Hillwood forest RP

((Let's be real, we gotta bring Gino, Arnold and Eugene back in here. I volunteer as tribute for Gino for the moment. I'm not as good as setting scene as Freddie, but I will do my best to portray Gino as well as I can.))

Gino finally managed to extract himself from the tent that someone had so graciously brought down on top of him. He felt himself seething at how stupid he must look right now. But it wouldn't behoove him to lose his composure here. No, he still needed these kids to get him out of this royal mess. Plus, making a scene probably wouldn't earn him any favors in that cute dame Phoebe's book.

So, as coolly as he could, he picked himself up, dusted himself off and slicked back his hair with a delicate motion of his hand.

Gino tugged at the front of his fine shirt and made his way over to where the group was getting ready to move out.

"What's all this about a lake?"

Without looking back, Phoebe answered.

"There's a lake a few miles past these woods. There has been some conjecture that there might be signs of civilization. Without any further ideas, we - " she glanced up. "Gino!" Her hands flew to clasp behind her back, passing dangerously close to Helga. She glanced anywhere, everywhere, trying not to meet his eyes, then, much to her everlasting shame and embarrassment, blushed.

Rhonda raised a brief hand to Gino. She crossed her arms, rubbing them a little bit, seemingly choosing not to draw attention to Phoebe's blush. "Yeah there's a lake and it probably has people at it, and then I think the place is past the lake? So we're heading in that direction."

"Yeah, yeah, we're headed to a lake, short stuff," Helga had noticed her best friend's blush, but decided not to embarrass her. "If you're coming, let's get going. Otherwise we're leaving you behind."

"Sure, sure, toots." Gino smoothed another hand over his chest, a smirk slowly spreading across his face. Phoebe's blush had not been lost on him. It felt good to know that he made her nervous, it was about time he regained the upper hand in this whole situation. Now if only he could get his palms to stop sweating...

"Lake sounds like a good idea then. And with you leading the way, Pataki, well - what's the worst that could happen?"

He paused in confusion as the entire group of them flinched in unison.

Hitching her shoulders out of their involuntary flinch, Phoebe grimaced.  Firmly, she turned around and attempted to march resolutely forward towards the treeline.  Instead, she managed a weak-kneed shamble, one hand inching up to scrub futilely at the red stain across her cheeks.  This is ridiculous.  She told herself. Get ahold of yourself.  The events of last night already seemed like an eternity ago. She could not the sudden...distraction... of Gino get in the way of the crisis at hand.  

"I really don't think we have anything to worry about." she announced, her voice much more sure of herself than she actually felt.  We still have several good hours of daylight, and human beings are capable of walking at least 3.1 miles per hour.  We should be there in no time."

"For one thing, shorty," Helga drew herself up to her full height, trying not to flinch at the pain that shot through her foot when she set it down on the ground. "You don't call me toots. capisce? But Pheebs is right, and if you're really so concerned about it we'll let her take the lead." Helga crossed her arms (though one was awkwardly crossed over the crutch) "I suspect you won't have a problem with that?"

Gino

"Sure thing, Pataki." Gino said with a smirk, though he inside he felt disappointed. His natural instincts to take the rear were conflicting with his want to be near the smaller girl. If she was up front....

He sighed.

At least he'd have a good view at her rear.

The smirk widened.


Harold

"All right, all right. Phoebe's the leader. Whatever! Can we just get out of here before something finally comes to get us?" Harold squeaked as he pushed on Arnold's shoulders to move him in a forward motion. "Come onnnnn."

Helga made a mental note to keep an eye on Gino. She knew deep down that Phoebe could take care of herself, but she still felt protective of her best friend. "Ok, Pink Boy has a point. Let's get moving. Lead on, Pheebs. You know the way the best, anyway."

"I-" Phoebe squeaked. Leadership was never exactly her forte. But as she glanced around at the dirt-streaked faces of her companions and friends, she knew what had to be done.

"Right. Okay then. This way." She plodded forward. As the brightness of the morning was enveloped by the darkness of the forest, she shivered. Her chill was not from the sudden drop in temperature, but from the feeling of too many eyes on her all at once.

Rhonda strode along with the rest of them, keeping up relatively easily around the middle of the group. She was a city girl, really, the hustle and bustle was written into her bones and had been since birth. Walking along a slightly uneven, unpaved ground was not unlike making her way through a busy downtown street. It felt good to be on the move and heading towards a goal, and she honestly felt pretty solid with Phoebe at the lead, so she grinned over at her. "You're probably the smartest person here, Phoebe, I've got total faith in you!"

"Nothing's going to get us, Harold. Stop being such a baby," she rolled her eyes. "It's the middle of the day and we already survived a night alone in the woods."

Helga was struggling to keep up, but she wanted to make sure she was the only one aware of that. She was managing to stick pretty close to Phoebe, but only by pushing herself much harder than she should have. She was barely using her crutch, but she didn't want to slow the others down. just a few miles, Helga. You can do this.

((we really need to bring arnold back in, but i don't quite think i'm ready to pull triple duty....))

(( I'd be willing to jump onto Arnold if nobody else feels like it. I've never RPed him before but I'm fine with giving it the ol' college try if it's okay with you guys! ))

((Fine with me))

((Please, please do so. We desperately need him in here))

(did we start from where they stopped this story last time or are we gonna start our own?)

(( Alright! Hope I do him justice. :> ))

Arnold jogged to catch up a little with his friends. To be honest, he was starting to feel kind of bad about the whole thing, it was his birthday and they'd all landed in a pretty unpleasant situation. The fact that they were all being so great about it, minus a few hiccups and in-fighting, really made him feel nice. Still, he felt a little at fault here, especially watching poor Helga limping along. "I just want to say you guys, I'm sorry there's all this mess over my birthday. I really wish it had turned out more fun than tromping around in the woods."

"Puh-lease," Helga rolled her eyes. "It's not your fault, Arnold, so don't try to take it on yourself" Helga managed a slight skip over a rather large branch that was in her path. "We were the ones that insisted on dragging you out here for your birthday. And I'm sure we're all having fun. Right?" Helga said the last word very sharply, daring anyone there to disagree with her.

"Right!" Phoebe piped, catching her toes in the same branch Helga had narrowly missed and stumbling slightly. "Besides, let's assume that your birthday is about to get a lot better, once we get out of these woods."

"Exactly. Pheebs is right, so stop worrying, Football Head."

Arnold rubbed the back of his head, a little sheepishly. "Okay, okay! I get the picture you guys. Still- thanks." he laughed, hopping over a low hanging branch. His friends were pretty great, he thought.

Speaking of friends, Helga seemed to be having some trouble, and while yeah, it wasn't his fault they were in this mess (It was nobody's fault!) he still felt a bad she'd been hurt. Arnold jogged up towards her and ducked his head a little, since he knew that if he brought attention to it, she'd not be pleased. "Helga, you want some help? You can lean on my shoulder until we get to the lake, if you want."

"I...uh..." Helga was torn. Her eyes immediately darted around to gauge any attention that might be focused on her and Arnold at the moment. More than anything, she wanted to accept his help. She bit the inside of her cheek, trying to make a decision. Finally, she sighed.

"All right. If it'll make you feel better, Arnold."

Arnold beamed at her, and tugged Helga's arm over his shoulder, resting his other hand on her side to help her keep her balance. "It will make me feel better, Helga. I don't like to see you hurt, let alone you hurting yourself any more," he smiled over at her, putting his hand on hers to keep it over his shoulder, thinking it was a good thing they were relatively close in height. "Is that better?"

Harold

Harold kept his pace next to Rhonda.

"Sorry, I'm such a scaredy cat. I bet if Curly was here he'd be telling you about how he'd protect you from anything and y'know offer to be your knight-in-shining-armor and all that mushy stuff." Harold rubbed the back of his head. "Heh, yeah. I'm not nearly as brave as that crazy kid, but I'll try to do what I can. Y'know... if anything happens. Not that it will! I hope." He glanced around nervously once more, eyes scanning the shadows of the trees for anything out of place.


Gino

Gino was beginning to regret his decision to linger behind the group. Eugene also seemed to be dead set on taking up the rear with him and would not stop humming. It was really distracting him from the gentle sway of Phoebe's hips.

He felt in his pocket for another cigar, but soon realized that the rain had soaked them through.

"Damn it." He growled under his breath.