Lucafrase has probably had a small meal and a quick wash, returning with fuel for the modest fire-- notably she's most curious about what her enchantment's done, although she doesn't rouse a snoring Maggie if the other needs her winks...

Amy comes back from the edge by the fog, where she's been collecting plants. The exploration showed nothing unusual, though it did show signs of large animals, as well as small ones. Just an every day, average jungle. Except that Amy pauses to look back where she was, then over to the lean-to, measuringly.

Kyrie slept pretty much as soon as it got dark - under her coat, because BUGS - and was up with the light. Then, also a small meal and washing up before she starts really cataloguing what's useful here. Live, thin-ish branches were harvested to start weaving together the biers, and it's obvious from her choices she's done this before. A few traps were set with others, and rope she's taken to carrying with her, and baited with food brought with them. She seems to be in a fine enough mood, and enjoying the work. The water was tested to make sure it was safe to drink, but also boiled in a small pot she packed for the trip. They didn't know where they would end up, after all. She apparently sees herself as having certainly responsibilities among the group, and starts into them promptly.

Lucafrase asks of Amethyst: "Everything alright?" She waves off the noise, explaining: "... someone snores." and thumbs at the lean-to.

Amy nods her head, after a moment. "I think maybe the fog feels a bit further out," she observes. "But I'm not sure. Do you think we could maybe use rope or some sort of marker to measure?"

Kyrie is in and out as she works, dragging branches into the clearing. She considers, then says "It's possible. The fog seems to move away from us. I mean, we can push it back, but it also seems like the more of us there are, the more in relents even without pushing. That happened with that first place we appeared, right?"

Lucafrase ohs? "I'm not a scientist. Just a tradesman. 'Measure twice, cut once.' She looks to Amy for verification?

Amy nods to Kyrie. "True, that's a good point. Maybe it is giving us a bit of room, if only so it can scold us not to say it never gives us anything." She chuckles a bit, and then shrugs to Luca. "I have no idea really. Just - you know, a feeling."

Kyrie chuckles quietly. "I'm no scientist, either. Just been here long enough now to notice some things. And the more room it gives us, the more we can try to haul back. And if we're here long enough, maybe this patch will get, well, real enough to be easier to find next time?"

Lucafrase shrugs? "I've cleared a few through-ways in the City, but that's sometimes spending several days' worth of free time... pushing... ? I don't know if the same rules apply in the wild."

Amy nods her head. "It's definitely good to learn as we go. I think that might be the best way to learn, really." She comes back with a few more plants, setting them down, and then grins quietly towards the lean-to. "It is kind of nice just to be out of the city," she adds, as she reflexively swats at a big bug that flies by too close to her.

"Won't argue that." Kyrie replies. "I like a city, but that one's just weird. The break from it is good. A normal city would be great. So would home, which I never thought I'd say, but I don't have any idea how I'd get there."

Lucafrase ohs! She scrambles back to the lean-to, scampering out with her begging-bowl, careful not to wake the snoozing Ursus maggius. Within is a whitish paste, smelling strongly of "available herbs--" whether it's actually effective or not will be an exciting experiment. Yes.

Amy watches Luca with some curiosity. "Wait, what are you doing?" she asks, perhaps a bit protective of the plants.

Kyrie takes a seat by the fire, and starts working on the branches she's collected. A small knife is produced from inside her boot, and she start taking off what she doesn't need for the frame. "I did spot a few things that look a lot like edibles from my home, but I'm not sure how much we want to take those chances."

Lucafrase holds out the bowl. "Insect repellent. I-- I hope. I did some scrounging of my own, no stealing anyone else's plants. Scout's honor."

Amy grins at Luca, at that. "Are you really a scout?" she asks. "And are you asking me to test your insect repellent for you?" Then she shrugs to Kyrie. "Let me see them? I can probably tell you if they're poisonous or not, at the least."

Kyrie smiles to Amy. "When I go next, I'll bring some samples. As long as they're not actually poisonous, and we cook them hard, they should be okay."

Lucafrase *coughs,* "... may've been asked to leave, but that's not important right now." She considers the bowl? "Am I my own test-subject, then?"

Amy laughs, shaking her head. She doesn't seem too worried about it, for some reason. "I see," she says. "Alright, I can give it a try." There's a moment, and she says, "You make my hair fall out, and there will be trouble." Just that, and given those long blonde curls of hers, no wonder. She nods to Kyrie, agreeing to that thought.

Lucafrase smears some on her own cheeks, forehead. Arms. "Is that a bald joke?" She doesn't seem offended, as it's well-established she cuts her own hair.

"not so much, no," Amy says. "just - I kinda like my hair." She reaches out for the bowl so she can check out the stuff within, assuming Luca will let her.

Lucafrase hands over the bowl? It's probably 'mostly camphor, some citronella, yes this bark looks medicinal...'

Amy sniffs at the bowl, closes her eyes a moment, and then sniffs again. Then she says, "You got a few plants from here, I think. Did you have any ingredients from somewhere else?"

Lucafrase *blinks,* guileless? "... like what? We mostly put pine-tar on cuts. We use industrial shop-soap. Neither of those is, uh, great for skin."

Amy watches Luca for a long moment, before she cautiously puts a bit of the white paste on the back of her hand, testing to see if there's any reaction to it or not. From her skin, then she'll worry about the bugs.

Kyrie listens to the others as she works on the first bier, forming the frame and fitting it together by tucking ends into slots. It's very rough, but it should hold together for the trip back. In theory.

Lucafrase says, "... anything else we want to prep for the trip back?"

At least the white paste smells good. Amy doesn't see any skin turning colour or blistering or anything, so she puts more on her arms, and the back of her hands. A bug comes by and she swats at it watching as it buzzes away quickly. "I'm not sure if that's cause it didn't like the insect repellent or because it didn't like my hand so close to it," she says wryly.

Kyrie says "We should look for anything flowering, because it will produce seeds sooner. Otherwise, samples of everything so the locals might be able to identify what we should collect in future visits. Also, look for nuts and the like. Anything already fruiting. I don't think we'll get a lot of variety in this small a space, but it's worth getting what we can. Check for mushrooms, but be careful. Even the poison ones can be used for some medicines."

Lucafrase shrugs, nods. "That's-- a lot. You got enough space for that?" She scrutinizes the biers-under-construction.

"We'll manage," Amy says with a laugh. "We'll bring what we can, and leave what we can't. Hopefully, we can come back another time, yeah?" See, she's thinking, and at least trying to figure this out. More or less. "And I can maybe help make more baskets if you all teach me how?"

Lucafrase purses lips. "Basket-weaving class. I guess."

At some point in the discussion Maggie made her way out of the lean to. Her hair was bound in a neat braid yesterday. Today, there are crimson and red whisps framing her face in hints of fire. A yawn might hint that, while up, she is not really awake. Then again, if anyone noticed, she did not crawl into the lean-to until the wee hours of the morning. Right around the witching hour, or there about. "Yeah. Let's see if anything is flowering." The comment is sort of articulated around early morning mumble-mouth.

Kyrie smiles towards Maggie. "Morning." she says. "And I think we can pack in a decent amount. I'm stronger than I look. Just have to make sure it all stays together for the trip."

Lucafrase says, "... can we make a plan? Divide the place into sections?"

Amy chuckles. "Well, we should be good then. I am not sure how long we want to stay away though. At least we've had a chance to recover from that horrible trip out." She pauses, tilting her head a bit, and then says, "We might not be able to get back here again, you know."

Maggie waves to Kyrie, another yawn beginning. That one is stiffled, though as she listens to the others. Her expression loses some of the morning muzz and a level of concentration settles in its place. "I wonder, though. If we ask to return here, we might be able to. Especially if we believe that we need to. I'm not sure. Uh. Does anyone need help, by the way?"

Kyrie says "It doesn't hurt to gather everything we want. If some has to be left behind because we don't have the space, we'll just prioritize. And we could split the areas to search, since there doesn't seem to be anything very dangerous here."

Lucafrase nods, agreeing: "We're all... probably... good lifters. We'll make do."

"Yes, but if they say this insect repellent for instance is wonderful, more please, just bear in mind, we might not be able to get it. and yes, we might, you're right, Maggie. The truth is - I mean, I certainly don't know one way or the other." She gets to her feet though, finished with the bug repellent paste now. One of those big bugs flies by and tries to land in her hair, causing a bit of a screech.

Lucafrase squints. "If who says? The bugs? The fog? I'm lost..."

Amy looks at Luca. "When we get back, I'm pretty sure I heard that we are taking samples so that the locals can tell us which items are better to get than the others, right? So when we ask, and those locals tell us which ones they want?"

Maggie rises from where she was sitting. Another yawn catches her mid rise, which means she ends up in a long stretch. "Sorry. Sorry. Apparently, I need to wake up more. I'm going down to the water to see if splashing my face helps. I'll be back in a bit to help with carrying and stuff." Turning, she lifts a hand to wave, offers a smile all around, then moves away from the group toward the sound of running water.

Lucafrase nods. "I guess I didn't know we were sent on a mission. Is all. I hate disappointing people, so." She dusts her hands.

Amy looks at Luca. "Well, we didn't tell them before we left, you know. Because we didn't know if we'd find anything. But - once we get back, we're going to. I think."

She then nods to Maggie. "Okay, be careful. I got a feeling there might be more things in that water than we've seen so far."

Kyrie hmms quietly. "I don't think it's really a mission of any specific sort. I just think of any trip out as an opportunity to gather resources." she says. "So, we'll gather, and see what's useful for future trips. Even if we don't gt back to this specific place, I'm thinking others might have similar plants."

Maggie glances over her shoulder at Amy's call. A faint laugh dances back and she nods, "Thanks." It would juuuust figure, wouldn't it? Rather than taking a turn to end up where the others would not be able to see her, Maggie remains in clear view as she goes about trying to wake up.

Lucafrase starts combing the ground-cover for, as suggested, budding plants and promising seedlings...

Amy nods to what Kyrie says. "Right, that." She grins at the departing Maggie's laughter, and notes that the other stays in sight. Amy then gives a shrug to the others. "I found a few plants I know will be useful as medicinals, and I'm trying to get as much of those as I can, while we're here. In addition to the rest of the samples."

Lucafrase asks: "... little help? I'm not much of a botanist. All I know is: chair, armoire, bedframe, a-frame house..." this as she indicates various species of tree.

Amy shrugs a bit, smiling. "I'm not either. Mostly, I just know, poison, healing, neutral."

Lucafrase nods, following Amy's directives, filling her nearest bier.

It does not take Maggie long to finish up. She waves off some of the larger insects as she moves. Should have some of that insect repellent! One of the bugs she nearly swats carreens off, tumbling in the air. As it reaches the airspace over the water a surge can be seen, followed by a large splash. Whatever gulped the bug displaces enough water to be quite large. Too bad it is hidden by vegitation. Might be good eatin'. Hearing the commotion, Maggie turns quickly, eyes scanning what she can see of the water, "Uh... Sounds like you are right, Amethyst."

Amy grins at Luca, as the two work together. She then turns towards Maggie's voice. "Sounds, huh? You didn't see it either? Yeah, I heard something go splish splash earlier, but didn't see anything," she calls back.

Maggie shakes her head as she makes her way back, "No, I didn't see it. Though..." Kneeling to help with filling a bier, she frowns, "I might have seen a shimmer. Like sunlight reflected off of scales."

Lucafrase says, "Kyrie did say we should watch for fish. How long are we planning to stay?"

Maggie glances up to Luca, then over to Amy, "I am not sure. I am trying to set up a meeting between two rival organizations in the warehouse district." Nodding to Luca, "Once we found the warehouse full of canned goods, we thought it would be good to see about securing it. Preferably without leaving anyone already in the district high and dry. Merrisol and Luca said that they would help. You'd be welcome to come, Amethyst. I don't know how it will go, but we are going to be diplomatic." Shaking her head, a faint laugh begins, "If we can be."

Lucafrase shrugs? "Numbers could work out for us."

Amy blinks and then she shrugs. "It sounds like a good plan to me." She glances around, and then she says, "I think we should go back. I don't trust this place here." She pauses and then says, "But I'm not sure why."

Maggie nods to Luca, "True. And an excellent point." Synching a strap made from a woven length of vine, she looks up at Amy. Sitting back on her heels, she inhales both to try and sense whatever magic might be around and to calm her breath, steady her heartbeat. Tilting her head slightly, she shrugs slowly. "Well..." She begins slowly, then speaks softly, "Not being able to see what might be a large preditor is not something that inspires confidence. If we can't see that thing, then what else are we not seeing? Though, to be fair, I didn't really look for the thing in the river."

Lucafrase ohs! Again! "My basket! I forgot!" She drops-- acorns, probably, heading back into the lean-to.

Amy blinks as acorns go flying and Luca dips back to the lean-to. "one thing, I think this insect repellent sort of works? I mean, they're still flying around me, but they've stopped trying to nest in my hair. I think - we should rest up one more day, and head back tomorrow morning. What do you think?"

Maggie perks up, "Oh, insect repellent. Yes please." She glances around and, as she is near Amy, she finally notes that the bugs are not trying to land on her either. "Strong stuff." SLowly, she nods, "Yeah... Let's do that. I did not get much sleep last night, so would like to be rested for the push through the fog."