OUTDOOR EXPLORATION CAMPING TRIP: Day 3

[goosemods]

WEEKEND CAMPING TRIP
DAY THREE

Despite the worrying, tent swapping, and indescribable discomfort of the previous night, morning comes just as it always does. There's no more rain, the sun peeks through the clouds, and the uneasy feeling is gone. Only the barest scraps of mist stick to the mountains in soft wisps. Students wake up after having spent all night huddled close to the people who are dearest to them, or maybe just to the people who happened to be nearby.

Mr. Covington gets a fresh new fire going with a graceful wave of his wand, undeterred by the damp ground, and one by one students file out for breakfast. Conversation warms everyone, even when it shifts to how odd last night was. It's a relief to be free of those feelings, until a new question starts to rise to the surface, like an unwelcome guest. As what's wrong sinks in, everyone acutely remembers the way they felt last night.

Wasn't he in your tent?

No, I thought he was with you!

Has anyone seen Wes Carpenter?!

---

Wes stirs, bleary and cold, like his head is full of cotton and he only got a few good hours. As he surfaces from sleep, he expects to see his cabin around him, or maybe his bed at home. He hears voices, and he tries to place them as his roommates. They sound unhappy. They're arguing again. One of them is leaning over him, telling him something, but it doesn't make any sense. This isn't Robin, or Chris, or Rafael. The shadows of the trees overhead weave in with the shape of their antlers.

Wes jolts awake. There's no one there. He's alone. He's alone, and he's outside?

He can hear people yelling his name, and when he stands, he can see them, too. Soon everyone is shouting that they found him, and a swarm of his classmates descend upon Wes, sweeping him back to the camp and the fire.

---

Mr. Thorn gives a lecture about pranking and how it's really out of hand at this school. Is he angry, or something else? Either way, he opts to pack up the camp site quickly. Today, Mr. Covington will not allow the seniors to walk in back. He does that himself, and every once in awhile, will solemnly look over his shoulder. There's never anyone there.

All students return to Gooseberry by 2:00 PM.

THE FACTS:

• Last night, many people shuffled around tents, making it difficult to trace who was with whom.
• As a result, when everyone woke up in the morning, it took about 30 minutes for the students and teachers to realize Wes was missing.
• The flap to Wes' tent must have been zipped back up after he was taken.
• Whoever went to bed in the same tent as Wes did not notice when he was taken.
• Wes, meanwhile, woke up about 100' away from the center of the campsite and down a gentle incline, still in his sleeping bag. There is a trail in the wet leaves where he appears to have been dragged, but between the leaves and the rain, there are no visible footprints.
• When Wes was half-asleep, he thinks he saw a vague shape leaning over him. It was dark, human shaped, and had... antlers? It disappeared when he woke up completely.
• When Wes stood up, he could clearly see the campsite. He was found after about five minutes of frantic yelling because he woke up to people yelling his name.
• Wes is unhurt, but his body temperature is a bit low. A blanket, breakfast, and hot coffee by the fireside will take care of that.

Comments

WAKING UP

[goosemods]

[gdilevi]

Levi is a clinger and was attached to Etta like a baby opossum for most of the night. When the sounds of the early bird campers outside their tent causes him to stir, he opens an eye and looks from Etta to Cecil. He stretches out his arm to try to drape it over Cecil as well and goes right back to sleep after burying his face in Etta's hair. Good luck trying to get free.

[choneychurch]

Typically, Cecil is an early bird, but the ominous mood of the previous night left him physically and mentally and emotionally exhausted and he's just barely started to stir when Levi's arm falls across him. He opens his eyes and blinks a few times, taking in the still-sleeping faces beside him and Levi's slim hand on resting on his chest. He considers getting up, but only for about two seconds, then puts his hand over Levi's and closes his eyes again.

Sorry, Mr. Covington. No help with breakfast this morning from this Azurcrest.

[unregrettable]

Etta is a sound sleeper, and doesn't wake until a few minutes later. Her hair is, inevitably, all over the place, but squinting through it she can make out that Cecil's eyes are closed. Judging from the sound of Levi's breathing, he's also asleep. Gradually, it dawns on Etta that she's actually warm. Gloriously, blissfully warm. All thoughts of extricating herself to go and get breakfast are forgotten, and she snuggles down further into her sleeping bag with a contented sigh, happy to doze until the boys are ready to get up.

FINDING WES

[goosemods]

[paytee.insanejournal.com]

Wes is convinced at first it's some dumb prank, before he wakes up completely, and before he can start to notice the figures looming over him. He shakes his head in drowsy confusion at what they're saying, or trying to say, before he snaps out of it and the presence disappears.

He gets to his feet slowly, wrapped in his sleeping bag, taking note of where he is and if he recognizes it, trying to find footprints, anything. He grows more uneasy, trying to recall just what happened, until he sees the campsite through the trees and hears other students yelling. "YEAH, I'M HERE?" he hollers back, but stays very still and wary until he's found.

[chryseis]

Sorry, Wes, I promise I'll have Cricket come search for you once I figure out what kind of ~mood~ she is in.

[lfmkarapst.insanejournal.com]

Trixie will come hunting quickly and make sure he gets his coffee. Coppertale solidarity.


She's so telling Robin about this. Sry.

[indiefolk]

Diego is one of the students who rushed over to Wes as soon as he was found. He's visibly worried and not hiding it, and is talking too fast and asking too many questions. What happened and are you okay and do you know who did it and oh my god I shouldn't have left our tent.

GOING HOME

[goosemods]

Re: GOING HOME

[gdilevi]

Levi's gonna be on the prowl for Diego because he's absolutely going to try to rope him into a private heart2heart sans Cecil when they get back to the cabin. Until then, he just wants to walk beside him and try to hold his hand ("SO WE DON'T GET SEPARATED~~!") because he loooves him.

[indiefolk]

Diego's determination to avoid Levi and Cecil can only last so long (a whole 12 hours good job Diego), even when it's being fuelled by some prime TEEN ANGST. But after last night talking to Essie and seeing one friend dragged out into the forest, he's happy to cling to someone.

Levi probably knows he can get Diego to do anything, even have a heart2heart.

[paytee.insanejournal.com]

Wes is still wary on the walk home, and may only stay close to one person in particular. He's not his usual chatty, cheerful, smarmy self at all.

[chryseis]

EBONHIDE CAMP

[momblogger]

Students who left for the camping trip are greeted with a Welcome Home banner hung over the door to their cabins.



Maggie just happens to be sitting at the fire pit when they arrive and totally wasn't anxiously waiting there all day for their return so she could personally welcome them all back. When Nate and Cricket are spotted, her long legs carry her to them in a flash as she bolts across the camp to hug them. You'd think they were gone for months and not... two and a half days.

EBONHIDE CAMP

[birdbrainy]

EBONHIDE CAMP

[birdbrainy]

Okay, but seriously, Nate is too happy to see Maggie. The trip was fun, but with all the ~spooky~ feelings from last night and Wes being abducted by aliens and all, home turf feels good. EVERYTHING'S GONNA BE ALL RIGHT until he gets spooked again tonight lol whoops and he gives Mama Mags a BIG TIGHT HUG.

[chryseis]

Cricket had a VERY SPOOKY experience out in the woods on their last night, so she is feeling especially emotional and way above and beyond the normal amount of clingy. She's all cried out (at the moment), but Maggie and Nate would both be able to tell that ~something~ happened. This was the longest, group hug ever and if Nate protested and tried to be released she would REFUSE and tell him just ten more seconds.

If Maggie asks about what happened, Cricket will say that she'll tell her later (mostly because I'm still logging and IDK!)

OOC - Questions, comments, concerns!

[goosemods]

Need anything clarified OOC?

[puphart]

OH MY GODDDDD THAT GOT SPOOKY



HANNIBAL GO BACK TO VIRGINIA OR WHATEVER

[magitechnically]

omg i was thinking the same thing. ;o;

[puphart]

i have this thing that happens when i hear ghost stories: my eyes water and my sinuses start to block, but i swear to god that it's not crying. they just water and it's weird. it doesn't even have to be a ~true story (it happened to a friend of a friend of mine),~ it can be as intangible as a friend sharing a spooky ghosty experience, or as mundane as reading a blatantly fake creepypasta.

YOU GUYS MADE IT HAPPEN WITH THOSE DAMN DEER PEOPLE

[paytee.insanejournal.com]

[unregrettable]

May I just say that your choice of gif is always perfect?

[indiefolk]

I have collected SO MANY nature gifs for this game. So many.