[mission: hyrypia] then the holy paths we'll travel strew'd with rubies thick as gravel

[onemind]

CHARACTERS: EVERYONE
WHERE: Hyrypia - The Graze
WHEN: DAY :014 - 016
SUMMARY: Two days of horseback hunting training, followed by the second round of competition.
WARNINGS: Will update as necessary. Need a warning added? PM this account please!

THE GRAZE
DAY :014 - :015
THE DAY FOLLOWING the festivities finds the majority of competitors and spectators still buzzing with the competition’s failures and successes, but there is little time to gloat or moan about the results. By the time the sun has risen over the graze there's a new announcement: there will be two days of additional training followed by another day of competition. Today and tomorrow will be dedicated to learning skills vital to the hunt.

0. TRAINING
THE TRAINING FIELD has become familiar, but the decor has changed- as have the the teachers. Unlike the previous riding and herding lessons which featured ropes and hooks, today's syllabus includes a series of more dangerous tools. The short spears that line the racks may be dulled but they still look painful, and the speed at which they're hurled from the intricately carved Sarvat - the traditional spear throwers - is intimidating.

At first glance, the slings of woven and stained Gryer leather are less impressive-- but the different ammo that can be loaded in them proves interesting: a bio-luminescent tagging liquid that stains the targets that it hits and leaves distinct trails, hard metal weights, and carefully handled poison globes.

Over the next day the envoys are are trained to use the weapons from Elinback in addition to being schooled in a number of simple traps and snares that leave little confusion as to the nature of the next challenge events...



THE GRAZE &
THE MINIATURE FINGER MAZE
DAY :016

I. THE CHASE
THE HERD of technomanced automaton Gryer sits idle in the knee-high silvery grass of the Graze. They're nothing like the Elin (who exhibit all the traits of live animals); these automatons seem to know only two basic concepts: don't run, and run. Right now they're practicing the former as the competing riders are divided into large, mixed hunting parties. Once the parties have been formed, they take turns taking their runs at the herd. Among the herd of thirty, four Gryer have been painted a brilliant sapphire. To strike one down requires either two metal weights to the head, a spear to the neck piece, or two spears to its midsection.

When the hunting parties take off so do the automaton Gryer. And they're fast, moving as of one mind - a school of mechanical fish through a sea of silver grass. It'll take cleverness, skill and a bit of daring riding to either cut the targets free of the herd or go crashing through among the running Gryer to strike a target down among its brainless brothers and sisters. Once struck enough times or in the right place, the sapphire Gryer will lose power and drive spectacularly into the earth.

The attentive audience (many of them armed with an array of binoculars from their personal belongings) might cheer when appropriate, but due to the distance at which much of the action takes place most of the observation is spent eating, drinking, and enjoying the shockingly pleasant weather.

II. THE 75th HUNGER GAMES PURSUIT
THE BREEZE GROANS through the shadowy pocket of the canyon system, whistling tiredly through the coral structures - along narrow bridges and between tight passages. Familiar to anyone who competed in the individual race on Day :013, this shadowy miniature canyon is crawling with automated creatures to 'kill.' The only problem? Beating everyone else to one of them. With the blare of that now-familiar horn, the hunters mounted on their Elin take off into the canyon and rapidly splinter into disparate groups or simply go off on their own into the tangle. It doesn't take long at all to lose sight of other riders, to begin to feel completely alone in the low light of early evening. Mist rises from the canyon floor and the breeze moans ominously through the pockmarked coral structures.

It'll take more cleverness and accuracy than high speed riding skill to claim a prize here. But best work quickly and quietly to avoid having your target poached out from under your nose…

III. THE AFTERMATH
THE SECOND CHALLENGE ENDS with a long, mournful cry of the now-familiar horn. All of the possible targets have been captured and to the victors go the spoils in the form of the accumulated scores, carefully kept by the judges. The losers are left empty handed-- at least until the spectators and competitors alike have made it back to the tent encampment. Then their hands are filled with the same liquor and a new spread of simple, filling, and delicious dishes expertly prepared by the servants of the manor.

There’s some ceremony to it - the meat they are eating is the same that they would have served if their hunt had been for something more than machines. However, mostly this seems to be a chance to relax sore muscles. That's aided by the addition of several leather-enclosed tents raised earlier in the day. Once the sun sets, these tents are filled with hot, relaxing steam and lined with benches: saunas! ...which might provide some comfort for anyone not stuck wearing a heavy robe. :(

---

((OOC Notes: This log covers the two days of mounted combat/hunting skills training and the competition which follows. You can find a full breakdown of the events/a place for mini-event specific questions HERE. Sign-ups will remain open until the next event log for the finale goes live, however going forward please make sure to either join the individual event or have a full team selected for the team events. Please be aware that signing up late won't give you extra time to finish your thread to qualify for the finale event.

Have more generalized questions? Drop them on the MISSION: HYRYPIA OOC POST or get in touch with us on the Mod Contact page.))

NAVIGATION • GAME CALENDAR • MISSION: HYRYPIA • FAQ • MOD CONTACT • GLOSSARY

( CODE BY WHAMBAM )

Comments

elena >> ota

[otrazhenie]

iii. the aftermath

[ Elena was only a spectator for the day's activities, enjoying the competitions and cheering on those she knew who participated. She'd actually had a bit of fun, surprisingly, enough to get her out of her own head for a few minutes now and then, allowing her to forget for a little while. Forget the constant disgust she feels from Lakshmi, the strangeness of the symbiote connection in her mind, the constant hunger gnawing away at her strength. Those brief moments of reprieve are miraculous and treasured.

It's impossible to forget any of it during the festivities after the challenges. Elena settles herself at one of the tables, sipping at the alcohol and hardly touching the provided food, everything paling in comparison to what she really wants. Blood. Her broodmates are bound to feel that profound craving, possibly even some of the others in the Nest as the night wears on and she leaves the table to mingle among the others.

The coppery tang of blood is on the back of her tongue as she breathes in the scent of those around her, hears it rushing beneath their skin, and as much as she wants to run from the crowd and seek solace away from temptation, she knows she has to stand her ground. It's better to learn how to be around others now than risk 'accidents' occurring later because she's too weak to resist the urge to feed on everything in sight. ]

[shiro2hero]

(Are you okay?)

[He's one to ask. He's the one who wrapped up a cracked arm in a spare disguised and carried on like nothing was even wrong. But he'd been worried about her. Since their first meeting, since this... thing... with Rani and Sam. It's hard not to notice her holding herself apart.]

[Or how she pushes away from the crowd.]

[Of course, he's going to follow. Keeping his own pain (physical, only physical now) under tight wraps.]

[otrazhenie]

( I'll be fine. I'm just... hungry. )

[ She's always hungry, that's the problem. It's an unending ache within her, a craving needing to be curbed and withstood so she didn't hurt anyone. Stefan and Damon had explained before that they drank so much alcohol because it helped with those cravings, and she can understand that now -- it's why she's on her second glass of the evening's refreshment and getting close to her third.

When she catches sight of him, she frowns, the sentiment coming through loud and clear with her words. ]

( Are you okay, Shiro? )

[shiro2hero]

(And... I'm guessing it's not for what they're giving out here.)

[Because of the weird echo of what's going through her mind -- what he doesn't want to try and focus on. Thinking on blood is a surefire route back to other parts of his head. None of which will help.]

(I'm fine.) [Oh Elena don't ask that question, this is his default response forever.] (Do you need help? Or an escape route...?)

[otrazhenie]

[ She wishes it were. If only she could stuff herself full of all that food on the tables and satisfy her hunger for just a little while. But the only thing that will sate it is the one thing she can't have right now. So she has to focus on something else. Anything else.

He's fine. The same way she's always fine. So not fine at all then. Well, at least that's been established. ]

( No, I need to stay here. I need to be stronger than this. If I'm not, if I slip up and hurt someone later, we'll all die. )

[ It's the only motivation she has some days: the knowledge that if she gives up and fails, everyone in the Nest will suffer for it. ]

[shiro2hero]

[No, Rani had said, when he'd gone to her over this, when he'd told her how much he and Elena were alike. How much he'd understood her. No, you are nothing like Elena, she'd hissed, and been so sure of herself, he almost couldn't stand it.]

[I need to stay here, Elena is saying. I need to be stronger than this.]

[And the echoes of what she says fall along the lines of Allura's words. The admonishment never far from his thoughts here. Always in control. He needed to be better. Always.]

(There's nothing wrong with needing to step away. Pull back and focus yourself.) [No shame. He won't judge her. He can't.] (I'll walk with you, if you're worried. You won't hurt me.)

[perroquet]

[ Gildor isn't very close, but close as his mind is to Elena's he can feel it - that craving to drink. While the coppery taste behind her tongue makes his stomach churn, the desire is practically the same. The alcohol she sips on ensnares his senses from all the way back in the tents, and just when he thought he was free from it for the night. ]

(You know, the difference between your cravings and mine is if you don't give into them every once in a while, you will die.)

[ He muses easily from the back of her mind, unable to stop himself from inhaling the scent of alcohol through her. Even with the scent of blood heavy in her senses as well, it's intoxicating and tempting. He's glad there is none in the tents, but it's agony. ]

(Come here and end this for us both when you're finished with dinner. I'm sure I can spare a pint before bed.)

[otrazhenie]

[ She's getting used to the presence of Gil in her mind, in a way she very much isn't with either of their other broodmates. Perhaps it's because he's the only one who she's at all friendly with, the only one who has made any sort of effort to see her as anything but a monster or an unwanted burden of these circumstances they've found themselves in. ]

( Gil, I'm sorry. I don't-- Is it really bothering you that much? )

[ Her instinct is to decline his offer and leave no room to argue, but... If he's being affected by her cravings, how can she say no and continue to put him through this? How is that in any way fair to him? ]

[perroquet]

(Let's just say my old habits and your new ones aren't a good mix.)

[ Blood and alcohol, not a good mix at all. If he were in the dining tent still, he wouldn't have been able to stay like she does. Not with her there and adding to his own cravings, especially while she sips on what he cannot allow himself to have again. Even from where he lays in the sleeping tents, he can feel a cold sweat beginning to form at the edges of his brows. It's distracting him from practicing and keeping him from sleep, and it isn't all because of her. He's actually willing to shoulder more of the blame. ]

(Though it's not your fault, my dear. It is what I get for wasting half a century of life deep in the bottle.)

[ There's a bitter tang of self loathing with the thought - a side he's not proud to show her, but it has to be done. They have to understand their mutual cravings and natures. ]

[otrazhenie]

[ Oh. A deep sense of guilt settles in Elena's chest, heavy and cloying and making it difficult to breathe. While she's trying to overcome her cravings, she's only fueling his own with her coping mechanism and making things so much worse. But what else is she supposed to do? ]

( I'm so sorry. You wouldn't be dealing with this right now if it weren't for me. )

[ Because of course it's her fault. Everything is her fault, it always is, regardless of what Damon says. If she'd just let herself die instead of choosing to transition, then she wouldn't be burdening the brood, the entire Nest like this. ]

[perroquet]

[ That sense of guilt is what he was hoping to avoid, and he sighs from where he is as it weighs on her as heavily as it does him. Still he remains patient, that sigh shifting into a deep and grounding breath - in, out. ]

(Yes, I would be. I've been like this since they started pouring wine to toast the victors hours ago.)

[ He did just say it's not her fault - he knows his weakness by now. Facing it again while the other hosts drink is a new and cruel temptation to add, but he's managed to stay away by banishing himself from dining tent with the help a few sympathetic hosts. He won't deny that her craving for blood is making it worse, but isn't it the same for her? His craving for alcohol is surely playing a part in making her miserable too. ]

(Please, just... come here when you are finished. Take your time, don't rush yourself or worry. I've handled this before.)

[ Poorly and with help, but there is nothing around but water. He'll be alright waiting. ]

[deployed]

[ At first, Bellamy attributes the gnawing hunger to Seviilia. This would not be the first time her craving for sustenance boiled over and leaked along the links binding each person in the Nest to each other. But the accompanying chill doesn't follow, and as the night wears on, Bellamy can recognize the difference. It's not Seviilia.

Elena's new. She's miserable, and she's attached to Damon in some way. Her entry into the Nest had been heralded by squalor. Bellamy's dislike of Damon doesn't quite extend to Elena. It's hard to hold the same mistrust when she's sitting alone, radiating misery and the sting of blood. In Bellamy's mind, the taste of blood in the back of his mouth is a punctuation at the end of a memory: fists cracking against his face, pain blurring one strike into another, blood streaming down his face. The impression of the beating lingers around the edge of his consciousness as he takes the seat across from her. ]

( Is this the best place for you to be? )

[otrazhenie]

[ Miserable is putting it lightly. She's grieving the life she's lost, quite literally, and struggling with both becoming a vampire and everything to do with the Nest and this complex mission. It's the perfect storm to turn her life completely on end -- if Damon weren't here, she would certainly have tried to end this sham of a life by now. But he is here, he's doing his best to help her, and she can't let him down. ]

( Maybe not, but I have to get used to this. I need to learn control or I'll kill someone. )

[ And then all their lives would be in jeopardy. It's the other piece of the puzzle keeping her together, forcing her to get out of bed each day and keep trying despite how much it hurts. A pain deeper than the impression she receives from her connection to Bellamy, and she almost wishes someone would strike her like that. At least then she'd have something to focus on besides the need to sink her teeth into someone's skin. ]

[deployed]

[ Beneath the layers of his veil, Bellamy's lips twitch in a wry smile. Do or die. That's not a particularly new concept either, though Elena's admission is another wrinkle of worry in an already fraught mission. ]

( We wouldn't let you kill someone. )

[ It is still difficult for Bellamy to frame the idea of being so connected to the other members of the Nest as a positive, but the benefit can't be denied after two missions where it had saved his life. The bonds are useful. They could be useful for Elena, if she were afraid of what could happened.

Unacknowledged is the truth that Lakshmi would probably incapacitate Elena and herself in the process, trying to kill her before she could harm someone else. ]

( How did you handle it before? )

[ The concept of being so newly turned doesn't register to Bellamy. Maybe if he were still newly plunged into the Nest, he'd have tripped over that knowledge accidentally. But a few months later, and he's made some headway in keeping his mind contained. His emotions still burn too strongly, but at the least he can keep from tripping his way into Elena's mind on top of subjecting her to everything he's feeling. ]

[otrazhenie]

[ Would they really be able to stop her? It's a hopeful thought, but she's seen vampires kill in seconds, snapping necks and draining their victims dry with little to no regard for anyone who stood in their way. If they can stop her, though... well, she'd have a little comfort in her misery, at least. She wouldn't be able to survive it if she hurt someone like that.

The fact that Bellamy doesn't know that she's a only recently turned takes her by surprise, and does a good job of getting her a few inches out of her hole of despair. There's more to all of this than her wallowing; he has his own things he's dealing with. ]

( I didn't. I'd only just finished my transition when I was-- brought here. It hadn't even been an hour. )

[ Elena's been doing her best to work with Sam every chance she gets, keeping her thoughts and emotions as contained as she's able with the help of the techniques and training he teaches her. Everything is buried at the bottom of the ocean of her mind, an ocean that becomes the lake she drowned in whenever her thoughts turn darkest. The last thing the rest of them need is to be haunted by the memories of her deaths, or the deaths of nearly every member of her family. They don't need to know how desperately she misses her little brother, or how worried she is for him now that Jer's all alone. But sometimes she can't help it and those things drift up to the surface, caught in the currents of the storms of her nightmares. ]

[deployed]

[ Trauma plays out differently over each connection. Bellamy picks up the flickers of pain skipping along the surface of her mind as she speaks, feels them snagging against his own. Bellamy has never fallen into deep water. He has nothing comparable to the sense of drowning that lurks in the gaps between her words. But the way she misses her brother—

Jeremy hooks into Bellamy's memories of Octavia and tangles. She is never far from Bellamy's mind. He turns his head, looking at the throng of celebrating factions before he answers her. ]

( So you're learning everything here, in the middle of this mission. )

[ Maybe drowning was apt. This is essentially being chucked into the deep end in every sense of the word.

He thinks again about what Murphy had said, about how Cathaway and Prince should have kept the four new hatchlings on the ship rather than toss them into the mission. Bellamy can't say that idea is wrong, really. ]

( Did you want this? )

[ To wake here, to become a vampire, the questions may as well be interchangeable. ]

[ryohji]

[ from now on, he was going to devote more attention to the ikari son's welfare. starting with his brood.

this was the eventual conclusion reached by kaji ryoji, after having endured conversation with the unrefined tart known to him simply as 'annie'.

admittedly, shinji ikari wasn't completely helpless. but when the nest included among it undead elvin monsters, vampires, vampire hunters, foul-mouthed addicts... the difference is mostly semantics.

as it happened, kaji hadn't kept his job with a heavylead lead foot. he approaches her quietly, following the taste of penny copper and hemoglobin like a hound dog. any observer would immediately note that kaji's idea of 'introduction' appeared to be both abrupt and nonverbal in description: a hand seized on her shoulder from behind, and a disarmingly carefree voice that belled the sudden intrusion: ] Hi.

[otrazhenie]

[ It's lucky for Kaji that despite Elena's distraction, she picked up on the presence of another member of the Nest before he grabbed her. Her focus has been on resisting the urge to feed on someone as her attention jumped from one person to the next; without the connection they all shared from the symbiotes, her reaction would have been... bad. Really bad. Vampire instincts being what they are, that hand might have ended up broken.

Thankfully, no such accident happens, though she does give a full-body flinch at the intrusion to her personal space, and her flat tone clearly indicates that she isn't impressed with his approach. ] Hi.

( You shouldn't sneak up on me, I could have hurt you. )

[ It's not the best way to make a good first impression, but he needs to know that no matter how hard she tries, she might not be able to resist her instincts to defend herself. ]

[ryohji]

( Funny you mention that. )

[ for all his many virtues and talents, kaji was and always will be a instigator, and he'd never quite gotten the hang of that "discreet" thing that other people sometimes talked about. so if he judged that a conversation was better initiated with a surprise encounter...

but as much as he enjoys poking dangerous-potentially-lethal things with sticks, he does unclasp his hand once it becomes clear she means business. apace, he pulls back a chair next to her, but far enough to communicate he comes in peace. ]

I wanted to talk to you about that, actually. [ if she really was a vampire, kaji decides firmly, she needed a new line of work. her voice lacks the menace he'd imagined for her. she sounded too - not harmless, but inoffensive, too much so to justify lakshmi's fire and fury. ] It's not exactly a closed secret, what you're capable of.

[otrazhenie]

[ There's a feeling of trepidation in Elena now, wondering where he's going with this and knowing that there is a purpose behind his seeking her out this like. Perhaps her cravings have bothered him, she's been trying to keep her shielding in place but it isn't as easy with all these people around. Or perhaps he's heard about her from someone, maybe even Lakshmi, in which case this likely won't be a pleasant conversation. She hopes it will be, though.

But then he sits and starts speaking and... she's a bit confused by his approach. ]

I'm not trying for it to be among our group.

[ What would be the point of that? They'd all feel her cravings eventually, see her slip in control and let her face change. It's easier if she's just upfront about it when they're all in each others' heads. ]

[ryohji]

Well, no one can fault you there. I'd much rather not know a single thing about you. No offense. I'm sure you're a fine young woman, food preferences aside.

[ food preferences. he makes it all sound so innocuous. if elena had any questions as to his intentions, the following should be sufficient to remove all doubt.

he hadn't actually met a vampire, had thought of them something of fables, fiction books, and western teen dramas, but it wasn't as though his world didn't have far more unique variations from what most would consider 'normal'. beyond the obvious, the woman's demeanor spoke of both restraint and humility, which alleviates his concerns somewhat.

but there was no harm in making sure. shinji deserved as much. ]

You... you have a child in your brood, right?

hope this is fine ??

[cognitived]

[ Elena wasn't the only spectator, of course. It was a grand old thing, the euphoria of the crowd and nestmates budding in the deeping dark of their minds like motes of light. Distraction enough, and though Clint spent plenty of time of his own watching the races, it was a perfect opportunity for some spying. Harmless gossip and whispers that might become more, picked pockets spilling credits and curious baubles.

By the time of the feast, Clint's long since crept from the shadows, flipping some gleaming golden coin between gloved fingers. Sam's -- well, he's somewhere else really, and Clint's relieved himself of guard duty, though he stays at the edges of the crowd. His feigned muteness doesn't lend itself well to verbal interactions of course. But he's not without his ways.

Only, there's a hunger, ebbing at the edges of his mind, clawing at the back of his throat, ashen upon his tongue. He swallows, reflexively, and follows the path of empathy to a vaguely familiar mind. Tendrils of thought, cautious, like a knock at the door of her mind: ]

( You alright? )

super fine, just like clint

[otrazhenie]

[ She must really be terrible at her shielding that night, for so many concerned Hosts to be knocking at her proverbial door. Perhaps some of them are concerned for her well-being, but just as many seem to only be worried that she'll start chowing down on one of the other guests and give them all away. There's no telling yet which one this guy might be. ]

( Not particularly, but I can handle it. )

[ She hopes. It says a lot about her current state of mind and how worn down she is that she actually admits to anything other than being perfectly fine, as per her usual answer. When she realizes what she's actually said, she adds with a flimsy dose of firmness: ]

( I'll be fine. )

waggles brows at

[cognitived]

[ To be fair, Clint just really has a bad habit of gathering up sad, trauma kids under his wing. It's like a sixth sense, or maybe, simply his own vaguely-inconvenient-in-the-moment-but-great-in-the-end superpower. The hunger settles, tacky against his tongue, even as she straightens and firms her answer and -- well, it's good enough. He's not going to lecture her. Either she knows her limits, or she doesn't, but she's gotta figure that shit out for herself. Instead, he nods a bit, understanding gleaming soft and silver in the threads of his mind. ]

( Wasn't doubtin' it, just checking in. )

[ And he was, really. Clint...knows of her, through Sam. But he's never truly reached out. If she's testing herself among these crowds though, he doesn't have an issue with being her back up. So, an offering. ]

( If you don't mind company, I was hoping to scope out some of the crowds and it'll be easier with another. )

[otrazhenie]

[ It's a relief to feel that understanding from him, when she knows it could have just as easily been a protest. Honestly, she's probably earned all these people questioning her control and whether she has the handle on things that she claims to. But he doesn't do that and she's grateful, so much so that she doesn't hesitate to accept that offer, even as she realizes it's likely fueled by his wanting to keep an eye on her. ]

( That sounds nice actually, thank you. )

[ Elena has been acutely aware of how few of the Nest she has personal connections to, and that, along with everything else, has been wearing away at her. ]