[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

[redheadcarrier]

[ Logically, Asuka knows that Annie is right. She can't win every time. She shouldn't expect to win every time. But she still feels crushed when she fails. She still feels as if she's let down everyone around her. She's failed herself. And she's right back to being the worthless nothing that people tolerate. ]

I should be able to, though. I'm better than that!

[ Saying that doesn't mean it'll happen. And it sounds a touch petulant, but Asuka doesn't really know a better way to express it. She settles for letting her words do all the talking for her this time, choosing not to respond via the link.
Yet. ]

[sistershoggoth]

[ Ugh. Asuka's guilt and anxiousness hits Annie like a thunderstorm, stirring up resonance that she'd rather not share. Then again, when has she ever been any good at hiding it? She'd spent all their time on the Station harassing everyone she could her hands on to train, to prepare, because she couldn't stand the thought of not doing everything she possibly could to guarantee success. Not her own, maybe that's the difference. She'd fail a thousand times if it meant they all survived this. That wasn't the way it used to be, it all used to be about Annie and her success. Look where that's gotten her.

She rubs her mouth through the rough fabric of the hood, feeling the urge for a cigarette. Fighting it because she's in the middle of something here. ]

Nobody thinks any less of you right now, that shit's all in your head. You went out there and did it, more than I can say for myself.

[redheadcarrier]

[ Of course they think less of her. If she's not succeeding, what good is she? Asuka's stuck halfway between believing that and wanting to discard it entirely. She's spent most of her life stuck in that headspace, though, and it's not easy to just discard it. Even if there are people trying to tell her that it (that she) matters. She shrugs, not sure what to say. She's not used to sharing feelings. The link has forced it on her and it's still hard, even with people encouraging her. She should be happier.

It's not that easy, though. ]

How do you know that?

[ Asuka's reply is surly. As if Annie needs to convince Asuka that she's not trash. ]

I wasn't good enough.

[sistershoggoth]

[ It's interesting how pervasive self-hate can be. Annie is certain she's the trashiest trash to ever be trash. She knows what she's done, even if sometimes she won't admit it out loud that she does. She's weak and cowardly, and that sure is a pathetic way for Earth's savior to behave. Sure was pathetic that Earth got its ass saved by a psychotic junkie. She bites at her lower lip. There's no one who can possibly hate themselves more than Annie does. That's just the way that emotion feels.

And she looks at Asuka and thinks... she can't even know. She can't even know how much worse things can get for you on the inside. Doesn't even know how much more disgust and suffering there is to go as the world shits on you, as you lose more and more loved ones, as the spark to keep fighting drains out of you and you have to keep going.

She bites at her lower lip, wearing at it. ]

This time, doesn't make it permanent. Maybe there isn't time now, but we can go over it again.

[ It makes her nauseous to say that, to enable Asuka's need for perfection but Annie doesn't know any better way to ease that ache either. She has it. She has it because she knows that every imperfection can let someone down, can let someone die. ]

We've got backup, this time. It's ok.

[redheadcarrier]

[ Asuka probably understands it more than Annie realizes. She's been there; running on anger and a determination to make one's self loved until there's nothing left but a hollow emptiness and a bitter apathy towards existence. The only thing that's saved her is, funnily enough, her own experience of death and the impact of having herself turned and twisted by forces beyond her comprehension. That's only taken her so far, though. She has to do the rest by herself - and that's the difficult part. She doesn't know enough about Annie to judge, doesn't know her demons.

So she sort of thinks of her reassurance as being... empty. ]

It's still a failure.

[ She's being stubborn. Her mind is telling her that if she keeps making mistakes, if she keeps failing, she's going to end up discarded all over again. Just like last time. ]

People don't want failures.

[sistershoggoth]

[ It's not about people. It's only about Asuka. About what it sounds like in her head; a silence that smothered and isolated. Annie wants to grab her and shake her, shake it loose so that maybe she could hear how small and petty and scared she sounds. Her singular point of failure is meaningless in this war. Is that the hivemind bullshit taking its toll on Annie?

Or a life of fatality, how many girls like Asuka has she already seen dead. ]

I'll count you out when you're dead.

[ Until then, they were all slaves to this. Failures or not. ]

[redheadcarrier]

[ That's how it's always been for Asuka; she judges herself the most harshly out of everyone around her. She detests herself for being weak, for being forgotten, for being an unwanted child. She wasn't good enough and never has been, never will be. It's the gnawing self-doubt and self-loathing that eats away at her. The kind she admits to herself. Out of all the people in the world that she hates, she hates herself most of all. ]

Sometimes I think I might as well be.

[ She doesn't want to die. But sometimes she wishes she were. ]

[sistershoggoth]

[ She'd sat at the foot of Noctis's bed and told him as much, that she was always teetering there. That she felt used up, wasting away in her body, locked in to the past where everyone died and unable to cobble a future forward for herself. She tries to lay out the path for others, but as for Annie-herself... she's too full of guilt and mourning. The thing that stands her up now is--

What do you need me to do for you?

--Noctis. Nyx. Their fights continuing on even though they've both already given everyone everything, up to and including their lives. Her total devotion to making certain that the Nest doesn't use them up for nothing. ]

What do you want to do about it?

[redheadcarrier]

[ Should she really be talking about this with anyone? Does she feel comfortable talking about it? It doesn't really matter, does it? Because here she is. She tightens up, not sure what to say. She should storm off, end this conversation right now. Before she gets hurt. ]

I want to live.

[ She fears dying. She doesn't want to face up to the end of existence. ]

[sistershoggoth]

[ It's taking everything in her to keep her hands off Asuka. She's just tactile. She wants to take her shoulders and squeeze and stare her in the eye, but that all feels muted in these stupid costumes. ]

Fucking up is part of life.

( I'm a fucking hypocrite, Asuka. I'm not any better at this shit,
you know that, but-- yanno, if I can help make anything better for you, I'd do it. )

[redheadcarrier]

Every time I do, I feel like-

[ She doesn't know why she feels comfortable expressing this to Annie. ]

-I'm just digging deeper into this hole.

[ It hurts. Every time she makes a mistake she feels as if the ground should swallow her. Every little error is grounds for self-hatred. It's horrible and even knowing she shouldn't let that happen doesn't really curb it. Her brain does it for her.

She doesn't know how to process Annie's offer. It's weird and she doesn't want to accept it, doesn't want to acknowledge it. But it's just hovering there and she doesn't know whether to shove it back in Annie's face or not. ]

( ...what the Hell could you actually do? )

[ That's... kind of neutral. ]

[sistershoggoth]

( That's the question, huh. What the fuck would you let me do for you? )

[ She spreads her hands, palms up. A gesture of inquiry, and passivity. ]

( You don't gotta know right now. Just think about it. )

[ And true to this concept, she doesn't try to push mentally at Asuka, leaving the girl to her own mind, her own decisions. ]

We'll just have to find some dirt to fill that hole back in with.

[ Something that did make her feel strong, accomplished. How else did you fight back against that? Annie doesn't fucking know, if she did she wouldn't be half the miserable fuck she is. She'd love to tell Asuka something about not dwelling on her failures, about brushing herself off, but that'd just be more hypocrisy. Where the fuck is Noctis? He'd know what to tell her to make her feel better. He was better at this shit. ]

[redheadcarrier]

[ Asuka's silent, gaze fixed on the ground between her feet. Can she let someone do something for her? Does she want that? Doesn't that just make her weak? Those horrible, clawing thoughts are always there, trying to drag her down. Telling her that to accept help is wrong. It makes her weak. It makes her nothing more than a child. She needs to be by herself so people can't hurt her - but she hates being alone. She fears it. She's almost become better at letting people in. Litttle by little, since she's arrived, she's been able to inch toward some sort of understanding.

But it still hurts and it's still hard and she still doesn't know what's right and what's wrong. ]

You make it sound so easy.

[ There's resentment and anger there. There's hurt. She wants to throw up walls and force Annie to push through them. To prove she cares. And she wants to run, because she can't deal with the thought of something like this being genuine. ]

[sistershoggoth]

It's not. But you gotta start somewhere.

[ A tired aphorism, but true all the same. You got nowhere if you did not begin the journey. ]

[redheadcarrier]

Yeah. I guess I do.

[ She tilts her head back and exhales. She feels drained. This whole conversation has been exhausting and she's not sure why. ]