With the sun rising over the trees, the students under his care moved about the camp, between the mess hall for breakfast and their cabins to finish getting ready for the day. As for Professor Bel Donnovan - well, he hadn’t gotten much sleep.
When his watch had read 3:02 am, Bel had finally given up his vigil. He’d let out a sigh and stumbled into his bed. He’d barely bothered taking off his boots or stripping out of his jacket and mesh vest.
Now, leaning on the railing of the cabin’s porch, his flask open in his hand, Bel watched the students move about the camp. His black striped orange tail flicked behind him, agitated with nervous energy. Hazel eyes flicked over the camp, following the activity, even as he brought the flask to his lips. His eyes landed on one of the graduate students hustling over to him, followed closely by an undergrad student.
“Prof - Nikki and Felix never came back last night,” the grad student informed him, glancing at the student that followed.
One of the young men staying in the same cabin as Nikki and Felix, Bel thought.
The young man nodded, coming forward. “Felix left the cabin around 9:40 or so last night, told us he was going looking for Nikki. He didn’t even hear us tell him to wait till morning, or at least didn’t acknowledge it.”
With a sigh, Bel screwed the cap back on his flask. Shit. “Alright. Jason, go around the camp and tell all the undergrads to stay put for the day. Tell the grad students to get some gear - ropes, in case we need them, food, water, emergency blankets, some first aid packs… whatever we can carry that you think we might need. Then meet back here. I’ll radio out and tell them we’ve got two missing students and we’re forming a search party.”
“Yes, sir,” Jason - the grad student - said, then started pushing his underclassman back towards the rest of the students. “Come on, Lee, we’ll find them. Just stay in the camp with everyone else, we don’t need anyone else getting lost in this forest...”
Bel couldn’t agree more. The tiger straightened, ran a hand through his tangled mess of orange-red hair, and stretched his back with a groan. Turning back to his cabin, he strode inside and started putting together a pack. First aid kit, hypothermia blanket, extra water, trail mix, jerky, candy bars for extra energy - and because he really liked the creamy caramel insides. He stuffed a few powder packets of salt and flavor to mix with water in case either Nikki or Felix had lost too much salt. Then he zipped the backpack up and reached for his mesh vest. After tugging that into place, he refilled his flask from his stash of brandy, screwed the cap on tight, and tucked it into a pocket of his vest.
He eyed the bottle of brandy and debated taking another shot. But no, Nikki and Felix needed him clear headed.
Shaking his head, Bel tightened the cap on the brandy and left it on the table. Bel snagged a hair tie off the table and twisted back his hair into a ponytail at the base of his skull as he quickly headed into the side office of the cabin. He sat at the table with the radio, glancing at the equipment to get familiar. After fiddling with the dials, he depressed the button on the side of the mic and spoke.
“MDU Research Team calling Ranger HQ,” Bel said, giving the rangers a moment to get to the radio. “MDU Research Team calling Ranger HQ.”
The radio crackled for a moment as Bel waited. Then, “Ranger HQ. This is Ranger Matt. What’s going on, Research Team?”
“Ranger Matt, this is Professor Donnovan,” Bel began, “two students went missing last night, they haven’t returned. I’ve instructed the undergrads to stay in B Camp. I’m taking the grad students to search for them.”
“Understood,” the ranger said, “we’ll send rangers to B Camp to help. Take radios with you and check in on channel 232. We’ll keep that channel clear until your students are found.”
“Understood,” Bel replied, letting out a sigh. He’d been sure the rangers would tell him to wait. “Thank you.” Bel stowed the mic, then rooted around the office until he found the portable radios. Five sat charging in a drawer.
He took four, switching them on and tuning the dials to channel 232. Then he clipped one on his vest and headed back to retrieve his backpack. He shrugged into the full backpack and headed for the door, rubbing at the stubble on his chin. Right outside his cabin, three of the five grad students mingled around, carrying backpacks. Two more hurried over, one without a pack.
“Sir, one of the girls sprained her ankle yesterday and two more are sick,” the grad without the pack - Peter - said. “I’ll stay behind and keep an eye on everyone.”
Bel nodded. “Good idea. The rangers are heading out to help, too, so don’t be too alarmed when they arrive. They’re going to come here first, then join the search.”
The professor strode down the steps of his cabin and handed out the three remaining radios, giving one to Peter. “Keep an ear out for the radio in case anyone radios in. We’ll be on channel 232, and we’ll check in regularly. Stay in pairs.”
“What about you, Professor?” Jason asked, glancing at the young woman - Allison - that he was paired with.
Bel shook his head, a rueful smile on his lips. “I’ve been to this forest a few times, I’ll be fine. Besides, I’ve got a radio. If I get in trouble, I’ll call.”
Jason nodded, though he didn’t look too happy about it by the turn of his lips or the droop of his ears.
“Come on, we’re losing daylight,” Bel said. He turned and started towards the path they’d taken yesterday. “We’ll start back at the site from yesterday. Felix told me Nikki was going back there to get his water bottle. We should find signs of them from there.”
The hike back to the survey site didn’t take the group long, and from there they split. Not knowing either’s scent all that well did not help their search, as the scents from yesterday were long ago carried away on the wind.
After coming up empty, Jason suggested, “Let’s split up. They couldn’t be far from here. We’ll find some sign of them.”
Bel agreed. He pulled out his radio and depressed the button on the side. “B Camp, come in.”
He waited a moment, then a crackling, and the radio responded, “B Camp here.”
“This is Professor Donnovan,” Bel continued, “No sign of Felix or Nikki. Splitting into three teams.”
“Understood! Good luck!”
They split into their smaller groups, each picking a direction away from camp and the survey site. As Bel started off into the forest, he glanced around. Dipping down, he found a long, sturdy branch to use as a walking stick. He used the branch to clear away brush, looking around for any kind of tracks.
Stopping for a moment, Bel sank onto a large boulder, his long slender tail curling around him. He let out a sigh and tugged his water bottle from his backpack. As he took a few gulps, he glanced around him. The healthy undergrowth spread around, ferns and long stemmed flowers reaching up to the sky. The trees above offered enough sunshine through their leaves to feed the smaller plants below.
Moss and mushrooms grew elsewhere, where the light above did not fall regularly. From the thick blanket of moss around the boulder he sat on, Bel knew the soil contained healthy, rich ingredients.
“I’ll have to get a sample from here…” Bel murmured. He took another gulp of water and stowed his water bottle. Then he tugged out some jerky and ate enough to assuage his hunger. A glance at his watch and he cursed. He yanked his radio up and depressed the button.
“B Camp, come in,” Bel said. He hadn’t heard a peep from the radio and it was already past noon. “B Camp, come in.”
No sound, no crackling of static, came from the radio in his hand. Frowning, he checked to make sure the device still lived, then checked the channel setting. Full battery and the channel hadn’t changed.
“B Camp, come in,” Bel growled with a bit more force.
But still, nothing.
“Fuck,” Bel growled, hanging his head. “Did I find a dead zone?”
Glancing around, Bel debated climbing a tree - but no, he hadn’t been able to climb trees in years. Sure, he still worked out, but not religiously. Certainly didn’t have a six-pack anymore. No, instead of a six-pack, his drinking and occasional leg day gave him a bit of paunch.
His last boyfriend had called it, affectionately, love handles.
No, he wouldn’t be climbing any trees today.
Once he’d shoved the bag of jerky back in his pack, he pushed himself up from the boulder. Bel stretched his arms high above his head, letting out a satisfied groan when his back and shoulders popped. Rubbing his lower back with one hand, he grabbed the straps of his backpack with the other and slung it over his shoulder.
Starting off once more, he glanced around for higher ground. If he found somewhere high enough, maybe the radio would work again. His boots crunched over leaves, twigs, and pebbles as he navigated through the forest. Coming to a small, gurgling stream, Bel knelt and examined the vegetation growing around the stream.
The splash and rush of a waterfall drew his attention. His ears perked and swiveled to the sound. Bel stood and followed the sounds, drawing him in like a siren song, pulling him to the clearing. Bel paused at the edge of the clearing, with his hand on a tree, staring with a gaping mouth.
Before him, a towering waterfall fell into a large pool. The pool flowed out into several streams, splintering out into the forest around them. On the other side of the pool from him, a colossal, magnificent elk stared at him with glittering, golden eyes. Huge antlers branched out from his head, larger than any elk Bel had ever seen. The elk’s hide shimmered in the sunlight, dusky and dark brown around his neck, fading to a beautiful golden brown, before the fur darkened again just below the joints of his knees.
The elk’s head tilted to the right - and that was when Bel noticed the flowering vines draping over and around the huge antlers. The vines didn’t seem to prevent the elk from defending himself, only seemed to add to the creature’s ethereal beauty. Flowers of vivid purples, deep blues, blinding whites, and vibrant reds bloomed along the dark green vines. They stood out in contrast to the dark brown of the antlers.
Then the huge creature shook out his hide, breaking whatever mesmerizing spell keeping Bel in place. The tiger stumbled back on a root, but caught himself with the walking stick. When he looked back up, the bank of the pool sat empty, that huge elk nowhere in sight.
Taking a deep breath, Bel put a hand to his chest, trying to settle his hammering heart. That beast could easily kill him -
But he’d been magnificent.
Bel cursed under his breath at the missed opportunity for a photograph. World Geography would have loved that beast, and maybe he’d have gotten a nice check for the photo. Muttering at the lost income, Bel trudged towards the pool. He glanced at the waterfall, tracing the sides of the falls with his eyes to see if there was an easy path up. Just like climbing trees, serious rock climbing was well out of his wheelhouse now.
But there was a path up. Looking at the cliffs up above, Bel hoped - prayed - they were high enough to get a signal. Adjusting the straps of his backpack, Bel stepped up to the cliff. The tiger set his walking stick aside and grabbed hold of the rocks. If he could make it up to the path, just a few feet, then it’d be easy going-
The slick rocks offered little purchase. Even going so far as to dig his nails in, he couldn’t drag himself up. Cursing, Bel stepped back from the cliff and rubbed his palms on his pants. Growling once, Bel turned-
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