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Aurora was so excited about this trip, she had never been to the above, let alone been to a place that was supposed to be uncharted territory. She was bouncing on her paws waiting for it to be time to leave her house to meet the group and see the bus. Aurora carried her backpack with her small two person tent on the back and her sleeping bag and other camping stuff she thought she would need for the trip. She kept a smaller bag with her with drinks and snacks in it. She greeted the group with a warm smile and said "Hi I'm Aurora. I run a bookstore." Her tail moved about behind her and her ears twitched, she was pretty sure she didn't have to tell anyone she was a grimm. She figured that was a given for everyone present. After introducing herself, Aurora went and took a seat on the bus towards the front to wait for them to head out. The forbidden forest or at least that's what the purple demon had called it, since apparently, it didn't have a name of its' own yet. Aurora was wearing a sweater, jacket, and jeans since she didn't know what the weather was like in the forbidden forest she wanted to be ready just in case it was cold. She had packed shorts and tee shirts as well in her backpack in case the forest was hot, though she couldn't do anything about her fur.

Coralie was once again out and experiencing new things after her experience with the Naked and Afraid adventure she had gone on. It wasn't everyday one got a chance to go to the Above and explore such a strange and unexplored forest! Even if her leg still hurt very little from her last adventure, having really injured it and now have a small limp from it, she still didn't let that detour her from coming along. After all, it was just a little pain. Surely this trip wouldn't cause her as much trouble as last time! Sure the form said she could get injured, but she didn't think that it would cause too much injury. Besides, the doctor said her leg was fine for going on this trip anyway!

Since not a lot of people were talking at the moment, the Nixie decided to introduce herself first, getting up so everyone would know it was her who was speaking. Might as well assert herself and make everyone think she was able to handle all this ", I am Coralie! I go to Asphodel Gardens Academy like many of you probably do, or have already done. When I graduate I plan to be an adventurer, going into unexplored areas or discovering new things in areas already been explored. I can't wait to get to know all of you more on this trip!" With that said, she sat back down and waited for someone else to speak.

Tambre had been both excited and anxious about this trip. Even though her children lived, mostly, at the Academy, she couldn't help but feel apprehensive about leaving for this long. Leaving for long periods had been the reason she left the military, after all, and had instead started working in Law Enforcement. Still, there was a part of her that needed a trip and felt obligated to go, just in case there was something more nefarious going on in these woods, someone needed to be around that could help defend the masses.

There was also the more selfish reason if she was honest. Tambre had been feeling a need to get out and be social with other people, and working and coming home every night wasn't exactly the way to do so. So when it came time to speak, Tambre twitched a little nervously, she wasn't all that good at small talk. "I'm Tambre." She stated in an almost matter-of-fact tone. "I work in Law Enforcement." She almost hesitated, not everyone was fond of cops and she wasn't sure if mentioning that bit of information was something likely to keep her alone during this whole trip. Sure, she was used to being on her own, but she had come here to help get herself out of her shell, she just hadn't wanted to make it even harder for someone to approach her.

Xerxes’ eyes wandered over everyone that had already entered the bus and taken their seat. No familiar faces stared back at him, causing Xer to pout a tiny bit. Had had hoped one of his friends would have signed up for the trip but it didn’t see as if any of them were as interested in Above as he was. As a demon, Xerxes had grown up in Below. The only thing he knew about Above was the things he’d read about in history books or had learned from other people who’d moved from Above to Below.

He moved down the aisle, moving past seats already occupied and finally settling on one, about midway back, that didn’t have someone already in it. Plopping down, Xer scooted over until he was up against the side of the buss and crossed his arms. Slouching down into the seat, he stared outside, watching as people continued to line up to get into the bus.

Samhain had been excitedly nervous about this trip for weeks. His backpack, filled with everything he thought he would need had been sitting by his door as a constant fixture for days. It was kind of funny. He had thought that he had gotten over his travel bug, heaven’s knew that he had done enough traveling when he was little, Beltane had practically dragged him all over Below before he had escaped his guardian. However when he saw the sign ups he had signed up practically that second. It was an opportunity to explore something new and he had always wanted to see above.

Then to the nervous part, he knew that he was a bit different, it was obvious just by looking at him, after all he was a Hallowed, and he had an interesting fashion statement in that he often wore a mask while in public. He had thought about possibly leaving the mask at home but that often lead to uh… interesting situations that he kind of wanted to avoid.

As he got on the carriage he took a window seat near the back, but still close enough that he wasn’t isolated from everyone else. “Ah I guess it’s my turn isn’t it. Hello everyone, I’m Samhain. I’m a senior at the academy, although I am about one class away from graduating."

The moment Mahuyah had heard about this trip, it was all she could think about. She had written in immediately, almost begging in her letter to be picked for this amazing opportunity. This was history being made, and as a major history buff she was excited to see both the Above and the forest itself. Her parents hadn't been too thrilled over this whole thing, in fact they'd been pretty unhappy when she'd received the invitation, but all Mahuyah could think of was how wonderful this was going to be. It helped that Patches would be going with her, eased her mind about going alone yet being surrounded by others, since she had a crippling fear of meeting others. She knew logically it was safer in the group, but it didn't make her any less nervous.

As she approached the horseless carriage, she felt a pit forming in her stomach at how large of a crowd there was. Shifting the large backpack she carried and another smaller bag hooked over a shoulder, she looked desperately around for her friend. Oh Patches... where were you? Her anxiety levels continued to rise as she slowly approached the carriage to have her backpack stowed away: her backpack carried all of her main supplies, her smaller bag was just a carry on with a history book for her to read on the bus ride. Just in case she had to sit alone.

She climbed onto the bus in time to see Patches introducing herself, and gave her friend a shy wave. Crud, they had to introduce themselves to the group? She hesitated, looking over the group on the bus, then slowly lifted her hand up in a tiny little wave. "He-hello, I'm Mahuyah. I also attend Asphodel Gardens Academy, and am in the house of Eldritch." And that was about all she could get out before her voice crackled with a painful squeak and she hurried to take her seat next to Patches. Oh thank the gods that she had such a wonderful and thoughtful friend, who saved her the window seat. "Thank you, Patches." she said with a weak smile. "I'm so glad you came."

She peeked up a little at Claire as they answered the question addressed at them. How cool, to hear that they'd been to so many different places and seen so much of history. She was a little envious of Claire, and had a few questions of her own. Maybe she would be able to gather up that courage to ask them later.

Ghester had to admit that he was pretty psyched for this trip. Not only was he going to get to see a new place, but his maybe girlfriend was coming with him, too! Nothing like getting the chance to sneak around in a forest and maybe try to snitch a kiss or two. Who could blame the guy?!

With a smirk on his face, he carried his duffle of crap and Bibi's -- which had only gods know how much stuff in it. Holy crap! "Hey Beebs... Do you really think you need all of whatever this is in here?" he said teasingly before putting their stuff under the bus in the storage area. Giving a wink, Ghester hopped up into the bus to grab them a seat. Luckily there was one nearby, so he bounded over some luggage in the isle and into the seat, shouting out "I got one, Pinkie!" and he wriggled in place as he waited for the cute geist to make her way in.