[IC] Monster Hunters

[Oberon Kenobi]

"Not who, what," Penelope answers without missing a beat. "Trying to kill a war. Get into any trouble at the bar this time, Tal?"

[Drewski]

"Not even slightly! So are you guys trying to figure out a way to end the civil war then? My best bet? Capture the heads of both factions and let them fight one on one till they kill each other."

[NeoSeraphi]

Sapphiron's tail curls up and she rubs it idly in her hands. "Oh...it was nothing, really. But I'm definitely going to get stronger. And you will, too!"

She looks up when Talim returns. "Ah...You're already back? Hmm..." She looks past him towards the sky, her brow furrowing a bit.

[Oberon Kenobi]

Penelope's mouth twists into an amused grin. "Like the way you think, Tal, but they've been doing that for fifty years and it hasn't seemed to take. 'Sides, if the queen won it wouldn't solve a thing, they've got heirs for days on the other side. Naw, I figure if you wanted to solve anything with an old-fashioned noble-rustling, you'd have to drop 'em into a situation where they have to work together. It's like that old Firefolk sayin', 'The strongest bonds are forged in the hottest flames.'"

[Drewski]

Penelope's mouth twists into an amused grin. "Like the way you think, Tal, but they've been doing that for fifty years and it hasn't seemed to take. 'Sides, if the queen won it wouldn't solve a thing, they've got heirs for days on the other side. Naw, I figure if you wanted to solve anything with an old-fashioned noble-rustling, you'd have to drop 'em into a situation where they have to work together. It's like that old Firefolk sayin', 'The strongest bonds are forged in the hottest flames.'"

"Maybe the Banished will invade lightening the next time they stick their head out."

[NeoSeraphi]

Aluneth sighs and stands up. He picks up his axe and shoulders it. No point in hanging around anymore. The rain clouds wouldn't go away tonight either.

He heads back to the town. Each step he takes is thunder in his ears. The leaves crunching beneath his boot sounds like the shattering of bone.

When he gets into town, he spies the group standing outside and blinks. "Wow, you guys sure are taking your sweet time."

Sapphiron gasps and darts behind Gela. "H-Hey! Lune, I haven't had a chance to wash up or anything yet!"

Sapphiron addresses her rider by name so rarely that it sounds foreign to the group, though Aluneth always answers the call and no one has yet dared to try and use Sapphiron's nickname for him themselves. The rider rubs the back of his head. "You flew through a rainstorm already. Shouldn't you be plenty clean?"

"That's not the same thing at all!"

"Well, I don't know why you expect there to be a place for you to bathe at a temple!"

"Eh? What?!" She glances at the old man with wide-eyes. "We will be able to clean up at this housing, won't we?"

[hannahbbug3]

"Pff, please. If you want my opinion on the entire matter..." Adim begins when he hears the group talking about the war, but his grandfather cuts him off.

"Now, now, boy, there will be none of that talk. These Riders likely have other things to worry about," he huffs, wheezing a little bit as he continues up the stairs. It takes about five more minutes before the man just flat-out stops, leaning against the mountain to catch his breath. "Oh, mercy. I'm not as young as I once was, it seems. Adim, take these fine folk the rest of the way up to the temple. And keep that tongue of yours inside your head!" he snaps. Then he turns to the rest of you. "I bid you all sleep well in the temple. If you have need of anything, just ask. I'll send Adim out right away to get it," he says, before slowly starting back down the mountain.

Adim shakes his head. "Come on then, you lot. Only two thousand steps left," he says. "Course, I'm sure you all can see where we're going," he says, pointing to the opening in the mountainside. "If you'd rather avoid the climb and just fly up there on your mounts, I wouldn't be bothered. I can carry this," he says, holding up the haversack, "And meet you at the top."

[Drewski]

Talim starts to sport a huge grin, "Hey, Gela want to introduce him to flight?"

"You know I do!"

Talim turns to Adim, "I do believe I made you an offer earlier, want to follow through on it?"

[hannahbbug3]

Adim seems surprised that Talim was actually being serious on his offer, but a smile takes up a good half of his face when he realizes the Rider had been. "I told you earlier, I'm game. Let's do this," he says, looking to Gela.

[NeoSeraphi]

Aluneth raises an eyebrow. "Take the easy way up? What do you take me for?"

Sapphiron raises her hand. "I'll take the easy way up."

She spreads her wings and launches into the air, flying towards the temple.

Aluneth laughs and shakes his head, before crouching into a running stance. "Two thousand steps...I can easily run that in ten minutes. Let's go!"

He takes off.

[Drewski]

Gela kneels down to make it slightly easier to get into the saddle. "Let me strap you in. You're going to want to hold on to these handles, and when you're done with her show boating you should pull on this strap to let her know you're done. Chances are good she won't be able to hear to so remeber that strap. Fair warning if you piss yourself Gela is gonna force you to scrub her down."

"Try not to give him a heartattack"

Gela rolls her eyes, "Well I never!"

Gela launches from the ground and immediately starts to climb. For the rest of the climb, the group hears distant cheers of joy.

[hannahbbug3]

Adim clings tightly to Gela's neck, a bright expression on his features as the dragon lifts off. It's clear he doesn't quite know how to hold on, but strapped in as he is, he's not scared of falling. He lets out a loud whoop and looks over the side of Gela's wing, watching his town shrink below.

[NeoSeraphi]

Sapphiron lands at the temple and runs inside quickly. If there is a pool or something else that she can bathe in, she jumps in and cleans herself off quickly. Otherwise, she will get dressed right away, using the clothes in one of the bags Sunny packed and loaded onto her.

Spoiler

Show

Sapphiron quickly pulls the hat low, and then takes her lenseless glasses out of their case and slips them on over her eyes. She examines herself in the mirror. "Ah...I hope this doesn't look too weird when I don't have any hair..." She fidgets with the hat nervously.

[rs2excelsior]

Hrothrun smiles as the young half-elf takes off, remembering his own first flight with Åska. The mixed terror and joy of being so high off the ground, seeing everything shrink below you... and he hadn't had the benefit of a saddle and being strapped in by an experienced rider. He turns to make a comment about the memory to Åska, only to see that the dragonkin is bounding off after Aluneth up the stairs. "If you want to make it there first, you're going to have to work for it!" Åska calls up to Aluneth as he follows the hunter up the steps.

Hrothrun nods to Gengi as the old half-elf turns to head back down the mountain. "Again, thank you for your hospitality. I'm sure everything will be just fine." He continues in silence for a while, on occasion checking to see if Gengi is making it back down the mountain safely.

[NeoSeraphi]

Aluneth turns and grins back at Aska. "Hah! As if I'd lose to a quadruped going up stairs! How many extra steps do you need to make anyway?!" He waves at her and picks up the pace.

[hannahbbug3]

It is Sapphiron who makes it to the temple, first. It's a fairly large space in the mountain, and seems on all accounts to be abandoned. There are stone pews facing a very beautifully carved wall, but the carvings show their age and distinct shapes are hard to make out. There is a large fountain in the back of the cave which seems to have been used for bathing of some sort which the dragon helps herself to.

There is a smaller entrance leading further back into the mountain, and peeking your head inside, you can see that there are beds in there, more well-maintained than the rest of the place. Though there is a draft, the mattresses at least look clean and dry.

[NeoSeraphi]

Aluneth grunts as he finally manages to make it up the stairs, panting as he glances over at Aska. "A tie?! I...I demand a...rematch...just as soon as...I can breathe again!"

He's about to collapse. This is way too much of a workout.

Sapphiron pokes her head out of the temple. "There you are! Who won?"

"No one!" Aluneth replies in annoyance.

She chuckles. "That's too bad. So....how do I look?"

Sapphiron steps into full view and spins around once to show off her outfit.

Aluneth walks past her without a second glance. "Same as you always do."

"O-Oh..." She bites her lip and nods, then turns around and follows him inside.

[rs2excelsior]

Åska bares his teeth in a grin--or at least as close to a grin as a dragonkin can manage. "That's how you want to play it, then?" He takes off at full speed, bounding up the stairs and sweeping with his wings to help gain an extra bit of speed. "I'll show you two-leg how to handle stairs!"

Upon reaching the top with Aluneth, Åska is breathing heavily, small flickers of flame emanating from his nostrils. He does not contest Aluneth's declaration of a tie--they'd been largely neck-and-neck the entire way up. Instead, he trots inside, finds a source of water, and slurps some down greedily.

Now that the elder is no longer with them, Hrothrun picks up the pace, going up toward the temple at a brisk walk. Neither the climb nor the increasing altitude seem to have any particular effect on him. He watches Gela and Adim swooping around. "I wouldn't mind hearing what he has to say about the state of the war," Hrothrun muses. "Gengi appears kind enough, but seems to have a rather inflated opinion of how he should treat us."

[jesterjeff]

Cor had been following behind Hrothrun. He was curious about Northern traditions of faith but was wary of interference.
As Hrothrun finished, Cor comes up to him.
"Interesting culture. We're not as formalized in the Firelands. What are our current plans? Track down this peryton?"

[NeoSeraphi]

Aluneth shakes his head. "The peryton is in the Ice country. We stopped here for the night so that we can get some sleep."

[rs2excelsior]

Hrothrun nods agreement. "Plus, I think we should investigate the haunted house first. Perhaps that hunter will know something about where the Peryton can be found."

[Oberon Kenobi]

"By the by, if that rank zero mission has any real ghosts, I'll eat my hat." Penelope pauses a moment, then adds "Okay not really, most everything I own is in my hat, but you know what I mean."

She stares off to the northeast, narrowing her eyes and trying to imagine where the border to Ice must be. "Whaddaya reckon the real story is with that place, anyhow? Gotta be something weird, or an old hunter wouldn't have called us in."

Right about then, Razzine touches down next to them, shaking out her wings with a sour expression on her face. "Have I mentioned lately how much I hate the cold? Can't find a decent updraft to save your life around here."

[rs2excelsior]

"You think it's something else?" Hrothrun asks with a half-smile. "Or just a hunter who took one blow to the head too many during his career?"

Åska settles down nearby. "The cold is much more bearable when you can make your own fire, and I have to admit, the Glacier Mountains do make for some nice flying and hunting, but on the whole I agree. Far better when it's warmer out, in my opinion. The cold bites into you, drains your energy. Of course, some people"--he gives a pointed glance at Hrothrun, at which point the dwarf shakes his head with a smile--"seem to actually like that kind of weather."

[Oberon Kenobi]

"Well, I'd be inclined to agree with you, but the feller's been waking up with bruises from what I heard. Not the kinda thing a few lost marbles would inflict on you." She returns the half-smile. "Mind you, that don't perforce rule out a cracked noggin. But even crazy folk have real problems on occasion."

"Oh, I don't even feel the cold," Razzine answers, letting out a small puff of frosty breath. "But I can feel the strain on my wings well enough. Can't imagine what 'some people' see in it."

She looks at the deeper cave and sighs. "I suppose I'd better get to work spinning a hammock. Aska, Sapphiron, would you like me to spin you one as well? No need to sleep on a cold stone floor unless you particularly want to."

[NeoSeraphi]

Sapphiron's ears perk up at her name. "A hammock? Oh...yes, that would be lovely. Thank you, Razzine."

Aluneth sits down and begins sharpening his axe. " Don't be so quick to discount a fellow Hunter. If he's been around the block, I doubt he would ask for help over a few scary noises alone. We may be in for a ride awakening if we assume we're getting all the info up front."

[rs2excelsior]

"I'd been worried about that as well," Hrothrun agrees. "Why does a hunter call other hunters in to deal with a simple problem?"

"Thank you, but I'll stay on the floor," Åska tells Razzine. "I prefer to sleep on warm stone, where I can." He breathes out a gout of hot air, to match Razzine's frost. "Seem like some nice places to rest here, I think."

[NeoSeraphi]

"Unless the request itself is fake?" Aluneth suggests. "Someone poses as the hunter, sets up an easy mission to attract weaker, less-experienced hunters, then robs them blind and kills them when they show up?"

[rs2excelsior]

"If that's the case, they're either incredibly powerful or incredibly foolish," Hrothrun replies with a laugh. "Regardless of how experienced they are, you've got a lot of guts if you willingly call down a group of riders on you. Might be wise to be cautious, just in case... but I doubt we have much to worry about on that front."

[NeoSeraphi]

Aluneth looks over at the kid who showed up with Talim. "So, did you bring any liquor or what? Crack a case open, pull up a seat and grab a mug. I've got a story to tell you."

[hannahbbug3]

Adim's first flight seems to go quite well - he's breathless and his hair is all askew when he gets back to the ground, but there wasn't any screaming in fear and he's still wearing a smile. He's in the process of thanking Talim when Aluneth speaks up. "Oh... are you sure that's all right?" he asks, glancing to the others.