October 3, 1895 — Africa

One thing about being on expedition was that you couldn't worry too much about stains on ones clothes. Especially when you were a creature healer and getting up close and personal. He had been treating a very sick wild Fwooper which had entailed wearing earmuffs and keeping his patient out of everyone elses earshot. After all, its bird song could drive people insane and Sun had thought a Silencing spell would only aggravate the creature. Besides, they were all in the birds home. And eventually it seemed to even know it should not sing around him.

The bird now fully healed, it flew away to join its flock and Sunny traipsed back to join his. "Be honest, does this bird bile match my eyes?" He asked teasingly as he joined Sloane by their campfire, taking out his wand to clean the mess off his clothing.

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Sloane was back in her fog. Hearing about Cam and Maddy's deaths had rocked her in ways she couldn't even begin to articulate. She had know—wanted life to move on without her at home, but life, not deaths. She'd gleaned more information about the zoo in letters from both Alvin and her mother (Alvin complaining about Stephen being housed in the backyard and her mum with real info), but she was still reeling from the news of the loss.

Just when she'd thought she'd started to claw her way out of spiraling, something pulled her back in.

Thank goodness for her friends here. She'd made quite a few, but fortunately she could happily count on Sunny and her fellow apprentices to keep her somewhat planted in reality here. Currently she was feeding Bram by the fire before he went off on a nighttime adventure. She was careful about what bugs he ate, so wanted to make sure he was full before flying off. "Stunning addition." She teased. "Suits you," they were always covered in something, an unfortunate byproduct of their jobs, but Sloane didn't really mind. At least the dress code was pretty relaxed around here. "Fwooper? All better, at least?" It had been a fwooper or a phoenix, she thought.

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Adventure Awaits!

Sunny took out his wand and cast a quick little cleaning charm. It would not be thorough and his clothes still would need a good wash but it would at least not be bile covered all night long. "Yes, he will pull through," he said, his earmuffs snug around his neck now that he had taken it off of his ears. "Do you figure we will be moving along in the morning?" He felt like there was more he would like to explore here now that his most important task was handled.

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Sloane smiled when Sunny said the fwooper would be alright. That was the hardest part, sometimes, she thought, that they did so much and still couldn't do enough. Sunny had it harder, being a creature healer, but the rest of them were often involved in rehabilitation, and it was hard to watch the creatures suffer unnecessarily, often due to human impacts.

"Hard to tell, most people seem to be ready for something new." Sloane did her best to go with the flow here. It was a much easier, less rushed pace of life on the expedition, when there were no weather emergencies, that was. When they were ready to change things up, or move locations it was all pretty easy. There was a nice, established routine that allowed them all to do it efficiently. "I won't mind something, myself, I don't think." Something new or time-consuming to take her mind off things at home.

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Adventure Awaits!

"Where do you suppose we are off to next?" Sunny mused. While he would have liked more time for his own exploring, he was always rather easy when it came to plans. Most of the time, he was just happy to be here. He enjoyed the adventure of the unknown and doing what he did best: helping creatures. And most of all, he liked making a wide network of friends.

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