Bold World

While the survivors had a main base camp, it would have been asking a lot for all of them to live in one space, even if they wouldn't be sharing it 24/7 due to how active it was necessary to be to survive in the Constant. That meant that base camp was for everyone whenever they needed or wanted to be there, and was the most built up of any of their camps, but pretty much everyone had their own individual spaces -- or lived in groups of two, sometimes three at most.

Wendy had lived with Ms. Wickerbottom from the moment they had all split off into smaller camps, when the second wave of survivors had arrived to find Wilson, Maxwell, Wolfgang, Wes, and Wendy awkwardly building up their shared living space -- perhaps fumbling a bit at that point, but doing much better together than any single one of them had individually.

With Wickerbottom, Willow, and Webber showing up next, there had been too many people to really manage one single camp -- particularly with Webber's inclination to be near and befriend spiders, and how badly the pig folk reacted to him -- but it had been equally obvious that they shouldn't just go their separate ways, either.

Walter had shown up pretty late, and everyone's camps had been pretty established by that point. That didn't bother him a bit! He was good at camping, he liked moving around, and he liked moving around to help out with what people needed around their own camps, or out in the wilderness. He was experienced with this, after all, and a good Pinetree Pioneer helped out where they were needed and were ready to use their survival skills at a moment's notice!

Wendy had killed one of the rabbits from the rabbit pen to call Abigail that morning, and to replace one of the jerkies that she was taking with her today. Now, she was lying on her back in the dirt, hands folded over her chest, much more patient than her sister as Abigail "paced" excited, hovering little circles near the gate.

Walter was making some snacks for them in the crock pot -- trail mix with birchnuts and berries, pumpkin cookies, and taffy -- and he smiled over at her as he waited. "What're you two doing?"

"I am waiting for the cold embrace of death," Wendy informed him calmly, unmoving. "Or Webber's arrival. Whichever comes first."

That was a little creepy... and a little worrying, but not too much. Wendy just tended to say things like that, even when she was happy. Walter didn't get it, and neither did Webber really, but if it made her more comfortable, they accepted it.

A sound like the moaning of wind from a long way away came from near the gates, and Wendy added, "Abigail says she's waiting, too."

"I think it's really cool that you can talk to ghosts like that," Walter admitted. "And that you can translate for Abigail! It's a lot more fun that way, right?"

Wendy was quiet for a moment, then admitted softly, "...It is."

The sound of the gate opening made her sit up; despite the way she talked, it was obvious that her mood wasn't bad today when she greeted, "Hey, Webber!" with actual enthusiasm. The grave-wind sound that came from Abigail was equally enthused, loud enough that there was a ghostly sort of wail in there, quietly, and the wind sounded more like a susurrus.

"Hi, Wendy! Hi, Abigail!" Webber waved, all his eyes crinkling up with his fangy grin. "Hey, Walter! And Woby! Can we pet Woby?"

"Hi, Webber!" Walter waved back, before checking the crock pot and starting to bag up the trail mix, satisfied with it. "Sure can. I bet she'd love that."

Webber plopped down near Woby and let her sniff his hands, then started petting her, shifting with delight to rub her belly when she rolled over onto her back. "Good girl!"

He looked over to Wendy even as he gave the pup belly rubs, even if it was a little tempting to bury his face in her fur and let all six of his arms pet her. "What do you want to play today?"

Wendy shifted to sit cross-legged, picking up Abigail's flower as her sister came over to join her and cradling it in her lap. "Ms. Wickerbottom is teaching Wurt today," she informed him. "So Walter volunteered to teach us about cave survival."

Wurt was, pretty much everyone had agreed, way too young to be taken down into the caves, even sticking close to the entrance like the other kids were supposed to do whenever they went down there. While Webber didn't actually remember how old he was -- it was fuzzy even not taking into account the time they'd all been in the Constant -- he was pretty sure he was only a little younger than Wendy, so everyone at camp had agreed to treat his next birthday like it was his ninth one. Wendy and Abigail were ten, and Walter was the oldest of them at almost-fourteen (in only three months!), so he was happy and proud to take the responsible bigger kid role.

But Wurt was only about four or five, so taking her own into the caves to play -- uh, learn -- was a big no-no.

Webber perked up. "That sounds like fun! Maybe we can make more mushroom planters! Or find bananas?"

"Mushrooms are a really good idea, Webber," Walter agreed. "And you know what else?"

He finished bagging up the trail mix, putting it into the insulated pack that he'd borrowed from Warly, and walked over to kneel down beside Woby himself. With a bit of coaxing ("Sit up, girl! Come on, Woby! Good girl, sit up! ...Uh, Webber, can you stop petting her for a sec?"), he got Woby to roll back over and sit up, rummaging in her pack for a few seconds, tongue poking determinedly out of the corner of his mouth, and triumphantly pulled out a Pinetree Pioneer hat.

And he plopped it right on top of Webber's fuzzy head, nudging it to a jaunty angle and grinning at the boy. "Tada!"

"Oh... Oh, wow!" Webber reached up to straighten the hat, more for an excuse to feel at it than anything. "Is this mine?"

"Sure is! I remembered that you asked if you could be a Pioneer too, and I've been thinking. I'm the oldest and highest ranking Pioneer here in the Constant. That means that I'm the Pine Leader! (Sort of.) So... congratulations, Webber! You are officially a Pine Tree Pioneer!"

"Yay! Thank you!" Webber leaned over to give his friend a tight hug. "We're really happy, Pine Leader Walter. Both of us!"

Walter laughed. Partly because Webber's spider-fur was tickly. "The Pioneers are happy to have you, Pioneer Webber."

Webber pulled back, and was still beaming, but glanced over to his two best friends. "Wendy and Abigail, you guys too, right? They get to be Pine Tree Pioneers too, right?" he asked Walter, worried.

"I already offered," Walter said, "and they said they'd like to be, but they didn't want the hats."

"It doesn't suit me," Wendy said, and looked over to Abigail as she moved in close and whispered. "Abby doesn't want to wear one if I don't. ...But she'll happily wear a balloon hat."

"Oh." Walter's smile kind of froze a little, but he rallied well! "O-okay, so... How about we go see Wes before we head down to the caves? And maybe I can figure out how to make a hat that suits you two."

Wendy's smile to him was small but honest. "That sounds nice."

"Okay, everybody!" Walter stood up, shrugging on the insulated pack and straightening up proudly; Woby, sensing his energy, leapt to her feet and started panting happily. "It's time for the Pine Tree Pioneer Constant Troop to work on our first badges: Caves Survival! With, uh, a-a little visit to a clown first."

"It's okay, Walter." Wendy checked on her own backpack, then got to her feet as well. "Wes is a mime. That's a different genus."

That time, it sounded even to Webber and Walter like Abigail laughed.

Wendy's hands were full gently cradling Abigail's flower, so Webber took hold of Walter's hand as they started off. He knew the adults felt better when they all used the buddy system, and besides, it kept him from dashing on ahead in excitement. He was just so full of energy, so proud he almost couldn't contain it. He was a Pinetree Pioneer!

Sometimes the Constant was still really hard. ...A lot of the time it was still really hard, because a lot of things in it really wanted to kill him, and to kill his friends, which made him sad even if it was easy to bring them right back. And he missed home, a lot. More than home, he missed his mom and his father, and sometimes he felt so bad he cried, even if he tried to do that when he was alone at night because he didn't want to make anyone worry about him.

But Webber was happy here, too. Everyone was so nice, really. He was never alone, not with his spider half, and that meant that he could make friends with the spiders too, and they were also nice and friendly, and surprisingly cute and cuddly! (Even if no one else seemed to agree with him. That was okay!)

And if he'd never come here, he never would have met Wendy and Abigail, or Walter, or Wormwood, or Ms. Wickerbottom, or any of his other friends or the nice adults that made sure they were all okay in the Constant. And he'd maybe never have become a Pinetree Pioneer or done fun things like play in the caves earning badges and running around with Woby and Star-Sky and Hutch.

"Can we ride Woby later?" Webber whispered to Walter, kind of wanting it to be a surprise for Wendy and Abigail if he said yes, and not wanting to get their hopes up if he said no! Wendy especially really liked Woby, he could tell.

"If you ask her nicely, I bet she'll let you!" Walter teased. "I'll even let you feed her some monster meat, okay?"

The arms at Webber's face wriggled in delight, and he waved at Wendy as she glanced quizzically over to them. "Okay!"

Sometimes, the Constant really did seem like a magical place. In a good way.