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Brain very seldom found himself truly scared about certain things. His deduction that no one realized the two of them were not on the bus must have been true. Which didn't seem likely, with Ephemer being the possessive type that he was, but they had all come on three different buses. The probability of not knowing if a student was missing increased by at least two. Exactly two, with full irony aside.

Staying in the same place was honestly their best bet. They were lucky that the moon was so close to full that night. It made it a bit hard to sleep, but it was infinitely better than being stranded in pitch black darkness. Anora was possibly the only one of the two that truly got rest. Brain was constantly on the look out for help, or -Ub Iwerks forbid- dangerous wildlife. He didn't entirely relax until the sun started to rise- even then, it still made him nervous.

Someone must have noticed they were missing by now, right? If only Anora hadn't hurt her ankle. They could have tried to go back on the established trail now. Brain let out an annoyed huff as he looked over to Anora. She was still asleep with her head resting against a tree. How dare she look so peaceful while she slept there. Did she know that, until her foot was better, that they were practically at the mercy of the elements?

Brain worked himself up and started to look around the area for something to eat. This nature preserve boasted on its arrangement of wild fruit trees and berry bushes, so it better hold up to that claim. When he came back, Anora had woken up and was lazily looking around the area. It was a very… distinct expression; something that Brain had to laugh at.

"Is that the face you give Ephemer after a fun night? No wonder you've got him eating out of the palm of your hand."

"We don't..."

Brain didn't let her finish- instead letting out a snort of amusement. "Right." he even bemused. "With the way that headmasters' pet walks? If you two weren't doing it, then I'll eat my hat."

Anora looked at him before her eyes trailed upward at his fedora. It didn't look any worse for wear, considering. She wondered how much damage it could take before actually showing any tears.

"How long have you had it?"

"Awhile." he informed her with a roll of his shoulder. "I think it was a Christmas present from my uncle. Liked it so much, I decided to wear it whenever I could."

"I bet it would be a good source of fiber."

Brain raised an eyebrow at her. "So you have jokes in that sleepy brain of yours? How delightful." Giving a smirk, he handed her one of the two apples he found. Anora didn't think twice on why or how he got it, and quickly bit into it without another guess. The two munched away in silence for awhile.

Despite seeming to be very hungry, Anora had only taken three bites of her apple before simply staring at it.

"I know I don't belong at Daybreak." she quietly said. Brain almost didn't hear her through his own apple crunching. "I didn't even know it existed until the acceptance letter came."

The older of the two looked at the young woman. He gave his apple one last bite before tossing the core over his shoulder. Smacking his lips, he questioned, "Then why were you accepted?"

Anora slowly shook her head. "Dunno." she admitted. "My aunt and cousin looked just as surprised."

"But that's impossible." Brain scoffed with a shake of his head. "Everyone in Departure County's heard of..." But the young man trailed off in remembering something Anora mentioned earlier. 'It was always too cold' to go camping, but Departure Country had a pretty moderate climate. Even now, on the last day of September, the air had a faint warmth to it. The sudden revelation hit Brain harder than it should have.

"Wait, wait, wait, wait." Brain said instead, "So you're telling me you're not even from Departure County? Or… Or anywhere around here?"

Anora shook her head. Brain raised his eyebrows as he absently placed a hand on the back brim of his fedora, making it tilt up a bit more.

"You really do get more mysterious the longer we know you." he marveled. "How fascinating..."

Anora didn't reply. Instead, she took another nibble or two at the apple before finally tossing it.

"Hey Brain?" she softly mused "Thank you."

"For what?"

"For everything." she thoughtfully decided. "I'm happy with Ephemer. And even if the circumstances surrounding it were weird and confusing, I'm still glad they happened."

"Yeah..." Brain found himself agreeing. He slumped his body against a tree, and folded his arms in thought. "Ephemer seems pretty happy to be with you too. It's just… obnoxious that he lets it cloud what's immediately important. Like with our meetings or his homework. Not that it really affects us, but just watching him dance on tiptoes like he's been high off his rocker for a week… That moron doesn't know anything about love yet. And one day, it's gonna hit him hard that the real world isn't a fairy tale."

A deep sigh escaped Brain's lips. He looked down at Anora, who was picking at some blades of grass with mild disinterest. Some amount of his sympathy went out to her. As soon as it came, he immediately became disgusted with himself.

"I'm not jealous." Brain said, automatically, as if he were speaking a thought.

"Never said you were." came the just as quick answer.

The young man tried to say something, but didn't allow himself to finish. What was with this girl? Just a day ago she was ready to murder him. Now she was thanking him? Maybe that stumble she had scrambled her brain a bit more than anticipated. When Brain opened his mouth to tell her something, he was now interrupted with the sound of leaves rustling near them. Anora jolted in surprise and Brain immediately went onto the defensive.

To their relief, it was their cavalry.

The park ranger for the nature preserve look almost bewildered to see the two of them there. At the same time, they were also relieved. "I assume you're the kids from DBA?" they asked, letting off a sheepish chuckle. "Sorry it took so long to find you guys, the cell towers have been jammed since last night. A tree limb was in the way."

After that, everything seemed to happen in a blur. Brain and Anora were taken to the ranger station and were given clean clothes a shower, and a proper meal. After one of the rangers called the school, the duo were given a ride back to campus. Ira was the one who met them at the school entrance. But it was only to make sure they made it back safely, and to give them a good lecture on going off the path. Neither said anything about who got them off course, but at this point it didn't seem to matter either. Trusting the two wouldn't get lost going to their dorms, Ira left, leaving Brain and Anora alone once more.

"Well, I guess you should be heading off to your boyfriend now." the oldest decided, tipping his fedora to her before starting to leave.

"Brain..." the young woman said, taking one of his hands into her own. She hesitated for a moment, looking from their hands then into his eyes. She took a small breath in before finally admitting, "I still trust you."

Anora could feel Brain's muscles clench underneath her fingertips. Slowly, carefully, Brain started to move his hand from her grip. He placed a finger under her chin so they could look eye to eye. He moved a few steps closer to Anora, moving his lips to her ear.

"You really shouldn't." he whispered in a low tone.

Anora's eyes fluttered closed, expecting something else, but Brain moved away from her. The young man looked her over, sighed, then started to make his leave. Confused for a moment, Anora opened her eyes again and almost didn't realize that he left. What an odd moment to have after all of this. It almost felt like…

The young woman shook her head. Nah, she was being ridiculous. Brain had a reputation for getting girls, right? There was no way he truly liked her like that. Not after the things he said during the field trip. She had enough evidence to assume he was jealous of her and Ephemer, if for no other reason than because he could. And that was fine. It wouldn't even effect her either, really. Satisfied with this answer to herself, Anora gave a small nod before heading to her dorm. It didn't surprise her in the slightest to know that Ephemer was waiting for her there.

She didn't give him time to speak; the first kiss she gave him was to prevent him from talking. The second kiss was to guide him -through numerous stumbles- into her bed. After the third kiss, the rest of the world didn't matter anymore.