Day 3- Signs of the Past by SilverWolf3746 on DeviantArt (original) (raw)
Excursion Image: here
Team Bonus Titles: Herding, Tracking, Dock Diving, Carting Dog
Number of Signs: 1
Coordinates: B1
The group got up early in the morning with the sunrise to get an early start to the day, and to beat the heat. Raven sat in the long grass, her tail curled around her paws as she watched her humans packing up camp and getting ready to go. Cali was by Wayne's side once again, following him around and watching what he was doing, always wanting to be a part of the action.
“Come on, let's go!” Wayne said. Cali was already vibrating with excitement.
“C'mere, girl”, Craig said to his dog. Raven got up and walked after her human to join the rest of the group. So off they went.
As the group traveled and the dogs snuffled about, looking for any signs that a dog had passed this way, the sun continued to climb into the sky and with it came the heat. The grasses glistened and there was not a cloud in the wide, blue sky, leaving the group exposed to it.
They had a quick lunch break in the shade of some trees, the dogs happy to lap up every drop of water that was given to them. Cali bounded off into the woods to explore but Raven stood by her group.
“Think she's after something?” Craig asked, peering into the brush.
“I'm not sure. Let's pack up our stuff and get moving, though”.
They packed up their lunch and headed off to where Cali had disappeared.
“Cali! Come!” Wayne yelled into the trees.
There was a great rustling and an excited looking Cali bounded out, leaves in fur, tongue hanging out, before sprinting off again.
“Yeah, she's definitely got something”, Wayne said, taking off after his dog. Craig and Raven followed in close pursuit.
They eventually got up to Cali, who had tuckered herself out, although she still walked at a brisk pace. Senses were alert, scanning every aspect of the landscape.
Eventually, in the late afternoon, the group emerged to see a massive and very old gun battery looming above them. The dogs went off and snuffled around, but Craig and Wayne stayed, looking at the massive machine. They imagined, 70 years ago, all the men in uniform bustling about, manning the gun battery. They were speechless, standing in awe just looking at it. Now it was falling apart and mosses and such were growing over it, although it would have been a formidable thing in the past. They stayed silent, remembering what was for a moment.
“Come, Raven! Cali!” Craig called. Wayne looked on as the dogs came trotting up to the men.
“We should start heading back now, if we don't want to miss the ferry again”, Wayne said.
“Yeah, let's head back. It's been a good day today”, Craig said.
The group hiked along back through the jungle, finally arriving at the docks. They saw other volunteer groups beginning to arrive there as well. They boarded the boat and rode back to Siping, the dogs sitting at their feet.
Word Count- 499