Two
When morning arrived, Ororo realized she had in fact fallen back to sleep and slept rather peacefully throughout the rest of the night in the open air, with Logan lying close by. Finding herself to be the only one up—the sun had just barely risen after all—she stoked the fire, then went through their mess gear to make some coffee and tea.
Noticing that Logan hadn't stirred, Ororo quietly went over and checked him to reassure herself that he was still breathing. Satisfied, though a little disconcerted that he was sleeping so deeply as to not be disturbed by her movements, she fussed with his blanket slightly and then returned to her task of preparing breakfast.
A very sleepy-looking Kitty phased through her tent while Ororo was cooking dehydrated eggs in a skillet over the fire. She waved half-heartedly and then stumbled off in the direction of the girls' latrine.
When Kitty returned, making her way over to the fire, she glanced over at the still-sleeping Logan and frowned worriedly. "Is he alright, Miss Munroe?" she asked softly.
Ororo took in a deep breath and nodded. "I believe so. It takes a lot out of him to heal like that. Let him sleep."
Nodding, Kitty looked around. "Is there anything I can do to help with breakfast?"
She just smiled at the teen. "I think I've got everything under control, but if you'd like to wash up and get dressed before the others are all awake and scrambling to do the same, that might be a good idea."
Kitty grimaced and nodded. "Right. But, like, where's the shower?"
Ororo pointed toward an empty bucket hanging on a tree branch. "Get some water from the river and your soap. There's your shower."
"Great." Kitty rolled her eyes and trudged back toward her tent, presumably to grab her toiletry kit and some fresh clothes.
Laughing softly, Ororo shook her head and pushed the now-rehydrated eggs around in the skillet with a spatula. She would bet that not one of those kids were prepared for the real camping experience that Logan had not yet begun to show them this weekend. Sergeant Hawk's survival training would seem like a stay at the Ritz by the time the trip was over with.
Ororo smiled to herself. As much as she enjoyed the luxuries of a fully stocked kitchen, showers, and a soft bed, she found herself enjoying the time spend outdoors and was quite looking forward to the remainder of their trip down river.
.
White hot pain became a fuzzy, distant memory as Logan dragged himself to consciousness, enticed by the smell of cooking food and a warm, crackling wood fire. The sounds of familiar voices chatting amicably tickled his sensitive ears, and he opened sleep-blurred eyes to see three figures seated around the fire. Logan recognized their scents long before his vision cleared enough for him to properly make them out. It was Ororo, Kitty, and Evan. He pushed himself to sit up with a grunt and dragged a hand through his hair and over his stubbly face.
Storm and Kitty shot him looks of concern, but thankfully said nothing. Porcupine was too busy scarfing down his breakfast to do more than give him a brief glance.
"Logan, would you like some eggs?" Ororo gestured to a hot skillet.
Rumbling something unintelligible, Logan waved her off and pushed to his feet, feeling the need to get up and move around. He was a little stiff and something in his chest still ached a bit. Staggering away from the fire, he trudged down to the riverbed and crouched down in the soft sand at the waters edge. Plunging his hands into the cool, gently-flowing water, Logan splashed some on his face to wake himself up and straightened again. His skeleton popped loudly as he stretched before stomping into the woods to go relieve his bladder.
"Someone woke up on the wrong side of the sleeping bag, huh?" he heard Evan quip as he lumbered through the trees.
.
"What's with Logan?" Rogue asked as she and Jean emerged from the girls' tent in time to see him stomping through the brush.
"Aw, you know Mr. Logan," Kitty offered with a shrug. "He's just not a morning person."
"Hmph." Rogue grunted, attempting to tame her bed head. "Ah can relate."
Ororo passed the food around as the girls emerged from their tent. She was fairly certain Jean, Rogue, Evan, and Kurt still had no idea what had occurred during the night, and thought it was best to keep it that way.
When Logan came back to the fire, Kurt and Scott had joined them as well, and everyone sat down to eat a quick breakfast before they started packing up camp and headed out on the river. This time, when she offered Logan a plate, he took it, sitting down on his bedroll and eating voraciously. She offered him the leftovers once everyone else had eaten their full, knowing he wouldn't let it go to waste.
Once all their gear had been packed into waterproof bags and divided between the two inflatable rafts by the water, Logan stood at the rivers edge and began issuing orders for their paddling trip. "Half-Pint, Red, an' Porcupine, you're with me on this raft. Rogue, Elf, an' Cyke, you're with Storm. Now everyone get yer helmets an' lifejackets on, grab a paddle, an' get in."
"Do we really hafta wear these stupid helmets?" Rogue muttered, putting hers on with disgust anyway.
"Yes," Logan growled. "There are rapids in some spots down river an' it can get pretty rough. The bottom's rocky in places too, so if any of ya fall in the drink, yer gonna want your head protected."
"Well you're, like, not wearing a helmet or life vest," Kitty complained as she clipped her vest.
He tapped the side of his skull. "My helmet's built in, kiddo. An' if you can find a vest that'll keep over a hundred pounds o' adamantium afloat, let me know," Logan retorted, motioning for her to get in the raft.
Ororo fought a smile and gathered her group. She waited patiently for everyone to get situated in the raft before Scott helped her shove off, then she hopped into the back gracefully, grabbing her paddle and taking up the steering position. Logan had taken her on a short whitewater trip the year before, so she knew how to handle the responsibilities of steering a raft, even in turbulent conditions, and was well prepared.
As they set out down the river a ways, Ororo could see the kids were starting to enjoy their little wilderness jaunt, taking in the beautiful sights and having fun. When there were bends in the river or fallen trees that required navigating around, they worked as a team, everyone paddling together. The teenagers were already learning a lot on this trip without even realizing it, and Ororo knew that it had been Logan's intention all along. He was much wiser than most people gave him credit for.
They'd traveled nearly ten miles down the river before Logan spotted a small clearing on a rocky shore and signaled them all in that direction for a break. Everyone was hungry and a little tired at that point, more than eager to settle down for a bit and have something to eat.
As they dragged the rafts up to the little rocky bank, they had the kids tie them up and grab the gear they'd need to get lunch going.
"Half-Pint, Kurt, you two are in charge of the fire. Porcupine, you're with me on huntin' duty. I got a feelin' those spikes o' yours are gonna come in handy."
Evan looked at Logan with surprise, and Ororo smiled secretly. That boy had grown up in the city and had absolutely no clue whatsoever about hunting and what it fully entailed. Logan was in for quite a challenge taking him along, that was for sure.
"The rest of you go with Storm to learn your foraging stuff. Kitty, Elf, you can meet up with 'em when yer done with the fire. Now get to it." Logan clapped a hand on Evan's shoulder, and the teen gave him an uneasy look. With a feral grin, Wolverine started into the woods. "C'mon Porcupine."
Ororo smiled at the remaining kids and waved them along to join her for their lessen in edible plant life.
.
Nearly everyone was gathered around the roaring fire with their score of berries, mushrooms, and a few other forest edibles when Logan and Evan came through the thick woods, returning from their little hunting adventure. Ororo couldn't help but smile at the proud look on her nephew's face as the two tromped over to the group with their catch: three plump rabbits. She was relieved that they'd done everyone the courtesy of skinning and gutting the poor creatures outside camp, the animals staked neatly on one of Evan's spikes, ready to be roasted over the fire.
"That's disgusting!" Kitty cried, horrified as she saw what Logan and Evan had brought. Cringing, she looked away, moving to sit far from the fire so she wouldn't have to look at the dead animals.
"It's part of survival, kiddo. An' don't worry, we won't ever take more'n we need," Logan tried to reassured the horrified girl, but Ororo could see that Kitty wasn't at all comforted by that notion.
Ororo got the teenager's attention. "Kitty, there's plenty of berries, dandelion greens, and other edible vegetation that we collected, and still more vegetarian MREs available if you'd like."
Kitty nodded and continued to move farther away from the cooking meat as Kurt grabbed two Y shaped sticks and helped Evan hang the rabbits over the fire.
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