National Park Picnic

[Zenith44]

Samantha lay down the red and black checkered picnic rug near the duck pond in the national park. Sitting down she opened her wicker basket that matched her large brimmed sun hat. Inside was packed a fest of food ranging from rice-bals to sandwiches. Samantha took out a banana and penut butter sandwich and looked up at the clear cloudless sky rimmed by the green foliage of trees. There was no else in the park all was quite except for the birds and running water, she took a bite and laid back on the rug.

Charlie entered the park, dumping the empty can in a bin nearby and leaning against it for a moment. Looking down at her clothes, she tugged at them a bit, attempting to eliminate the ruffled up look from running for so long. Giving up after a few seconds, she headed down towards the duck pond, flopping down onto the grass and stretching out.

"Note to self :Thats the last time i help someone that keeps trying to kill me." She said, staring up at a tree.

Samantha, hearing the clank of metal as someone deposited a can into a trash can, sat up to see a light brown haired girl flop down on the grass near by. She looked total worn out and her clothes looked quite ruffled. "Hrm.." Samantha puased while she thought. cough* "HELLO! Hay over HERE!" Samantha waved her arms in the air a sandwich in her right.

Charlie heard someone calling out and looked about, seeing a girl with dull blue hair and green eyes waving at her with a sandwich. Curious, she sat up and brushed some grass off her shirt before waving back.

"..Hi"

Samantha pointed at the sandwich "You want one!" She called back. opening the picnic basket

Eyeing the sandwich, Charlie stood up and walked over to sit down next to her.

"Sure, thanks"

Samantha pulled over the basket between them showing the girl the content. "So I have ham, cheese, chicken, turkey, chocolate, penut butter and salad sandwiches. Take your pick. Oh And I'm samantha by the way, a pleasure to meet you."

"Chicken......" Charlie murmured, taking one and munching on it happily.

"Im Charlie" she said between bites. "These sandwiches are goood, did you make them?"

"yep" Samantha nodded watching Charlie eat. "So that blue bracelet on your wrist..." Of course Samantha knew what it was and why Charlie had it. Smiling Samantha continued "...Charlie is a weird name for a girl, is it a nickname sometimes people call me Sam which can be annoying but I just ignore it and correct them"

"Yeah i know..." Charlie said, finishing her sandwich. Lifting up her arm, she flicked the dangling bracelet and frowned at it.

"No, its not a nickname... just my name." She poked her fingers together a few times. She wondered whether this girl knew about the bracelets and all that transformation chaos, but decided against asking, seeing how the last two had tried to kill her.

"You look as if you have something on your mind." Samantha offered Charlie another sandwich using her right arm, her own blue bracelet catching the light. "I'm sorry if I offended you, Charlie is not that weird a name for a girl."

Taking the offered sandwich, Charlie bit into it and paused as she saw Samantha's bracelet.

"Well yeah.... so would you if you were a guy one day and a girl the next, and being attacked and threatened to be killed on top of that." Charlie said quietly as she ate more of the sandwich. She guessed that as Samantha had a bracelet, she probably knows about this kampfer stuff...and its the same colour as Charlies.

"So...if yours is blue, are we on the same team or something?"

Samantha smiled again "Yep, we're on the same team. There are two teams red and blue, each team has a moderator of the same colour but who, what, where, and why they make us fight each other is unknown. I assume you've already meet the red team." Her face then went very serous "They didn't hurt you did they?" Samantha lent in closer.

"Moderators...fight..." Charlie said, thinking over what Samantha said. Smiling, she rubbed the back of her head.

"I uhh.... well, they tried to, but i managed to evade her attacks somehow" She said, unaware that Samantha had leant in closer.

"So there was more then one. Are you sure your okay?" Samantha rummaged around in the basket. "Want something to drink I have Tea, orange juice, apple juice and soft drink. I made the apple juice myself"

Gherik wandered into the park, not really paying attention to the fact that anyone else was there. His white bracelet was well hidden by his coat. "Marisa got herself in prison...should have guessed that would happen when she turned. Maybe that wasn't a good idea after her. Then again, with her nothing has ever been a good thing." He was talking to himself mostly, though somewhat loudly..

"Yeah, there were two." Charlie said, "Im fine, just a little ruffled."

She glanced around, eyes resting on Gherik for a moment before returning to Samantha.
"Uuhm... the apple juice sounds good. Wonder who that is... he seems a bit serious."

"Hrm, here you go" Samantha handed Charlie a cup with juice in it. "I wonder if he wants a sandwich or something to drink..." Samantha stood up "Hello" she yelled waving her arms "Do you want a sandwich? I've got dozens. Or maybe something to drink?"

Gherik looked over at Samantha, the glanced at his arm making sure his bracelet was hidden. He of course knew who they were. it was part of his job to keep track of them. He smiled at them, pretending he didn't know. "Sure, that would be nice. If the other person doesn't mind as well I'd love to." He started walking towards them, whatever the answer would be.

"i have a name too you know.." Charlie said, sipping her drink as he walked over to them.

"Have you meet before then?" Samantha question Charlie still standing up. Turning to guy walking she greeted "I'm Samantha Clearwater, pleased to meet you." She smiled "So what sandwich will you be having I have ham, cheese, chicken, turkey, chocolate, penut butter and salad sandwiches. I also have Tea, orange juice, apple juice and soft drink. Then after I have yoghurt for desert." She pated the lunch basket

Gherik raised an eyebrow. "That's quite a bit of food. Were you expecting others or do you just eat a lot? And no i have not met her before.... Right. haven't introduced myself. Gherik Xceran. Brother to Marisa Xceran if you've met her... though she doesn't know i'm around. I don't plan on telling her either." He sat, but didn't take any food or drink.

"No i havnt seen him before ever..." Charlie said, raising her eyebrows in surprise when she heard that he was related to Marisa.

"But i have met your sister.."

Samantha sat back down on the rug. "I always make a allot of food when i come to the park, mainly because there is always someone to sit with; like now." Samantha grinned. "So in way I guess I was expecting others"

Gherik shrugged at Samantha's response, it was a good enough reason as any. He then looked over at Charlie. "Met my sister? Hm... Describe her."

"Bi-polar. Thats all i need to describe her.. and also not very subtle." Charlie said, finishing her drink and sitting back a little.

"Yeah...close enough anyway. Easy mood swings, especially when in her-. " He cut off and coughed. "Right...anyway." He pretended he hadn't said that last part.

"Easy? thats one way of putting it." Charlie said, noticing him stop mid-sentence, but did nothing about it.

"So uh... why are you wandering through the park?"

"I just tend to wander around the city randomly. Habit." He had actually been watching them...though he obviously couldn't say that.

"Sounds fun. Maybe i should try it sometime" she said, lying down.

"Are you going to sit down or..?"

"Yes please sit down, I have some cookies in here aswel you can put them in yoghurt if you like," She pulled out a plastic bag with a couple of small yoghurt containers inside. "I have plain, strawberry, chocolate and banana. Which one would you like charlie?"

Gherik sat and shook his head. "No thank you, I'm not hungry right now. Thank you though." He silently studied them...though made it look like he wasn't. He was definitely practiced at deceit.

Charlie smiled at Samantha, "uuhm, strawberry sounds good, thank you" She sighed a little, glad that she managed to shake the cops before she exited the mall. She glanced up at the sky and a leaf landed on her head, brushing it off she wondered if Marisa had brain damage and whether they had escaped properly.

She tilted her head towards Gherik. "I hope your not as mental as your sister. i couldn't even keep up with her mood swings...or her sword swings."

Gherik raised an eyebrow, pretending he didn't know. "Sword swings? She can't fight at all, let alone wield a sword. And yes I'm as mental as her, Just in a different direction. Don't have mood swings though. Still, when did she learn to wield a sword?"

"You say that, but she was managing to slice at me wildly this morning. Whether or not she can wield a sword well is a different thing. " She laughed, "I just dont want to be cut up by a sword, or her."

Looking at him curiously, she smiled "Ill be sure never to run into you when you do go mental"

'If she ever has to face me in kampfer form... then there is no avoiding it. hopefully they just do as their supposed to and i wont have to do anything to them.' He thought to himself. "Then she's at least done better...i once handed her a sword....in two seconds it was in a wall behind me."

Samantha handed charlie the yoghurt and a spoon."Don't be rude charlie its not nice to assume that people are mental just because there sister is. So Gherik you said your sister doesn't know your here so does that mean you've been out of town for a while? or out of the country"

"Out of town. Came back a couple days ago though. I don't intend on letting her know I'm around for a while however."

"Not let her know your here? that might be a good thing.." Charlie muttered, taking the yoghurt and digging into it eagerly.

Gherik raised an eyebrow. "Why is it a good thing? I'm the only one who can calm her down." He chuckled.

"Exactly." Charlie said, waving her spoon back and forth a little.

"You aren't making any sense."

"And your being rude again Charlie" Samantha looked at the sky and then her watch "two o'clock, so you guys doing anything after this? I was thinking of going into town for a little while"

"Sorry, but no. I have things i need to do in a while." 'Such as keeping track of the other kampfers..' He thought to himself.

"What i mean by that is, if you dont control her then who will?. You'll have an advantage over others. That and you might want to her to rage about the place for a bit." Charlie said, popping the spoon back in her mouth and looking up at the sky thoughtfully.

"IIImm not sure i should go near the mall for a few days...but anywhere else in town is fine"

"Why's that Charlie, you haven't done anything bad have you?" Samantha pulled a funny face

"yeah....nothing bad as such.... just a bit of a mess up with some cops. Nothing big." Charlie said, dumming down her incident with at the mall.

"You threw stuff through the windows of the mall. I saw that much." 'I feel like a stalker...shouldn't have said anything...'

"You were there? that's kinda......creepy." Charlie said. "But yeah. i threw things through the windows of some shops."

Samantha gasped "Does that mean your a criminal now Charlie? Should I be reporting you to the police?" She laughed "Only kidding, I wouldn't report you; but if you do go to prison I'll bring you sandwiches" Samantha took a couple of juice boxes out of her basket and threw them on the rug infront of the three of them. "So why were you throwing stuff at shop windows? I'm sure you have a good reason." Samantha questioned taking a blackcurrent juice and puncturing the hole with the straw.

"If Charlie goes to prison, she might see Marisa. Found she got tossed in there without any way to plead her case...not that she even would." 'Right. because i know everything. I should just stop talking.' He just had a bored look on his face.

"Criminal? hardly. I only did iit to help some people escape." Charlie said.

"Prison? and I thought she got away..?"

Gherik just stayed silent. He figured he had already said too much.

"I'm sorry to hear
"Wait Charlie doesn't that mean you really could go to prison? Even if you were trying to help that only makes you an accomplice."

"Well, if they cant catch me its not my problem" Charlie muttered, not feeling as good about what she did compared to earlier.

Gherik stood and stretched. "Sorry but i must go now. Things to do." 'People to watch' He started walking off.

"Well uh.... bye then" Charlie called out after him.

'Was fuuun talking."

"Okay then, good bye, see you round." Samantha turned to charlie "So what are you going to do now since your a fugitive? Do you have a place to lay low for a while? I mean you can't go home they'll have you on the mall security videos."

"Well yeah, that's true." Charlie sighed, "I can't think of anywhere to stay, got no acquaintances around here"

"Am I not an acquaintance, or do you already consider me a friend?" Samantha poked out her tongue and pulled her left eyelid down.

"Well i only just met you, but considering you havn't tried to kill me, Id say that's friend material." Charlie said, laughing.

"So what do you plan to do now?"

[Zenith44]

"Well we need to get you somewhere safe so how about you come back to may place. Its only a short walk from here" Samantha started to pack the basket back up

[Igellkott]

"Your place?" Charlie said, curious.

"Well, if its only a short walk, sure"

[Zenith44]

"you can see it from here" Samantha pointed at a glass tower of apartments towering over the trees. "I live on the 4th floor" She moved the basket of the rug "Can you get up please so i can fold the rug."

[Igellkott]

Charlie stood up and grabbed the rug, folding it up and holding it out to Samantha.

"Way ahead of you, and that looks like a pretty cool place to live.."

[Zenith44]

Samantha took the rug and placed it on the basket in-between the handles. "Yeah, its quite nice and the best thing is it's near the park. Although it is about eighty dollars a week, which isn't to bad i guess." She picked up the basket with the rug on top. "Come, I'll show you." Samantha stared off towards her home swinging the basket merrily as she walked along.

($80 AU is about 6500 yen at current rates)

[Igellkott]

"Only 80? that's pretty good." Charlie said, smiling and followed after her, catching up to walk beside her.

"Do you mind if i have a shower at your place when we get there?"

[Zenith44]

"Sure"

(Now because I'm lazy, I'm going to just keep posting here instead of starting a new thread in the other locations forum)

Samantha walked into the air conditioned entrance hall of the apartments where she lived. The whole room is white and quite large. There are loads of plants around most particularly in the center where a nice looking fountain of dolphin resides. To left of the fountain there is the reception desk which is a block made out of the same material as the floor. behind the fountain there are two lifts with 10 floors on each. There are other doorways about the place but most are for staff or lead out back.

Running up to the desk she plonked down the basket and produced a container of cookies and eighty dollars. "Hi Bob I've got this weeks rent, and some spare cookies which I made this morning."
"Oh thank you Samantha Bob replied looking up from the computer on the desk. "I'll renew your rent right now, you have a nice day"
"Will do." She skipped back over to Charlie. "Come on the lifts are over here behind the fountain." She walked over and called the elevator

[Igellkott]

Charlie smiled and followed Samantha to the lifts. "So you live alone?" She asked, looking at the fountain as she walked, mesmerized by the patterns made by the water.

[Zenith44]

"Yeah pretty much." Samantha hit the floor four button and the elevator doors closed. "Why is weird for a high school girl age nineteen to live on her own in high rise apartment block paying eighty dollars per week?"

[Igellkott]

"Not sure.." Charlie said, "Just curious"

[Zenith44]

The elevator reached the fourth floor, Samantha swished out her keys walking down to apartment twelve and unlocked the door to reveal a largish room. The walls were the same colour white as the first floor as was the ceiling. The floor carpeted in a lightish blue colour except for a small white tiled area on the right were the, somewhat moderen looking, kitchen borders the living room and entrance, via a bar like table top. In the middle of the room there is a low lying table with a couple of navy blue cushions. The far wall from the door is completely glass all the way from the left to right until it meets the kitchen wall. To left the there is a small hallway with doors off it leading to Samanthas room, the bathroom, a toilet, a cupboard, a laundry room and a spare room which Samantha has set up as a guest room room for friends.

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(just a little more on the apartment rooms)

The Bathroom is tiled in white and has a light blue tile boarder at the bottom and middle of the walls. There is a frosted glass shower behind where the door opens. The sink is built into the marble bench on the opposite side of the room with a mirror covering the wall. The room is lit by four spotlights.

Samanthas room and the guest room are similar to the living room with lightish blue carpet and white walls and the large glass wall on the opposite side to the door. The cupboards in the rooms are made of a dark wood and are inbuilt into the wall to the right of the room.

The toilet and laundry are like the bathroom. And all the cupbard in the hall contains are various items for cleaning.

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"The bathroom is down the hall to your left and the second door on the left. You can find towels in the cupboard under the sink." Samantha placed the basket on the bench and walked round the bartop into the kitchen. "I'm just going to prepare somethings for tomorrow and dinner, you have a nice shower." She smiled and proceded to unpack the basket.

[Igellkott]

"k, thank you!" Charlie said, wandering off down the hall to the bathroom. A little surprised at the layout of the bathroom, Charlie laughed to herself. "Ill have to admit... she has a fashion sense."

"Now time for a shower-oh son of a." Charlie said, noticing herself start changing back.

"Not now not now Not Now NOT NOW" She yelled, frustrated, but to no avail.

[Zenith44]

Hearing Charlie's yelling Samantha stopped momentarily and called out "You Okay in there?" Waiting for an answer.

[Igellkott]

Charlie glared at his reflection and replied, "Uhh.....yeah. Its nothing major."
Muttering to himself, he proceeded to have a shower. Grabbing a towel, he wrapped it around his waist before examining the clothes he was wearing before. Remembering his bag he had at the mall, he looked about for it until realising that he had left it in the mall.

Walking back down the hall, Charlie poked his head around the kitchen entrance.

"Uh......Samantha? I kinda changed back."

[Zenith44]

"Yeah thats fine, it happens, would be quite inconvenient if it didn't. Don't worry you'll get the hang of shifting after a while." Samantha said not looking up from what she was doing.

[Igellkott]

"Uh Yeah...Im not worried about that." Charlie said, "I kinda left my backpack at the mall.... which had my normal clothes in there. Ya know, the ones i wear as a guy?"

He sighed and stood next to the bar-like table top, leaning on it slightly.

[Zenith44]

"cloths... ?" Samantha said slowly, stopping what she was doing but still not looking up "A guy... ?" She looked up slowly to see Charlie leaning on the bartop. "PERVERT!!" She screamed throwing the soft mango she was pealing in her hand. As soon as it left her hand she realised what she had just done "Oh, I'm so sorry"

[Igellkott]

"Pervert? I have a towel on!" Charlie said, trying to catch the mango as it hit him in the chest.

"Its fine, ill just need to have another shower.."

[Zenith44]

"I really am sorry it was a natural reaction, force of habit." Samantha handed him some kitchen towels "You go have another shower, I'll bake a chocolate cake to make up" She gave an apologetic smile. "There should be a heap of clothes in the guest room, opposite the bathroom. I always have spare stuff int here that people leave behind... don't worry its all washed."

[Igellkott]

"Force of habit you say....." Charlie mused,chuckling. Walking into the guest room, he grabbed a singlet and some shorts and returned to the bathroom for a quick shower.

Walking into the kitchen again, he smiled. "So what made you throwing fruit at guys a habit?"

[Zenith44]

"Well lets just say I used to know this guy who also had no shame in walking around half naked." She gave a sad grin and turned her concentration back to preparing the cake mixture, which was almost ready for the oven.

[Igellkott]

"Used to? What happened to him?"

[Zenith44]

Samantha poured the mixture into the cake tin, picking it up quickly and turning to the oven; her back facing Charlie. "I'd rather not talk about what happened." She said solemnly, recalling the horrible night, as she slid the cake tin into the oven and letting loose a small tear, wipping it away quickly. "The cake should be done in a hour." Samantha walked out from behind the bar and collapsed onto one of the cushion surrounding the low square table on the living room floor.

"So What should we do now? Dinner time is still a far way off."

[Igellkott]

"no talking about it, got it." Charlie said, following her to the cushions and flopping down on one.
"Hmm... got any movies?"

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