Where we left them, Thorn, Fantasia, Morin, and a werewolf who had not yet specified his name, were off traveling through the mountains of Daresa.
They'd already left the place and were going through the mountains now. There are a lot of trees on Daresa. At least the western part of the main continent. The eastern side was fairly barren, around the Dead Rock Desert.
The scout shifted back into human shape. A wiry built guy of about six foot with long brown hair. Curiously, there happens to be a jagged blond streak running through it as well.
"Don't want to make your elf any more close to panic than he is." He smirked.
"Oh he'll be fine," Fantasia replied with a quiet laugh, picking up immediately on who the intended target was. "Just a little shy and out of his element is all."
Morin didn't look especially reassured by the creature being a man rather than a wolf, but managed to avoid pissing himself as they trekked along through the trees.
The werewolf hopped over a large rock. "Element..." he said quietly, and the air suddenly smells of ozone. "...indeed."
Thorn chuckled softly and preferred to remain a panther as they travel, prowling through the foliage with complete unconcern.
Fantasia wasn't bothered by the werewolf, having grown up around them all her life anyway, and just chuckled softly to herself. There always seemed to be some reason they were pissing on trees and fluffing out.
The mountain had a bit of a path worn in to it in this particular region, and the going wasn't too straining.
"Ahhhh... glorious Gaia," the scout said, taking a deep breath as he walked. "Such a fine creation we have the blessing to live upon."
"You know, 'the mountains' is really a fairly vague direction..." Thorn observed. "She could be anywhere in miles and miles of territory."
Trekking all over the back of beyond was never really her strong suit, and Fantasia just smirked in the direction of the werewolf. Seemed that Shenzel'd been about a bit of evangelism along the way... the Jehovah's Witness of the CoGs? The mind boggled.
The scout turned around. "True, but her scent still might be on the wind if we are nearby."
"If you say," Thorn said.
Morin muttered, "I'm not really equipped or in shape for a mountain hike..."
"The trappings of a soft city life I imagine," the scout said with a snort.
"Too bad I don't have anything of hers," Fantasia mused, then shrugged. "Make things a lot easier, but where's the fun in that? Heh."
Thorn replied, "And I'm no canine, but still."
Morin rolled his eyes at the wolf-man's comment and said, "I'll have you know that I once... um... planted rutabagas."
The scout laughed. "Ever been on a hunt, elf?"
"Well, some people have tried to eat me before... but I don't think that counts."
Fantasia smirked at the wolf, then yawned very pointedly at him. "Have you? Not one of the sissy ones in the woods, but the real-time and hardcore ones in the urban sprawl? That's where real skill comes in, rather than barking at trees and sniffing each others' tails."
A bolt of electricity arced up the scouts body, and his eyes glowed white. "Watch yourself. You may be our guests, but insults do not fall lightly within the clan."
Morin eeped quietly and hopped a couple stepped away from him.
"And you expect that someone's going to back down when you insult her friends? I don't think so, wolfboy." Fantasia replied, smirking still. "You want respect? Give and earn it, pal."
"Hmph! He cannot even shift!" The scout turned to face forward again, hair growing from his arms and legs. He wasn't quite going crinos, but he was annoyed and mutters to himself as he walked and periodically sniffed the air.
Thorn rolled her eyes a bit and said firmly, "Enough posturing. We have a quest to undertake."
Fantasia chuckled lightly. "You think that's all there is to be proud of, furball? Most of my work in the past has been done without a flash of anything but skin." She glanced over at Thorn and grinned. "And you're right, but hey, can't let them go off and huffy without saying anything, now can I? Well, suppose I could, but I'd get my Ragabash membership card revoked." Fantasia giggled.
Morin looked about ready to dart up the nearest tree. As they continued on up through the forest, the trees began to thin somewhat and the ground became more rocky.
A low snarl was heard from the front, but nothing else. He sniffed the air and paused, cocking his head slightly. "Hmm."
Fantasia ambled over near Morin, leaning close to whisper, "Relax..." before licking his cheek lightly and skipping ahead.
Cliffs and valleys ranged ahead of them, peaks spiring up into the sky in the distance. Daresa was a young world, and the mountains were strong and stark, untouched by the ravages of time.
"Something is in the air, although I'm not certain it is Shenzel," the werewolf said.
As they continued on, they spotted a skull on the end of a stick jutting out of the ground, tied with a bunch of dirty feathers.
With a shrug, Fantasia shifted down to the smaller and fleeter pure fox form. Not great for communication but definitely better for testing the air and keeping an eye out. Particularly good when they start running across things like that. Ew. Ick. Blech.
Thorn took one glance at the thing and snorted, "Orcs."
Lupus snarled and shifted into crinos quickly.
Morin stuttered, "Th-that's an elf skull..."
Returning to the hybrid form, Fantasia snorted lightly. "Thinking with your claws again? Whatever these are, there's probably more of them than us. Bigger is not better when stealth is needed."
"I hope you people are either good with magics or physically fit enough to defend yourselves," the werewolf said.
Fantasia rolled her eyes, muttering to herself as she dug through the old Ragabash bag of tricks. "Defending, clawing, yadayadayada, it's all about the wolfosterone, always. Ugh. Anyway... Blur of the Milky Eye. Yeah, that'll do it."
Morin took a deep breath and put his hands together, shadows encompassing his form. "They might be able to snap my bones like a twig... but they will never get close enough to touch me."
Lupus turned to face Fantasia. "Woman, what form do you think I was in whilst I stalked you in the woods?"
"Ugly as always?" Fantasia asked sweetly, then vanished suddenly from sight.
"I am nowhere near the biggest of our pack, but I am the quietest. Not that extreme stealth is needed to get past orcs..." He bared his teeth at the last known location of the kitsune and turned back forward.
Thorn was just continuing loping by without much concern to the orc totem.
Fantasia loved this one, she really did, moving over near Morin to add a bit of the mojo to his passage as well. A faint blur seemed to distort the world as she touched his arm lightly, that was all he can tell though he could see her now. To the others, he simply vanished.
"C'mon," she said quietly, "They wanna be silly, they can, but may as well play it smart on this end." She turned to continue along after Thorn.
They saw more skulls on poles as they walked through the area, and even came into sight of some of the smelly creatures, but passed by uninhibited and apparently unseen or unheard.
That one really was one of Fantasia's favorites, the senses just not seeing or otherwise detecting what was there. Didn't work against vidcams, but who the hell had one of those out here? She imagined a loudspeaker crackling out 'Attention Orkmart shoppers, today's special...' Hmph.
Finally, they moved out of sight of the skull totems, and thankfully upwind of the orc village. That was one little potential problem avoided, Fantasia mused with a smirk, sticking her tongue out in the direction of the village as they passed it by. Better by far than having to get bloody. Whereas their scout wanted to either shred or fry each of them, but he was smart enough to understand discretion.
They circled the rim of a low, green valley. The stars were covered by thick clouds now, and there was a hint of rain in the air.
"Ugh," Fantasia muttered, looking up at the clouds distastefully, letting the illusion slip away in shreds from around them, "Wet fur is not a good smell."
"Do you wish to shelter for the night?" Lupus asked.
Thorn snorted softly and said, "What's a little rain?"
Morin said, "But I thought cats hated water..."
"It's not just about a little rain," Fantasia replied, sticking her tongue out in Thorn's direction this time. "It's the smell of wet woof hair, you ever smell a wet dog? Worst. Smell. Ever."
"Would you prefer to go back to the orcs and hide in their caves?" Thorn asked.
"You wish to shelter," the scout said, looking with a flat face at the fox.
Fantasia smirked at their 'native guide', then returned to reply to Thorn, "No, not exactly, but not looking forward to a nice, chilling rain. Ever seen a fox sniffle and sneeze? Pitiful sight." She didn't really care either way, more looking for something to entertain on the way.
Thorn sighed. "Oh, fine. Let's head down into that valley and seek out the caves. They run all through these mountains, and not all of them are inhabited by orcs or worse."
Fantasia grinned at the sigh, dark eyes glinting with amusement. "It was a joke, Thorn. You need to loosen up a bit too." She chuckled, digging the pad of paper out of her pocket again to begin folding a scrap of it.
The scout shifted to full wolf and trotted along, sniffing a good thirty feet from cave entrances. Didn't want to get overpowered by Odeur d' Orc.
There was, indeed, a tunnel winding into the mountains nearby, and no sign of orc habitation and no scent of any creatures, hostile or otherwise, within. The scout yipped quietly and trotted around outside of it.
Thorn looked over and said, "That looks good." A few droplets of water were beginning to fall, and one landed on Fantasia's nose.
After they were all inside, the scout stood out in the rain and looked in. One would swear he was smiling.
Fantasia shrugged, murmuring to herself. "What's that, Lassie? Timmy fell down the old well again? Admit it, you pushed him!" She flipped out the design she'd been folding to examine the miniature umbrella, then headed inside.
After getting sopping wet, the wolf happily trotted inside and right up to the kitsune, upon which he promptly and quite vigorously shook himself dry.
Morin ducked inside shortly after Thorn. He gave the wet canine a wide berth.
Fantasia just looked at the wolf and smirked. "I've seen better." She moved to one side of the cave and sat on the ground, unshipping her pack and sifting through it.
He shifted back into human form and wrung his hair out. "I don't particularly care."
Morin said, "I hope there aren't any Balrogs down here."
"Got that in common," Fantasia grinned, digging out a polished case and setting it aside for the moment as she dragged out a towel to brush out her whiskers. "Balrogs? Not unless there's fire and shadow. Any volcanos around?"
Thorn replied, "Yep."
Morin didn't sound much encouraged, but he was mainly joking anyway.
"Well that's just a tad bit creepy," Fantasia remarked, stuffing the towel back into the pack. "Good thing I have something old Geezdalf didn't." She snagged the case again and opened it, checking the contents carefully.
The scout sat down against a wall and closed his eyes, zoning out.
"Fashion sense?" Morin suggested.
Fantasia looked over and giggled. "Well, there's that too." She snapped the case closed after taking a holster and gun out of it, then stuffed it back into her pack before rising and re-donning it.
Thorn said, "Hey, no napping on the job, this tunnel heads further in and we can get a few good miles out of it and get us closer to where she went."
"Well, you seem to know where to go..." the scout said, stretching.
"Who said anything about napping?" Fantasia grinned, going through several contortions to settle the holster under one arm, then pats it with loving familiarity. "Just thought I'd get ready for orcs and the other nasty things in the deep, dark parts of the world."
Thorn said, "I hope there aren't any orcs down here. Or Balrogs. Whatever those are."
Thorn loped down the tunnel, which was fairly wide and winds down deep into the mountains.
"They're a bit nastier than grues," Fantasia replied. "Tall, dark, and ugly, fire and smoke all over the place. Bad risk for renting to."
"You mean demons?" Thorn asked.
"Mmyup." Fantasia nodded in bright affirmation. "Think they'd fit the bill."
"Oh, cheerful," Thorn said. "But no, I don't know of a great many demons on Daresa at least. Not since the entrance to the Abyss got moved away from here again."
The scout followed in silence, listening to the talk of the unnatural.
"Oh, well that's just a cheerful thought." Fantasia snickered, then shrugged. "Hey, what's a little trip down into the mines of Moria without a chance of a horde of orcs crawling like spiders down the pillars and big, buff, and ugly coming through to ruin everyone's day?"
Morin said, "And no bridges in sight to stand on top of and says 'You shall not pass!'."
"No, definitely no bridges," Fantasia replied. "I don't have a stick, and the only one I'd think would be gruff enough to stay back and bluff would be old lightning fuzzy over there."
"Such derisive terms of a nature we both share, fox," Lupus said.
It was rather dark in the tunnel. Thorn didn't seem to be having any difficulty in the lack of light, and Morin didn't seem too inconvenienced.
Lupus made Fantasia's hair stand on end. As her fur poofed out to leave a black button nose and eyes all that showed through the snow white, Fantasia looked over at the wolf and grinned brightly.
"Don't tempt a Ragabash, bucko," Fantasia said. "Shenzel never warned you about us? We got things to do, so I'm playing nice for now."
"Hmph," Lupus said. "You can dish them out but you can't take them?"
Fantasia just grinned and turned away without another word, letting him make what conclusion he can from it.
Morin said, "Er... Pardon my ignorance, but what exactly is a 'Ragabash'?"
"Tricksters," Fantasia replied lightly. "Monkey-wrenchers of the worst kind, and an auspice the Ahrouns always thought twice about crossing. Sure, you got claws and teeth... what happens when they humiliate you in front of the whole tribe? Hehe."
Morin blinked. "Oookay... now what's an auspice? And what's an Ahroun?"
"Oy." Fantasia grinned, rolling her eyes. "Sorry, I keep forgetting that I'm not running with wise guys anymore. A shapeshifter's Auspice is determined by what phase of the moon they're born under. Ragabash is new, Theurge is quarter, Philodox is half, Galliard is three-quarter, and Ahroun is full. That tends to change temperaments and inclinations too. Tricksters, healers and mystics, peace-keeper, bard, and warrior. Lot more to it than that, but..." Fantasia shrugged.
"So what exactly does that mean, then, for shapeshifters from a planet with no moons?" Morin asks in confusion, glancing to Thorn and Lupus.
"Notta clue," Fantasia replied, grinning brightly. "Guess that means they get to be snarly, grouchy piles of fluff."
"Gaia decides for us since there are no moons here," Lupus replied. "It is made certain that all Auspices have members."
"Oh, oh!" Fantasia added. "That also applies only to the Garou, since the other shapeshifters have other means of determining things, like night/day cycles, times of season, yadayadayada."
Thorn said, "I certainly have no idea."
There was the faint sound of water that could be heard from further down the caverns.
"Yes, we are Gaia's chosen." Lupus smirked at Fantasia. Of course, emphasizing we as Garou.
Thorn rolled her eyes some more. He was definitely not winning any friends in that direction.
Fantasia chuckled. "Small correction there... Her warriors. Each breed had their task, whether healers for the bears, eyes for the cats, ravens... well, they talk a lot."
Hell, Lupus wasn't worried about friends ever since Fantasia decided to make it a point to infuriate him.
The sound of water grew louder. Whatever was ahead was no small stream.
"Hmm," Fantasia muttered, ears perking forward at the increasing sound of water rushing. "Anyone got a bigger boat?"
Morin said, "I'm afraid I left my yacht at home."
The scout walked ahead, looking for any sort of passage.
"Tsk, and I'm fresh out of rafts," Fantasia replied. "Left my last one in the land of the lost."
They came to a deep gorge with a huge rushing river blocking progress further down this tunnel fairly effectively. There were no handy stone bridges or staircases across either.
"Any magics to assist us across?" the scout asked.
Fantasia went near the edge and looks down, idly toeing a loose rock to go clattering allllllll the way to land with a splash at the bottom. "Riiiiight," she said, looking at the rest of them. "Any ideas on getting across?"
Morin said, "Don't look at me."
Thorn smirked, "Guess that leaves me, then..."
Fantasia grinned and shrugged. "Oh, I've an idea or two, but nothing anyone would probably like much."
Thorn walked up to the edge of the cliff and vines proceeded to grow from the solid rock, stretching across the gap and entwining themselves with similar vines growing from the other side.
"That works," the scout said, testing a foot on it.
Fantasia shifted down to the smaller form, waiting for the thinnest appearance of solidity to emerge in her estimation, then moving to scurry quickly across. No fear of heights or anything else, not for this one.
The minute they were all fully on the bridge, however, the vines snapped under their weight. The scout jogged on it, leaping about three-fourths of the way across.
Well, Fantasia mused to herself as she expects to experience a very Wile E. Coyote-esque moment shortly, last time she'd trust her four or so pounds to a vine bridge. Her paws scrabbled for purchase madly for a moment, then surrendered to the inevitable and curled into a ball as she dropped.
Thorn tried to shift into elf form to grab hold of the vine desperately, but slipped away. Then she clenched her teeth and more vines shoot out growing rapidly beneath them and forming a net that caught the four of them mere feet above the surface of the churning, icy waters.
Fantasia bounced lightly in the net, blinking at the sudden turn of fortune and uncurling to settle small paws carefully on the mesh. Morin went flaccid in the net and proceeded to piss himself. Lupus slipped on his leap attempt and fell into the net.
Thorn relaxed into the net once she realized it was solid and secure and let out a sigh of relief. "That wasn't quite intended."
Fantasia bounced again as heavier bodies impacted on the net, then carefully moved toward one of the walls and looked up and up and up. Ugh.
Thorn remained laying there so as to distribute her weight across the net, and stares up. "Now, how are we going to get up there again?"
The scouts shrugged. "Don't think my magics are too useful above spraying water, unless you all want to be electrocuted."
Brushing up against the very edge of the net against the wall, Fantasia carefully shifted and laughed, the glum expressions of her companions priceless. "Well we climb, of course," she said with a grin, "What else do we do? Don't see any helicopters hovering around to drop a line."
Morin said, "Oh Gods, I think my life just passed before my eyes."
"Yeah, ain't it great?" Fantasia giggled.
He was currently too busy freaking out to offer any constructive suggestions.
Thorn said, "Suppose I could try a vine rope, or a ladder or something..."
The scout concentrated, shifting his hands and feet to clawed versions, and started up the wall.
Fantasia grinned and followed after the wolfman, not particularly inclined to trusting to plants anymore for the moment. She had rope, all she had to do was get up there.
Vine ropes snaked along the rock face.
Fantasia quickly slipped and fell back into the net as she failed to make purchase against the cliff and small rocks broke off.
"Erf," Fantasia muttered.
Lupus got some ways up and then fell in such a manner that wound him up with a vine between the legs and his toes in the water. The net jolted and shuddered but held for the moment.
"MMmmmfff..." Lupus's eyes were squinted shut.
Thorn managed a vine rope leading back up to the top again. Thorn nudged Morin toward the rope. "Come on, Morin. Start climbing up, I'll make sure it holds... or try at any rate."
Morin, terrified, grabbed the vine and started climbing up, clinging to it for dear life. Some ways up, it proceeded to snap and dropped him back into the net. This time the net couldn't take the hit and snapped loose...
Lupus made a grab for the vine! He managed to grab hold of something still anchored down and avoided being swept away in the current.
Thorn wasn't so lucky, though. Morin managed to grab onto one of the vines and swept Fantasia under an arm protectively.
Lupus tried like hell to climb. This time, whether through sheer iron will or having found a better climbing route, Lupus managed to climb up the rock face.
Fantasia bleched, shivering at the chill of the water, and held on for dear life.
He shifted to crinos to give himself a bit more reach, and stretched down for Morin. "Give me your hand!"
Thorn managed to snag a hold of a rock in the icy current and avoided being swept further downstream.
With his free hand (that is, the one not holding onto Fantasia), Morin tried to reach out and take his hand, but the current was too much for him. Thorn managed to reach out a hand and snagged him.
"Damnit all..." Lupus muttered.
Thorn tried to get a hold on things again and some more vines growing, but failed to concentrate on it and her hand slipped free of the rock.
Lupus broke one of the vines on the rocks, pulled it clear and attempted to extend it down to the beleaguered crew.
"GAIA!" Lupus bellowed, hoping for a little divine favor.
As they were swept along in the current, a hole in reality was torn open in front of them and they flew through, along with a good amount of icy water before it got closed again. They were back on top of the cliff again, on the other side of the river.
Lupus noticed some water falling on his head from above, and crawled back up onto terra firma.
Morin released Fantasia and Thorn and lay there panting. At least his soiled trousers were no longer noticeable given the sodden nature of the rest of his clothing.
Teeth-chattering, Fantasia turned her head up to look at Morin. "Remember... before... portal. Thanks." She curled up against him just for warmth, looking horribly bedraggled at the moment.
Lupus shook himself dry, reverted to human form and knelt, thanking Gaia for her aid.
Morin shivered and said, "Hate to burst your bubble... but that was me, not Gaia..."
Fantasia chuckled raggedly, shivering, but said nothing at the moment. Better a power you knew than a cranky goddess any day.
Lupus ignored Morin.