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 Posted: Wed Jun 19, 2024 2:02 am
Under the Moonlight (12) : In an ever persistent desire to get people out of the city and into nature, Destiny City is hosting guided tours on the water at the Reservoir. Kayaks can be bought or rented, and a very generous sponsor has even covered the cost of several kayak rentals per day throughout the month. Away from the city lights, you can leave with a tour group at dusk or take a kayak out on your own. As you near the caves at the reservoir, you may even find that with each stroke of the paddle, the waters around the cave glow with bright, bioluminescent lights. If you’re lucky, the trip is peaceful, but you’re not so far out of Destiny City that you’re not at risk for at least some oddities. While you can be happy that there seem to be no mosquitoes biting, sometimes something large might bump under your kayak, or you may hear a strange, clacking wail from deep in the forests around you. Sometimes large trees rustle, and sometimes you see strange eyes just staring at you. No reports have come out about anyone being hurt or attacked, but the forest can be a scary place–especially if you’re not used to it. All kayaks must be returned by midnight or you risk being hunted by some very unhappy park rangers!
She honestly wasn't sure how that happened, but here she was, at the reservoir at dusk for the advertised guided tour aboard a kayak. She opted to go with one of the tour groups instead of on her own–things didn’t go all that well the last time she tried to investigate a DC rumor on her own, so it was a lesson learned–though it could hardly be called a group in its current state. There were only two of them so far.
She waved at the other girl as she approached. “Hi, I'm Mel,” she offered a small smile alongside her very brief introduction. “I'm guessing you're here for the kayak tour thing, too?”
MiddyGloww Hope this works. If not, please lmk. c:
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Posted: Wed Jun 19, 2024 8:12 am
Aurora wasn't much of an outdoor perhaps either, but the evening kayak tour sounded beautiful so she decided to give it a try. She waved back at the other girl she saw as she went towards the shore with the kayaks. "Yes I am here for the tour as well.. were you planning on going on the group tour or renting a kayak." She was hoping that Mel knew more about these boats than she did. She knew how to swim so that was a plus, but Aurora didn't know much about boats. "I'm Aurora by the way." She said in a friendly tone.
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Posted: Wed Jun 19, 2024 1:17 pm
”Nice to meet you,” she said, then glanced between Aurora and the direction they were now headed–she started following her, thinking they were mostly on the same page. Besides, no matter the answer they’d all be on the water anyway.
“Mm…honestly I thought they were the same thing.” She laughed, the sound somehow halfway between apologetic and embarrassed. “If not, though, maybe the kayak? And I’d stick close-ish to the group for some safety.” Mel debated whether or not it’d be a good idea to share the somewhat harrowing experiences she had while exploring the forest on her own last year. She decided against it, at least for now. She could always share later, maybe, if the situation called for it.
“You?”
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Posted: Wed Jun 19, 2024 2:57 pm
Aurora smiled and said "Nice to meet you as well, that sounds like a good idea, safety is important." She looked out into the dark water a little nervous about doing this but excited too. "Alright well then I guess we better get going so we don't get left behind." She didn't know much of anything about doing this. She listened to the instructions from the guide she was pretty sure she could handle this. "Alright, we can do this Mel." She said trying to be encouraging even though she was still really nervous about this whole thing.
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Posted: Thu Jun 20, 2024 10:10 pm
Mel nodded and turned her attention to the guide as well, taking mental notes of everything until all was said and done and they were sent to grab their kayaks. Mel looked to Aurora when she next spoke, and quickly bobbed her head in agreement.
“We totally can!” she said, hoping to match the other’s energy. She was far more nervous than even she realized, and now that they were actually going to grab the kayaks it was starting to catch up to her.
While in line, she glanced at the options and noticed that there were some that were able to seat two. Without a moment’s hesitation she tapped Aurora’s shoulder, forgetting that they’d actually just met and probably weren’t acquainted enough to be touching each other in any way, shape, or form. “Ooh, you wanna get the tandem one? That way we can stick together a little easier?”
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Posted: Fri Jun 21, 2024 7:51 am
Aurora nodded and said "Alright let's do this then so we can catch up with the others, and yes I think a tandem kayak would be just fine, I can swim, but I don't know much about kayaks.." She said pausing she wasn't going to lie about her skills. "We should get going before we end up getting lost out on the water in the dark." She shivered at the idea it wasn't a pleasant thought. Aurora helped Mel get the kayak in the water and she put her paddle in the water trying to do what she had seen in movies. Putting the paddle in the water at the right time. It was slow going but they weren't doing too badly at least Aurora thought they weren't. They reached the cave and Aurora said "Oooo when she saw the lights glowing in the darkness." bioluminescent.
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Posted: Sat Jun 22, 2024 1:23 am
Mel beamed when Aurora agreed, and soon enough they were on the water.
“In the interest of full disclosure, since you shared and all,” she said as they made their way into the cave. “I’m basically the same as you. I don’t really know too much about kayaks, but I can at least swim so if something happens, no need to worry about me.”
She sounded confident enough, and when Aurora “ooo’d” she glanced at the water around them and more or less made the same sound.
“That’s so cool!” she said, sounding perfectly amazed by the sight of it. She’d read about bioluminescence before, and it really did look so much better in person than on a computer monitor.
It was about then, though, that she could swear something tapped the underside of their kayak, causing it to start turning a bit to their left. Mel blinked, then looked curiously over at Aurora, as if to ask, “Did you feel that, too?”
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Posted: Sat Jun 22, 2024 8:01 am
Aurora laughed and then said "Well at least we can both swim, in case we flip the boat and have to swim for it." Aurora felt the tap on the bottom of their boat and she said "Maybe it was just a stick or something we hit?" She suggested since that didn't seem to scary. They moved away from the pretty lights from the cave and were surrounded by woods that seemed to have creepy little eyes staring at them. "Well, that is.. eh." She said softly as if she didn't want to draw the attention of whatever creatures might be in the woods. She then felt a more pronounced hit on the bottom of the boat that scared her. "What the heck was that?" She asked with fear in her voice she definitely didn't want to be in the dark water with a creature she couldn't see in the dark. That would be really bad.
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Posted: Sun Jun 23, 2024 4:27 pm
Mel saw the eyes, too, and couldn’t help the shudder that ran through her at the sight of them all once they were in the forest area. Paired with a sudden, clacking sort of wail and it was enough to tell her that her decision to not come alone was a very good idea. She tried her best to not look too scared, though given the way her entire body was suddenly tense she probably wasn’t doing a very good job at that.
And that something hit them again, and she shook her head.
“Not gonna lie, I don’t really wanna know. I vote we try our best not to get in the water.”
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Posted: Sun Jun 23, 2024 5:49 pm
Aurora nodded and then said "I can't help but agree, maybe we should try to paddle faster and finish this tour as fast as we can." She said softly as if she spoke softly the things around them wouldn't get them.
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Posted: Wed Jun 26, 2024 12:59 am
It was quite the relief when Aurora agreed with her, and at the other girls suggestion Mel nodded her head as well. “Super glad we’re on the same page, Aurora,” she said, sounding more nervous than she would have liked. Not that it mattered, now.
As fast but as carefully as possible–she didn’t want to risk tipping their kayak, after all–Mel helped to paddle them right on through the tour with as few delays as possible.
The eyes, the clacking, and even the little nudges from below their kayak, seemed to all gradually go away the further they got from the forest area. It was all the confirmation Mel needed to pick up the pace just that much faster toward the ending of the tour.
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Posted: Thu Jun 27, 2024 6:06 am
Aurora paddled along with Mel quickly till they were finally done with the tour and safely back on land. She sighed out "Yea I am very glad we were on the same page, I don't think night kayaking is my thing." She said softly.
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Posted: Thu Jun 27, 2024 7:11 am
"Me neither," Mel admitted, a hint of pink in her cheeks. "We made it through, though, and that probably counts for something!"
She gave the other girl a gentle, encouraging pat on the shoulder, and then suggested they return their kayak and head on home. The rest of the tour group was abuzz about the experience. Some were like her and Aurora, none too happy with the weirdness that was possibly going on out there, but there were more who were excited and curious about it.
Mel did her best to drown them out, choosing instead to think of things that would help calm her down. A good shower, for one, and a nice cuddle with her pup would probably, hopefully, do the trick.
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