[SUMMER]N.Hike - Big Mac + Rarity (FIN)

[Seruta]

Big Macintosh + Rarity
In a small clearing surrounded by very dense jungle undergrowth. The sun is about to set. There are tree roots surrounding the clearing as well. It is very muggy. It is impossible to tell where in the jungle both Pae are.

1. Rarity's pack is hanging on a tree branch, approximately 25 feet above them.
2. Big Mac's pack is safe on his back.
   
3. On the ground is a large folded sheet of canvas.

 

[Seruta]

(*rollin' first = water. wewt?*)

Big Mac's eyes fluttered open. All memory of what had happened phased into the recesses of his memories where he couldn't quite grasp at them. His head throbbed and he slowly sat up while rubbing the back of his head. He must have hit it in the fall... Wait... did he fall? He couldn't remember that either...

He remembered being on some nature hike, following some fairies, gathering some herbs.... and then.... ???

With a small grunt of defeat, he stood. Soon after a small fit of panic overcame him as he realized that the fairies weren't anywhere to be found. Weren't they supposed to stay near them to stay safe? Speaking of they...

Green eyes began darting about his surroundings. It was merely seconds before he spotted Rarity nearby and he rushed beside her, lifting her head carefully and lowering his head to listen. She was still breathing. That was good. Still holding his arm under her head, he began scanning their surroundings again. No one else was here that he could see.

And Applebloom?! Panic surged through him. Half of the reason he even came to this trip was to keep an eye on his little sister! Applejack would be furious if she found out Applebloom was here, much less if Big Mac had managed to lose her! He frowned, scanning the surroundings again in case he may have missed her.

Being careful with Rarity's head, he shifted his backpack off his shoulders and carefully slipped it under her head as a pillow. He took this opportunity to look around at their immediate surroundings and noted that Rarity's pack was... high above them. Great...  

[Fea Line]

[They have shelter, its food they gotta worry about.]






She hadn't a clue what had happened. She was brushing her mane, ready to get some good shut eye... and then darkness. The next thing she knew, her eyes were fluttering open, she was waking up some place she couldn't make out for all the blurs and someone was over her. ... Someone... was... over.. her?!

"Oh Great Celestia!!" she cried suddenly, bolting up right, near about smacking her head against Big Macs. ... Oh wait.. it was just Big Mac. "Oh thank the stars... Big Mac... its you..." she flushed, drawing a hand to her forehead and taking in a big breath. She was glad he was still here at least, she wasn't alone. Speaking of being alone though.... "Where.... are we?" she gasped, blinking around, finding that they were no longer at camp... with all her things.... "MY BELONGIIINNGGGGSSSSUUHHHH!" she shrieked again, pointing straight up into the sky at her pack hanging, what had to be millions of feet above them on a tree branch.

"All my things... my brush... my gems... that cute dolly I found.... that silly stuff they gave us.." she cried again, hand against her head in a most dramatic fashion as she let herself faint back against Big Mac. "Doomed! We are doomed! OH BIG MAC WHAT EVER SHALL WE DOO-HOOO-HOOO-HOOOOOOOOOaaahh!" she shouted aloud before finally quieting down with soft sniffles and coos, complete with wide teary eyes and quivering lower lip.  

[Seruta]

"We aren't doomed, Miss Rarity..." he started as he stood and looked around once more. "We just got separated from the group is all. By the way them Fairies acted, they probably won't be all that interested in coming to look for us..." He paused for only a second before adding, "... at least until morning. They didn't much care for being out at night."

Big Mac was already en route to the outside edge of the clearing. He had spotted some vines and was managing to gather a lasso to bring down her pack. He found a fallen vine that was long enough and trudged back towards Rarity as he tied the end up in a loop. Once the loop was tied, he began twirling the end, measuring the weight of if a moment, before spinning it faster until he was sure he had enough momentum going.

Then he let it free. Tossing the lasso end towards the branch and snagging it on the first try. Pleased with himself, he tugged on it a time or two before digging his hoof under a thick root for stability and pulling hard. With some effort, the branch eventually snapped and brought down Rarity's pack with the snapped end of the branch.

He picked up her pack and dusted it off generously before setting it down beside her and set to work on gathering some more sticks about the clearing. He was looking for mostly large branches that had fallen to support the large sheet of canvas as a makeshift tent, and wide long leaves he could use as bedding. They were most likely stranded here until the morning (at the earliest), it was best to make use of the sunlight while they still had it.

"Why don't you start looking for some smaller branches to use as firewood..." he started, figuring he may as well let Rarity know of what he was doing. "It may be a bit warm and muggy now, but after the sun sets it's bound to get chilly."

He dropped the large branches down at the base of the tree and turned to gather more large leaves. "We'll head towards the river in the morning once we've rested." he added, hoping to erase any of her fears of being completely lost.  

[Fea Line]

Rarity glanced up at her pack a few times before back at Big Mac. "Sure its easy for you to say, why Darling your quite prepared for this... I am but a lady.... and its muggy..... and icky..." she began up again, trying to at first find some courage but it just wasn't working.

They were stranded in some strange part of the jungle and the sun was about to set. There was no telling what evils could possibly spring out of the brush at any moment and attack the unsuspecting ponies! But as Rarity watched Big Mac at work, her fears began to lessen... at least just a little. "You know..." she sniffled a bit and grabbed up her pack once he had managed to bring it down, jumping a little bit at the loud sound of the cracking branch. "I am glad you are here. I'd be hopeless without you." she sniffled again, softly this time. She began digging through her bag to make sure her things were still there. Everything seemed about in its place. Her gloves were safely inside as well as her hat... though it would seem it had seen better days. "I should have known better than to try to put this in there.... oh what was I thinking!!" she sobbed, lip still quivering slightly.

Setting her pack back down, she glanced over to where Big Mac had already began building some sort of shelter for the night. "Good thinking! I should hate to have to sleep without some kind of cover.... if I can sleep... at all..." she went on again, getting to her hooves and peering about the forest.

Strange noises and sounds echoed in the near distance that made her let out a small shrill squeal and she clutched her hands at her chest. "Right... branches... That shouldn't be too hard, should it Rarity ol' girl? You can do this..." she spoke to herself, trying to work up a decent little pep talk. "You do want to be warm don't you..... though.. its quite hot already.... " she groaned and wiped a hand across her forehead. "Oh this is going to be disastrous on my mane and tail.... my lustrous curls.. I can feel them getting soaked alreaddddeeeeeeeeyyyyyyhheheheeee..." she began sobbing again.

She continued to utter small cries and sobs to herself while she went about daintily picking up smaller branches, squirming at the slightest of pricks. When she finally had enough to start a fire, or so she thought, she waddled back over to Big Mac and held them up to him with the most pitifully hopeful face one had ever seen.  

[Seruta]

Big Mac simply smiled softly and shook his head as Rarity continued to... well, be Rarity.

He set to work shoving the sticks into the dirt, forcing them to stand on end and support themselves. He then took the vine at the center and tied the smaller ends of the sticks together at the top before cascading the ends to either side as further support. He then found a thick stick the length of his forearm and broke it in half over his knee. Picking up a rock, he hammered them into the ground to tie the ends of the vine to solidify stability.

Once that was done, he took up the canvas, the pocket knife from his pack and a smaller, thinner vine piece over towards were he had made the tent. He draped the canvas over the branches, wrapping it around and making a sort of teepee with it. Once he had it draped where he wanted it, he notched holes into the edges to tie it together with the smaller vine he had acquired. He left the front open as a flap, so they can enter and leave at will. And of course, he made sure to have the opening upwind from where the campfire was to be placed. Last thing they needed was to get smoked out of the tent because of ill placement.

With the tent set up, he added in the 'bedding' by laying down some of the long thick leaves he found and layering them on the ground. He cross-hatched them where he could to make it more stable and less likely to spread apart should they toss and turn in the night.

He dusted his hands once he was done and turned, immediately being met with Rarity's offering of firewood. It wasn't enough, per se, but it could definitely get it started. He smiled warmly in thanks and nodded. "That'll do, Miss Rarity." he assured her and nodded towards the tent. "Yeh might want to start puttin' on some of that bug spray we got from the Fairies. I imagine it won't be long before the mosquitoes come out."

He trudged off, looking for a more ample supply of firewood to hopefully last them through the night.  

[Fea Line]

Once he had taken the sticks from her, she glanced at what he had been hard at work with. It was... basic... to say the least, but at least it would provide some sort of roof over her head. She swallowed the lump in her throat and smiled, nodding as she went over to inspect their make shift teepee like tent. "I suppose you will just have to rough it ol' girl. You've camped before...." she said and forced a smile. What she didn't say was that she had a much grander and hospitable tent than this, but she couldn't blame Big Mac for that. He was just working with what he had.

"I do hope we are rescued soon... I should hate to think of what would happen to Sweetie Belle and Applebloom if we disappeared....." she paused. "Or Applejack and the girls.... would they miss me?" she tilted her head and brought a finger to her chin as she tapped it in thought. "Don't be silly, of course they would. Who else would make them look fabulous!" she cooed to herself, smiling. Anything to keep her mind of this muggy air and strange jungle and... untold dangers..... and..

"OOWWWW!" she whined loudly, flailing about, her hands waving wildly in the air. "Something bit me!" she hissed, snatching up her pack again and rummaging through her contents for that bug spray. She grumbled beneath her breath, snatched up the spray and began to douse herself in its contents until there was little to no more left. She then trotted in and took a rather grumpy seat inside the teepee, plopping down with a soft angry squeak pout.

(I imagine her face is like emotion_donotwant )  

[Seruta]

Big Mac spent a good amount of time looking for a decent amount of fire wood. It was no wonder Rarity had found so little of it to begin with! Because of the muggy atmosphere of the nature around them, most of the sticks were still damp and probably wouldn't burn too well. By the time he settled the wood pile next to their tent, it was nearly dark, he had little time left to make it before they'd be out of light completely.

He worked swiftly, grabbing up his pack and fishing out the small hand shovel and the matches. With the shovel, he cleared out the grass and dug a small hole in the dirt. It was big enough and round enough he could sit in it and just barely stretch his fingertips out before touching any grass again... this way, he wouldn't catch any of the ground on fire... at least not intentionally.

Once that was done, he gathered up the pile that Rarity had found and placed it in the center, along with some of the dry leaves and topped it off with the bigger sticks. He then gathered up a match and struck it, the blaze of the flame it gave lit up the area more so than he had realized it would... but he worked quickly. He lowered the lit match to the smaller pieces down below to try and start up the fire. He went through a few matches to do so - what with the trees and things retaining moisture like they did - but he eventually got it going.

He sat back and exhaled a deep sigh of relief before digging in his pack again.

He pulled out a bunch of the bananas he had gathered earlier and smiled faintly to himself. At least they had a bit of food. He had plans to bring these back to the farm and gut them for the seeds, but it looked less likely that that would happen now...

He took one of the bananas off the bunch and put the rest back in his back. He then split the picked banana in half and pushed aside the flap of the tent, peeking in on Rarity.

"Here yah go, Miss Rarity..." he started and handed her half of the banana. "This should hold us until mornin'..."  

[Fea Line]

Rarity looked up in surprise, having strewn most of the contents of her pack about the teepee in vain attempts to look for a brush she swore she had packed. She eyed him, past him at the light emitted from the fire, then at the half a banana in his hands. It finally registered to her what it was he was doing. "Thank you.. Big Mac!" she cooed and took the banana from him, daintily putting it up to her lips and taking a bite.

She chewed it slowly, glancing around at the mess she had made, sniffling the last few sniffles she could muster. "You don't suppose... there are... snakes out here, do you? .. Like, real snakes?" she blinked up at him, still quite pathetic like but managed to finish off her banana and began to gently repack the contents of her pack back into it. It's time you start manning up Rarity girl! He can't do all the work himself! she told herself mentally.

Once she had stuffed everything back where it came from, she peered up at him and offered a faulty smile. "If.. there is anything else I can do, you will let me know.. wont you?" she asked softly, standing up and putting a hand on his arm as a silent gentle gesture of gratitude.  

[Seruta]

Big Mac sat in the doorway of the tent, leaning against the flap so the light would cascade into the tent and give her light to see by.

He was quite with her first comment. It was possible that snakes would be around. It was the wild and what not. But he wasn't about to confirm her fears by acknowledging her question with a verifying answer.

When she inquired about offering her aid, he merely smiled and nodded, adding in his trademark, "Eeehy-Yup..." to answer her that much at least.

He brought up a knee and draped an arm over it as he looked up to the stars. They were only just beginning to peek out of their slumber and he sighed deeply. A large part of him worried about Applebloom. Was she ok? Did she get separated like they had? He only hoped she was with someone. Once all of this was done and over, he'd be sure to tell her what for! At least enough for her to know not to go on any of these trips without telling someone first.

After a moment or two longer of silence, he turned his gaze towards Rarity. He was thankful he wasn't alone, but even more so thankful that he was "lost" with someone he knew. Someone who knew him. Were he stranded with anyone else, there might be a might bit of bickering going on between them about how a tent should be made, how to make the fire and so on... but he knew Rarity wouldn't argue with him on anything...

Well... maybe she'd complain about all the dirt and bugs, but that was to be expected and it didn't bother Big Mac none.

"It's prob'ly best to get some rest for now, Miss Rarity." he offered in almost a whisper. Proof that the wear and tear of the day was getting to him. "I'll make sure no snakes come into camp tonight." he offered in jest with one of his genuine smiles.  

[Fea Line]

The white fauny pondered a moment, staring into the fire as she made herself comfortable. She wondered about Sweetie Belle and her friends. About what Big Mac was feeling, about where Applebloom was. Wondering about if she would live to see another day... or would she die in the forest without ever having the chance to find her strapping hunk of a man some day. Without experiencing him sweeping her off her hooves to be heroic. The flowers he would bring her, the gems he'd adorn her with....

She sighed, scooting her pack over to use as a make shift pillow, though she doubted it would be very comfortable. She didn't even really have a blanket. What she wouldn't give to be back at her boutique right now! Or even back at the tree, the new home she had grown to love.

Shuddering a bit as he mentioned snakes, she figured him right. "A lady does need her beauty sleep... especially in a place like this." she tutted, trying to laugh. "You.. will get some sleep too, wont you?" she asked, picking up on the subtle hint of tire in his voice and demeanor. "Even stallions like you need their rest!" she reminded him in a friendly manner before bringing a hand up to her mouth to stifle a yawn. With that, she laid her head down on her pack, tossing and turning for a few several minutes, complete with tiny groans, before she managed to get comfortable enough to let her eyes flutter closed.  

[Seruta]

Big Mac nodded in reassurance, answering her inquiry with an almost distant "Eeehy-Yup..." before returning his attention to the world outside of the tent. He listened to her shuffling, feeling a bit as if it was his fault she wasn't comfortable with his work. Though he didn't really have a lot to work with, did he... Still... He was used to the outdoors, used to making things safe and comfortable for others.

He frowned softly and watched the fire slowly smolder itself out later into the night. As it crackled and slowly died, he paid close attention to the noises about them, listening for anything that may seem threatening or strange...

Everything did...

Midnight was nearing before he yawned and stretched then tossed a bit of sand to put the fire out once and for all. He then returned to the tent, closing the flap behind him. A slight chill had graced them now, the cool night air mingling with the moisture in the air to give a bit of a bite to its feel. So he withdrew the blanket from his pack and draped it over Rarity. He didn't want her to catch a chill and become sick on his watch. Besides, he slept better without covers, anyways. With another yawn, he laid down across the entrance to the tent. If someone was to break into their makeshift tent now, they'd at least trip over him in the process.  

[Fea Line]

The next day came far too quickly.

Rarity had managed to toss and turn several more times in her sleep, complete with groans and complaints and very distinct whining. the air about her was still chilly, causing her to squirm around until she had found the perfect position for warmth. Beneath the blanket and curled up next to something.......someone? It was moving... breathing....

Rarity stretched a wee bit, her hand meeting the warm coat of someone. "Mmm Opal...." she cooed groggily, not fully realizing just what it was yet that she was groping petting until she managed to force her eyes to flutter open.

Odd.

Opal wasn't red. But Big Mac was re....

With a startled yelp she jumped up, clutching her blanket tight to her as if she were naked and the very thought of showing that to the world was disaster in itself!

Wait a minute... she had a blanket! Had he done this?

And then she really looked at him, stretched out across the entrance, blocking the doorway of their make shift tent teepee thing. She couldn't help but give a smile of fond affection, snuggling into the blanket and sitting this way for a few moments to fully wake herself up. She was also hoping if she sat long enough and convinced herself this was some strange dream, she'd peer out of the tent and somehow be back in the tree.

"That's right Rarity girl, its all just a strange dream.... probably because of all the time you've spent with Big Mac lately. Such a silly thing to dream about. No matter, you'll look out and wake up to find it will all be gone! You'll be right back in your bed ol' girl!" she chanted to herself and with that, crawled across the floor on her hands and knees, leaned over Big Mac, cautiously pulled back the tent.... and peered out side. Her eyes wide and hopeful, sparkling for sudden rescue.

Aaaannnnnd then her face fell flat. Outside was still the same creepy jungle it was before. "Wonderful....." she brooded, death glaring at the bushes and trees and even the air.

 

[Seruta]

Lucky for Rarity, Big Mac didn't snore. Despite popular belief, the snores that rang through the farm back in Ponyville were in fact Granny...

He was sleeping soundly, though light enough that he heard Rarity as she woke, talked to herself and even touched him a few times... but he wasn't about to open his eyes just yet. His ear merely flopped to the side to hear her mumbles a little more clearly. That is, until he felt a warm presence hovering over him and heard Rarity grumble something along the lines of irritation of what she saw.

He was already on his back, laying with his hooves crossed at the ankles and his arms were crossed under his head. His eyes slowly and lazily seemed to open and look up at Rarity scowling daggers at the world outside. He turned his head, merely flopping it so it would roll just as lazily to the side so he could see through the flap she opened.

The sight he beheld made him inwardly frown. Well, sort of... It wasn't a dream, they were still lost, but one thing was for certain, nothing tried to attack them in their sleep. That was good.

He inhaled deeply and stretched - essentially buffing up all his muscles at once to extend his hooves and fingers furthest away from each other in efforts to wake up.

"Good mornin', Miss Rarity," he managed in mid stretch then promptly folded his arms back beneath his head. There was plenty to do, but Big Mac wanted to wake up a smidge more before making any valiant attempts to find out which way the river was...  

[Fea Line]

Rarity pulled back the second he began to move, recoiling back into the blanket and sighing. "Good Morning Dear.... I was hoping this was all but a dream. Seems its not so." she said softly, offering a weak smile before looking at the blanket. "I hope you slept ok at least? " she asked, tilting her head, looking around at anything but him. She found herself resisting a blush and she wasn't even sure why... though.... she had never been stuck somewhere alone with a boy before.... with her friend sure but... this was rather different.

She tried imagining if she were stuck with some strong fearless hunk with building muscles dripping off his body as he swept her heroically through the jungle, fending off snakes with just a chop of his hand. The wind blowing his mane so it billowed with the intensity of a thousand suns...

A sigh escaped Rarity's lips as she lost herself in a day dream, her eyes wide and sparkling, glazed over with daydreams. emotion_kirakira


It was several minutes after she felt as if someone was staring at her and snapped herself out of her dream. "Ehehhehe....eeh....ahh...." she deflated at once, unwrapping herself from the blanket and proceeding to fold it neatly before setting it down next to her pack. "What do you suppose we should do today? " she asked him, hopeful that he had any ideas. She had a strange nagging feeling in her gut that no one would be looking for them and that they wouldn't see rescue anytime soon.