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the-delta-42 · 5 years

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Cure

Based off of @lenoreofraven‘s ask response

In hindsight, it was obvious. How Marinette looked as if she had gotten no sleep, how nervous she became, constantly checking her phone every five minutes. Whenever asked she would freeze and look terrified, when Alya asked Ms. Bustier about Marinette’s current situation, the teacher would shake her head and say, “Marinette will speak to you about it when she is ready.”

It should’ve become obvious, when Lila said she met a doctor who found the cure to cancer. Everyone remembered how alert Marinette became.

“Really?” She said, “Do you have his contact details or if he’s willing to make visits to potential patients?”

At first Alya thought Marinette was trying to poke holes in Lila’s story, until Lila laughed and said that the doctor is question had died a year or so beforehand. Marinette’s eyes went dim again.

“He didn’t even publish his findings?” She had asked, “Not even anonymously?”

When Lila responded in the negative, Marinette only responded with and quiet, “Oh.”, and looked down at her sketch book. Marinette went home at lunch that day, the class would find that whenever Marinette was asked about, mentioned or even discussed, the teachers would have a sad look to them, as if they knew something the class didn’t.

Which was true. They did know something, and the Class wanted to know what it was. The following day Alya, along with Rose and Mylene, cornered Marinette and tried to make her spill, Alya asking Marinette and Rose and Mylene gently trying to convince her to tell them.

They had never seen Ms. Mendeleiev look so angry. Marinette was absent for the rest of the day, which only made the class curiouser than before.

Then the straw that broke the camel’s back arrived and Cure came walking out. When Cure first appeared in front of them, no one recognised her, her eyes were green, hair was red and her skin a pale blue. She was quiet, before her gaze landed on Lila and said, terrifyingly calm, “Doctor. Name. Now.”

Then it clicked into place.

“Marinette?” Rose asked, her voice quivering slightly.

“Marinette’s not home right now.” Said Cure, “Feel free to leave a message.”

Kim had gotten between Cure and Lila.

“Marinette,” Said Kim, trying to increase the distance between the Akuma and their target, “you need to step back, calm down.”

“Tells us what’s wrong.” Said Nino, making the mistake of touching Cure’s shoulder. Cure grabbed Nino by the throat and threw him across his and Adrien’s desk, “I’ll take that as a no.”

Alya was torn between helping Nino, recording the Akuma and getting Lila away from Cure.

“Nothing’s wrong.” Said Cure, her tone like ice, “I just need the name of that doctor and then everything will be fine.”

“Girl, I don’t know what Adrien has done but-” Alya was cut off by Cure’s chilling laugh.

“You think that spineless worm has something to do with it?” Said Cure, Ivan slowly coming up from behind to grab her, “He couldn’t be more far away from this situation as Pluto from the sun.”

Ivan went to grab Cure, who reached back, grabbed his index finger, smiled and then broke his hand.

“Don’t kill the messenger or the messenger will kill you.” Said Cure, starting to advance on Kim and Lila, “Now, I just need that name and then I’ll be off.”

“Lila, what’s his name?” Kim whispered, Lila panicking as the Akuma got closer.

“It’s, uhmmm, errr, his name is, errr,” Lila stuttered, before her nerve broke, “He doesn’t have one! Made it all up.”

Cure stopped, “I am going to assume that was a joke, otherwise my response isn’t going to be very nice.”

Lila continued to scamper away, as rage began to form on Cure’s face, “I lied. I only said it to get attention, I never met a doctor who could cure cancer, the only doctor that I’ve met is my dentist.”

Cure stomped forwards, knocking Max and Alix out of the way, before reaching out and grabbing Lila by the throat and holding her against the wall, “You mean to tell me that any hope that I had was for nothing, that I have to sit by and watch as one of my loved ones wastes away and do nothing?”

That line made everyone pause, before a window smashed and Chat Noir came tumbling in.

“If I can’t cure it, then perhaps I can transfer it.” Growled Cure, Hawkmoth started talking to her, before the mask went from purple/pink to blood red.

“Don’t distract me.” Cure growled, as everyone’s stomache dropped.

Hawkmoth had created an Akuma that he couldn’t control.

Chat rushed forwards; his baton raised to hit Cure in the back of the head. Cure grabbed the baton mid-swing and dropped Lila.

“Hold that thought, while I neuter a certain stray.” Cure growled, before literally wiping the floor with Chat. Chat hit the wall for the fourth or fifth time, before Ms. Bustier press her phone against Cure’s ear.

Cure’s expression went from Rage to loss, and in a small, broken voice, she said “Papa?”

No one knew what was said, but Cure collapsed to her knees, allowing Chat to grab the akumatized object, her hair tie, and break it, before attempting to catch the Akuma. Cure reverted back to Marinette and Chat altered his priorities.

“Marinette,” Said the hero, kneeling down in front of her, his tone gentle, “What’s wrong?”

Marinette looked as if she was about to break, “My Papa,” She said, “He’s got cancer, we found out yesterday that it’s terminal.”

Then everything broke, from how they had been trying Chemotherapy, to Marinette hearing about said ‘cure’ from Lila and, for once, wanted to believe that she was telling the truth. At the end it if, Marinette could barely talk. Chat gent picked her up and said to Ms. Bustier, “I’m taking her home, I’ll be back shortly.” Before vanishing out the window.

A few minutes later Chat returned and stalked up to Lila, and said in a cold voice, “We’ve asked you before to stop lying, because we were worried about the affect it would have on you. We never considered what those lies could do to others,” Said Chat, eyes hard and tone cold and sharp, “So, now I’m telling you, Lila, stop lying or the next time you’re targeted by and Akuma, we may just let it slide. Understand?”

Lila nodded fearfully, Chat turned around and said, “I suggest you check her other claims as well.”

Alya looked up from Max’s laptop and said, “Already on it.”

Chat nodded and left, Alya looked at her phone as it sat in the charging dock. She had placed it there to record the Akuma attack. Alya’s stomache dropped, when she realised that the entire attack was live streaming. Everything Marinette was going through was now on her blog.

“SHIT!”

/*/

Adrien appeared in school the next day, his expression sombre. The members of the class that were hurt in the Akuma attack had casts, bandages and braces to help them heal.

“I still think Marinette was holding back.” Said Nino, finding it difficult to look around using a neck brace.

Alix had a bandage/cast over her nose, from when she had broken it after Cure knocked her out.

“I’m inclined to disagree.” She said, her voice stuffy.

Kim laughed at the sound, making Alix whirl around at him and say, in her stuffy voice, “Laugh one more time and I will castrate you.”

Max looked at the two, before muttering about variables and two idiots.

“It is true?” Came a calm, boarder-line cold voice.

Everyone jumped when Kagami spoke. Adrien frowned, before retorting, “No, it was one massive role play, and everyone is really dedicated to it.”

Kagami fixed Adrien with a scowl that, if he had cared, would’ve made Adrien wince, “Is your ego hurt because She called you a spineless worm?”

Adrien scowled, “No, I’m upset because one of my friends is going through something that none of us can help her with, because we don’t know what it’s like.”

“But, yes, he is upset Dupain-Cheng called him a spineless worm.” Said Chloe, causing Adrien to look insulted.

“I have some knowledge in that area, I’m not sure if it will help,” Said Kagami, “but I’m willing to do what I can.”

It was at that moment; muffled shouting could be heard from Damocles’ office.

“Just how long have they been in there?” Sabrina asked, as the class slowly gathered around.

“An hour, at least.” Said Max, looking up from his laptop, his black eye in full view, “Can’t say for certain, but it’s not going to end anytime soon.”

“Yeah, from what I heard, Jagged Stone, Clara Nightingale, Prince Ali and a few others are actually considering legal action against Lila and, possibly, the school.” Said Juleka, folding her arms.

Moments later, a wave of Ladybug swept over the city. Alix calmly removed her gauze, before she flung it, bloody side first, at Kim, who let out a high-pitched scream and ducked out of the way, allowing it to hit Max. Max only sighed and went back to work.

Ivan was flexing his newly repaired hand, when a shuffle at the end of the hall caught his attention. The rest of the class followed his gaze and spotted Marinette standing by the door. Marinette, almost timidly, walked up to the group, her eyes on the floor, “I-I’m sorry about yesterday.” Said Marinette, not looking at them.

Adrien was the first to move. Adrien held onto Marinette, almost terrified she would break.

“You have nothing to apologise for,” Said Adrien, “you’re in a situation that none of us could ever understand, a situation that literally has no positives.”

Marinette shuddered, before her composure broke and she started crying. For once, everything looked to be going up.

/*/

It had been four months since the ‘Cure’ incident occurred.

They had a substitute today, since Ms. Bustier was unwell. The sub looked down his nose at every member of the class and was incredibly authoritarian with the seats. For some reason, he thought it would be a good idea to sit Chloe next to Lila. The entire lesson, the two were sparking off each other and disrupting the class.

“Move your foot away from my bag.” Snapped Chloe, pushing Lila to the other end of the desk.

“Then don’t put it by my chair.” Retorted Lila, as the sub sneered at the sight.

He didn’t seem to like the class very much, often just referring to them as the Akuma’s they were. Kim had already been sent to Damocles for ‘speaking out of turn’ to the sub. He opened his mouth to scold them.

Then Marinette’s phone went off. Everyone went silent and Marinette went still.

“Ms. Cure,” Sneered the sub, a sick smirk on his face, “I believe you have something to share.”

Marinette shook slightly, as the sub walked up to her and held out his hand. Marinette reached into her pocket and produced her phone, which the sub snatched from her hand.

The sub pressed the answer button, Sabine Cheng’s voice coming from the phone.

“M-marinette?” Said Sabine, her voice thick, “I’ve just gotten a phone call from the hospital.”

Marinette’s insides turned to ice as dread filled her.

“Y-your father died earlier this morning.” Said Sabine, before the sub pressed the end call button and threw the phone out the window.

Marinette was letting out small gasps as she cried. The sub sneered and looked down at her.

“Stop crying, you pathetic little girl.” He snarled, as Marinette only started to cry harder.

“Her dad has just died.” Snapped Rose, “Have some respect.”

The sub whirled round and snarled at Rose, “I don’t recall asking some dyke for their opinion.”

The sub hit Marinette on the back of the head.

“WHEN I TELL YOU TO DO SOMETHING, I EXPECT YOU TO DO IT!” Roared the sub, as Marinette’s head hit the desk.

Adrien jumped out of his seat, grabbed the sub by the shoulder, and punched him in the teeth several times, before the sub was on the ground with Adrien beating the living snot out of him.

Alya gently grabbed Marinette and had Rose and Juleka take her outside, before she lifted her phone to record the beat down.

An hour later the police arrived at the school, along with the parent of the students in the class. Adrien didn’t at all guilty as his father glared down at him.

“I suppose you have an explanation for this.” Said Gabriel, subtly keeping the bloody and beaten sub in his peripheral vison. He didn’t trust the man.

“He kept referring to my friends Akumas, he bullied the entire class, broke their personal property and, when Marinette heard that her father died, told her to stop crying, called her a pathetic little girl, before hitting her and shouting.” Said Adrien, his arms folded.

“That’s not true,” Lied the sub, “he just attacked me for no reason.”

Alya stalked up to Roger and held out her phone, with a video that was at least fifteen minutes long and pressed play.

And the fall out was glorious, as everything Adrien sad was confirmed to be true. Roger sighed, before turning to Adrien.

“Since you were acting in self-defence,” Said the policeman, “You won’t be charged. However, as he is a walking bruise, you can either apologise for making that way or you can do community service.”

Adrien’s face scrunched up, before saying, “Community service.”

Roger nodded, “Keep Marinette company, I think she’s going to need it.”

Roger then turned to the sub, “As for you,” He glared, “I’m going to investigate all of your previous posts, I doubt what you did here was an isolated incident.”

The sub was placed into a police car and taken to the hospital to get patched up before he was taken to the police station.

Gabriel placed his hand on Adrien’s shoulder, making the boy look up at him, “You can consider your schedule cleared for the following week. It would be unfortunate for her if you were to leave midway through you ‘community service’.” The amused glint in Gabriel’s eye told Adrien what he really meant.

“I-I’m just going to keep her company.” Said Adrien, walking off.

Everything was silent, until Alya said “20 Euros that this is what gets them together.”

“50 that they’re already together.” Said Alix, before Kim said “60 that they get together at the end of the week.”

“200 that they continue to pussy foot around each other for the next three months.”

Everyone went silent as they stared at Gabriel, not expecting him to say that. There was a snapping sound as Nathalie’s pencil broke.

“Sir, I don’t think betting 200 Euros on a possible relationship Adrien may or may not have is for the best.” Said Nathalie.

“Fair point.” Said Gabriel before Nathalie then said, “300 that they get together at the end of the school year.”

Gabriel gave Nathalie an unimpressed look. Nathalie looked defiant, before getting back into the car.

“Sir, I suggest you get in, you have a meeting in an hour and a half.” Gabriel scowled, before getting into the car.

It wasn’t until the door close and Nathalie start laughing.

“What’s so funny?” Gabriel scowled, as Nathalie started gasping for air.

“You’re-you’re afraid of her!” Nathalie laughed, “All because she gave you a headache.”

Gabriel was glad that he ensured that all of the cars were soundproof.

“That’s not the only reason.” Said Gabriel, his arm folding, “Given her absence the day Cure appeared, I believe Ms. Dupain-Cheng could be Ladybug.”

Nathalie sobered, “And talking to her runs the risk of her identifying you as Hawkmoth or telling he you know she’s Ladybug.”

Gabriel nodded, he didn’t want to run the risk of Akumatizing her again, since Cure was able to reverse his own mental stress to make her obey back onto him. He had already viewed pictures of Ladybug and Ms. Dupain-Cheng side by side and had Nathalie edit them to see if there was any resemblance. Gabriel spent most of his time kicking himself, as she literally put on a onesie and a mask.

He asked Nooroo about how basic her suit was compared to the others and Nooroo responded with, “I don’t think she wanted to be a hero.”, which was understandable, since before she got her miraculous, she was shown to be a loner. Gabriel hoped the best for the girl, he knew what it was like to lose a family member at a tender age.

Later that day the Substitute was Akumatized, with Mayura appearing before the two heroes and telling them to ‘go wild’, before vanishing. Hawkmoth found it incredibly satisfying to see Ladybug kick the teacher in the face.

A couple of weeks later was Tom’s funeral. Marinette was supposed to give a eulogy for the baker, but every time she tried to speak, her throat grew tight. As she was guided back to her seat, her composure broke.

A week later a video appeared on the Ladyblog, anonymously published. The video contained Ladybug and Chat Noir having a fight.

“Please, I only need it for a second,” Ladybug pleaded, “you won’t even notice that it’s gone.”

“You told me that making a wish using the Miraculous would come at a price,” Argued Chat, his arms crossed, “‘To use the Ladybug earrings and Chat Noir ring would make the wish of the one wielding them come true, but something of equal measure would be lost in the process’ were your words, I believe.”

“Please,” Ladybug begged, “I’ll do anything, I just want my Papa back.”

“And you’d be willing to lose your mother? Your Uncle? Your Grandmother?” Chat questioned, “Because you told me that to bring someone back from the dead, someone else would have to take their place.”

Ladybug was silent, “I-I j-just want him back.”

Chat walked over and held her as she broke down.

The video ended.

Alya could only stare at the screen. It all added up far too well, Ladybug lost her father in the same time frame as Marinette, had a near if not identical reaction to it as Marinette. Now and Alya thought about it, Ladybug never arrived to fight Cure and Chat Noir never told her about the Akuma. At the time, Alya had dismissed it, believing that Ladybug had seen the live stream of Cure before Alya took it down, but Alya thought back to every Akuma, every time they were trapped somewhere, and Ladybug just appeared out of nowhere.

Alya’s phone went off, Nino appeared as the caller id. Alya hit answer.

“I just saw the video.” Said Nino, “Any idea who sent it?”

“I don’t know,” Said Alya, “it would’ve to have been someone who is able to get around undetected, if they were able to sneak up on Ladybug and Chat Noir.”

“You going to keep the video up?” Nino asked, the question settling in Alya’s mind.

“No,” Said Alya, “the only reason it got posted in the first place was because it automatically went into the publishing queue. If I’d seen it before hand, I wouldn’t’ve posted it. We don’t need Hawkmoth or Mayura to know that Ladybug is emotionally compromised.”

Nino was silent, before Alya heard a couple of mouse clicks.

“I suggest you look at the forums, Alya,” Nino’s tone was grim, “I don’t think you’re going to like what they’re saying.”

Alya went to the first forum she could think of and found it full of either trolls mocking Ladybug for crying and speculation that Ladybug is Marinette. Alya was livid that they had taken copies of the videos and used them justify their points. Alya scowled, as she sent a copyright strike to all the users using the videos from her blog.

“Just how many of the forums are like this?” Alya asked, look at the long list she had in her favourites bar.

“I’d say at least half.” Said Nino, “There’s one dedicated to Chat Noir that’s mentioned it, but they’re mostly talking about how they’d use said ‘wish’ and others are responding about how the downside make affect them.”

Nino was silent, “Most are saying that they’d end world hunger or make world peace. Some of the top responses are saying that half the world would die out or a war might break out.” Nino snorted, “One put they’d give Ladybug a better costume. The top response is Ladybug smashing through the wall as the Kool-aid guy.”

Alya’s phone went off with a notification, it was Adrien saying, ‘Take the video down now.’

Alya rolled her eyes, quietly grumbling about how Nathalie won the bet. Alya waited for Nino to finished before responding to Adrien. The Ladyblog dinged as it received a message from another anonymous user, much to Alya’s displeasure.

The message contained and Address and a note that said for only Ladybug and Chat Noir. Alya frowned.

“Nino, I’m going to have to call you back.” Said Alya, before she hung up.

Alya grimaced as she copied the message into a text and sent it to Marinette with the accompanying ‘I know this might be a bad time, but if you’re able to, can you pass this message onto Ladybug and/or Chat Noir?’. Alya hit send.

/*/

Ladybug and Chat landed on the roof. Ladybug frowned, before spotting two boxes. Two Miraculous boxes.

“Do you think it’s a trap?” Chat asked, looking around.

“If it is, it’s a bad one.” Said Ladybug, picking up one box and gently opening it.

Ladybug gasped and almost dropped the box.

“M’Lady?” Chat asked, walking over to her, “What is it?”

Ladybug handed the box over, showing Chat the Butterfly Miraculous. Ladybug then closed the box and attached it to her hip, before she reached out and opened the other box, which contained the Peacock Miraculous.

“Really?” Chat said, looking at the two Miraculous, “After everything, they just give up?”

Ladybug was silent, before looking at Chat, “They saw the video.”

Chat frowned, before he thought on it, “They found out the cost and didn’t want to take the chance.”

Both were silent.

“It doesn’t add up.” Said Ladybug, “Why give up now? They could’ve kept going, they could’ve won with the state I’m in.”

Chat frowned, he had put two and two together shortly after Cure, he told Ladybug he knew and told her who he was. Not the kind of reveal he had been hoping for, but his lady needed him, she needed everyone.

“Unless they saw your reaction to losing someone and they realised that they know how it feels to lose someone they love and don’t want to lose someone else.” Said Chat, his eyes narrowing, “I think I know who they were.”

“You’ve been saying that ever since Cure,” Said Ladybug, “ever since your dad seemed terrified of me.”

Chat was silent, nothing had been the same since the reveal.

Ladybug had started to reciprocate his feelings, and, at her request, they’d been keeping it as down low as possible. She seemed fine, despite being understandably heart broken, when her father died, Chat presumed that seeing the coffin as it was lowered into the ground was the fact that her father was dead was hammered home and had been inconsolable ever since.

Until two days ago, when the argument in that video occurred.

“We need to get the back to Fu.” Said Ladybug, jerking Chat out of his musings.

“Do you think he’ll let us keep ours?” Chat asked, making Ladybug pause.

“I don’t know.” Ladybug confessed, before she swung off the roof, with Chat following shortly after.

/*/

Fu immediately put the Butterfly back into the Miracle box, before placing the Peacock on the table and examined it.

“It seems to have been damaged by another Miraculous.” Fu murmured, as Ladybug and Chat stood there, awkwardly.

“If I didn’t know any better,” Muttered Fu, carefully examining it, “I’d say this was the work of the Jackal Miraculous.”

Fu then looked at Ladybug and Chat, “I’m going to need the Ring and Earrings back for a couple of days, they will be returned to you, and you might gain some new powers and abilities.”

Marinette slowly took the earrings off and handed them to Fu. Adrien hesitated when handing the ring back.

“Kid, at most, I’m only going to be gone two days,” Said Plagg, “and besides, when you get me back, you might be able to use Darkstorm.”

Fu then sent Plagg back into the ring, “I’ll explain that in due time.”

Adrien and Marinette quietly walked out of the parlour.

“You know,” Said Adrien, his arm going around Marinette’s shoulders, “I think we can finally relax, for once.”

As the two walked away, neither noticed a being that was dressed like an Egyptian God looking down at them.

‘So,’ Thought the being, looking at the Parlour, ‘This is where the Guardian is.’

#miraculous ladybug #marinette dupain cheng #adrien agreste #alya cesaire #tom dupain #sabine cheng #lila rossi #character death #delta writes #akumanette #sadness #angst

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lindoig4 · 5 years

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Across Canada

I will try to post a little more text today, but the internet service here is pretty poor so I will leave posting of any more photos until we get home. We leave the US this evening and arrive back in Melbourne before dawn on Wednesday, having missed an entire day along the way.

We took a cab to Union Station to catch the VIA Rail across the country. We have usually paid cab fares by card, but Heather used cash this time. The cabbie gave her a few coins as change and when Heather said that there should have been some notes, he said he was keeping that as his tip - about 50% of the fare. Heather argued, but he bullied her and insisted that he was keeping it. Had I been closer instead of getting our bags out of the boot, he may not have been so demanding, but it left a sour taste in our mouths as it was.

The train is by no means luxurious, obviously oldish, but it is quite functional and we are comfy enough in our little cabin. One good thing is that the bunks are bigger and much more comfortable than on the ship or the other trains we have used. We have both slept well.

On the other hand, there is no WiFi at all, only an occasional phone signal and although there are 110-volt power outlets, they won’t charge my PC - so once again, the technology has failed us. Maybe I am naive, but we are now in the 21st century and I reckon basic power and signal issues should have been sorted out years ago. As it is, the battery in my PC is flat and there is no way I can use it until we reach Vancouver at best. That means I can’t look at my photos or do much with my blog other than draft bits on my iPad.

Canada is exquisitely beautiful. It is an absolute picture postcard, full to bursting with trees and lakes. The overwhelming colour is green, with literally billions of tall skinny pointy trees. Actually, they are not that tall. We have seen very few trees more than 8-10 metres tall, but there are zillions of them, mostly densely packed with both understory and overstory. In some places, it is a bit more open, but still usually gloomy and mysterious, inviting us to explore - if only we were out there in the bush. Aspen, larch, spruce, alder, birch, pines and firs, conifers of every description, millions of stark white trunks, black trunks, all sorts, drowning in a thousand shades of green, leaves shimmering in the breeze, gleaming in the sun, with just a smattering of autumn tones starting to appear here and there.

Then there are the thousands of lakes. We must have traversed 1000 kilometres of marshy land with water shimmering through the low vegetation as far as we could see. But there are thousands of open lakes as well, from just a hectare or two to those speeding past the train for kilometre after kilometre. Did I say picture postcard? We have seen them all. The little ones that look like they came out of a cutesy 50s or 60s movie, with the summer camp atmosphere - a few canoes tied up to a little landing, a pontoon and shallow diving board, a short rowing course, maybe a pathetic little waterski-jump and a collection of quaint little huts that are probably family holiday shacks. Then there are the more remote ones, some with a tiny island or two with just 2 or 3 perfectly conical fir trees on them and a kayak tied up to a partly-submerged drowning landing that defies imagination about how one might access it - not even a hiking track, much less a road, in sight. Then we have the larger ones with a couple of small tinnies out there, each with a fisherman or two, sound asleep with their rods dangling limp over the side, or perhaps the ten deserted sheds, some literally falling down, and only a tiny Cessna anchored to the shore to suggest that anyone might occasionally visit them. We are not talking upscale Hillbilly country. This is magically picturesque country that should warrant criminal charges if anyone but us invades it. Add your own superlatives, but for me, I have run out. Simply stupendously glorious!

Later. We have just crossed the border from massive Ontario into Manitoba - after more than 20 hours heading west. Slowly, the trees and lakes seem to be getting slightly larger, the terrain is a little more open, the trees a little lighter green and the wildflowers more profuse and colourful - mainly white, yellow and mauve/purple.

For the entire trip, there has been a line of telegraph posts and cables beside the train: around 20 cables, but obviously long defunct. Thousands of the posts have simply sunk into the boggy earth or fallen over or submerged into the lakes, and many of the cables are broken or hanging limp and tangled. I am amazed that nobody has attempted to salvage the hundreds of thousands of dollars of copper out there.

As we went west, it became a little hillier and we even went through a couple of short tunnels. We also went through many cuttings where the rock had been blasted away for the track. There was a lot of red in the rocks and it is likely that some sort of algae was growing on it to make it that colour.

It was getting dark when we rolled into Winnipeg, but we had an hour and a bit stopover, so we went into the station and used the WiFi to download our email - alas, mostly more bills to pay! I had prepared a few emails to send, but they were all on my PC and inaccessible due to the flat battery!

It was a very rocky night, but we were up early for showers. I raised the blind just a centimetre or two in our cabin and could see everything there was to see. The landscape was entirely in landscape. Flat, flat, flat - all the way to the horizon. Everything looked manicured as if the farmers had risen early and swept or ironed their paddocks to welcome us. A bit later, we saw patches of forest and lots of neat (or sometimes sprawling) farmhouses, often with 2 or 3 little cottages and a barn or two, and mostly at least a field-bin or ten (or 30) and a tractor parked nearby. Many farms also have a machinery graveyard, usually at a distance from the house, with rows of rusty tractors, trucks, cars, pick-ups, ploughs, harvesters, caravans, campers and who knows what, all lined up in their final resting places, slowly sinking into the landscape. The houses all have pitched rooves, presumably to avoid too much snow collecting on them in the winter.

The paddocks are mainly cropped with wheat, barley, oats and canola, but there is also a lot of uncropped land, mostly looking too boggy to crop. Quite a bit of the uncropped land is still productive though, with miles of road and rail verges being harvested and baled for silage. It is obviously harvest time over here with quite a lot of crop already cut, but with plenty more still to go. We haven’t seen much actually being harvested, but plenty of hay bales in neatly shorn paddocks. There are a few cattle but no big herds. Also a few horses, half a dozen goats, a donkey, a young deer standing beside the track staring at me - and at least one fox scampering across the prairie with four magpies harassing it. It was nearly two days later before we saw any sheep: about 20 near one house and 3 at another – then none through to Vancouver.

There have been a few shallow lakes, mainly fairly small and at last, a few birds. We crossed one wide river, very shallow with flat mud islands and hundreds of birds: all gulls and Canada Geese as far as I could see. It is very frustrating not having any internet because I can’t identify the birds conclusively without my favourite Merlin app, but I am taking photos and making notes and hope I will be able to tie some of them down later. It is even more frustrating that Heather can sit there posting to Facebook and her blog almost any time when the SIM we purchased for me doesn’t work in either my phone or my iPad!

There were a few places along the rivers and nearby lakes where I suspect beavers were at work. A couple of creeks appeared to be dammed and there was an area near one suspected lodge where a whole lot of smallish trees had been felled – all with pencil-sharpener bases. And I saw a few flat conical structures a metre or so above the water level – again with a collection of pick-up-sticks pencil-ended logs embedded in the structure. I could be just imagining it, but the indications seemed to be there that beavers could have created the dams and underwater pyramids.

It is strange that we rocketed through the night, speeding along much faster than anywhere to date, making for a very bumpy ride - then arriving in Saskatoon where they said we were way ahead of our timetable so there would be a two hour stopover to get back on schedule. Go figure! The track we are on is apparently owned by a freight company and freight trains always have priority. This means that we frequently need to stop at sidings or on branch lines, often for half an hour or more until a freight train passes. The freight trains are massive, up to about 3 kilometres long and mostly double-deckers that roar along carrying hundreds of thousands of tonnes of cargo across the country day and night. They are not as bad as in Russia where a few kilometres of freight barrelled past us every time I raised my camera for a shot, but there must still be at least several dozen here each day.

Next time we woke up, we were in Saskatchewan and the terrain slowly became more varied, with lumpy low hills, uneven ground, more diverse vegetation, taller trees and in due course, we had an hour or so stopover in Edmonton and next morning we rolled into Jasper in the Canadian Rockies. Our Edmonton stop was marked by the start of a dramatic electrical storm. It was really ferocious with lightning flashing brilliantly around us every few seconds. We went to dinner as it was getting dark and the lightning outside the dining car was tremendous. We were soon locked up, cosy in bed, but several other passengers said the electrical storm was amazing and followed us for hours.

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jincherie · 7 years

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catsitting | kyungsoo

↼pairing: kyungsoo x reader ↼genre: fluff, slight-but-not-really angst, Hybrid!AU ↼rating: sfw ↼words: 6.6k+

You somehow find yourself ‘catsitting’ for your best friend while he’s on a week-long trip. The only problem? His ‘cat’ hates you.

↼posted; 15.06.2017

↼masterlist

It was on a lazy Friday morning that you were startled awake by your phone and forced to reconsider your choice of ringtone at 7:23AM. “Kim Jongin why are you calling me at seven in the morning?” you answered the incessant ringing blearily, not even halfway to being fully-functioning yet.

“Come to your front door.” He said, only causing you to feel confusion. “And hurry up.” He added.

Half-asleep and dressed only in the Star Wars boxers you wore as pyjama pants and a singlet, you rolled out of bed and onto the floor, the resulting bang and abrupt pain enough to jolt you reasonably awake. “OW! Fuc—“

“Don’t swear there are children nearby!” Kai scolded, and there was what sounded like someone being hit on the other side of the line and some muffled protests.

“You don’t own me.” You grumbled as you dragged yourself to your feet and started your trek to the front door. You yanked it open unceremoniously, glaring at the person before you. Kai hung up on you, grinning with a cheerfulness that did not belong on the face of someone who was about to die.

“Good morning!” he greeted. “I have a favour to ask of you!”

“Go away.” You tried shutting the door but his movements were quicker than yours.

“That’s so rude y/n!” he whined, pouting. “Anyway, I need you to do something for me.”

Begrudging and acknowledging the fact that you weren’t going to be able to leave without at least hearing what he wanted, you sighed. “What do you want?”

Kai beamed, delighted, and looped his arm around someone who had until then been just out of sight, bringing him to his side. “I need you to look after Kyungsoo for me while I go on a business trip for two weeks.”

Kyungsoo, Kai’s beloved cat hybrid, was giving you a blank look that although was not outright disdainful, was on its way there. You winced. Kyungsoo hated you, and you didn’t even know why. From the day Kai had brought him home from the shelter and excitedly called you over to show him to you he had taken a clear disliking to you. You wouldn’t lie to yourself, it was hurtful, especially since he was warm and friendly to Kai but preferred to ignore you. Every other cat in the world would love you, or at the very least tolerate you, but Kyungsoo? He didn’t care much for you at all.

It took a moment for his words to catch up to you. “What?” you blinked, running a hand through your hair. You gave the hybrid a wary glance. Last time you had been this close you had been reaching for the TV remote at Kai’s and he had scratched you, clearly displeased. “Why me? Don’t you have friends that he actually likes that you can ask? Oh, wait, that requires having other friends.” You snickered. You may be half asleep but an opportunity to burn your best friend was still an opportunity.

“They’re all busy, either with work or school or their own hybrids. You’re the only one who literally has nothing going on in their life.”

Well, he wasn’t wrong, but you still felt like you should be insulted. Your hand came to rest over your heart in a movement of feigned hurt. “Rude,” you said. “And how would you know? I might have something going on this week, and the next. I’m a busy girl you know, I have a lot going on. Fish to fry, irons in the fire. My time is very sought after these days.”

Kai snorted and Kyungsoo made a face. Wow. Why hadn’t you shut the door on them again?

“Anyway, my plane leaves in an hour so if you could hurry and come to a decision—“

“Kai!” you cried. “Are you kidding me?! Give me some more warning next time! Why am I even friends with you?!”

“So is that a yes?” Kai looked hopeful, ridiculously so, and his cat looked the very opposite of pleased at this new development.

You groaned. “Yes, fine. But you owe me, and I will not accept McDonald’s this time! I want smoothies, and frappes!”

“Thank you, thank you, thank you!” he gushed, letting go of Kyungsoo to rush forward and envelop you in a hug before retreating and pushing the hybrid towards you. Kyungsoo yowled, knocking into you and hissing before leaping back. Oh, god, this was a terrible idea.

Kai grinned. “See you in two weeks! I’ll text you a list of things you need to know later!” he called, making his leave and quickly closing the door behind him.

You and Kyungsoo stood in shock a few moments after the door shut.

“Incredible.” You muttered to yourself. “The urge to beat him increases every day.”

You then turned— you needed a shower.

“Make yourself comfortable, Kyungsoo. The loungeroom is over there, and you can have the spare bedroom. It’s the first door on the right. I’m going to shower,” you said, before you then abruptly left, not wanting to see the displeased look the adorable hybrid was probably sending you by now.

Oh boy were you in for a long ride.

. . . . . .

Four days had passed and Kyungsoo was clearly trying his best to pretend you didn’t exist, with varying degrees of success (he had to eat with you sometimes), and for the most part you let him. It hurt a little, especially since you had an intense urge to pet him and scratch behind his adorable little ears, but if he didn’t want anything to do with you then you would leave him alone. For the most part he did his own thing, but you could swear you caught him looking at you every now and then.

Over the days you had work you had gradually been forced to stay back longer and longer, and this time you had to stay back until 6 when you normally left at 4. Needless to say when you got home you were tired as all hell and surprised beyond belief when you opened the door and heard footsteps come scampering towards you. Kyungsoo rounded the corner, doe eyes wide as he took in the sight of you in the doorway, startled and holding a takeaway bag. An indescribable emotion passed across his face before his eyes narrowed at you and his ears flicked in annoyance, long, dark tail following suit behind him.

“Where were you?” he demanded, looking grumpy. “Why did you take so long?”

Naturally you felt the urge to snap back but honestly you were too tired and didn’t want to be mean to Kyungsoo (even if he was being a total meanie himself). This was the most he’d spoken to you in four days, and you were a little salty that it was only to demand where you had been with his food.

He really must hate you a lot more than you thought.

Suddenly overcome with a wave of sadness at the prospect that the hybrid before you hated you that much and you still didn’t even know what you’d done to warrant it, you sighed. You felt completely sapped of energy.

“Sorry,” you muttered an apology. “I got kept back again at work and they took a while making the food.”

Not looking at him you finished entering the house and after locking the front door you moved to drop the food on the table. Hesitating only for a moment, you continued down the hall to your room.

“I’m not hungry, but you can eat. I’m going to bed. Goodnight Kyungsoo.”

You didn’t fall asleep for a long time that night.

. . . . .

‘…He gets lonely at night so you have to let him sleep in the same room as you, at least! I usually let him sleep in my bed. And he enjoys cuddles, he’s a cuddly person, so make sure you cuddle him at least once a day.’

You snorted to yourself as you read the list Kai had sent you a day or so ago, dressed and laying on top of your bed. That was certainly not going to happen, not while Kyungsoo had such an aversion to your presence.

‘…You should also make sure he bathes. Tongue baths don’t count!! He doesn’t like water much at all, so you might have to go in there and make sure he actually—‘

Alright, you’d read enough for now.

Sighing, you lay there and closed your eyes, trying to postpone the inevitable: leaving your bedroom. You honestly shouldn’t be taking some cat hybrid’s rejection so much to heart, but you couldn’t help it. At the very least, you wanted to be friends with Kyungsoo.

You had just about resigned yourself to laying on your mattress until you died when your doorbell rung. You froze, mentally checking what day it was; you didn’t think you were expecting visitors. Unless…

Crap. Today was Wednesday and you had completely forgotten that you had promised to watch your friend Luhan’s cat, Sehun, for the night. You groaned in a sickening moment of realisation. Was this what your life had come to? Catsitting for every owner under the sun?

You rolled from your bed and hurried to the door, passing a confused and sleepy looking Kyungsoo on the way. Kyungsoo was friendly to everyone but you, right? Surely he would get along with Sehun. Sehun was only a little bratty sometimes.

You nearly tore the door of its hinges in your rush. “Good morning!” you chirped, trying to make it seem like you’d been awake a lot longer than an hour. You’d only showered and dressed twenty minutes ago.

“Morning!” Luhan greeted cheerfully, Sehun doing the same where he stood towering over his owner. Holy shit had he grown since you’d last seen him?

You squinted at Sehun playfully. “Do you ever stop growing?”

He cracked a smile, playfully swaying a little where he stood. Luhan answered for him. “No, he doesn’t. Technically he’s still a kitten so he’s not really meant to stop growing but he just shot up, right? I need something that gives me a warning so I know when I need to buy new clothes.”

Sehun seemed amused but stayed silent. Luhan continued. “Anyway, thank you so much for doing this. I figured it would be better for him to stay with someone rather than alone at home, and he likes you so… I’ll be back for him at 12 tomorrow. No brainstorming ways to make my life more difficult, okay?!”

Sehun giggled and Luhan leant up to kiss his forehead goodbye, before he waved at you and left.

“What a weirdo. Anyway, Sehun, come on in. I have someone else staying with me right now, but he’s pretty chill so I think you’ll get along.”

You were right, the two hybrids hit it off pretty well, but Kyungsoo had given you a strange look when you had brought the other hybrid into the room. When Kyungsoo left an hour later after playing with his new friend, most likely to go read something, Sehun sidled up to you, seeking affection. You grinned and allowed yourself to be guided to the loungeroom. Sehun was usually pretty quiet when not in a playful mood and simply enjoyed your pets and scratches. He wasn’t like this with just anyone, which was undoubtedly part of the reason Luhan had dropped him off with you in particular. You’d looked after Sehun before and knew he enjoyed the comfort of having someone next to him, even while he slept.

You sat on the couch, turning the TV on and putting on a movie because you knew when Sehun settled down for a cuddle it was until he was ready to get up, and attempting to leave before then got you a tight grip and a whining catboy. So you settled on a movie and allowed Sehun to curl his larger frame around you. Kyungsoo was the tiniest bit shorter than you but Sehun was a fair bit taller. A satisfied hum started in Sehun’s throat when you ran your fingers through his hair and began scratching behind his ear, and he nuzzled his nose against your neck a little. You could feel his ear flicking against your cheek and his tail resting over your thigh. He was warm, and you both felt relaxed. At one point Sehun began to purr softly.

At some point in the movie Kyungsoo had wandered back into the loungeroom, and froze upon seeing you and Sehun. You glanced over in time to see the look he shot you, a mixture of hurt and frustration, before he sat on the other couch, angling his body away from you and reading. You were confused and also a little hurt yourself. What had you done this time?

Kyungsoo left soon after, presumably to go to his room, and you hadn’t even realised Sehun was still awake until you heard him speak against your neck.

“Why are you sad?” he asked softly, clutching you a little tighter.

You contemplated lying before dismissing the idea. For such a whiny, needy catboy Sehun was alarmingly perceptive. He would know you were lying.

“Because he hates me,” you sighed. “And I don’t even know what I did to upset him so much.”

Sehun simply hummed against your neck, staying silent. Whether it was because he didn’t know why himself or for another reason, you didn’t know.

. . . .

That night you had slept with Sehun cuddled up to your side, a pleasant warmth in the cool of your house. You saw nothing wrong with it, of course; you’d done it many times before. Sehun simply enjoyed human contact and being cuddled.

Kyungsoo, however, seemed to possess opposite views on the matter, scowling at you as you shuffled into the kitchen the next morning, Sehun gripping your shirt and lagging behind you. You pretended not to see the look, instead turning to the cupboard and asking what they both wanted for breakfast. After eating Sehun and Kyungsoo played in the loungeroom a bit while you cleaned the house a little.

As 12 o’clock rolled around and Luhan arrived to pick up Sehun, you were about to wave goodbye to them at the door when the tall hybrid rushed over and leaned down whisper into your ear.

“He doesn’t hate you,” Sehun whispered hurriedly, his cute little lisp making an appearance. “He’s just hurt.”

He then pulled away with a smile like that was meant to explain everything and waved, running off to where Luhan stood waiting in your front yard. They went, and contrary to what Sehun had probably intended you were left even more confused than before. Hurt? Why was he hurt? What had you done?

You puzzled over it for the rest of the day, hardly having to worry about bumping into Kyungsoo since he avoided you like the black plague anyway. What could you have possibly done?

You didn’t have a clue as to the answer until after dinner when you were curled on the couch, playing a videogame on your Xbox. Kyungsoo shuffled into the room, glancing at you momentarily before moving to the spot he had claimed as his on the other couch. He had adjusted the cushions there so that they sat almost like another person as he curled into them.

You figured he was going to pretend you didn’t exist like he had been for the past week, and so were surprised when he spoke to you, sounding annoyed and upset. “Is anyone else coming over for you to cuddle and be affectionate to, or was Sehun the only one? Why did you even say yes to watching me? Why did you cuddle with him when you refuse to touch me?”

Your gaze had fallen on him when he first started speaking and you were alarmed at his words to say the least. You hadn’t expected them at all. His tail had begun twitching agitatedly as he spoke, thumping against the couch faster and faster until he was finished and he sat a moment before leaping up and rushing away, head bent down.

The sounds of your character dying in the background greeted your ears as you watched him leave. Absentmindedly you saved and turned off the console and TV, no longer in the mood for playing. You went to bed but didn’t sleep, mind whirling a mile a minute trying to figure out what he meant and why he was upset until it clicked.

Did he think… that you didn’t like him? And didn’t want to pet him? But what could have given him this impression? You thought back. When Kai had first brought him home and summoned you over you hadn’t petted him at all, but that was because you were trying to respect him and give him personal space. Kai had told you how literally everyone else who had seen him hadn’t been able to resist giving him a pet or a scratch and so you thought he might appreciate a break from being manhandled.

But maybe, from his perspective… you winced. It probably looked like you disliked him. Everyone else had shown him affection but you had kept your distance and refused to touch him. Oh boy were you an idiot. Why were you like this?

You couldn’t tell for sure, but you had a feeling this was what had been causing such problems between you. You rolled over, eyes finally growing heavy, and resolved yourself to testing this theory tomorrow.

. . . . . . .

“Hey, Kyungsoo, wake up, I have something for you.”

The hybrid’s ears, the only visible part of him beneath the covers he had bundled around himself, twitched at the sound of your voice. Slowly he rolled over, blinking blearily. You grinned. “I brought you breakfast, since I have to leave early today. I’ll leave it here for you.” You set the tray down as you spoke, dusting your hands once you were done. As your eyes fell back on him you noticed a downy feather caught slightly in his hair near his ear.

This was the perfect opportunity. Taking advantage of the fact that he was still half asleep and therefore couldn’t scratch you, you shuffled closer and leaned to gently pluck it off. You allowed your hand to pet the hair down after you were done, brushing his ear a bit. It twitched, and he was looking at you in slight shock as you leaned back, shooting him a smile. “See you later, Kyungsoo.”

And then you left before he could come to his senses and chew you out.

When you returned after work it was to the sound of the TV softly playing in the loungeroom and you saw Kyungsoo on the couch, watching it determinedly (most likely because he’d just heard you come home).

“Hello, Kyungsoo.” You greeted warmly, ruffling his hair gently as you walked past. You caught a startled look from the corner of your eye but didn’t hear anything else. Grinning at the success so far of operation Let-Kyungsoo-Know-You-Don’t-Hate-Him, you went to your room, changing before returning and going to the kitchen to start dinner. Kyungsoo walked past several times, sending a confused and slightly curious look your way with each round he made. Eventually dinner was ready and you both sat down to eat it, the meal spent in silence. After dinner you washed up and left for bed, however this time, unlike all the previous nights, you left your door open. It had occurred to you throughout the day that maybe Kyungsoo did want to sleep in your bed with you at night and the only reason he hadn’t might be because he took your closed door as a sign of rejection. So this night, you left it open.

You had work the next day and it was spent much in the same fashion as the previous, except when you came home it was to the smell of an already cooked meal. Slightly alarmed, you rushed to the kitchen to find Kyungsoo serving your two meals. You felt pretty guilty, you had come home a bit later than usual.

“Sorry,” you said with a sheepish smile. “You didn’t have to, but I really appreciate it.”

Kyungsoo shrugged, averting his eyes. “I was hungry.” He mumbled.

Dinner was delicious (you had a feeling it also had a lot to do with the fact that someone other than you had cooked it for once), and after you finished you had the urge to turn and speak to Kyungsoo. He was still at the table, lost in thought as he pushed the last bit of food around his plate.

“Kyungsoo,” you started. He nearly jumped in surprise, large doe eyes finding yours. You smiled. “I want you to know, I don’t hate you. I don’t dislike you either. I like you and I’ll always cuddle with you if you want, but only if you want. I don’t want to force you to do anything.”

The hybrid was more than startled, wide eyes following you in shock even as you placed your plates in the sink and moved to your bedroom. You left the door to your room open once more.

The real difference came the next day. It was after work and dinner once more that you settled down in the loungeroom, putting a movie on, and simply enjoying it for now. Around ten minutes later the couch you were on dipped from a light weight and you turned, surprised, to see Kyungsoo. He wasn’t looking at you, but everywhere else his eyes could reach, his hands clutching the material of his pants.

He simply sat there for a while, and you smiled to yourself, turning back to the movie you had chosen. Gradually, over an excruciatingly long period of time, Kyungsoo crept closer, shuffling and shifting until he was just a hair’s width away. You smiled, lifting your arm, and he slowly cuddled into your offered side, still slightly stiff. Any tension that was in his form left as you started petting him gently, and he finally relaxed completely into your side, tail flicking in a way that for once didn’t indicate irritation.

You were absolutely ecstatic at the new development in how Kyungsoo regarded you. He was letting you pet him!! And he had come to you!!! Just wait until Kai heard about this when he returned in a week. You were grinning stupidly to yourself, thankful the hybrid in question couldn’t see the dumb look on your face.

That night you went to bed alone, but a few hours after you had both departed for bed you woke to see a timid figure in your doorway. Blinking blearily, you shuffled over so there was space and lifted the duvet for him, a beckoning gesture. Kyungsoo scampered over in the minimal lighting (you were thankful he could see pretty well in the dark) and climbed quickly in, like he was afraid you’d come to your senses at any second and take back your offer, kicking him out. What a strange cat.

You were facing each other but even with your eyes closed you could almost sense his tension and silent anxiety. Wordlessly you moved and grasped his hand comfortingly. You heard a soft gasp and for a second he remained tense but moments later it began to bleed from his form and he shuffled closer, tangling his legs with yours. You could feel his tail tickling your thigh where your pyjama shorts ended. Smiling to yourself, you fell asleep quickly thanks to the giddy glee you’d felt at Kyungsoo’s actions and the warmth he radiated.

. . . . .

The next morning when you woke Kyungsoo had worked his way over the space between you and had managed to entangle every limb you had with his own, his tail wrapped around your waist securely and an arm joining it, holding you close. You never would have guessed he was this kind of snuggler. His head was nestled in your neck and your own arm had fallen over him during the night as well. Unable to resist you moved your free hand and petted his head a bit, running your fingers through hair that admittedly was getting a bit close to its use-by date (a shower or bath was in order, you were thinking— Kai had said he was prone to avoiding them because of the water and you hadn’t seen him go into the bathroom to bathe at all) but still soft nonetheless, and you rubbed behind his ears. The reaction was instantaneous— Kyungsoo jolted the slightest bit and his breath hitched into a purr in his throat, the sound like music to your ears. Now this was progress!

You lay like that for a while, simply holding him close. He seemed pleased, satisfied, and the thought made you happy. You did know, however, that you needed to get Kyungsoo to bathe at some point lest Kai found out you’d let him go two weeks without so much as touching soap and water.

“I have something to say and you’re probably not going to like it,” you warned, feeling the cat tense in your arms. “You should probably shower before Kai kills me.”

Kyungsoo huffed, clutching you tightly as you tried to sit up. “No.” he refused bluntly. “I don’t want to. I don’t like water.”

You sat up with much effort, Kyungsoo clinging to you even as you swung your legs over the edge. “You gotta,” you attempted to persuade him, forcing yourself up. Kyungsoo was like a koala in the way he gripped onto you, refusing to let go.

“No.”

“Kyungsoo,” you whined, shuffling towards the bathroom. He had a ridiculously strong grip, it was honestly incredible, but he was also heavier than he looked so the trip to the bathroom took much longer than you thought it would.

As you got closer he seemed to realise that clinging to you was, in fact, doing the opposite of what he had originally intended and instead was bringing him much closer to the exact situation he was trying to avoid. He hissed as you crossed the threshold onto tiles and instead of gripping began attempting to push off you. You looped your arms around his middle, grinning.

“Bath time! Please don’t scratch me I don’t know where my bandaids are!”

Kyungsoo yowled, trying furiously to get out of your grip, his position making it difficult for him to get enough leverage to break free. He hissed and whined the entire time you filled the bathtub, only pausing in curiosity as you threw a bath bomb in there for his sake. Maybe he’d enjoy it more if it was special.

Then the tap was off and he was back to refuting the experience with all his might. He wriggled and squirmed, looking like he was about to bite you. You were reaching for something along the bathtub when he gave a particularly strong movement, knocking you (and therefore consequently him) off balance and causing you to fall backwards into the tub. There was a loud splash and Kyungsoo squawking as he was submerged all of a sudden in the very substance he had been avoiding for a week. You laughed at the situation, keeping your arms around him even as he freaked out a little and frantically tried to escape even more. Your pyjamas were soaked but at least your hair was still dry.

“Kyungsoo!” you said, bringing him close to you so he wouldn’t freak out so much. “Kyungsoo, its alright! Look, you’re fine, I’m here, you’re okay I’ve got you. Look at the water, isn’t it pretty? Look at all these bubbles.”

Your attempts to distract him seemed to work and you watched as he gradually stilled and brought his hand to cup some bubbles that were floating on top of the water. “See? This isn’t so bad.” You murmured, rubbing Kyungsoo’s side gently before reaching for the shampoo. His hair had gotten pretty soaked in his flailing, but his ears being pressed against his head had stopped any excess water getting inside them.

From that point the bath went pretty smoothly, you managed to get Kyungsoo pretty clean (you had made Kyungsoo wash himself with soap, too embarrassed to do it yourself but after washing his hair and massaging his scalp he seemed a lot more cooperative and mellow). He had protested and clung onto you when you tried to exit the bath without him though, so you had sat there while he finished up and waited for him to be done.

You wrapped him in a towel once you both climbed out, water sloshing everywhere and you winced at the thought that you’d have to clean that up at some point. You grabbed another towel and gently dried his hair, being mindful of his ears.

“Well, that isn’t exactly how I planned for that to go but at least you’re clean now.” You said, rubbing his scalp gently. The sensation must have been nice because a low purr began to rumble in the back of Kyungsoo’s throat and he leaned into your touch. His resentment of a bath and the fact that you’d forced him into one seemed forgotten.

After you’d both gotten dry and changed, and you emerged from your room Kyungsoo was at your side in the blink of an eye, his own wide eyes looking up at you. His hand found purchase in your shirt and you smiled at him, reaching up to pet his ears. Purrs erupted in his throat and he looked embarrassed before you laughed and began to move towards the kitchen.

You could hardly believe he was actually warming up to you.

. . . . .

The next few days were pleasant and spent more amicably than you could have hoped. He really had warmed up to you, putting your fears that maybe his responsiveness was just a fluke to rest. He’d grown to be almost as clingy as Sehun, except from time to time his pride caught up to him and he pretended he wasn’t as needy as he was acting.

The previous day he had come up and wound his arms around your waist as you were cooking, pressing his face into your neck and purring softly. You’d blushed but felt over the moon.

However, before you even knew it your week with the hybrid had come to an end, and as you heard the sound of your doorbell ring out you realised belatedly that the time had come for you to bid him farewell for now. Kyungsoo had run to the door as soon as he heard the sound of his owner arriving, waiting eagerly as you opened it to see a grinning Kai on the other side.

“Kai!!” Kyungsoo exclaimed, leaping at him and wrapping his arms around him tightly. Your friend staggered from the sheer force of the affectionate hug, but nonetheless returned it, laughing.

“Hey ‘Soo!!” he spun the hybrid around a bit. “I missed you! And oh my god I see you’ve showered?? You got him to bathe???” he seemed more shocked than anything towards the end as he looked at you, bewildered.

You grinned, pushing your misplaced sadness to the back of your mind for now. “Yep. What can I say, I think bath bombs really do the trick.”

Kyungsoo hugged Kai a little tighter before running off to gather his bags. You watched him go, before turning back to see your friend looking at you smugly. You had a sudden urge to hit that look off his face.

“What?” you asked, already knowing the direction the conversation was about to take.

“I see you’re still in one piece, alive and well and, oh, happy, in the company of a certain lovely feline no less!!” he exclaimed, extremely smug and looking beyond pleased with himself.

“Shut up Kai.” You ignored the slight flush that came to your cheeks. “We’re good now. He doesn’t hate me anymore, and honestly I’m kinda sad he has to go.”

Kai seemed taken aback. “Wow, what happened while I was gone?” he joked, poking you playfully. “Are you even the y/n I know and love?”

You batted at him. “Be quiet, you still owe me. I’m expecting those frappes.”

Kyungsoo returned before Kai could respond, carrying his bags with him and looking at both of you happily. “I’m all ready.” He said, smiling at his owner.

“Excellent.” Kai said, taking one of the hybrid’s bags. “Well, we should probably be off. I went for groceries before coming here and can’t really leave the milk in the car very long. Thank you again so much, y/n, I really appreciate it. I’ll be sure to deliver on those frappes sometime.”

You smiled, a little sad. “It was my pleasure.” You spoke, looking at Kyungsoo. “I’d love to have you around again. You’re welcome anytime.”

Kyungsoo beamed at you, dropping his bag to throw his arms around you tightly. You were a little surprised but laughed, wrapping your arms around him too. He nuzzled your neck before retreating and grabbing his bag once more, ears flicking happily. “Thank you.” He said happily, with the cutest smile you had ever seen on his face.

“You’re welcome.” You smiled, before laughing at the pleased expression on Kai’s face. He had been trying for God knows how long to make you and his hybrid get along and now it was finally happening he seemed very pleased with himself.

“Well, bye y/n! We’ll see you around!” he bid you farewell, looping his arm through Kyungsoo’s. They both waved as they left, and you returned the gesture, a little sad, but overall sated.

You knew as you watched their car disappear in the distance that you’d be seeing them both soon again anyway, and next time you were going to spend the whole time with Kyungsoo.

Yeah, you thought to yourself as you closed your door with a small smile. That sounded great.

#kyungsoo #d.o #kyungsoo x reader #d.o x reader #reader insert #hybrid d.o #hybrid kyungsoo #Hybrid!au #hybrid au #hybrid kyungsoo x reader #kpop scenarios #kpop oneshot #exo #rbuns #my work #cat hybrid do #cat hybrid kyungsoo

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tauers-go-dutch · 7 years

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Road trip through the Balkans

The Balkans are a destination that I never really thought of going to before moving to Europe. However, more and more people have been talking about this region, and it really is a gem. I would have said hidden gem, but Croatia in particular is becoming a more and more popular destination. This was a longer trip for us, where we spent seven days road-tripping from Dubrovnik (Croatia) to Kotor (Montenegro) to Mostar (Bosnia and Herzegovina) to Split (Croatia). This was a more adventurous trip where we explored cities, ruins, beaches, and national parks. It was great fun, and I highly recommend the Balkans as a destination for your next trip to Europe.

Our hotel in Dubrovnik was located a bit outside the old city. To get there, we had to navigate several narrow alleys and streets. After looping around several times, we did eventually find it. The hotel was a really nice surprise- we had the most fantastic view of the sea and the old city. We enjoyed the view for an hour or so then went out to do our first activity- an escape room.

An escape room is a room where you are locked inside with a series of puzzles that you need to solve to ultimately escape the room within a set time limit. These rooms have various themes. Being in Dubrovnik, the obvious theme of this room was Game of Thrones, specifically set in the Battle of Blackwater Bay. While the room was fun, Mariah and I needed a lot of hints in order to solve the room. We’d both like to do more, but we definitely need some practice. Luckily Amsterdam has a few for us to try. Afterwards we had dinner and drinks, and went back to the hotel. Randomly, a boat outside our hotel started launching fireworks. We still don’t know what the occasion was that Thursday evening, but it was really cool.

Surprise views from our apartment rental

The photo sent to us by the escape room owners!

I am a big fan of this tradition. Best table wine I’ve had!

Surprise fireworks in the bay beneath our apartment

Friday we spent the morning exploring the old city. As alluded earlier, the old city of Dubrovnik is the setting of King’s Landing in Game of Thrones. When you look at pictures from above, it is easy to see the resemblance. Mariah and I hiked around the city walls, which provided fantastic views, but we were drenched from the humidity (higher than Amsterdam) and the 28 degree heat (yes, I’ve converted to Celsius- it’s about 82 F). While the raw heat isn’t bad, our acclimation to Amsterdam (it’s always in the low 20s) and the dense humidity was a killer. This was a theme throughout the vacation. Once we saw the city, we ate at an amazing vegan, yes vegan, restaurant called Nishta. I had faux-enchiladas, and believe me, this was one of the best meals I had. Seriously.

Game of Thrones Battle of Blackwater Bay

The Red Keep!

After lunch we had a kayaking tour. It was really nice going around the city and the nearby island. Interestingly, the island is said to be cursed ever since Austria-Hungarian powers took over. They kicked out the local monks and used the island as a private resort. The monks cursed the island so that the owner would meet an early demise. Our guide traced the tragic deaths of all of the various rulers right up to Franz Ferdinand. Since Franz, the island has been made a public park open for all, thus breaking the curse (ie, no one person is using the island for personal pleasure or gain). It was a fun legend with neat connections. Unfortunately, we were not able to visit the island. We would really like to go back and explore it, and visit the actual Iron Throne ;). Back to Kayaking, we also saw an abandoned hotel on the sea, which is the basis for the rendering of the Red Keep (more GoT). Also interestingly, this hotel was the most popular hotel in Europe up until the collapse of the USSR (and subsequently the independence war of the various Balkan countries from the former Yugoslavia). The sights were breathtaking.

After the kayaking trip, we had a bit of dinner. We went to a place that specializes in raising roosters specifically for meat. While it was good, if you talk up chicken that much, you better blow my mind. It really just made me look forward to visiting The Post Brewing and getting some fried chicken when I visit home. After dinner we visited a wine bar. Croatian wine is legit. The biggest grape used is a near relative of Zinfandel, which is a big jammy and peppery grape that is popular in Californian wines. We wish we could have taken some wine home (we didn’t have checked baggage). Look out for Croatian wines, it just might be the next popular wine region.

The next morning, we started driving to Montenegro. The border crossing went smoothly enough. We pulled up at 9:00 am and had to wait for 30 minutes or so as four cars were in front of us, but we had about 20 cars line up behind us as we waited. Good timing on us! The Montenegro bay is gorgeous- extremely picturesque. Kotor is the main destination for the old city, and the hike up to St. John’s Fort. The hike was ridiculous, and, with GoT still fresh on my mind, reminded me of the path up the Veil. The hike was enjoyable, but again we were drenched! We went back down and explored the old town for a bit. While Kotor is beautiful, we did feel like we ran out of things to do after a while. The city is very small, and very touristy. It is a popular spot for cruise ships, which is appropriate as I really think it is a stretch to spend a full day there. We ended up walking around to the newer part of town, and found a really nice restaurant where we ordered a meat platter for two, but came with enough for four. Well after the hike, we wolfed the entire thing down! With that platter and two drinks, we paid about 17 euro- amazing! That night was the Champions League final (soccer), and it is a big deal in Europe. We sat on the patio of a bar that set up a large projection screen and enjoyed the game (well, at least until Real Madrid pulled away- 4 to 1 final score).

Views from the hike to St. John’s Fort

The next morning we trekked to Bosnia. This experience was very different from the drive from Croatia. Croatia was admitted to the EU a few years ago, and clearly has better infrastructure than Montenegro. Most of the ‘highways’ were worse than unmaintained rural country back roads. Potholes, crumbling asphalt, unpaved gravel (again, for a supposed highway) made the drive interesting. However, once we were in Bosnia (which is currently bidding to join the EU), we noticed the better infrastructure. Those gripes aside, the drive had nice views. It reminded us of driving through California. Plus we saw quite a bit of wildlife, including a turtle that crossed a back road (it was pretty cool and we stopped for some pics with our new friend).

The Bay of Kotor

Turtle friend!

We made our way to Mostar, but first stopped at a Dervish abbey called Blagaj Tekke. The cave and the house are stunning, and worth an hour if you are in the area. Once in Mostar, we had an adventure finding our hotel- we had to drive down a pretty steep and narrow road which was more footpath than road. But the hotel was luxurious, by far the best we’ve stayed, in Europe, and run by the sweetest couple. Once settled in, we explored the city and the famous bridge. The bridge was built during the rule of the Ottomans, but was destroyed during the civil wars of the 90s. We visited a museum which showed how the bridge was painstakingly reconstructed using the same specifications (literally down to millimeters), materials, and techniques of the original. Just be careful when crossing, it’s slippery! Locals will also jump off the bridge once they collect enough funds from the crowd. In fact, the bridge divers are so famous that Red Bull is hosting its official 2017 diving competition in Mostar.

A cool observation of Mostar is that it is a city of dualities. For example, nowadays, the bridge literally connects the Christian and Muslim sides of the city (specifically the old city). The Muslim side was pretty cool- we explored the bazaar (and bought some neat jewelry) and a mosque with a fantastic view of the bridge and city as a whole. After exploring the old city, we made our way to the new city (the second duality). The new city had its own charm, and is overall less touristy. The new city has a nice park (with a wicked Bruce Lee statue), international schools and universities, bars and churches. But the final duality is the proximity of new, up-kept, and maintained buildings with abandoned and war-torn projects clearly reminiscent of the past Eastern European regime. These abandoned buildings play host to some fantastic street art- easily one of my favorite parts of exploring Mostar. Later, we made our way back to our hotel in the old city, and ate at one of the best restaurant I have ever been to. Some of the other expats swore by Tima-Irma, and I have to agree that this place is amazing. Just like the place in Montenegro, the place specializes in meat platters that are enough to feed a small army. But the chicken, the cheese, the pork, the grilled veggies, the everything was amazing! Plus, the owner, Irma, was hilarious. And she gave us a free beer. Again, with tip (which shows how much I loved this place as I have grown accustomed to the European way of not tipping), I spent less than 20 euro. We loved everything about Mostar, and we highly recommend a visit.

The mosque from the bridge

The bridge from the mosque

The next day, we made our way back to Croatia, but stopped over to a Bosnian park called Kravica. The waterfalls were stunning. However, once you see the waterfalls, there isn’t much else to do. Even still, we hiked around a bit, and we actually saw a badger! It was pretty cool, because it sat in a tree about five feet away from us. Luckily, it scampered away after few moments and didn’t cause us any trouble, but I also was unable to get a picture. Regardless, it was very cool. Afterwards, we continued on to Split. Split also has an old town (sensing the theme of the places we visited?), but it also has a much more sprawling city surrounding the touristic old town. The old town is actually the remnants of the original Diocletian’s Palace. Driving into Split, we immediately went down to a beach just outside of town. We caught some rays and enjoyed the water for the afternoon. Afterwards, we went to another wine bar for dinner and more fantastic Croatian wine.

Kravice Falls

The port of Split

Diocletian’s Palace -- Diocletian, A Roman, was buried in the tomb on the left. The Christians then turned it into a church and added the bell tower.

The next day, we visited Krka, a Croatian national park famous for its waterfalls. Unlike Kravica, the park is huge! We visited several areas of the park, and had to drive around to get to each place. The waterfalls we also absolutely stunning, and I really enjoyed hiking around the park. This place is absolutely worth a day trip. Afterwards, we went back to Split, and enjoyed some burgers (which were ok, but this place really had fantastic onion rings!), homemade ice cream, and Croatian craft beers (most are surprisingly good).

Krka National Park

We brought our suits but decided not to take a dip!

The next morning we had another great meal (breakfast crepes), walked the beach (with some more street art), and headed to the airport (more difficult to find than it should be). While we didn’t get to do everything we wanted in Croatia (like visiting Hvar, Plitvice, and Zagreb), this region definitely has enough charm to warrant coming back at some point in the future!

Tot Ziens!

#tauersgodutch tauers go dutch #Roadtrip #road trip #balkans

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topfygad · 4 years

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Gorilla Trekking in Uganda’s Bwindi Impenetrable National Park

“Paint me like one of your French girls, Jack”

There comes a moment somewhere up the side of that impossibly steep and muddy mountain that I begin to doubt whether I’m up to the challenge I’ve set myself.

Hands bloody from gripping razor-toothed ferns and every inch of me drenched, dried, and re-drenched in sweat – I teeter on weak legs and feel my head spin. My stomach churns with exhaustion induced nausea and I fairly radiate heat.

My porter, himself looking as if he’s been on a leisurely stroll rather than the same arduous climb as me, quickly tears off a nearby palm frond and begins to fan me with it.

“Water?” seems to be the only word of English he speaks, and he turns so that I can reach the bottle of water in my backpack.

I feel a moment of embarrassment that he is not only able to do this with such aplomb, but that he is doing it while lugging my backpack full of water and food up the side of the mountain. Sometimes, just for a laugh, he adds my considerable bulk to his burdens when he reaches down and hauls me up after my latest fall.

We’re not even two hours’ hike into Uganda’s ominously named Bwindi-Impenetrable National Park, but you’d be forgiven for thinking we were somewhere deep within the fabled jungles of the Belgian Congo.

Beyond the frantic breathing of our party and the occasional whistle of distant trackers urging us on, we’re alone out here with the birds and the park’s most famous residents: mountain gorillas.

“Ready to go?” our lead guide shouts from the front. He’s wearing a grin that seems completely at odds with the hard slog that has seen us make our way up the side of a mountain so densely wooded that our armed guards have literally had to hack away at it with the machetes they wear at their hips.

I’m not ready. Far from it.

I want to lie down on the ground, suck water from the bottle, and take off my mud-caked shoes.

But the gorillas are somewhere deeper into the forest and I didn’t come all this way to turn back.

I’m going to earn my hour’s quiet communion with those beautiful animals.

An inquisitive baby gorilla looks to the sky.

Preparing to go Gorilla Trekking in Uganda

Gorilla trekking is most commonly associated with neighboring Rwanda, but Uganda’s cheaper rates make it an appealing option for those on a tighter budget.

While Rwanda charges $1,500 USD for the privilege, Uganda’s gorilla permits available for the relatively affordable price of $700 USD per person.

Far from being a gentle walk through the park, gorilla trekking in Bwindi-Impenetrable is an activity that requires at least a modicum of physical fitness.

It’s not mountain climbing in the strictest sense, but there are no paved paths through the dense jungle that clings to the side of the Virunga volcanoes. Your hand rails are fragile branches and prickly sharp ferns, and your steps up the mountainside are those that those before you have carved out from the clinging mud and rotting vegetation.

“Three legs are better than two,” is the unofficial motto of park officials, and we’re all equipped with walking sticks that range in style from hastily repurposed branches to staves intricately carved with motifs of the very animals we’re seeking to find in the mountains.

Only mildly delirious after three hours of uphill hiking.

Ostensibly, we’re able to request the degree of difficulty we’re most comfortable with, but a legion of grinning grey-hairs has already laid claim to the ‘easy’ hike by the time we’ve finished the orientation.

My co-worker, Marjeta and I are instead put into the medium group alongside a leathery pair of super fit Spaniards, a pleasant Dutch couple, and a young-ish British couple who have made the insane decision to go gorilla trekking three times in four days.

“We will be hiking for anywhere between one hour and six hours,” our guide informs us with a grin, “Our trackers are out in the park now, but we cannot guarantee where the gorillas will be”.

I’d prepared for this eventuality, of course.

I’ve heard tales of people leaving the park office and stumbling upon the gorillas just fifteen minutes into the park. Conversely, I’ve heard of people coming back in the early hours of twilight looking more mud than man and beaming with accomplishment.

If there’s one thing that all gorilla trekkers share at the end of the day, it’s a glowing sense that they have not only achieved something remarkable – but that they’ve done so by earning it.

There’s no express pass to the gorillas. There’s no cable car or carefully paved path for novices.

If you want to see the mountain gorillas, you’re going to earn it with every drop of sweat, every exhausted expulsion of breath, and every aching step up the mountain.

Contemplating the meaning of life

How difficult is gorilla trekking?

At first, I’m buoyed by how easy our path into the park seems to be.

We meander along a service road whose slope is so gradual it’s barely noticeable. Occasionally swerving to the left or right to skirt the edges of an especially hungry looking pool of muddy water, we exchange travel tales and talk of our already swelling desire to have an ice cold beer at day’s end.

It’s not yet 10am, but the air is already thickening with humidity and the sun shows no signs of being cowed by the clouds that had crept in overnight.

Our guide insists on taking breaks every ten minutes or so, and even the laziest amongst us is beginning to question his decision given how easy the hiking has been so far.

“Drink lots of water,” he urges us, “It could be a long day”.

We dutifully slug back mouthfuls of slowly warming water and shake our heads at his caution. How hard could it be?

We find out soon enough.

Our path suddenly veers away from the road and into the jungle proper. There’s no pre-trod path here for us to follow. Just the gap our guide has forced in between the trees with casual swings of his machete.

The sun isn’t quite able to penetrate the dense canopy of the forest, but there’s nothing to stop the pervasive humidity from soaking into us.

A daring baby gorilla scampers up the tree as his frustrated mother watches on.

I’m soon accompanied by a curious swarm of bees who have been drawn by the sweat that sheens my skin. My first reaction is to frantically bat them away, but one of the soldiers trekking alongside me advises me this isn’t the best idea.

“Just let them look,” he advises me, “They will not sting you”.

And so I find myself carrying a few potentially painful passengers as our path steadily devolves from the relatively easy path we’d originally trod to a near vertical scramble up a mountainside that seems to be comprised solely of mud and angry undergrowth.

When I’m not desperately treading mud in a failing attempt to remain upright, I’m hissing with pain as I drag my palm across another thorny plant.

Why didn’t I bring gloves? They say you should wear gloves.

Our guide is a bald-faced liar.

He looks us in the eyes and promises us we’re just five minutes away.

Five minutes later, we’re facing another slick uphill struggle or (and I soon find out these are worse) a rapid and muddy descent.

The back of my jeans and my jacket are caked with mud. My walking stick is almost as useless as the hiking boots I’d thought would serve me so well.

It sounds like I’m miserable, but that’s far from the truth.

Every painful slip, every lung-bursting ‘last’ push, and every moment of self-doubt is also an affirmation of something.

Travel isn’t always easy. It isn’t always laughs and beer.

Sometimes, it’s an exhausting experience that makes you question the very sanity of your decision.

But nothing worth having is easy.

Whether it’s the degree you strive for years to complete, the girl you spend months trying to win over, or the very literal struggle up the side of a thick, humid, and altogether uncooperative stretch of Ugandan jungle that you hope will end with a glimpse of these critically endangered giants.

And so we press on.

We press on when our legs ache fit to topple us.

We press on when our lungs burn and refuse to take in a full breath.

We press on when the very mountain seems intent on flinging us from its lofty heights and tumbling us down in a torrent of mud and broken sticks.

We press on and, ultimately, we’re rewarded.

An hour with the gorillas

Our first glance of the gorillas isn’t dramatic.

It’s a blur of black motion that’s gone all too soon and leaves only quivering undergrowth in its wake.

It’s so quick that none of us has time to whip out our cameras and snap a photo. Blink and you’ll miss it.

With our packs, porters, and walking sticks cast aside for the final leg of our journey, our descent towards the gorillas is more barely controlled fall than calm approach.

Hearts racing, sweat beading, and hands shakily reaching for cameras – we finally come in sight of the family we’ve been tracking all day.

A young mother lounges in a tree overhead, her curious baby peeping over the leaves to see these strange, hairless primates with their clicking cameras and awestruck faces.

The silverback, striking a pose that would make an oiled up bodybuilder envious, regards us with disinterest as we take turns posing for the obligatory selfies.

The silverback obligingly poses for selfies and snapshots.

One especially irritable female rushes past me with a hoot of warning before the branch she’s dragging literally knocks my camera out of my hands.

While bees buzz lazily around us looking to sample our sweet, sweet sweat, we marvel at the similarities and differences we see in these gentle giants.

The kids show the same reckless curiousity that our own young show, and there’s no mistaking the long-suffering looks their overprotective mothers wear everytime they’re forced to backtrack and collect their distracted babe.

All too soon our hour with these fascinating creatures is up. Our last photos are snapped and it’s time for us to return to civilization.

As if aware of our imminent departure, the gorilla family begins its own Irish goodbye. The females gradually herd their brood of youngsters out of the clearing until the silverback has to grudgingly follow their example.

Even in the animal kingdom, it’s a wise man who knows the way the wind blows.

While the silverback lazes about, the females forage.

Returning to Civilization

Our return to Buhoma Town is a different experience than our often grueling ascent.

The excitement that had buoyed us on the way up the mountain has been replaced with exhaustion and a powerful thirst for an ice cold beer. Conversation is sparse at best as we pick our way down the mountainside and wend our way through the forest.

It’s a kind of afterglow that we’re basking in. A private reflection upon an experience we all shared, but that undoubtedly affected each of us in a very different way.

Upon returning to the park headquarters we say our goodbyes, collect our certificates, and pay our tips.

That first Nile beer is heavenly.

Peeling off my shoes is tantamount to orgasm.

The long, hot shower that sluices the mud and sweat off me is a pleasure I can’t quite explain.

Every ache in my legs and even the increasing heaviness in my eyelids are testament to the fact I earned my time with the gorillas.

So much in travel these days is gift-wrapped and given to us on a platter, but there’s nothing easy about earning your time with the gorillas of Uganda’s Bwindi-Impenetrable National Park.

You fucking earn that shit.

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topfygad · 4 years

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Gorilla Trekking in Uganda’s Bwindi Impenetrable National Park

“Paint me like one of your French girls, Jack”

There comes a moment somewhere up the side of that impossibly steep and muddy mountain that I begin to doubt whether I’m up to the challenge I’ve set myself.

My porter, himself looking as if he’s been on a leisurely stroll rather than the same arduous climb as me, quickly tears off a nearby palm frond and begins to fan me with it.

“Water?” seems to be the only word of English he speaks, and he turns so that I can reach the bottle of water in my backpack.

Beyond the frantic breathing of our party and the occasional whistle of distant trackers urging us on, we’re alone out here with the birds and the park’s most famous residents: mountain gorillas.

I’m not ready. Far from it.

I want to lie down on the ground, suck water from the bottle, and take off my mud-caked shoes.

But the gorillas are somewhere deeper into the forest and I didn’t come all this way to turn back.

I’m going to earn my hour’s quiet communion with those beautiful animals.

An inquisitive baby gorilla looks to the sky.

Preparing to go Gorilla Trekking in Uganda

Gorilla trekking is most commonly associated with neighboring Rwanda, but Uganda’s cheaper rates make it an appealing option for those on a tighter budget.

While Rwanda charges $1,500 USD for the privilege, Uganda’s gorilla permits available for the relatively affordable price of $700 USD per person.

Far from being a gentle walk through the park, gorilla trekking in Bwindi-Impenetrable is an activity that requires at least a modicum of physical fitness.

Only mildly delirious after three hours of uphill hiking.

“We will be hiking for anywhere between one hour and six hours,” our guide informs us with a grin, “Our trackers are out in the park now, but we cannot guarantee where the gorillas will be”.

I’d prepared for this eventuality, of course.

There’s no express pass to the gorillas. There’s no cable car or carefully paved path for novices.

If you want to see the mountain gorillas, you’re going to earn it with every drop of sweat, every exhausted expulsion of breath, and every aching step up the mountain.

Contemplating the meaning of life

How difficult is gorilla trekking?

At first, I’m buoyed by how easy our path into the park seems to be.

It’s not yet 10am, but the air is already thickening with humidity and the sun shows no signs of being cowed by the clouds that had crept in overnight.

Our guide insists on taking breaks every ten minutes or so, and even the laziest amongst us is beginning to question his decision given how easy the hiking has been so far.

“Drink lots of water,” he urges us, “It could be a long day”.

We dutifully slug back mouthfuls of slowly warming water and shake our heads at his caution. How hard could it be?

We find out soon enough.

The sun isn’t quite able to penetrate the dense canopy of the forest, but there’s nothing to stop the pervasive humidity from soaking into us.

A daring baby gorilla scampers up the tree as his frustrated mother watches on.

“Just let them look,” he advises me, “They will not sting you”.

When I’m not desperately treading mud in a failing attempt to remain upright, I’m hissing with pain as I drag my palm across another thorny plant.

Why didn’t I bring gloves? They say you should wear gloves.

Our guide is a bald-faced liar.

He looks us in the eyes and promises us we’re just five minutes away.

Five minutes later, we’re facing another slick uphill struggle or (and I soon find out these are worse) a rapid and muddy descent.

The back of my jeans and my jacket are caked with mud. My walking stick is almost as useless as the hiking boots I’d thought would serve me so well.

It sounds like I’m miserable, but that’s far from the truth.

Every painful slip, every lung-bursting ‘last’ push, and every moment of self-doubt is also an affirmation of something.

Travel isn’t always easy. It isn’t always laughs and beer.

Sometimes, it’s an exhausting experience that makes you question the very sanity of your decision.

But nothing worth having is easy.

And so we press on.

We press on when our legs ache fit to topple us.

We press on when our lungs burn and refuse to take in a full breath.

We press on when the very mountain seems intent on flinging us from its lofty heights and tumbling us down in a torrent of mud and broken sticks.

We press on and, ultimately, we’re rewarded.

An hour with the gorillas

Our first glance of the gorillas isn’t dramatic.

It’s a blur of black motion that’s gone all too soon and leaves only quivering undergrowth in its wake.

It’s so quick that none of us has time to whip out our cameras and snap a photo. Blink and you’ll miss it.

With our packs, porters, and walking sticks cast aside for the final leg of our journey, our descent towards the gorillas is more barely controlled fall than calm approach.

Hearts racing, sweat beading, and hands shakily reaching for cameras – we finally come in sight of the family we’ve been tracking all day.

A young mother lounges in a tree overhead, her curious baby peeping over the leaves to see these strange, hairless primates with their clicking cameras and awestruck faces.

The silverback, striking a pose that would make an oiled up bodybuilder envious, regards us with disinterest as we take turns posing for the obligatory selfies.

The silverback obligingly poses for selfies and snapshots.

One especially irritable female rushes past me with a hoot of warning before the branch she’s dragging literally knocks my camera out of my hands.

While bees buzz lazily around us looking to sample our sweet, sweet sweat, we marvel at the similarities and differences we see in these gentle giants.

All too soon our hour with these fascinating creatures is up. Our last photos are snapped and it’s time for us to return to civilization.

Even in the animal kingdom, it’s a wise man who knows the way the wind blows.

While the silverback lazes about, the females forage.

Returning to Civilization

Our return to Buhoma Town is a different experience than our often grueling ascent.

It’s a kind of afterglow that we’re basking in. A private reflection upon an experience we all shared, but that undoubtedly affected each of us in a very different way.

Upon returning to the park headquarters we say our goodbyes, collect our certificates, and pay our tips.

That first Nile beer is heavenly.

Peeling off my shoes is tantamount to orgasm.

The long, hot shower that sluices the mud and sweat off me is a pleasure I can’t quite explain.

Every ache in my legs and even the increasing heaviness in my eyelids are testament to the fact I earned my time with the gorillas.

So much in travel these days is gift-wrapped and given to us on a platter, but there’s nothing easy about earning your time with the gorillas of Uganda’s Bwindi-Impenetrable National Park.

You fucking earn that shit.

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topfygad · 4 years

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Gorilla Trekking in Uganda’s Bwindi Impenetrable National Park

“Paint me like one of your French girls, Jack”

There comes a moment somewhere up the side of that impossibly steep and muddy mountain that I begin to doubt whether I’m up to the challenge I’ve set myself.

My porter, himself looking as if he’s been on a leisurely stroll rather than the same arduous climb as me, quickly tears off a nearby palm frond and begins to fan me with it.

“Water?” seems to be the only word of English he speaks, and he turns so that I can reach the bottle of water in my backpack.

Beyond the frantic breathing of our party and the occasional whistle of distant trackers urging us on, we’re alone out here with the birds and the park’s most famous residents: mountain gorillas.

I’m not ready. Far from it.

I want to lie down on the ground, suck water from the bottle, and take off my mud-caked shoes.

But the gorillas are somewhere deeper into the forest and I didn’t come all this way to turn back.

I’m going to earn my hour’s quiet communion with those beautiful animals.

An inquisitive baby gorilla looks to the sky.

Preparing to go Gorilla Trekking in Uganda

Gorilla trekking is most commonly associated with neighboring Rwanda, but Uganda’s cheaper rates make it an appealing option for those on a tighter budget.

While Rwanda charges $1,500 USD for the privilege, Uganda’s gorilla permits available for the relatively affordable price of $700 USD per person.

Far from being a gentle walk through the park, gorilla trekking in Bwindi-Impenetrable is an activity that requires at least a modicum of physical fitness.

Only mildly delirious after three hours of uphill hiking.

“We will be hiking for anywhere between one hour and six hours,” our guide informs us with a grin, “Our trackers are out in the park now, but we cannot guarantee where the gorillas will be”.

I’d prepared for this eventuality, of course.

There’s no express pass to the gorillas. There’s no cable car or carefully paved path for novices.

If you want to see the mountain gorillas, you’re going to earn it with every drop of sweat, every exhausted expulsion of breath, and every aching step up the mountain.

Contemplating the meaning of life

How difficult is gorilla trekking?

At first, I’m buoyed by how easy our path into the park seems to be.

It’s not yet 10am, but the air is already thickening with humidity and the sun shows no signs of being cowed by the clouds that had crept in overnight.

Our guide insists on taking breaks every ten minutes or so, and even the laziest amongst us is beginning to question his decision given how easy the hiking has been so far.

“Drink lots of water,” he urges us, “It could be a long day”.

We dutifully slug back mouthfuls of slowly warming water and shake our heads at his caution. How hard could it be?

We find out soon enough.

The sun isn’t quite able to penetrate the dense canopy of the forest, but there’s nothing to stop the pervasive humidity from soaking into us.

A daring baby gorilla scampers up the tree as his frustrated mother watches on.

“Just let them look,” he advises me, “They will not sting you”.

When I’m not desperately treading mud in a failing attempt to remain upright, I’m hissing with pain as I drag my palm across another thorny plant.

Why didn’t I bring gloves? They say you should wear gloves.

Our guide is a bald-faced liar.

He looks us in the eyes and promises us we’re just five minutes away.

Five minutes later, we’re facing another slick uphill struggle or (and I soon find out these are worse) a rapid and muddy descent.

The back of my jeans and my jacket are caked with mud. My walking stick is almost as useless as the hiking boots I’d thought would serve me so well.

It sounds like I’m miserable, but that’s far from the truth.

Every painful slip, every lung-bursting ‘last’ push, and every moment of self-doubt is also an affirmation of something.

Travel isn’t always easy. It isn’t always laughs and beer.

Sometimes, it’s an exhausting experience that makes you question the very sanity of your decision.

But nothing worth having is easy.

And so we press on.

We press on when our legs ache fit to topple us.

We press on when our lungs burn and refuse to take in a full breath.

We press on when the very mountain seems intent on flinging us from its lofty heights and tumbling us down in a torrent of mud and broken sticks.

We press on and, ultimately, we’re rewarded.

An hour with the gorillas

Our first glance of the gorillas isn’t dramatic.

It’s a blur of black motion that’s gone all too soon and leaves only quivering undergrowth in its wake.

It’s so quick that none of us has time to whip out our cameras and snap a photo. Blink and you’ll miss it.

With our packs, porters, and walking sticks cast aside for the final leg of our journey, our descent towards the gorillas is more barely controlled fall than calm approach.

Hearts racing, sweat beading, and hands shakily reaching for cameras – we finally come in sight of the family we’ve been tracking all day.

A young mother lounges in a tree overhead, her curious baby peeping over the leaves to see these strange, hairless primates with their clicking cameras and awestruck faces.

The silverback, striking a pose that would make an oiled up bodybuilder envious, regards us with disinterest as we take turns posing for the obligatory selfies.

The silverback obligingly poses for selfies and snapshots.

One especially irritable female rushes past me with a hoot of warning before the branch she’s dragging literally knocks my camera out of my hands.

While bees buzz lazily around us looking to sample our sweet, sweet sweat, we marvel at the similarities and differences we see in these gentle giants.

All too soon our hour with these fascinating creatures is up. Our last photos are snapped and it’s time for us to return to civilization.

Even in the animal kingdom, it’s a wise man who knows the way the wind blows.

While the silverback lazes about, the females forage.

Returning to Civilization

Our return to Buhoma Town is a different experience than our often grueling ascent.

It’s a kind of afterglow that we’re basking in. A private reflection upon an experience we all shared, but that undoubtedly affected each of us in a very different way.

Upon returning to the park headquarters we say our goodbyes, collect our certificates, and pay our tips.

That first Nile beer is heavenly.

Peeling off my shoes is tantamount to orgasm.

The long, hot shower that sluices the mud and sweat off me is a pleasure I can’t quite explain.

Every ache in my legs and even the increasing heaviness in my eyelids are testament to the fact I earned my time with the gorillas.

So much in travel these days is gift-wrapped and given to us on a platter, but there’s nothing easy about earning your time with the gorillas of Uganda’s Bwindi-Impenetrable National Park.

You fucking earn that shit.

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Is gorilla trekking on your bucket list? Or is it something you’ve already experienced?

Have you ever done something in travel that was made all the sweeter for having had to earn it?

Want an Aussie in your inbox?

Cheers! Now you’ve just got to confirm your subscription.

Like this:

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