Morning dew clung to every leaf and blade of grass. The forest was still half-asleep, birds chirping like nature's alarm clock. The sun peeked through the canopy, casting golden streaks onto the campgrounds.
Inside Tent 4, peace had finally settled after a night of emotional damage, third-wheeling, and feral threats.
But outside, three girls were already up and fully committed to a morning noodle session.
Sofia sat on a fallen log, cradling a steaming cup of instant noodles like it held the meaning of life. Her hair was a fluffy mess, her eyes half-lidded but content. Next to her, Ami stirred her noodles in tired silence, the camera already resting on her lap like a loyal companion. Selene, ever the multitasker, was gently brushing out Sofia's hair while eating with her other hand.
Ami took a slow bite, barely glancing up.
"I give the night a solid 2 out of 10. Lost sleep. Gained trauma."
Sofia giggled, mouth full.
"At least no monsters ate us."
Selene nodded, sipping her noodles like tea.
"And no one set the forest on fire. That's a win."
Suddenly, a ruckus from the boy's side of camp snapped their attention.
Just a few feet away, Vladislav, Akio, Vyacheslav, and Wei stood in an awkward semi-circle...staring at something like it was a UFO crash site.
Vladislav tilted his head, raising an eyebrow.
"Bro...are they—? Are they hugging?"
Wei squinted, offended by the image.
"I haven't even hugged my mom in five years."
Vyacheslav crossed his arms, voice flat.
"This is a crime against peace."
Akio was deadpan, hand hovering over his phone like he was debating whether or not to take a picture for blackmail purposes.
"If I ever sleep like that next to another man, bury me."
Inside Tent 4, Leo and Asher lay tangled in the softest, most bromantic position known to humanity. Leo's arm was thrown around Asher's shoulder. Asher's head rested on Leo's chest. They were still asleep, breathing in sync like a Disney couple cursed to wake up only when true chaos hits.
And then—they woke up.
Leo blinked first. Confused. Then, it was horrified.
Asher yawned.
"Mmm...bro your heartbeat is so calming—"
Leo SCREECHED.
"GET OFF ME, YOU LEECH."
Asher shrieked back.
"YOU WERE HOLDING ME."
Outside, noodles were forgotten as the girls watched the disaster unfold.
Leo scrambled out of the tent like a gremlin being exorcised.
"MY DIGNITY. IT'S GONE."
Asher flopped out after him, still wrapped in his sleeping bag like a burrito of betrayal.
"WE BONDED, OKAY?!"
Vladislav lost it. He doubled over, cackling so hard he dropped his water bottle.
Wei finally pulled out his phone.
"This is going in the archives."
Akio looked mildly pleased.
"I feel better about my life now."
Vyacheslav turned around and walked straight into the woods.
"Nope. I'm done. I'm moving in with the squirrels."
Back at the log, Selene tried to keep her voice calm.
"Should we... help them?"
Sofia was in tears from laughing.
"They'll either fight or marry each other. Let nature decide."
Leo was now chasing Asher around the camp, tripping over shoes and yelling like a madman.
"YOU'RE DEAD, BRO. YOU'RE SO DEAD."
Asher ran while clutching his sleeping bag, laughing like a man who's accepted his fate.
"I REGRET NOTHING."
Wei tossed a water bottle at both of them.
"Take this and fight with honour."
Vladislav leaned toward Selene.
"This is the best day of my life."
Selene sighed.
"I haven't even had my coffee yet."
And as birds chirped louder and the sun rose higher, the chaotic circus of friendship, rivalry, and half-asleep threats filled the air with life.
Camp had just begun.
They hike, they trip, Travis gets chased by bees at one point, and Zoe records all of it like she's prepping a documentary.
Then, after the dinner, the group sprawled in a lazy circle around the fire, its orange glow licking at the edges of their shadows while marshmallows slowly blackened on sticks.
The stars above blinked like silent spectators, bearing witness to the absurd chaos that always brewed when these specific idiots gathered.
Zoe, phone in hand, was already documenting the night's descent into madness with the glee of someone crafting a war documentary. She panned across their faces, muttering into the mic.
Leo, cheeks still flushed from laughter, shook with residual giggles as he tried to recover from his last dare — balancing a pinecone on his head while screeching like a deranged jungle creature. Sofia had caught the entire disaster in 4K.
And then Vladislav, grinning with the smug chaos of someone who knew things were about to unravel, clapped his hands once and declared, "Alright, losers. Truth or Dare. Let's GO."
Sofia groaned and dragged her hoodie over her head like she was hiding from fate. "We are 100% going to regret this."
Selene just smirked, firelight glinting in her eyes like a warning flare. "Exactly the point."
The first round started tame enough. Leo was dared to serenade the nearest tree with a love song, which he did with full Broadway flair, confessing his undying devotion to "Lady Barkarella."
Asher, sitting cross-legged with his face half-hidden behind his hoodie strings, was told to confess his deepest secret.
He looked directly at Sofia, heart beating like a guilty drum, and said in the quietest, most traitorous voice
"I… I like strawberry milk more than chocolate."
Sofia stared at him in pure betrayal. "You coward."
Meanwhile, Ami was dared to hold hands with the one person she'd trust the most in complete darkness. Without hesitation, she reached out and clasped Selene's hand.
Across the fire, Vyacheslav's jaw tensed, and Akio's soul visibly left his body.
Vyacheslav stood slowly, wolf-quiet. "I'm gonna refill the canteen," he muttered, though his eyes lingered on Ami longer than necessary. There was something unspoken in his stare—This isn't over.
Vladislav raised an eyebrow. "Bro, it's literally twelve steps."
But Vyacheslav was already disappearing into the woods, swallowed by the shadows, leaving a tension so thick you could chew it like bad gum.
Back at the fire, Asher nudged Vladislav with a mischievous grin. "Okay. I dare you to go deep into the forest again and bring back something spooky and cute."
Travis puffed out his chest like a soldier accepting a noble mission. "You're seriously underestimating my wilderness game." He grabbed a flashlight, saluted dramatically, and vanished into the dark like he was headed into a boss level.
Five minutes passed.
Then ten.
Still no sound.
Then—
THUD.
RUSTLING.
And then Travis came crashing back into camp, wide-eyed, hair askew, breathless as he shouted, "GUYS. I FOUND A BABY COW WITH TREE ANTLERS?!"
Selene choked on her marshmallow. "A baby what—"
Sofia was already scrambling into the nearest tent like it owed her protection.
"Nope. Nope. Nature tried me last time, and I'm still recovering. Pass."
Akio crouched in a feral stance, eyes sparkling. "A COW WITH ANTLERS?! I WANNA RIDE IT!"
Through the bushes, Vladislav stumbled into the firelight, arms full of fuzzy chaos—a wobbly-legged baby moose, blinking like it had questions about life
Leo gasped like he'd seen a newborn angel.
"He's beautiful. I'm naming him Moochacho."
Asher, whispering like a man who'd watched too many documentaries: "Moose are actually dangerous."
Selene narrowed her eyes. "Put it down gently, Leo."
But Leo was already cradling it like it was his firstborn. "We bonded. He's my son now."
Akio piped up, already trying to scale a nearby rock. "I wanna name him 'DEATH COW.'"
Leo glared. "No. Moochacho and I have shared a moment."
Then—
SNAP. CRACK. BOOM.
A heavy rustling shook the forest, and something massive emerged from the trees like a final boss with an attitude.
The mother moose stepped out, her antlers dripping red from bark or blood—nobody could tell. Her eyes locked on Leo like he owed her rent.
From inside the tent, Sofia screamed, "OH MY GOSH, SHE HAS HORNS OF DEATH."
Vladislav muttered, "Those are antlers."
Sofia shrieked, "DO I LOOK LIKE NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC TO YOU??"
Akio, halfway up a tree, wailed, "WHY IS SHE BUILT LIKE A TANK WITH LEGS?!"
Just then, Vyacheslav returned with the canteen, only to see Leo being targeted like a deer in headlights. He sighed, calm but deadly. "I leave for five minutes…"
He tossed the canteen to Wei. "Hold this. I need to save the dumb ones."
The moose queen charged.
The group scattered like dominoes in a wind tunnel. Leo, still gripping Moochacho, ran like a man possessed.
"WE HAD A BOND!" he yelled, full anime sprint. "MOOCHACHO, TELL HER!"
Selene shouted, "Drop it, Leo!"
"I CAN'T—HE'S MY SON!"
Akio tried to backflip out of the way and body-slammed Travis instead. "SHE'S TARGETING THE CHAOTIC ONES. WE'RE FIRST TO GO."
Vyacheslav lunged forward, grabbed Leo by the collar, and yeeted him behind a bush. Moochacho tumbled into the leaves with a small "muh."
But the moose wasn't done.
She turned sharply and locked eyes with Ami.
The air shifted. Everyone froze. Even Akio, hanging halfway up a tree, stopped breathing.
Vyacheslav's voice was steel. "Ami, move. Now."
But she didn't.
She just stood there—calm, steady, eerily unbothered as the bloody-antlered beast stomped toward her.
The ground shook with each step. But Ami's eyes—dark, gleaming red—held their own quiet storm.
From across the fire, Wei exhaled like he'd seen this before. "She's using it."
Selene blinked. "Using what?"
Wei's voice dropped to a whisper. "Red Air… It's like emotional manipulation. Aura. Fear, calm, rage… She bends it."
A ripple of crimson mist shimmered around Ami like living energy.
The moose stopped.
Snorted.
Lowered her head.
And Ami—reached up.
Placed her palm gently on the beast's scarred cheek.
The whole forest hushed.
Even the fire behind them seemed to still.
The moose exhaled heavily… then turned and walked silently back into the woods.
Everyone just stared.
Sofia, poking her head out of the tent, whispered in awe, "She just tamed a wild moose with ✨girl power✨."
Leo sprawled on the ground: "Moochacho just ghosted me for another woman."
Akio finally dropped from the tree, limbs shaking. He stormed toward Ami, eyes wild with leftover adrenaline. Then he punched a log clean off its base.
He muttered quietly, "Next time, run to me, dummy."
But before anyone could even breathe—
CRACK. ROAR. STOMP.
The mom moose came back, charging straight for Leo like she had a personal vendetta.
Leo yelped, "OH COME ON, I GAVE THE KID BACK—"
He bolted.
Sofia was on the ground, dying of laughter. "SHE WANTS CUSTODY."
Ami, still calm: "You held her baby too long."
Akio grabbed a stick and chased after them like a warrior. "BACK OFF, FOREST DEMON. LEO IS STUPID, BUT HE'S OUR STUPID."
Later that night, everyone was a broken version of themselves, too tired to even care about dignity. The tent wasn't built for this many people, but they made it work like sardines stuffed in a canvas tube.
Ami was squished in the centre like the unfortunate filling in a human sandwich. Her face was half-buried in her sleeping bag.
Selene was on one side, arms crossed like a protective older sister on bouncer duty.
Sofia, half-asleep, had one leg draped over Ami like a sign that read, "No horny energy allowed here."
Akio and Vyacheslav were on opposite ends of the tent—arms outstretched, as if they both tried to reach Ami but had been body-blocked by Selene and Zoe, who weren't even subtle about it.
Outside, Leo lay cocooned in his sleeping bag like a burrito of betrayal.
"I'm not sleeping with you people. You all let me get chased by a forest horse with knives."
And as the stars shimmered quietly above their wreck of a camp — torn tents, burnt marshmallows, traumatized sleeping bags, and all — the forest finally fell silent… like even nature was exhausted by their collective stupidity.