Keeper of my Heart (a KOTLC story)

Chapter 5

"I couldn't let you guys have all the fun without me, now, could I?" I giggled, and looked at Keefe. I realized we held each other's gaze for a second too long when Fitz cleared his throat. I looked down and smiled to myself while, of course, blushing.

"So..." Biana said, trying to hold back a giant smile I could see forming. "Wanna play base quest?"

Base quest was a game that my group of friends invented before I moved here. Basically, we split into two groups and find a spot to call our base. After that, one team races over to try to touch the opposing team's base - which is called questing - while that team tries to tag them. Once one of the teams touches the others' base, they win.
"Sure," the rest of us chorused in unison, each using a different tone - Keefe sounded excited, Fitz sounded relieved, and I said it in more of a chirp.

Then we followed Biana outside where we stood on a small hill that overlooked the vibrant green fields that shone in the sun above. The grass stretched for miles, and was broken up by thick trees with elegant blossoms and colored leaves.

"Time to pick teams!" Biana squealed.

"I call Foster!" Keefe quickly said, and made his way over to my side.

Fitz scowled and sighed less than enthusiastically, "I guess I'm with Biana. Hooray."

"You don't have to sound so miserable!" Biana teasingly pushed her brother.

"Sorry, Fitzy, but you can never break up Team Foster-Keefe! It simply can't be done," Keefe said matter-of-factly, making Fitz glare at him.

"Well now that we chose teams, let's pick our bases," I said encouragingly, trying to break the tension between the boys.

"Okay. Everyone gets seven minutes to find a base and form a plan. Then we'll meet between our bases and decide who will quest first." Biana explained. "Ready...Set...GO!" She excitedly grabbed Fitz and pulled him along as she raced down to the trees.

I could see Fitz stumbling behind her as he yelled, "Let go! I'm gonna trip!"

"Biana is quite the sister," I laughed to myself before turning to Keefe and asking him, "Do you have any ideas for a base?"

"Maybe, but let's take a look at our options first - and we should see where Biana and Fitz are heading so we can start thinking about strategy..." he replied, rubbing his hands together mischievously.

"You're kind of scaring me. You went a whole sentence without telling a joke. Are you okay?"

"Oh, Foster. Base quest is no joking matter. And we're losing our precious scheming time, so let's hurry up and choose a base."

I smiled to myself as I followed Keefe down the hill. We saw Fitz and Biana's base from a distance; it was a smallish tree in an open area with hardly any places to hide, which meant we had to be creative with our strategy.

"Shoot, they're fast. And that's a good base," Keefe scowled. "But I'm sure ours will be better."

We searched for a few minutes looking at potential bases and the area around them until we finally agreed on a thin and tall tree with branches bending upward covered in orange leaves and small yellow blossoms. The area around it was mostly clear except for another thin tree about 8 yards away and a few shrubs scattered in between. We also decided on the particular base because of how far away it was from Fitz and Biana's. Now if they were questing first then they would be out of breath by the time they got there, and we would still be full of energy.

"Ah. It's perfect," Keefe sighed with consent. "Now let's talk strategy. There's a lot of open area at their site, so we're gonna need to be fast."