Not the Happiest of Campers

[Merida]

((July 6th, Open to all ))

Merida was unhappy. Love wasn't something she'd ever experienced, and to be honest, she really didn't know if she ever wanted to. But since this crazy hostess of theirs wouldn't let her or anyone else go she was stuck here. The lady was delusional if she thought she was going to force Merida to fall in love. Especially since she'd resisted it for so long. She was a perfectly happy individual without it. The thought of giving it a chance had crossed her mind, but in all honesty she wasn't loving the idea.

Currently she was relaxing in the forest. True, she'd grown up in a castle-like home, but she'd always preferred the outdoors, and the pool just wasn't cutting it for her.

She sighed as she slumped against a tree in silent thought. She had to find a way out of this crazy place and back home. Heavens forbid she didn't return and her mother get furious.

[Cash]

Like Merida, toaster had wandered into the forest to relax himself. It was hard, constantly being mistaken for a girl, and dealing with his new body. Toaster just wished he was back home, with the Master and his friends.

Toaster then heard a noise. The metal teen his behind a bush before looking to see that it was only a girl, and did she look unhappy. "Um, hello there." Toaster greeted as he came out of hiding. :What are you doing here?"

[Hiccup]

"This is stupid. This is beyond stupid, actually. First I get some weird letter inviting me here, then I end up here and some crazy lady is like 'Oh, by the way, you have to find your true love'. I thought I was happy before. The hell was I thinking coming here?"

Unhappy Viking was unhappy. The day before, Hiccup probably wouldn't have cared all that much if he had been told they were there for some other reason. He probably would have been happier still if he hadn't come to the island at all. But no, Hiccup had chosen to come along to see what the key was about. Now he wished he hadn't. He had thought everything was okay back home between him and Astrid. Hadn't that been enough to prove that she was his true love or whatever? Or had the blonde just been messing with him the entire time? Hiccup couldn't really answer that anymore. Thinking of an answer just made his head hurt.

He'd wanted to get out of the mansion for some fresh air. That had led Hiccup to coming outside in the hopes of clearing his head somehow, and so there he was walking through the forest without really caring if he was heard or not. Actually, at that moment he was complaining openly and completely unaware of the fact that anyone else was even in the forest at all. And just then, he happened to walk right past the tree Merida had chosen to slump against.

"This whole thing is stupid. How the hell is bringing a bunch of people together with stupid locks and keys supposed to accomplish anything?" Hiccup asked. He wasn't expecting anyone to answer. In fact, he didn't even know another redhead was nearby at all. But it would be safe to say that he would be thrown off greatly if someone actually did answer.

[Tai Lung]

Tai Lung had separated himself from the crowds almost as soon as he had arrived on the island with the first wave of love birds. There were so. many. people. So many souls looking for their other half. It had been overwhelming and disorienting and he had longed for peace and quiet. The woods here were not quite like the ones he was used to in China but they were close enough for him to find serenity within their dark embrace.

He'd lost track of how long he'd been meditating when voices below him broke through his trance. Looking down from the leafy canopy he's sheathed himself in he could make out the forms of several young humans. The male seemed rather irritated and was speaking to himself in an angry fashion. Tai Lung frowned. He wasn't sure which deity this woman was who had brought them here.... but he was fairly certain that she wouldn't appreciate someone speaking out against her in such a fashion. Slinking down to a lower branch he perched, cat like above the youths, in sight should they choose to look up. "I would not speak out against the gods in such a way....especially now, when we seem to be at their mercy."

[Merida]

((The guests aren't supposed to know she's a goddess...but I can see how he'd make the connection himself xD))

The first person to address her seemed a little shy. She tried to control her irritation at the situation so she didn't scare the poor guy off, but it wasn't easy. "wondering why anyone would think locking us here against our wills for starters." She said. As much as she tried to hide it, there was an obvious air of irritation in her voice. She didn't mean to come off so mean, but it would be easy to mistake it.

Then before she could apologize for her tone she heard some more angry ranting. Another redhead passed her and he seemed oblivious to her, or anyone else's presence. She decided to speak up, not taking into consideration that it might startle him. "You can say that again." She replied. "But if you ask me, this lady seems a wee bit crazy in the head. Who knows that he motives are." She really was seriously considering the possibility that Aphrodite was just insane and this was all just some game.

Before long a giant feline made it's way to her. "Well what does she expect when she decides to lock us all up here?"

[Bonz]

Unlike Merida, Bonz couldn't say he was entirely unhappy here. The whole..."finding love" thing was weird and he didn't like it, but at least he wasn't being forced against his will to find some....girlfriend or whatever. It was really the last thing he wanted at this point in time. He was pretty happy just being alone really. Alone and playing games. Games were more fun than girls.
At this time though, he wasn't playing any games. For whatever reason, he'd decided to take a stroll out on the grounds, and soon found himself walking through a shady woods. The dappled sunlight broke through the trees here and there, reflecting off his shiny hairless skull, though it didn't do much to enhance his physical attributes.

He trudged along, thinking to himself about the load of bogus that was this island, when surprise of all surprises, he heard someone voicing exactly what he was thinking. He didn't notice Hiccup or the anthromorphic feline just yet, instead his eyes fell upon a young girl with a head of wild, messy hair. Her hair was like an uncontrolled flame and it shot an unexpected queasy sensation through him. His heart rate increased ever so slightly.

"Um...." He began uneasily. "You think this place is a waste of time too?"

[Hiccup]

Hiccup felt himself jolt a bit when he heard Merida actually addressing him. Having been convinced that he was the only one present for the moment, it came as a surprise that a voice (the fact that it was accented and feminine were only taken into consideration moments later) actually broke what he had presumed would be silence. Hiccup looked over his shoulder and finally took notice of Merida. It sounded as though she was in agreement with him, which came as a relief to him, so they at least had that much to talk about.

"I guess it could be worse, but I still don't get why we're here. I'm beginning to think this person, whoever she is, is just trying to get people together for her own amusement no matter what anyone else says about it." Hiccup said. It was almost a relief that Astrid wasn't there if that was the case. What made things just a bit more difficult was what would happen if he did find whoever had the lock his key needed. What was Hiccup meant to do when he did discover whoever it was he was supposed to be looking for?

[Cash]

"Yeah, tell me about it." toaster said outloud, feeling ignored by the arrival of a viking boy, snow leopard, and who couldn't tell who what he was. The metal teen looked down at the key on his neck. He was a toaster, well, at least once a toaster, they didn't need love, or did they?

"My name's Toaster, and what about you guys?" he asked, coming closer to the others.

[Gabu]

the large furry brown wolf walks down the path his head lowered in worry oh, i should of never left him alone he thinks to himself his eyes downcast starring at the ground in front of him as he walks along more or less moping. "Mei said that he would be fine" he mutters to himself "but is that really true?" he lets out another groan.

[Merida]

"Yup." She said when Bonz arrived and asked if he thought the whole set up was pointless. His appearance rather worried her, but he seemed perfectly fine, so she wasn't all too alarmed. Besides, appearances had little to do with what Merida saw of people. It was how they acted that impressed or repulsed her. "I suppose it could be worse. The prison is nice, but it's still a prison, considering we can't leave." Merida hated feeling constricted. She'd felt that way almost her whole life with her mother not accepting her tomboyish and free way of life. Here, nobody tried to stifle her, but the thought of being trapped on this island made her feel uneasy. They could roam free so long as they stayed on the island, which was big, but not big enough to warrant not allowing people to leave. She missed her father, her mother, and sooner or later she was sure she'd miss her devilish little brothers.

"Maybe you're right." She said to Hiccup. It seemed plausible that this whole "finding love" thing was just a rouse and Aphrodite actually just wanted to trap people here to use as her playthings, but that just made the whole thing even more pointless. And if she was being completely honest with herself, a little bit frightening. "Either way, the whole thing is confusing and pointless. Maybe some people want this, but I sure don't." She was completely sure of herself with that. If Merida was ever meant to fall in love (Which she highly doubted), it would happen on it's own time, not because some glowing lady decides she wants it to happen faster.

The metal boy spoke up again. She'd never seen something like him so she was a bit taken aback by it, but at the same time she tried to remain as though it didn't make a difference. "My name's Merida." She said, a smile finally gracing her freckled face at the 3 boys present.

[Hiccup]

"I don't even know what I want at this point. But, I guess that's what I get for not knowing what I was getting myself into by coming here." Hiccup said. The point was that he didn't know how to feel about the situation. He hated it, but a tiny portion of his mind was trying to convince him that maybe things weren't so bad. On the other hand, Toothless was all alone back in Berk. He couldn't even fly on his own anymore. That thought made Hiccup feel even more guilty about coming t to the island in the first place since he found himself trapped and, therefore, unable to help Toothless. Suffice to say, it was beginning to feel like the universe really was out to get him. Even when he was feeling good about himself it found some way to get back at him and shove him back down to the lowest point possible.

Finally, he took notice of the others present. One boy made of metal and another boy that, frankly, freaked the hell out of Hiccup. But he was able to push that notion away just as soon as Merida provided her name. Merida. Admittedly, Hiccup did think it sounded like a pretty name. Not like he was going to say such a thing out loud, lest he somehow incur the wrath of some unknown god that would be against him trying to become friendly with someone from beyond Berk (the most he had gathered from things his father had said was that it didn't seem terribly wise to foster a relationship with someone from another tribe), but it was a thought that lingered there regardless. Now he just had to fill in the gap with his own name.

"I'm Hiccup. It's good to meet you, Merida. And... everyone else." Hiccup said. It hadn't occurred to him until a few moments after his name had passed his lips that he might have just made it possible for him to be subjected to some kind of teasing. 'Hiccup' was a very unusual name, after all. But, whatever. Viking tradition dictated they have generally strange names, and he wasn't about to try and pretend like he had some other name just for the sake of trying to sound manlier or... something.

[Bonz]

"Hiccup." Bonz repeated, a smirk coming onto his face. Moments prior, he'd been staring at Merida, trying to make sense of the odd feelings in his gut while he did so. Hiccup's introduction was a welcome distraction. "Funny name. They call me Bonz, or "Ghost". Ghost Kotsuzuka. Call me either one you like." The eerie melancholy tone had come back into his voice as he spoke, adding to the illusion he really was something supernatural and out of this world.

"Where do you guys come from?" He asked, sounding no less creepy, "I hail from Domino City."

[Cash]

"Well, pleasure to meet all you." Toaster smiled to Hiccup, Merida and Bonz. Even though he was confident that Hiccup and Merida were human, he couldn't be too sure with Bonz, he did look pretty skinny and malnourished that the anthro toaster couldn't really tell, but Toaster didn't judge on appearances, all that matter what was on the inside, plus ever since he arrived he had been given pretty strange looks as well, probably because he was anthro and all.

"Well, I'm from the cottage out in the country, but now I live in my Master's college dorm with my friends." Toaster sighed at the thought of his friends. Were they okay? He was especially worried about Blanky, he was just a little kid.

[Hiccup]

"Trust me, it's not the worst name I could have ended up with." Hiccup stated. With names like Fishlegs, he was almost grateful to have been given the name Hiccup. Even if it did mean 'accident'. As for where he was from... well, that was easy enough to answer. Hiccup would gladly divulge the whereabouts of his hometown. "As for where I come from, it's this place called Berk. I don't know if any of you have heard of it, though." Hiccup said. Merida looked like she could have come from somewhere similar to Berk, even sounded kind of like the adults from Berk, but he didn't know if she was from anywhere in the Viking archipelago.

[Gabu]

as Gabu got closer towards the area where Hiccup and the others were at he stood up on his hunches looking around for a moment he fingers the key and lock that he wore underneath his green scarf. "Hello?" he called out dark green eyes narrowing as the wolf tries to figure out where the voices were coming from after all the forest was dense.