The sun shone brightly through the branches of the trees,layering the mossy forest floor in golden rays.
Izzy had the biggest smile on her face. She hadn't been camping in like, how many years now?
She took in the forest around her with hands on her bagstraps, a wee pep in her step beside her best friend,Aiden. A squirrel leaped into a winding birch tree, the rustle of the bird's nest in its branches muffled under a blankety breeze.
"Hey Aid-ouWH!"
Izzy sucked air through her teeth as she winced, hopping onto one foot.
Aiden had been looking at Izzy's face the whole time. She's been happier lately, but he hadn't seen a smile like this in a while. It made him smile, too.
The grin slowly becoming a laugh.
"Hahahaholy shit, there's a branch there dude"
Izzy tried looking pissed, the corners of her cheeks cracking.
"And there's a retard here?"
"Nah," he replied, face emotionless, "You're trippin'."
He snorted under a smirk, letting go of his deadpan veneer and laughing.
"Oh, fuck you", Izzy laughed back.
Out of the corner of her eye, though, she spotted movement. People movement? Huh, didn't think they'd run into anyone. Then again, they weren't -too- far in yet.
The dirt path to the main camp wound through the trees,leading to a beautiful clearing. A few people were already there.
Jacob,a twenty year old urban explorer from Canada,had brought his best friend camping. She always liked the forest and he liked exploring,so,why not?
So far,no one else has come to camp. It was just him and her,alone together. It was quite nice.
His thoughts were interrupted by distant voices.
The blonde turned and looked confused. Jacob knew there will be other campers here,but this early? Ah,damn.
Izzy tapped Aiden on the shoulder.
"Hey, heyhey look," she said in a lowered voice, putting some weight on her ankle and bearing the now dulling pain to lean for a better view.
Sunlight filtered through the leaves, the gold dancing across their skin as the two looked over. There was another two over there, setting some stuff up. A taller girl... Guy? Uh, someone taller, and a girl with green hair. Verdant, evergreen hair at that, where does she get that dyed...?
The two seemed to already be in their little roles, the taller one was starting to unpack, while the other smiled to herself, taking a couple pictures.
The snap of a twig from under Aiden's boot pulled them out of a stare.
"People."
"*Cool* people", Izzy replied, clear intrigue in her tone.
"We're like, in the woods dude. Innawoods. Maybe they're-?"
"You've been watching too many of those shows, I swear."
"So do- so do you?" The ginger laughed a little. He loved winding her up.
"Yeah well- Oh, who cares, wanna see what they're doing? They're for sure our age".
He considered. Eh, wasn't like company would be an issue.
"You're talking first though."
Izzy smirked.
"Pussy"
"What?"
"You heard", she smiled, getting one in return with a side of eye-roll.
They treaded off the path slightly, underbrush untouched by a step as heavy as a humans in who knows how long. Creatures around them chittered, the bass to the birdsong in the air, a gentle tune of the forest made rhythmic with their crunchy steps.
Aiden brushed some hanging willow leaves out of the way, letting Izzy lead out. They must've been 25-30ft out from them, separated only by grass and colourful flora dotting the clearing.
"Yoo!"
Aiden watched as Izzy waved them over. He couldn't quite put his finger on why he felt a little off here, yet still shuddered as he stepped beyond the cover of the willow. Eh, new people probably.
Jacob turned around and stared...Alina,however smiled and waved.
"Hello!" She responded in an unknown accent. Middle Eastern,maybe Lithuania or Latvia?
Either way,she sauntered up to the two and grinned.
"Do you guys need help with your bags?tents? Food,anything?" Her voice was kind of...calming.
She looked at them,trying to catch every detail.
Izzy's loosely curled hair stuck out in odd places, a couple leaves standing out green against the warm, deep black. Her red and white windbreaker sat snug over her, scrunched slightly from her big pack, green-ish brown shorts just over her leggings.
She took a couple steps closer as the new girl did too, the charms on her laces clinked slightly.
"Aw, dude, thanks!"
She looked back to Aiden for a second, checking his face for any discomfort. He gave her the o-k with his eyes, and turned back.
"Yeah nah, we might need some help with this tent; we practiced the setup and like. It's doable with two people, but we..."
The redhead himself laughed.
"I've never seen you get folded by a tent before, it was pretty impressive"
He stood at a couple inches below the blonde's height, his coppery hair being tussled around less now they were in the clearing, away from the breeze a bit more.
Izzy rolled her eyes at him.
"Sure!"
He let his bag slip and caught it by the strap, setting it down and getting to work on pulling the tent out.
Before she did the same, she looked to the new girl.
"Hey, you uh, you guys got names?"
"Sure we do!" The other,green haired girl replied.
"I'm Alina,and that-" The young adult pointed at her taller friend,who gave the group an awkward half wave and nodded.
"-is Jacob."
Alina spun on her heel,motioning them to follow. Now she had to find a good spot for their tent,since her and Jacob have taken the best ones!
"So how long did it take you to get here?" She turned back to them,wondering out loud.
As soon as they got to the spot,Alina turned around. "Does here work?"
Izzy smiled and dropped her backpack on the ground,motioning Jerry to pull out the tent.
Meanwhile,Aiden grabbed the poles and fabric out,tossing the poles to Jacob,which earned him a smile in return.
"Okay,let's do this."
