[ to anyone who alina knows personally and might have useful skills for the journey, she sends a text: ]

i think we should go after them.

[ alina protests taking cover under the caves longer than anyone else, with such hits as: what if the rain washes away the trail? and it's just a little rain — we have shields! this second one is at least a little more understandable, given that she is using her own powers to form a blue-gold dome of sunlight around herself, kirigan (whose side she has been glued to for the duration of the trip), and potentially one other. it's not doing anything for the splashing around their ankles, though, which is going from itchy to painful quite quickly.

and that's how she winds up in the cave, perched at the very mouth of it, watching the storm like ocean waves. waiting for it to die down just enough that she can justify demanding they go back out into it. the heat and the rainfall are oppressive, so the air from the interior of the cave actually feels like more of a reprieve, coaxing her further in, but alina is stubborn. she strips off her jacket — worn for protection, not warmth — and wiping sweat off her neck, announcing her intention to stay close to the entrance even as the sun sinks lower. ]

[ there's nothing. whether the rain had washed it away or something else, the trail ends, and when alina gets the news, denial and outrage come first. ]

No. We're not turning back now. If we keep going, the trail will pick back up. It has to.

[ hmu at protects for a closed starter, or drop your own based on my plotting comment! ]