gooseberryhigh | OUTDOOR EXPLORATION CAMPING TRIP

OUTDOOR EXPLORATION CAMPING TRIP

It's a sunny morning when the participating Outdoor Exploration characters meet Mr. Thorn and Mr. Covington at the docks. They're packed and prepared for the two night trip to Wolf Island, as selected by Hazel Keating.

Ennis Harper coordinates a bon voyage! sendoff, getting as many students as they can to stand at the docks, wave handkerchiefs and throw confetti at the departing boats. We'll miss you so much! Don't forget us!

Upon arrival at the island, Dahlia Hale has the unfortunate luck of slipping as they get out of their canoe, and they fall into the water. Lachlan Galbraith came prepared, and kindly lends them their spare jacket for the trip.

The campground is on the lake shore, and all the tents circle where a large bonfire will be set up. The clear night promises excellent stargazing to all who are interested.

CAMPING RULES:

Dress appropriately for the weather. Although it's getting warmer, you must bring a jacket, a change of clothes, and appropriate footwear. You will be left behind if you're not dressed properly.
No large electronics of any kind. If you brought something he doesn't like, Thorn's confiscating it, no questions. The only exceptions are: flashlights, small music players with headphones, GPS devices, and cameras. And before you ask, no, portable video game systems are not allowed. Thorn says: "Come on, why sign up for a camping trip just to play on your little no-maj thingies? You can do that when we get back."
Buddy system at all times. Do not go off on your own.
Don't leave the trail.
Respect your tent-mates. If Thorn suspects there's a problem, he's stepping in.
Lights out is 10:00 PM. All students must be quiet with lights off after this hour.
You must help carry the group's equipment.
Clean up after yourself.
All the rules that apply on campus apply here, kids! The only things you're escaping are your uniforms and classes.
If you act up, you're being sent home early with Mr. Covington and will be banned from future OE trips.
Thorn is serious about making sure you kids learn how to survive in the great outdoors without your wands, and therefore insists all the set up and take down be done without magic. He doesn't humor any arguments about wandless magic, either. "Those are the rules. Now get to it!"

HOW THIS WORKS

Students will leave Friday morning to take boats out to Lone Wolf Island. They are permitted to skip class that day.

Upon arrival, tents are set up. It's four people to a tent!

No magic is allowed when working on setting up camp and survival skills.

Although this is a single IC/OOC, the trip is lasting two nights.

Students who don't have sleeping bags, pillows, boating or camping gear will be provided with school loaners.

TENTS:

Kazim, Nathaniel, Neil & Takeru	Sylvester & Jacob	Dahlia, Faye, Henrietta & Sun-mi
Kurt, Solomon & William	Damon & Calvin	Charlotte, Fern & Hazel
Christopher, Jefferson, Zachary & Wilde	Clementine & Adeline	Avery, Estella, & Lachlan
Mackenzie & Iliya	Dominic, Matteo & Wyatt	Cecil, Diego & Levi

» DEPARTURE ON BOATS: Those leaving gather at the docks to boat out to the island. A number of students not leaving on the trip ham it up by standing on the docks and tearfully waving handkerchiefs at the campers as they boat away.

» SETTING UP CAMP: Everyone arrives at the camp site and begins setting things up. Remember: no wands! Henrietta Gray oversees the process.

» SWIMMING, FISHING & BOATING: The climbing temperatures means that it's perfect weather to jump in the lake! The water's still awfully chilly, but if you keep moving, it's not so bad. You can also take the boats out onto the water and do some fishing.

» CAMPFIRE & DINNER: Mr. Covington cooks up a hearty meal, and the campfire roars pleasantly as he shares with you some stories about his youth in Colorado. There's a little live music and dancing for those interested!

» NIGHTTIME: The sun has long since set and it's almost quiet time. Time for everyone to get some rest.

» RETURN HOME: Some of your friends may be waiting at the docks to greet you when you return Sunday morning.

» OOC - Questions, comments, concerns!

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

Sy loves camping with the ardency of a patriot who was expelled from his country at a young age. Not quite literally—he was born and raised in the city, and his family were never the "roughing it outdoors" type. But fuck, how he fell in love the second he stepped off the Gooseberry bus for the first time. The trees and the mountains, and having so much room to run in every morning, and so much sky to fly in. It's a goddamn cliché, but it felt like coming home. Sy's the most cheerful he's been since the Quidditch match, especially after making up with Reid yesterday.

Not that you'd be able to tell from the way he now stares at the chilly lake and says, "For fucksakes, Decourt." He's never liked the cold, but he's not about to wuss out in front of Clem, especially not when a rock skipping competition is on the line. Sy bends down to pull off his socks and hiking boots. "What'll you give me for it?"

Edited (poor writing tbh) 2017-05-13 20:03 (UTC)

"What'll I give you for it?" she repeats, faux-indignantly. The delivery isn't especially convincing, since she's smiling as she says it. It vaguely occurs to her that the coquettish thing to offer would probably be a kiss, but that sounds stupid even in her own head and she can't help but give him a hard time anyway. "You're supposed to do things for me because you like me, not for rewards."

"What, you think you got all this for free? Hell fuckin no." Sy gestures to himself when he says this, while also trying to roll up his pant leg with his other hand. It's not terribly graceful, but eventually he makes it into the water.

And aw fuck, it's cold. Isn't it supposed to be May now? Fuck being so close to the mountains. Sy grits his teeth and grabs the rock Clem wants, then sees a couple of other potential rocks from where he's standing. He moves to collect them too. "How many do we have now?"

"Fine," she says, eyeing him up and down as he wades around in the shallows. "If you get all the rocks that are in the water I'll get all the rocks that are up at the top of trees." (Did she fall out of a tree as recently as yesterday? Maybe she did. She doesn't see how that's relevant.)

She pulls the skipping stones out of her pockets. "Six good ones and two questionable ones," she says, holding the offending sub-par pair of rocks up in one hand so he can see them. "Plus whatever you have."

"Two good ones and one, like, pretty okay one? Ehh." He turns and tosses them at Clem's feet, one by one. Given how hard he's throwing them, it's remarkable he doesn't hit her once. All those accuracy drills all year have paid off. Sy plunges his hand back into the water to feel for another smooth stone. "How often do you do this? Because I gotta warn you, I used to be kind of a big deal at this."

For what it's worth, Clem notices his stone-tossing accuracy and is duly impressed. Keep up those drills, Stoker. There's nothing to win the girls over like a good throwing arm.

"A big deal, huh?" she asks. "I've never heard of you." She's purposefully dodging his actual question, because even though she has an affinity for bragging, she's not particularly good at actually skipping the rocks. Her best is like maybe eight skips, which in her opinion is nothing to sneeze at. She knows Sy can be prone to talking his own skills up, too, but she wouldn't be surprised if he actually was super good at skipping stones. It seems like exactly the kind of thing he and Rosy might be competitive about.

OUTDOOR EXPLORATION CAMPING TRIP

Sy & Clem! (Day 2)

Sy & Clem! (Day 2)

Sy & Clem! (Day 2)

Sy & Clem! (Day 2)

Sy & Clem! (Day 2)

Sy & Clem! (Day 2)