Jake grumbled to himself as he pushed through the undergrowth towards the campfire in the distance. Being the first sacrifice of a trial always felt unfair, especially so when you were the only one hooked thrice in a row. Sure, he may have been asking for it - breaking the Trapper’s leg-holds right in front of him, but that bald hellion had it coming.The Entity had made quick work in returning him to the dark woods on the outskirts of the fire, but Jake was smart enough not to look a gift horse in the mouth and ask why the Entity had been so gracious in bringing him back quickly. It probably had a reason, the Entity always seemed to have a reason for it’s antics. Approaching the campfire, Jake noticed he was alone with only the crackling flames for company. A rare sight, but not completely uncommon. Trials often happened in spurts of activity, quickly using up the stock of survivors available.
Except......Jake wasn’t alone.Sitting on one of the closer logs was a young child, no older than eight, clad in a.....dog costume?“Oh, fuck.” Jake gasped, surely the Entity wouldn’t bring a child into the realm to be a survivor, would it? The ancient god controlling the realm never had shown mercy before, but this was unnecessarily cruel, the boy would’t stand a chance.Approaching him quickly, Jake noticed the boy looked awfully upset, on the verge of tears. Guilt clung at his heart and Jake’s mind raced at some way to stop the impending water works. He did not like kids, and they never had seemed to care for him either, but he couldn’t just leave him be to cry alone.
Thinking back to his childhood, Jake clung to one of the few good memories he had. He loved when his brother would throw him up over his shoulder, assaulting him with tickles until he was red in the face from laughing. It was an idea at least. The only one Jake had.“Hey, uh, kid.” Jake caught his attention. “No need to cry okay? We’re just...camping. It’s fun you’ll see.”Jake took a place on the log besides the child, hunkering down to try and make himself as least intimidating as possible. “Soon more people will be back, you’ll get taken care of.” The other survivors would surely be better at caring for a child than he. Laurie was a babysitter wasn’t she? And surely Claudette would be kinder than him too. Bill and Ace may even have experience, he hadn’t yet asked if they had children themselves.
Forcing a smile on his face, one Jake hoped looked more real than it felt, he spoke. “Until then, I guess your stuck with me!”
He shot his hands under the child’s armpits hoping to get at least a chuckle out of the kid, anything besides crying at least. Imagine his surprise when he actual got him to burst into laughter, smiling and clawing at Jake’s gloved hands to stop his assault.
