The exhausted team, in silence, waded forward along a stream.
The stream meandered down between the valleys, the dense branches on the steep mountains around it growing horizontally, squeezing the sky above the valley to just a thin line.
The water splashed up into fine droplets as the massive mechanical legs stomped through. The pebbles and silt at the riverbed were stirred up, taking a long time to settle again after the Mecha team had passed. The dawn sunlight was already spilling over the curving silhouettes of the distant mountains, casting patches of light, smearing the landscape with a pale golden glow.
The morning mist was illuminated by the light, wrapping the green hills in clusters of white.
A warning from the little kid sounded in his ears. The team quickly dispersed into the woods on both banks of the stream, and under the cliffs.
