text: [Themes: family friendly]
  
  "And I get Corey," concludes Alexsis. "You picked first, so I get to pick which side of the stream I have." You nod. It's a blow, but it was worth it to get Stacy on your team. "I'll take the swamp," says Alexsis.
  
  You exhale. "Oh thank god." Alexsis raises an eyebrow. "I mean, oh no, I wanted the swamp," you quickly add. In truth, you're relieved. True, it's much harder for the offense to move through your territory when you're defending the swampy side of the river, but it's just as much harder for your own defenders to move through the area. You'd rather be quick in your own territory.
  
  "We'll start in five minutes," says Alexsis. You fish the flags out of your backpack and hand her the green one, keeping the cool red one for yourself. "Ready..." you bend your knees, preparing to sprint into the woods. "Set... GO!"
  
  You and your team take off. You jump over the stream with a leap, thanking five or six different gods when you land safely on the other side. You check to make sure all your teammates are keeping pace with you before dashing deeper into the woods.
  
  Once you can no longer hear the brook, you turn around to let your teammates catch up. Everyone is here—Mike and Harriet are both panting from the exertion, but looking at you attentively. "We've got about three or four minutes," you say. "Jail will be by the big oak. Any suggestions on where to hide the flag?" It has to be visible, so you can't bury it or anything.
  
  "We usually hide it in a bush somewhere," says Stacy.
  
  A bush is a good spot for it, because it's usually still in plain sight, but harder for the opposing team to get to. "Great, any ideas?"
  
  "Uh, that one?" Katherine points to a bush at random.
  
  "Are there any ruby loropetalum in these woods?" asks Harriet.
  
  "Any what?"
  
  "It's a kind of bush with red leaves," says Harriet. "You know, since the flag's red. It might be harder to see."
  
  "Oh sure," says Mike. "There's one just a little farther in." He jogs a little farther into the woods, and sure enough, there's a bright red bush sitting right between a pair of trees.
  
  "Perfect." You tuck the flag between a pair of branches. It definitely counts as visible, but you sure wouldn't see if you were in a hurry. "This way we can let our defenses get much more spread out. We'll probably need only one person near the flag, if that."
  
  "I'd like to be on defense," says Mike.
  
  "Dibs on offense," says Stacy immediately.
  
  Harriet and Katherine exchange a glance, before Harriet shrugs. "I'll be on defense."
  
  "We've got even numbers, then." Stacy turns to you. "Which one do you want?"
  
  > say "Defense"
  "I'll start patrolling along the border," you say, and turn to Mike and Harriet. "Keep an eye on the flag, but don't stay too close by it, or they'll get suspicious."
  
  Mike nods. "I'll keep closer to the flag, you guys can range out a little more."
  
  "It's almost five minutes." Katherine checks her watch. "Let's go to the border."
  
  "Good luck." You wave, as Stacy and Katherine head off.
  
  You, Harriet, and Mike all split up so you can cover more ground. Now, you just have to keep your eyes and ears open as you search the area.
  
  You notice some dew on a spiderweb.
  
  You pass a big tree that's split into two separate trunks.
  
  You spy a bunch of acorns stowed in a tree, and wonder if a squirrel put them there.
  
  You chuck a rock into the brook that marks the border.
  
  You hear voices talking.
  
  You strain to listen over the clamor of the brook. It's difficult to hear, but you're fairly certain they're coming from the other side of the stream—and you're equally certain it's neither Stacy nor Katherine. This is definitely the other team you're hearing.
  
  If only you could tell what they're saying. But the noise of the brook is just too loud for you to hear without crossing into their territory.
  
  > cross the brook to listen more closely
  You jump across the stream as quietly as you can, making a soft landing on a flattish rock on the other side. Then, you set about creeping closer to the voices. This time the noise of the brook is on your side, there's no way they'll be able to hear your approach.
  
  "...not a bad idea. Okay. We'll split up once we get over there." It's Alexsis's voice. "If you need to come back over for whatever reason, just head back to clearing with the flag."
  
  The clearing? Considering how swampy and wooded their territory is, that really limits the options down to one or two places, and you're certain you could search all the possible clearings in pretty short order. This is great news!
  
  "Got it," says a voice, which after a moment, you recognize as Corey's.
  
  "Then let's go." The sounds of twig snapping alert you that they're coming towards you, and you quickly duck behind a tree. Alexsis and Corey pass by you, and head towards your side of the brook. You hold your breath, then exhale once they pass.
  
  So now you know their plan. And now you know where their flag is, too.
  
  > follow them back to your side of the brook and try to tag them out
  The flag can wait. It's not going anywhere. Alexsis and Corey are, however.
  
  You peer through the bushes. You watch carefully to make sure they've both crossed the river—Alexsis crosses first, then waits, then Corey crosses. Once they turn to head into the trees, you leap into action. You bound across the stream, almost losing your balance on an unstable rock, and charge after them. Alexsis whips around just in time to see you coming, but she can't dodge in time before you tag her. "Hi!" you say, before turning and dashing after Corey, who's made a run for it into the forest.
  
  Unfortunately, he seems to have vanished. After jumping over a bush in your path, you take a moment to listen for the sounds of him running away. But you can neither see nor hear him, and you don't have any indication of what direction he went in.
  
  Oh well. At least you got Alexsis out. "Jail's this way," you say with a grin, heading into the woods.
  
  Alexsis follows. "What were you doing, just lurking near the stream waiting for someone to cross?" she complains.
  
  "Pretty much." No need to tell her you know where the flag is. Or, well, no need to tell her you kind of know where the flag is.
  
  Harriet comes into view. "What happened? I heard shouting."
  
  "I tagged Alexsis," you explain. "But Corey got away, and he's loose on this side of the brook. Keep a close eye on the flag." Harriet nods and heads off, probably to check on the flag.
  
  After another moment or so, you arrive at the jail. You and Alexsis always play with the rules that when someone gets tagged, they go to jail. Another member of your team can tag you back in, but before you rejoin the game, you have to go tag in on your side of the brook.
  
  In a game with so few people, you don't technically need to spend your time guarding Alexsis in jail. In fact, having one-fifth of your team guarding one-fifth of the opposing team means you really gained nothing by tagging her out in the first place.
  
  > stay here and guard Alexsis
  On the other hand, if Alexsis did get out of jail because you weren't here, that would be extremely irritating. Best to stay here for a while and make sure nobody comes along to try and break her out. Corey is still on the loose after all.
  
  You haven't been waiting for very long when voices approach you. You get ready to defend yourself against them, when you realize it's Harriet, and she's coming with Corey.
  
  "Oh, come on!" says Alexsis, as Corey joins her in jail.
  
  "Sorry," he says. "Harriet snuck up on me while I was trying to reach the flag."
  
  You look up. "You know where the flag is?"
  
  "Uh..." Corey glances at Alexsis. "Is it too late to say no?"
  
  "He does," confirms Harriet. "I made a beeline for the flag when you told me Corey was over here, and I found him right about to get it. How'd you find it, anyways?"
  
  "You and Mike seemed to be sticking pretty close to one area," says Corey. "So I just searched around there."
  
  "Clever, but ultimately futile," you say.
  
  "Oh don't worry, we're going to get broken out of jail," says Alexsis.
  
  "I'm going back to guarding," says Harriet, heading back towards the flag.
  
  Guard duty is pretty boring, but Alexsis and Corey aren't bad company. You're just talking about how realistic it would actually be to successfully use a grappling hook in a capture the flag game, when a noise in the bushes grabs your attention.
  
  Too far away to go up and tag, unfortunately. You stand up. "Look, I know you're there."
  
  "I stink at being quiet," admits Jonathan, stumbling out of the foliage.
  
  Jonathan. This could be a problem, as you know him to be a fast runner; he has a realistic chance of outrunning you and tagging the others in before you can react. You're honestly not sure you'd be able to stop him if he made a break for it. It might be a good idea to try and tag him out now, despite his being out of your reach.
  
  Of course, if you missed, you'd have a whole new set of problems to deal with.
  
  > Lunge to tag Jonathan out
  If you act now, you might be able to take care of this threat before it begins. You lunge forward, tagging Jonathan, who is clearly too surprised by this to react. You're just about to say something smug, when Alexsis yells "So long, sucker!" You turn around, but she's already disappearing into the trees with Corey, and Finn. Wait, Finn?
  
  "Hey, are you guys going to tag me in or not?" yells Jonathan.
  
  You facepalm. "You were meant to be a distraction, weren't you? Darn it!"
  
  "Yeah," admits Jonathan. "I was going to draw your attention while Finn snuck up from the other side. And... uh... well it worked, but not as well as I'd've liked."
  
  Well, you've still got one prisoner at least. It's not as good as three, but it'll do. You'll have to hope that Harriet and Mike can handle whatever Finn, Corey, and Alexsis are up to now that they're all back in.
  
  But their cheers begin coming from the stream, you realize your hope was misplaced. "They won without me?" says Jonathan indignantly.
  
  "Lighten up," you say. "They won without me too." Maybe I can persuade Alexsis to make this a best out of three.