if you test me

          outofplantfood; Ugh gosh I'm so sorry to those that I owe replies to. To put things simply I've been beyond crazy with school work and personal life and whenever I get the time to actually get on it's late at night and I'm exhausted. I'm going to try and get some replies that I owe done whenever I can, but please keep being patient with me, I'd really appreciate it. ; ^ ;

It's going to probably be like this for a while, to be honest. Summer is coming to an end and there's a lot coming up in the next few weeks for me, then once that is up I go headlong back into work and regular school. It'll be my senior year and I'm trying to graduate on time so that's gonna be top priority.

I just wanted to give a little update. And apologize for my being gone. I miss all of your faces.

Finally, finally, some shore leave time. It was more than just a little obvious that the crew had been looking forward to this, and Hikaru was excited because now he and Chekov could finally go planet side to look at some plants that he had been dying to look at it. He knew this kind of thing was probably the most boring thing ever for the ensign, but he made sure to promise that he'd pay for drinks the whole time they were on leave to make up for it, and that had been enough to do so.

The planet their shore leave was on had a rare plant that he didn't have a sample of, so he was more than just a little excited to get the chance to go and get one for both his studies and his personal collection. It required a small boat ride to one of the islands on the planet, then a pretty hard trek into the deep woods, so this is why he had wanted someone's company to begin with.

          "How's it going back there, Pavel?" There was a grin plastered on his face and it was obvious to know by his tone. He was delighted to be out there, but he was also quietly laughing inside his head because surely his Russian friend probably didn't feel the same.

He paused where he was for a moment so they could regroup and make sure they were still on the right track. It was easy to get lost in a place like this and those chances were increasing the further they went in. With a quick sweeping glance around the area, he did the small calculations and predictions in his mind to try and get a better idea of how much further they needed to go.

They had managed to get a break from their running, and were taking a small break to catch their breath before their moved on. Hikaru stood, katana still drawn, breathing heavy as his eyes darted around through the foliage to keep a good watch on making sure they were in the clear. The back of his free hand ran against his mouth to wipe the sweat away, and once he was more comfortable with the idea that they were mostly safe, he turned back to Uhura to see her progress on communication and keeping up with where the others were.

             "The area's clear for now, but I'm sure some reinforcements are on their way." he explained. He had heard some sore of shouting from the natives and it didn't sound like anything less than some orders for more soldiers or warriors or whatever dangerous title these people went by.