fandomhigh | Wilderness Survival; Wednesday, Second Period [01/10].

There was a part of Gladio that did consider, even in this crappy winter weather, holding his class outside in the actual wilderness today, but that, he figured, was a bit much, at least for the first class, although it would be a good lesson and set an interesting standard for what to expect in this class. However, he figured he'd save the more miserable stuff for later in the semester, and everyone was asked to meet in the danger shop that week, where he'd set things up to be much more pleasant, on a nice wooded clearing with a great view on the mountainside, with nice clear skies overhead that you definitely shouldn't get used to.

"Hey, everyone," he said, greeting the class with a grin and a nod, "and welcome to Wilderness Survival, the class where I'm gonna teach you a lot of the basic skills and knowledge you should know to help you survive in the great outdoors in various situations, as well as maybe even how to enjoy it a little bit. For those of you who don't know me yet," a nod to the more unfamiliar faces, "my name's Gladio Amicitia, and I've been teaching the class a few times at this school, plus, I did survive a decade-long apocalypse in a world without sun, so I like to think that gives me a good basis of knowing what I'm talking about with this kinda stuff. I'm sure we've got a wide variety of skills and experience in the class already, so hopefully, those of you who are new to this can keep up, and those of you who know a thing or two already can still pick up something new or at least hone what you already have. Today, for our first class, we're keeping it simple, with one of the most basic and essential things to know about survival in the great outdoors: how to build a fire.

"But before we can build a fire," he said, "we're first gonna need some wood, and that's where we'll get started. I want everyone to take some time to head out into the woods and gather up some fire and kindling. You want to try and find hardwood if you can, and something dry, because softwoods and damp aren't going to burn as well. And when everyone's got some fuel for our fire, we'll gather back here at homebase, start putting it together, and once we've got that going, we'll do our introductions....campfire style.

"Any questions before we begin? And it's the danger shop, too, so you don't have to worry about going out of bounds into dangerous terrain or any wild animals..."

He paused, his grin growing wider. "Yet."

And, with that, he looked around to see if there were any questions before sending everyone off to go get some wood.

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Eleanor was just sort of picking around as she looked for branches and maybe bigger pieces of wood to bring back to the campfire. She knew this class was going to be good for her, but it was hard to be in the woods, sometimes, without it bringing up some bad memories, so she was just trying to focus and not think about it too much, about running around barefoot with her cousins, before everything went terrible and she had to be sent away.

Would a singing muppet help distract from those memories? Because here came Gonzo, bouncing a little as he went by (to show he was, you know, walking and not just gliding on a lack of legs out of view of the camera). And singing, of course.

"Down by the Old Mill Stream where I first met you
With your eyes of blue, dressed in gingham too
It was there I knew that you loved me too. . . ."

Honestly? Considering that a jaunty little tune like that was about as far as you could get from that one time you accidentally ate a kid...it did help, and Eleanor sort of smiled over at Gonzo as he went by, shaking her head a little and feeling kind of envious, to be that seemingly carefree.

But she also tried to listen to the song, so she could keep repeating it in her head as she gathered wood, to keep all the other thoughts away.

It was a simple little song -- at least at first. When Gonzo got to the second verse, though, he picked up the callback with gusto, despite not having anyone to call back to but himself.

"Down by the Old (not the new but the old)
Mill Stream (not the river but the stream)
Where I first (not last but first) met you (not her but you)
With your eyes (not your nose but your eyes)
Of blue, (not green but blue). . . ."

Eventually he'd get around to, you know, gathering wood. He was far too busy singing and bopping along, for now.

Wilderness Survival; Wednesday, Second Period [01/10].

Re: Class Activity: Gather Firewood - Wilderness Survival, 01/10.

Re: Class Activity: Gather Firewood - Wilderness Survival, 01/10.

Re: Class Activity: Gather Firewood - Wilderness Survival, 01/10.

Re: Class Activity: Gather Firewood - Wilderness Survival, 01/10.