Alex clings to the back of Kara's shirt tightly but not as tightly as Nia clings to the back of Alex's.
It's quite a funny sight, at least Lena and Kelly think so as they easily glide along on their H'Raka, Bolt. Esme is cradled between Kelly and Lena so she doesn't fall and their Kelex is drifting alongside them, a rope around its middle keeping it moving along with them since it's not quick enough to keep up with them otherwise.
"I never took Alex for someone that would be scared of heights." Lena turns her head, looking back over her shoulder to talk to Kelly.
"She's not, she's afraid of Kara's driving skills, or flying skills in this case." Kelly laughs, peeking back over at her terrified wife. "I don't know what Nia's excuse is though, she has never seemed to mind heights before."
Lena follows Kelly's line of sight. "Nia gets nervous when other people are nervous so right now, Alex has gotten Nia's anxiety flowing like crazy."
"Maybe we should trade places, You have Alex and I'll go with Kara and Nia."
"We'll probably stop in a couple of hours anyway, Kara says that she wants to take a few breaks so she can check on the H'Rakas and make sure we aren't overexerting them since they are only used to carrying one person at a time." Lena keeps her hands loose on the harness around Bolt's head, her legs pressing into his sides so he knows to keep going straight.
"Copy that." Kelly smiles, her gaze now on the treeline below them.
They are still flying low, only a few metres above the tallest trees, far up enough that they don't have to worry about staying clear but close enough that they can still duck down into the trees in the case of an emergency, something that they are really hoping they can avoid doing altogether.
It's coming up to midday, maybe around eleven or so from what Lena can tell based on the position of Rao, and the sight of the red rays beaming down into the trees and foliage is beautiful. There are mountains in the distance that if she was close enough to Kara, she would ask the names of, and above all, there's a blistering heat slowly rising as they get closer to The Fire Falls.
Kara is going to have to figure out where they are so they can carefully plan their flight path around the falls so as to not accidentally cross over any tourist paths and be spotted by anyone, they need to avoid contact with other people where possible. They probably won't be able to keep that up when they reach Kandor but they can avoid that here.
The breeze is cooling and helps fight the increasing heat as they get closer to The Fire Falls, something that they wouldn't have if they were walking like they were originally going to do and they are so very grateful for that because none of them had really planned for how they would be battling the heat when they were planning for the mission back on Earth, it was one of the factors that they didn't really think about.
So far they have only been flying for a little while, probably over an hour but nowhere near two and they have already made so much progress that it makes their trek up until the point of flying feel twice as painful to look back on simply because it all feels redundant.
The thrill of flying helps to pass the time, the everchanging scenery as they soar above the ground having a similar feeling to watching out of a car window but a lot breezier, maybe it's closer to sticking your head out of a car window and trying to keep your eyes open against the wind thrashing into your face.
They pull down and land in a clearing not long after, taking a half-hour break before setting right back off, a better idea of the direction to head into and H'Rakas that have full stomachs and are well hydrated.
There's a nice rhythm to it, flying for a little while, resting, and then flying again. It's nowhere near as taxing as walking but the aches that Lena feels in her legs and ass are similar to those that she used to get as a child when Lillian used to force her into horse riding lessons because 'that's what people of our social stature do'.
Based on how she's watching the others stretch out their legs when they get off of the H'Rakas during their breaks, everyone is feeling the effects, but with each passing flight, they seem to be adjusting to it.
Alex is much better when she's flying with Lena despite Kara being the better flyer. Lena's not usually one to admit defeat at something but she has to admit that Kara is better, it's probably something to do with her knowledge and experience with flying and aerodynamics, even if it is different to the usual way she flies. She just seems to have a natural instinct for her special awareness when she's in the air, a true understanding of how the air will react to certain movements in a way that is so graceful it reminds Lena of watching some extravagant dance by a ballerina.
They have all been taking turns flying though, except for Esme because she's too small but she's happily sat on Alex's knee and held the rope to the harness for a while and it was adorable to watch the grin across her face as she did so. They've had to make sure they could manage it for their upcoming split because now, they're almost past The Fire Falls completely and that means that The Scarlet Jungle is coming up and so Kelly, Nia and Esme are going to split off from them so they don't have to be in danger too while they grab the samples for Astra.
They did add a few hours onto their trip though so they could find a good place to stop on a high up cliff so Kara could show them the marvellous view of The Fire Falls, the waterfall of lava and flames something to truly behold, especially since they were at a safe distance where they knew they wouldn't be spotted so they could enjoy the moment together without fearing being caught.
In that spot on the cliff, they had their lunch and just sat and watched with wonder as the falls kept flowing. Nobody watched with as much reverence as Kara though, her childhood memories sitting in the forefront of her mind and bringing a tear to her eyes.
The group doesn't stay much longer than that though, unable to justify needlessly prolonging the mission for a little more time watching a tourist hotspot from a distance.
Landing for the last time as a group, they get a little bit emotional at the prospect of splitting up. With how long they've been travelling together and spending every minute of every day together it's probably normal for how attached they've become to each other, greatly appreciating the time they get to spend with each other now and sad that half of their team is going to be leaving.
Alex is the one having the worst time of it though, she's got to say goodbye to her wife and daughter, even if it is only for a couple of days, maybe a couple extra if something slows them down, but it's not a long separation.
"You two be safe, alright?" Alex pulls Kelly and Esme to her tightly, holding them and memorising the way they feel in her arms, burning the feeling into her brain like she's going to forget as soon as they fly away.
"What about me? You don't want me to be safe too?" Nia asks, petulant that she's not getting the same level of emotional goodbyes from the three wayward foragers. "You better miss me too, I'm going to be keeping Kelly and Esme safe and apparently I'm not even worth a hug these days."
Alex rolls her eyes. "Please, Kelly is going to be looking after you as much as she is Esme, you're just another child in this group."
"Name one example. I'm an adult so you won't be able—"
"You're hand on the plant when we first got here, it might be healed now but that scar is going to be with you forever."
"Touché."
Kara shakes her head at the behaviour of her team, a fond sadness sitting in her chest as she moves towards Nia, arms open with the intention of dragging her into a hug. "Come here, you. I'll miss you being dramatic."
"I'm never dramatic." Nia protests, pulling out of the hug that Kara is forcing her into only to then be pulled into another one with Lena.
"Yes, you very much are. We love you though and you better look after yourself and keep yourself alive until we meet up with you guys in a couple of days. You know where to meet us, right?"
Nia nods. "We'll stay a few miles out from Kandor and hunker down somewhere we think nobody will find us, if you don't show up in five days then we'll head into Kandor and find Astra. She'll probably help us find you."
"Good. Stick to that plan." Lena says and moves over to Kelly and Esme to get more goodbye hugs.
Nia, Kelly and Esme will be taking Swoopy while Lena, Alex and Kara will be heading off to get the samples on Bolt and they will be taking Kelex with them too, they don't want to carry dangerous plants so they can get their little friend to do it for them, no contact needed.
"Alright, we better get going now before we end up putting it off altogether," Kelly says, taking the time to give Alex one last kiss and to give her wife chance to say a proper goodbye to Esme since she knows that she'll spend the next several days worrying about them even though she's the one that will be wandering around the edge of a dangerous forest.
"Good luck, guys." Kara waves them off as the two groups climb onto their respective H'Rakas. "Look after Swoopy for me!"
"I'll look after Swoopy, Aunt Kara!" Esme shouts back at her. It's cute how attached Esme has gotten to the H'Rakas and Kara just hopes that one day she can look back at this time with nothing but fondness and mirth.
"Thanks, Esme!" She calls back at her niece, waving one last time before Lena has Bolt take off.
Through the whistling wind, Alex shouts out her love for them again. before they fly off over the trees, Swoopy joins them in the air not long after but flies off further to the right, slowly sending them off in different directions.
Nia, always one to want the last word, shouts something out once they've all levelled off. "Kryptonopolis, here we come!"
Lena chuckles a little bit. "Hey Kara, when you told Nia back at The Tower when we were still planning the mission that Kandor is also known as Kryptonopolis, was that true?"
"Not in the slightest, I just found it funny."
"That's what I thought."
They focus back on their trip, checking to see where the other group is periodically. It makes it worse that they can see each other as they part and that it's a slow process for them to stop being visible to each other because it makes it hurt so much more for them to part.
"Hey, Alex?" Kara tilts her head back onto her sister's shoulder to get her attention.
"Yeah?" Alex rests her head against Kara's, holding onto her by her waist so she doesn't slip, especially since she's got the packs weighing her down.
Kara holds onto Alex's forearms loosely. "Are you excited to share a tent with Lena and me?"
"Not at all."
"Me neither." Lena jumps in. "There's nothing like having your girlfriend's sister in your tent to spoil the mood."
Alex makes a disgusted little gurgle from the back of her throat as she processes for the first time that she's going to be third wheeling and that knowing Lena, she's going to purposely make it as uncomfortable as possible for her just because she can. "Gross."
"Don't bully my sister." Kara comes to her aid. She presses her fingertips into Lena's waist slightly to make sure she's listening.
Lena shrugs in response, not really caring.
The longer they fly, the more nervous they get because none of them really have any clue what's coming up and they are dreading landing as they get closer to The Scarlet Jungle, the unknown of it all is much more frightening than anything else.
It's quite late by the time they are halfway there and stop in a nice, mildly wooded idea for the night, setting up their tent with the intent of hunkering down until morning.
"Who wants to cook dinner?" Alex asks as she perches herself on a nearby rock, pulling her feet up onto the edge of it in a clear way of signalling that she has no intention of preparing dinner.
Lena just takes the pack off of the back of Kelex and goes through the food they have to see what they can make. Usually, Kelly makes dinner, sometimes with Kara's help, but mostly she just shoos everyone away when they try to assist because she likes to do it on her own and the time she spends doing it helps her to relax. She separated out the food before they split so each group has plenty.
"Kara and I will handle it, why don't you go and take a nap in the tent since you're being grumpy?"
"Fine but I don't want to hear anything inappropriate occurring out here, I don't want to be traumatized by you kids doing things. Keep it PG13." Alex heaves herself up and into the tent where she sets up her air mattress as far away from Kara and Lena's will be pressed up against each other's so they can cuddle even though they always wake up on the same one anyway since they sleep so close together.
Kara watches Alex head into the tent after a brief exchange with Lena that she can't hear since she's a short way away with Bolt, securing him to a tree with tight knots, more afraid of losing him in the night than ever before now they are close to dangerous territory and by this time tomorrow, they should be firmly in the outskirts of The Scarlet Jungle and have the samples of the plants there for Astra.
From there they will be able to start heading towards Kandor again and can meet up with the others before they go ahead and find Astra. If all goes well then they can have the blueprints in hand within three or four days and be home a couple of days after that building the machine to stop Lex.
"Hey, what's Alex doing?" Kara asks as she makes her way back over to where Lena is now building a small fire a few metres away from the tent. "Isn't she helping with the fire? She usually loves that job."
Lena shakes her head. "She's a little grumpy, I think it's because this is the first time she's been away from Kelly and Esme in weeks. She's gone for a nap and I volunteered us to make dinner, you don't mind, do you?"
"Not at all." Kara is actually really happy to have a chance to be with Lena alone, working together to make dinner will be a nice change of pace from being on separate H'Rakas and only seeing each other on breaks and at night. It's only been a short time since they have been separated, even though they are still pretty close together, but she's very happy that they are back on the same team. "I've missed you."
"I've been right here."
"I know, with us flying separately for the past few days, it's just felt like you've been miles away and I missed you."
Lena chuckles a little, grabbing hold of Kara's sleeve and pulling her closer. "Come here then, needy."
Kara's eyebrows shoot up, "I am not needy!"
"Yeah, you kind of are but that's ok. I love you anyway."
Kara folds her arms but she can't keep the small smile from spreading across her face. "As you should do, but just for the record, it's you that cuddles me at night so I'd say that you're the needy one."
Lena just shakes her head, a matching smile on her face. "Ok, we're both needy. Want to grab a pan so we can start cooking?" She keeps working on the fire, adding more kindling and wood to build it up a little bigger while Kara grabs the pan from her pack and brings it back over and waits for more direction, happy to let Lena take the lead on making dinner just as long as she can spend some time with her.
They just have a simple dinner, some grains and dried beans with a few spices they have been rationing out but can indulge in a little more now that they know their trip will be shorter than they imagined. It's nice though, cooking together and talking about nothing in particular except for planning what they are going to do when they get back home and have dealt with Lex and his psychopathy.
The main consensus is simple. They date and they get back to their lives together, the same as they were before but so much more. Once they're settled they can think about maybe getting a place together, somewhere fresh for the pair of them to start building their lives together free of the drama of killer animals in the forest or murderous brothers, it sounds like heaven. At least they now know that they are extremely good at coexisting in the same space, there's nothing like a prolonged hike through a dead planet to test how well you can withstand someone's presence.
They snuggle up into the tent with the sound of Bolt outside snoring drifting through the wind and the sound of Alex inside snoring making Lena realize that she can never complain about Kara's snoring again because Alex is so much worse.
She presses herself to Kara's back and presses her nose into her hair, arms around her waist, and heaves out a sigh, preparing herself for the next day as she wills herself to sleep, she's going to need it.