Vampire Scavenger Hunt: Freaking Perfectionist (Part 2)

We got to Walmart and started out with our same game plan that we had for the last store. Captain instructed us to meet back in isle 1.

I ran to get the food coloring and found Treasure with his bloody steak. While we were waiting I saw a nail salon. "Treasure! The list said that we had to go convince a nail technician to paint one of someone's nail half black and half red!"

"Okay, go talk to them and see if someone will. Give me your food coloring." I handed it over and ran to the nail salon.

I went up to the nail technician and explained my situation to him. He agreed, after he was done doing someone else's nails. I thanked him and said I'd be right back. I ran back to Treasure, "He'll do it!" I told him.

"Well, go get it done right now!"

"I have to wait for Water Fetcher so she can take pictures." I reminded him.

It was then that Water Fetcher showed up. "Water Fetcher! I convinced the nail tech to paint one of my nails! You need to come take pictures!"

"Okay, lets go!" She said putting her garlic in Treasure's outstretched hand.

We both ran back to the salon. The man was still doing someone else's nails, so we had to wait. After waiting for a while, the lady who was having her nails done said, "Isn't the point of a scavenger hunt to get done fast? You can do hers after you're done with this nail." she said, smiling at us.

"Thanks!" We said.

I went over to the polish colors to pick out the black and red polish, as the nail tech had instructed me. I then sat at the chair and held out one of my hands. The nail guy took it and started filing it. He then started very sloooooowly painting the nail half black.

"It doesn't have to look good." I said. "It just has to be half black, half red."

He looked at me, then continued his slow work.

Water Fetcher snapped a few pictures. The nail guy then reached for my other hand. "Oh, it only has to be one nail." I told him.

Again he looked at me, then took the other hand and started slowly filing that too.

Water Fetcher looked at him, looked at me, then said, "I'm going to go find a Twilight related news article." and left.

Treasure and Jay-Spoon showed up before long. "We got all the stuff!" Treasure announced. "I even found a kinda vampire looking card... I hope it counts as a greeting card." It looked like a label type thing, but who cares?

"Okay, Water Fetcher is looking for a news article." I informed them as the nail tech took my first hand back and started slowly on the red. "Go get her to take your picture!"

They both set off to look for her, while I sat impatiently in the salon chair. The three of them returned about five minutes later.

"We found some people to scare!" Jay-Spoon said excitedly. "We were supposed to find 3 people and pose like vampires while they acted scared!"

"Awesome!" I said, thinking I was almost done. The guy got up and walked away, and I put my two nails in front of the fan. He then returned with a shiny polish, took my hand and started slowly coating my nail in it.

I turned to my team with a desperate look on my face and said, "Go find something else to do!"

"Okay, we'll meet you back here!" Treasure said, as the all ran off into the store.

When finally the nail guy was done, he had me stick my hands in front of a fan. I sat there for a while, then decided that I was on too tight of a timetable, got up, and started to walk away.

"Now be careful!" The nail tech warned.

"I will! Thanks!" I said, exiting the salon and seeking out my friends.

I found them and we finished a few more tasks including: Spelling BAT on the ground with ourselves, finding an exact outfit we were told to, finding someone with honey colored eyes, posing artistically with 5 different kinds of forks, finding a vampire doll and posing like we'd won the lottery with it, and a few others.

We then decided to leave the store and head for midway, and get more done once closer to the cabin. We got to the parking lot and Water Fetcher said, "We need to find a license plate with VB on them, for Vampire Bat."

"Okay, everyone find a row of cars, and look as we go back to our car!" Treasure instructed.

We couldn't find any. I ended up with Treasure in the back of the parking lot. "Ugh, where's the car?" He asked. "NAVIGATOR!!!" He shouted, pointing at me.

"Captain, the car is located somewhere in the outer recesses of this parking lot!" I responded.

Treasure laughed, then I saw the car driving toward us. "There captain! Beam me up Scottie!"

Part 3: My Cemetery Senses are Tingling COMING

Vampire Scavenger Hunt: Team Bats (Part 1)

We all gathered in the lobby so Kwanjagnim could announce what fun filled adventure we were going to have on our way to the cabin for the epic yearly retreat!

"Okay! Listen up! If you don't listen, then you will be buried under the studio!" Kwanjagnim yelled over the crowd.

A chorus of nervous "Yes Ma'am"'s followed.

"We are going to having a vampire themed scavenger hunt! Apparently vampires are popular with you people right now..."

Man Cub and I gave each other skeptical looks. Others giggled in a 'yeah right' sort of way, while some just said, "uuuhhh..."

"Anyway," Kwanjagnim continued, "Here are the rules! If you break the rules, you will be buried under the studio!"

"Thats what happened to Jon..." Man Cub said in an ominous tone.

"You must have documented photographic evidence of every task you complete. You have 2 hours to complete as many tasks as possible. If you are late, you lose half your points. We are all meeting in Midway at a resort that will be on a map in your packet. You have a captain. You must always respect your captain! If you don't respect your captain, you have to either get 16 ounces of whipped cream in your hair, do 30 pushups over a pie, or wear a sign that says 'oops, I disrespected my captain. I won't do that again! I promise!' for the rest of the game!"

This was greeted by much of laughter.

Kwanjagnim smiled and went on. "The captain will decide who has what position. The positions are; you have one Driver, a captain's assistant, a navigator, a photographer and a safety manager. The safety manager is supposed to keep you from breaking the law or getting yourself hurt. You will not break the law in this game! This includes speeding. If you get a speeding ticket, you are disqualified. If you get arrested then you will be buried under the studio, AFTER you get out of prison!"

More laughter.

"The navigator makes sure you get there on time, and that you actually GET there! The driver, obviously drives. The captain's assistant helps the captain out with anything, and the photographer gets photographic evidence that you completed your task. Any questions?"

"No ma'am!"

"Okay, then without further ado, I will announce your teams. When I announce your teams I will give you an envelope. Only the captain is to open the envelope when I say so! Our first team is team Bats. This team will include Kristi, Water Fetcher, Treasure, Bandit, Jay-spoon, and Emma. Now, you all go onto the mat and figure out positions."

I was excited as I separated from the rest of the group. This sounded like a domination team! And just a fun group of people to spend the next two hours with. We gathered in a circle on the mat to decide who would do what.

"So obviously I'm the driver." Christy said (being the only one with a car), walking in with a bunch of green mardi gras necklaces with labels on them. She put the necklace labeled 'Driver' around her own neck. "Now, who should the safety manager be?" She asked looking at the team. We too looked around.

"I nominate Emma." I said. "She seems least likely to do something stupid."

"Yeah, Emma!" Jay-spoon agreed.

Treasure nodded in his characteristic way.

"Yeah, Emma, you are the most safe out of us." Water Fetcher agreed.

Christy place the 'safety manager' label around Emma's neck. "Water Fetcher, do you want to be the photographer? You have your own camera." Christy pointed out.

"Sure, I'll be the photographer!" Water Fetcher said, receiving her necklace.

"Okay... navigator." Christy said as all eyes fell on me.

"Oh no!" I said. "I don't know how to get there or how to use a map!"

"No! You have to be! Treasure and Jay-spoon don't know the way there! And you're the next oldest!" Christy reasoned.

"Okay, but I apologize in advanced for when we get lost..." I said accepting my own necklace.

"That leaves Treasure and Jay-spoon!" Christy said. "I vote Treasure captain and Jay-spoon assistant captain!" She then handed them their necklaces.

"Hey! How come Treasure's is gold!?" Jay-spoon asked.

"Because he's the Captain, and special!" I said.

Treasure straightened up and put his hands on his hips in a 'self-important' stance.

"Well, lets go outside and prepare to dominate!" Linnea said, as Trevor and I practiced awesome team poses.

As we went outside we passed Man Cub's team and HAD to give them dirty looks and trash talk!

"Hi sir," I said. "I knew I should've kept your keys." (I had stolen his keys earlier and had given them back about 5 minutes before now).

"I knew I should've slashed your tires." he shot back.

Soon, all the teams were outside. Kwanjagnim then came out last. "Captains, get ready to open your envelopes!" She announced. I prepared to knock Zombie's out of his hands, but he thought it was just a high-five. Fail.

"You can complete your tasks in any order, if you just go down the list you will probably lose!" She said. You have until 7 o' clock! Not a minute more! Ready, GO!!!"

Team Bats rushed into Christy's car.

"OH CAPTAIN MY CAPTAIN!!!" Water Fetcher yelled out the door, since Treasure was the only one not in the car.

"Hey! Thats what stage crew used to call me." I said, as Treasure vaulted into the car, ripping the envelope open.

He read the first task, "Go to the movie theater and find a poster of the scariest movie playing and pose scarily next to it."

"There aren't really any scary movies playing right now..." I said.

"That right!" Treasure said pointing at me. "We have a movie theater person!"

"What else is there? Water Fetcher asked, "Maybe we can do other things at the same time." she took the list from Treasure.

"Is there some place where we can get a bunch of stuff done at the same time?" I asked.

"What if we went to the mall?" Water Fetcher suggested. "We could get tons of stuff done there!"

"Okay, lets head out and keep reading." Christy said backing out. "I want to see if I can beat Tio out of here."

We drove down the road as Water Fetcher continued reading. "We need to find a cosmetic dentistry office..."

"DENTIST OFFICE!!!" I yelled pointing out the window.

"Is it cosmetic though?" Christy asked.

"General and COSMETIC!!!" Treasure yelled, right as we passed it.

"Oh... well, we'll find another one." Christy said, not wanting to turn around in traffic. " Is there some stuff we can't get done at the mall? Why don't we stop at Smiths right there?" She asked. "Its sure to have lots of stuff."

"Yeah." Water Fetcher said. "Like this one... Find a bloody steak, garlic, red food coloring, and a vampire related greeting card."

"Okay!" Said captain Treasure, "I'll go get the bloody steak, Bandit, you get the red food coloring, and Water Fetcher, you get the garlic. The rest of you go find the greeting card."

"Aye captain!" I said, saluting.

As soon as Christy parked we all ran for the store. Treasure, Water Fetcher, and I all found our stuff with relative ease, but as we all met at the front of the store, there were still 3 missing.

"Okay, well lets do another task while we go look for them!" Water Fetcher decided. "Bandit, what can we do?"

I now had the list of tasks. "Find someone with honey-colored eyes..."

"DOES ANYONE HAVE HONEY-COLORED EYES??" Water Fetcher yelled across the store, making Treasure and I jump. Nobody replied, obviously. But as we walked toward the greeting card section, Water Fetcher kept shouting that.

"There aren't any vampire related greeting cards!" Jay-spoon said as we reached them, pointing at the row of cards. "We've looked a few times!" Jay-spoon added as Treasure started checking their work.

"Maybe we can do something else." I said, handing the list back to Water Fetcher. "Look, books! Didn't it say something about finding a copy of Twilight?"

"Yeah! It has to be over there!" Christy said, heading over to the books.

We ended up finding a copy of Twilight: The Graphic Novel. Water Fetcher readied her camera.

"Bandit, look like your reading it to a bunch of kids, Jay-spoon look like you're extremely interested." We did so and Water Fetcher took the picture.

"I say we don't waste anymore time here and go somewhere else. There's a Walmart down the street. It will probably have more stuff." I suggested.

"Well, we're already here..." Christy said slowly.

"CAPTAIN!" I shouted, turning toward Treasure.

"Lets leave." Treasure decided. "This store doesn't seem to have exactly what we need. It didn't have the greeting card...so... everyone put your stuff back and we will meet back at the car!"

First day on Elite Team

"The only reason I'm here, is to get my belt." I informed Treasure and Tree as we placed our overstuffed duffle bags on the shelf.

Tree laughed, "Thats the only reason you're here?" Then he seemed to think about it. "I can't say that I blame you." he said, cocking his head to the side.

Treasure nodded.

Tree then strolled to the other side of the room, leaving Treasure and I in awkward silence.

"Sooo..." I said in an attempt to make conversation. "I... saw Inception today. And my brain promptly exploded."

"Yeah! My parents saw that, and they were like..." Treasure then motioned his hands going around his head.

"Wait! Treasure, What?" Tree chimed in from across the room.

Treasure looked at him asking him in Treasure to repeat what he had just said.

"What did your parents see?" Tree asked again, walking back toward us.

"Inception" Treasure responded.

"Was it good?" Tree asked looking at me.

"It was WAY good! But confusing. I thought I had a theory, but then the last scene just blew my theory away."

"I'll go see it then!"

Treasure then said something, more of a mumble and motioned throwing things up in the air.

Tree started cracking up. "Did you get what he said??" He said through laughter. "He said he's going to throw lollipops at the ceiling so they stick, spelling 'Hi Bandit, From Treasure'. "

"Well in that case, I'm going to drag you back in there and make you go get them." I said.

Treasure started jumping and reaching toward the air.

"Don't worry Bandit, I won't be too mean." Tree assured me. "I'll just put all the arm rests down."

"Thanks Tree, you're a saint." I said sarcastically.

"OOOH BANDIT, YOU'RE HERE!!!" Came an excited voice from across the room. Suddenly I was in an embrace.

"I'm not here for elite team, Water Fetcher!" I said being squished.

"Oh..." she said, letting go and sounding disappointed.

"She's just here to get her belt." Tree informed her.

I was in an embrace again before I could even recover from the last one. "Well, whoever is running elite team tonight should give Bandit her belt!! I want to see it on her cute little...red belt...face!"

"Red belt face?" I asked as she let go, but there was no answer.

"ELITE TEAM! LINE UP!!" Aslan yelled.

Everyone lined up, and I sat down on the sidelines where I usually go.

"Bandit! What are you doing?" Aslan more or less shouted.

"I'm sitting here, Sir."

"No you're not! You're lining up!"

"You're on elite team now." Tree smiled.

I felt really excited, then ran up to join the class. We lined up, as is normal, then bowed in.

"Tree, will you go get that red... piece of fabric thats over there on that shelf?"

He laughed, "Yes sir." He grabbed my belt then stood up next to Aslan.

"BANDIT!!" Aslan yelled.

"Yes sir!" I responded bowing and running up to him.

"Does anyone have a camera?" Aslan asked looking around.

"Yeah!" Said Dancer, "do you have you're phone Bandit? Do you want a picture on it??"

"Not particularly..." I said, now feeling very 'on the spot'.

Dancer then disappeared for a moment then returned with a camera. This was a very different promotion ceremony for me.

"Turn around and take off your belt." Aslan instructed.

I did so, then handed it back to him, who handed it to Tree at his side. I heard the camera clicking. He then took my new red belt and tied it around my waist. "Okay, turn around and face the class. Bandit, Red belt, Cheriet, Kunyeh." Everyone bowed to me, then erupted into applause that was much louder then the usual rank advancement applause. I knew I was back where I belonged.

I stepped in front of Tree, who handed my old belt back to me. "Congratulations Ma'am." he said. "Unless you want me to..."

"Tie it around my feet? Yeah!" I said. (This is custom)

"Okay, okay." Tree whispered, bending down and tying my belt around my feet as people behind me giggled at his confusion. "Okay, step out..." Tree instructed quietly. I complied, then stepped out of my previous belt. Tree picked it up off the floor and handed it to me. "Congratulations."

I didn't take the belt.

"You're supposed to..." Aslan whispered motioning both his hands forward.

"Aren't you going to put it around my neck?" I asked.

"Yeah, come on Tree!" Came a voice from behind.

"I want the WHOLE ceremony!" I said.

"Okay, okay! Sorry. I haven't done this in a long time!" Tree defended putting the belt around my neck. "NOW, congratulations!" he said for the third time, holding out his hand. I took it and shook.

I ran back to my place in line with everybody clapping again. I was on top of the world. This rocked!

"So... we aren't allowed to do any crazy flying killingness this week..." Aslan informed everyone, "Because pre-testing is this Saturday. So don't break yourselves!!" Most eyes in the room went to Treasure, who looked around uneasily.

Aslan continued, "This means no flying around, no skateboarding, no parkour, no extreme sports, no letting your friends drag you underneath doors..." on this last example Kenny pointed at Treasure who looked down. "Don't do ANYTHING stupid for the next two months!"

Fluffy put his hand halfway up, "Does that include-"

"YES!!" Aslan replied pointing hard at him, who put his hand down and looked at the ground just like Treasure.

"Sooo... go do the demo!" He said walking away, "Line up!!" Everybody ran to their rehearsed places while I walked over to the side of the studio, having no rehearsed place and not even knowing the demo.

"Bandit, Get over HERE!" Hiss said almost angrily pointing to a spot on the floor. "You are in the demo!"

"I don't even know the demo!" I said.

"Oh, come on!" Water Fetcher said. "We'll teach it to you! Come on!"

I ran over to some random spot on the floor and Water Fetcher taught me the form while the whole team went through it slowly with me.

"...then you slide up into this..." she said.

I tried... "What the..."

"Ku San Ku" Treasure said.

"I don't even know Taguek 8!"

"You're delivering a pizza." Fluffy said, doing the move again for me slowly.

I tried again. Fluffy came up to me and moved my hand into the correct position. "Oh, okay." I said.

We went on to the next move. "This is a Taguek 8." Tree said. "You'll get it easy."

I nodded and continued.

Water Fetcher continued, "Now, Middle knife... front snap...punch... crecent, turn... up....one, two, three.... and KILL!" We all took a isometric punch to the ground and kioped. It was awesome!

"This is the part where sparks come out of our fists!" Tree said.

"Yeah!" I said, liking this idea as Treasure reenacted it for me, complete with sound effects.

"This time with music!" Said Dancer. Suddenly everyone started talking to me.

"This isometric move is 1, 2,3..." Said Water Fetcher.

"Just follow the person in front of you..." Dancer said.

"...delivering a pizza" Fluffy said.

Treasure looked like he was saying something.

"I lost the game." Came Tree's voice, which had just materialized behind me, making me jump.

"Game?" I asked.

"The game is to not think about the game, if you think about the game you lose the game and must announce that you have just lost the game..." (remember, all of this dialogue is happening at the same time)

"Bandit! Did you get that? Bandit!" Hiss was saying.

"Everyone stop! There are like, ten people trying to talk to me right now!!" I yelled, and everything went quiet. "Lets just start the demo, I'll do my best." I said.

This seemed to satisfy everyone and we continued the demo.

Tiger then came in and had us practice 360 kicks.

"I don't know 360 kicks!" I said.

"POOF! Now you do!" She said.

"Woah..."

"360's go!" Then she whispered to me, "Don't worry, I'm not going to make you do them tonight." So I held the kicking pad for Dancer while she did her kicks.

After that, Tiger, "Okay, everybody, two lines down there! Okay, thats 3, I asked for two! One, two! There we go! Flying doubles!!!"

"I can't do flying doubles!" I said.

"Bad word! Five pushups!"

I was doing pushups when Water Fetcher noticed. "Bandit, what are you doing?"

"Pushups for saying I can't do something!" I replied.

"Yep, cuz I'm mean!" Tiger said almost triumphantly.

We continued with the flying doubles, first doing a flying double snap kick, followed by a double roundhouse, then lastly a flying double side kick.

"No fair!! You're better at them than me!" Water Fetcher complained to me. "I just have too much of an 'oh crap' instinct."

"It's okay Water Fetcher, I have a feeling my lack of 'oh crap' instinct is going to get me killed some day." I responded.

Next, we did split kick, which went alright, then we finally bowed out of elite team (after a "don't do anything stupid" reminder). I received more congratulations for getting my belt, but all I care about is that I'm back with MY team.

My million dollar yearbook.

So, I was supposed to graduate from high school the next day and I had my yearbook. So naturally I wanted EVERYONE to sign it! This included studio people.

I went to the studio with my yearbook in hand, hoping to get a bunch of people to sign it. SWAT team was still in progress (which I had quit due to the fact that it had drastically changed and I couldn't take it anymore) so I couldn't get Jay-spoon or Coconut's signatures yet. I then looked to the northern Utah portion of the studio and saw Treasure and Hiss. I walked back there and saw them doing something very strange.... They would put their hands on the back of their neck, then shoulders, then put their arms straight out to the side, over and over again. "What are you guys doing?" I asked giving them both a weird look.

"Try doing this for ten minutes!" Hiss said all out of breath.

"No, I don't think I will..." I replied.

"It hurts!" Treasure gasped.

I looked at Treasure and said, "I haven't seen you in like, a month and a half!"

"I know" Treasure breathed continuing his strange 'workout', "Where've you been?"

"Well, I had Peter Pan, then you cracked your head open..."

"Oh yeah! I forgot about that!" he said in his new breathy voice and with a look of pain on his face. "I guess it figures since it was a head injury!" he laughed (well, as much as he could).

"How long have you two been doing this??" I finally asked.

"About eight minutes..." Hiss panted.

"Yeah... eight..." came what was left of Treasure's voice.

"Well, when you are done you both need to sign my yearbook!" I said holding out my yearbook.

"Uhhh..." They both said in shaky voices while looking at each other.

"If your arm doesn't work you can just draw a line and I'll know what it means." I responded.

They both laughed and continued doing... whatever it was they were doing. I walked back to the shelves and got my uniform out of my bag. When I looked up Treasure and Hiss were walking toward me, both stretching and moving their arms and neck trying to shake away the tension.

"Ah! Don't do that for ten minutes!" Hiss advised me.

"I wasn't planning on it!" I laughed.

"I'm going to do it again next time!" Treasure said, walking and swinging his arms from side to side to stretch them out.

"Yeah, soon Treasure is going to be so buff, that he won't be able to shampoo his head!" I said.

We all laughed as Treasure demonstrated that for us.

"Okay! I'm going to go change, Hiss, sign my yearbook." I said flopping my yearbook on the ground next to Hiss, then going into the changing room. When I got out Hiss was still writing. Treasure was moving his neck from side to side and stretching out his arms with a look of pain on his face. "Every time I look at you, you have a look of pain on your face!" I observed.

"Thats because I AM in pain!!"

Hiss then handed me my yearbook and I handed it to Treasure. "Sign it." I instructed.

He sat on the ground and Hiss and I sat with him making a half circle. Treasure stared at the book for about two minutes then finally said, "I can't think of anything to write..."

"That hurts me, Treasure." I said putting my hand on my heart.

He laughed and said, "Well, I just can't think of..."

"... just write your name or something!" Hiss recommended.

Treasure's face sparked, "Thats a good idea! I'll totally up the value of your yearbook!" He then proceeded to sign his name, then handed it back to me. "There you go, enjoy. Its going to be worth a lot of money some day." he said nodding looking pleased with himself.

"Wow Treasure, nice." I said. I then heard the door open in the lobby. "Someone's coming in! They need to sign my yearbook!" I said turning around but still sitting. Bambi appeared in the doorway. "BAMBI!! You need to sign my yearbook!!" I said holding it up. He just nodded and took his shoes off to walk on the mat.

Treasure had now begun stretching again, still talking about his yearbook entry he said, "Oh yeah, I'm unique and special."

SWAT team had now begun a chanbarra match, so Coconut sat out due to the fact that he had an injury. "Coconut! You need to sign my yearbook!" I said running over to him with my yearbook. Braden followed me and I handed my yearbook to him first. He sat next to Coconut and began signing his name right under Treasure's. "Treasure!" I said in a loud whisper. He didn't hear me, so I tried again. "TREASURE!" He looked. "Treasure, you're not unique and special anymore!"

"WHAT??" He exclaimed. He then looked at Bambi who was still holding the yearbook. Trevor proceeded to storm toward him with a threatening look on his face cracking his knuckles. When he got to Bambi he pretended to kick him, then told Bambi that he was just kidding.

"I don't know what to write either!" Coconut said. So he too just signed his name. He didn't even put his last name like Treasure and Bambi had.

"Wow, you guys lack creativity." I informed them.

"Hey! That yearbook is worth MILLIONS now!!" Treasure reminded me.

I think the whole thing almost made all the signatures more memorable. :)

Knife Defense

I returned to the studio after being gone for almost a whole month! It was good to be back, especially on a day that the herd wasn't there. The class was very small and was almost just an open floor class. When the class ended Kristi came up to Tiger. "I need to practice knife defense." she said.
"Go talk to Man Cub, he's going through all of them now." she responded, then walked away. Kristi looked over in Man Cub's direction. He was indeed going through all the knife defense with Coconut.
She sighed, "I don't want to do knife defense with Man Cub..."
"You can do it with me" I said. "I'll only be able to be an attacker, but it will give you more of a chance to practice."
"Okay! Lets go!" she said. We walked over to Man Cub and Coconut. "Can we practice with you?" Kristi asked.
"Sure" Man Cub said, "We'll just go through all of them slowly." And thats what we did. Kristi was still having a hard time with it though. "Here, I'll show you." Man Cub said. "Bandit, attack me." I did so. He grabbed my arm, "So you stop it right here behind your ear..." he demonstrated, "Then, you walk in toward them, shove their arm back the other way..." BAM! I was on the ground. "Now, I flatten her hand on the ground, pushing on her elbow with my chest... take the knife and kill her!" he finished slitting my throat. I lay on the ground as Man Cub got off of me. He then grabbed my hand and pulled me up, or basically threw me back to my feet. Thats one of his favorite things to do with me since I'm so light.
"You make it look so easy!" Kristi complained.
"Here, Bandit will attack you, and I will walk you through it slowly." Man Cub suggested. I went to stab Kristi, who caught my arm. She then did the whole defense move with Man Cub talking her through it. "Good," he said as soon as I was dead. Then threw me back on my feet.
"You're lucky." Coconut told me. "He usually just freight trains me."
"Yeah! Freight train is fun!" Man Cub exclaimed. "Somebody attack me!"
I ran up with a knife and slow motion stabbed him in the head. He didn't do anything. There was a collective "ooooh...."
"You just died, sir..." Coconut said.
"Well... I have a skull of steel!" he defended. "Anyway, attack me!"
I then attacked him from over-head again. I was on the ground before I even registered that I was falling. I think he was being especailly rough on me to get his reputation back up after getting killed. I felt the inside of my upper arm start to hurt as he slit my throat. Man Cub got off of me as Kristi said, "Oh my gosh! That was fast!"
I lay broken on the ground. Man Cub explained, "I am the train, she is the victim" he motioned to me on the ground as I started getting up, glaring at him. "A train doesn't stop its momentum when something is in front of it." he continued ignoring me. Then he looked at me.
"Ow?" I said sarcastically.
"Look at her arm! It's all red!" Kristi said. I looked at my arm, and it was indeed all red.
"Sorry..." Man Cub said.
"Thats okay." It's impossible to not forgive him with his sad face. Jerk.
"Good, now get back on the ground." He said smiling. I sighed, then returned to the ground. "Now, Kristi, you have to do lethal right?"
"Yes Sir." She responded.
"Okay then, I'm going to show you all the lethal points on the neck." He said kneeling next to me with a knife as I lay on the floor. Creepy, huh? He then started just moving the knife back and forth across my neck, making it feel really weird.
"Stop it!" I said smacking his hand away. "My neck is not your orchestra instrument!"
He laughed and continued with his lesson. "You can go right along the jaw line..." he said lining the knife up with my jaw line, then pulling it across in one swift movement. "Dead! And you get these nice black lines on your throat." he finished, running his finger across the new black line on my neck.
"Quite touching my neck!" I said shoving his hand away. He knows I hate it when people touch my neck.
He laughed again and went on again, "Anyway, you can also just slit right across the front of the throat... its better if you can sever the windpipe..." he did the same swift movement across my throat. "Now, roll over on your stomach, Bandit."
I sighed and then complied. My face was in the mat, and it was really awkward having people touch the back of my neck...
"So, on the back of the neck you can just cut straight across..." he did "... severs all the tendons, she can't lift up her head."
"Awww..." came my muffled voice from the mat. Kristi and Coconut laughed. "Or..." Man Cub continued, " They don't really teach this one, but I like it."
"Oh no..." I thought.
"Just stab right in between their vertebrates." I felt the point of the knife come down on the back of my neck.
"Ooooh..." I heard Coconut say. I then felt Alex get up. I continued to lay face down for a while.
"It's okay," I heard Man Cub's voice say, "You're alive now!" He grabbed my hand and threw me to my feet.
Man Cub and I then switched partners, so that I was with Coconut and he was with Kristi.
"Sabumnim Man Cub is mean." Coconut whispered to me.
"I know." I said holding up my arm, which was still red. "Trust me I know." Man Cub then looked over and glared at us.
"Okay!" he continued after a few times practicing that same move. "We're moving on! Bandit, attack me, underhand this time." So I did. He blocked the knife with an x-block, then swung my arm over his shoulder. "Here you break the arm, then... you're just supposed to turn and throw them to the ground." Which he halfway did, until I felt all the joints in my arm lock. I stopped on my knees and put my free hand on the ground.
"Aaaah...." I said in a quiet shaky voice, so it wasn't quite a scream.
"Then if you want to be mean..."
"Which he is right now... he IS!!" I told Coconut and Kristi.
"... you put them on a koga hold right here instead of just throwing them." Then he kicked me in the face. "Huh..." he said, still locking one of my arms in place. "I can't really remember what comes after this one..." Suddenly, without warning he twisted my arm into another awkward position and got down on his knees behind me.
"Oh my gosh!! WHAT ARE YOU DOING???" I screamed closing my eyes against the pain, my head on the ground.
"Hmmm.... interesting..."
"AAAAHH!!!! WHAT ARE YOU DOING?"
"Am I supposed to be doing goose neck on this one?" he asked himself, tightening the lock.
"AAAAAAHHH!!! STOP!! STOP!! STOP!! I need to write 3 essays with this arm tomorrow!!!" I had an AP lit test the next day.
"I'm just trying to figure this out..."
"Man Cub you are EVIL!!!" It literally felt like my arm could break. "AAAHHH!! AAAHH!! WHAT ARE YOU DOING???" This was a new hold for me.
Kristi and Coconut were just looking at us. "Stop!! Stop!!" Kristi pleaded. "That looks like it hurts!!!"
"It does! It DOES!!!" I cried out.
Man Cub was still contemplating, then saw Tiger walking by. "I'll ask her!" He said, releasing me and running over to her.
I, still on the ground, streatched out my liberated arm and started rubbing it. "AAAh" came the shaky staccoto voice again. Coconut came over and patted me on the head as I rolled onto my back. I just nodded, accepting the jesture.
Man Cub came over and offered me his hand. I took it and he again threw me to my feet.
"You pretty much broke my arm!!" I accused.
"Well, you weren't tapping out!" He said in his own defense. It then occured to me that tapping out hadn't even crossed my mind. What was wrong with me?
"I was screaming in pain... shouldn't that count?"
He just shrugged.
Yep, thats pretty much how knife defense goes.

Forgotten?

"Whose turn is it to pick us up?" Tree asked Treasure. Treasure shrugged. "Well, I guess we'll go wait outside." Tree decided. "It's pretty warm out there." They both grabbed their stuff and exited the studio.

After a while I looked out the window and saw that they were still outside and Dakota and Tio had joined them. The fact that they were still out there was unusual since Treasure and Tree's carpool was usually exactly on time. I decided to go out and talk to them. "Hey guys, were you forgotten?" I asked as I went to the only patch of grass outside of the studio where they were currently residing.

"I don't know!" said Tree. "Treasure and I can't remember who's supposed to pick us up!"

"Thats okay," I said "we'll just have to entertain you."

"Hold on!" Dakota interjected. "Treasure, how old are you?"

"Thirteen." Treasure responded, standing in his typical relaxed attention stance with his hands behind his back and standing up straight.

"Tree, how old are you?"

"Fifteen." He said, lounging on top of a rock.

"What??" Dakota said in a confused voice. "How are you two such good friends then?"

"We just are." Tree said, as Treasure shrugged.

"I'm eighteen... I mean, twelve." I said.

Treasure turned to me and raised his eyebrow. Then he looked at my hand, which was currently holding a copy of Cormac McCarthy's The Road. "You're twelve, and yet you're reading Cormac McCarthy?"

"I'm a very advanced twelve year old." I responded. "Thats why I'm a senior in high school."

"I'm eight." said Tio, which is how old Dakota is. "That explains my immaturity."

"Hey!!" Dakota protested.

"I was born yesterday." Tree informed us.

"Wow!" I said in mock-awe, "I could've sworn that I've known you for more than two years!"

"Yeah, thats how well I fit in. You guys all feel like you've known me for a long time."

It was then that Man Cub came out of the studio and saw us all congregated on the patch of grass. "Was somebody forgotten?" he asked, joining us.

"It looks like mine and Treasure's ride forgot us." Tree informed Man Cub.

"Can I borrow somebody's phone?" Treasure asked. I pulled mine out and handed it to him. He opened it, then immediately raised his eyebrow at the screen. The Treasure translation for this one is, "What on earth is your phone background supposed to be?"

"Oh, thats my dog when he went out and played in the snow. He got covered in little snowballs!" I told him.

"I want to see!!" Tree said running up and looking over Treasure's shoulder. He laughed and said, "That doesn't even look like a dog anymore!!"

Treasure then took the phone and walked away from the group so he could call his dad.

Somehow while he was gone, we got into a discussion about different languages and how some things can sound completely wrong in another language. One that Tree said sounded completely inappropriate, but we all laughed anyway.

"We're all going to heck for laughing at that!" I said.

"Hey, It's spanish!" Tree defended. "It means 'getting better'!"

"I had a japanese exchange student once, but the only phrase I knew in Japanese was 'atoshiwa ninja des', which means, I am a ninja. I couldn't even explain to him why I was a ninja!" I said. Everyone laughed. Treasure had now returned.

"Wait, how do you say that?" he asked.

"Ah-toshi-wah" I said

"Atoshiwa..." he repeated.

"Ninja-des."

"Ninja des, awesome! I will have to remember that one!"

"So were you forgotten?" Man Cub asked. Treasure nodded.

"Yeah, I thought so." Tree sighed. "I guess we have at least another fifteen minutes out here.

Treasure handed my phone back.

We then started discussing trips to the dentist. "I remember rejoicing when I found out that I didn't have to get flouride treatments anymore." I said. Everyone looked confused. "You know that weird foamy stuff in the tray?"

"Oh!" exclaimed Tree. "I hate that stuff!!"

"Did you ever notice how the flavors are never good?" Tio asked, "Bubble gum, cherry, banana..."

"I got chocolate flavored once." Treasure said.

"Chocolate? I've never heard of that flavor in flouride!" I said.

"It was weird." he said.

"Well, when you're on laughing gas, chocolate flavored flouride isn't that bad." Man Cub said. "Thats when they gave that kind to me."

"When you're on laughing gas, nothing is that bad." Tree pointed out. We all nodded in agreement.

"I don't even really like being put on the laughing gas." I said.

"What I hate is when they ask you questions when you have a bunch of stuff in your mouth. It's not like you can answer! Then they pretend that they know what you're saying!" Tree Complained.

"I actually asked a dentist about that once. I asked if they did it just for their own entertainment." Man Cub said.

"What did he say?" Treasure asked.

"He said I wasn't the first person to ask that question. Then he didnt' say anything else."

"Sounds like a dentist." Tree pouted. "But they aren't as bad as orthodontists!"

"My orthodontist kept me in braces for four years!!!" Man Cub complained. "I swear he was moving them back and forth! They would be straight, then I would get my braces tightened and they would get all spaced out again!"

"I only had my braces for six months." I said. Treasure pulled out an imaginary gun and shot me.

"I had to get braces TWICE!!" He said.

"I had mine on forever!" Tree said. "Orthodontists are crazy!" We all agreed.

"What time is it?" I asked suddenly.

"Eight." Tio responded.

"Oh shoot! I have to go!" I said.

"Yeah, me too." said Man Cub.

"See you guys! Good luck with getting home!" I said as I walked to my car.

"Maybe we'll get there eventually!" Tree said waving.

Studio Nicknames and why...

*Sabumnim Man Cub (Alex)- Alex is Man Cub because thats what Alicia always called him. We don't really know why, but thats just the way it is.

*Chokunim Tree/ Franz (Raystan)- Raystan became Hoksanim Tree during the summer when we were all extremely early to SWAT team. So what did we do? Chased each other around of course! We started by chasing Chandler out the door, tackling him, then bringing him back inside the studio.
"Chase me next!" somebody yelled. So we then proceeded to chase them out of the studio and bring them back. Each time somebody would get further than the one before, but we always got them back.
"My turn!" Raystan announced, then turned and ran out of the studio. We chased him only to find him almost right outside the door standing straight and holding his arms bent and up at different levels. We all stopped and looked at him. "I am a hairy tree." he informed us.
"How are we supposed to get him back in?" asked Chandler.
"I don't know..." I said. We all just stood there staring at him. We then all tried carrying him back to the studio, but he was too stiff to pick up. Then I got an idea. "Come here tree!" I said as if I were talking to a dog. "Come on!" Raystan started hopping towards me. "Good tree! Keep coming!" I backed up closer to the door as the tree hopped towards me. Everyone else joined in as well.
"Here tree! Here"
"Who's a good tree?"
Therefore he was Hoksanim tree, but he got promoted, so now he's Chokanim tree.
Franz is because when he wears his elite team jacket with his bleached hair he looks like a German snowboarder.

*Chokanim Treasure (Trevor)- Sometimes people slip up on his name and accidentaly call him treasure. Therefore, Chokinum treasure. Also, he's special! But not he ed kind.

*Chokanim Fluffy (Chandler)- In boot camp Chandler was being wimpy and wouldn't do all of the workouts. "Come on Chandler!" I said, "You're steel! STEEL!!"
"I'm not steel!" he whined, "Trevor is!"
"Well, so are you!" I urged him.
"I am not!" he responded out of breath. "I'm cotton!!"
"So, you're not hard, you're fluffy?" I asked.
"Yeah! I'm fluffy!"
Behold, Chokanim Fluffy.

*Hoksanim Water Fetcher (Linnea)- Linnea wanted a cool jungle book name like Alex and asked if she could be the girl who is singing "and I will go and fetch the waaaateeer..." None of us objected, but we didn't know the character's name. So she just became Water Fetcher. Awesome, right?

*Hoksanim Elmo(Tim)- Tim was 'Elmo the Red' for the chanbarra tournament and dressed up. He painted his face red and put ping pong ball half on his forhead for eyes. It was the creepiest thing ever! Then he talked in a creepy elmo voice all night.

*Hoksanim Bambi (Braden)- Braden has the perfect Bambi eyes.

*Howler Monkey (Noah)- Thats what his Kiop sounds like.

*Coconut (Kalon)- If you look at the top of his head at the right angle it looks like a coconut! I don't know if he appreciates the name, but it is entertaining!

*Brick King (Ethan)- When you throw him and he lands, it sounds like a pile of bricks landing on the ground! Seriously! Whenever we hear him fall everybody yells "BRICK KING!"

*Feasting Man (Jesse)- Jesse loves to eat, and he eats all the time and is always hungry. On his CSI shirt for summer camp his kanji said "feasting man".