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The storm came upon them suddenly, nearly ripping the rain fly from Rin's hands.
Catching the wind it pulled up and away, sending her a few staggering steps after. She braced, holding it steady until Nadeshiko rushed over and caught the far end.
Together they pulled it tightly over the tent. Rin used one booted foot to hold the edge in place, while she clipped the top and drove a stake into the other side.
"Let's switch!" she called. Her voice was pulled away by the wind, caught as surely as the tent, which even now fought the stakes with a constant rattle.
She had to call a second time before Nadeshiko nodded and they carefully changed places, neither willing to let go of the tent completly.
With both sides staked down and clipped to the frame, the shaking wasn't and bad. Still, Rin eyed the dark gray clouds rolling in, it was better to be safe. She would need to put some guy lines down. First they needed to get the rest of their things inside the tent.
She waved, until she caught Nadeshiko's eye. The other girl was fighting her hat and long pink hair. Both of which seemed determined to cover her face completely.
Once she had Nadeshikos attention she waved towards the bags flung on the other side of the camping spot, the area they had staked out for Nadeshiko's tent. Then she motioned towards her own tent.
After a few rounds of pointing back and forth, while Nadeshiko stared blankly from beneath the two handfuls of hair she'd pulled away from her face, Rin gave up and went over to the bags.
Grabbing two, she hurried towards her own tent. Nadeshiko followed her lead.
There was a scuffing noise behind her, just audible over the howling wind. She turned, alarmed.
Nadeshiko was pinwheeling one leg, her cookpot held aloft for balance. After a moment she regained her footing, cookpot resting on her hat and hair back covering her face.
Rin turned back toward the tent, mind already on how to arrange everything to let them both fit in her one person tent for the night.
No way did she trust the 800 yen tent in this weather. Not when there weren't any proper tie offs for guy lines.
A bolt of lightning streaked across the sky, quickly followed by a chest shaking crack of thunder. Rin jumped, her foot came down wrong on a pinecone, and she tipped over. With her arms full of bags, she couldn't get her hands free in time.
She hit the ground, leg twisted under her. Her ankle screamed in protest.
"Konnichiwa," yelled the pinecone as it rolled away.
"Ri-" Nadeshiko's startled shout was drowned out by the raim. It fell in a sheet. As sudden and thick as a curtain being pulled across a window.
Rin's jacket was waterproof, but she hadn't thought to pull on her waterproof pants.
They had picked this campground because the storm was supposed to be going east, over their usual campground near Mt. Fugi.
It only took a moment before Nadeshiko reached her, guiding her back to her feet. A firm grip kept her from putting weight onto her bad leg.
Rin didn't fight as Nadeshiko half held her up, half helped her to stumble to the tent and duck inside.
Rin's pants were soaked, and sticking to her by the time they got inside the tent. An awkward endeaver with only three working legs between them.
While Nadeshiko ducked back out of the tent, ferrying increasingly damp items inside, Rin focused on getting her boot off so she could check the damage.
A dark discoloration marred the outside of her right foot. It was mildly warm and tender.
Nadeshiko dropped down almost on top of her, water going everywhere as she shook herself out. "How is it?"
"Not broken. I think just a bad sprain."
"That's good! We still have two days until we have to leave, so plenty of time to rest."
There was an ominous rattle and thump as the wind changed directions and the sides of the tent tried to follow.
"Do you know how to set up guy lines?"
Nadeshiko's blank face was enough of an answer even before she responded with a negative.
"We need to tie a few ropes to the edges of the rain fly so we can stretch it out tight. There are little loops along the outside edges to use as tie offs."
"Why? It's already staked in place?"
The tent's main pole creaked and rattled above them. Nadashiko's body was pressed against hers because of the tight dimensions of the single person tent. Even so the sides of the tent bowed under the pressure until they almost touched Rin.
Still, she didn't like the idea of sending Nadeshiko out in the storm to try and tie knots she wasn't familiar with. It would probably be fine if they left things as they were.
As if to argue, the wind plastered the rain fly to the tent wall behind Ren, raising it high enough to let a blast of icy damp into the tent's pocket of warmth.
"It will keep the rain fly from hitting the tent walls and letting water in. Besides having things double staked before it gets dark will be better."
"I guess..."
"Come on, we can practice knots so you can tie things off quickly while you are out in the rain."
The idea of learning something new predictably perked Nadeshiko right up.
Rin used the time Nadashiko was outside to change her pants, and rearrange the tent to give them the most possible room.
The groundcloth from Nadeshiko's tent was folded up by the tent entrance to catch the rain when Nadeshiko came back in. The tent and cooking gear was piled in a precarious stack against the back wall.
Nadeshiko's sleeping bag had been mostly protected by its stuff sack and was only mildly damp. Rin laid it out beside her own and tucked a set of dry clothes inside. That would help with the damp and keep Nadeshiko safe from frostbite or hypothermia.
It thankfully wasn't supposed to be freezing, so the risk was low, but it was still better to be safe and stay dry overnight.
Nadeshiko dashed inside in a rush of damp air and cold. Her hat was missing and her hair now hung around her face in a damp clump, so wet it almost looked red instead of its usual cheery pink.
Rin tossed her a camp towel. "Get dried off and changed."
She turned away to let the other girl dress in private, focusing on her book and attempting to ignore the noises from behind her. It was good she had brought an old favorite book. If she had to return a library book slightly wrinkled and water stained, she would be so embarrassed.
"All Done!" Nadashiko called.
Ren jumped in surprise, her focus shattered. The sudden move jarred her leg and causes her to let out a whimper.
"Are you okay?"
"Yes, I just wish I'd packed my first aid kit a little better." First thing when she got home a compression bandage and chemical ice pack were getting added to her kit.
"I'm sorry you're hurt."
Rin didnt want to try and respond to the sentiment. This had already been embarrassing enough, needing to rely on Nadeshiko to help her inside and finish setting up for the weather.
Thankfully there was one sure fire way to distract Nadeshiko. "I got some of the snacks out of our bags, so we can have a picnic inside the tent."
"Oh no! And I had a hot pot planned for tonight!"
The meat likely wouldn't keep. Unless the storm passed overnight and they could make hot pot for breakfast. "There is always next time."
She handed the bag of snacks to Nadeshiko after taking a bag of chips, jerky, and cookies for herself. She new better than to expect the rest to come back to her after Nadeshiko was done.
Nadeshiko opened a bag of crackers with a pop. "Your right. Still I'm disappointed."
Rin nodded, opening her own bag and eating a cookie at a much slower rate than Nadeshiko. Who was already on a second bag of crackers.
"But I'm glad I'm with you for the first time I had a bad storm hit while I was camping! Thank you for inviting me Rin!"
A blush darkened Rin's cheeks. It wasn't like she'd been a good camping mentor. Getting injured and having to be helped inside while Nadeshiko finished setting up the tent was hardly auspicious. Still, Rin tried to imagine having to do all this on her own with a hurt ankle. "I'm glad you are here with me too."