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Everyone in the MCYTTHS marching band agrees, the sun is the devil. Well really it's all marching band that agrees but we’re focusing on MCYTTHS specifically on the drumline, well one snare drum on the drum line, specifically the section leader, Joel Smallishbeans. You see, Joel adores marching band, even though he seems like the stereotypical guy to play football or basketball etc, he was always drawn to marching band, perhaps because there was no height requirement, but anyways, this is his story.
Quick intro to roles and such
Joel “smallish” Bean- center snare section leader
Grian “pesky bird” moon- clarinet section leader
Jimmy “tim” solidarity- Trumpet section leader
Scar “5678 9. . . 11 what” Goodtimes- Trumpet section leader
Pearlescent “pearl” moon- clarinet section leader
Gemini “Gem” Tay- flute section leader
Cleo “i’ll hit you if i want” Zomb- colour guard captain
Etho “what was that” Slab- colour guard captain
Bdubs “short stack” ouh - trumpet section leader
Lizzie “why does Etho call you baby girl?” shadow- trumpet section leader
Skizz “AuGH” Man - Saxophone section leader
Impulse “left. Left. Left. LEFT” SV- trombone section leader
Mumbo “casual” Jumbo- sousaphone section leader
Tango “fiery little shit” Tek- Mellophone section leader
Scott “poppies haunt me” Major- colour guard (basically captain)
Shubble “caw. caw.” Shroom- flute section leader
Kathrine “really? You?” Elizabeth- front ensemble head
Xisuma “X” Void- drum major
Pix “YOUR ONLY 17?!?!?” Rifts- drum major
Fwip “why are you here??” Fiddle- drum major
(just image what sections the rest of hermitcraft and empires would be please tell me too)
Chapter one: Welcome to camp
It was hot, too hot in Joel's personal opinion but since when did the weather listen to him. That didn't stop Joel from grumbling his complaints about the heat under his breath while loading the gear for front ensemble into the U-Haul that they had rented to get there and back from the university they where staying at for the first week of band camp.
“Stupid heat making everything blummin hot” he grumbles under his breath while helping Jimmy ‘tim’ solidarity, the trumpet (we don’t know who let him help) load the bass drum into the truck.
“You complain every year yet every year you come back” Jimmy retorts to the grumpy man.
“Every year it still sucks” Joel groans,
“At heart you love it- you love uusss”
“Shut up”
“Admit it”
“Die”
A new voice interrupts the conversation as a slightly more perky Xisuma joins the conversation, he’s a drum major this year and always seems to be in a good mood no matter the heat.
“Cheer up Beans, at least your not dealing with colour guard this year”
The original pair set down the bass drum finally done loading as Joel groans again,
“Don’t remind me” The year prior Joel had been elected by the director to help colour guard load since colour guard and percussion share a bus to get to camp, at it was just a nightmare for him, the flags constantly hitting him as he tried to load them and then when he finally did Etho, the current colour guard captain, just places a new batch right on top of Joels with ease, not a problem at all just swung them down perfectly from his shoulder and placed them down. Then he had the audacity to smile at Joel ruffling his hair as he passed- well at least it seemed like he did, his eyes crinkled at the edges and Joel couldn't see under the mask. Just thinking about it pissed him off, but the band directors called for people to get on the bus and Joel begrudgingly complied knowing full well that there were no parent chaperones so he and the rest of the section leaders would have to deal with the younger kids.
It didn’t end up being too bad, the snares listened pretty well, the bass line were all too tired to argue back and cymbals and front ensemble couldn't care less about being loud; they just played clash of clans. Colour guard though. . . were actually really calm and polite, Etho had them on a tightrope I guess. However it did have one absolutely horrible downside, there were no seats left so Joel and Etho had to sit together on the school bus, and of course Etho took the window seat! Because why wouldn't he! Joel groans internally before sitting down next to the boy.
The bus ride went by really quickly, well that probably because Joel was asleep for most of the ride but that's besides the point. It was around a 4 hour drive officially but like every year, percussion and colour guard got lost and arrived 20 minutes late to campus- MOVING ON. Once colour guard and percussion finally arrived on campus Joel had woken up and started helping to unload the u-haul of luggage and the bus of luggage when their director, Mr.D (his last name in much more complicated to spell and pronounce so he's just Mr.D to the band) came up to Joel and started talking to him,
“Hey Joel?”
Joel looks up from the back of the truck and raises an eyebrow slightly,
“Yeah Mr.D?”
“Just a quick question, do you know how to drive”
“Well, yeah, why do you ask?”
“Could you bring the percussion U-Haul around back to the volleyball courts? Thats where front ensemble will practice”
Joel pauses for a second because, like me, he’s not sure if you need a specific license for a U-Haul, and just like I'm about to he quickly googles it, so just, bear with me a second.
“No, you typically do not need a separate license to drive a U-Haul truck in the United States. A regular, valid driver's license is sufficient for most U-Haul rentals, as they are not considered commercial vehicles. However, some exceptions may apply, and it's always a good idea to verify specific requirements with U-Haul before your rental. Okokookkkkkk, uhh, A customer must be 18 years of age to rent a truck. Typically, other rental companies have the same requirements. In some cases, companies set the minimum age at 24 years old or older but allow drivers 18-23 years of age to rent for an additional fee. Uuuuhhhh that should be fine actually, A commercial driver’s license is not required. U-Haul truck rentals are not considered commercial vehicles; therefore, a commercial driver’s license or special endorsement is not required. This is the standard among rental companies. The only exception to this rule is in Quebec, Canada, where you must have a Class 3 Driver’s License (similar to a Commercial Driver’s License, or CDL) to operate our 26-foot truck.” Joel mumbles under his breath while reading because you've really got to be sure you are not doing anything illegal at band camp because kadence is shady enough on its own. Once he’s 100% percent sure that Joel can in fact drive the U-Haul legally, (he had a bad boy phase not a criminal phase) he puts his phone away and smiles slightly at Mr.D,
“Yeah sure, i can do that”
Mr.D smiles slightly at Joel before passing him the Keys the u-haul and walking off to help sort and get people into dorm rooms.