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Entry tags:
[mission: hyrypia] the mountain seems no more a soulless thing
CHARACTERS: Hyrypian Team
WHERE: Hyrypia - Mount Mideria
WHEN: DAY :044 - DAY :045
SUMMARY: The Pilgrimage arrives at a base camp. A letter is delivered. The ascent begins.
WARNINGS: Will update as necessary. Need a warning added? PM this account please!
((OOC Notes: This log covers the arrival to the Mount Mideria base camp and the climb during the day following. Please refer to the MISSION: HYRYPIA ooc information for a detailed description of this location. If you have any questions, please hit up either the mission's question thread, the FAQ or MOD CONTACT pages!))
WHERE: Hyrypia - Mount Mideria
WHEN: DAY :044 - DAY :045
SUMMARY: The Pilgrimage arrives at a base camp. A letter is delivered. The ascent begins.
WARNINGS: Will update as necessary. Need a warning added? PM this account please!
HYRYPIA - MOUNT MIDERIA
DAY :044THE BASE CAMP
THE WIND HOWLS through the valley at the base of the mountain. The chill nips at the heels of the Pilgrimage for the entirety of the slow, winding climb through the jagged foothills to the slash where the base camp sits tucked back into the looming mountain's dark face. It's dim here, but at least the wind doesn't cut so as the envoys are led into the heart of the bedraggled seasonal outpost.
The small town nestled in the cool grey stone seems as much a part of the mountain itself as Rabadocean made. The buildings are low and broad, as so much of their architecture is, but unlike many of the other places they have been the spaces between buildings are narrow, and the buildings themselves are quite small (the better to insulate). The buildings are clustered into ‘U’ shapes, with a central fire pit in each one that heats the rest. It seems quite old and in fairly good repair, but there’s a little-lived in feeling to the whole place. Dust can be found in the corners and crevices, and there’s little personalization anywhere. As it turns out, the camp is not occupied at all times, and no one lives here permanently. It is only filled as it is now on occasion, and while the Morran servants and household members seem quite familiar with the place they seem to be passing through.
One of the Morran which led the party from the coastline, through the foothills, and finally to this overcrowded interior courtyard, climbs onto one of the low stone retaining walls. She raises her hand to cue the muted blast of that now familiar horn. When she speaks, her voice is amplified by the technomanced clasp of her heavy fur cowl."Welcome, friends. My name is Lysan Morran and you have my gratitude for a peaceful journey since we left the Red Coast." She seems young, though serious - her dark hair twisted into a heavy plait. "We'll be staying in the place for one night only, and then will begin our ascent up the mountain. I have heard that you've faced many dangerous things in your time here on Hyrypia, but this trial before us will be the most dangerous of them all. The conditions on the mountain are cold, the nights are dark, and the peak is no place for division. Tomorrow, and for some days after, this mountain is our enemy. With that in mind, I invite anyone who prefers to take the long way around with the baggage to do so. I would wish you well and hope to see you again in six days' time.
"Tonight, each envoy will have their own house here and a delegate of my house will attend to each lodge to see to it that anyone who wishes to make the climb is given equipment and supplies to do so. Tomorrow, we go."
With a curt nod, Lysan Morran then lowers hand hand and hops down from the wall. She and her retinue evaporate into the tangle of the base camp's close stone structures, leaving the rest of House Morran's servants to show the separate envoys to their houses.
Each envoy is instructed to keep their belongings packed - anything that isn't strictly necessary for survival will be transported around the mountain alongside anyone who doesn't want to make the climb. Every participating individual will be outfitted with an individual tent, and individual, highly insulated sleeping bag, a parka, extra gloves, goggles, a number of spikes, axes, ropes, and raked hooks to attach to their shoes to assist in the higher climb. They will also have to pack in their own food, clothes, and water, as there are few beasts who will be able to accompany them for the entirety of the climb.A MESSAGE IN THE DARK
IT ISN'T SLIPPED BENEATH THE DOOR. No, it's brought in a box carried under the arm of a Meradan musician who arrives in the company of her band. They are all wrapped in heavy furs and beautifully embroidered cloaks, bemoaning the cold in good spirits as they insist on visiting their good friend, Gildor. They stay for an hour, have a short jam session, admit they personally have no intention of climbing the mountain but that they wish the Carbauschians and the Meradans mad enough to do it all the best, and then they take their leave: "We should be gone before someone suspects of us murder," one of them jokes (poorly).
The box is left behind.
Inside the box is a lovely, seafoam green cloak in a rough approximation of Carbauschian style embroidered with a rich red thread. When unfolded, a letter addressed to Misato falls from it. It reads:Thank you again for your kind and thoughtful gift. I've found great use for it here and thought I might at last return the favor. Please convey to your companions that my thoughts are with you and that I look forward to working together during the task that lies ahead of us tomorrow. I seem to recall an earlier conversation that I would very much like to continue given the opportunity.
Best Regards,
Ser Ilya MorONWARDS AND UPWARDS
COME MORNING, DARKNESS LINGERS. The sun rises behind the mountain, and very little of its light reaches inside the gap to the base camp. The air is cold and sharp and warns for the days to follow as it cuts down from the mountaintop to the valley below.
The Pilgrimage that assembles in the early gray light is a radically reduced one. Many of the smaller, less key envoys who had attended for their own varied reasons choose not to go or lose some portion of their contingent. However, almost the entirety of the Descendant, Carpathan, and Meradan envoys seem to be intent on continuing their journey. There are less servants, less guards, but still a healthy contingent from each major envoy buckling on their kits as instructed by the Morran guides.
And then at last, the climb begins. It's tough hiking at first, but surely everyone here is used to being on foot now. The pace is methodical, but patient - the Morran guides are quick to tell anyone in a rush to conserve their energy. There's plenty of mountain ahead, which means the day's climb is punctuated by frequent pauses and a number of small, light meals. Hiking turning into light climbing, traversing intermittent shelves. The cool air turns bitter, the wet damp turns to a dry, chapping cold.
They reach the first true cliff face late in the day. Hand and foot holds run in irregular, jagged guides up its face. Rather than tackle the climb while dark looms, the Morran guides instead insist on making camp in the shale at its bottom. Tents are pitched, portable technomanced heaters are broken out, and meals are eaten as the Hyrypian sun sets, rugged and beautiful, behind the smudged sliver which must be the coastline on the horizon.
But eventually, darkness reaches this place again.
((OOC Notes: This log covers the arrival to the Mount Mideria base camp and the climb during the day following. Please refer to the MISSION: HYRYPIA ooc information for a detailed description of this location. If you have any questions, please hit up either the mission's question thread, the FAQ or MOD CONTACT pages!))
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After they part ways and their numbers dwindle, Asuka finds herself feeling more alone than at any time since her arrival. Almost everyone she's come to rely on or to think of as anything more than one of the ignorant, stupid adults who always ignore her has gone. Either returning to the station or simply sucked under by the strange sleep that claims them. Or dead. It feels like they're getting ready for a funeral - maybe their own - and she doesn't quite know how to deal with it.
So she has all of the equipment they've been provided laid out in front of her and she's organizing her own personal stash, going over it piece by piece, brow furrowed in concentration as she counts and re-counts and adjusts spikes on her shoes. She's going to be ready for this. She's going to prove herself (to herself) and nothing is going to slow her down. Not the mountain. Not the doubts in her own head.
And yet she still feels alone and isolated and the crushing weight of it bears down on her and permeates the air around her.
B. Belay On.
The hike has been an adventure all on its own and the physical training she's been doing since her arrival is paying off. That and her own youthful energy. Up and up and up, it feels like there's no end to it and despite her determination, her legs are still feeling the burn of having to carry herself onward and upward, over and over. When they reach their first obstacle, she helps set up camp, but afterward she can be found examining the cliff-face from below, hands on her hips, legs spread, head tilted back as she stares up at the next obstacle in the darkening gloom.
There's something else now. That determination is back.
"We can do this. Easy."
It's more a comment for herself, but maybe it's meant to make anyone standing nearby think she actually has that much confidence.
"Especially if it's light out. How hard can it be?"
C. Wildcard
A.
Follows the burning-bright beacon that is her mind.
"You've got a mind for it," he announces and jabs his finger towards the sky, indicating that he means for the climb. "Stubborn. Just don't push hard, you'll kill yourself that way and then we'll all be fucked."
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It's not actually directed at him, though. It's more the shitty situation that they're stuck in.
"I know how to pace myself. I don't need you to tell me that."
She scowls.
"Shouldn't you be the one worrying about that, Sparky?"
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Fat chance, Asuka stayed behind too, dude."I don't know how many mountains you've climbed," he scoffs, "but, this is something I've done often."
He's the worst sort of person, because he's genuinely good at a lot of things, including mountain climbing, and it means he pushes himself to be the Authority. It's either mercy, or a sullen sort of helpfulness, that causes him to juggle the bitter wind-chill found on a high peak, the way it slices at exposed skin, the way it rips into lungs and steals away oxygen and strength with it. Climbing is an endurance sport, and it's something he takes seriously -- his manner grave, when he considers her and her anger. Her need to prove herself.
"I'm just saying," he snaps, "keep an eye on the others, too. Everyone's stuck in their own head."
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It's hard for her to turn off the part of her that's angry and bitter and resentful. Especially now, when everyone she thought she'd been building toward something with has gone. Now, after Kaji has died again. Taken his choice, thanks to Misato. There's grief and anger that she can't express, an entire lifetime of it echoing back and forth inside of her own head.
So she takes it out on herself and the nearest target.
"You don't have to tell me that - I'm going to be watching all of you," she settles back on her haunches and picks up one of their tools.
She can do this. She knows she can.
"Besides, we're all in each other's heads now, anyway. We'll be able to tell when something goes wrong."
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She can be angry, all she wants. Bakugo's there with her, one ticking bomb to the next, and the two of them only seem to rile one another up. Asuka gets under his skin in ways he doesn't want to reflect on or unpack, the way he doesn't want to unpack the deaths among the hosts, the number of them who had fallen silent and deathly still. As Asuka picks up the tool, he moves to her side and pushes his hand down onto it, to slowly pin it back to the table. It's a ploy to catch her attention, as furious and hateful as it is.
"Don't kid yourself," he snaps, "for all this business about being in one another's minds, we sure as hell didn't see any of that coming." The murder-suicide. The hosts who fell. "We're not given foresight, Asuka. We can't rely on the symbiote's connection to tell us when someone's limping." He thinks of Gildor, in that moment. He thinks of Shiro. Of Rust. Then, finally. Of Asuka. " -- I don't like you, but I've got your back regardless."
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Oh.
There's a flare of surprise that's completely un-hidden and then a flush on her face. She pulls her gaze away with a snort.
"Right. Well, I'll look out for you, too. Someone has to finish this job and it might as well be us, right? Especially if no one else is going to step up," she rolls her shoulder in a shrug and then she finally drags her gaze back to him, "I'll keep up with you. Don't worry about that."
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"We chose this," again, he hates that it's the kids who chose to remain. He hadn't wanted them involved in this in the first place, but can't do anything about it now. "We're going to fucking end it, and then we'll go back and gloat about it to everyone else who ditched." He bares his teeth in what could only be a grin. Pure pleasure, at being able to hold something about someone else's head. "Now. Let's get you packed for the climb, yeah?"
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Especially when he talks about lording it over the people who decided to wuss out. She actually smiles, even if it isn't a very nice smile. She leans back slightly and then makes a little noise of amusement as she starts packing the equipment back up.
"If you really wanna help, fine. Don't you have your own stuff?"
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"Like I said," he mutters to her, setting up her climbing gear so she can grab everything without struggling. "I climb a lot of mountains, the least I can do is make sure you all have your gear taken care of. No leg of this trip has been anything less than really fucking deadly." He'll take care of his stuff afterwards. Besides, in a true life-or-death situation, he's got his Quirk. He'll use it, rather than risk a bad fall or death.
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Oh, hey. He's - touching her stuff. In a helpful manner, but he's still touching it. She grumps for a moment before reluctantly accepting his assistance.
"I haven't died yet. Not here, anyway."
Which is a bit telling, but hey. Not like she's tried to keep it that quiet.
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So, he works on "helping" her put her gear together. More like lightly hipchecks her out of the way, because his cooperation score is like 1/5. Abysmal, really. And he bites the lure, how can he not, when the two of them are, like... actually talking or something: "I thought you killed people so you wouldn't die. Thought that was the point."
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"They killed me anyway."
The words roll off of her tongue and she doesn't bother to hold them back.
"Or the mass production Evas did. I don't know if those even had human pilots."
B
Navigating the emotional connections that bind the nest is something he's sure he'll never really feel comfortable doing, but this?
This is his wheelhouse.
"We've got guides who know the territory. As long as we don't rush and the weather doesn't turn on us, we'll be fine."
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It's a bit of a rhetorical question. A part of her is just being cynical for the sake of being cynical. It's true, they'll probably handle it just fine - but she still doesn't entirely like the thought of it. But it's a challenge. She can overcome it. They'll overcome it. Even if there's so few of them left down here now.
"Shouldn't we just try to get through it as fast as possible, anyway?"
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If only everything in life were that easy.
"As fast as reasonably possible, sure. But rushing is where mistakes get made, and it only takes one to fall."
He tilts his head back, looking at the handholds dotting the path up.
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She should know better, but she keeps bullrushing forward, expecting things to change.
"We won't fall."
It's a fact.
"No matter how fast we're going."
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So instead, he just nods.
"Just don't put your weight into anything until you can feel it's solid and we'll be fine."
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"At least it looks solid. Not like it's falling apart, right?"
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Granted, that says nothing about what they'll find halfway up, but one has to start somewhere.
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Asuka is invoking a potential jinx here, but she's never really known when not to push her luck. She purses her lips and raises a hand, almost as if she's tempted to start climbing immediately. It might almost be easier, as far as she's concerned.
"What's the point of making us go through all of this again? To prove we're worthy?"
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Maybe not in quite the sense she seems to be implying, pass this trial and prove you're a badass, but -
"You learn a lot about people from how they handle themselves in difficult situations."
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Asuks rubs the bridge of her nose through the cloth of her veils.
"This whole mission gives me a headache."
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If they're being judged by their demeanor, their reactions, rather than their skill at the actual climb, then it's much more complicated than a little bit of carefully placed sabotage.
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And then leave alive. Although that feels like a bonus objective at this point.
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