was easier to answer. He didn't think, he knew. He smiled. "I've been studying Sasquatch habits for years - they make shelters - 'Squatches' - out of branches - especially those from fir trees. They're pretty hard to spot, though." Every Sasquatch show, every Sasquatch book, every Sasquatch museum, you could be sure he'd made a point of at least being familiar with them. He knew all that was currently known about Sasquatches. "They like game trails, a lot."

[Flare]

For a moment, she stared blankly at him. She hadn't really expected him to say something like that, about why he wanted to find one. She wasn't sure what part to focus on, that he'd actually seen a Sasquatch before or the surprisingly deep answer. In the end, Flare picked up a random pine cone and chucked it at his head, making it sail above his head on purpose. "Philosophy doesn't suit you. Never speak like that again." she said bluntly.

Flare leaped from the stones and landed on her toes in a crouch, a hand holding Maddox's hat to her head. "So we need to find where there are fir trees and where little critters wander. Shouldn't be too hard. We'll find a stream or a river or some other fresh water thing and just follow that. Worse comes to worse, we can map out the area and cross out where we've already searched."

[Izzy]

The trees a few feet away from Doxy and Flare rustled. Izzy jumped down from the tree, landing on her feet and shaking her head. "Wow, those squirrels really know how to hide their nuts," she informed them, not bothering to explain why she was searching for them in the first place. A few chunks of bark fell from her orange hair while she shook. When she stopped, she placed her hands to her head, as if trying to hold it still. "That makes you really dizzy."

Finally, her vision straightened and she smiled at the two campers. "So, you're looking for Bigfoot, huh? Well, I don't think he'd be around here. His favorite spot is this one park that I used to go to, but he told me about his cousin, Sasquatanawkwa who lived out in this direction." She sniffed the air and shook her head. "No, he's definitely not nearby, though. Bigfoots... Bigfeet... have a specific smell. It's a mixture of dog, toe fungus and lemon."

[Maddox]

He couldn't help laughing at Flare's reaction. She threw a pine-cone at him, missing - seemingly on purpose - then telling him that such a philosophical answer didn't suit him. She was so amusing. And if he'd thought about it, he would probably would have blushed at the thought that she looked pretty cute in his hat. But that wasn't on his mind at the moment - Sasquatchanakwa was, although certainly not in the same way a certain streak-haired girl might have been.

He nodded in agreement as she outlined a possible course of action. "That's a good idea." Exactly what he had been about to suggest. The way Flare thought seemed to be very in-sync with the way Maddox himself thought. Well, that was good. Teamwork was easier if they were on the same page.

And then they were joined by one of Flare's teammates, who fell - no, jumped out of a nearby tree and joined them. She really liked to talk, but Maddox didn't mind. She was the one who claimed she'd met and dated a Bigfoot before. When she started telling them about the smell of Sasquatch feet, he couldn't help doubting the truth of her claims, but he shrugged anyway and spoke to her. "You've probably got the most experience with Sasquatch encounters. Wanna lead the way?"

[Flare]

Flare couldn't help but jump a little and fall into an instinctual fighting stance when the trees rustled. She wondered if there were bears around her, but her and Doxy could probably handle one. She mentally went through the instructions on how to survive bear attacks. Doxy was already way bigger than her, so he'd have an easier time scaring one away. Make lots of noise and make yourself seem bigger than the bear. Run uphill to widen the distance. Avoid teeth and claws, and don't let it squash you.

All mental processes stopped when Izzy dropped from the trees and said she was looking for squirrels' nuts. Flare responded automatically, relaxing her stance with a shake of her head. "One, of course they hide their nuts well. Otherwise the birds would steal them before they could have a chance to eat them. Second of all, you scared the shit out of me. I thought you were a bear!"

Doxy started to speak then, and Flare blinked. "Are Sasquatches and Bigfoots the same thing? I thought they, like, lived in different climates and crap. Or am I thinking of yetis?" She paused to think before shrugging. "Meh, doesn't matter. They're all in the same family."

[Izzy]

Izzy laughed. "Bear? I could be a bear. My older brother had this bear costume once. It was SO realistic. I put it on this one time, and then I went to our neighbor's kid's birthday party and they all ran away screaming. I pulled off the head and waved, but they just stared at me screaming 'it's even worse!' I don't know exactly what they meant by that, but it was still pretty funny."

"Lead? Okay!" she said, pulling out a magnifying glass. "Let's see. If you were a Sasquatch near Camp Wanawaka, where would you hide?" she asked herself, glancing around the trees. She paused to study one tree in particular and sniffed at it. "Lemony..." she muttered to herself, sniffing the air for a trail.

"Just as I figured. As far away from Chef's cooking as possible!"

[Maddox]

Flare's reaction was probably more natural, but Doxy wasn't really freaked by rustling leaves. Then again, he was rather tunnel-visioned and had basically decided that he was going to find a Sasquatch if it killed him. And judging by his reaction to the leaves rustling when Izzy appeared, there was a good chance that it just might.

Izzy seemed highly amused by Flare's reaction, and the fact that Flare thought that Izzy had been a bear. It was kind of funny. But only kind of. He certainly didn't think it was as funny as Izzy did. He smiled at Flare as Izzy took the reins on the project. Falling into step beside the streak-haired girl as Izzy used a magnifying glass to look around and then sniffing a tree.

Maddox nodded in response to Flare's words. "Yeah, they're all the same species, just different varieties. Kinda like. . ." He paused for a moment to think of an analogy. "Like a golden retriever and a wiener dog - they're both dogs, just different varieties." Then he frowned. "Although they could be different species. It's only a theory that they're all just subspecies. They could be completely unique and we just don't know it because there isn't any DNA proof."

And then when Maddox heard Izzy's comment on Chef's cooking, he stopped thinking about how a yeti was different from a sasquatch and burst out laughing. Izzy was hilarious.

[Flare]

At first, Flare wasn't sure if she should be offended by the wild girl's rant about dressing up like a bear and scaring the people at a birthday party or not. It didn't seem like an insult, but the fact that she thought a very real possibility of a bear attacking them in uncharted woods was funny wasn't very nice. Then again, Flare probably would have found it funny too if it had been the other way around...

Izzy led the way with a magnifying glass. Flare fell into step with Maddox and listened with half an ear to his explanation about Sasquatches and Big Foot. That just meant that they'd have to find DNA proof here. Whether it was Sasquatch, Big Foot, or 'Sasquatchinakwa'. Honestly, it sounded like Chris just mixed together the name of the camp, Wawinakwa, with Sasquatch.

The other girl's exclamation about Sasquatch being as far away from Chef's cooking as possible caught Flare off guard. She smirked while Maddox burst out laughing, and Flare said in amusement, "Well, at least it was some intelligence then."

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