Samuel Drake - Squad 17

The boy...Joseph, saved Samuel once again from having to respond to the girl with the boundless enthusiasm, and he breathed an inner sigh of relief. Watching as his squadmates so easily selected their horses, Samuel slowly made his way through the stables. Truth be told, he had no preferred mount, if he had his choice he would prefer to stay away from the horses entirely.

Examining the beasts with wary eyes, Samuel finally settled on a sleek black horse with a diamond-shaped tuft of white hair above it's snout. Approaching the horse, he checked the equipment in the pouches that it carried, satisfied that everything seemed to be in the proper place. After strapping the rest of his gear to the horse, Samuel reluctantly mounted the creature, and made his way out of the stables.

Catching up with his squadmates, Samuel arrived in time to hear Terry's suggestion. Pulling out the map, he studied it carefully, all the while doing his best to remain stable on the horse. Putting the map away, Samuel said nothing. Terry's plan seemed like a good one, and unless he felt like they were putting themselves at risk, Samuel felt no need to add anything, or suggest any changes. Riding along in silence, he hoped that he didn't look as awkward on the horse as he felt...

Joseph Dumoulin - Squad 17

As the three rode away from the camp, Joseph had his head turned towards Terry. "Sounds like a plan. We'll get our flag before any other team does!!" The boy turned forward again, smacking his lips loudly and lightly kicking the horse's sides twice, leaning forward and placing himself on the head-end of the saddle. The horse's hooves started to tap on the ground one at a time, rapidly, speeding up. There was a determined visage with a wide grin plastered across his face as he rode. There's no way I'm losing to him this time! Though this isn't an actual race... Who cares? I'm gonna beat him anyway! Assuming that the others would be keeping up, Joseph didn't bother to look back.

Noelle Ahn - Squad 19

She grabbed the nearest horse, leading the beast out to where Thomas and Jean-Paul were. Noelle grabbed the map, pulling it open to see an incredibly crude map of their training course. "Well," she began, faint annoyance laced in her voice. "Just lovely. Shall we just go in order?" she asked as she mounted to white stallion.

Jay Ahn - Squad 18

What-was-his-name again looked extremely bored as he approached Jay and the other girl. Jay quickly ignored the quiet one, turning to Mika as he nodded, a surprised grin spreading on his face. "Yeah! I'm Noelle's big bro," he confirmed, grinning before grabbing a horse. He checked inside the bags before taking out the map. He inspected once before stuffing it back in, shrugging before mounting the black mare. "Yeah, okay, let go get some flags!" he cheerfully said before speeding away.

Terry Yates - Squad 17
Terry smiled, happy they had a plan and slightly proud that she was the one who thought of it. Let’s just hope it works. It’d be terrible if we didn’t at least make it to the edge of seven since we wouldn’t have fire or shelter. “Make sure to listen for the sound of running water! That way we know were heading the right way and not west!” She shouted after Joseph and moved to follow him but stopped when she noticed Samuel seemed a bit… uneasy on his mount.

“You alright bud? If you’re having trouble keeping balance you can hold the reins in one hand and the front of the saddle with the other. Also make sure grip the saddle with your thighs, keep your heels down, and your back straight. You’ll be just fine, these guys are pretty obedient compared to others. If you need help just tell me, alright?” She smiled at him reassuringly before glancing over at Joseph who was still speeding away. Well this combination can’t be good. Hopefully I just misinterpreted this situation and Samuel’s just feeling a bit stressed or sick. Granted neither’s good anyway.

Samuel Drake - Squad 17

Stowing the map away in his pack, Samuel looked up to see Terry speaking to him. He stared at her blankly for a long moment as she tried to offer him advice on riding, fighting the urge to glare. It wasn't that he was mad at her for trying to help, he was just angry with himself for unintentionally showing weakness.

Looking away, Samuel focused his efforts on keeping up. The other kid... Joseph, seemed to think this exercise was a race, and was already setting them off at a fast pace. As if this wasn't bad enough... Sighing inwardly, Samuel fell in line behind his squadmates. Almost unconsciously, he began shifting his body the way Terry had suggested, straightening himself out on the horse and digging in his thighs. The difference was instantaneously noticeable. His eyes narrowing slightly, Samuel blushed, embarrassed. He didn't want Terry to know that her advice had worked. Keeping his eyes cast downwards, he continued to ride in silence.

Thomas Erhart - Squad 19

Mounting the light brown mare he took a look at the crude map himself, squinting at how ridiculously bad it was drawn. He sighed and threw a look at the other teams racing into the distance, but mentionned his teammembers to wait. "It's senseless to start racing straight away. It's not a sprint, the path we have to follow is way too long for that. A steady canter will be good enough." He said to Noelle and JP. Pulling the reigns of his own horse he calmed the mare as it tried to follow the herd racing off in the distance. "Easy girl. We'll get them in time."

Squad 17 - Joseph Dumoulin
In the distance was finally seen their destination, a strange formation of rocks, raising from the ground as wide cylinders. The light brown formations made a perfect area for 3DMG. There seemed to be some instructors around the rocks and on them with some sort of mechanism set near them. Joseph looked back to the others, slowing down. "Guys! It's just ahead!"

---

Squad 18 - Peter Sakes
The boy jumped on his horse, placing himself on the saddle. He dug his hand into the pockets, stuffing in his compass and water pack. He looked over to his squad-mates, waiting for them to get ready as well.

---

Squad 19 - Jean-Paul Martin
Jean-Paul turned his horse to face Thomas'. "Are we gonna wait here forever? Let's get going already." He was annoyed by the fact that most of the squads were gone before his.

Mika Smyth,
Squad 18.

Mika thought about the silent person in their squad. Peter Sakes. He didn't introduced himself or showed any co-operation. Was he that convinced of his own skill, that he wouldn't really need to rely on her and Jay? Though she found herself a bit bold and confident at times, that was more than she had ever been and she was wondering how this would end. Probably not in any way she would like if it would proven that she wouldn't be able to show any good results.

''You lead then!'' Mika said to Jay. Trying to sound optimistic, she felt anything but that. Heading behind Jay, she was pondering on what kind of approach they would need to take if it was going to be two and one, instead of three working together. Riding on top of a grey stallion, Mika bite her lower lip. She was doubting herself! Tighten her grip on the reins, she tried her best to make sure she wouldn't fall behind Jay for one split second. The time she had spent now to train and become closer to achieve her goal shouldn't go to waste cause one imbecile was too damn cocky to try to co-operate for once.

Terry Yates - Squad 17
Terry sighed when she still hadn't gotten anything but a stare from Samuel and turned her focus towards riding. After a little while she turned around to check that Samuel was still keeping up and was pleased to see that he improved his posture, seemingly following her advice.Ah~ Maybe he’s just sigh. Well at least he listens. The girl wiped the small grin that had appeared on her face as soon as she heard Joseph’s words, and turned to face their first stop. “Looks like we’re going to have to work for that flag. Do either of you know what those devices are?” She asked as she searched her mind for anything similar to the machines.

Jay Ahn, Squad 18.

"Sure!"

Jay grinned as he urged his horse to start a fast pace, glancing behind him to see Mika close behind. He was somewhat proud to know that he was the one leading...but he couldn't let that get in his head! He would hate to see his new-found team dissolve because of some petty argument. The other member, Peter, had been deathly silent the whole time. Jay just shrugged it away - the boy would talk when he wanted too.

Noelle Ahn, Squad 19

"Alright," she said, nodding to Thomas before glancing at the impatient Jean-Paul. "Yeah, let's go." Noelle took Thomas's advice, softly tapping on her mounts side to get the horse to move at a fairly reasonable pace down the road. She casually glanced around before striking up a conversation. "So, what districts are you guys from...?"

Thomas Erhart - Squad 19

He ignored JP's complaints anf ollowed up on Noelle's question. It wasn't too bad to get to know eachother a bit better, right? "I'm from Trost. How about you guys?" Thomas replied, keeping the horse in a fast canter, the ideal speed for long endurance running for the military's horses, or so was thaught them. Stowing away the map he led the group towards the first objective, which seemed to be some kind of cave in a cliff. Or something vaguely resemblnig that. The person that drew this map should be tossed over the wall Thomas grumbled as he awaited the other's responses.

Samuel Drake - Squad 17

As he noticed their destination nearing Samuel looked up, just in time to catch Terry staring at him once again, a strange grin on her face. A small flush of self-consciousness travelled through him as he realized that she had caught him riding the way she had advised. Not sure how to react, Samuel simply met her gaze, a curious look on his face. He was saved from replying when Joseph called out and Terry turned away. Shaking his head for a moment, Samuel stared up at the rock formations ahead of them. A strange sense of dread filled him, and he shifted the horse's pace so that it was travelling slower. He caught Terry's question and looked up to see the strange mechanism's that she had been referring too. Samuel wasn't sure what they were, but his instincts were telling him to be cautious. His knack for predicting danger had saved his life many times when he was younger, and he intended to trust it now. "Careful." He spoke quietly, not even sure if the others would be able to hear him.

Jean-Paul grunted and followed Erhart, not bothering to answer to Noelle's question. Equally annoyed, Peter went after Jay, doing his best to catch up.

Joseph Dumoulin - Squad 17
The boy slowed down and turned the steed to face his teammates, waiting for them to arrive. He didn't want to go ahead all on his own and the instructors on top of the rock formations with their mechanisms looked quite ominous...

Terry Yates - Squad 17
"Did you say something Samuel?" Terry asked the boy without turning to face him as she focused on the terrain ahead. Let’s see. We’ll have to be using the gear to get up there so this could be a test of agility or speed of some sorts. Now if we were in the field what would we be doing? Speeding up her horse to meet up with Joseph, she waited for Samuel to catch up as well before speaking. “I think one of us should go scout ahead. The scout can report what the obstacle is and then the rest of the team can continue knowing what to expect. It’d show caution and hopefully gain us a few points.”

Samuel Drake - Squad 17

Riding up alongside his teammates, Samuel stayed slightly to the side, still hesitant around them. He did not respond when Terry asked him if he had spoken, it seemed like they had all gotten the point anyways. Listening closely as the girl spoke, Samuel kept his gaze on the rock formation. The instructors were too far away to make out anything in great detail, but the whole thing seemed off somehow...

His eyes widening slightly at Terry's suggestion, Samuel turned back to face her. Thinking about it for a moment, he realized that it was actually quite a good idea. Splitting up meant that there would be less risk of all of them being caught in a trap, but it also meant that whoever went to scout would be putting themselves at risk instead. All in all, it didn't really sound like a situation he wanted to be in. But then again... glancing over at the other two members in his squad, Samuel thought about what it would be like to be stuck, alone, with either of them.

Joseph seemed quiet enough, and like the kind of person who wouldn't try and start up a personal conversation. He also seemed, however, like the kind of person who would volunteer for such a scouting mission, which would leave Samuel alone with Terry... While he still didn't know much about either of his teammates, Samuel didn't doubt that the girl would attempt to start up a friendly conversation the instant Joseph went ahead. That left him with two options, he could volunteer to scout ahead, or... he could stay and be forced into a frightening personal conversation.

Gripping the reins of his horse tightly, Samuel chose the lesser of two evils, and began walking his horse forwards, towards the rock formation.

Noelle Ahn Squad 19
"Trost? That's cool," Noelle said, grateful that at least Thomas wasn't an asshole. "I'm from Shiganshina." As she said that, a pang of lowliness hit her. How was her father doing? Was he alright? She shook her head, bidding those worries away. She couldn't be distracted, not right now. The group soon reached the first objective, a cave in a cliff...? Well, the map didn't seem to be at all accurate. "I guess...we should go inside," Noelle weakly suggested, dismounting her horse.