Aires

Haru watched the scene from below with a confused expression. Part of him really wanted understand Harper’s effect on other people but the larger (and probably better) part of him genuinely found that not caring was the best protocol. Xabier might as well have just dived into Harper’s person as far as Haru was concerned. Did he even check to see if Harper needed CPR beforehand? Nonetheless, between the gnarly expression on Harper’s face and Dorian’s deed being upstaged by Xabier’s ripped clothes (and don’t act like they didn’t steal the show) the entire exchange was more than a little hilarious.
The redhead turned to the others.
“Welp… Who’s next?”

Tallyho rested in the sand for a few more minutes before deciding to stand. She and Kat were perched farther off on the shoreline, nearer to the forest brush. The blonde glanced at the tribal woman before beginning the chore of dusting white sand off of her face. She licked a piece of her dress to get a sizable amount of grains off of her tongue and ran her palms down her arms.
“Thanks or that,” she said.
Kat only nodded.
“Was I at least sort of swimming?” Tallyho asked. She was hesitant to start a conversation with the quiet character but she was curious.
“I guess… If you meant to swim downwards.”
There was a long pause.
“Did I look stupid?” Tallyho asked.
Kat did not answer. This probably meant yes.

The blonde made her way to the water’s edge and rinsed the sand out of her hair.

Lux stared as everyone who wanted to jump did. More or less, at least. Harper's fiasco was one thing she had wished she hadn't seen; or she wished she had jumped before all of that went down. Brave, brave little Autumn had jumped before she worked the courage to, and that was something Lux would tell her after she made the jump. If she made the jump. It wasn't the heights that was bothering Lux; it was the idea of swimming after the jump. She tried to make a swim team in her town once, but failed miserably. Her entrance into the water was not a rather happy memory. Nearly broke her head open because of the wrong stance.

But she had to jump. If she didn't, things wouldn't do so good for her with the others; including the Academy team. Lux edged closer towards the cliff. She backed up from the cliff edge. Her arms were crossed over her chest, as if she was hugging herself. Lux couldn't do this alone. She had to ask for help in getting off the cliff. Turning her attention away from the water, Lux shuffled over to the person she had seen Autumn with whenever she happened to glance over. Her head was bowed some, her stance utterly pathetic.

This was the stance of a scared child, not the stance of a proud woman. Lux took in a deep breath and let it out roughly through her nose. Now was not the time to mope about that. She had to get down there, and this person looked like they would be able to offer help. She didn't care about the possible stinging pain the bellyflop would gain, she just wanted off that cliff.

"Excuse me...?" She inquired with a tentative tone. "Would you help me in... jumping off the cliff? Please?"

No, he wouldn’t. First, it would ruin his coat. Second, he would be completely soaked and it would take forever to dry his hair. Third, he just plain didn’t want to. There was no way he was going down there. At least, that’s what he wanted to say.

Kit let out a small sigh of discontentment, making it clear enough that he really didn’t want to do this. Ryou was his friend, however. Not that he would ever admit it, but he would do almost anything for the man. That’s what friends were for after all. As long as he got to complain afterwards, that is. And boy, would he complain later. He would complain a lot.

“Alright.” The redhead replied. He took his coat off first, carefully folding it and placing it nearby. He adjusted the sleeveless turtleneck carefully, making sure his neck was completely covered. Then he removed his hair tie, certain that if he didn’t place it with his coat he would simply lose it in the water. Finally, he removed his boots. It would be easier to swim this way, and he would just get them later.

“Are you ready?”

Kit didn’t give her a chance to respond before he grabbed her and dove. He made sure to hold on tight, only releasing his grip when they hit the water. His long hair spread out like paint, getting in his face and obstructing his vision. Swimming away just far enough to let Lux stretch her limbs and swim on her own, he adjusted his turtleneck once more. His hair was the least of his concern. In fact, he was used to it. He casually brushed it out of his face, checking to see if the warrior was alright. “There, you see? That wasn’t too bad.”

They made it to shore safely, much to his relief. Though, he was fairly sure he looked like a drowned rat. His wet hair clung to his body stubbornly. Ryou owed him big time. It was then that he saw the Xabier’s scars. At least he wasn’t alone in that department.

“New rule. No one else is allowed to drown, or even come close to drowning.” He said, wringing his hair out.

Autumn sighed with relief. Harper was safe. She walked over to him, making sure that she would be there when he woke up. If he needed emotional help, she was sure to be there for him. She smiled at Dorian and Xabier, “Nice save you guys.”

Tallyho chuckled softly at the group, just as she expected, they congregated over to Harper who was, in all cases, the star of every hour. She listened to some congratulate his saviors and looked over at Kat again. Though the woman seemed disinterested for the most part, Tallyho was still a little put off by her lack of recognition in almost everything she did in the weeks the warriors knew her.
"I'm sorry to say you chose to save the wrong person. Had you gone to that fool you'd be the hero of the hour."
Not that Kat saving Harper would be any better. Tallyho would bet a lot of liquor that Harper didn't thank a soul after he had his last fainting spell. And she had a feeling that Kat was used to being under-praised. Though admittedly, it didn't seem to bother the woman much.
"You were the best diver you know?"
"Thanks was enough,"Kat said sharply. She pulled herself onto her feet and started towards the forest.
"Where are you going?"
"Fire wood."
Tallyho forgot that they were sleeping outside tonight and figured that she should start preparing for the night too. It wasn't like she had anything better to do.
"Do you need help?" Tallyho asked.
Kat said no and soon she was gone.
The February warrior pressed her lips into a thin line before deciding to find another way to help, anything to get away from the earthlings. She caught sight of Kwasi wringing his robes dry form the corner of the shore line.
"You," Tallyho said. "Come help me find useful things."
"Useful things?"Kwasi asked. He wasn't quite sure what she meant but he was willing to help either way.
He followed Tallyho into the forest.

The last vestiges of anxiety faded away with both Ryou and Dae's assurances. Dae speaking up next to him did startle him a little, though. He hadn't adjusted to that raspy brogue yet. If what he expected came true, he should have plenty of time to get used to it. Kyle's grin widened at the encouraging words. Not only could he enjoy school, but he didn't have to be that troublemaking kid. He could change. He wanted to change! He bounced on his toes and opened his mouth to say so, but closed it again when Ryou explained what he wanted them to do. Haru and Ji Na were totally lying when they said there would be no jumping off cliffs, but he still wasn't scared. To him, it sounded exciting.

A trust exercise? Well, the cliff-divers he saw on TV were never alone, so it probably did make perfect sense. There was also the risk of dying usually with cliff-divers, so they needed to go in groups. Ryou said there weren't any rocks at the bottom to crack their heads on, but if someone didn't know how to swim, like obviously Tallyho, it would be impossible. Kyle's heart beat hard in his chest and his breath caught when she started drifting further down. Kat caught her before he could and he released that breath like a deflating balloon.

Harper, on the other hand, everyone knew he could swim and was practically obsessed with it. Today was most likely the worst day of his life, and for that Kyle did manage to find a touch of pity for him. He could do without the sour smell Harper left behind though. Because of that sour smell, he pitied those left on this side of the cliff.

Kyle wasn't afraid to take the jump alone, but he sought out someone who might be. The only 'month warriors' left were Skylar, Falke, and himself. Skylar didn't seem to be the easily frightened type, and actually neither did Falke. The German boy didn't seem to like people much, so he thought he should approach carefully. "Falke..." he called the other blond boy's name, and paused for a response. If and when he answered by turning in Kyle's direction, he added, "I can help you if you want it." If Falke said he wanted help, Kyle would take his hand and lead the blind boy to the edge. "The water's below us, so stay close. I won't let you get hurt." He reached over to get a better grip on the other boy, but Falke swatted his hands away and he relented. "Okay! On three we can jump together. 1... 2..."Kyle bent his knees in preparation. "Ready?" If he got his answer in the form of a nod or statement, "3!" Then he took the plunge and swam slightly away to give Falke room to follow. When Falke was ready Kyle swam over to catch him.

Carrying Falke, who was taller and possibly heavier than Kyle, would be a hard struggle to shore but the younger blond trusted he was strong enough to do it. After pulling them both safely to shore, he was exhausted. With a spluttering gasp, he announced, "We made it!"

The voices were distant, faint, overcome by a dull thumping. Something jumped on his chest, but he felt too heavy to shove it off.

He felt something else, warm and wet, pressed to his lips, and it was then that he remembered he had to breathe.

He coughed, water sputtering out as he turned his head to the side. He opened his eyes, a Herculean task, and saw hazel ones looking down at him wearily.

"I thought you could swim, idiot."

He felt his stomach flip, his heart flutter to his throat, the red blush starting in his ears and racing to either end across his nose and over his cheeks. He'd hardly talked to Xabier the past two weeks, moreso out of nerves than lack of want, and here he was, peering over him, and close. For a moment, he nearly preferred the feeling of falling. Nearly...and only for a moment. A moment that passed by quickly.

His breath hitched, and he thought he might cough again. Or throw up. Instead, he realized that he had nearly drowned to death. It was the only explanation for why he was sprawled on the sand like this, why he didn't remember swimming out, and why Xabier, and Dorian, and now Autumn, were hovering over him.

Wow. He, Harper Calloway Fields, top-notch swimmer, previous lifeguard, and former member of one of the best high school swim teams of the country, nearly drowned. Who would have thought? He could have laughed.

All that he was able to manage was a weak smile. "I can," he answered, "This is actually the most embarrassing thing that's ever happened to me."

Embarrassing, yes. In more ways than one. He noticed then that Xabi was shirtless, and his heart skipped a beat.

Darting his eyes away, he pulled himself onto his elbows as Autumn spoke to Dorian and Xabi. Harper was a little surprised that Dorian had been involved. Didn't that guy hate him?

"So it's because of you two that I didn't drown," Harper said, pushing off his elbows into a sitting position, head starting to spin. "Thanks. I owe you two big time. Of course, none of this would have happened if SOMEBODY didn't TOSS ME OFF A FUCKING CLIFF!" He projected his voice upwards, where Haru and Ryou no doubt had been enjoying the entire show. He glared at them, but not for long. With a sigh, he staggered to his feet.

"Yeah, what an awesome idea," he said sarcastically as he swayed, balancing himself on the sand, "Let's throw the guy with a fear of heights off a cliff. That'll cure him!" He shook his head. "Quacks, the lot of them!"

He didn't look at the high cliff for long. He was probably too exhausted to suffer another panic attack, and knowing he wouldn't have to jump off anything for a while--he hoped--was enough to calm him. And he was wayyy lower than where he was before, and surrounded by water, his favorite. Still, the sight of the cliff face made him queasy.

"How many more are left?" he asked, to no one in particular.

As the last of the warriors started their decent, Haru veered away from the cliff.
“Welp, my job is done for the day,” he hummed.
During the commotion Karma eventually stopped her dancing and went to go pick up the warrior’s food. Another student left it halfway down the trail for the small girl to find and drag back and within moments the she was approaching the small collection of warriors. She dropped the sack before them before turning on her heels.
“Have fun come back up in the morning,” she chirped, “I’m gonna go home and eat my potatooeesss, and cheeeeese, and porrrk…”
She disappeared into the brush, her announcement of soon to be eaten food fading away from listening ears. The sack she left was full of bread and dried, jerky-like meat.

“So what exactly are you looking for out here?” Kwasi asked.
“I don’t know… Fruit or something?”
“I’m not sure that there are many fruit trees on this island.”
“How about you pray for some then?” Tallyho’s tone was half-mocking, she even rolled her eyes.
“Good idea. Could we stop here?”
“Ugh! No. I wouldn’t be caught dead in this forest by dark.” To be more precise, if she did get caught she probably would be dead.
“Well shouldn’t we get back to the others?”
“Why?”
“I don’t know. I feel like we should try to stay in one big group I guess…”
Tallyho turned around swiftly, her palm pressed against a tree and teeth pinching the inside of her cheek.
“Okay…” Tallyho said, faux pleasantness drifting through her lips. “How about you go back to them? How about you go back, sit down, and keep quiet while I go find something, anything for the night? And if they ask I am, you never saw me! Get it?”
“Well I don’t—“
“Got it?”
“I think—“
“Good!” Tallyho whipped into a turn and continued to stomp through the brush. Leaving the monk behind.
“…Okay.”
As a monk, Kwasi never had much interaction with females and he was beginning to wonder if all women were like the ones he met these past few weeks. Confused, he wandered back to the shoreline until he made it to the rest of the group.
“What’s in the bag?” He asked them as he gestured towards the brown sack.

It didn’t take long for Kat to come out of the forest with an abundance of wood under each arm. Without greeting she began to make the proper preparations, forming the pit and stacking the wood.

Lux listened to Kit and nodded gratefully. The rush of the air through her hair during the plunge made her almost want to scream. But she didn't, for the sake of the man jumping with her. Impacting with the water, Lux watched the redhead as he went through the motions. Following him wasn't hard, after all she did train to join a swim team. She oddly felt at ease with this. Lux pulled herself onto the shore.

Watching as Harper woke up some odd distance from her, the brunette gave off a nod. It seemed that the group around him was the ones who revived him. That was something. Her hands wrung out the soaking mess of her hair. She'd worry about the wet clothes later. Approaching the man that jumped with her, Lux gave off a small smile. "I'm sorry..." She said before backing off to walk over to Autumn. She had a girl to congratulate.

Smiling lightly towards the blonde, the brunette let out a small chuckle. "Autumn... you were brave enough to make that jump, and you helped someone even after..." Another small chuckle left her. "You... did great." Her attention was then taken from Autumn to the sack. It looked like something out of a survival plot, really. Flour, dried goods, or something preserved would definitely be in that. Perfect for a night out camping; especially camping on the beach.

Dorian simply rolled with it when he was shoved unceremoniously aside by Xabier- who had inexplicably lost his shirt in a dive that even someone in robes had completed without any fashion disasters-, simply choosing to lay where he fell on the sandy beach, wheezing slightly as he breathed quick, shallow breaths that shifted slowly to long, languorous ones as oxygen finally started filling his lungs again, now that he was allowed to simply breathe. The thundering of his heart against his ribcage finally began to slow as the adrenaline slowly dissipated, now just a subtle rhythm no longer pounding in his ears. He didn't lie still long, instead rolling over onto his hands and knees and moving slowly to his feet. Eyes turned towards the drama playing out on the island, Xabier apparently making sure Harper was absolutely fine and Tallyho having made it safely to shore or at least safely enough with Kat's assistance. She, he was relatively certain, couldn't swim, but had still taken the plunge on her own. Of course she'd failed- sink or swim does have more than one option, after all- but she held herself with enough dignity to now be washing out her hair instead of basking in the nonexistent attention she'd garnered. Which, of course, he could take a lesson from.

Sand was sticking stubbornly to him now, clinging to his hair, his clothes, and his hands to the point where he not only entertained the idea of wandering back to the water, but did so. The lake water was cool, but pleasantly so, and he could actually pause to enjoy the feeling and sight of the calm body of water instead of attempting to get out of it as quickly as possible. The granules were scattered to the water, gently tugged towards the waterfall some ways away by the gentle current and he was left sopping wet but feeling cleaner than he had been, no longer gritty and dusted with sand. Satisfied with the job well done, he waded back to shore to see Harper waking and to hear Autumn's bright congratulations. More people were making their way to the island now, either ignoring the scenes that had just played out or ignorant to their occurrence. Harper was awake now, spluttering up water and, for the first time in their acquaintance, legitimately calm or at least speaking at an indoor level. When he mentioned how embarrassed he was, Dorian felt it prudent not to add the pre cursing scene out of simple human kindness. Best to forget the screams and pants wetting for everyone's sake.

He shrugged off the thanks, offering up a quiet, "It's fine. It wasn't anything" for lack of anything better to say. He didn't know what to do with the congratulations or the thanks and it made him feel a bit embarrassed, not knowing whether to bask in it or avoid it altogether. The moment dissolved into a more familiar situation, however, when Harper began shouting again.

Xabier was still inexplicably shirtless and the sight of his back was surprising if nothing else. A deep scar that seemed like the mark of a burn some years ago, stretched out across the skin. Was this why he'd been so reluctant to jump seeing as how he'd whooped and cheered with his own dive? Maybe, maybe not, but Dorian wasn't feeling enthusiastic about being covered with a soaked jacket over his already soaked clothes and the tatters of Xabier's shirt was already spirited away by the current.

"Here. Since you lost your shirt," Dorian said, slipping off his jacket and folding it neatly out of practice, put it in front of Xabier before turning back to the group at large.

Ah. Normality. Well, not quite. Three members of their party had disappeared, apparently, Kat, Kwasi, and Tallyho vanished away into the forest, hopefully not lost but instead being the practical people that they seemed to be.

Food was supplied with the typical Karma taunts as she and Dae- who was much kinder about not reminding them about what they were missing and was instead wishing them a good night- made their exits. People were milling about now, chattering amongst themselves when Kat made her return, arms laden with firewood. She had no time for chitchat, instead getting straight to work on building a fire. So Tallyho hadn't been with her. Then maybe- well, not Kwasi either, he realized as the priest returned, a question on his lips.

It wasn't that he didn't think Tallyho could take care of herself because God knew that she would do a much better job at doing so than Dorian ever could, and he wasn't that worried. He simply wanted to check on her, if only because she was one of the closest people in the group that he saw as "friend". Which was sad, but that was his story as he slipped into the woods where he'd seen Kwasi exit and prayed silently that he didn't become even more lost.

He found her eventually and, although he never did pride himself on his people skills, he was rather sure about telling if someone was upset or not and Tallyho most certainly was. It was just too bad that Dorian didn't have the negotiating skills to take on the situation with kid gloves, so blunt it was.

"Tallyho," His voice cut through the woods' quasi silence, broken only by the natural sounds of the life filling the woods around them and the slight wind that, while not actually cold, still managed to cut through him with his wet clothes. "You alright?" After the jump, after the near death experience, in general around the group… Alright meant a lot of things.

Skylar was sure that she had died and the academy was some sort of weird limbo like state between heaven and hell. Like airports and waiting rooms at doctor’s offices, her concept of time here was long gone and its passage was only marked by when they were woken up, told to train, and then released at the end of the day.

The training was especially brutal, leaving her with more scrapes and bruises than she could count and sore muscles to match. But still, she kept going. And as the days passed, she could feel her tolerance growing stronger as well. The once unbearable hammer she had retrieved from the cavern slowly became easier and easier to lift, the bulky weapon safely tucked away in her little cubicle while they trained.

Although she could do without the heavy lifting portion of their training, she did enjoy the running. While she couldn’t necessarily run away from her problems back at home, being on her school’s track team had given her a much needed distraction from her chaotic family life. It had become almost cathartic, the sound of her sneakers slapping against the pavement drowning out the awful voices in the back of her mind.

It was draining, both physically and mentally, and most of the time she felt like she was merely lost in a fog and only going through the motions. She was left with a numb feeling in her chest, her bright blue eyes duller than when they had first arrived in Aires so long ago. Even so, she plastered a smile on her face throughout it all- nobody was going to know what was going on inside her head.

-

It was only a few hours later that Skylar found herself standing at the edge of a cliff, surrounded by the other warriors and a few of the others from the academy. The scenery was gorgeous, like nothing she had ever seen before. It reminded her of a postcard, her thoughts traveling to her friends and family back at home. Aires- Wish you all were here.

Ryou's mention of them having to jump into the lake below distracted her from the picturesque landscape, her gaze flickering to the older guardian. She had a brief flashback to being seven years old at the town pool, her older brothers laughing and shrieking as they taunted her from the diving board.

“Don’t be such a big baby, Skylar!” They jeered, lips curled up into smirks as they smirked down at her. She remembered standing there in her neon pink one piece, a faded hand-me-down from some obscure family member that was much too big for her small frame. “Dive off the high board!”

“I’m not a baby!” She called back after them, tiny fists curled and eyes darkened. They were her brothers, weren’t they supposed to help her instead of bully her? She could feel tears pressing at the backs of her eyes but she quickly blinked them away, knowing full well that if her brothers caught her crying she would never hear the end of it.

She’d been so wrapped up in her own thoughts that she didn’t even realize she was the only one left standing at the cliff. Great, she thought. Now everyone is going to think that I was too afraid to do it right away.

She peered over the edge of the cliff, her heart rate barely increasing as she looked at the water below. She thought of all the others, some showing more signs of fear than others. For fuck's sake, shouldn’t she have felt at least something?

Maybe she just wasn’t afraid of dying.

With that thought in mind, she pushed the sleeves of her dress up before taking a few steps back. With one final gulp of air, she propelled herself forward and off the cliff.

It was at that moment that the adrenaline kicked in, snapping her out of the fog she’d been walking around in for weeks. She couldn’t help but let out a burst of laughter, the wind rushing in her ears as she fell.

She hit the water with a surprisingly harsh force, the impact stinging her skin before she sank down. Taken aback at the sudden reality of the situation, she could feel a panic starting to set in as she kicked her legs about in attempt to get herself back to the surface. Her clothing pulled her down, and it seemed like eons before she could finally feel the air on her face once again.

Disoriented from the jump, it took her a few minutes to locate the shore once she’d gotten her breath again. Paddling towards the sand, she pulled herself up out of the water and onto shaky legs. Her gaze flickered to the others who had seemed to have split off into multiple groups, and she tentatively made her way towards them.

"What'd I miss?"

“Not too many.” Autumn replied, her voice gentle just in case. After all, Harper had almost drowned.
“I think they should be coming down soon. But, in the meantime, are you alright? I mean, I know you’re saved, but are you ok?” She asked, scooting away slightly to give him some space. “Maybe you should rest?”

She smiled as Lux walked towards her. “Thanks, but it’s not like I did all that much. I still needed help, myself. You did great, too! Asking Kit for help is pretty brave!” She chuckled.

“Yes, it is. Don’t do it again.” Kit huffed, brushing the sand off of his pants. “Well, as fun as this little get-together sounds, it’s warriors only. I’m going back. If anyone needs me for anything else, reconsider.”

He walked down along the trail for a while until he was sure he was out of sight. It was then that he transformed, as it was much easier to walk along a forest trail as a fox than it was to walk along a forest trail without shoes on and soaking wet. He shook his body violently, trying to rid himself of the water that desperately clung to his fur. And so he continued until he made it back to the cliff, becoming human once more and putting his coat and shoes back on. His hair, he decided, could wait until it was dry. It was too much of a pain trying to gather the wet mass into a ponytail.

Autumn glanced over at the sack and sighed. “Whatever is in there probably isn’t that good, huh?”

She would have checked herself, but was still certain that Harper required more attention. In fact, it was rather rude of her not to try to help him through his phobia in the first place. Just what was she thinking? Helping others should have been first priority. Just because she was busy didn’t mean that could change.

Tallyho paced around the forest. Though she told Kwasi staying in there till dark wouldn’t be a good idea, she was seriously beginning to contemplate it. It wasn’t that hard…she’d slept in nature before and nothing bad happened aside from a few bug bites. The blonde sighed and slumped down onto the roots of a large tree. She felt like she was at the top of the cliff again and she couldn’t do this for another… Aires knows how long. Every time she was forced to cooperate in group activities whether they were extreme cliff diving or just eating Tallyho felt an inherent urge to leave the area. And it usually went the same way. She’d get uncomfortable and leave and her absence never disturbed the activities. It was good because she was free to do whatever she wanted. Why… If she wanted to run away from the Month Warrior deal she could do so easily. But it was still a little disheartening knowing that no matter what she did or where she went it wouldn’t really matter to those people. Suddenly kind gestures seemed phonier. Every smile or compliment (if she actually got that many) was invalid.
She honestly felt like she was swimming back there.
But judging by Kat’s unhelpful description… she was doing anything but. Doing exactly what Harper was doing. But the difference between her and Harper was that if Harper died it would mean the world to the same people who “couldn’t stand him”. She didn’t think they disliked him that much actually. They all flocked to his side as if they had known and cared about him for years. This was an exercise of brotherhood and they passed. Tallyho would just have to find her own test and her own people and—
Fuck.
Here came Dorian. It wasn’t that she wanted her observations about the relations between her and the rest of the group to be a reality but it seemed like just when she was beginning to make her point someone had to come and try to change her mind.
This was both annoying and comforting. But the thing about Dorian was that he didn’t generally approach her with the same campy false affections so many of the others fed to her. He asked if she was alright and she looked away, her eyes glazing past him briefly.
“I’m alright I guess. What about the King?”
Of course she was referring to Harper and she didn’t give Dorian much time to answer before speaking again.
“If you’re looking for food out here I haven’t found any yet.”

Double post.

"I think Karma left some food behind. I came looking for you," Dorian readily admitted, never one for beating around the bush. Tallyho, as he'd before noticed, didn't look particularly happy and while he didn't presume that he understood her all that well given that they hardly knew each other, he could at least understand a part of it. Then again, if he hadn't understood who the name "King" was referring to, he would be incredibly disappointed in himself. It only then occurred to him that two people had almost drowned today and one had been left on her own by the same team she'd been thrust into quite unwillingly(then again none of them had come willingly) with nary a worried glance or concerned word to follow her own rescue while others flocked to Harper. It was an easy enough thing to do- Harper attracted attention, drawing even his own thoughts and opinions like moths to a flame. When surrounded by such loud personalities as Harper or Kyle or even Xabier, it was easy to see people slipping under the radar.

"He's fine- He was feeling well enough to shout at Haru and Ryou," Dorian replied before pausing for a moment. He wasn't necessarily eloquent, but he wasn't ignorant enough not to be able to extend the olive branch so to speak. That and he desperately needed a little sanity around the camp, especially if any sort of bonding was involved.

"I'm sorry that you had to jump on your own," He began, which was true. He didn't apologize for jumping, of course, because he'd never be sorry for saving someone's life or at least contributing to it. Saying that he was would be entirely disingenuous. "Honestly, I would have preferred to jump with you. That just became a-" He flicked his hand, taciturn expression breaking for a moment, "spectacle. But he's fine and you've told me that you're fine, so that's… good." He paused again, hawklike eyes leveled on the Airian. It wasn't a comforting speech, but no one could accuse Dorian of being wordy.

"Are you heading back soon? Or are you going to keep… looking for food." Looking for food. Ha. No, he could only imagine being this far in the woods if you were either the world's largest team player- so, perhaps Autumn or Kyle- or you were avoiding the rest of them on the island. Not that he would blame her if either was true.

Harper was surprised by Autumn's questions. She'd always been a nice girl, and fairly polite to him, but she'd never expressed much concern. Was that what it took for people to care? A near-death experience?

"Aw, I'm fine," he said with a smile, "Well, as fine as I can be. Still not too stoked to be here, and I definitely don't want to do this--you know--" He was doing his best to avoid the term 'jump off a cliff'. As calm as he was now, he was certain he'd have nightmares of this for weeks to come. "But, I am alive, which is a plus."

He nearly scoffed at her suggestion of rest, but he was still dizzy, and did sit down. He watched Dorian climbing out of the water, and his eyes followed as he offered Xabier his jacket. Dorian left, but Harper's eyes lingered on Xabi. He didn't realize he was sighing until after he'd done it, and abruptly turned away, hoping Autumn didn't notice. As forward and confident as he could be with girls, it seemed that guys were another issue entirely.

Skylar's splash provided a welcome distraction, and when her head popped out of the surface, he waved her over, hooting.

"So, what's the deal? We camping here?" he asked Autumn, "The Guardians ditching us too...no surprise." With a groan he stretched backwards. He reached too far and ended up dropping, back to the sand. He realized then that he'd lost a flip flop. Instinctively he reached towards his neck, but was relieved to find that his necklace, shark tooth and pearl ring, were still intact. "I just want this to be over with so we can just go home. It's been, what, weeks? Months? How much longer are they going to keep us here for?" He felt himself about to embark on a ramble, complete with complaints and curses, but stopped himself. He turned to Autumn.

"You know, I'm fine," he told her, an uncharacteristic lack of sarcasm in his voice. If anything, he almost sounded....sincere..., "Seriously. If you don't want to sit here, listening to me yammer on about things you don't care about, you don't have to."

He turned away, facing the sky again, "You're a nice girl, Autumn, and I know you don't like me that much. You can go if you want. I don't mind. Hell," he laughed this time, a small chuckle, and pulled himself upright, back into sitting position, and he looked out at the lake, Skylar on the beach now. "I bet most of the others probably wished I'd just drowned after all. Hah! Wouldn't that be the most ironic death? I can see the headline now:" he reached his arm out, sliding his hand across to punctuate each word, " "Star Swimmer Dead. Cause of Death: Drowning." Hah! What a laugh. Like something out of a movie."

He paused, arm still outstretched. He glanced at Autumn, eyebrows raised. "Seriously. If you want to leave, you can. I won't hold it against you. In fact, I'm questioning why you're still here, listening to my dickheaded self."

He was already up and yelling? Tallyho chuckled before finally making eye contact with Dorian. What he said was pretty sentimental but she really wanted to try and hold back. She didn’t want to fool herself or anything.
“Well thank you,” she said. “I’m happy that you asked to help.”
Maybe it was just Tallyho but it felt like the conversation fell into an awkward silence. She was about to say something when Dorian asked if she was going to stay out or come back to camp. The blonde sucked her words back into her mouth and decided to let him finish his question. (She was just going to make idle small talk anyway.) She looked around and it was indeed getting pretty dark.
“I guess I’ll go back,” she mumbled as she breezed past Dorian. “You didn’t seem particularly confident on your way in so I’m just going to guess you don’t know the way out. You can follow me.” On the walk back she tried to find some room for small talk. She asked Dorian the obvious introductory things, what his family was like, what he did back on earth, etc. But she asked many questions that left him with little time to ask any of the same and perhaps it was on purpose.
She seemed to shut down after they got back to camp, however. She looked to her left and the others were still gathered around. She looked to the right and Kat was putting the finishing touches to camp. Somehow the woman found time to roll two hollowed logs onto the beach for seats.
“I’ll be going this way,” she said her tone of voice flattening dramatically as she made her way towards the fire and took a seat.

Skylar could see Harper waving in the distance, the sight of a familiar, friendly face somewhat comforting. Aside from making small talk, she hadn’t really connected with any of the other warriors- which she would admit was completely her fault, but still. Maybe this whole "camping" experience they were being forced into would help break the ice.

Harper was another story completely, though. They'd bonded over their similar sense of humor, joking around with each other a lot. Sometimes she would think back to that first day back in Central Park when he’d waved at her, back before any of this had happened and the term "month warrior" had absolutely no meaning to any of them. It was strange to think about, leaving her with an uncomfortable sort of feeling in the pit of her stomach.

“Hey,” She said once she’d reached Harper and Autumn, offering up a weak smile. She was just in time to catch the tail end of their conversation, only hearing bits and pieces. “Did someone say something about drowning? Wow, what did I miss?”

“That’s good! I’m glad you’re alright. For a moment there I thought we’d have to bring you to Ji Na!” Autumn smiled, glad to see that he appeared to be fine. For whatever reason, he seemed to be strange when it came to Xabier. She had no clue as to why, however, and unless there was a fight between the two she didn’t particularly care. For all she knew Harper was just embarrassed to be saved. If that was the case, it wasn’t of any importance.

“Seems like a camp out to me. Which is great! It gives us all the chance to get to know each other! It’s not the best situation, but I’ll take what I got!” She laughed, honestly delighted to simply talk to others.

Her face softened as she spoke. “I’m still listening ‘cause I care. Yeah, you’re a total jerk sometimes. Sometimes I don’t like being around you. But you’re also my team mate and someone I’d like to think of as a friend. And it’s just what you do, y’know? Caring. That’s what being in a team is about, right? At least, that’s what I think.”

She wringed out her dress as she spoke. “So why would I leave? It’s not like I’m going to die if you curse or spit. You’re my team mate and I’m going to do my best to make sure you’re okay, just like I’d do with everyone else. Or, plan to do. I haven’t really been on the ball lately. And it’s totally my fault, I’ve been avoiding everyone and it’s totally bad.”

“So” She grinned.

“My proposition, we all sit by the fire. Eat some stuff, get to know each other and get some well deserved sleep! As a group! And don’t think for a second that you can avoid it.”

As Skylar approached, Autumn waved. “We just had a little scare, that’s all. Come join us by the fire!”

She started walking towards the welcoming flames, pausing only to look back and ask “Are you coming?”

Sitting down by the fire, she grinned. "Alright, so it's come to my attention that he all barely know each other. Which is pretty lame, since we're a team. It's been weeks, we should know more about each other than just our names. Why don't we try to get to learn more about each other?"

"Come on, it'll be fun I promise. I'll start! I'm Autumn, i'm seventeen and I'm from California. It's a place. There's a lot of sand there and it's sunny a lot. There's also some really nice forests, and lots of great beaches!" She explained, pretty sure that those from Aires wouldn't know what a "california" was.

"It gets earthquakes a lot, though. Earthquakes and wildfires."

"Anyways, some of my hobbies include tarot and hiking. Though it's more like taking walks in the park. My favorite foods are sweet things and my favorite color is blue. I think that's the basics. So, come on! Tell me about yourselves!" The request was for everyone, made obvious by how she let her gaze go from person to person.

"And don't even try to weasel out of this. I'm gonna learn about you guys even if it takes all night!" Sitting upright, she looked rather proud of herself.

Harper couldn't help but smile at Autumn's words. Sure, they were cheesy as hell. Like some 90s infomercial or something from the Super Friends, but it was nice. Even better, she was honest about it. Didn't try to act like they were best friends or anything.

He lagged a little so that Skylar could catch up, but followed after Autumn nonetheless. "Reminds me of my sister," he told her.

He took a seat by Skylar and Autumn, a small part of him wondering where Xabi would be situated. The sky was starting to darken, and the heat from the fire was growing more and more appreciated by the minute.

Autumn kicked the discussion off, all smiles and cheerfulness. Harper almost rolled his eyes, but not from being mean. Just that it was...expected of her, almost. He restrained himself.

He did laugh loudly when Autumn described California as "it's a place".

"In all honest, I've always wanted to go to California," he commented to Skylar after he'd stopped laughing, "Seems like my kind of place."

She finished, in that same cheery way, and with an expectant smile. Harper, not wanting to leave her hanging in case she got upset, piped up. "I'll go next. Pretty sure everyone knows my name. I'm 22, and from the Big Apple. That's New York City, for anyone who doesn't know...where we all met up in the first place. And there's no big apple. I don't know why it's called that. But I actually live in Boston, which is another city, famous for its harbor and seafood, so perfect, right? Uhhhhh....what else..." He pulled his legs in, crossing them, toes wiggling.

"I work as a Chinese delivery boy. Basically ride a bicycle and give people their Chinese food. I never went to college. Don't even think I got accepted into one. That's why I went to Boston. I like tinkering and making things, usually metal and wood. I've been in holding too many times to count. I live in a shitty apartment. I have a sister named Sadie who plays cello. I have a crippling fear of heights, in case you guys didn't already figure that out, and despite my latest drowning incident, I love to swim. Favorite food is pizza, annnnnnd....I dunno, I guess my favorite color is blue too. But like, a sea blue. Like blue-green. Yeah..." He looked at Autumn, and then the group.

"That's a basic summary, though I'm sure no one here really cares about me. Someone else who people actually like should go next."

Tallyho hated this. She made a point of going over to Kat because the others were on the opposite side of the beach and they made a point of coming over, invading her space and acting like the drowning—or at least her drowning never happened. Tallyho grunted and made a slow, subtle scoot towards the end of her log. The Autumn girl started talking about Californias and wildfires. Tallyho frowned, remembering her odd experience from earlier. The other blonde kept chatter boxing on until Harper, (Goddess forbid) decided to chip into the conversation. He started talking about how his giant apple wasn’t really an apple and Bostons. Tallyho sighed when both of them commented on how they liked the color blue. She felt tempted to find a new favorite color and before she knew it Harper was finishing his introduction. Of course he finished it by saying “I'm sure no one here really cares about me” which really pissed Tallyho off given the past few hours. She eyed the other end of the beach which was significantly darker. She was pretty okay with sleeping there for the night so long as someone could hear her screaming if something happened.
Kwasi began his introduction because he was intrigued by the earthling’s game.
“I’m not necessarily a part of your team but I’ll play along!” He said.
Kat rolled her eyes. They could come over and play a game but they couldn’t bring the rations over before they did? They could have very well been eaten by wild animals—they might as well have given them to the animals. She left to go retrieve the bag and Tallyho was envious that she hadn’t noticed it first.
“My name is Kwasi and… I’m a monk!” He paused, not quite sure what to say after that. But he sounded damn optimistic when he announced it.
“People like me… live in simplicity and virtue. We usually do a lot of begging too!”
He honestly felt kind of silly, really. He wasn’t really talking about himself so much as monks in general.
“I like eating assorted nuts…?”
Okay. It was time for Kwasi to shut up now.

Skylar had decided that she liked Autumn a lot. The girl seemed sweet, her positivity about their situation almost contagious.

She trailed after the others, having to quicken her pace to keep up with Harper’s much longer strides despite his attempts to slow down for her. She plopped herself down beside him, doing her best to wring the water from her soaked clothing. Grateful that her hair-tie was still secured around her wrist, she tied her dark hair into a braid while she listened to Autumn, Harper, and Kwasi share their facts. She had to admit, Autumn’s ruse to get them to get them to know one another was actually a pretty good idea- especially because it was hard to resist her eagerness for them to bond and become a “real” team.

“Ah. I guess I’ll go next?” Skylar started, trapping her lower lip between her teeth. “I’m Skylar and I’m almost nineteen- at least I think I am, I’m not exactly sure what day it is right now.” She said sheepishly. “I’m originally from Florida but go to school in New York City for Communication Studies. I have four older brothers and three younger brothers.”

She paused after saying that, mentally swearing at herself for doing so. For so long she tried to escape from the shadows of her insane family, only wanting to be her own individual person, and now that she was in a completely different universe she was still bringing them up. Why? Her shoulders slumped slightly at the thought- who was she? Her family was the only defining thing about her, always had been and always would be. The thought was slightly unsettling, and she quickly finished up her introduction. “Um. I also really like running. I guess that’s it?”

He was completely shaken.
He had just followed his instincts and helped Harper automatically. Before he knew it he was basically shirtless.
The exposure of his scars for all to see was unnerving to say the least. He felt eyes on him but every time he turned to look, the person had the good grace to look away.

Xabier came to an unwelcome conclusion. Dorian was a pretty decent guy. He didn't like admiring the quiet guy. Something about Dorian made him really pissed off for no reason. Every time he saw him he felt the urge to start a confrontation. It was so confusing since Dorian hadn't done anything to deserve it. It was completely unwarranted. And then he had given Xabier his jacket.
"Thank you." He accepted the jacket and quickly covered up.
Maybe it was pride, maybe it was guilt for even considering choosing his shirt instead of saving Harper, but whenever anyone mentioned the rescue of Harper, Xabier made a point of saying how Dorian had did all the hard work.
He believed every word of what he was saying.

Sitting down on the logs he listened to the others talk about their home lives. He was still jittery over flashing his scar in front of the others.
They seemed to not care which was a massive relief.

And then there was the close proximity of the fire. He could barely sit on the log while fighting the urge to sprint away.
"I'm sure no one here really cares about me. Someone else who people actually like should go next."
He sighed loudly. Idiot. Xabier had basically ripped off his shirt to save the dude and now Harper was saying that no one cared about him. Some people are really dense.
"You can't say that after we have all had to listen to you"

He turned back to the others before he said something stupid.
I’m Skylar and I’m almost nineteen- at least I think I am, I’m not exactly sure what day it is right now. I’m originally from Florida but go to school in New York City for Communication Studies. I have four older brothers and three younger brothers."

"You have a big family? Me too." Xabier smiled at Skylar. He had a huge family and he found so much pride in them. Except his father, but that was a different story.
She also studied in College. That was admirable in its own right.

The fire crackled menacingly at him and almost bolted off of his perch on the log.
Tallyho was sitting by herself and looked miserable. It was a perfect opportunity.
He got up and walked over to her, forcing a smile. The camp fire was making him jumpy.
"Hey." He sat down beside her quietly.
"How are you feeling? I saw that something happened but I thought that you were safe with the others."
He appraised her face. She looked upset over something. He was ashamed that he hadn't noticed earlier.

The flames whipped the air furiously. He had to get out of there and quick. His eyes flitted nervously across the group.
"Do you want to have a walk?" He nodded to the strip of beach left behind.
He wanted to talk to her and escape from the fire as quick as possible.

Tallyho grew ridged when she heard a sudden “hey” jab into her head. It wasn’t like he was really that loud, but at that point every word spoken was beginning to sound like low womp womp womps at the bottom of her head and it was the first lick of real language she caught since Harper spoke.
She glanced back to see a jittery Xabier who looked like he wanted to flee. But his need to run was generally more urgent (and actually way more unexplained) that Tallyho’s. He just helped saved the person; he was a hero for tonight. So why was he trying to leave his party?
When he asked how she was feeling Tallyho awkwardly sat up and crossed her arms. Did she really look that pissed off?
She played and replayed her response in her head.
“I’m fine!” she wanted to exclaim before clicking her heels and dancing around the fire.
“I’m just dandy,” she wanted to yell before doing back flips up and down the shoreline.
“I’m fine…” she actually said, her tone flatter than she intended. She crossed her arms tighter and sat up straighter to make up for her lackluster answer. She wasn’t going to talk about her feelings so that Autumn could sing about peace, Kwasi could tell everyone to “pray about it” and Harper could just not listen.
“Do you want to have a walk?”
Tallyho’s immediate question was why. There were more than 12 other people on this beach and suddenly he wanted to walk with her? Since when do they walk? Though… It did make some sense. Xabier looked like he was about to pee his pants from anxiety (too soon?) and apparently Tallyho looked like she didn’t want to be there anyway—which was true. In that respect they were almost two peas in a pod.
“Okay…” Her acceptance came out more like a question than a statement though. Without warning she glided off of her log and towards the water with her arms crossed.

Kat offered an unceremonious gesture towards the rest of the group.
“Are you people going to eat or not?” she asked sternly as she ravaged through the rations bag with a mouth full of unchewed bread in her mouth.

"Okay, we'll be back soon." He nodded back at the others around the fire.
Following Tallyho across the beach, he quickly matched her pace.
Xabier felt uneasy.

They walked side by side in silence, Tallyho with her arms crossed, Xabier with his hands in his back pockets.
He knew from a glance that she was like a grenade ready to blow at any stage.
And he was the idiot that had thrown himself into the danger zone willingly.

As soon as they had gotten out of hearing distance from the others he turned to her.
"What is wrong?" He knew from experience when a girl was upset. It wasn't always noticeable on the first glance but
spending years with a teenage sister really helped.
"And do not say you are fine just because that is what you think I want to hear. It is under- undermelting (?) my intelligence."
He shook his head flustered by the word. English is a strange language.

Away from the immediate danger of the campfire, he could think slightly clearer.
It was surprisingly beautiful out here. He hadn't noticed before because he was too busy with Harper.
Shit. Harper.
Did he even check to see if he was dehydrated? Serious problems could happen if a person who nearly drowned isn't checked up properly.

Xabier looked over at Tallyho. She had nearly drowned too, but with the suddenness of Harper's incident, her turmoil had gone unnoticed. He barely noticed.
"You don't have to tell me if you don't want to."
He knew that she probably wouldn't trust him with her thoughts. Deep down he was unsure that she even trusted him at all.
"If not you could just yell. That's what I do when I need to unleash some feelings."

“What’s wrong?”
The truth was there were so many things wrong. Tallyho had to admit a lot of them were her own personal grievances but certain things the group did really ticked her off. If it weren’t for Xabier’s straight forward request for her not to lie in his face she probably would have just denied her feelings again. And while his suggestion about screaming was…interesting at the very least, she didn’t know if it was the best thing to do for fear of spooking the others.
She had to give him something though. And while she didn’t particularly want to dwell on her growing distaste for Harper it had been a huge part of the problem.
“I’m just not very fond of groups is all. I don’t work well with groups.” She kept her eyes pasted on the sand, waiting for it to disappear. It just kept going, the occasional appearance of a conch shell pressing up from the monotonous texture.
This was an insulting shorthand of her anxiety but it wasn’t false. She really did have a problem with following the crowd. And her refusal to follow wasn’t fashionable in the least bit. In fact it had more to do with feeling suffocated.
“I just want to continue my life as it was,” which was also true. A life of wandering wherever she wanted when she wanted was best suited for Tallyho. Though a life spent in random bars stealing free drinks didn’t sound the prettiest it was what she grew accustomed to and what she grew to like. She hadn’t ever had a formal education—not that the academy was that traditional—but the idea of having to be taught by someone other than herself was a bit of a turn off.
She shared her thoughts with few words, not wanting to talk too much about herself and eventually decided to direct the questions his way.
“What’s your problem? Did you want to walk because you are angry too?”