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Besides the soccer field, the forest was probably one of Damien's favorite places at Cedar Creek. He'd always loved hiking, a love which started when his grandparents would take him for nature walks. He also loved exploring, something that went hand in hand with hiking. Although he'd explored most of this forest during his previous years at camp, there was always something new to find. It wasn't like the forests at home, which would always be the most beautiful woods in his heart, but they were beautiful in their own dry way.
Ever since his first year at camp, he'd scorned the well-worn paths used by students. What fun was that? Choosing his own route was much more fun and he hadn't gotten lost yet. Except for that one time, but he managed to get himself back before breakfast the next day. The woods at night didn't particularly bother him, so he'd just climbed up a tree and slept in it, then woke around dawn and got lucky. It didn't worry anyone in his dorm, though, because he was frequently out and about after curfew.
In his third year at camp, he'd found a clearing in the forest that he privately termed his special space. It didn't seem that anyone else visited it, let alone knew of its existence, which was fine with him. Some people just didn't give nature the respect it deserved and he didn't want any of them in his clearing because it was beautiful. The ground wasn't exactly clear because it was covered in leaves, but there were no trees growing for a short radius. A fallen tree's trunk that cut through part of the circle served as something to lean against, as well as a bridge over the tiny creeklet that went through the clearing.
However, he wasn't headed there today. No, today was more of an exploration day, walking wherever the mood struck him. Damien had already been ambling around through the trees for maybe an hour, since the light that filtered through the trees looked like mid-morning to him. The path of sorts that he'd been following abruptly vanished in a wall of greenery, so he stopped and surveyed it. There was a handy tree growing nearby, so maybe he could climb it and jump over the wall from there. Thought became action and in a few seconds he was steadily climbing the tree. At a suitable height he launched himself from its branches and sailed over the hedges. As he approached the ground, he could tell that he wasn't quite going to clear the edges of the prickly bushes, so he tucked and rolled, emerging somewhat scratched onto one of the known paths.
And to his surprise, he'd rolled right into the path of a familiar redhead. "Lays!" he grinned, uncurling and bouncing to his feet. "What's up, stranger?"
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