Group Camping Trip: Arrival

Most of the drive consisted of Yellowtail flipping through his music playlist and singing loudly, while Viper, Smokey, and Jade conversed and laughed together. Neo just stared out the window, lost in thought most of the ride.

 

Jade, unbeknownst to Neo, had decided to get up and head up to the driver’s area.

“We almost there?” She asked Yellowtail.

 

“Yep, only 5 more minutes!” He replied.

 

Jade placed her hand on Neo’s shoulder absentmindedly, jolting the other back to reality.

5 minutes. These three days sure were going to be interesting, that’s for sure.

 

Yellowtail made the final turn for the day, pulling into a large, clear area surrounded by cabins and a general campsite building. He parked the RV out front, heading inside for a moment. He came back not 1 minute later holding a small card. It had the number 12 written in big numbers on it.

 

“What’s that?” Neo asked.

 

“It’s our RV campsite number! It’s where we park and set up our stuff for the weekend. I reserved one with a really nice view, too. I would’ve gotten a cabin around this area, but they were all booked for the next few months. So, I just rented an RV and got a spot for that instead.”

 

Neo hummed in response. Yellowtail hopped in and closed the door behind him, placing the numbered card on the dashboard. He restarted the vehicle and slowly drove along the dirt roads leading through the woods.

 

Eventually, the group reached their destination. It was a place with a beautiful view, as Yellowtail had said. Once the RV was parked and the brakes were engaged, as well as the tire stops put into place, the five of them ventured outside to check out their campsite.

 

“Sooo… what now?” Viper asked, shrugging.

 

“We unpack, of course. Everyone get your bags, let’s set up the tent.” Jade headed back inside the RV, dragging out a few bags that had been packed for the trip. Inside one of them was a big tent, and inside a few others were five sets of sleeping bags and blankets, one for each camper.

 

“Everyone needs to help with the tent, it’s super big.” Jade dug through the tent bag, pulling out tent poles, stakes, the tent itself, and some other essentials for setting it up.

 

As Jade, Yellowtail, and Neo set up the tent, Viper and Smokey wander off to go exploring in the woods. They sneak away from the other three, giggling to themselves as they do so.

 

“So what do you plan to look for, anyway?” Smokey asked Viper.

 

“Bones, dead critters, cool stuff, y’know, the usual.” Viper replied, looking around the dense foliage.

 

Smokey cringed. “That’s not “the usual” for most, you know that, right?”

 

Viper hummed and shrugged, lifting up a rather large rock. A few salamanders scattered once the light hit their bodies, as well as a rather large spider. Smokey felt all icky after seeing that. Viper snorted to herself at Smokey’s response.

 

The two continued in a similar fashion throughout the forest, Viper investigating under objects and in strange places while Smokey watched disapprovingly. At one point Viper managed to find a small owl pellet, insisting on making Smokey watch her dissect it with her bare claws. He nearly puked at the sight.

 

Smokey continued to look away each time Viper found something he considered gross, whether it be picking up a slimy salamander or shoving some type of bug in his face, telling him to “look at it.”

This time Viper had found a particularly large snake, well, large for where they were. Most snakes weren’t any bigger than your forearm around here. This one was almost arms length, from fingertips to shoulder. Smokey turned away as soon as Viper saw it, hoping she wouldn’t pick it up and hold it out to him. Off in the distance, he spotted something. Something small and white on the ground.

 

“What is that?” He asked himself.

 

“Hmm?” Viper turned her attention from the snake to wherever Smokey was looking.

 

She immediately saw what he was looking at, and to Smokey’s dismay, she walked towards it.

 

“Viper, we don’t know if that’s like an animal or something, maybe some kind of poisonous mushroom that’s gonna release toxic spores as soon as you touch it. Don’t go near it.”

 

“Oh, stop being so worried, Smokey. Not everything is out to kill us here.” Viper brushed off her brother’s concerns, getting even closer.

 

Once she was close enough to identify the object, her face lit up.

 

“Oh! It’s a deer shed! I’ve never found one before!” Viper exclaimed.

 

“A what?” Smokey deemed it safe enough to progress towards his sister’s location, since she wasn’t being attacked or spored by a mushroom.

 

“A deer shed, it’s one of their fallen antlers. They “shed” them every once in a while, and they fall off for new ones to grow. This is one of the old antlers.” Viper explained, picking up the antler and turning it over in her hands. It looked quite big, but was a beautiful ivory white. Smokey actually liked this find. Mostly because he found it, but it was cool, too.

 

“Let’s bring this back to show the others!” Viper said, grabbing her brother’s hand and running back the way they came, Smokey stumbling over roots and rocks in tow.