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WH---

Just barely dodging out of the way of falling rock, Rei looked around frantically. Everyone...seemed to be okay, but that was just a preliminary inspection.

Xerxes and Niamh had spent the better part of the evening talking and getting to know each other — something that Xer didn’t seem to mind after all. The chimera was definitely different from the rest of his friends. And in normal circumstances, he doubted he would have paid her much attention in the end. However, being stuck on the bus together, and then tasked with setting up tents together as well, had seen to it that they were spending more time together than he would have otherwise. He had agreed to go with her to look at spectrefoxes and before long they had turned in for the night.

Sleeping in a tent was something Xerxes was used to but it seemed being in a strange land caused him to toss and turn. So when Claire’s voice sounded throughout the camp, Xer groaned and rolled over, tugging his sleeping back up over his face. It seemed as if he’d just fallen asleep and the last thing he wanted to do was get up. He grunted, however, and dragged himself up and got dressed. Before long he had his things packed and found himself searching for Niamh out of the crowd.

When he spotted her, Xer fell in beside her, grunting a greeting and then half listening to what all Claire had to say. They headed out soon, their hike taking them through the forest and over roots and other such things one typically finds in the forest. When they came upon a cliff, Xer’s ears twitched, picking up the sound of pebbles tumbling down the side. In his sleep deprived state, however, it didn’t really click with him what was going on until the a rock rolled past, in front of him, barely missing hitting him.

Xer stumbled backwards, eyes wide and breath caught in his throat as he watched the rock tumble safely away from everyone else. He slumped, gaze twitching back to where Niamh had been — a few feet ahead of him — and he let out a breath of relief when he saw that she was fine as well.

Rising early had never been something Lillith had enjoyed, but something about sleeping in the woods always made it easier for her. Crawling out of her tent the Dryad assessed the situation around her. Claire had called for the camp to be torn down and packed up, so that they could begin their hike. Supposing that she had no real other choice, Lillith took apart the tent she had slept in and packed it away as best she could.

When the group had finally managed to completely deconstruct the campsite, Claire turned and led them on their hike. When they reached the cliff, Lillith pulled on the straps of her pack and gulped nervously. She hoped that nothing would happen, cliff's were truly not a great place for things to go wrong.

Adhara was excited for the hike, she loved physical activity. She quickly packed her items up into her backpack and joined with the group so she could continue on with the day.

As they began their hike Adhara realized that the falling rock warning was nothing to joke about. She quickly moved out of the way before it hit her, looking around at the others behind her, to assure that they were ok.

"Did anyone else see that?" She asked.

The night before had been exhausting work, but all in all relatively fun. Mahuyah had made new friends... well they weren't quite friends, but they could be, maybe. All in all the group she and Patches had met with on the carriage ride over had seemed really nice. The rest of the night was sort of a fuzz: she remembered a delicious array of fruit, and hot dogs, and chips, and then sitting by the fire with Patches, enjoying the flickering light. At some point she'd made her way into a tent and passed out completely.

At the break of dawn was when Mahuyah had started to stir, the light starting to wake her. With a groan, she attempted to toss and turn her way back into slumber. Apparently it worked since it felt like minutes later that Claire was waking them up. She unzipped the tent and squinted her eyes, not used to such bright light: the above sure was sunny. And warm, as it was already starting to feel uncomfortable, which only meant the day would get worse. Patches called out to her, concerned if she'd brought her salve. Mahuyah smiled and nodded. "Yeah, it was in my carry on bag. I better put a quick bit on, it feels like it's going to be a warm one. I hope I brought a big enough water bottle..."

The hike started off on some rocky paths, but it was pretty flat, and Mahuyah was enjoying herself despite her need to stay hydrated. She was going through her water pretty quickly, and had fished out one of her knee socks which she wet with water and tied around her neck to try to help keep her cooled. It was rough, but it was doable.

She felt the small vibration through the ground, then heard the vibration in time to look over her shoulder up the cliff and see the rocks tumbling down. She cried out in panic, and by some miracle she was able to avoid any injury. Patches called out to her, and desperately Mahuyah looked around for her friend, finding her and making her way to Patches' side. "I'm ok! Are you hurt?"

Leopleuradon

Nadinia awoke to the sound of Claire calling for everyone. She pulled herself out of her sleeping bag with a yawn, but a grin on her face. She was Above, and would remain there for some time. It was a thrilling prospect! Her backpack was neatly tucked into the edge of her tent, most of her possessions in it. Last night she'd opted to stow her larger suitcase on the bus, it was obvious this was more of an intense hiking trip than a suitcase trip. Ah well.

Reaching over to her pack, she fished out an energy bar, and chewed it slowly while she dressed herself. She opted for very sensible hiking books, technical leggings, a tennis-style skirt and an athletic top. It wasn't her usual look, but it was practical. After dressing, she rolled her sleeping bag and strapped it onto the bottom of her pack. She stooped and exited her tent, sighing when she realized it was time to disassemble that as well.

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Tent destructed and strapped to her bag, she headed off after Claire and the others. The area was gorgeous. Leafy and wild. Nadi took a deep breath in, savoring it. She did her best to closely watch her footing, and gasped a bit when she noticed the cliff. She crossed her fingers and hoped they wouldn't need to traverse that. It was fully beyond her skills.

With half her attention still on the cliff, she noticed Nashira up ahead, and carefully made her way forward.

"Hey! How did you sleep?" She grinned at the other girl. "Last night was so fun. I hope the photos turn out!"