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Chapter Text

All breaths were bated in Ms. Hallgrim’s class at Edmund Ahlberg Elementary. The children were casting anxious glances at the clock as it counted down the last minutes of the school year. With no more lessons to go over, Ms. Hallgrim had decided to spend the last day of school reading Number the Stars to the class. though hardly anyone was listening at this point, except Frida who considered it criminal to not pay attention at school.
No student, however, was more eager to get out of class than Hilda. Not that she didn’t like school, per se, but of all the students in Ms. Hallgrim’s class, school had especially been a struggle for her. Having grown up in the woods with her mom, who taught her to read, write, and do everything else she would have needed to know how to do, school was a new world full of rules and structures that didn’t make sense to her at first. This led to her sticking out like a white woff and disrupting the class. Though she had since adapted somewhat to school and even excelled in some areas, she still longed for the freedom of summer break. Her feet bobbed up and down under her desk as her teacher finished the epilogue of the book.
“… until then‘ Annemarie told him.’ I’ll wear it myself.’” Ms. Hallgrim closed the book and looked at the clock. “Ah, only 20 seconds to spare.”
David raised his hand. “Ms. Hallgrim, could we…” he paused.
“Oh, very well.” Ms. Hallgrim sighed, as there was little they could do in such a short time.
The kids all turned to the clock. “10… 9… 8… 7…“ they all counted in unison. “3… 2… 1…”
BING,BING
Deafening cheers echoed throughout the school, drowning out the sound of the school bell. The children rose from their seats with fists held up triumphantly.
“Have a good summer, children.” Ms. Hallgrim called as the children poured out the door for summer holiday.

Hilda followed Frida and David through the hall and into the schoolyard. Several children passed them, heading home or to a friend’s place to start their summer break. Others stuck around to talk to their friends or play on the playground. Some stared at them as they passed. A couple of them looked frightened.
“It’s not polite to stare, you know.” Frida scolded after the tenth or so onlooker. He looked away.
“It’s alright.” Hilda said, trying to be calm. “I understand.”
Hilda’s awkwardness at school was not the only weird thing about her. Besides her cyan blue hair, she was also adept and quite comfortable with mystic creatures, especially trolls which her town had feared for centuries. She had even been switched into the body of a troll which led to a whole lot of them breaching the town wall, nearly causing a war. Fortunately, she was able to keep things from getting out of hand.
“So, Hilda.” Frida chirped. “Did your mum say if you could come to Sparrow Scout camp?”
A month ago the raven leader of their flock had told them about a Sparrow Scout Camp near Odensbor where they could go for a month and earn merit badges. Since Hilda was turning twelve right before camp, she would just make the cut. This was good as Hilda still didn’t have a lot of badges while her friends both had a lot of them.
“I told her about it and she hasn’t said anything either for or against it.”
“You mean you haven’t asked her?” David chimed in.
“Not yet. I’m going to though.”
“Well you better do it soon.” Frida remarked in her typical busy tone. “We’re going to be leaving on Monday. You need to have the permission slip to go.”
Although Hilda wanted to go to the camp, she had been putting off asking her mom for a while. These last few months, she and Hilda had had some friction between each other after Hilda had lied about some of her adventures and had said some things she wished she hadn’t. Also, with their last few adventures in the troll mountains, Hilda felt like she had put her mom through a lot in that time. She didn’t feel ready to ask anything of her, especially if money was concerned, as there was an admission fee.
“So, David, is your family still planning to go to Ozlo next weekend?” Hilda asked as they walked out of the schoolyard.

Hilda lay on her bed staring at the ceiling, her mind mulling over what she should say to her mom. Talking to her had been harder ever since their last few arguments. While they had been able to converse quite naturally before, it now seemed that when her mom talked to her, it was more cautious and guarded, like one wrong word would cause an argument all over again. Hilda felt bad for making her mom feel that way, and now here she was asking to leave her mom for a month. Would her mom take it as a sign that she didn’t want to be around her? Would she be mad about the admissions fee? Would she say she had broken her trust too much?
Maybe she could ask in terms of wanting to get more badges. No, that wouldn’t work. She could work on the badges at home. Her mom might even use that as an excuse to keep her at home and from going on fun adventures.
Hilda sighed.
That’s not what she is trying to do, she reminded herself.
This had been what Hilda was afraid of. Really, her mom had just wanted her to be more open with her. Yet, Hilda couldn’t help feeling she was worrying her mom.

“You know” Came a voice from the dresser “You could just ask her directly. The worst she could do is say no.” Hilda recognized this as the voice of her little elf friend, Alfur, who came with them when they moved to Trolberg.
“I wish it was that simple.” Hilda said, looking out the window.
Her eyes brightened as an idea came to
mind. “Unless, maybe you could suggest it for me.”
“Wha….What do I look like a messenger pigeon?” Alfur balked.
“That’s exactly what I’m worried about.” Hilda threw her hands up. “That I’ll ask and she’ll get upset like you just did.”
“No I didn’t.” Alfur said quickly, but Hilda wasn’t fooled.
She folded her arms. “What if she’s still upset about the whole troll switch incident.”
“You know she doesn’t blame you for that. You were switched against your will.”
“It wouldn’t have happened if I had just stayed home.” She said softly.
Alfur sighed. “Look, this isn’t like an encounter with ghosts or krakens or anything. This is you taking responsibility for your Sparrow Scout work. I think she’d be proud.”
He jumped down from the dresser onto her bed. “I know. Why don’t you write out what you want to say ahead of time, that way you can frame your request in a way that is persuasive without sounding demanding.”
Hilda smiled. She knew Alfur was right. There was no point ruminating over it and if she was persuasive enough, maybe her mom would at least be understanding. “Worth a try.”

“… and with a heavily supervised area will be able to have a better time focusing on completing my tasks needed to earn my merit badges. For these reasons and more, I think it would be the best option to allow me to go to Sparrow Scout Camp at Camp Greenshank.” Hilda looked up from her paper at Alfur. “How was that?”
“Um, it’s a good start though I think if you phrase that one sentence about meeting new friends as ‘I feel it would make you happy’ rather than ‘you said you want this’ it would come off better. Also, the sentence about useful skills should not end with a preposition. It’s a minor gripe but good grammar makes for good ethos.”
Hilda chuckled. “Good point.”
“Also, instead of saying you should be allowed to go to camp at the end, it might be more gracious to ask for her to consider allowing you to go.”
“Alright.” She erased a line in her script.
“Hilda, dinner time.” She heard her mom call.
“Coming!” She called, then whispered to Alfur, “Wish me luck.”
“Good luck! You’ll do great!” He cheered, then when the door was closed, added, “Statement for encouragement purposes only. You may do adequate, mediocre, or straight-up bomb.”

Chapter Text

Hilda helped her mom take the dishes to the sink. They had a delicious meal of vegetable curry and browned potatoes. Hilda was pretty quiet as she mustered the courage to ask her mother. Once the table was clear, Hilda thought it was a good time.

“Mum, I have something to ask you.”

“Oh, me too.”

“I was wondering.” They said in unison. 

Hilda paused awkwardly. “You first.”

“No, go ahead.” 

Hilda took a deep breath. “So, you know that Sparrow Scout camp David and Frida are going to?” 

Hilda’s mind went blank. She couldn’t remember what she had written. Her eyes shifted to her room.

“Yes?” Her mom coaxed.

There was no stopping now. Hilda took another deep breath. “Well, I know I’ve been pretty behind on my merit badges and it looks pretty fun. So, I was wondering if maybe I could go with them.”

“Oh, you’d like to go?” Joanna perked up a bit.

“It would be a good place to get the work done.” Hilda racked her brain for the points she wrote with Alfur. “There’d be classes and councilors I could go to for help, and you could take a … er, have more time to yourself. Also, I might be able to meet other scouts and maybe make new friends.”

Joanna smiled thoughtfully. “You seem to have really thought this through.”

“So, you’ll think about it then?” Hilda pressed.

Her mom put her finger to her chin. “Tell you what. If you promise to stay safe and be on your best behavior, you can go to camp.”

Hilda nodded. “I will. Thank you, Mum!” She hugged her mom and ran off to get ready. Her mom went to the kettle to pour some tea.

Hilda stopped. “Oh, Mum, what did you want to say?”

“Oh, it’s not important.” she put up a hand. ”I’ll tell you another time.” 

“Okay.” Hilda said and ran off.

Joanna sat on the sofa with a cup of tea in hand. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Alfur leap onto the couch next to her.

“So, how did it go?” he asked with a wry smile.

“Quite well, actually.” Joanna said, relieved.  “I didn’t even have to ask her.”

“So I guess you didn’t have to worry about it after all?” he asked smugly.

“Yes, you were right.” Joanna sighed. “It’s just that it’s been so rough for her with our incident in the stone forest and then the whole mountain king incident. I don’t want to pressure her into anything she’s not ready for.”

She took a sip from her teacup. “What was I so worried about. Of course she’d love to do this. She’ll have fun earning her badges with her friends out in the woods…away from home…away from civilization… for a whole month…doing who knows what.” Her face fell and her shoulders tensed. “Maybe I shouldn’t have allowed it after all.”

Alfur sighed “Why must you humans always overthink these things?”

(Montage Music)

It was a long drive to Camp Greenshank. Hilda and her friends spent the trip playing “Going on a trip” and talking about all the badge they were going to get. By the time they reached Odensbor, David had fallen asleep and Frida was looking over the schedule in her notebook. Hilda was watching the town as it flew past her window like a moving picture. Eventually, trees began to take the place of buildings and the road became rocks and dust. After a few minutes a sign greeted them with “Welcome to Camp Greenshank.” The trees parted into a clearing where several cars were parked. A few buses were lined up by the front entrance where kids were filing out to a table at the front entrance where some leaders sat with clipboards. A few older scouts were assisting the campers.

David and Frida piled out of the car and grabbed their bags from the trunk.

“Got everything?” Hilda’s mom asked.

“Yep.” Hilda had double checked that she had all her stuff; sleeping bag, backpack, and duffel bag.

“I’ve packed some envelopes all stamped and addressed so you can write me while at camp. They’ll be in the front of your pack next to your sketchbook.”

“Thank’s Mum.”

Twig nuzzled Hilda’s leg, whining sadly.

“Don’t worry boy, I’ll be back in a month.” Hilda gave her deerfox a hug. “Look out for Mum, Alfur, and Tontu for me.”

Hilda ran to join her friends, then stopped. She turned to her mom who was watching her. She ran back and wrapped her arms around her mom’s shoulders.

“I love you, Mum.”

“I love you, Hilda.”

Hilda let go and ran to catch up with her friends. Behind her, Joanna hid an anxious glance. She turned to a tough looking older scout with a bob cut and army boots.

“Um, Hello. I don’t mean to be an alarmist but is the camp safe? I mean, are there any protections against trolls or other creatures?”

“You’re from Trolberg, aren’t you.” The girl smiled. ”First time camping outside the wall?” 

“It’s just that…well, my daughter has an unfortunate habit of getting involved with things she doesn’t understand. She can be a bit overly trusting. Although, sometimes it works out but…”

“Not to worry, miss,” The girl raised her hand. “we’re all gonna look after each other. Your daughter is in perfectly safe hands.”

Out of the corner of her eye, Hilda almost thought she saw the girl give her an evil grin. She turned ahead and faced the line for the registry. 

Chapter Text

The sparrow scouts filed into a pavilion. Benches made of log sloped down toward a stage where a podium stood in the middle.
As they waited for everyone to file in, Hilda notice a nervous looking boy with glasses sitting on her right. He was wringing his hands so much she thought he would twist them off.
Hilda gave him a weak smile. “Is this your first time as well?”
The boy burst into loud sobs right in front of her. Several concerned eyes turned in their direction. A few older boys snickered behind them.
Hilda waved her hands pleadingly. “No! Stop! Please! I’m sorry! I didn’t mean to-“
A loud blast from a microphone cut her off. A broad shouldered lady appeared on the stage. Her left eye was covered by an eyepatch that wrapped around her tight gray hair.
“Sparrow scouts, welcome to Camp Greenshank.” She said in a strong voice that boomed from the speakers. “I’m Raven Leader Bergstrom and I am the camp director. This camp was founded over 50 years ago under the principles of… oh blast it, Emil. They don’t care about all that.” She folded the paper she was reading from and slipped in her pocket. “Now, while you are here, you will be separated into camps based on your age range. You will answer to your camp leaders who are there to answer your questions and enforce our camp's rules of behavior. You are to follow their directions and alert them to any problems or concerns regarding the camp. You will attend your classes with your age group and fulfill your requirements which must be completed and approved by a counselor in order to earn your merit badges. At the end of the month we will hold a camp badge ceremony where you will be awarded the badges you have earned.”
She then pulled two books out from behind her podium and held them out in her left hand. “In your tent you will each find these on your cots. One is your guidebook with rules and your class schedule as well as helpful tips for wilderness survival. I’d advise you to read this carefully. The other is your camp journal where you can write your thoughts, daily happenings, schedule, notes, anything you’d like. Be sure to put those to good use. You will also find your class sign up sheets for the first week. You must have it filled out and turned in to your camp leader or they will pick your classes for you.
“You only have a month out here. While it may seem like a long time, I encourage you not to waste your time. These skills will not only help you in your scouting but in life. Make the most of this time and learn all you can.”
Hilda furrowed her brow. She was determined to earn as many badges as she could.
From the side of the pavilion, an older boy called out “Boys twelve through thirteen, come with me.” Several boys stood up to follow, including the scared boy next to Hilda.
“Good luck, David.” Frida said. “You’ll do great.”
David looked warily at some of the boys who were rough housing in the front. “Yeah, sure.” he moaned as he walked up to join them. The shy boy next to Hilda followed, trembling.
“What happened?” Hilda asked when they were out of earshot. “All I asked was if this was his first time…”
“It’s okay, Hilda. Some kids are just more nervous about camp than others.” Frida assured her. “It’s got nothing to do with you.”
The fourteen and fifteen year old boys were called up next. Then the tough looking girl called the twelve to thirteen year old girls and Hilda and Frida followed about fifteen others to their camp.

Chapter Text

Camp Greenshank almost felt like coming home. Hilda reveled in the sight of the high rising trees, the brook that ran along the path, and the sounds of birds and bugs in the air. They passed by a noisy building which Hilda assumed was the cafeteria from the smell of food. There was also a cabin with a sign saying “Library”. Hilda smiled. Not even the woods where she used to live could boast one of those.
After what felt like an hour of walking, they reached a clearing surrounded by three short paths leading to clusters of tents. A small cabin rested to the side near the trees. To their left was a building made of cement with a metal door. The tough girl walked up to the middle of the clearing with two others behind her. One was a sweet looking girl with a braid and the other had messy brown hair with a small pink bow. They all wore brown vests and berets with their uniforms.
“All right, listen up, babies!” The tough one barked. “You’re probably expecting me to gush about how much fun we’re gonna have together at camp. Well, forget about it. You’ll be required to attend four 2-hour classes every weekday each week. Your free time between classes will be spent completing homework to earn your badges. There will be time for froofy kiddy camp stuff, but as long as you're staying here, you’re in my territory. My mum is in charge of the camp, so what I say goes. And don’t come to me with any of your baby problems. I’m not your mummy.”
Her glare lingered on Hilda for a bit as she finished.
She then pulled out a clip board. “Your camps are as follows. Astrid, Frida, Agnes, Ingrid, Selma, and Jane, you will be going to Camp One with Elisabeth.”
Hilda’s hair slapped a girl behind her as she whirled to face her friend. “Wait! We’re not gonna be in camp together?”
“It will be fine, Hilda,” Frida put a hand on her shoulder. “We’ll still get to see each other. Just be your usual sweet self and you’ll make friends easily.”
The camp leader finished announcing the campers in camp two. “… And Evelina, Alma, Zari, Sofie, Hilda, and Nissa, you’re in camp three with me. Fall out!”
The groups began to shuffle behind their leaders.
“Don’t you think that was a bit harsh, Viba?” Hilda heard the nice looking leader with a braid whisper to the tough one.
“Nonsense.” She raised a hand. “It will toughen them up. Prepare them for the worst.”
Hilda gulped as their group marched to the campsite behind their leader. She heard Frida whisper “good luck” as she followed the braided leader in the opposite direction.
Among the girls in her camp, Hilda noticed a girl in a pink hijab she recognized from her home flock. She shuffled through the group to get closer.
“Hi, Zari.” She raised her hand enthusiastically.
Zari raised her hand back.
Hilda sighed with relief. At least there’d be one familiar face in her camp. Maybe they’ll share a tent together.
They reached a smaller clearing with three canvas tents surrounding a flagpole. Each tent had a paper with two of the camper’s names. Hilda followed Zari to the first tent. The paper on the front door read:
Zari & Sofie
Hilda’s face fell as a girl with a headband and glasses came up behind her and joined Zari at the tent. She walked toward the next tent then saw two slightly older girls walking toward it. Mine must be the last tent, she thought.
“AAAAAAAAGGHHHH!”
Hilda whirled around as a small girl dropped her stuff and sprinted into the clearing. She stopped in front of Hilda.
“What’s wrong?” Hilda called out?
The small girl shuttered and pointed to the tent on the far right.
“Is something in the tent?”
“EEEEEEEEEEEEEE!” Another girl bolted from the middle tent and began jogging in place, her hands in fists against her cheeks as she screamed.
“Spiders, spiders, spiders, spiders, SPIDERS!” She shrieked.
“Woah, chill out, Ev.” her tent mate said.
“They’re everywhere!” The girl snapped. “They nearly crawled on my hand.”
Hilda turned to the small girl in front of her. “Are there spiders in our tent?”
She nodded quickly, her mouth clamped shut. Hilda could hear the girl who ran out of her tent yell. “DON’T SQUASH THEM!” at her tent mate who had gone in to clear them out.
Hilda followed the small girl to their tent, which was offset to the right of the trail. A paper on the door read:
Hilda and Nissa
“Your name is Nissa?”
The girl nodded meekly, bowing her head as though ashamed.
“That’s cool. I have a friend who’s - Woah!”
Hilda peeled back the door to reveal several spiders, beetles, crickets, and even a few centipedes. They lined the walls of the tent, their cots, and even made webs in the corners.
Hilda set to work picking up bugs and carrying them out into the woods. When she caught all the bugs she could see, she called Nissa in.
“Thank you.” She said softly. “I’m sorry I freaked out like that.”
“It’s alright.” Hilda shrugged. “I’m actually used to removing bugs.”
“Did you say you had a friend named Nissa?”
“Oh, um actually he’s an actual Nissa. His name is Tontu. He lives with my mum and me.”
“Wow, I’ve never seen one before.” Nissa’s eyes widened. “Where are you from?”
“Trolberg. What about you?”
“Trolberg? Isn’t that place surrounded by trolls?
“Yep.”
“Woah, Do you get a lot of troll attacks?”
“What? No. Trolls don’t go around attacking people. Well, most of them don’t.”
“Yes they do.” Nissa said, eyes wide. “Statistics say that trolls attack 45% more frequently than sharks though tend to be less deadly.”
“Well I’ve met a troll and it didn’t attack me.”
Nissa gaped. “You met a troll!?!”
“Actually, I’ve met several. Some of them are alright. I even got switched with one a while back.”
Nissa’s jaw dropped. “What happened? Were you scared?”
The tent flap parted just as Hilda was about to tell her story. It was the girl from the other tent.
“Hi, um, could you help us get some of the bugs out of our tent.”
Hilda looked at Nissa who excused her with a smile. “Sure.”
“I’m Evelina, by the way.” The girl said as they walked to her tent.
“Nice to meet you. I’m Hilda.”
Evelina shook her hand. “I love your hair, by the way. Where do you get it done?”
Hilda hesitated. “I’m not sure what you mean.”
“You know. Do you dye it yourself or is there a stylist that does it for you?”
“Oh, I actually don’t dye my hair. It’s always been this color.”
A suspicious look from Evelina told Hilda she didn’t believe her.
“Alright, keep your secrets.” Evelina shrugged. “Of course, I got mine done at the Ellinboe Salon when I turned thirteen. It’s one of the best.” She preened her wavy silver hair. “You would look great with purple tips. If you ever go there, ask for Karina and tell her I recommended you to her. I get a discount for any referrals.”
Hilda, not sure how to respond, simply said “Thanks” and walked into the tent where her tent mate was busy trying to catch one of the spiders with an empty water bottle. She was a strongly built girl with brown hair in a low ponytail. She wore shorts rather than the usual skirt most of the girls wore and a sparrow scout cap with the brim facing backwards.
“Here, I’ll get that.” Hilda reached out her hand and grabbed the spider.
“Wow, you’re gutsy.” The girl said as Hilda took it out.
“It’s alright.” Hilda assured. “They aren’t poisonous and this one’s too small to bite.”
“You’re bolder than most. My mum won’t even go near them.” The girl scooped one into her water bottle. “What’s your name?”
“Hilda.”
“I’m Alma.” The girl nodded politely.
Before long, Hilda had gotten all the spiders out of their tent that Alma hadn’t pressed into the wooden floor and Evelina came into her tent.
“Vibeka’s coming around to collect our sign up sheets.” She said, picking up a paper from her cot.
Hilda jolted. She hadn’t signed up for her classes. She bolted to her own tent as their camp leader walked away from Zari and Sofie’s tent.
“Got to hurry and pick your classes or I’ll pick them for you!” She heard her call out. “And it’ll be the worst ones!”
Hilda swung back her tent flap causing Nissa to jump. She grabbed the sign up sheet and hastily filled in classes she had talked to Frida about taking, just before their camp leader came to collect the forms.
Alright. I’ve got my weather watching badge class at 8, she thought once she handed in her form. What time is it now? 7:30? She asked Nissa.
“It’s 7:49.”
Hilda’s eyes went wide. She grabbed the schedule and map. Her first class was at the weather cabin, which was on the other side of the camp.
“Cruddlesticks!” She exclaimed. She grabbed her pack and her journal and dashed out of the camp with a hasty goodbye to Nissa.
“Run!” She heard her camp leader call behind her.
She ignored her and continued to sprint down the path to her classes.

Chapter Text

Overall, the merit badge classes were pretty good. Although her teacher chided her for being late, Hilda enjoyed her Weather Watching class. They learned about different clouds and what they meant for the weather. They also went over how to tell a cloud from a weather spirit and Hilda was able to answer a few of the questions. Maybe with Victoria Van Gale gone, she could learn to predict the weather herself. 

Her knot tying class was more hands on but a bit trickier. She got the square knot down after a few tries and the timber hitch was easy, but she struggled with the clove hitch and she still couldn’t tell her sheetbend from her sheepshank. She was looking through her note packet as she walked back from the instruction lodge which thankfully was closer to her camp than the weather cabin. 

She reached her tent and opened the flap. Only, nothing looked familiar. Her sleeping bag had been replaced by a mattress and blanket and the duffle bag was a different color.

“HEY!” A voice barked behind her. She whirled around to see two thirteen year old girls glaring down at her. “This is our tent, jerk!”

Hilda looked around. She was in a similar spot but in the wrong camp.

“Sorry.” She said quickly. “I didn’t mean to-“

“We’ll, you did.” the other girl snapped. “Now get out or I’ll tell the camp leader.”

“Right.” Hilda gripped her backpack strap. “See ya.”

She ran off not looking back at the girls who were still looking daggers at her. She walked out of camp two and turned left, still feeling tense from her exchange.

I thought Sparrow Scouts were supposed to be friendly and cheerful, she thought.

She reached her camp and went into her tent. All her stuff was where she left it on her cot. Nissa was setting up a frame with what looked like a big net.

“It’s a mosquito net.” She explained when Hilda asked. “It’ll keep the mosquitos off while I sleep.”

“How do you keep them from flying underneath the net?” Hilda pointed to the open space below.

“Mosquitoes aren’t that smart. They’ll try to go for the person directly even if they can’t get through. Even if they do fly under, it will only be a few.”

“Hm, smart.” Hilda pulled out a bag of Haribo candy mix out of her pack. “Want a snack?”

Nissa’s eyes went wide. “Um, we’re not suppose to have those in our tent!”

“Why not? My mum packs them for all my camp outs at home.”

“No, it could attract wild animals and I don’t want to get in trouble with our camp leader.”

“I’m sure if we keep them well hidden, they can’t detect it. We’ll finish this bag and then keep the others hidden away.”

Nissa hesitated. “Well, I guess we should finish it quickly.” She held out her hand. “We’ll just have to eat it in one sitting.”

Hilda handed her a couple candies. Nissa tensed up a bit as she plopped them quickly in her mouth.

Hilda tried to put her at ease. “So, what badges are you working on right now?”

“Forestry, Catering, Orienteering, and Knot-Tying”

“Oh, you’re in my Orienteering Class!” Hilda exclaimed! 

“That’s great. Maybe we could help each other out with that one.”

“Yeah! And maybe we could also sign up for other classes together. Maybe something like Archery or Rock Climbing or maybe White-water rafting.

Nissa rubbed the back of her head. “I don’t think I could do Rock Climbing. I’m sort of afraid of heights and I’m not a strong enough swimmer to do boating badges.”

“Okay.” Hilda said simply. “Maybe we could do other badges together.”

“I- I don’t want to hold you back, though.” Nissa  said. “If you want to do it, it’s fine.”

“It’s okay. You’re not.”

“Okay, I just don’t want to shoot down your ideas.”

“Are you all right?”

Nissa had been tensing up throughout their conversation. She stopped and hung her head a bit. “Sorry about that. You see, I have anxieties pretty bad and I get really anxious talking to people.”

“That’s alright. I get that way too. I was like that at the start of the camp.”

“No, I mean really anxious. I’m always afraid that I’ll do or say something that offends someone and then I start apologizing for everything I say. It gets really exhausting.” She rubbed her arm.

“I also get real nervous around things like wild animals, germs, natural disasters. Did you know that almost all avalanche deaths are caused by the victim or those with the victim?”

“No, I didn’t know that.” Hilda remarked.

“Yeah. I memorize facts about these things to try to be prepared for them or find out if they aren’t so bad. Apparently, you’re more likely to die from falling down the stairs than from a shark attack.”

Hilda chuckled a bit. “You remind me a lot of my friend David. He’s very timid when we go to new places and he gets spooked easily by things like dark rooms and odd creatures. He also struggles with confidence.”

Hilda held out the candy bag for Nissa. “And do you know what?”

“What?” Nissa tentatively took a piece.

“He’s one of the bravest people I know because even when he’s scared, he never lets that stop him from helping his friends.”

Nissa hung her head. “I wish I was brave.”

“You can be. It’s all a matter of facing your fears. Once you realize they aren’t that scary, you-“

A knock on the tent post interrupted Hilda. Evelina poked through before being permitted in.

“Do either of you guys have any sunscreen? I left mine at home and I get sunburned easily.”

“I have some extra.” Nissa chirped, reaching into her backpack. 

Evelina’s focus, however, had fallen on Hilda. “What do you have behind your back?”

Hilda had quickly put the bag behind her back, though her face must have given her away. 

“Do you have food? Can I have some?”

Hilda hesitated. “Alright, just don’t tell anyone.”

Hilda held out the bag to pour some into Evelina’s hand. Evelina, however, took the bag and proceeded to dig that hand into the candies, making a loud crinkling noise with the bag. 

“Thanks. By the way, Alma and I were talking. Since we’ve got a little time after lunch, We were thinking all of us could go to the outpost. We were there last year and they have some great pastries.”

“Ooh, that sounds really good.” Nissa brightened as she handed Evelina her sunscreen. “So, do you know your way around the camp pretty well?”

“Like I know my own neighborhood. If either of you have any questions, I’m the one to ask.”

“I have a question.” Hilda chimed in. “Is our camp leader alright? She seems a bit nasty.”

“Vibeka?” Evelina smiled. “Yeah, she was a camper last year; bit of a tough customer. She had a reputation for picking on the younger scouts.”

Evelina leaned in with a nasty smile. “Last year, I actually caught her smoking behind the girl’s bathroom. She nearly flipped her lid when she saw me.”

Nissa’s eyes went wide. “How did she become a camp leader?”

“Her mom probably makes her do it. She’s the Raven Leader of the camp.” Evelina took another handful of candy. “Viba’s not so bad as long as you stay off her bad side. Of course, I had Elisabeth last year. She’s pretty nice.”

“Would we have time to visit her camp sometime?” Hilda thought, now feeling a bit envious of Frida.

“As long as you keep up with your merit badge packets. I always try to get mine done early, sometimes before the assignment is given. If you use your time between…”

“Hey!” The tent flap swung open and Vibeka was standing at the door.

Evelina’s eyes went wide. She threw the candy bag on Hilda’s cot. “They’re Hilda’s!” She blurted out.

The camp leader stomped into the tent. “Where’s the rest of it?” 

“Uh-“

In a flash, she shoved Hilda aside and grabbed her backpack, rustling through it and tossing snack bags on the ground. Then, without asking she began ruffling through her duffle bag, tossing things all over the floor. 

“Hey!” Hilda made to protest, but a warning look from Vibeka deterred her. 

She found nothing in the duffle bag, then went straight for Nissa’s bags.

“No, Nissa doesn’t have any.” Hilda pleaded. “She tried to warn me…”

Vibeka ignored her. She zipped open the bag and shuffled through the bag which had several novels stacked together.

“Of course I get all the nerds in my camp.” She grumbled with a side glance at a shrinking Nissa. 

Evelina shifted uncomfortably. “Um, I’ll just go.”

“No, you won’t!” Vibeka barked. “These two may have been too stupid to not have food in their tent, but you were here last year. You should know better, especially considering my reputation.”

Evelina tensed. Her face turned a bright scarlet.

Their leader snatched up the snacks. “Thanks to your punk-haired friend, everyone in the camp has dish duty after lunch. And, If I catch another one of you gremlins with food in your tent, you’ll all get it for longer.”

As Vibeka walked briskly from the camp, Hilda was sure she heard a crinkling of bags and a faint crunching, which told her that the Jorts at least weren’t simply being thrown away.

“Way to get us all in trouble, idiot.” Evelina snapped. “Now we get to start the first day looking like a bunch of troublemakers. Thanks a lot!”

“I- I’m sorry.” Hilda fumbled.

“Alright, so you’re sorry. Big whoop! Doesn’t change anything.” Evelina stormed off. “We better get ready for lunch.”

Nissa walked away quietly after her.

Way to start things off, Hilda, she scolded herself.

Chapter Text

Hilda tried to get a glimpse of the dish room from the lunch line. She could hear the hissing of running water and clanging of dishes but couldn’t see much over the large lady dishing out the food. With her large crooked nose, pale skin, and furrowed brow, Hilda would have thought she was a troll if it wasn’t daytime. She dished out some meatballs and gravy on a boy’s plate of rice.
“Do you have anything … vegetarian?” Hilda asked as she came to the head of the line.
The lady stared a bit then grabbed another ladle, dumping a pile of soggy cabbage onto her rice.
“Thank you.” Hilda said softly, trying not to make a face at the sour-smelling mass on her plate.
I’m going to eat it all, she thought. No reason my campmates should do even more work ‘cause of me.
“Hilda!” Nissa waved to her from one of the tables.
Hilda waved back and made her way to the table where she and her other camp mates were. As she made to sit, Evelina, without looking, lifted her backpack onto the only spot available.
Hilda faltered. “Um, can I sit there?”
“Not with a bag there you can’t.” Evelina said plainly.
A look around at the other campers told her she wasn’t going to get any help.
“Okay” Hilda said softly, hanging her head.
She walked off to find a new spot to sit at. In the left corner she saw her best friend talking with a bunch of other girls.
“Frida!” She waved.
“Hilda!”
Frida motioned her over to her. She walked to her table and scooted next to her.
“Oh, girls. This is Hilda.” Frida introduced to her campmates. “She’s a friend from my flock back home.”
A few of the girls looked up. Some greeted her with an unenthused “hm.”
“So, Frida,” one of the girls interjected. “Where should Astrid and I be to direct people to the meeting point?”
“What’s this for?” Hilda asked, looking down at a large map in the middle of the table.
“Our second class Emergency Readiness badge. We’re planning a disaster response drill.” Frida explained.
“Let’s have you two here and here.” She said to the others.
They continued to discuss their plan. Hilda followed along as much as possible.
“Should we have bells on hand in case it’s a troll attack.” One of the girls asked Frida.
“No! That would only aggravate them.” Hilda interjected.
“Um, are you Frida?” the girl said coolly.
Hilda, taken aback by her reaction, looked sideways at her friend for help.
“I don’t think we’ll need bells. Trolls are usually found more south.” Frida explained.
“Should we have Ingrid stay behind and tend to any wounded?” Another girl asked.
“If there’s a troll attack, I could try to talk them down if you’d like.” Hilda interjected.
“Would you quit interrupting us!” The girl snapped.
Hilda started. “I thought we were still talking about the trolls. I was just offering…”
“Look.” a girl said in a more calm tone. “This is our badge class. We need to do this on our own.”
Hilda looked at Frida who smiled apologetically.
“We’ll talk later, okay?”
Hilda hung her head.
“Okay.” she said softly as she went to sit at an empty table.

After lunch, Hilda joined her campmates on their way to the dishroom. As they opened the door to the back. A wave of steam hit their faces followed by low rumbling. It felt like walking into a sauna, except noisier and smellier. The troll-like lady showed them to a pile of dishes that was taller than all of them. Evelina and Hilda were put in charge of spraying the food off the dishes.
The plates felt slimy as Hilda picked each one off the stack to spray down. The odd smells mixed into a pungent stench. Hilda scrunched her face as she picked up each bowl or plate.
It’s only gravy, it’s only gravy, she told herself over and over.
Next to her, Evelina gagged as he picked up each dish with two fingers. Not a word was spoken by either of them.
“Um, excuse me.” Hilda felt a tap on her shoulder and turned to see who it was. It was Sofie. “Could I switch with you? The dishwasher fogs up my glasses.”
Hilda glanced at Evelina who looked like she was about to lose her meatballs and rice. Maybe she should be the one to switch.
“C’mon!” Alma called.
The dishwasher had gone silent and the conveyor belt had frozen. There was no time to discuss it.
Hilda washed her hands quickly and ran to the end of the machine. She picked up one of the plates and nearly dropped it as it burned her fingers. She set it down on the table and the machine hissed back to life. She gingerly picked up the dishes two by two and stacked them on the table next to her.
“Hilda, C’mon!” Sofie eventually called.
Hilda picked up the pace. Nissa stopped taking stacks of dishes to help Hilda. They tried to hurry, but loads of dishes kept rolling in faster than they could pick them up. The conveyor belt stopped several times.
“HILDA!” Evelina yelled.
Rinsed dishes were piling up at the front of the machine.
“I’m trying!”
Hilda frantically pulled dishes from the conveyor belt. Nissa sounded like she was beginning to hyperventilate.
CRASH
A bowl slipped from Hilda’s hand and shattered on impact. Nissa shrieked at the sound of the impact, dropping a few large utensils on the floor.
“Okay! That’s it!” Evelina marched to the sink and washed her hands quickly.
“I’m sorry. It just slipped-“
“Oh, move over!” Evelina shoved her aside and began grabbing plates and bowls of the line.
Hilda stood awkwardly. “I could take the stacks-“
“Don’t move!” Evelina hissed and resumed stacking.
Hilda’s face felt hot, and she knew it wasn’t just the dishwasher.

Chapter Text

The rest of the day didn’t go much better. Because of how long the dishes took, Hilda was late for her Orienteering class. By the time she got there, she was at a complete loss at what the teacher was talking about. Evelina was in her class but she was not going to ask her. 

Her creativity class was a bit better, or at least more relaxing. Unfortunately, not only was the art lodge on the other side of the camp, but was on top of a huge hill that was a trudge and a half to climb. Hilda was exhausted by the time she got to her class, which she was late for. She did have a nice time making the raven kite from her merit badge book. She was planning to fly it when she got back to the camp. That should make up for all that happened that afternoon.

On the way back, she remembered to turn right at the main circle and managed to find her right tent. Nissa was already there, writing answers in a packet on a clipboard. 

Hilda walked in not meeting Nissa’s eyes. She slipped her backpack onto her cot.

“Um, Nissa.” She said timidly, causing her to look up from her packet. “I’m sorry I didn’t listen to you earlier. You were right about not having the snacks.”

“Eh, it is what it is.” Nissa shrugged, her eyes fell on the kite in Hilda’s hand. “Ooh, that looks pretty neat.”

“Oh, I made it for my creativity badge. I’m going to go fly it.”

Nissa put down her pencil and observed the kite with great interest. 

“What are those ribbons for?” Nissa pointed to the blue ribbons hanging off the wings. “Is that supposed to be the wind?”

“It’s lightning. I made a thunderbird.” Hilda smiled. “I met one when we first moved to Trolberg.”

“Woah, I’ve always wanted to see one of those.” Nissa said wide- eyed. “Aren’t they suppose to be native to the Americas?”

“Are they?” Hilda asked with fascination. “Well, that explains his accent. Where did you hear this?”

“I learned it for my birding merit badge. I also do a lot of bird watching on my own time. They’re beautiful creatures.”

“They sure are.” Hilda agreed. “Have you ever flown a kite before?”

“I have with my dad once when I was little.”

“Wanna come fly this with me?”

Nissa’s smile faded. “I do but… I need to finish some homework. Maybe later if that’s all right?”

“Okay.” Hilda said. “Another day then.”

“Maybe we could work on our orienteering homework together.”

“Oh, um.” Hilda hesitated. “I’m gonna fly it by myself for now. Maybe later.”

“Okay.” Nissa said with a nervous smile, and went back to her packet as Hilda stepped out the door.

Hilda had never flown a kite before, but she had seen kids do it at the park and was sure she could do it herself. She felt a strong breeze come in from the direction of the camp entry. She held her kite up and made to run in that direction.

A drop of water fell on her nose. She stopped and looked at the sky. A few other drops were following suite until it turned into a deluge. Hilda ran to her tent, clutching her kite close to her as large drops beat down on her. 

She reached her tent quite drenched from the rain. Fortunately, her kit had not been ruined. Looking out her tent, she could barely see 10 feet ahead of her. She sighed. It looked like her break was going to have to wait. Watching the rain, she remembered she had to write an entry for her weather log. She grabbed a pencil and her packet and began filling it out.

At dinner, a strong smell was coming from the kitchen as the lunch ladies served a fish stew. Hilda gratefully took extra helpings of the potatoes and fruit salad sides as well as a slice of pie.

Tray in hand, She scanned the tables looking for somewhere to sit. Nissa was at the table with her campmates, holding her head up with her arm on the table. Hilda wanted to sit by her but knew she wasn’t welcome at that table. She turned to Frida who was talking and laughing with her group. There was no point bothering her.

On her left were the boys’ tables. She scanned them until she saw David at a table at the far end with another boy. Both of them were holding playing cards.

Hilda walked over to them. “Hey, David.”

David looked up from his cards. “Hilda!”

David smiled as he slid over to give Hilda some room. “How’s your first day of camp going?”

“A bit rough,” Hilda admitted. She was about to tell him about her day when one of the boys started pointing at them.

“Ooh, David’s got a girlfriend!” he shouted in a sing-songy voice.

“HEY! SHUT UP!” David’s friend shot back. 

Hilda began to feel awkward, so she changed the subject. “Who’s your friend?”

“This is my tentmate, Gunnar.” He turned to Gunnar and said “This is Hilda. She’s a friend from Trolberg. Just a friend.” he glanced at the other boy who was grinning wickedly.

“Hey.” Gunnar gave her a friendly smile.

“So, what game are you guys playing?”

“It’s a new card game from Japan. It’s called Yokai Bataru.”

“Wanna play?” Gunnar offered.

“Sure. How do you play?”

Gunnar went into the rules. The game was about battling strange Japanese creatures. The goal was to rack up 9000 Kanji points which you got depending on the monsters you beat. Hilda tried to follow along, but there were a lot of complicated little rules that confused her. She tried to ask for clarification here and there, but after a while of not getting much closer to understanding, she decided to stop before she kept them all through dinner. Perhaps she’d get it once they started playing.

Gunnar shuffled the cards and handed out five each. Hilda liked the artwork on them. The yokai cards showed Japanese creatures Hilda would have loved to meet as well as colorful ninjas, samurai, and other figures. The magic and event cards were beautiful as well, painted in various styles from Japanese printing to smooth oil paintings. 

Playing them was a whole other matter entirely. Almost every move Hilda made was met with some correction from Gunnar and even David on occasion. 

“That’s a Kaiju. You might want to save that for later.”

“Those types of cards are different. You don’t put them down there because they have this star symbol.”

“I have this card in play so I am immune to that card.”

Hilda realized why the game was so confusing. On top of the game rules, each card seemed to have rules of their own. Some could only be played with certain other cards. Some could only be played when you have a certain number of points. She could feel herself getting more and more frustrated the more moves she couldn’t make. 

“I won!” David said at last after making a move that, apparently, got him a lot of points.

“Nice go, David.” Gunnar congratulated. “You did pretty well too, Hilda.”

“I did?” She had only gotten 3250 points which was way below Gunnar’s 7550.

“Well, for your first time.” He added as they handed the cards back. 

“Hey, wait. You still have the Tanuki’s Trick card. That gets you 2000 points if you put it in play, but you lose 500 if it’s still in your hand. Why didn’t you use it earlier?”

“I didn’t know I was supposed to!” She must have said this a bit too loud because a few scouts were giving her funny looks. Even David seemed a bit shocked.

“Sorry.” she squirmed.

“It’s alright.” Gunnar laughed a bit awkwardly. “It takes a while to figure out. Shall we play again?” 

Hilda was still a bit flustered and didn’t want to embarrass herself further. “You guys go ahead. I’ll just watch.”

After a few minutes, Hilda was still just as lost as before. Eventually, she just tuned it out.

Chapter Text

Hilda walked to the shower house that night feeling dejected from the day's frustrations.

At least the day was over and she could wash this day out of her hair, literally.

When she got to the showers, however, she wasn’t ready for what she saw. Inside was a big open space with four shower heads on the walls. There were no curtains or barriers.

Hilda shifted uncomfortably. 

“How are we…?” She asked out loud.

“We can’t do anything with you standing in the way.” 

Hilda turned to see Evelina behind her in a swimsuit holding soaps and a towel. She walked quickly past her and turned on one of the shower heads.

Hilda, now slightly more relieved, went back to her tent to change into her swimsuit; a red one-piece with a white trim on the collar. By the time she came back however, all the shower heads were running with a sparrow scout underneath. Hilda waited a while before growing bored and walked back to her tent to work on her homework. 

When she got back after a bit of time, the showers were clear. She turned the water on and nearly shrieked as icy water hit her skin. Hilda didn’t stay in the shower long, only standing in the water to wash before stepping aside, covered in goosebumps. She dressed quickly and brushed and flossed. Then, realizing she was alone, she pulled out a small razor and lightly brushed the areas beside her nose. 

Earlier that year, she had caused an incident with enchanted tide mice that nearly enslaved an entire snack food company. Though she and her friends had managed to fix the problem, the committee of three, who governed the witches of Trolberg, punished her with mouse whiskers for her mistake. Even though the mouse whisker spell was only supposed to last a day, Hilda still noticed some residual effects. So her mom had given her a razor to use every morning. Hilda wasn’t sure the bathrooms would be empty the next morning, so she would just have to shave at night.

Once she finished, she stepped outside only for a large drop of water to land on her nose. A turret of raindrops came down on her at once as though making up for their absence earlier. She ran to the Leader’s Cabin and stood under the eave to wait out the rain. 

I could have just stood outside and spared myself the shower, she thought gloomily, no longer dried off.

Eventually, the rain had just died down enough for her to hear her camp leader, Vibeka, from the window. She was complaining loudly to the other two.

“She can make me spend a month with these imps but I don’t have to make it pleasant.”

“I’m just saying you’d have an easier time here if you would at least try not to antagonize the campers.” Hilda recognized this as the voice of Frida’s leader.

“Sparrow Scout Camp isn’t meant for coddling, Beth.” said Vibeka. “Haven’t you heard the phrase, ‘You need to be cruel to be kind’?”

“Oh, I love that song!” came the voice of the third councilor. 

“I know that phrase but it has to actually be for their benefit otherwise it’s just being cruel.” Beth said.

“Well I’ve got to have a little fun here.” Vibeka said with an audible grin. 

There was a pause. 

“What? It’s not like I caused the problems. Do you think I put all the bugs in their tents?”

“I told you to clean out the tents before the campers came.” Beth said, exasperated. 

“I got too busy, MOM. Besides, it’s much more fun to see them run screaming out of their tent.” Hilda could hear Viba making mock screaming noises. She made to leave, as the rain had died down, when she heard herself being mentioned.

“Anyway, that weird blue-haired kid did my job for me, so it sorted itself out.”

“Is she the one who had the snacks in her tent?” Beth asked.

“Yeah. Made them do dish duty for lunch and got a free meal out of it. Beats camp food any day.”

“Do you think she’s going to be trouble?”

“Please, like I can’t handle some punk haired brat. I’ve broken tougher chops than her easily.”

“I think she’s kind of cute.” Came the shaky voice of the third councilor. “Part of me wants to take her home and adopt her as my little sister.”

“Anya, that’s weird.” Vibeka sneered. 

“It is not!” Anya shouted defensively, followed by a muffled “It’s not supposed to be.”

Vibeka ignored her. “Honestly, I’d bet you she doesn’t last a week. The sheltered ones always go home early. I talked to her mum when she came in and she was all like ‘Oh, will my little baby be safe. Please protect my baby.’” She said in a high whiney voice that made Hilda grit her teeth.

 “And her friend, that scrawny boy with bugs on him; camp barely starts and he already looks ready to wet his pants.” 

Vibeka laughed to herself, though the other two didn’t laugh with her. 

“By Friday, they’ll both be crying for mummy, like that one crybaby at orientation. You’ll see.”

Hilda didn’t hear the rest. She half-ran half-stomped the rest of the way to her tent. She threw open the flap, causing Nissa to jolt up from the book she had been reading. 

“Are you okay?” She asked timidly. 

“I’m fine.” 

Hilda curled up in her sleeping bag. As the residual anger began to burn away, Vibeka’s words continued to echo in her mind. ‘The sheltered ones always go home early.’

Why did her mom have to go and talk to her? she thought. Now she thinks I’m some sort of delicate little child. 

What do you care? a voice seemed to say in her head. She doesn’t know who you are.

But for some odd reason, Hilda did care.

Did everyone at camp see her that way? As some sheltered kid who didn’t know how to do anything and would break down at the smallest difficulty? 

Hilda looked back on how the campers treated her. Alma seemed to think she was gutsy for collecting spiders with her hand. Nissa seemed to be amazed with the crazy things Hilda had done. They didn’t seem to think she was sheltered. In fact, after the incident with the candy, they seemed to not want to be around her at all.

Elisabeth’s words fell like a hard rock into her stomach. “Do you think she’s going to be trouble?” Is that what they saw her as; a troublemaker? 

Aside from the snacks in the tent, she hadn’t really caused any trouble, but she did seem to get on a lot of people’s nerves. From the two girls who’s tent she went into, to Frida’s friends at lunch, to her campmates when she kept messing up in the dishroom, not to mention her outburst in front of David and his friend. 

Hilda shifted. Was this what camp was going to be like for a whole month? 

Her thoughts went out to her home in Trolberg. She wondered what sort of report Alfur was working on. How was Twig doing without her? Then there was Tontu and her mom. What were they doing without her?

Then she remembered, her mom had allowed her to go to this camp. She was so afraid to ask her mom if she could come to this camp, but she didn’t need to be. Her mom willingly paid the admissions fee and signed the permission slip. All Hilda had to do was stay out of danger and be on her best behavior. Her mom believed in her  and there was no way she was going to let her down. 

You’re in for a nasty shock, Viba, Hilda thought. I plan on staying at this camp and you’re not going to stop me.