[mission: hyrypia] the mountain seems no more a soulless thing

[onemind]

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!

HYRYPIA - MOUNT MIDERIA
DAY :044

THE 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 Mor

ONWARDS 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!))

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

( CODE BY WHAMBAM )

Comments

[incinerates]

"That's right," if she thinks that a scathing summary of exactly what sets him apart from the rest is going to humble him, she's dead wrong. "And if I'm all that, and you can keep up, what's that make you?"

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."

[redheadcarrier]

What does that make her? She doesn't know. She's still trying to re-center her identity after having it all shattered and then precariously glued back together. There's not a lot else she can do but keep going. Move forward. Don't look back. Try not to cry about the people she's lost (that she's losing). She glares up at him, good eye bright as he pins her tool to the table. What's he playing at?

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."

[incinerates]

There are, like, nine of them left on this planet. So, no matter how feels towards the things that Asuka ( or anyone, for that matter ) had done before she'd arrived among the hive, they're the ones who've chosen to finish what they were tasked to do. They need to keep each other both in check, and in mind -- and for Bakugo, who prides himself on his ability to do shit on his own, this is a compromise he's only slightly less than willing to make.

"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?"

[redheadcarrier]

"Of course we chose this," Asuka responds almost immediately, "How could we not choose this? Did they really think that I was going to just give up?" That says more about her than the mystical "they" she speaks of, but she doesn't particularly care. She and Bakugo both know why they're here. They both knew that they have a competitive streak. And despite their mutual frustration and inability to comprehend the other, they're similar in far too many ways.

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?"

[incinerates]

That's a good response. That's -- it's a better response than he was thinking he'd get from such a sour girl. The idea of giving up, throwing in the towel, it's just foreign to Bakugo, as well. His mind burns with the all-consuming desire to win; he views everything as a challenge, even this mission. Especially this mission. It's the first one he's been on. It requires a skillset he doesn't really have. Like hell if that'd stop him from seeing it through.

"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.

[redheadcarrier]

Asuka, for all of her faults and bitterness and her flaws, is still stubborn as all get-out. Especially when it comes to keeping herself going. It's all she has sometimes, so she relies on it. Like now - only a few people are left, everyone else has gone. So she's just going to keep moving until something works or she starts falling apart again.So moving forward is just what's done.

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.

[incinerates]

#Same, Asuka. Moving forward is the only way, like a shark cutting through the water. Sitting around reflecting on shit is a great way to end up becoming useless ( even if the pain creeps closer, and closer, even as you try to fight it off ).

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."

[redheadcarrier]

Asuka, of course, hipchecks right back with a little roll of her eyes. Just like a man - always trying to take control even when he doesn't need to. She throws in a bit of an elbow just for good measure, but there's no venom behind it. Instead, she's quiet and focused as she checks her gear.

"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."