5

"Seems my brother wanted to be paired with you." Justin said as the group started a steady but slow pace hiking.

Danica blushed, dropping her eyes to the trail. "Oh."

"Which area do you come from?"

"San Fernando."

"Really, from so far, you came for this hike?" He looked at her curiously, the lip piercing glinting in the sun.

"Well, I'm sort of staying Trincity for the while, renting an apartment because I'm finishing up a course. I have one more year."

"Oh, that's cool. What are you studying?"

"I'm doing a Bachelors in social work. What about you? Are you from the West?" People usually referred to the cardinals as a way of saying which area they were from.

"Valsayn. My bro and I. We usually hike every Satuday with this club, but two Saturdays ago, we had a death in the family,so we couldn't attend."

"Oh, sorry to hear about your loss. That's why I don't know you guys. I joined the club two Saturdays ago."

"Yes, our dad died, hit us really hard, especially Xan." As Danica and Justin continued to hike, following the group, they talked a lot about different things. He seemed like a good listener, easy to talk to, and was a person you could tell anything and he'd understand. He was so open and friendly and genuinely interested in what she had to say.

"You know, I never hiked to this waterfall before?" Danica said, stepping over a branch.

"Oh really, it's cool. I've hiked here a few times. It's one of my favorite spots. Wait until you see the waterfall. It's really impressive and the area around it is very peaceful."

Even though the trek to their destination was going to take two hours, they stopped to watch a Mapepire snake that was up in a tree.

"It's also called a bushmaster, and is so venomous that, if bitten, a person only has about a 25% chance of surviving." Xan came up next to her and said.

She shuddered, feeling a bit nervous that they were in the same territory as such a dangerous snake.

Seeing her anxiety, Xan said, while his buddy listened on attentively. "Don't worry, they mostly come out at night. This is just a rare sighting."

"You know a lot about snakes." He seemed taller than his brother Justin and towered over her 5"2' frame.

"I've always had a fascination with nature and did a lot of research on different animals. I especially know alot about snake. I have one home."

Danica's eyes widened.

" Not a Mapepire." He laughed. " I have a Ball Python. They're very docile and non-venomous.

Xan and his buddy stayed with them as they trekked on. Danica didn't know how the guides could navigate in such a place. It was beautiful but very disorientating . She felt like she had lost a gallon of sweat in the hour they had been trekking.

They stopped now to drink water and have a snack.

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