“Arlan! We heard a bang in the forest. Was that you?” asked JD.
“I accidentally knocked over a tree.” shrugged Arlan.
“Sounds fun!” exclaimed JD, “You don’t look hurt. Come play a game with us! We’re playing snag-a-scarf!”
I’ll be here for a while. I may as well get to know the other kids.
JD leads Arlan to the other eight big kids. They didn’t warm up to Arlan yet but at least they would play with him. Everyone else except Arlan had on either a red scarf or blue scarf loosely tied around their waist. JD started wrapping a red scarf around Arlan as he explained the rules.
“If this comes off, you’re out. Protect it while taking the other scarfs. It’s a lotta fun!”
“Do the colors mean anything?” asked Arlan.
“It’s a team game.” JD pointed out, “Red team and blue team. First team to take all the other team’s scarfs, wins.” Right as JD had finished tucking in Arlan’s red scarf, Chrysta’s voice peaked up.
“It’s an even game now with Arlan!”
“Yeah, it’s fair now!” exclaimed a tall burly kid. He was the biggest of the children. JD pondered for a moment before responding.
Chrysta and the rest of the blue team accepted JD’s offer with cheers.
Red team consisted of Noah, JD, Arlan, and two girls. Both had long burgundy hair, with dark tan skin but were two inches shorter than Arlan. They were the shortest of the big kids. One had a small mole below the lip’s left side. She spoke to Arlan first.
“I’m Sayla and she’s-”
“Layla!” followed by the other twin without the mole, “You were so scary at breakfast. Please don’t be mean to us!”
That explains why everyone was afraid of me.
“I’m Arlan and I wake up with cranky faces sometimes.” Arlan winked. His humor broke the red team into small laughter.
Afterwards, JD pointed the out-of-bound areas to Arlan. The manor’s waist high cobblestone wall marked the boundary for the west side. A brown picket fence thirty near the dirt road was the other boundary. A fairly large tree on both the north and south side represented start points for each team. Behind the northside tree was a ditch, and the southside had a stream past the tree. Both represented out-of-play boundaries.
Both teams gathered into circles on their respective ends.
“JD, dis will be tough but Arlan will play!” stated Noah.
“Maybe Arlan is fast and strong!” said JD.
“Alright, then we’d better win.” replied Arlan as he finished wrapping his red scarf. JD points to two starting zones marked by the trees. Red team on the north end, blue team on the south end. Each player had to keep one hand on their respective tree prior to the start.
On the red team was Arlan, JD, Noah and two girls from before. On the blue team was Chrysta and four fairly built boys who were taller than Arlan. JD looked at Arslan and nodded to begin. JD shouted a countdown from ten.
“Ten, nine, eight… three, two, one. Go!” counted JD.
Both teams began their charge toward each other with laughter and smiles.
Quite different from soldiers with violence and fear in their eyes.
Arlan jogged behind Noah who was furthest on the left. The two other red team girls flanked the right as JD charged centerfold.
On the blue team side, Chrysta remained behind the four boys who had begun their advance. There was no plan, no organization, no tactics or strategy on either team. A slight smile struck Arlan.
This is where I shine.
Once both sides met in the middle, the frontlines became stalemates as opposing forces awaited an opening. Arlan observed the standoff from behind Noah. Chrysta was in a similar position to Arlan but on the opposite end towards the right flank of the two red team girls. JD had kept a hawk gaze on the center making sure to adjust if needed.
The key to victory here, would be to gain the numerical advantage. Blue team isn’t aware of my abilities either. I’d have to force the enemy into two versus ones using blitz tactics. I need to first target the burly boy opposite of Noah.
Arlan was first to act. He sprinted behind Noah who was still in a standoff. Arlan sprints directly into Noah’s back but slides between Noah’s legs. Both Noah and the burly boy were caught by surprise. Arlan abuses the ambush by snatching the red scarf immediately. The burly boy sat down to signify his defeat.
The next blue member over was a bit skinnier but had an advantage of height and arm length. He was on the opposite side of JD in a stalemate.
One down and four to go. Reachy over there won’t go down easily, having arm length would allow you to grab the enemy scarf before they can grab yours.
Reachy repositioned to keep the combined red team trio in front of him. Cries are heard from the red team’s right flank. Chrysta and a blue team boy eliminated the red team’s right flank. This reduced the red team to only three members while the blue team still had four strong.
JD was now exposed into a three on one but back pedals to reposition against the approaching enemy. Chrysta and two lackeys were moving for the kill on JD. Noah pivots to cover for JD’s left flank, but that wouldn’t be enough for the winning move.
Arlan knew that if they stood their ground, they’d lose. “JD, Noah, fall back to our tree full speed.” ordered Arlan. The confused pair look at each other. Noticing the disadvantage, they gave into Arlan’s order to retreat. Blue team gives chase. Chrysta and one blue member gave chase to JD. Reachy tailed Noah and a green haired blue member gave chase to Arlan.
With the red team on the run, the blue team’s morale had struck an all time high as they felt victory was just in their grasp. Red team had spread out all over the field. JD was moving towards the eastern red side while Noah was opposite of him on the western red side.
Come this way Greenhorn. I need to take you out first.
Arlan had sprinted towards the red side tree, his pursuer had at least three inches of height over Arlan. Arlan would lose his scarf first if they clashed head on due to Greenhorn’s reach. Arriving at the tree’s west side, Arlan circled around the two meter trunk. Greenhorn was only a few meters behind but lost line of sight briefly.
“Chicken!” yelled Greenhorn as he rounded the corner. Savory satisfaction was around the bend. At the corner of Greenhorn’s view, a peculiar figure was pressed against the tree. It was Arlan. He’d pressed himself against the tree after dropping line of sight. Arlan used his element of surprise to steal Greenhorn’s only lifeline, his blue scarf.
Greenhorn down. Need to move quickly to assist the team.
Arlan sprinted back towards the centerline. JD still managed to keep a distance between his pursuants but was beginning to lose his stamina. Noah was going to lose his scarf to Reachy soon. Arlan decides to help Noah first by moving in his direction. Noah notices the approaching help. Reachy sees Noah's eyes looking past him, indicating Arlan’s approach.
Reachy attempts a grab on Noah’s scarf knowing he had to not allow himself to be outnumbered.
“Yeah, get him JD!” yelled Arlan out loud. Upon hearing this, Reachy hesitated and backed away from Noah and looked around. JD was still across the field near the red team tree. Realizing the false information, Reachy gets frustrated and turns his attention back to his opponent. But it was too late, that moment of hesitation was enough for Arlan to jump and dive for Reachy’s scarf.
Reachy sat down as his scarf was taken. Noticing Noah was fatigued, Arlan told Noah to catch his breath. JD was beginning to move towards his two teammates. Chrysta was moving towards JD from a different angle to pincer him. Arlan sprints towards the ensuing final battle.
The first to make contact was Arlan and Chrysta. Arlan forced Chrysta to stop and turn towards him by positioning himself to grab her scarf if she had continued. Chrysta underestimated Arlan and wasn’t able to predict his next move due to his unorthodox movements. Chrysta was now on the defensive trying to keep her distance.
Arlan decided Chrysta was paranoid enough. He was able to zone her and decide the pair’s movements. After half a minute of Arlan controlling Chrysta’s movements, she bumps into something hard and wooden. Chrysta turns to see she has bumped into the fence post in front of the Manor. This moment of surprise allowed Arlan to secure his victory over Chrysta.
Chrysta, confused at what had happened, sloops down to the ground. Before she could ask Arlan questions, JD yells in the distance that he got the final scarf from the blue team.
The red team had emerged victorious. Both teams converged on Arlan and Chrysta to recap and talk about the match. JD was the first to comment on Arlan’s performance. “Arlan, that was really cool! How’d you know or learn to do all that?”
“It just came natural.” replied Arlan. All the kids started to add more praise on top of JD’s comment. They began accepting him as one of them.
Before they could play another round, a bell was heard from the Manor. Miss Petrah was standing at the front door waving for the kids to come inside. “Come inside and wash up for dinner!” commanded Miss Petrah.
Like breakfast, the younger kids had all taken their seats and the older kids were distributing dinner. This time, Arlan decides to help JD distribute mashed potatoes. The room was filled with children’s laughter and aromas of chicken and mashed potatoes. This peaceful atmosphere was something Arlan could get used to.
Just like when I ate with my men back on Terra. This feels like I’m at home.
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