fandomhigh | Outdoor Adventures Time! Tuesday, period 1

“CLIFF DIVING.”

The class met this week on the edge of the preserve. Eliot, who had a large bag of supplies slung over his shoulder and a walking stick, gave Parker a bit of side-eye.

"Yes," he said. "After we hike out to the cliffs."

“Right, that,” Parker agreed. “I brought wetsuits again.” She pointed to a few duffel bags. “Because it’s warm out, but the water is still cold. And if you want to dive in just your clothes, that’s okay. I brought towels. But you might regret that is all I’m saying.”

"Those of you not into throwin' yourselves off cliffs," all, like, three of you, "I'll be setting up some campfires at the top. If you're interested, I can show you. If not . . . I got stuff for s'mores."

Parker was maybe rubbing off on him.

“Or you can do both,” Parker pointed out. “If you wanna dive for a bit and then decide you’re not up for it again. Or vice versa. No limits, people.”

"Only requirement is the hike," Eliot said. "Which you might wanna get used to, since stuff we're doin' on the island is all gonna involve walking to it. It's a shorter one today, though, only about ten minutes. Keep an eye out and see if you can spot any of Fandom's weirder wildlife."

Like those green deer people always talked about. Eliot hadn't really seen one. He wasn't chatty enough.

“Let’s get going, people! Hup hup hup!”

That last bit was for you, Eliot. Heee.

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Yeah, Eliot's instructions involved rather a lot less math and dire warnings, and more "go get kindling" and "don't set yourself on fire."

Okay, and talk of how to clear the area you were putting your fire in, surround it with stones to help keep the fire contained, and what sorts of supplies you wanted to carry with you if you didn't want to spend hours frustrated over rubbing two sticks together.

A nice handy firestarter (http://www.amazon.com/Gerber-31-000699-Grylls-Survival-Starter/dp/B004DT6TEK/ref=sr_1_7?ie=UTF8&qid=1431402694&sr=8-7&keywords=firestarters), for instance. Less fiddly than sticks, no need to refuel like a lighter, and less worry about the suckers getting wet. He had spares, if any of the students decided they had to have one.

Edited 2015-05-12 05:16 (UTC)

Kathy really wanted to dive off of cliffs and avoid Eliot, but she couldn't deny that knowing how to light a fire in the wilderness might come in handy someday. She didn't know how, considering she was a city girl through and through, but if nothing else, she still had a year on Fandom which meant that anything was possible.

And she was absolutely snagging a firestarter if she could. She'd started carrying a lighter in her bag after taking Reno's classes last summer. This was just the next logical step.

Kaylin wasn't certain about the whole jumping into deep water thing. It was one thing with the kite sailing with something to hold onto and the water not too deep, but really, swimming was not her strong suit.

It sounded like a lot of fun, but... She also didn't want to drown.

Which was why she was here, but not looking particularly happy about it. And seriously, if she didn't know how to start a fire by now, she'd have long since starved.

Oh good, one of the few actually sticking to the top of the cliff and she looked bored. "Alright, what would you rather be doin' right now?"

"Flying," she answered without thinking. Then she sighed and looked over at the cliffs. "I'd like to try that, but... the swimming thing..."

"Not a swimmer?" Eliot guessed.

"Not much good at it," she admitted. "A little bit, like in from the shallow area last week is okay, but this... I'd probably drown."

"Yeah, we'd prefer if you didn't do that," Eliot said. "It'd probably get us in trouble with the school at the very least. That something you're working on? Never know when you might end up in a fight on the edge of a cliff."

"Working on?" she asked. "Learning to swim better? There are classes for that?"

Really, this place. Classes for everything.

"Well, not that I know of right now, but yeah, I can pretty much guarantee you could find one at least at a Y in Baltimore." Then he remembered Kaylin was one of the folks from a completely different reality and added: "A Y is sort of like a really inexpensive health club."

Yeah, health club wasn't going to mean much to her either.

But there was something more important on her mind.

"Would I have to wear one of those almost naked clothes things that people wear?

"They've usually got rules about wearin' 'proper attire', so yeah. You might be able to get away with a wetsuit, though."

"I'd need to be all covered," she said. "Otherwise I'll just, well... stay away from cliffs, I guess."

"Alright." Eliot wasn't going to try to argue with that. "Maybe you can find someone around here who'd be willing to work with you? Then you don't have to worry about people lookin' at you funny if you're fully dressed while you practice."

"Maybe," she said. "I'll think about it."

And see how brave she could be about asking someone.

Eliot nodded. "It'd probably beat the hell out of 'avoiding cliffs' for the rest of your life."

"Technically, I'd only have to avoid cliffs with deep water at the bottom," Kaylin pointed out. "That might not be too hard in Elantra."

"The ones with deep water are the ones you're likely not to go splat at the bottom of," Eliot said. "And if you've got a way to avoid that, then you should be able to avoid the water entirely, anyway."

"True," Kaylin said musingly. "And there aren't exactly any cliffs in the middle of Elantra."

That she'd seen. Yet.

Outdoor Adventures Time! Tuesday, period 1

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