Closed GREEN SEA TENT FULL Conspira-Sea

Stephen looked around at the different tents, trying to determine if any particularly caught his eye, and one indeed did. It was called the Green Sea and the colors were green, as expected, and black, but the thing that most captured his attention was the quote painted a number of times on the outside canvas. It read: ❝a smooth sea never made a skilled pirate❞. That made him pause and a smile crossed his lips. It immediately brought to mind one his own favorite quotes, learned many years ago from his best friend Michael's astronaut father: "through adversity to the stars". Sure, it was the official motto of the Royal Air Force as he had been reminded a number of times, but truth was truth, no matter where you found it or how it was used. Besides, since Stephen now found himself in the United Kingdom for the second time in 4 months, he thought it rather fitting.

Stars and ships.

Starship

Now that definitely appealed to the astronaut wannabe. His mind was already made up that this was for sure going to be the tent for him when he saw Miles Thatcher, an upperclassman and the Ilvermorny Hexwizard Champion, carry his belongings into the tent. Excellent! Although the two did not know each other, they at least attended the same school so there would be something at least familiar in these surroundings. Now was as good a time as any to try and make new friends.

Stephen entered and found that he and Miles were the only two in the spacious environs. It must be enchanted because it looks a lot smaller from the outside, Stephen noted. He walked just a little past Miles and sat his bags and gear on the bunk next to the one Miles had chosen. It was not right at the opening of the tent but not all the way at the back either, near the lavatory. Stephen reasoned it would likely be a little more quiet in the middle of the night than either end when one was trying to sleep.

Looking over to Miles, Stephen smiled broadly and introduced himself. "Hey. Hi. We don't know each other, but I go to Ilvermorny as well. I am Stephen Schwartz, firs-- ... uhhm, second year Wampus. That second year part is going to take a bit of getting used to," and he laughed. He had graduated months ago, but he had not really had cause to say his new status as a second year out loud. It felt a little strange on the tongue. "Have you been to many of these summer camps? As our Hexwizard champion, and congratulations on that honor by the way, I would assume you have, but I have been wrong before. Any pointers for the uninitiated?"

Interacting with: Miles Thatcher @Simon Kincaid

On the morning of August first, EmmaLee rose up from her bed and put her white blonde hair half up in two pony tails. She also wore a medium blue summer dress with short sleeves and medium blue trainers because today was the first day of summer camp at the London Quidditch Stadium. Her family had gotten a hotel room near the stadium for the last two weeks so that EmmaLee could buy her school supplies and the family could have a small holiday in London before the young witch started her school activities.

EmmaLee was buzzing with excitement and she kissed her mother and her stepfather, Victor, good bye at the entrance of the London Quidditch Stadium and approached the sign in table. She felt a little overwhelmed at the amount of students flooding into the stadium and hoped that she would be able to find some new friends here. Any friends at all would be great.

As she waited for her turn to sign in, she looked over the various tent designs and finally settled on the Green Sea tent. It looked dark and mysterious, like an adventure waiting to happen. Granted, all of the tents looked like an adventure waiting to happen, but this particular tent pulled at her more than the others. She liked the ship on the side and the various green and black designs.

After she signed in, she headed off to find where the tent had been set up, lugging her trunk behind her. It was a good thing that it had wheels or she probably would have never gotten it across the yard with her tiny little arms.
~Maybe I should try to get more into athletics so that my arms are not so noodley.~ She thought absent mindedly as she scanned the tents and trudged along.

Finally, she saw the painted green and black ship raising up through the other tents and made her way there and through the entrance of the tent with her trunk. She stared in amazement at the inside of the tent. She was unfazed by the disproportionate inside, but the inside did spectacularly match the outside in a beautiful swirl of greens, black, and gold.

She pulled her suitcase over to a bunk on one side of the tent, near the middle and situated it at one end of the bed, then she sat down on the lower bunk. She smiled at the two boys who were already here and put her pale hand up in a small little wave.
"Hello, my name is EmmaLee LeDames. I'll be a first year at Hogwarts this coming September." She said, cheerily, swallowing her nervousness. "I suppose we will be tent-mates for the summer."

Ilvermorny | Second Year | Thunderbird

WC: 411 Hex:#10949d

Date: August 1, 2022 Outfit: Simple camp fit!

Jamie had been literally vibrating with excitement, even before he entered the famed London Quidditch Stadium. His parents had dropped him and Mel off a decent distance away (since they were normies no-majs) and he totally would have sprinted to the entrance, had his sister not forced him to walk with her.
The second that they were cleared to go in, he shot off like a rocket. The hyperactive redhead bounced around the massive stadium for a while, oohing and ahing over the many prospective activities. Finally, he heard the words "pirate tents" from a crowd of passerby.

Aha! A new objective!

The little speedster hurried over to a cluster of brightly colored structures in the distance. He skidded to a stop, smack dab in the middle of the growing crowd. He paused, just for a moment, taking it all in. There were so many people!
Jamie had known beforehand that this was an international event, but he still couldn't stop himself from gawking at the students bustling around him. He recognized a few familiar faces; some Ilvermorny dudes, some Hogwarts bros, and still others from the rest of the wizarding schools. Damn, he couldn't even remember all of the schools' names...

Wait a second. Why had he come over here again?
"A tent!" Jamie said aloud. He shook his head, and with great effort, returned his attention back to the lodging options. But then he groaned, as another challenge reared its ugly head.
Which one should he choose? They were all so awesome looking, and he had never been great at decision making. Jamie stood there for a few seconds, stumped.
Eventually, he shrugged, dropped his bag, closed his eyes, stretched out a hand, and spun in circles. Suddenly, he stopped, and looked up to see his arm pointing towards a most awesome tent. It was decked out in dazzling shades of green and gold. A fearsome pirate ship was painted on the side, cruising atop dark, angry waves.

GREEN SEA, read the sign above the entrance. Jamie shouldered his bag and grinned from ear to ear. "Mom always did say green was my color."
He wasted no time in dashing inside. Two other kids were already there. They looked to be in the early stages of introductions.
The redhead puffed out his chest. Time to meet the illustrious Jamie D Ziegler. "Hey guys! I'm Jamie from Ilvermorny's Thunderbirds. You guys ready for an epic time at camp, or what?"

@AngelFyre McCubbin | @EmmaLee LeDames

August 1, 2022

Lillian was dropped off a little late by her mother. Unlike Lillian, her mother was buzzing with excitement at this trip. Lillian was annoyed, though. She had planned to spend her last summer before Hogwarts at home, spending time with her siblings and her pets. Unfortunately, her parents had other plans. They had decided to send her off to the summer camp to let her get used to being around other wizards and maybe make some friends, not wanting her to be entirely alone when she started out.

Lillian hugged her mother goodbye and slowly made her way towards the camp, eyes down and dragging her feet on the floor, pulling her suitcase behind her. Realizing that she got to pick out her tent, she examined all of them from afar. A green one with a ship caught her eye. It was labeled 'Green Sea.' It reminded her of home. Queenborough was a coastal city, and Lillian had grown up counting the ships on the horizon, a game played with her siblings. Whoever counted the most ships got to pick the movie that night. Only now, looking back, did she realize how idiotic the game was.

Suddenly, it was her turn to sign up. The memory interrupted, she focused on the present. Without thinking, she signed up for the Green Sea tent, and made her way over to it. The tent had reminded her of home, and, already feeling a little homesick, she had chosen it. However, as she observed the tent more closely, she read the quote painted all over it. A smooth sea never made a skilled pirate. Great. Now she was unsure if this was the right tent for her. The tent seemed to be made for more daring and adventurous people. The kind of person Lillian was not.

Who picks a tent for their personality? They must have just thought the pirate ship looked cool, she thought to herself. With renewed confidence, she quickened her pace. Stopping right at the tent flap, she took a deep breath before cautiously pulling it aside.

When she entered, a loud and enthusiastic boy was introducing himself, clearly at least a little excited. Nope, people definitely chose this tent for their personality. Hoping she could slip by without anyone noticing her, she walked over to a bunk in the corner, letting her suitcase fall to the floor as she sat down to face the rest, offering a bit of a half-smile. She flinched at the thud sound that came when her suitcase hit the ground.

EmmaLee turned towards the entrance of the tent as a red haired boy burst in and introduced himself and then a girl shyly entered after him. She waved a little as she stood up from the bench and walked over to the new comers.
"Hello, Jamie. My name is EmmaLee. I'll be attending Hogwarts as a first year in September." She said with a smile. She had maintained a lot of her French accent, but did speak English very clearly. Her mother had taught her French, English, and Spanish from a young age, so she was equally fluent in all three. She waved at the girl as she headed through the tent and picked out her own bunk.
"Hello to you as well, miss. I hope that we all can get along and enjoy camp together. I'm extremely excited." She continued, bouncing a little on her toes in excitement. She jumped a little in surprise as Lillian's suitcase hit the floor with a bang and giggled a little at being surprised.
"It is nice to meet all of you." She finished, clasping her hands behind her back and rocking back and forth on her heels in sudden nervousness. It had just now dawned on her that she hadn't talked to people her own age in person in over two years. She had only interacted with her friends from America and their families since coming to the United Kingdom. Old worries came up again about making new friends who she wouldn't see after camp, but she tried to squash them down with another excited smile.

August 1, 2022

Lillian smiled gratefully at the girl who had come up to talk to her. The reluctance and nervousness was slowly dripping away, as she realized that at least two of these people were outgoing. She wouldn't have to go up and talk to people with the risk of simply being ignored or glared at. "Hi, EmmaLee," she said, her voice a bit quiet. Then, raising her voice so everyone else could hear her, too, she continued. "I'm Lillian. It's nice to meet you, too."

As she spoke, she felt herself becoming a little more confident. Another first year. Maybe they could stand in newbie solidarity. "I'm a first year, too. Don't exactly know anyone just yet," she said with a bit of a sheepish laugh. The other people around them looked a bit older, and she was sure they had attended the school before. The boy, who she now knew was Jamie, had a distinct American accent. That must mean he was from Ilvermorny. Not that it mattered to her. She didn't know students from any school, Hogwarts or otherwise.

She felt her shoulders drop a little as she relaxed, and stretched her legs out in front, crossing them at the ankles in a bit of a lazy pose. So far everyone had been nice and friendly, and she hoped the rest of her tentmates would be, too. Speaking of which, it seemed that her slightly late arrival had been all right, since there were only four people in the tent.

Emma hugged her dad tightly. She had been so excited for summer camp, but now that the day had arrived her excitement was suddenly replaced with fear.

An entire Quidditch stadium full of people I've never met before? She was terrified. Her dad pulled out of the hug, interrupting Emma's train of thought.

"You'll be fine, Emma," he said. "I've been in your shoes, remember? And your mom had been in your shoes once too."

It was days like this one when Emma missed her mom the most. She wondered what she would say to comfort her. Based on the stories Emma had been told, the friendly witch would probably make life-long friends within the first hour of camp. Emma took a deep breath and decided to channel that energy. After saying a final goodbye to her dad, she walked into the stadium.

She was directed to sign in and then pick a tent in which she'd stay for the summer. One tent in particular caught her eye. It was decorated in beautiful shades of green. Having grown up in a small, countryside town, Emma found the color comforting. She would often sit beneath the branches of a tree, surrounded by nothing but green grass and leaves in every direction.

She entered the tent to see that a large group of people had already begun settling in. They looked nice, and some of Emma's excitement was finding its way back.

"Hi everyone! I'm Emma. I'll be a first year at Hogwarts in the fall. It's lovely to meet you all."

EmmaLee laughed a little in relief at Lillian's words, Emmalee's own nervousness and worry melting away. Maybe she could learn to just let things go and enjoy the moments she made with people right now. Later didn't really matter as long as you were still friends, right? And there would always be new friend to be made if the old ones faded off for whatever reason.

"Hello, Lillian. I'm glad to have already met another first year. Everyone here looks so much older that I was beginning to think that no one else's parents had thought this was a good idea for their firstie." She said, putting a hand to her head for dramatic effect and then putting it back down at her side. Honestly, she was pretty sure that her mother just wanted her to stop moping around the house with their cat while waiting for Avion, their barn owl, to arrive with another letter from her friends. She had been kind of a brat since moving to Glasgow and her self-imposed isolation had done nothing for anyone's mood.

EmmaLee turned and looked again at the doorway as their sixth tent-mate arrived and introduced herself.
"Yes! Firsties unite!" She said, cheering a little. "I'm EmmaLee and I'll also be a first year at Hogwarts."

Any nervousness EmmaLee felt when entering the huge stadium had almost completely melted away into excitement. At that moment she decided that this was going to be great no matter what. She smiled excitedly at the other members of the tent so far.

Stephen's attention was immediately drawn to a girl who entered the tent. He smiled a greeting at her, but was pretty confused as to why a girl was coming into the tent. Then it struck him that the sign up sheets made no distinction between male and female accommodations. He had no siblings nor did his best friend. It was safe to say that Stephen had never slept in the same room as a girl before. This was going to be interesting. Or was it? They slept just like he did, right? He quickly went through a mental log of his nightly habits. He could think of nothing that would be offensive or inappropriate, so mole hill, there was no mountain to be made here. Probably. Camp was already proving to be quite an adventure and he had not even left the tent yet.

"Hi, EmmaLee. I'm Stephen Schwartz, second year Ilvermorny student. Nice to meet you," he said, walking over to the girl, offering his hand, his smile still lighting up his face. He felt a little like a dork, but he was completely unfamiliar with co-ed, meet the tent mates protocols. Shaking hands seemed better than... better than.... what? Bowing? Kissing a hand? Good grief. Get a grip on yourself, Schwartz.

Thankfully, the cavalry arrived when he both saw and heard Jamie Ziegler enter the tent. Thank, God. He did not know the boy, but they went to Ilvermorny together. One would have to be deaf not to know when Jamie was around. He had a way of making his presence known. Seeing Jamie made him wonder if Louca would be joining them as well. The two were generally thick as thieves back home.

"Hey, Jamie. Stephen Schwartz, fellow Ilvermorny camper, only I represent Wampus. Someone had to," and he shrugged his shoulders and laughed. "Nice to finally meet you officially," he said as he offered his hand.

Then two more things crossed his mind in rapid fire succession. The first was something he was taught in an etiquette session he once attended with his best friend before a military ball they were hired to work at as wait staff to earn extra money. A gentleman never offers his hand to a lady unless she offers hers first. He shot a furtive glance to EmmaLee, hoping she was not aware of his faux pas. This was a note of some import as two more girls arrived separately, but rather closely together.

The brunette was named Lillian and the blonde was Emma. An EmmaLee and an Emma. Nice. Easy to remember. Lillian seemed pensive. Maybe she thought this would be an all girls tent. Ah, well. "Ahoy, maties!" Stephen smiled at both the girls as he spoke, but did not offer to shake either of their hands. "Stephen Schwartz here, 2nd year Ilvermorny. Nice to meet you both. It would appear the Green Sea is the Hogwarts and Ilvermorny tent so far. Here is to fair winds, calm seas, and burgeoning international friendships. Are you three ladies looking forward to camp more or getting to your first magic class next month?"

Interacting with: @EmmaLee LeDames, @Gemima Sable as Jamie Ziegler, @Lillian Ward, @Emma Bennett