FSE

Furry search engine

formerly SoFurry search engine

Chapter 1 It was a quiet and crisp Summer morning. Within the living room of a slightly old fashioned house in the middle of Salt Lake City, a middle-aged woman walked through the corridor to the hallway carrying a big brown bag around her arms.

The woman had slightly graying chestnut colored hair long enough to reach the bottom of her neck. Her skin white, and a little wrinkled showing signs of age. Her fingernails a little long but neatly trimmed. Her eyes a gleaming light shade of brown. She wore a canary colored robe to match her light violet slippers.

The bag she was carrying was loaded with various food items. Various snacks put together as if for a special occasion.

As she approached the hallway, she began hollering towards the upstairs walkway.

"Hurry sweeties! You're gonna be late for the bus!" The woman then placed a finger next to her lips as she pondered.

"Goodness, no. Why that wouldn't be good at all..." She then turned towards the stairs and called out to her relatives. "Richard!"

"Yes, mom?!" A voice from upstairs called out to her. She smiled as the young man appeared before her coming down the stairs.

"Oh there you are, Richard." The mom said.

Richard, who prefers to go by Ricky, is a relatively tall young man around 5'10". His skin was a lot tanner than his mother, and sported a slightly built but skinny body structure. His hair is a darker shade of brown, and his eyes matched the same color. He wore a white cap on his head with a logo on the front with the words Camp Ute. The logo also had a big red letter U in the center with a couple of feathers decorated on one side and surrounded by a few trees and a hatchet in front just below the words. He also wore a white shirt that had the exact same logo on it, but also said in smaller font size below 'sponsored by the University of Utah'. He wore a short pair of tan shorts that had plenty of pockets, and tan shoes with laces on his feet adorned by a long pair of white socks with a gray line surrounding near the top of each sock.

On his right hand he carried a red suitcase by the white handles. A small white 'U' also adorned the top of the suitcase. It felt slightly heavy to him being filled to the brim with clothes and essentials.

Ricky stepped down the stairs as he met face to face with his mother.

"Good morning, Richard. I was beginning to worry." She said to him with a smile. "You look like you're ready to go." Ricky nodded.

"Yep."

"You got everything you need and want to take to camp with you?"

"Yes, mom."

"Very good." She looked around a little bit as she asked a question. "You know where your cousin is?"

"He's still upstairs getting ready, mom." He said as he walked to the direction of the nearby bathroom.

"Very good, dear." She took a few steps closer to the stairs, placing the bag down at a small counter as she called out to her nephew.

"Eric!" Then as soon as she called his name, another young man appeared before her atop the stairs carrying a blue suit case of the exact same style and logo as his cousin's. Holding it with both his hands together in front of his legs.

"Oh there he is!" She exclaimed so cheerfully as he slowly walked down the stairs.

Eric is just about 2 to 3 inches shorter than Ricky, and with a much lighter skin tone and lankier but average build. His facial expression was also more withdrawn and introverted compared to his cousin. He has short brown hair and brown eyes. He wore the same white shirt with same camp logo that Ricky is wearing. Eric also wore a light pair of black shorts that end just at the top of his kneecaps, and he wore a gray pair of shoes with Velcro buckles with a pair of short white socks.

He silently stepped down the stairs and met face to face with his aunt. She smiled brightly and gave her nephew a soft hug.

"Oh, little Eric Lewis. Don't you just look fabulous in that outfit?" She complimented. "I'm definitely certain that you're going to like camp. Your cousin has been there several times before, but now you get to go for the very first time. Now, do you have everything you want or need?"

Eric responded silently with a nod. She let go of the embrace as Ricky stepped out of the bathroom having taken care of business. He walked back down the hallway standing side by slide with his cousin.

"Very good. Now that you're both here, I want to give you guys something." Eric's aunt said grabbing the bag and handing it to Ricky. He looked inside inspecting all the food items that were packed.

"What's all this?" Ricky asked.

"I've packed some extra food for you guys for the trip." She explained.

"Are there any chips?" He asked.

"Why of course. I believe there should be two whole bags."

Ricky looked a little closer and saw two bags of chips, one Ruffles potato chips and one Cool Ranch Doritos. He assumed the Doritos were for Eric and decided he would snack on the Ruffles later.

Eric and Ricky walked towards the front door, picking up their suit cases once again, with Ricky putting his over his shoulder so he could carry the food bag. They look back at Eric's aunt, who folded her arms and had a pondering look on her face.

"Now what?" Ricky asked confused. She paused for a bit and began to answer.

"I believe I forgot something. Now what could it be?" She continued to think, trying to remember what she forgot.

"Well what is it?" Ricky asked again, getting a little impatient. She looked at the ring on her index finger and then a thought snapped in her head causing her to remember what it is.

"Oh now I remember! I just needed to keep reminding myself, just needed to wear this ring so I don't forget." She laughed a little, much to Eric and Ricky's confusion as they looked at each other, then back at her. Then she said, "Alright, I'll be right back. Don't you two go anywhere." Then she hurried towards the nearby study just at the end of the hall.

Ricky looked back at his cousin shaking his head.

"Your Aunt MarDean is at it again." He said. Eric did not respond to Ricky's comment and just kept quiet. Shortly after, Aunt MarDean came back to the front room holding a couple of documents in her hand.

"There they are." She said as she handed the documents to Ricky. "You'll need these for the camp as well."

"What are they?" Ricky asked as he read them.

"They're your medical records, of course." Aunt MarDean said. "Eric needs it for the camp counselors if he's to get into the camp's Special Education program. After all, you can't get in without documented proof." Ricky nodded and understood the procedure.

Eric has Aspergers syndrome, a high-functioning form of Autism. He was incredibly smart, which helped him get through high school with little difficulty, but he rarely if ever talked with anyone which made it difficult for him to socialize with anyone besides Ricky. Aunt MarDean looked at her watch.

"Oh well, you guys better get going. The bus should be here in about a few minutes just across the street from us, and you don't want to miss it."

"Got it, mom." Ricky said knowingly.

"Goodbye, Richard." She said, giving her son a kiss on the cheek.

"Bye, Mom." Ricky said as he opened the front door. Aunt MarDean gave Eric another hug.

"Goodbye, Eric my dear. I hope you make lots of friends at camp." She said as she gives him a kiss on the forehead. Then without saying a word, Eric turned around with suit case in hand, and together with Ricky they walked out the door. She waved goodbye as she saw the two off heading towards the bus stop.

That was all about an hour or two ago. Eric and Ricky sat together on one of the middle seats of the crowded bus as it drove on the highway. There was not a single seat empty, it was filled with lots of noise, laughter and movement.

There was almost always something going on here, despite the bus driver trying his best to keep everything in order. It was filled with just about any kind of person imaginable. Humans and anthropomorphs alike of various species, ranging from kids and preteens to young adults in their late teens. There was no shortage of variety here.

In contrast to all the noisy kids running around screaming and playing, Eric and Ricky just sat there calmly. Eric looked at his surroundings with his head slumped down on his shoulders a little nervously. His posture accentuated his shyness towards the new environment he would soon come to experience. Ricky noticed this and consoled his cousin.

"Is something wrong, Eric?" He asked. Eric looked back at him, but did not say anything, instead looking at everyone else again.

"You don't have to worry. This happens a lot." Ricky assured him. "I've been to this camp lots of times before. It's gonna be great. And besides, I'll be here to show you around." Eric nodded, gladly knowing Ricky is here to help him out.

Ever since they were kids, Ricky had always been protective of his cousin. He was also very determined to make sure nothing would come to ruin their Summer camp experience.

At the strike of the early afternoon hour, the bus had made its stop at a parking lot next to an expansive campground surrounded by trees and luscious green grass. One by one the buses emptied as all the campers of various ages and species began pouring out into the trail leading to the grounds.

The air was filled with cheer of the excited campers. A group of the camp's counselors looked onwards at all of them rushing by. Two of them, an old human man and a lion who appeared to be in his late 20's and holding a clipboard, were shouting out at the campers to make sure everything is in line.

In the midst of the crowd, Eric and Ricky walked by with their stuff in hand. Ricky had already given one of the counselors the copy of Eric's medical records to apply him into the Special Ed program, and the two were given directions to their cabins across the grounds. As they approached the main area, they were greeted by another camper.

"Hey, Rick!" A voice called out to him. Ricky recognized the voice and saw an anthropomorphic fox with bright orange fur approach them. He had neatly styled blond hair on his head, white fur on his chin, tail tip and torso covered by the white camp t-shirt, and dark brownish fur covering his hands and legs. His shirt was tucked into his blue jean shorts.

"Yo, man!" The fox said as he and Ricky shook hands.

"Hey, Max." Ricky said. "How goes it?"

"Awesome, man. Ready to kick off yet another kick ass Summer." Max responded, showing a very laid back personality.

"Cool." Ricky said. "Oh, by the way, this is my cousin, Eric."

"Hey Eric. Nice to meet ya." Max extended his hand towards him, but Eric shyly turned his head away. Looking down at the ground with silence. Max was confused and looked back at Ricky wondering if he did something wrong.

"Is he okay?..." Max asked.

"He's alright." Ricky explained. "He's just a little shy, I guess. It's his first time here in camp. I was just about to give him a big tour."

"Ah, okay. I gotcha." Max responded folding his arms and nodded.

"Anyway, what's new with you?" Ricky asked him.

"Not much. Same old same old. The only difference being I'm a high school graduate now."

"Hey, us too." Ricky said. Eric did not say a word still and just silently paid attention to their conversation.

"Cool. Oh, Rick, did you know the camp just opened up a new Judo club this Summer?"

"Really?"

"Yeah, man. It's one of the new things going on here since they hired a new volunteer."

"Maybe I should try signing up." Ricky said.

"You should. It's gotta be awesome." Max assured them. "Anyway, gotta go get settled into my cabin. Catch you later!"

"Later, man."

Then afterward, Max turned and ran to the direction of the cabins. But not before turning around to tell Ricky one last thing.

"Hey Rick!" He said as Ricky looked on. "Wait until you get a load of Sammy!" Max exclaimed cupping his hands on his own chest. "Man, oh man!"

"Oh yeah?" Ricky asked with a smile.

"Yeah. Later!" Then with that Max ran off and disappeared quickly.

"Sammy is pretty cool too." Ricky told Eric. "She's another one of my biggest friends here."

The two cousins continued their trek towards the campgrounds once more. And thus their tour began. One by one, Ricky pointed out each building and location to help give Eric the lay of the land. He paid close attention as Ricky began to explain.

"Over there is the camp playground." He said pointing to a rather large playground filled with swings, various slides, a merry go round, and several other things one would expect from a park playground, all laid out on top of wood chips. "It's technically supposed to be for younger kids, but pretty much everyone plays there. So it won't matter if you ever want to play there." Eric nodded in complete understanding.

Then Ricky pointed towards another large wider white building.

"That's the cafeteria. This is where we eat all our meals." Then he points towards another building across from it with steps leading down to its double doors. "And that's the main gym. We have occasional sports activities there, but it's also used to hold all the socials. And all the way out there is the lake where we go on boat rides or go swimming." And from there he continued to point out all the buildings as they head toward the cabins.

On the way there, Ricky spotted another person he was familiar with. A tall bunny girl with light gray fur and long black hair on her head. She wore small navy blue short shorts and a camp t-shirt small enough to show off her navel. Ricky smiled and called out to her.

"Hey, Sammy!" He waved to her. "Sammy!" As Ricky called her, she turned her head to look back at him. She appeared to be in the middle of a conversation with three other anthropomorphic guys, and just simply smirked and turned away from him. Ricky lowered his arm, looking at them all confused and a little suspicious. After taking in what he saw, he simply took Eric by his arm and lead him away.

"Come on, Eric. Let's go..." And so they walked away and continued towards the cabins. The cabins themselves were separated by gender, with boys on one half and girls on the other half. Eric and Ricky kept going down the boys cabins until reaching one labeled 16-A.

"Alright. Bunk 16-A. This is where you'll stay since you're in the Special Ed program." Ricky said. Eric looked at the cabin quietly, and then back at Ricky. "Don't worry about it. I'm not far. I'll be in Bunk 17-B. If you need me, you can find me there. Well, catch you later."

Eric nodded and walked up the steps, opening the door and heading inside. Ricky meanwhile decided to stay outside and confront Sammy as to why she ignored him for those guys. Soon the group she was with broke off heading their separate ways.

"Bye." Sammy said waving goodbye to the others. As she turned around she approached Ricky.

"Who were those guys?" Ricky ask her sternly.

"No one in particular." Was her response. "Just some boys."

"Aren't they a little old for you?" Mocked Ricky.

"Not really." Sammy said smugly. "Don't you know girls mature before boys?"

"That's bullshit, and you know it."

"Hmph. I don't have time for this. I have things to do right now." Sammy said to him in a rather stuck-up manner. She walked around and past him. "Later." Ricky felt mildly offended by her sudden shift in attitude. He wasn't entirely sure what was up with her.

"What does she know?..." He asked himself with a head shake. "Bitch..."

Meanwhile in Eric's bunk, everyone that he's sharing the cabin with was busy unpacking their belongings and setting them next to or under their beds. Eric just sat there silently unpacking his own stuff as he looked at the others that were staying here. Including a fennec fox, an orca boy, a raccoon who looked about his late-teens or early twenties, and two humans. Two beds were rather empty still. One was another bed much like the others and another one which looked to be reserved by a counselor.

Eric looked as the door swung open and two people came in. A red western dragon with slightly messy black hair, and a tall buff lion with a full mane wearing a tight plain white t-shirt and a pair of red shorts. The lion headed straight to his bed while writing stuff down on his clipboard while the dragon stood in the middle of the room observing his surroundings.

"Good. Looks like everyone's here." The dragon said. He placed his hands on his hips. "I just want to let you all know that I'm not just a camper like you. I am one of the volunteer aids of this program, so make sure we're all on the same page here, and there won't be any problems. Alright?!" As he was just about to walk away, he stopped to say another thing.

"Oh, and for those of you who don't know, my name is Luke. L-U-K-E. Got it?!" Not another word was spoken from anyone.

"Good." Then one of the humans stepped up to greet Luke.

"Hi there Luke. Nice to meet you. I'm James." He spoke in an accent. James had brown hair with thick side burns, wore glasses and freckles adorned his face. He extended a hand out to Luke who gladly shook it.

"Nice to meet ya too, James."

"And remember you guys." The lion spoke to add into the conversation. "Don't ever feel like you're in a bad place or anything. We're all friends here, we should make each other feel welcome."

The other three people paid attention to the counselor's speech while Eric continued to sort his wardrobe.

"So let's get to know each other while we get settled here in this camp." James gleefully suggested.

"I agree." Luke said. "Lets start with introducing ourselves."

James nodded and headed towards the other human in the cabin. He was the shortest out of everyone in the cabin, and didn't speak much and was shy like Eric. He had freckles on his face like James, and had red hair that was cut short.

"Hi there. I'm James, and you are?" He asked as he extended his hand to the other boy's to shake.

"Austin." He courteously replied and shook his hand. Then Austin started trailing off, and started to talk to himself which sounded like he was quoting from a movie.

"What is he saying?" Luke asked curiously. The orca boy answered his question almost instantly.

"That's what Austin does a lot of times." He said. "He loves to quote a lot of animated movies. Disney in particular."

"Can't blame him." James said with a chuckle, being fascinated with Austin's movie quoting. "Who doesn't love a good Disney film?"

"He does a great job with the voice acting too." Luke complimented greatly. "And what's your name?"

"I'm Billy." The orca boy said. "Billy Mason. It's nice to meet you both." He shook both Luke's hand and James'. Then they turned to the raccoon who was still sorting out the rest of his luggage.

"And how about you?" Luke asked approaching him.

Then after putting the last piece of clothing down, The raccoon turned around and greeted them all.

"Now it's my turn to make introductions, huh?" He asked in a joking manner. "Name's Jeremy. Jeremy Vickers." He extended his hand out to shake Luke's.

The short fennec fox ran up to everyone in the circle wanting to introduce himself as well.

"Hi everyone. I'm Kyle."

"Hello Kyle." Everyone said, with the exception of Austin who was busy quoting one of his favorite moments of one of his movies to himself.

"I really hope we all can have fun this Summer." Kyle said with a smile.

"Oh we will." Luke responded. "Right guys?" Everyone nodded.

"Yeah, most definitely." Billy said.

"Sure thing." Jeremy said.

Meanwhile Eric was just sitting on his bed all by himself, staring out the window closest to him. He did not pay any attention to what was going on around him, and just quietly left himself to his own thoughts. He quickly looked back as he was approached by the rest of the group.

"Looks like there's still one more." Luke said as all of them except Autsin surrounded Eric. Eric just looked at them all silently and with a little fear, like he was being ganged up on by strangers.

"What's your name?" James asked extending a hand to shake. Eric looked away, not responding with even so much as a peep. Everyone wondered what was up.

"Is something the matter?" Luke asked with one of his eyebrows raised. The lion stepped in and sat on the bed next to Eric.

"You must be Eric." The lion said comfortingly and placed a hand on his shoulder. "I'm Ronnie. I one of the guys running the program, so if you ever need any help, come to me. Okay?"

Eric nodded as a response. Ronnie smiled and stood up.

"Alright guys. Don't be alarmed if he doesn't talk for a while. Make him feel comfortable and I'm sure he'll open up eventually." Ronnie explained to the group. "Now, if everyone has unpacked, we'll meet up with the girls half of the program, and we'll all gather around at the dining hall for dinner and friends to get the program started." Ronnie left the main bunk room to the back to put some stuff away. Meanwhile Jeremy, Billy, Kyle and Austin all stuck by Eric as they introduced themselves to him.

"Glad we're on the same team, huh?" Jeremy joked with a giggle, causing Eric to smile for just a little bit, which Jeremy's sharp eyes caught onto really quickly, before returning to his stoic expression. "See? There's that smile. We get along pretty well." He lazily put his arm on Eric's right shoulder.

"So what do you think guys? Should Eric be amongst our little group?" Jeremy asked in a laid back and cool manner.

"Of course!" Kyle stated with excitement and a tail wag. "I think it's great to have Eric hang out with us." Billy nodded in agreement.

"I agree. We'll be great friends." He said. "Right Austin?"

Austin just did his own thing while signaling his agreement amongst this group of friends. Eric wasn't sure how to feel about this, but in a way he was starting to feel glad that there are at least a few people in his life that are treating him with such kindness, so that was enough for him.

Luke and James meanwhile just stood next to each other looking at the others a little suspiciously. Specifically their interactions with Eric.

"Looks like we got a real winner here..." Luke said to James commenting on Eric's silent and neutral demeanor. He shook his head.

"No kidding..." James added.

Ronnie came back out this time sporting a light red jacket to match his outfit, and a whistle around his neck.

"Alright you guys. Gather 'round, and let's go!" The lion lead the way outside with Luke and James immediately following.

"Come on Eric. Let's go. You're hanging with us from now on." Jeremy said to him with a smirk and a pat on his shoulder. They both stood up to follow the rest of the group out the cabin and on the way to the dining hall.

Ronnie lead the boys down the walkway in between the cabins and the general area. They eventually rendezvous with a human female counselor who was leading a group of girls, presumably from the same program. Then all together as a group they followed the two counselors to the dining hall inside.

The crowds were quite numerous as dinner was just around the corner. Soon the entire hall was packed making up the entire camp's attendees.

In one corner, there was a single large table where everyone from the Special Ed program gathered around. All the students, counselor's and volunteer aides amongst the student body were together. They were the first to get their meals, and conversed amongst the sea of background noise to get to know each other.

Soon one bunny girl who was amongst the volunteer aides stood up and spoke.

"Well I'm glad to meet everyone. My name is Samantha, but you can all call me Sammy."

"Hello, Sammy." Everyone in the group said, except for Austin and Eric who remained silent.

"I help run the girl's side of the group, but don't be afraid to ask for my help if you boys need any. Okay?" She said innocently, moving her hair back a little as she sat down. Jeremy leaned in towards Eric and whispered in his ear.

"I'm sure she could help me with 'something', if you know what I mean, huh?" He chuckled giving Eric a wink and a nudge. He didn't understand any of that and just felt embarrassed.

"So what's on the agenda, Maggie?" Ronnie asks the human woman with short chestnut hair sitting next to him.

"Well..." Maggie said as she looked through a calender of sorts. "We don't have much going on for this weekend, but we will have arts and crafts, sports and other activities the coming week."

"Okay." Ronnie nodded. "What about Monday? Anything specific?..."

"Well the girls are going to be playing kick ball in the morning before lunch." She responded. "Why you ask?"

"No reason. I figure I'll just have the boys run laps around the track that time."

Meanwhile, Ricky was just walking down the dining hall. He was carrying his tray, only containing crumbs and remnants of eaten food, and setting them in a designated spot where they are sent to be cleaned up for tomorrow morning. He turned around and saw his cousin with the rest of the group around that table.

He's had some mixed feelings about this ever since the beginning. On one hand it'll give Eric a fresh chance to make some new friends, and get some excitement into his life. It may help him improve his self esteem a bit. On the other hand, he was concerned for Eric's safety. Regardless of the camp's good reputation, there were some pretty bad people around from time to time. The last thing Ricky would let happen to Eric is to run into some unrelenting antagonists.

Then he also noticed Sammy was with them. While it still stings a little bit for what has happened between them, he doesn't seem to be bothered by it. But he does wonder if that would also cause Eric trouble.

There was one other thing Ricky needed to find out, so he decided to come up to the table. Hoping one of the counselors may help him out with it.

"Hey." Ricky said catching the attention of Ronnie and Maggie. "I'm sorry if I'm interrupting anything, but..."

"No, it's okay. You're fine." Ronnie assured him. "What do you need?" Comforted, Ricky answered.

"I was wondering if you guys know where I should go to sign up for the Judo club."

"Ah yes. The new one that just opened up." Ronnie said. "At the club sign up table, the one you should talk to is the volunteer camp student running it. Oh... Who was it, Maggie?"

"His name is Ten Kodori." Maggie told them. "He's our newest volunteer of the camp exchanged from Japan."

"Ah. I remember now. He used to be the champ at his high school, wasn't he?" Maggie nodded.

"As far as I know." Ronnie turned back to Ricky.

"Anyway, that's who you got to talk to in order to register." He told him. Ricky nodded.

"Got it. Thanks. Well, better go before it's too late." As he turned to leave, he waved goodbye to his cousin.

"Bye, Eric." His cousin looked back at Ricky who was just about to go.

"Ooh. Judo, huh?" Jeremy asked with a smirk. "Maybe I should go sign up too. Is that okay with you guys?"

"Sure." Ronnie said. "Oh that reminds me, there's also club registration going on tonight. If there's anything you would like to sign up for, they're all at the table at the other end of the hall." He made his instructions to everyone in the group.

"Cool." Jeremy said as he got up to follow Ricky.

"Well this new Judo club sounds like fun." He said. Ricky agreed.

"Yeah. It's something I always wanted to do to be honest." Ricky told him.

"I bet. Well since we're in this together, we might as well make introductions. I'm Jeremy Vickers. You?" He extended his paw to greet Ricky.

"Ricky Leslie." He responded and the two shook hands. They seem to be hitting it off quite well.

"I assume you know Eric?" Jeremy asked.

"I'm his cousin." Ricky told him.

"Ah cool. Must be exciting to have family along."

"It's okay, I guess."

Eric just watched them go, disappearing amongst the crowd that was gathering around the table where club registration was taking place. He could only listen to the conversation taking place around him which was now focusing on the topic of clubs.

"So are there any clubs you guys would like to join?" Maggie asked everyone.

As the group members spoke, various answers came about. A couple girls wanted to join the volley ball club. One guy was interested in the tennis club. Another for swimming, yet another for basketball, and two people for the AV club.

"Oh which group sounds like fun?..." Kyle asked himself.

"I'm thinking of taking up photography." Billy said. "My dad is a successful photographer and I wanna be just like him."

Billy turned to Austin, who continued his stream of movie quotes toward himself.

"What about you Austin?" Billy asked him. "What clubs do you want to join?"

Austin however responded to his question with silence. He gave the impression that he wasn't interested in clubs. Eric could tell that, nor was he interested in any clubs either. At least, he wasn't sure anyway. Billy looked at Eric curiously.

"Eric?" He knew what Billy meant when he asked, and he too fell silent. Kyle and Billy look at each other dumbfounded. They were unsure if there was anything they wanted to do, but it was nothing for them to be worried about.

That was when Ronnie came into the conversation.

"Is there anything you guys might like to do?" He asked the four of them.

"Well, I was thinking of taking photography." Billy said. "Not sure of the others though."

"Hmmm..." Ronnie pondered for a moment stroking his mane, and an idea struck in his head. "Are there any hobbies you have?"

Kyle lightened up, and responded immediately with enthusiasm.

"I would make lots of stuff with my mom!"

"That's great." Ronnie said happily. "Sounds like Arts and Crafts is right up your alley."

"Hey, do you think it's something Eric would try out?" Billy asked them.

"Well, let's find out." Ronnie said and turned his attention towards Eric. "Eric, does arts and crafts sound like fun to you?" He looked up to the older lion and responded with a nod. Ronnie nodded back knowing he got an answer out of him.

"Alright. That settles it. You two can talk to Maggie about the arts and crafts club. She's the one who runs it. Anyway. I got to get the guys signed up for the tennis and basketball clubs. I help run them too. I'll come back when it's time to hit the hay."

Ronnie gets up and leaves the group, motioning the others wanting to sign up for those clubs to follow him. Kyle gets up and runs towards Eric.

"This is gonna be exciting!" Kyle exclaims. "I'm sure there's so many things we can make together." Eric nodded back in response.

He was starting to warm up to Kyle, as he was warming up to Billy, Jeremy and Austin too. Soon enough Maggie joined in the conversation.

"Hi. Ronnie tells me you guys are interested in the arts and crafts club?" She asked.

"Of course!" Kyle said excitedly. "The two of us certainly are. Right Eric?" Eric responded with a nod to both of them.

"Great." Maggie said. "I'll get you guys signed up right away."

"Let's go, Eric." The two of them got up and followed Maggie to the club registration table which was starting to get smaller since most of the campers have signed up for what they wanted to do already. Billy also left to go sign up for the photography club.

Meanwhile, Luke and James were just sitting there with arms folded as they watched the others disappear to the club registration one by one. Soon enough only those two remained, and began to converse amongst themselves.

"Well we've got quite the cast of characters, that's for sure." Luke said.

"Yeah. I'm with you there." James responded.

"Is there anything that interests you?" Luke asks.

"I may take up writing." James said. "Thats what I enjoy the most."

"Cool."

"You?" He asked.

"Well, I was initially interested in track and field, but I may take up baseball."

"Sounds like fun." James said. "But wouldn't those together be too much for you? Being a volunteer and all?" Luke shook his head and spoke.

"Not really. While we do have responsibilities helping out the camp counselors, us volunteers are really no different from students."

Soon enough Sammy came back and chimed in on the conversation.

"Hey Sammy." Luke greeted her. "What did you sign up for?"

"Volley ball." She told them. "How about you?" The two of them told her what they were interested in.

"Ah. I'm sure you guys will enjoy it." Sammy said.

"We will." Luke responded.

"Of course." James followed. Sammy soon started yawning.

"Alright, I'm going to head back to the girl's cabin." She said as she got up. "If Maggie asks where I'm at, tell her where I'm back there. And should anybody else ask about me, tell them I just left." Luke and James nodded at her instructions, and she just left.

"Well anyway, we better get signed up for those clubs before registration closes." Luke says.

"I agree." James gets up and follows suit to the club registration table.

"Hey, did you notice anything a little, off, about Eric?" Luke asked him.

"Maybe." James said, pausing for a bit.

"What do you think is his deal anyway?..." Luke asks again.

"I don't know." James told him. "But whatever it is, I don't like it."

Ricky left the club registration table along with Jeremy and his buddy Max. The three of them were each carrying a pair of Judo Gi neatly folded up in their arms, along with a rolled up white belt to go along with them. The front of the Gi had a small 'U' representing the camp's logo around the chest area.

"Well, looks like starting Monday, the three of us will be training from now on." Jeremy smirked.

"You bet. We'll be training with 'Captain Kodori' too." Max laughed.

"Or 'Captain', whichever you prefer." Ricky added.

"True." was Max's response. "Anyway, I better get going. Got other things to do before bedtime. You coming, Rick?"

"In a bit." He said. "I gotta go check on my cousin first. Catch you later."

"Yeah, later." And just like earlier, Max ran off with his Gi. Soon Jeremy and Ricky both went back to the direction of the special ed group's table. On the way they run into Maggie, Kyle and Eric whom have all just gotten the two signed up for their club.

"Hey guys." Jeremy waved to them. "So I guess you two signed up for the arts and crafts club I take it?"

"Absolutely." Kyle said.

"They seemed pretty excited about it, so I signed them up straight away." Maggie explained. This caused Ricky to smile.

"Hey, that's great. Eric loves to draw, so this is perfect for him. Right Eric?" He nodded in response to his cousin.

"Anyway, you guys better head back to your cabins soon. The curfews may be starting soon." Maggie told them.

"Alright. We'll keep an eye out for that. Thanks." Jeremy said. "Meet you back there, Eric. Nice meetin' ya, Ricky."

"Take care." Ricky said.

Then everyone else started to leave. Soon the two of them were alone, and about to head back to the cabins as night begins to fall.

"See, Eric? It's not so bad." Ricky tells him. "You're making some good friends already."

Eric meanwhile did not say a word, and just walked alongside his cousin. He looked at the Gi Ricky was carrying out of curiosity.

"Like I've said. You don't have to worry about me." Ricky said. "Just come to me if there's any trouble, alright?" Eric nodded in reassurance. As they got closer to the cabins, Ricky said one last thing. "Looks like this is the start of our Summer camp experience..."