213 Camping

The soft humming and gentle vibration of the automobile gradually stirred me, causing my eyes to twitch somewhat as I forced them open. What my eyes saw was a plethora of trees that lined and ranged out on the otherside of the guard rails on this paved mountain road. My neck was sore from my leaning it against the window of the car, and the side of my mouth was somewhat wet from my drooling somewhat in my sleep. Slowly, I yawned and tried to stretch my arms. However, that only resulted in me accidentally bumping into Noah, who was sitting beside me in the car.

"Watch it," he said in a somewhat annoyed voice. He's been like that ever since a few weeks ago he's been notified that he no longer has access to his divine powers.

"Sorry," I yawned once again.

I stared out the windshield through the seats before me in this cramped ten seater vehicle that the club had rented out for the Spring break camping trip. This trip was basically all but decided during the brief period of time that Emilia had called us out of the club room to notify us of the beginning of Noah's test. When we returned we only made it in time to hear the decision being made.

The trip is to last for two days, starting the first Saturday of Spring break and concluding on Monday. It's a short and brief trip, nothing too special or anything like that, and because of this, I'm actually okay with it. If this trip was any longer than this, then I might not be in the best of moods coming in.

I surveyed the vehicle, taking in everyone that was present. Basically everyone in the club is going except for Emilia, who excused herself from the trip for personal reasons. I asked Noah about it, but it would appear that Emilia had kept it a secret to Noah as well, which further added to his dissatisfaction. I can imagine what he's feeling. He went from being an immoral angel that have all sorts of powers to someone bounded by the laws of the world, a mere mortal. If that was me, I would probably be irritated as well. However, he'll probably snap out of it soon. It's not like he usually uses his powers for anything anyways. Life shouldn't be that different for him.

"The predictions for the weather over this weekend on Granvera Mountain is around a comfortable 25 Celcius, so no too hot, and not too cold. Those that're out camping are in for a treat this weekend," the weatcher announcer in the small, television that stretched down from the roof of the vehicle said. "But be prepared for sudden changes in weather. Weather on the mountains are never truly predictable and can change at anytime."

"Heard that?" Mura said without taking her eyes off the road. "I hope you all brought emergency clothing just in case the weather goes bad."

"Don't worry," Luna responded in a joyful mood. "We remembered."

"Shit," I heard Zaksus mutter under his breath.

"What?" An amused smile broke out on Noah's face as he looked to his right at Zaksus, making it so that the look of annoyance on his face earlier seemed almost as if an illusion that was never true in the first place. "You didn't bring something?"

"Yeah," Zaksus sighed. "I only brought a hoodie."

"It won't be that bad," Noah started laughing as he patted Zaksus's back. "You got your muscles to keep out the cold, right?"

"I don't think that's how it works," Loyd weakly laughed in an amused matter.

I ignored their quiet banter and kept my eyes trained on the television to entertain myself. I'm not much in the mood for talking right now, as I am rather tired. We were required gather at the school at around 6:30 AM, so I had to wake up earlier than usual. Because of that, I fell asleep on the car, and even now, with the time being 10:49 AM, I am still rather tired. How do I know the time? It's written in the bottom right corner of the television screen.

"You guys want any snacks?" Luna asked as she got up slightly out of her seat and turned back to rest her elbows on the backrest of her seat.

"What you got?" Noah asked. I told you his mood would swing rather quickly to the good end.

"Some barbeque-flavored Bringles, Ureus, and Bocky," Luna answered.

"Let me get some of the Bringles," Noah reached an arm forward to grab the can of Bringles that Luna was handing to the back seats of the van.

"Alvelyn, you're awake!" I heard Irina softly whisper to Alvelyn, who I suppose was resting her head against Irina's shoulder.

"Mmmm..." Alvelyn softly stirred as she slowly sat up straight, rubbing her eyes. Since we're technically the same person, it's reasonable to assume that if I'm tired, she's tired as well.

This soft groan that Alvelyn let out seemed to draw Loyd's attention, as I saw him tense up and kept his eyes trained on the back of Alvelyn's head. Loyd's face was also somewhat red, but he kept it mostly under control. However, it's still subtle enough for me to notice.

"You're so like Alevian," Irina chuckled. "The two of you look so alike when sleeping."

"So more news on the disappearance of five hikers two weeks ago on Granvera Mountain. It is speculated that the group of hikers are trapped by the sudden snow storm when exploring and scaling the mountain. The search for the hikers have now been indefinitely suspended."

"It's a real tragedy really," the other news anchor commented. "These were young adults that got a bit too reckless and overconfident in their abilities. So I have to say again: do not overestimate your own abilities and know when to turn back."

This news wasn't much of a surprise to me cause many people get lost in the mountains, especially during times when it still snows. The climate on the mountains are unpredictable, so at anytime, there may be a storm of some sort. But as long as we don't venture too high up the mountain, then we should be rather safe.

"We're nearing the campgrounds," Muria announced from the front seat of the car next to the driver's seat.

"I can see tents now!" Irina exclaimed as she looked out the windows.

"There's so many people," Erith complained with a look of disappointment on her face.

"Yeah," Mura commented as she continued driving through the road that cut through the campgrounds. "There's no spot for our tents."

"How is this camping when you got restaurants right next to your tent?" Noah sighed.

"Let's drive further in," Mura said, taking the vehicle deeper into the campgrounds. "Look out for spots that are open. We need space for two small tents and a big one."

So the sleeping arrangements are this. Obviously, you're not gonna have boys sleeping in the same tent as girls. Since there's four boys in total, the club bought a large tent for the boys and two small tents for the six girls.

"There's no space open..." Irina sighed.

"We'll just keep going," Mura said.

It took a while, but we were finally able to find a location that is rather open and free from the presence of others. Even though there were more spots open further down the mountain, we decided to just go all the way to where the road ended. This spot we found was rather good as well. It's halfway up the mountain, and nearby, there's a pavilion nearby with water faucets that we could get clean water from as well as a public restroom.

"This place is so beautiful!" Irina took a deep breath and stretched her arms out once she got out of the car.

"Yeah," Muria nodded. "It's rather quiet too."

"It says that there's a lake nearby," Erith commented as she read from the digital brochure on her phone.

"We didn't bring our swimsuits," Irina frowned.

"It might get too cold to swim anyways," Luna said, trying to comfort Irina.

"Alright everyone," Mura called out in a raised voice to gather our attention. "Let's get the tents pitched. Boys, can you take out the tents from the trunk?"

"Got it," Loyd answered. He then gestured for the rest of us boys over to the opened trunk of the van in order to retrieve the tents.

"Oh God..." Zaksus muttered in disbelief. On his face was a look of awkward annoyance. "There's so many things in here."

Zaksus was right. The trunk was packed. Not only were there three tents, there were also other things like foldable stools, grocery bags filled with food and water, as well as other necessities such as sleeping bags. When we were putting everything into the trunk Friday after school we did do it in an ordered manner to shove everything in. In the end, it was still rather messy and chaotic. There were so many stuff in there in different colors such that it was even more frustrating to look at.

"We have to start somewhere," Loyd sighed as he was also somewhat frustrated. "Let's just get the tents out for now. We'll eventually take everything out."

"I hope so," Noah groaned and complained.