Hourly Xeno April 2020 Adventure/Exploration
a/n: H.B. teaches a new dog some old tricks. She teaches him right back.
On Twitter, there is a regular hourly challenge for Xeno series. Do as much art as you can in one hour. April 2020 Adventure/Exploration.
All the good things belong to Monolith Soft; Veena is an OC Interceptor and Friend of Frye.
H.B. hadn't hurried to the summons in the Repenta parking lot. The spelling in Frye's text had been fairly correct and it was low on exclamation points, which indicated that no drunken disaster was immanent. However, the request had also called H.B. "the only hope," so he hadn't dawdled either. Upon arrival he searched the area but couldn't spot his ice-haired hot-head friend until he looked over at the covered patio section. Frye was sitting at a table, a beer at his elbow, talking earnestly with another BLADE.
"Frye, it would help if you were more detailed when requesting support," H.B. nagged the older man.
"H.B., buddy, you showed up just in time to prevent a disaster!" Frye smiled brightly, while the woman next to him flicked angry dark eyes at H.B. "You remember Veena, right?"
"We teamed at Christmas. You told me to mind my own business," she said flatly.
H.B. didn't need the reminder. Veena had been capable if overly helpful, shy at first and then ice cold when he rejected her assistance. He'd regretted it at the time, but that mission had been a bit of a mistake from beginning to end. He didn't want to apologize, but he did listen a little more attentively to Frye's request.
"You see, buddy, Veena here is dumping us Interceptors. Breaking my heart because she needs to find herself."
"I want to try new things, Frye."
"You called us janitors. Like that's a bad thing."
"You have to admit, it's always the same kind of mission. Go out, kill a dozen of indigen A, kill eight indigen B, come home, grab a new mission. Always the same locations, always the same low level enemy."
"We're keeping the streets safe, girl."
"It's gotten old. If I keep doing it, I'm going to start doing a half-hearted job and that's going to put everyone in danger."
H.B. interrupted the banter. "You're interested in Pathfinders?"
"No." "Yes." Veena and Frye didn't seem to agree. The woman sulked while Frye explained. "See, I figure if she goes out with the best of the best," and here he fluttered his invisible eyelashes at H.B., "she might give you Pathforkers a chance instead of certain other divisions."
"He means Harriers," Veena said.
Frye made gagging noises.
"If you wish to avoid monotony, you'd be wise to consider other divisions rather than Harriers," H.B. said. "Repetitious enemies, brutish battles, and conversation to match."
"Plus they can't hold their liquor," Frye offered.
xcxcxcxcxcxcxc
A few days later, H.B. set out with Veena, flying west to Noctilum. He had a training mission planned, one he reserved for recent initiates to the Pathfinders. Frye might have wanted him to convince Veena to join Pathfinders rather than the rivals of the Interceptors, but H.B. wasn't rushing to do anything of the kind. Not everyone was born to be a Pathfinder. More than specific skills, his fellow division members needed an ineffable quality that embraced the unknown. He hadn't bothered detailing the importance of map making skills, weather analysis, or hydrology to Veena. She seemed apt enough to be able to learn those things eventually. What he really wanted to test was her spirit in the face of the unknown. Sadly, there weren't many unmapped hexes left on the grid, but there were still known experiences that modeled those first heady days of exploration.
He got his first indication of her nature as they crossed the wide plain outside NLA. "Turn off you map, please," H.B. ordered her. She did, silently, just as she'd been silent during the entire mission prep. H.B. hoped that she wasn't still holding a grudge about his impatience during the earlier mission. She would be pleased by the next order, he expected. "You'll need to guide us to the Skybound Coil Tree landmark. Low flight, please."
Veena didn't say a word to indicate that she appreciated the responsibility he was giving her. He kept his opinions to himself, letting her bump along slowly, even heading into a false corner. Just as he was about to correct her, she said, "Oops, not this way. What's behind the waterfall anyway? Anyone check it?"
"That isn't our mission," he reminded her, at the same time burning with the urge to check it out.
She made a course correction, and the rest of the trip passed without remark. At the foot of the twisting tree, she spoke again. "Now what?"
"Over there is our real destination." He pointed to a grey and uninteresting mountain face that led to a jagged peak.
"Wall climbing. Great."
At the base of the cliff, they parked their skells. "You have two minutes to examine the terrain," he instructed her.
"Not much to fight here," she said.
"Fighting is not the point, or are you already regretting leaving your sheltered pool?" She didn't reply, turning her dark eyes to scan the rocks in front of her. H.B.'s comm device chimed. "Time's up. Please put this on." He handed her a blindfold.
She accepted the strip of dark cloth. "Low tech. Why?"
"As Pathfinders, even in perfectly mapped areas, we face unknown situations. We won't know the enemy, we won't know the weather, we won't know the condition of parties in need of rescue. Sometimes we are literally as blind as if we were wearing this 'low tech' hindrance." He walked behind her and tightened the knot of the cloth slightly. "I can't risk taking you on that kind of mission, but I can give you a challenge that approaches that level of difficulty."
"Understood. Am I climbing alone or...?"
"I'll be beside you all along the way, and I'll give you advice. You'll have to trust me."
"I trust myself. Let's go."
She had walked confidently where he led her, and had begun the climb without any further complaint. The journey was slow, slower than with the usual Pathfinder recruit, but she hadn't grumbled. It wasn't stoicism, or at least H.B. didn't think he saw that kind of grim determination on her face. He saw focus and a flicker of curiosity that made her smile, but she didn't share her thoughts. At one point, she pressed her cheek to the cliff face, not from tiredness, but as if she was listening to mountain for a moment. He wondered what she heard, and was distracted enough to slip. He reminded himself that he also need to focus on the training.
They reached the hardest part of the course in good time. True, she had never grown quick in her movements, but she had been steady. Along the way, Veena had rested while exploring for each handhold, so they hadn't needed to take a break. This, however, was a different kind of challenge.
"You'll need to reach backwards to grab of a ledge above you," H.B. informed her.
"How far back?" she asked.
"Slightly more than a meter."
She breathed deeply and stretched away from the wall. He knew that it was the most frightening part of the climb. She would have to give up the safety of the rock and grab for the unseen. She managed to catch it with her fingertips. Stretched between the old hand hold and the new edge, she swayed. Then, before he could encourage her, she arched back and grabbed the edge with the other hand, dangling in thin air. She pulled herself up. When H.B. followed, she was still crouched low, feeling the edges of the broad ledge.
"You can stand up," he told her.
"Let me find my stomach first," she said. This was the first hint that she had indeed felt a natural terror.
He decided to cheer her on. "The last section is quite undemanding. The slope is quite mild. We might even race to the top," he offered.
"I'm fine without that," she muttered, but she flashed a small smile at him.
He had been untruthful about the ease of the last part of the trip. Yes, the slope was mild and the handholds plentiful, but the rock was light and crumbly. More than one recruit had slid straight back to the ledge, requiring them to repeat the climb, sometimes more than once. Veena's steady care prevented even the slightest loss of ground. In fact, H.B. had to scramble to catch up to her, having chosen an inopportune rock or two along the way. She was perched on the peak, crouched and attentive, when he joined her.
"Very good," he praised her. "You can take off your blindfold now."
"Thanks," she said distractedly, already fumbling with the cloth. When she had freed her eyes, she gasped. "Wow."
"Yes."
"I always forget how gorgeous it can be. My teams are always in a rush to get someplace, or get something done. We don't take much time to just ... look." She was swiveling her head around, taking in the forest shimmering in mist below, the blue waves that embraced the Noctilum continent, the horizon flickering with a warning of sunset.
"Maybe the best advantage of being a Pathfinder is that our job is sometimes just that: we look." H.B. began to point out important landmarks that most people would miss if they weren't informed. He was looking away from her, which is why he was completely surprised when she shoved him off the peak.
He landed in a scatter of dirt on the ledge below. He stood up, furious but unhurt. He took a moment to dust himself off before he started to respond, but she continued to pelt him with more debris. He was stunned at such petty behavior over an uncomfortable interaction months before. He brushed more dirt from his shoulder, only to realize it was fragments of insect stinger. He gazed up at Veena and realized she was fighting, swinging a bulky sword at a cloud of flying enemy.
H.B. scrambled up after her, dodging the indigen appendages raining down, and reached her just as she was sheathing her ridiculously over-sized and flowery Nopon long sword. She grinned at him, the curve of her lips gentle and utterly unlike one of Frye's lupine smile but just as satisfied. "Now we can enjoy the view. What were you saying about the lagoon?"
a/n: Veena showed up in "Secret Santa with Frye and H.B." and yes, H.B. did her wrong and should be ashamed.
I was legit worried that this challenge was over. If you want the details about it, hit me up. They are mostly visual artists, but they welcome written stuff too.