~ Jaden was not awake long enough to see the traps that Andrew and Takyle were discussing put into place. As soon as they were done eating Jaden cleaned up their mess kits and then, at Andrew's nod, curled up on top of his sleeping bag and passed out. Three hours later he woke, shaking in the chill air, the left side of his body slightly numb from laying in one position on the rocky ground. He fumbled around with the zipper of his bag and took a half-asleep glance around to locate Andrew and Takyle's still forms in the dark before crawling into his sleeping bag. Now that he was aware of just how uncomfortable he was, Jaden found it more difficult to fall asleep again, but it wasn't long before his exhaustion overcame even that and his thoughts slipped away. After another three hours passed, Jaden was startled awake when Andrew placed a hand on his shoulder.
"Morning Beautiful," Andrew whispered. Jaden sat up stiffly and looked around at the surrounding darkness.
"If you say so," he said, scrubbing his palms across his face.
"It will be getting light soon; we need to be moving."
"Ok. I'm on it." Jaden blearily dragged himself out of his bag and began rolling it up while Andrew moved off and fired up their camp burner again. By the time Jaden and Takyle had stowed their gear Andrew had warmed up what was left of last night's dinner and mixed some instant coffee.
Jaden scarfed down his portion of breakfast as quickly as possible, more to get it over with than to conserve time. Aging hadn't really helped the gruel at all, but the coffee wasn't bad. A quick glance around showed that Andrew was already done eating and packing up the tiny stove as Takyle finished off her coffee.
"Do you have a plan for today Takyle?" Jaden asked.
"Other than "Try to make progress," no." Takyle hoisted her pack onto her shoulder after shoving her tin cup into one of the pockets. Jaden nodded and followed suit while Andrew swallowed two of the painkillers that the medic had given him.
"Well I'm ready to go," Andrew said with a good deal more cheer than the situation merited. Takyle's mouth turned up in a smile for a moment before she silently turned and led off down the sloping mountain path. ~
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