Chasing the stars (TERMINATED)

9. Hiking

~ Taurus

Hiking. Should be so much fun. I love getting myself dirty while walking for hours on end. Note the sarcasm.

But my group was okay, I guess. I may sound like a hypocrite, but I would hate to walk with someone who will not stop complaining. Like Leo.

We got to walk with the handsome counselor though, which was probably going to make the trip somewhat more bearable.

As soon as the groups were divided, the counselor told us to stand next to each other. He checked our shoes and outfits, which were mostly okay, but Aries had to change his black shirt, because it would get too hot.

To our big surprise- again, note the sarcasm -he refused, and the counselor was wise enough to just let him be stubborn.

'We're the first ones to leave, so let's go!' and we started walking downhill. I joined Capricorn, so we were at the end of the line.
'So, how do you feel about hiking?' I asked him, he shrugged. 'I don't really mind it. I just hope we'll get back in less than a few hours.'
'Preferably less, but you're right.' I responded.

After approximately twenty minutes, we stopped walking downhill to take a break in the shade.
Aquarius applied sunburn on his face and arms, and Aries smirked. 'Afraid to get burned, ginger?' Aquarius sighed, turned to Aries and calmly replied
'At least I'm smart enough to do it. I would lend you some too, but it would probably not be enough for you and your ego. Sorry'

Everyone's jaw dropped at Aquarius' sassy comeback, I covered my mouth to surpress a grin, while Aquarius continued applying sunburn as if nothing had happened. That was the first time he spoke around most of us.
'Calm, boys, it's too hot fot this' the counselor told us, handing out water bottles.

I gladly took one, still grinning at Aqua, who could also not stop himself from smiling a bit. I gulped down half of the bottle, remembering we were only twenty minutes into the hike, so I stopped and saved some for later.

We stood up and continued, reaching the foot of a mountain after a while. 'Woah, woah, we're not going to climb that, are we?' I asked the counselor, but I feared I already knew the answer. 'We actually are, Taurus. But it'll be fun, I promise' I rolled my eyes and we started our climb. I had a fear of heights, but I should be fine if I avoided the edges.

'Ugh, it's so hot' I huffed, sweating, taking a small sip of water. Capricorn nodded, but he was still quite fit. 'How? How can you stand this heat?' he shrugged. 'My family is latino, so we often visit them in Cuba. I can stand the heat better than most people, but I'm not totally used to it or something.' he panted.

'Well, you're not a sweating, hot mess like I am' I chuckled. I looked at Aries, who was also sweating profusely, but was probably never going to admit that the counselor was right.
My neck started hurting from looking at my feet the whole way, it was a pretty steep hill.

I looked around, and saw that we were not that high up, but we had a little view already. I could see surrounding mountains between the trees, and the clear blue sky. We walked into the forest, sitting down on a few logs that were placed there by previous hikers.

I took a few sips of water again, feeling my feet hurt and my stomach grumble. 'Well done guys, we're almost half way there' the counselor told us, I groaned. 'Almost? So not even half way there?' I exclaimed, but he ignored me, handing out sandwiches.

I expected to find a mess of sweaty cheese, greasy ham and some vegetables between two moist slices of bread, but actually, the sandwich didn't look half bad. When I took the tin foil off, it almost looked like it was fresh.

'Hey counselor, do you have a cooling bag inside that backpack?' I asked him, he swallowed his food and replied 'Please, call me Dave. But yes, I do have a cooling bag. I wouldn't want to make you eat a gross, moist sandwich' I nodded approvingly, finally taking a big bite out of the sandwich, my stomach growling.

After lunch, we walked for an hour, until we reached the edge of a cliff, giving us a breathtaking view. I took a few pictures, and a selfie with Capricorn, as far away from the edge as possible.
I wish I would've brought my big camera to take some shots, but the others would probably judge me for it.

Yes, now you know. I'm an absolute dork for photography.
I sat down, giving my feet some rest, until we heard a scream.

'HELP ME!' Virgo yelled, I darted towards the sound, where I found her, desperately clinging to a tree on the edge of a steep slope. I felt dizzy just looking down, so I stepped away from the edge, looking at Virgo, tears in her eyes. 'Taurus! Help me, please!' she shouted, when Dave and the others arrived. Dave went pale when he saw Virgo, freezing on the spot with a horrified expression.

I snapped to my senses and ran towards the tree, trying to focus on Virgo's face instead of the threatening depth below her.
Aries suddenly appeared next to me, grabbing Virgo's arm. 'Let go, I've got you' he calmly assured Virgo, not losing eye-contact with her. She slowly nodded, her grip on the tree loosened, so Aries and I- mainly Aries -could pull her over the edge.

She clung onto us, shaking, thanking us over and over. After the nausea of being so close to the edge lessened, I came to my senses and turned to Dave, who wiped his sweat-covered forehead. I stood up and pushed him, so he almost fell over, giving me a surprised look.

'What the hell is wrong with you, man?!' I yelled, pointing an accusing finger at him. 'You're our counselor, which means you are responsible for us! Why the hell did you just stand there?!' I spat at him, he still looked a little dazed.
I growled and snatched his waterbottle from him, handing it to Virgo, who gladly took it with trembling hands.

The walk back to the cabins was silent, except for Gemini comforting Virgo, chatting away until Virgo was able to speak again.
'Taurus? Aries?' she asked, I turned around. 'Thank you guys so much for saving me. I owe you both one' I just muttered a weak 'It's okay', Aries smiled at her, and we turned back. How the hell did she actually get in that situation?

'Virgo?' I asked, turning around again. 'Yes?' 'What exactly happened?' her smile somewhat faded, but she quickly restored it. 'I was holding on to a branch, but it broke off and I slipped' she shuddered at the memory, so I restrained from asking more questions, like; why did she risk her life holding on to a branch, on the edge of a mountain?

I mentally-punched Dave for the fifth time today, for doing nothing when some-one's life was in danger, when we got back to the cabins, where the remaining counselors had prepared dinner.

'Good, I'm starving' I told Capricorn, he chuckled and we sat down.

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