Clancy and Torchbearer approached the stage confidently, though underneath the bandana Torchbearer always wore the nerve was showing. Pine noticed the subtle twitch of his eye but didn’t think much of it. The banditos cheered as they walked on stage and Clancy approached the front of the stage as Torchbearer quickly sat at his drum set. “Thank you all for coming,” he started, the banditos cheering, again. “Torchbearer and I have a song for this special occasion. I truly hope you enjoy it.” He said, and stepped back as he awaited for the song to start. Torchbearer’s drumming started, cuing Clancy to sing. The lyrics resonated within the bandito camp. Pine could tell that throughout the song Clancy was becoming more and more comfortable on stage, running across the platform and really expressing the energy of the song. Jenna, who was still sitting next to him watched in awe as he jumped when the chorus came back on, a fitting action for the lyrics of the song. Obviously levitating wasn’t an action he could actually do, so jumping around and off the drums was about as close as he could get. “You can levitate with just a little help.” Sang Clancy as the song was coming to an end. The echoing of Clancy’s voice throughout the bandito camp felt almost surreal. The song finished and Clancy looked at the audience in awe as they cheered for him, the Torchbearer sitting behind the drumset looking pleased with himself, and proud of his friend. Jenna grabbed Pine’s shoulder, “Ahh, they were just as amazing as I remembered.” She declared, shaking Pine as she stared towards the stage. She was right, the performance was just as good- better even- than the last time they played. Clancy approached the microphone again, after he had stepped away during the last little bit of the song where he didn’t sing. “Thank you all for coming!” He exclaimed. “We’re going to be sitting near the fires, come relax and hang out with us.” He said, glancing towards Torchbearer who didn’t seem quite as nervous anymore. The banditos cheered and prepared to sit around the fire all night, talking to one another and keeping warm in the bitter winter air. Jenna hurriedly got up and left Pine, giving him a quick goodbye. He slowly made his way towards the fire, he didn’t have many friends, he talked to Clancy occasionally, but knew that Clancy would likely be bombarded the whole night with questions and praise.
The campfires were blazing, 4 fire pits placed almost in a circle spread throughout the camp. Pine sat at a bench with a few other banditos on the other end, when Clancy sat next to him. “Oh, hello!” Pine said, surprised Clancy was sitting next to him. Clancy chuckled at his shock and gave a warm greeting. “Nice to see you as well Pine.” He responded, “I see why you’re sitting over here, this fire is the quietest.” Pine looked at the crowd around the fire they were sitting at, compared to the other fires around the camp. Pine had subconsciously chosen to sit at the least crowded fire. “You’re right, why are you sitting here then?” Pine asked, curious as to why Clancy wasn’t interacting with the other banditos as much. “I've already answered plenty of questions tonight.” Clancy joked, scratching the hair behind his head. Pine could see the discomfort in his eyes, being bombarded with personal questions. Clancy didn’t open up often, and the banditos took advantage of this time to ask numerous questions. Pine overheard Clancy talking about the joys of being onstage and performing with Torchbearer, saying it was his favourite thing to do, but didn’t completely enjoy all the fame it got him, even only among the banditos. He wanted to be known as an escapee, one who would help people escape from the cement walls of Dema. Not a performer. But he used his performance and lyric writing skills to share The bandito who had asked Clancy the question felt awkward after the conversation and quickly left to go talk with their friends, then Clancy had come over to Pine. “That’s understandable,” Pine yawned, looking up into the empty night sky. No stars speckled the black abyss staring at them from above. Clancy yawned as well, the drowsiness hanging heavily over both of them. “It was nice speaking with you Clancy, but I believe it’s time to head to bed for the night.” Pine said, stretching as he stood up while Clancy stared intently at the fire. “It was nice speaking to you as well Pine, have a good night.” Clancy responded. Staying in his spot on the log. He gave a shy wave to Pine as he walked away, and patiently waited to be approached by other banditos now that his current conversation was done. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Pine headed towards the yellow sea of tents scattered across the camp. Each bandito either got a tent to themselves, or shared with one to two others. Pine had a tent of his own, small, but comfortable. In his tent he lit a small lantern to provide with some warmth and light before he eventually decided to head to bed. There were small papers that littered the floor, primarily doodles of ginkgo leaves, and journal entries of his time in Trench. One paper caught his eye, he didn’t often look back at his writings, but when he did he was pleasantly surprised of fond memories he surely would have forgotten. 04 10MOON 20– The beautiful vibrant world of Trench was something that was never explained inside the dull cement walls of Dema. We were taught it was a dangerous place, full of blood thirsty lions, and wretched creatures known as banditos. The banditos were fabled to sneak into the city and kidnap the citizens of Dema. Try to indoctrinate them into their rebellious activities. Upon being “kidnapped” by these banditos, they have taught me their ways. They have taught me of the colors, of yellow, and of east. They have trusted me with their knowledge. Yet still I doubt. I crave the familiarity of the cement city. I listen to the banditos calls for the east, the rising sun, but I can not bear to stay in this unpredictable place for much longer. I will return to the city. Pine had forgotten writing about this letter. He sat and stared at the words. Did he truly want to return to the city? Leave the yellow tents and tape, the green hoodies, the warm fires. Oh how he would miss the warm fires. But how he craved the city. He had plans to return. He had shoved them into the back of his mind temporarily, as he grew closer with some of the banditos, like Clancy. But he would put his plan into action. Tomorrow, when he is well rested. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Authors Note: I apologize for this chapter being so late TwT I have had this written for a while, but I had lost motivation and confidence in my writing skills, but I am now back at it! Hope you enjoyed this chapter, and don't worry, it can't get any worse than this... Right? Next Chapter: Not Out Yet :[ Previous Chapter: https://scratch.mit.edu/projects/1109303417/ First Chapter: https://scratch.mit.edu/projects/1107183550/
