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Trox had a fitful night. His back hurt, the ground was hard and he wasn’t a 21 year old going through training anymore. He would never complain but his joints were stiff and creaked in the night. The aviator wasn’t that old either but years of use and abuse has aged his body a bit more than anticipated. Getting up was a struggle for each shift. It felt that every time he finally found his slumber he was stirred again for watch. His firewatch schedule was biting his own a**. However once he was up, he was awake which allowed the fire to stay burning and all camp occupants to be protected from flying bugs by the constant reapplication of deet.

As soon as the sun started to rise he prepared himself for another hike. He applied deodorant because he knew that after 6 hours in a helicopter he was funky. Offensive odors to his teammates were one thing he could mitigate for the time being. A simple breakfast of power bar and dehydrated blueberries would also set him off right. The pilot took an electrolyte tab and plopped it into one of his large water bottle containers. Dehydration could seriously mess someone up with strenuous work. He looked over at meli and scrunched his face. She wasn’t doing so hot. With a small lick of his lips he moved over to the sigel and sat down next to her spot.

“Okay, Pasha… We’ve gotta burn some daylight before we head back in. I can’t imagine it’d be particularly smart of anyone of this search party to stay out for an additional night. I’ll tell them to pound sand and get aerial support because this is asking too much…” He had let his thoughts get away from him, “Anyway. How are you feeling, kid?”

While he sat Harrison had started pulling out another electrolyte tab. He let it drop into a fresh litre of water and shook the bottle some as he spoke.

“Kinda need you on top of your game now so drink all of this,” he handed the water bottle over, “ slowly… can you eat? I don’t mean ‘are you feeling well enough to eat’. I mean… the whole torso only thing, can you eat? Can you medicate?”

Trox bit his lips, eyes searching Meli’s as he thought about Anita and checking on her and her companion. His head began to ache due to the lack of caffeine. Luckily his medication for pain also was caffeinated, which would be taken care of soon. He thought about trigger and his coffee pot and made a face of longing.

The concerned look on Cruz' face told her enough. He'd seen. Pasha's cheeks hinted pink with embarrassment. "Good morning." She returned automatically, trying a little smile on for size. She angled her body slightly as she pushed away from the tree, trying to put her slender frame between the Frei and the damp spot between the roots for tact. "Strange dreams, but I slept well. Thank you for watching over me. All of you."

She felt bad that she hadn't helped keep watch, but she'd only sustained the bite trying to help Anita. Hopefully the group didn't hold it against her or think her too weak...after all, it had been a monster of a bug that bit her. The swelling had receded somewhat, and the lancing pain had turned into the occasional throb of aching nausea. Melisande tugged her cuff over the bandage, trying to put it out of sight and out of mind.

"How are you doing?" She tried the smile again, taking in Cruz' condition. The Frei seemed surprisingly hearty...of course, with such a readily available food source, it wasn't too surprising. She felt a pang of something close to envy. Her own situation was so delicate, so complicated...a kiss seemed much more straight forward. She would have offered him one, as 'breakfast,' but her recently upset stomach made her opt for modesty. The thought reminded her of the toothbrush she'd packed in her own little utility pouch, and Pasha started digging for it with renewed energy. It was right next to the lucite comb! A little grooming was probably just what she needed.

Melisande used a tiny bit of the toothpaste and some water from her canteen, and excused herself around the side of the tree to spit after she brushed. A few minutes after that and her hair was combed as well, and twisted into a knot high on the back of her head. Washing her face only took a tiny bit of water, and felt so nice that the Sigel almost forgot the horrors of the night before. By the time Troxel joined her, the Muse was feeling like she actually might be able to push on.

“Okay, Pasha… We’ve gotta burn some daylight before we head back in. I can’t imagine it’d be particularly smart of anyone of this search party to stay out for an additional night. I’ll tell them to pound sand and get aerial support because this is asking too much…Anyway. How are you feeling, kid?”

Melisande tilted her head, trying to follow his thinking. She didn't know what pounding sand had to do with anything, but she got the gist.

"I am not a kid." She said, but her voice was kind, not accusatory. "And this isn't asking too much." Pasha caught Harrison's eyes, her own wide and clear and serious. "The Doctor created us. From leaves and sand and songs and dreams. He is the closest thing to a mother, and a father, and a God that we have."

Pasha said it so simply that it sounded like fact, even though she couldn't speak for the rest of the Raevans. She reached out with her good hand and accepted the water bottle from Trox, taking a long pull before handing it back over. "I hurt, and I feel sick, but I won't give up. I will find him. One of us will." She smiled up at the pilot, and suddenly, she looked like her old self again. Something shone within the Muse, and when she spoke, it sounded like Truth.

Something above them rustled, and a squirrel peered down, drawn by the quiet discussion. Melisande turned her smile to it for a moment before spreading her wings.

"Now that it's day, I'm going up to take a look around. We're already so high up, maybe I can see something if I rise above the trees and look down into the valley! Use the rope, so the wind doesn't take me?" The presence of the squirrel told her the canopy above was safe, and once the humans had tied the rope securely about her slender waist Melisande would be ready to ascend. She didn't know what she was hoping to see...a shelter, a flag, the word 'help' spelled out in branches in a clearing...but it was worth a few moments to try.

“Yenno… that may be true. But it’s hard not to see everyone as a kid after you’ve been to hell and are still fighting your way back.”

Trox was only slightly put off at Meli’s response. He watched her, biting his tongue and let his thoughts race for a moment in silence. She was young in body but not in mind he was sure. They all were. For the first time in a while he felt a flare of frustration in response to Pasha’s blind belief in this doctor. His opinions were his own and didn’t need to be heard by the group. Especially when Pasha was very sensitive to the issue. The fact remained that this was a suicide mission. He ground his teeth. The raevans owed this man nothing. Their creation was a conscious effort and gift sure, but it was of his own personal will and drive. He could understand devotion and he could stand behind the urge and willingness to protect what was close. But to specifically ask his children to search for him? It brought fire to his blood and threw him back to the mountainous terrain with sand whipping around his face. He’s seen it countless times before. A soldier shot and another killed attempting a risky hero’s mission to “rescue” them. There are professionals in this trade for a reason, they are trained they are savvy and they are competent. Three things this particular team was not when it came to jungle search and rescue. So throw more bodies into the fray. Create more hazards, more danger, more lives at risk for a personal and selfish mistake.

“Endangering yourself to rescue another doesn’t make you a hero,” He scrubbed his face and shook his head, taking the end of the rope. Her optimism wasn’t as refreshing as it might have been day one. He really needed to bite his tongue. Meli’s drive was a good thing to have at this point. Naive as it may be, it harmed no one and affected no one. He was the grumpy old man on the side of a mountain and his back killed.

Melisande smiled wryly, glancing at Trox sidelong as she tested the rope around her waist. If acting selflessly to assist another in need didn't make you a hero, she apparently had been miseducated...but it truly didn't matter. She pushed herself for Kyou, and truth be told, the Muse was used to having judgement directed her way. She wasn't thin skinned...Rivener had seen to that.

The thought of the Scorpion made her smile soften, and she tilted her face to the sky. With a decisive snap of her wings, she ascended, leaving behind a sudden whirl of leaves and bright motes in the morning air. She missed seeing the acorn entirely, and the ache of her body seemed to fade as she took in the panorama that slowly came into view.

The jungle was gorgeous in the morning light. The pinks and golds of the sunrise limned the verdant horizon, tucking twinkling jewels of light onto every mist covered leaf. Her stomach flipped as a slight breeze tugged at her, pulling her towards the valley like a Raevan kite. Pasha ignored the sensation and tried to stay steady. A warm draft rising from the jungle seemed to buoy her, and her wings stroked and tilted and shifted almost automatically to keep her afloat.

Another thrill shot through her as she looked down, eyes scanning the jungle for any sign of Kyou or his passage. It was such a long drop, and she could feel the comforting pressure of the rope tighten around her waist as the slack pulled taut. The knot of her hair came loose with the next breeze, and Melisande shaded her eyes from her curls with one hand as she searched.

"Where are you, Doctor?"

Harrison didn't particularly mind small creatures. The curious squirrel bothered him no more than one would on his lawn. Only this time he had no dog to give the rodent chase. He instead focused on Meli, anticipating her motions through the air like he did his collective and cyclic while flying. He was familiar with aerodynamics at least and thought about his co-workers flying now, looking for drug rings, aiding the police. It'd been one day since he'd been in the cockpit and he already itched for the thrill of flight again. He was an addict.

Then it hit him. Literally. An acorn the size of his big toe bounced off his nose, hitting his eye-pro and clattering to the ground. He flinched, eyes squeezed shut and breathed heavy. a*****e almost made him lose more work days. What the hell. He breathed deep and pursed his lips, looking up at the squirrel and then to Meli. Best continue.

"You see anything, Pasha?"

"No~" She called back down to Trox, sounding disappointed. The trees were beautiful, despite the horrors they sheltered, but there was no way to spot a campsite through the tangled jungle. Even the rare openings in the canopy didn't show the jungle floor-

Something caught the Muse's attention, just as she had resigned herself to descend. A glint of light, much different then the twinkling drops of dew, glimmered from one of the few breaks in the endless greenery. Pasha made an excited noise, wings opening wide, and struggled to keep her position as the breeze pushed her to the side.

"There is something shining!" She called down, tugging at the rope in case she didn't have Troxel's attention. Melisande kept her eyes locked on the spot, and pointed out towards the glimmer. "That way!" Pasha tried to memorize everything about the spot. It was after the wide canopy with the orange flowers, but before the tree with not so many leaves. Her brows knit. It wouldn't be easy to find from the ground, even if she rose up above the trees again. Being on the cliff was a definite advantage. If she went back down to the ground now...

"Oh, the compass!" She'd almost forgotten she had it! Melisande fumbled with the pouch at her hip without looking away from the spot, and brought the compass triumphantly up to her face.

Little shards of glass rained down on the party below.

The face of the compass was completely shattered, and the needle tapped lightly against a piece of askew glass. Pasha's heart sank. When had she broken it? Carrying Anita? Sleeping against the tree?

The memory of her scream came back to her like a bad dream. She remembered hearing something break, now Melisande knew exactly what she had lost.

Tears of regret and frustration filled her eyes, and the jungle under the morning sky became a blur of yellow and green.

"It's broken." She said, perhaps too quietly for Trox to hear."I broke it."

Trox squinted, straining to hear Pasha through the distance, breeze and direction she spoke. Okay, his hearing wasn't that bad but it had dwindled with time spent under a dual engine rotor. He only caught half of what Melisande had said when she was calling down to him, and none of her non directed murmuring. Holy- he twitched out of the way of the falling glass and bit his lip.

"'Ey 'ey! Watch the FOD" [Foreign Object Debris] He did not really care for glass digging into his arms. He hissed and kept Melisande steady. Scrunching again. She wasn't looking out anymore.

Then the green one joined the fray, Cruz his name was. Harrison was less than comfortable to have the Raevan navigating around him. Trox was a huge fan of his personal bubble and as usual cringed when it was threatened. A brow raised at the curious behavior. The less torso'd one was now climbing the rope. Alright. Right on. -- oh wait, they were communicating to him. Cruz' tenor actually reached down to him and he scrunched his face in thought.

"It might be too breezy. Use this!" He secured the rope around his waist and took off his watch, tossing it up to Cruz, "Hit Lat/Long? Tell me that! then his Comp while facing our clearing!"

GPS watches were the s**t. He was a fan, using his nearly exclusively when he was flying and searching for illegal groves and such. It WAS a handy tool in the jungle and he nearly forgot he had it.

He eyed carefully as Cruz descended and gently tugged Melisande in before heading to their map. Their position was gathered quickly, the clearing and the elevation aided the watch. This thing was by no means accurate. It marked them about 50 meters from their proposed position. Luckily, terrain association pinpointed them. Harrison used skills he hadn't used for years. Map reading and orienteering had always been a large strength. Easy enough. It was like falling back into the saddle. He marked the proposed spot on the map where Meli spied the clearing and set out a simple route to get there. Easy enough.

Packing up camp was an efficient process. Bring out what you brought in. Once packed up he pulled out his Gu- electrolyte filled cubes. Squishy and weird in texture but a definite pick me up. He gave two to both Meli and Anita. Meli because of her dehydration scare and Anita because she looked like she needed the pick up.

And with a readjust of new chemlights Trox led into the woods, trekking hard but not fast enough to destroy those nursing injuries.... Speaking of which. His hand.

The aviator gently peeled away his makeshift wrap and cringed. The cut from his bug spray exploding looked worse for wear. After a good long while of walking, once they set into a good pace he eventually called back to his team.

"Hey, anyone got a bandage readily accessible?" He then faced front again, poking at the weeping cut. Ew.

Melisande's hand tightened on Cruz' as they paused at the base of the hill. She laced their fingers together tighter for a moment, knowing they'd have to part to help the rest of their party make their way over. He'd been so sweet to come up and comfort her when she'd cried over the broken compass...it was the least she could do to support him as they trekked towards the distant glimmer.

Regretfully, she let her hand slip from his, and offered the Frei a warm smile instead. Trox would need help, whether he admitted it or not. The bandage on his hand wasn't much protection for his injury.

"We could tie the rope at the top?" Melisande offered, looking over one shoulder to the peak of the rise. "Cruz, are you good at knots? Maybe you could tie it and give them a hand at the top, and I'll help mid way!"

Pasha found a place part way up the hill, near where she guessed Cruz would toss the rope down once it was tied. The trees were mossy and slimy and not as cool as she would have liked...it felt like grabbing a skeleton's wrist. The Muse pushed back the thought, grabbed the branch tighter, and reached out a helping hand for whoever made their way up first.

"Ready?"