-Set in the same AU as the Halloween Part, so all the unhumans look monstrous and are very sheltered.-
-I know Mount Justice is on the East Coast, but I live on the West Coast, so I only know what the forests are like here. Forgive my limited environmental knowledge.-
A sea monster, an alien, and a clone sat about the atrium, watching their friends.
"This is going to be awesome." Wally remarked. "I can't believe we got approved!"
"It's only because Bats thinks no one will see them." Dick explained, using all of his small body to roll a sleeping bag.
"What is it we're doing again?" M'gann asked.
"Camping!" Wally replied. "Taking tents out into the woods and sleeping in them."
"Is it safe?" Kaldur asked. "With the land Fauna?"
"We shouldn't encounter anything, but I've got bear spray and we'll tie up our food just to be safe." Artemis forced her backpack closed. "I haven't been camping since I was a kid. But mom and dad really put us through it in the wild."
"I'm not surprised." Dick said. "Bats was the same with me, even though we're more urban in our heroic endeavors."
They set off around two pm, striking off onto the mountain. The hike was easy for Conner, having long legs and strong stamina, and Wally, having boundless energy. Kaldur and Artemis got by alright, but M'gann and Dick were struggling. Dick was short, making it hard to keep up on foot, and M'gann was clumsy on two legs, still learning how to walk bipedally.
The woods that stretched up the mountain were dense and quiet, the paths were nothing but deer trails, but that was okay. They'd pushed through sword ferns and hemlock trees. Wally identified plants to avoid, which Conner plowed through anyways, unaffected by poison oak and devil's club.
"Stop please, Hydrate." Kaldur called. They stopped and Dick, finally catching up, slid to his knees, dismounting his backpack. They all drank in silence, say for the violent gulping of electrolytes. Kaldur felt around in her backpack, removing a tube of sunscreen. He was allergic to it, but M'gann was allergic to the sun's heat, so he carried it on her behalf. He sat beside them to reapply it on her face.
She squeaked. "It's so cold! And slimy!" He was brave though, and sat still as Kaldur smothered them in sun block.
Conner, who was carrying most of their gear, suddenly perked up. "Did you hear that?"
The others paused. "...no?"
"I thought I heard people walking."
"I mean it's a forest. there are animals and stuff." Wally explained patiently. "C'mon, let's keep going."
It was easily past five when they found a good place, a flat area between two hills where a ravine must flow in the wetter months. Put the ground was fir and dry, and so the teens unmounted their tents (and heavier equipment) from Conner's back; he'd been something of a pack mule for the hike.
Artemis and Dick decided to argue over setting the tent up, with Kaldur as their moderator, while Wally took the aliens out to collect firewood.
It wasn't hard to find dry logs, and soon Wally had filled his arms, and M'gann had filled two sets of arms and was starting a third.
"You've been quiet for a while, supey." The redhead remarked, strolling over to where the clone squatted in the foliage.
"Shh!" He held a hand up.
"Whatcha got there?"
"Look." He pointed to a salamander at his feet. He stayed perfectly still, entranced by the critter.
"Aww! A baby alligator!" M'gann squealed.
"Shh! You'll scare her away!" Conner, who was clearly going to be no help gathering twigs, reached down a ginger hand, slowly, slowly, he scooped up the sticky amphibian. He held it out. "Her name is salamander."
"That's... very nice Conner." Wally said uncomfortably. "But you should probably let her go."
"Why?"
"She probably has a family to go home to." M'gann said.
"Uh, yeah. And touching random animals isn't always a great idea." Wally added. Conner thought it over, and gently set the creature down. He bid it goodbye as it scampered off under a log. "Good job bub, now c'mon." He poured some sanitizer onto his friend's hands, rubbing them together, "help us gather wood."
Kaldur, who was a little bit hotter than he was comfortable with, had settled under a tree to recover from the hike, occasionally interjecting on his friends' fighting. He was really too tired for this.
"Hey Kal." Dick, having lost the fight over the tent, sat beside him. "I noticed you're running low." He passed his friend a water bottle. "Good thing I predicted this exact scenario."
Kaldur thanked him and took a sip. Cool water slid down his throat. He poured a little into his palm, splashing it on his gills. "Thank you."
Dick watched Artemis struggle with the tent poles with a hint of smugness. "You having fun?"
Kaldur nodded a little. "It's exciting. I don't get to see much land outside of missions."
Dick got that. "Bats keeps you guys locked up too much." He got up and stretched. "You guys needed the fresh air." He stooped again to tie his shoes. "I'd better find the others so we can get a fire started."
Dinner was modest but tasty, soup was reheated over the fire, into which they dipped some of Alfred's bread.
M'gann sat crisscross, staring into the fire longingly. Kaldur pulled her back protectively, not willing to risk it.
Sitting around the fire, Dick took a very small fabric cigar-shaped pack from his pocket, he placed it in a nearby tree knot. "Tabaco; I hear it's respectful to leave it as an offering when you stay in the woods."
"Why?" Kaldur asked.
Dick shrugged. "I don't know, but apparently it's tradition in several Indigenous groups, I wanted to be respectful to any spirits here."
Wally withheld himself, his respect for the cultures more potent than his spiritual skepticism.
"Earth cultures are fascinating." M'gann sighed. "Seriously, humans are so cool."
"You wanna see something really cool?" Artemis swiped her hand over the flame, too fast to blister and not close enough to char.
M'gann gasped with fear and surprised. "You can touch fire?!"
"I once knew someone who could eat fire." Dick added.
"Yes, well, maybe we'd better leave the tricks to others." Kaldur said, watching Artemis wearily. She really did worry him sometimes.
Being a month or so after the solstice, the sun set late. The teens lay on the grass, gazing up. The sun had set by now, and in the clear summer night, they could see tens of little pinpricks of light in the velvety black sky.
"The stars are beautiful." M'gann remarked. "I feel like I could float right up and grab them!"
"You can't," Wally said, "at least, you shouldn't."
"I wonder if I can see home?" She squinted up at the darkness.
Dick pointed up. "See that little red dot?"
M'gann gasped, waving excitedly. "Hi guys!" She shouted at the far off planet.
"I wish we could see krypton." Conner said. "I wish I could know more about it."
Artemis made an excited noise. "Whoa!"
"What?"
She pointed a shaky hand into the ravine. "Mushrooms."
She was right, a small cluster of fungi fluoresced slightly in the dark. "Whoa! Bioluminescence!" Wally gaped. "This is such a treat, we're real lucky."
"You have to have heard that." Conner spoke up. "I heard people talking."
Wally sat up, still staring at the mushrooms, he shouted: "ECHO!" They paused, listening as the words refracted back at them. "That what you heard?"
Conner shook his head. "Further away."
"I mean, I think there's a summer camp at the base of the mountain." Dick explained. "I bet their voices are carrying on the wind."
"We should probably get to bed." Artemis yawned, sore from the afternoon's hike. "Someone help me string up the food.
Conner had a hard time sleeping. He always slept upright but there was no room to stand in the tents. He stood outside, intently watching the last embers of the fire die.
"People always see UFOs up here."
He started violently, heartrate picking up. He could definitely hear someone. He wasn't sure how close they were, but definitely within the mile radius. He fumbled back towards the tents, unzipping one. He grabbed M'gann's front leg, shaking her.
Reluctantly, she shifted into a biped as she awoke. "Conner?" They yawned.
"There's someone nearby."
"What?"
"Shh!"
M'gann looked up with her big, red eyes. "Should we wake Kaldur?"
"Let's assess the threat first."
The duo crossed the dried-up ravine, treading carefully into the woods.
"Do you think we'll see one?" Conner heard a voice say.
"If we do I'm getting a photo." Another added.
"This way." Conner whispered, guiding the way carefully. They walked about a minute, neither saying a word.
M'gann tread on a twig.
"That was that?" One voice asked.
"Deer probably, come on."
More Careful than ever, the aliens crept forwards, eyes wide.
"What are you doing?" A voice behind them asked.
Conner and M'gann started, whipping around to find Kaldur, hands on his hips.
"Did you hear that?" One of the voices asked.
"Come out!" The other shouted, a beam of light cutting through the trees. The three teens winced as the flashlight caught them.
The children behind the flashlight screamed, and there was a thunk as it hit the needle-cushioned ground. There was a flurry of footsteps running away.
Kaldur watched the terrified campers as they vanished into the trees. "I think we'd better return to the tent.
"Aliens spotted by local children." Bats read aloud. He fixed the teens with a glare. "Do you have anything to say for yourselves?"
Wally shrugged. "It's not private property, how were we supposed to know some sleepaway camp kids would go exploring while we were out there?"
Bats sighed heavily. "I'll have to rethink about letting any of you go outside."
-for context, this is generally what the unhumans looked like:-