Rudra set his camera on top of the tripod,careful to not knock it over. He'd spent the better part of an hour balancing it on the rocky terrain, and he wasn't about to undo all that work. He looked through the viewfinder, and was satisified with what he saw.
"Perfect", he thought. might be marked as dangerous for inexperienced climbers, but the photo ops were worth both the trek up and the inevitable hours of waiting for favorable conditions for a descent.
He was returning to his tent to take a drink of water when he heard footsteps.
"Probably another hiker" he thought to himself and dismissed it.
A few minutes later, though, he heard a metallic clang.
That could only mean one thing.
Somebody had gone beyond the hazard barrier.
Cursing, he ran to the barrier, his experience as a freerunner kicking in as he fluidly made his way over the uneven vaulted over the fence and looked around for the intruder.
He swore when he saw them.
A kid. A little kid! They were wearing a purple striped sweater, with brown hair that came down to their looked about 9-10 years old,and he coudn't tell if they were male or female, but that wasn't relevant. It was a long drop if they fell, and they definitely wouldn't suvive.
"Hey! Kid! Get back here! It's dangerous!" He shouted. The kid turned around, their eyes wide with fear, and they ran.
Rudra easily caught up to them, but they'd had enough of a headstart that they were near the cave. They went in and he followed,knowing that they didn't have anywhere else to go.
He saw them stop at the edge, hesitate and slowly turn around to face him.
"Look, kid, I know you were curious, but the hazard sign was there for a reason. Just come with me and I'll take you down to the camp, all right? Your parents are prob-"
He didn't get to finish. As soon as the word 'parents' came out, the kid got alarmed, turned-and promptly stumbled. He dived for them, only to trip himself.
Suddenly, the kid was in his arms and they were falling.
"Fuck", Rudra thought.