Our little camping trip can't be this dangerous [CLOSED]

The flutter of many wings would herald the appearance of Aphelion. The sun sat at its zenith, giving off a gentle warmth which brushed against the boy's face. He took a good moment to silence himself, listening to the sounds of the forest before him, taking in the smell of fresh air...

"It is time." he finally said, dismounting his horse and hugging it while stroking its mane, "I'll be staying here for a few days..." the boy added, taking a small, rather lightweight bag from the saddlebags and dropping it over his shoulder, "Run along now you clever boy... And remember to eat your hay regularly..." he finally said, separating from Equinox and smiling at him. The horse neighed and dropped its head, but Aphelion just poked him on the nose, "I'll be fine, I'm not going it alone."

Finally raising his head, Equinox looked Aphelion in the eyes before turning and trotting back to school. Aphelion waved him off before sitting down under a tree and taking out his skinning knife, starting to sharpen it using some rocks.

((OOC: We are at the outskirts of the forest and Aph will lead to the 'camping site' when everyone is here))

Sitting in the car with Victis on her lap, Knight would be playing with the pup as if it wasn't a lethal enemy of humanity. Getting out of the car with Indigo a few minutes away from the meeting site, she would pop the pet inside her custom made blue yakuta with her battle gear on underneath, it's head popping out above her bosom as she titters, "You will have enough room in there to get comfortable, we are nearly there." Grabbing her supplies for the back of the car, she would wave her mother off, her ears in full view despite the guest in the vehicle. walking off towards the site with a large bag on her back, Lamentation by her side and Beowolf on her chest, she would say loudly, "Hope you got everything."

Indigo stretched and leaped out of the tiny car, breathing in the fresh air, finally free of the confines of the vehicle. As if her life depended it, she darted up the first tree she could find, ending up hanging from its lowest branch, upside down. "Finally! I thought we'd never make it!"

Laughing, she would glance up at her, scratching the head of her closest friend (Because he is in her clothing) , "My mother is not that bad of a driver. Now you got your clothes and gear, right? I don't exactly see a tent in your pocket." Starting to head off despite the person in the tree, she would in actuality be quiet so she could listen to the other voice in her head, not commenting however.

Indigo dropped from the branch, landing in a safety roll and getting to her feet. She points at Aoife, giving her a look. "I don't care if she was the best driver in Remnant! You still can't just expect me to keep still in a tiny vehicle for so long!" Groaning at the recent memory, Indigo plucked her duffel bag from the back seat, slinging it on her back. "Alright! What now?"

"We must meet up with the rest, it is nearby so you will be fine." Evidently not sure what she meant by 'for so long' when the car had a top speed in the two hundred miles per hour zone, she would shrug and gesture forwards, having just arrived at the meeting place and her voice but a whisper. "It's this way, and you may be an unannounced guest, so try to be on your best behaviour please."

Melissa skipped into the meeting place, clutching on the hand of Katy next to her as she skipped along, humming some random tune she had picked up somewhere. Or rather, some random tune she had just made up on the spot. It didn't blend very well, but it was something. On her back was a fairly small backpack, considering the event was going to take place in a forest for several days, but inside it was almost completely filled with various candies, along with one pair of spare clothes and stuff to go swimming with.

Katy's pack was almost the exact opposite of Melissa's. Large, with a tent strapped to one side, a sleeping bag strapped to the other side, and a large tarp strapped to the bottom. The pack itself was filled with a few outfits, plenty of spare ammo, rations, and a secret cache of candy for Melissa. Doing her absolute best to think about absolutely anything other than holding Melissa's hand, she was presented with something perfect to think about: Aoife seemed to have brought someone else. "Um," she said, as the pair reached the meeting spot. "I guess we're all here? Maybe?"

Aphelion put the knife down and clapped his hands, "Right, my two invitees are here! And two additional it would seem. No matter though, that just means I'll need to gather some additional resources."

He picked the knife back up and hid it, "Okay, ladies and... well, just ladies. My name is Aphelion and if you follow me I'll get you to a nice lil' campsite of mine. I don't think we all know each other, so perhaps we should acquaint while we go?" he said cheerfully before taking off into the forest, gesturing for the group to follow him. Unlike the other parts of the Forever Fall forest, this one was significantly denser in the amount of trees so that as soon as he entered all the light disappeared from his person.

"Don't get lost, or you might not find your way out." he chuckled, evidently giving the group a little scare.

Indigo walked alongside Aoife, taking long strides to stretch out her legs more. "Uaah... I really don't care how far I have to walk, as long as I'm not in a damn car anymore." for most of the walk to the meeting place, Indigo was quiet, contemplating what universe the Aoife could seriously tell her to behave. When the pair reached the meeting spot, Indigo was met with some, more or less, familiar faces. There was the crazy alien girl from when Drake put a hole in the courtyard, the guy who got thrown out of the ball, and some new girl who was very clearly hiding something. Indigo decided not to bring that part up. She followed semi-cautiously behind Aphelion, twisting her spine for more stretching. "Name's Indigo. Indigo Evans. You don't have to worry about me in here, I grew up surrounded by nature. I can find my way around just fine."

Taking out a compass and mentally taking a note of the direction they are heading, she would make sure she knew the way out before entering any deeper. Deciding to at least warn him, she would say out loud, easily heard by Aphelion "Knight. Fire user and daughter of Count Ferdiad Conn Knight." The fire part would also come in handy, after all she was getting an intense irritation already, though not at her boyfriend..

Melissa yawned, having gotten bored on the long walk to the meet up place and clutched into Katy's arm, moving closer to her as well in case she lost focus and ended up drifting away and getting lost. Which she definitely might end up doing - at times her attention span could be a little short.

Realizing she was being asked to introduce herself, she spoke up finally, though her voice sounded a little lazy, though it still had her regular cheerfulness to it, "Huuuh? Oh, I'm Princess Sparkleface the fourth, daughter-heir of the kingdom of Bench."

Reaching into her pocket, she took out an entire handful of candy, very efficiently and quickly relieved them of their wrappers and tossed them all in her mouth at once, immediately beginning to munch down on them.

Katy peered around their surroundings as they walked, making a mental note of various trees and other landmarks. Even if this was only a simple camping trip it would never do to slack in the basics of staying safe out in the woods. Knowing the quickest way out could come in handy. "I'm Katy Moraine," she said by way of introduction. "I've got a good chunk of experience in the woods under my belt as well, so you don't need to worry about me getting lost," she added, glancing at Melissa. Apparently packing that extra candy was a good idea.

"Time will tell, Miss Evans, though as one who grew up in care of nature and the host of this little trip it's also my duty to do my best with ensuring that everyone makes it back." he said politely before taking the knife back out and spinning it in his palm, "Knight... Knight... Not the one I wanted to have a talk with but I guess you can't have everything you want... I hope you have fun and don't burn the place down. I also hope your little contraband isn't going to try anything dangerous with the campers."

He spun to walk backwards and look at Melissa, "Well, 'Princess Sparkleface', I pray my services will be more than adequate for your enjoyment of this trip. I don't have any candy but I can make some pancakes with sap later." Then Aphelion smiled at Katy, "And Katy... Also a nature person eh? Looks like you guys would be okay without me if y'all can find your way around that easily."

Without a warning he turned left and walked between two bushes into an invisible clearing, still prancing backwards to make sure the group didn't get lost.

Glaring at Aphelion at calling her precious contraband, she would pet the head sticking out of her dress as it lets out a small growl at Aphelion, retreating inside her dress into her 'pouch' , a brief blush appearing before she coughs, "You dare call Victis contraband? I should let him eat your corpse, if she allowed me." Blinking as she feels the limiter put in her by Leo deactivate, she would smirk and for a brief second, one of her fingers would set alight before going away again, "Indigo.As for the apparent princess, in reality her name is Melissa."

Indigo trailed the furthest behind, keeping one eye on Katy the whole time. She was hiding something under that hood, Indigo was sure of that much. When they reached the clearing, Indigo stalked up behind Katy and, when she was sure no one was within earshot, placed a hand on her shoulder, pulling her back slightly. She brought her head close to Katy's ear under her hood, making sure she knew to pay attention. She whispered, "I know what you are..."

Katy frowned slightly at the strange girl, feigning a look of mild confusion. "A sniper? I mean, that's sort of obvious," she responded, reaching back to pat the rifle between her back and her pack. When Aoife had first confronted her about her ears she had adamantly denied it for as long as possible, even when directly accused of having them.

"Since we've established how observant you are, maybe you can help me find a nice, big bush growing against a tree around here. Ideally that's where I'd like to set my tent up," she said, immediately trying to change the subject.

Indigo narrowed her eyes, scowling before taking her hand off of Katy's shoulder, slowly. "Yeah... That's not the only thing that's obvious." Quickly, Indigo changed her tone, becoming much more cheerful as she stepped away from Katy. She addressed no one in particular as she pointed to a tree on the opposite side of the clearing. "That's where I'll sleep, dibs!"

Aphelion heard Indigo's claim and smirked, "You underestimate me Miss Evans. We're not there yet, this site is decent but resource wise it's deeply average. I'll tell you all when we get there." he said, turning to the right and jumping onto a toppled tree trunk, then jumping back off about midway through onto a little narrow path and going down, beginning to whistle cheerfully.

Taking the large bag off her back, she would rummage and take out a small box. Taking a small piece of raw meat out of it, the smell would alert Victis for its food. Giving it to him while in the palm of her hand, it would go in a single bite before retreating back, nuzzling her chest affectionately as she suppresses a giggle, saying out loud, "C-Can we hurry up? My tent needs a while to set up fully, so would like to get there before night time." Afterwards she would glance back at Katy, deciding to not speak to her first, 'would be too awkward.'

Walking backwards an eyeing the group carefully, occasionally glancing doubtfully at Aoife's chest package Beowolf pup, Aphelion said nothing and instead continued whistling, following the path as it twisted and turned by a rock wall. Finally after nearly a minute of walking by the cliff face Aphelion felt the curtain of drooping willow branches slide past his shoulders and he grinned widely, "Well, we're here." he said, disappearing behind the branches.

Aphelion (and hopefully the full group) now stood in a clearing, slightly larger than the previous one they passed. The path they walked continued by the cliff face, passing one in a long line of bushes and turning behind the cliff. Further off to the side of the willow, beyond a few more bushes, was a large sycamore tree, rising about 4 feet above the other canopy. The rest of the area was bordered by more bushes. In the middle of the clearing was a shallow pit with rocks inside it, forming a circle for the would-be fire to be placed. The leader moved over to the willow with a long nail in it, taking out a smaller red bag from his already somewhat small bag and hanging it up on the nail.

Aphelion inhaled and exhaled deeply, smiling at the sheer smell of the fresh air within the clearing, "Okay ladies, set up your tents and I'll go gather firewood." he said, not addressing anyone in particular as to not make assumptions on how they decide to sleep and taking the remains of his bag with him, moving off the path and past the sycamore to enter the denser part of the forest.

((OOC: Here be my crappy Paint drawing of the campsite. The puke green blob is meant to be the sycamore... and the slightly darker one the willow... PAINT REFUSED TO LET ME ENTER TEXT))

Moving over to the Sycamore, she would take off the bag and start setting up her tent, speakers coming into view as a camouflaged tent is shown in view, being near invisible against the forest, as soon as the tent had some base, she would put her hand into her dress and take out Victis, it moving into the tent as she sets up the speakers inside, a small button having been placed where her bed was. The remains of the bag, still large in size would be thrown in afterwards, keeping her arm down so her pet climbs on it, moving up and sitting on her shoulder as she pets it.

Looking around at the camp area curiously, Melissa simply dropped her bag to the ground. Kneeling down, she begun to pat it into a vague indented shape, apparently intending to use it to sleep on. Dropping to lie down on her bag, she shuffled around, trying to find a comfortable position. Unfortunately it turns out finding a comfortable position while lying on a bed of hard, round candies is not an easy task.

Looking at Aoife's tent with a little envy, she sighed, "A tent probably would've been a smart thing to bring..." She mused.

Katy gathered up a few sturdy sticks, then headed over toward some fairly thick bushes. Being fairly gentle, Katy pushed the bushes back and used the sticks to hold them apart before unshouldering her pack, she carefully pitched her very basic tent inside the bushes, then moved the sticks to allow the bushes to push back in, partially masking the tent.

After making sure the tent and the bushes were sitting properly, she pulled the tarp from her pack and strung it up over the tent, making sure the pattern of leaves and brush was facing skywards. Finally, she unclasped her sleeping bag and casually tossed it into the tent, then set her back just inside the tent flaps. "There," she said, sounding satisfied. Not nearly as glamorous as Aoife's tent, but it'd do.

"If you need somewhere to sleep, my tent can fit two people comfortably," she offered, sitting down on the ground near Melissa. "Though Aoife's looks much more roomier," she added, with a small frown. She hadn't considered getting a bigger tent before, but Aoife's did seem much more comfortable.

Melissa shrugged, "I dunno, I thought Aoife would be sleeping with her boyfriend?" She said, although she didn't really want to sleep with Aoife anyways - it might end up with her waking up to a burning tent all around her. Or maybe she'd just wake up, burnt to a crisp. You could never tell with Aoife. For all Melissa knew, Aoife's puppy might end up killing her in her sleep if she tried to sleep in that tent.

Smiling though, she accepted Katy's offer - she really should have learnt and brought a tent after the last time camping though, "Thanks! It'll be more comfortable than sleeping out in the open I guess! And if it gets cold, snug is better!" She said.