Forestry And Survival, Class One, Group B

[Aravind Shiyal]

Aravind stood at the trailhead for Hunter's Run, dressed in his usual Ranger's clothes. He'd learned quite a bit the previous semester, mostly What Not To Do, and also that you could not be "too prepared" for classes at this school, at least not in such an open environment. The lesson he'd taken to heart was that you could not be prepared at all. Mostly, he'd decided to just teach what he could, to whoever would listen, and be around to salvage the situations that arose from whoever did not listen.

His face was set, but not nearly so grim as he'd been the first time around. This time, he was rather more nonchalant, and looked at ease. He'd had a few months to get to know this forest, he understood it, and he'd gotten his feet wet in the puddles of social interaction, and come out not-drowned. Grinning to himself at the metaphor, he began to whistle, waiting for a student to happen along-- class was in ten minutes, but students had shown a strange tendency to be rather early, which was nice.

[Kahlen Jeanne Nox]

Kahlen headed towards the trailhead where class would start. She figured that she should take Professor Shiyal's class this semester. It was the least she could do for her badly planned trip to the forest.

Kahlen reached where she thought was the trailhead at the edge of the woods. She didn't think so, because it was just a gap between trees. She couldn't really tell anything apart. Trees, trees, rocks, trees, trees, grass, more trees. She continued walking along the edge of the woods. Finding a marker for the trail, she sighed in relief. She didn't wan't to be -too- late. Checking her watch, she noticed that she was early.

'Ah, good,' she thought to herself.

"Hello, professor," she said, waving. She stopped a few feet away from him, standing around rather awkwardly.

[Aravind Shiyal]

((Aaaand, I will just resign myself to posting this every new semester. Trailhead = start of trail, in most cases, located at the edge of a forest, and in this case, marked by a large cairn. ...which is a pile of stones, pyramid-shaped. This has been a Public Service Announcement.. without guitars. Unfortunately. ;D))

Aravind nodded to Kahlen as she approached. "Ah... Kahlen, right?" He remembered her fairly clearly, and was torn between amusement at her obvious discomfort, irritation at himself for said amusement, gladness that she'd decided to educate herself further on the forest, despite any trauma he might have caused her in the previous semester, and apprehension at having someone who'd seemed so clueless last semester. ...Given, anyone would seem clueless if they were scared witless. Or most people would, anyway.

"Welcome to Forestry and Survival-- I'm glad you decided to take this class, despite last semester's... misadventure."

[Kahlen Jeanne Nox]

Kahlen scuffed the ground with the toe of a shoe. "Heh, yeah," she said. "I thought it would be helpful... y'know."

She grinned (awkwardly, of course) and set her bag down. She reached into the hood of her jacket to pet Mikhail. She didn't think it was a problem to bring him- he was lucky, after all. Then again, after her previous trouble in the woods, she thought she'd ask...

"Er, will my hedgehog be a problem? He's lucky, so I don't think he'll attract bears or anything... Right?"

[Less Than Beta East Tundra]

Less bounded to the trailhead. Though he was in wolf form, he wore a cloth that was very nearly like a cloak, except carefully pinned so it wouldn't restrict movement. This particular design had a carry-pack built in so he could actually carry things. Though it was a bit crude since he had sewed it himself, it was manageable and would hopefully solve the whole 'nudity' problem once he shifted back.

When he arrived, the young werewolf promptly went up to sniff the cairn and the shoes of those already present.

[Aravind Shiyal]

Aravind couldn't help but smile. She was clearly far more awkward about the whole incident than he was. He raised an eyebrow when she brought out the hedgehog.

"Well, he's not going to be a problem this time; we'll be starting out slow. But I'd be very careful, as you'll have to keep a close eye on him. Even a lucky animal can get into a lot of trouble, and it's very easy to let your mind wander." He hesitated, then shook his head, and asked, "Er-- why is he lucky?" Instantly regretting it, he was glad when Less showed up.

"Less than Beta, I assume?" He'd never seen the student in wolf-form, but it couldn't be anyone else, he figured.

[Kahlen Jeanne Nox]

Kahlen sighed in relief. "Okay. I suppose I'll leave him in my room for future lessons."

Kahlen grinned when Shiyal asked about Mikhail being lucky. "He's naturally lucky- oh, hi, Less!"

[Less Than Beta East Tundra]

Less nodded the best he could and continued sniffing the cairn. Like everything else in the school, it smelled of background magic. But for some reason this particular structure's scent had an unusual tint to it. He couldn't place it exactly, which was enough to be considered unusual. He looked over at Professor Shiyal and made a questioning whine.

[Aravind Shiyal]

((Phoenix! Come join us in chat so I can figure out what you're talking about! : D))

[Susan Daunt]

The Daunt scion joined the growing group at the trailhead dressed in a scuffed pair of boots, jeans, and bright-blue jacket. Three long knives were sheathed in a harness on her back, hilts in an easy moment's reach.

She smiled at everyone, although the aparently sentient wolf had an extra few heartbeats of consideration before she turned back to the teacher, "I'm Susan Daunt. I'm sorry if I'm late."

[Tumult]

Tumult arrived not long later, still early for class. She wore no coat, although she had borrowed a pair of Ada's boots instead of her usual shoes. She looked around with bright eyes, trying to take in the complexity of the forest.

"This is forestry?" She asked nobody in particular.

[Aravind Shiyal]

Aravind frowned a bit at Less, wondering what he had to say about the cairn. Did he smell the actual spells on the core, or had the Groundskeeper been leaving blood around or something? He decided not to press the issue of the 'lucky' hedgehog, not certain he'd get a rational answer out of the girl.

"No, you are not late, Susan; welcome to Forestry and Survival." He turned to Tumult, raising an eyebrow at the lack of coat. "Are you alright, there? This is Forestry-- what's your name?"

[Tumult]

"I'm Tumult", Tumult said. "And yes, I'm entirely functional to design specifications."

[Less Than Beta East Tundra]

Less decided that continuing to sniff the cairn would do nothing to determine exactly what he couldn't place about it, so he went around to each of the students in turn to give them a good sniff. Since he remembered from the past semester that people tended to want to pet things that looked like dogs, he presented his side to them to allow that. Everyone seemed to be in good health, though he really couldn't tell with Tumult.

[Aravind Shiyal]

Aravind took a moment to process that-- he'd missed most of the AI-scuffle of the previous semester, and had only been peripherally aware of her existence. But, true to his new philosophy of teaching, "Take everything in stride, because nothing here makes sense," he merely nodded.

"Alright, Tumult. I think this is all we're going to get for now, so let's get going, shall we?" And with that, he set off into the forest, walking somewhat quickly-- and then stopped.

"Please tell me, though, if you get cold," he said quietly, to Tumult. "Alright?" The last thing he needed was a student with hypothermia and/or frostbite, and he was certain there were no more than three people in the school who would actually speak up in case of ill health.

[Susan Daunt]

Having been trained very early that things who looked cute and fuzzy often didn't behave cute and fuzzy towards strangers, Susan didn't pet the strange wolf before taking off in the teacher's wake.

Forestry and Survival. Should be more active than her other classes, especially since 'Advanced Defensive Fighting' wasn't hers to do this Semester to her great disapointment.

[Less Than Beta East Tundra]

Less trotted alongside the professor at a lazy pace. He could keep up this speed all day if needed. One of the reasons he preferred his wolf form (other than that it was simply easier to shift to) was that it had good speed and endurance. He could smell a number of animals off the trail, most of which he could identify. Some he couldn't, though, like that large thing that was moving away from the path. He caught a very strong whiff of magic and sneezed violently.

[Tumult]

Tumult was about to say that she was cold and it was a good thing when a deeper-searching process pointed out that cold was definitely not a good thing to humans like the one she appeared to be.

"I will be sure to inform you well before conditions become dangerous for me," Tumult said, setting an internal alarm for when the temperature dropped below -5 F. Her coolant would start to freeze at -20 F, and her muscles would shut down at -50, but it was currently well above 0 and the forecast called for it to stay that way for the foreseeable future.

(0 F = -17C, -5F = -20C, -50F = -44C)

[Aravind Shiyal]

Aravind opened his mouth, closed it, and then nodded. "Alright, then, that works for me." He glanced towards the rest of the class, and figured he might as well say it now. "If you get to a point of being dangerously cold, please tell me right away. Part of survival is learning to discern between discomfort and danger, and I don't want any of you to get hurt because we haven't covered it yet."

He continued to lead the class down the trail at a brisk walk-- not quite a jog, but fast enough to keep warm-- and pulled up when they were a little ways out of sight of the school, which was farther at this point in the year than it would normally be, given the notable absence of leaves.

"Survival is a much more difficult thing to deal with in the winter," he called, hoping he was loud enough for the class to hear; the forest was quite still, once they'd tramped through the frozen leaves and shallow layer of snow. "I won't be asking you to do much more than the basics, so today we're just going to cover introductory subjects. If we were stranded out here, what's the first thing any of you would do?"

[Tane Matthewson]

"For a start," called a voice, "I'd try to stay wuth the group?"

Tane jogged up to the group, breathing easily despite his heavy jacket and black woolen scarf. "Sorry I'm late, sir. Forgot there's a class on Saturday."

He slowed as he got close to the group, eying the big wolf uncertainly. But the predator was wearing some sort of cloak, so it was obviously trained. Relaxing, Tane jerked his head upward in greeting to his classmates.

((edit: past tense, Atosen, past tense))

[Aidan Logan]

Aidan ran up to join the class, dressed in jeans, a long-sleeved hooded jumper and hiking boots. Scott had warned him about the Forestry/Survival classes, and he knew to dress appropriately.

He wasn't prepared for having to unpack his entire bag to find his hiking boots, which is why he was uncharacteristically late.

"Sorry, professor," he said as he caught up with the rest of the group, "I was trying to find my boots - my brother told me that you want us to dress sensibly for these classes."

[Damien Griffiths]

Damien showed up just in time... but at first glance it wasn't easy to tell it was him. He was wearing a pear of skiing trousers, topped by two T-shirts, a sweater, and a long winter coat. It was topped off by a woollen cap and a scarf. At least he'd had the mind to pick a pair of gloves with fingers.

"Am I still.. yeah, okay. I'm here." He looked mildly uncomfortable.

[Susan Daunt]

The Daunt scion thought a moment and gamely offered, "Find or make a fortified shelter near where we originally got lost, Mr. Shiyal?"

At least that's what she thought the first step was. Susan should have really been paying more attention during that lesson back home. Oh well. She could learn now, right?

[Rena Thompson]

"Reconaissance. Search the area. Make sure it's safe. Then find a place to set up camp." Rena had arrived a little late, but it hadn't stopped her catching up. She was breathing slightly heavier than normal, forming small clouds of mist with each breath. The trenchcoat probably hadn't been necessary, but it was better to have it and not need it.

[Less Than Beta East Tundra]

Since Less couldn't speak in his current form, he had to make do with heavily exaggerating his body language to the point of pantomine and hoping someone could figure it out. He didn't know that the professor could have understood him anyway, so the rest of the students got treated to the sight of a large wolf cocking its leg against a tree (without actually peeing on it; Negotiator had beaten it into his head that humans considered it rude), walking in increasingly large circles, and finally digging in the ground. By which he meant: Mark your location. Scout the area for supplies. Dig a den.

[Damien Griffiths]

"I'd make a fire. Fire, first. Anything else is secondary." Damien half-hugged his own arms. Really, it wasn't that cold, but it was cold enough for him to be uncomfortable. And he'd rather not step in a puddle and have it go up in steam.

[Herbert "Herbie" Skik]

Herbie was a bit late for the class. That was to say, they had already gone down the trail, and he only just got there. Forest! They were going into the forest! Without a second thought, he dispelled the magic keeping him having legs, and slithered up into a tree to followed the group. He quickly spotted them, and nimbly hung down from a thick branch.

"A tree! Ya want a tree ta sleep in. Der ken be lots a wonky stuff on de ground outside, trees are much safah. Then food. Ya want somethin' ta eat, and watah, ta drink. Dose are importent." He was hanging upside down from the branch as he spoke, and with a 'hup' and a 'yup' he rolled over so that he could hang with at least his head upright. Anybody looking up would see the yellowish-brown of his scales wrapped around the trunk of the thick tree he was in.

[Kahlen Jeanne Nox]

Kahlen followed along in the group, looking around the the various trees. They were familiar, because they looked like the same trees she saw on her previous trip to the forest. Kahlen rubbed her gloved hands together and moved Mikhail from her hood to her pockets to keep him warmer.

She wasn't sure what to answer for the professor's question, so she nodded along with the other students' comments. She walked next to Less, wondering how warm he was with all that fur.

She made a face when Herbie joined the group. She hoped he wouldn't be all flirty with the girls. That would get annoying.

[Tane Matthewson]

Tane looked back, amused. He hadn't realised other people were late too and following behind him. Perhaps he wasn't the only one who was used to having nothing important to do on Saturdays.

Rubbing his arms to keep warm, he turned back to the professor, waiting to be told how wrong they all were.

[Beau Boudreaux]

Beau burst through a bush off the path, right in front of the teacher. He was in his typical wife beater, and was also wearing gym shorts and no shoes. "Dis is one big fores'! Almos' big as da Bayou. Dey look nuttin' alike dough. Hey yall my name Beau!" He was smiling, like always, his enjoyment of the outdoors plainly visible.