Welcome to Gaia! ::

The trail was a picturesque kind of place, or it would be if this were the middle of summer rather than the first kisses of spring. The group can still see through the trees at the ones farther in due to most leaves currently being in the bud or 'just popped out' stage of life. The trail itself can be seen winding up into that treeline and farther on, taking on a soft incline as it starts on up a hill. Birds were singing, a few early-season flowers were in bloom, and this far out the world was free from the rumble of engines other than that of Henry's car before it was parked. In the small, gravel-filled lot they pulled into, there were a couple other cars already there with engines long since gone cold. Even this early no hiker worth his or her salt could resist the call of nature, it seemed.

Looking at the compass, the needle points directly at the trail-head a few yards away. A wooden signpost near the entrance warns hikers to say on the trail and be alert for any predatory animals that could be passing through the area. "Take nothing but photos and leave nothing but footprints! Please don't litter! Keep our trails green!"

"Unfortunately not," Henry replied, hoisting himself from out of the car. Leaning his elbow against the roof, his knuckle met is temple as he examined the compass, then toward where it was pointing.

He shook his head. Fisher was forever a city kid, through and through. There had been no nature hikes for him until today. He stood up straight and inhaled a little clean forest air. It was nice.

"Yeah. I'm ready." He glanced at Nell's feet, pressing his lips together in sympathy. He would have offered her some other pair of shoes if he'd had them, but if she wasn't going to complain, neither would he.

The hike was fairly uneventful, they didn't pass by any hikers nor did they speak much, which was kind of awkward. It's not like Lazarus wasn't feeling sociable or anything, but he's just not usually the one to initiate conversations. So instead he just walked ahead of the group along the trail, looking back occasionally towards Henry's direction to see where the compass was pointing at.

Until Henry motioned for him to stop. The Raevan looked in the direction the needle was pointing at. The red caught his attention immediately, it was quite stark in the somewhat still muted colors of the surroundings.

"Let's investigate." Pushing aside some of the branches in the way, he stepped carefully into the woods, off the main path. He still needed to be careful, unsure of which fel essence they could encounter here. It could be harmless sure, but there are chances that they could encounter something violent like the Howling Wind as well.

Nell trudged along mostly in silence, though she usually would have tried to strike up a conversation. Most of her attention, unfortunately, was taken up with trying to not trip over anything in the path, and it took her a moment to notice that everyone had mostly come to a stop.

She peered curiously at the bit of cloth everyone was staring at after she had carefully picked her way over to where everyone was gathering, glancing between it and Laz as he started to go towards it. "Is that..." Safe, she was going to say, but Lax had already gone after it, and she supposed this whole thing bordered on unsafe, so with a small shrug and a sigh she carefully stepped off the path after him.

Surround it, approach it, or even make a grab for it - whatever Team A chooses to do is up to them to decide. However, upon nearing the flapping fabric they will quickly discover that it is a shirt, no more and no less.

Of course, it is a very clean and well cared for article instead of being ratty and weather beaten. A few feet away from it was another out of place item - a shoe. Further past that was its match and it seemed that there was a veritable trail of scattered clothing for them to follow. Even if they hadn't been of the mind to do such a thing, the needle in the compass would compell them to. Then again, the scream that pierced the air might have had some sway as well.

High and distinctly feminine, the sound came from the direction the strewn-about clothing led. Following the sound, it would soon be joined by others - some deeper than the rest. As Team A breaks into a clearing, they are greeted by two things:

One is the smell of strong alcohol, as if a liquor cabinet tipped over and broke every bottle inside it to permeate the vicinity thickly.

The second is a sight some might only think happen in crazy college frat party movies. Several stark naked people dancing and laughing, very clearly drunk off their asses and "living it up" to the very definition of the phrase.

The scream had startled Henry as well, the man immediately jumping into a more defensive stance as he watched Laz make his way through the thick of it. He followed suit shortly after, but what he saw made his brows raise.

"...Well, then..." said Henry, looking away once the scene had processed. Sure, he saw naked people with work all the time, but not in this sense. It wasn't so much out of embarrassment as respect, even if the group of people were purposefully naked. Manners, manners.