Roadtrip to hell - and hopefully back again (Sairque)

by **Rista** on August 21st, 2011, 5:43 pm

Thoughts swirled in her head, mingled with the instructions she had been given and tried to take her focus away from the task; a faint feeling of nausea caused by nervousness made the girl swallow, and she looked a little pale as Sairque finished talking. A faint "Yes Endal" was all she managed before the woman stepped away to place herself at the back of the group, leaving Rista alone in front of the group to deal with the other yasi. The mongrel took a deep breath and tried to gather herself; closing her eyes for a moment, she went through the list of items in the bag, hoping that it would serve to calm her mind a bit. Wearing her normal leather vinati with shoulder straps along with her knee-high boots that she had tucked the bryda into, along with a pair of leather gloves on her hands, she felt more than prepared to walk for a long time. She had packed a blanket and a rope, a bit of dry rations she had snatched from dinner the day before, she had a pair of extra bryda, a sewing kit in case anything tore, a full skin of water. Strapped to the outside of her backpack was her Katinu and the unstrung shortbow and quiver, filled with ten of her arrows; her private weapon, bought to accommodate to her short stature. She also had some things from a trapping kit she had found once, thin leather strings to make small snares from, and tucked into the waistline of her bryda at the small of her back was a larger hunting knife...

Feeling how she slowly regained her composure, Rista rearranged her face into the scowl she normally wore and swept around to stare at her comrades, taking in their features once more. She noticed how two of the girls slipped apart and only reluctantly looked over at her; they were so similar that they could have been sisters, with long curly hair that was tied back with scarves and identical dark-blue eyes. Surely very pretty, but Rista cared more about the contempt with which they looked at her. Moving on, she looked at the third girl, the one that had questioned Sairque; she was tall for being a fourteen year old girl, with short cropped hair aside from a few braids that dangled behind the ears and a short ponytail at the neck. She had intelligent-looking green eyes, and seemed more doubtful than full of scorn; might be a nice change. The boys on the other hand.. One being tall and muscular with pale, almost blond hair, appeared to see himself as quite the charmer; his blue eyes were brazen as they looked her over, apparently more concerned with her curves than the hard black eyes that scrutinized him. The other was his pure opposite; short and scrawny, the boy looked like he was a bit younger than the rest, with flaring orange hair and slightly outstanding teeth, lots of freckles and a nervous smile whenever the brazen guy whispered something to him.

And then there was her, dark-haired, black-eyed with a sharp tongue and a short temper, always on her guard against insults and prepared to think the worst of anyone. What a group. It felt like it would take a miracle for all of them to get back here safe and sound; Rista would do her best, but she couldn't help the feeling of doom that hovered like a dark could over her head. Armoring herself with the contempt she felt for these people, her voice was sharp and a bit snappy as she began talking; it was best to just focus on the task, she could worry about what they might think of her later.

"Alright then, here's the deal" she began and adjusted the weight on her back before folding the arms under her chest, letting the gaze move between the others. "We're going to be away for ten days, five days out and five days back; with a bit of luck and if nothing unforeseen occurs, we'll be standing here again sometime during the 24th day. During that time, we will hunt for food, search for water and learn to navigate in the wild; there will be some climbing, so make sure you have good shoes on your feet." Making sure to keep her words short and to the point, Rista basically just repeated the things she had been told by the Endal; it left no room for discussion, at least not so far.

"I want you all to keep your eyes open; everyone will hunt for themselves, so have your bows or slings at the ready all the time in case we come across any wild game on the way. You should also keep an eye out for edible plants and berries that you know; if you find any, tell the rest of us so we can learn about them too. Try to keep your voices down so we don't attract any unwanted attention. I'm not saying you can't talk, but do so quietly." Reaching for the map, she waved for the others to gather around her as she unfolded the sheath on the ground. Not bothering about to compass - since it was a rather rare device, not something they could be expected to have all the time - she showed how to align the map with the real quarters, and pointed to the place she had chosen as their first camp.

"Today we're going to this point" she said and looked up, wanting to make sure that everyone saw and understood before she folded the map again and put it away. "We'll try not to stop more than twice, to rest a little and prepare any eventual game we might catch along the way; if anything happens that needs Endal Sairque's attention then tell me, otherwise try to keep the distractions to a minimum. It's going to be a long day, so lets do out best to make it a good one. Everyone understand?" She waited until everyone had nodded ever so slightly before she stood up again and reached for her bow and an arrow to keep at the ready.

"Good, then take out your weapons and get ready. You and you" she said and pointed to the tall boy and one of the curl-haired girls, "will look specifically for any kind of water along the way, while you two" she gestured for the other girl and the scrawny boy "check for any kind of plants that looks edible. And you" she said and turned to the short-haired girl, "I hope you don't mind helping me to keep us on the right track. No complaining!" she added quickly and frowned more deeply at the faces; all but the last girl seemed discontent, for some reason Rista couldn't figure out. "We'll switch tasks tomorrow, as we see how things work out, so don't argue. Everyone will do everything with everyone; we're a group, so try and act like one. Now get going, we're heading that way."

She took a deep breath once the yasi finally began to move, and tucked a spare bowstring inside her vinati to keep it close before she began to move, lengthening her stride until she could take the spot at the front of the group; a glance went to see where the Endal would choose to go. As far as Rista was concerned, she felt it was all good since she had managed to get them going; she hadn't noticed the whispering girls, nor did she see the foul grimaces they made at her back. Glad to finally be on her way, she tried to smile a bit at the tall girl by her side, but stopped as she was rewarded with nothing but a short, cool glance; fine then, she wouldn't bother. She bit back a sigh and led them out onto the road, planning to follow it until they found a suitable trail down from it that led in the direction they were heading towards. So far so good... It was still going to be a long trip.

by **Sairque** on September 8th, 2011, 7:36 pm

The attitude with which Rista addressed the group nearly made the Endal gawk. One, such a drop in composure would not have been dignified. Two, it also wouldn’t have done well for the mongrel’s self confidence. The hackles were high, in all of the youths, with their stiff backs and varying degrees of scowl. They seemed to adjust, Sai noted, as the half-breed continued with the no-nonsense outline of their plans, losing a bit of that obnoxious effrontery. Taking strict charge, being short and to the point, the half-breed had done a good job of covering up that pasty nausea that would have shattered any semblance of control. Once more, Sai patted herself on the back for picking this one out.

As tasks were divvied up, Sai scrambled to pull out a corner of parchment and find a broken char stick she was sure was in the same pocket somewhere. Ah, there. Petch, she’d given the only nice one to Rista; the writing device pinched between thumb and forefinger was about as long as a fingernail. Next time she wasn’t giving out her own supplies no matter how much the one in need reminded her of Kovac. Rista would not turn out like him.

Tall kid with weird neck rash = water
Snotty curly hair = water
Stick boy = plants
Stubby curly hair = plants

Sai glanced up, self-amused smile fading, as Rista asked for the tall girl to help instead of just ordering her about like the others. Brows lifted, yellow eyes darting between the two of them. The mongrel didn’t frown as much at her, she looked...hesitantly unguarded. The girl, on the other hand, looked bored. A match made by the Gods.

Rista’s friend = navigation

Yeah, the prescribed and premature moniker brought a quiet snort from the Endal.

Mongrel = Group Leader

With the names and tasks written out, a quick table was sketched around them with empty boxes for their grades. Sai eyed the organizational creation and felt a bit proud of coming up with such a neat looking scholarly tool. Who said Endals weren’t literary? It was literary, right? Dropping the nubbin char stick back into her bag and folding the parchment to tuck into a pocket, Sai hurried to catch up with the hastily departing group.

Well into what a certain high strung youth would consider mid-day, the ill-prepared party quit Wind Reach and made their first tracks toward the risks and consequences of leaving the Inarta haven. The curly haired girls fell into step next to each other, bows limp in hand, while the boys took up residence between them and Rista, bows swinging around at every little nook that perhaps a ferocious chipmunk could ambush from. Neck Rash swaggered in a manner that should be reserved solely for comedic efforts, and his partner was bound to walk off a cliff with the way he kept looking over his hunched shoulder to the girls. Rista...well, Sai couldn’t see the short little mongrel through the other kids. Satisfied at the subdued nature with which they followed directions, Sai paused to throw a leg over her bow and string it. The wood resisted stubbornly and the group had trekked out of sight by the time she’d wrangled it into submission.

A faint pang of worry discomfited the Endal as she situated her arrows for ease of access where they were strapped to her bag. If those kids got lost there was no telling what would happen to them before being found. Worst yet, she’d have to tramp all over the place searching for their broken little bodies. Oh, the faith, or lack thereof, required to expect these scenarios while still on the Sanikas Road.

Quite the mother hen you are, echoed faintly in her mind, drawing a snort and immediate relief.

Quite a tardy pants you are, she rejoined to Catabasis, who swept low over the group of kids, his red highlights ablaze in the strength of Syna, and took up his aerial watch.

When we spoke this morning you seemed quite bent on not attending this duty, Sai.

Well, you know...duty and all that shyke can’t be avoided, she offered up with lame nonchalance. He was silent for a moment, golden eyes scouring the landscape for anything and everything that would be of interest to the vulnerable land-tethered party. Belatedly, she realized he was also digging around through her mind.

Ah, Val set you on a mission, hmn? he asked even while shooting her a mental image of the group breaking away from the road and heading cross country...quite some distance ahead of her. Petch, Rista walked fast. Deigning not to answer, Sai relayed a mental image of the map with the mongrel’s finger pointing to the creek she’d selected as their tree-lined camp for the evening. Confident in his experience and capabilities, no instructions need be relayed. He would make sure they stayed on track, note game and predators, and relay all important tidbits to the ground.

Of course, Sai had no illusions about food or predators this close to Skyinarta. There were neither. The land had been so overhunted that nothing but vegetation and rodents would be found. On the thin, dusty track, they walked single file with Sai brining up the rear. Stick boy got several checkmarks in his little square over the course of their travel. Frequently, she found herself cleaning her fingernails with a knife while waiting for him to finish rooting around on the ground in observation of a possibly edible plant. After his third or fourth time, she’d discreetly informed him that he should be showing his partner the plants too, and inform her in what he was looking for. She wasn’t impressed, a fact he was awkwardly aware of. Oh, the follies of youth.

It wasn’t until mid-afternoon that they needed to venture off track and cross several rolling hills. Sai waited for Rista to come to this conclusion as well, it was scary heading off the easily-navigatable path for the first time with five pairs of hostile eyes at your back. As the mongrel paused to double check, Sai brushed through the youths and came abreast of her. Letting the navigation team do their duty, she waited for a report before stepping in.

Neck Rash, meanwhile, wandered off down the hill a ways. Sai also waited to see how Rista handled them being independent of her.

by **Rista** on September 15th, 2011, 1:21 pm

Simply walking could be a tedious thing if you had nothing to keep you occupied with. Fortunately, or perhaps unfortunately Rista had too many things on her mind to even notice that they were moving. The weight of the burden Sairque had placed on her shoulders kept her from being able to enjoy the scenery, and much of the girls attention was kept on the people of the group. She was terrified of the moment she was sure to come, when they would stop listening to her and began to act on their own; that was when accidents would start to take place, of that she was certain.

It didn't look like it, but Rista actually did keep an eye on the people at the back of the line. More than once did she turn her head to make sure that everyone was following; she did it so often that the girl right behind her after a while asked sourly if she was having a nervous tick or if she was expecting a bear to jump down on them from the sky. Rista only shrugged and gave her a tense smile in reply, but it didn't keep her from looking over the shoulder for more than five chimes or so. The itching between her shoulder blades was annoying, she wanted to be able to divide herself so that she could go next to each and every one of the youths in the line, preferably staring them down and keeping them from even blinking without permission.

She tried to tell herself that she was just being silly, but the fact that the scrawny kid was trailing off and rummaging around the bushes along the side of the road, either forgetting about or ignoring her words about sharing the things he found or was looking for wasn't exactly reassuring. Only the Endal bringing up the rear kept Rista from running back and forth along the line, nervous as a hen with her first litter of chickens.

The sun had passed zenith a while ago when Rista decided it was time for a break, and by then a knot of tension had begun to form in the girls shoulders. Watching how most of the others sat down to take a breather and sip from the water skins, she pulled out the map and consulted it quietly, not minding that the short-haired girl peered over her shoulder to see what she was doing. Having traveled the Road up and down more than a few times in her life, Rista knew from memory how it looked. She was rather certain that they had to leave the safety of the relatively well traversed road soon, or they would be stuck on it for a long time and get too much off course. Following the slithering like on the map, the girl tried to remember where the nearest set of stairs were; it would be easier to make use of the steep stone steps that was carved into the rock face, intended for Chiet and Dek on their way too of from either Thunder Bay or the Sanikas Pass... At least for a while, until they had to veer off again as not to end up in the wrong place.

Consulting the other girl with a vague hope that she would remember better, Rista eventually sighed and rolled the map together again before stepping closer to the edge of the road and peered down over the steep slopes. She could see the hills they would have to pass over, rolling folds of fresh summer green in the otherwise rocky and mountainous landscape. Closer to where she was standing she could see something that looked like a scar cutting into the ground; was it the stairs? She hoped so; in that case it would only be a few chimes walk, and then they would have to take off. Making sure to look over the man again and double-check the compass, Rista and her group member eventually settled for the decision and turned back to make a report to Sairque, when the dark-haired mongrel noticed how the pretty-boy blond went off, away from the group. Frowning, she took a few steps in his direction and raised her voice slightly, calling out to him to make him stop and come back.

"Hey, what are you doing? Get back here, now!" She found herself disliking the way her voice resounded in the air, and the girl warily looked up along the mountainous road; hopefully there wouldn't be any loose stones ready to roll down when hit by the echo. Stupid guy, to take off like that. Where was he even going?

by **Sairque** on September 27th, 2011, 2:18 am

Stepping back again, a poorly hidden smile tugged at Sai’s lips as Rista confronted the boy on his meandering foray. Her face was stony when his eyes skimmed over her on their way to his leader.

“You want me to find water, or not, Rista?” he demanded, a sneer curling those full lips. “Can’t you see the thick green grass there? Means there’s water, Rista.”

Brows twitching, Sai glanced down the hill. It was true; there probably was a small spring down about fifty paces. A check went into his box. The girl assigned to be his partner jumped off the road to go check it out, already opening her mostly depleted water skin. The rest of the group soon followed. Sai watched Rista impassively for a few moments, allowing her to process the implications of the group’s actions. Carrying voices, the breeze brought to the two leaders the sound of a few grumbles but mostly the two boys pointing out their skill at their jobs.

“You’re justified in requiring to know what everyone is doing at all times until you can trust their instincts,” she finally said, taking a pull from her own water skin. “We’re not stopping again until we get at least a bell beyond the stairs and into the wild. I’ll show you how to determine your location by triangulating off two known points.”

With a blank glance at the frolicking children, Sai continued on up the road to leave Rista to deal with her charges as she saw fit.

OOC :

by **Rista** on October 1st, 2011, 12:55 pm

The lips of the girl pressed together tightly as she heard the impertinent tone of the boy, and not surprisingly there was a flare of irritation slipping over her visage. A hand went to her hip as if to keep herself from doing anything stupid with it, while the other tightened around the wooden frame of her shortbow. Sairque was given a quick glance, half help-seeking and half reluctant, as if the young mongrel tried to find a way to slither herself out of this trap of a position the woman had placed her in; the low-spoken words made Rista sigh, soon relenting the thought of being relieved from her position of responsibility.

She turned her eyes back to the boy that had wondered off, the face darkening even further as yet another member of the group walked off on her; this wasn't working. If everyone acted on their own accord without talking to one another...
"I said for you to find water" she replied, and gestured for the other yasi to follow along as she stepped closer, unwilling to have a shouting contest or risk that he didn't perceive what she said. There wouldn't be any room for misinterpretation. "I also said for everyone to share in their findings, and tell each other about it. I find it obvious that it should apply to each and ever one of you. Tell me before you go somewhere! Tell me what you are doing, so I know that you haven't just gone mad or been possessed or something!"

The girl stopped in front of the taller youngster and looked up at him with her solid eyes, her clenched hands placed firmly on the hips in a half-spoken challenge for him to question her words. For a long moment they simply stared at each other, both equally disliking the presence of the other and trying to find a way to make the other give in; Rista noticed how his jaws clenched together tighter and tighter as he searched for a way to bypass her words without making himself look like an utter fool... Was she disappointed or relieved when his eyes finally averted from her gaze, allowing for a grumpy look to appear on his face? The mongrel wasn't sure, but she did feel a hint of satisfaction as the young man muttered a sulking 'Fine' and took a step back. Some previously unknown part of her wanted to jump and dance around, cheer and rejoice from this victory no matter how small it was; it also wanted to keep pushing the matter, like a vicious terrier refusing to let the rat escape...

She resisted the urge to press the boy further, and let him step away. A quick look around to make sure that the others were assembled around them made her relax a bit, the hands dropping from her hips and the tense expression relenting somewhat.
"This goes for all of you" she said and reached back for her own waterskin, knowing that there weren't more than a few drops left in it. "Talk to each other, tell your comrades what you are doing. It makes things so much easier if we don't have to wonder what the others are doing and why at all times.
Now, let's go check out this green patch, shall we? I hope you're right and there actually is water down there..."

Rista gave Sai a second glance, nodding in acknowledgement of what she had said before; after filling up the waterskins they would keep going, at least if the girl could gather up her frolicking troops again. They had scattered as they moved down over the hill, following the patches of greener grass and listening for the sound of water; how they spread out and clamped about, laughing and teasing one another annoyed her a bit, but this time she didn't say anything about it; it felt unreasonable to expect that they would stand on-guard and ready to obey her all the time after all. They probably wouldn't listen if she told them to take it easy either... There were limits to her authority over them. Fragile at best, a mistake on her part was likely to shift the balance of authority in an unrecoverable way; probably over to that red-blond boy. The others seemed to look at him most of the time, which made Rista believe that he was her biggest problem; also making her somewhat blind to how the two sister-like girls almost grew together, whispering and hooking arms as they walked.

Upon finding the water and determine the small spring that bubbled up from the belly of the mountain drinkable, the members of the group filled up the waterskins and drank until they were satisfied. It was with some difficulty Rista gathered up the others, frustration over their lack of attention to her imminent on her face by the time they began to move once more. This was all taking too much time; if they were to argue every time they stopped and every time they were to move on again, they would never get anywhere. Only a half day had passed, but Rista was already beginning to feel tired; despite the nice weather and the warming sun she was beginning to have a headache from the tension and pressure she placed on herself, and to constantly having to be on guard against anything the others might do was draining her patience rather quickly. As they reached the closest of the stairs and began to steep climb downwards, the copper-skinned mongrel tried to muster up some more energy by quietly thinking up ways to make Sairque miserable; it was both easy and quite justified to blame the Endal for her misery, and Rista took delight in thinking up pranks that would make the womans life annoying for about a ten-day period or so. Of course she'd probably never go through with any of it, but just the thought that she -could- made her feel so much better...

The day passed on, and as the landscape slowly flattened out a little the stairs grew wider and easier to traverse, making their pace quicken. At one point Rista allowed the others to take out some of the dry rations they had brought along, gnawing on pieces of dry meat and hard cheese as they walked; no stopping didn't mean that they couldn't eat, and it was quite a simple way to stop the complaints about being hungry and her being cruel and ruthless with the pace... Actually, they had been keeping a high pace, and Rista was surprised to realize that they would be able to make the journey down the stairs in little over a day; usually it took two, but then again the Chiet and Dek that used the path normally often carried heavy things aside from climbing. Their group traveled lightly, and were able to move quite quickly.
At one point Rista and her short-haired group-member fell back a little from the rest, taking out the map and consulting it to find the place where they would veer off and head out into the terrain. The other girl seemed to have picked up on how to use the map rather quickly; she found and pointed out the spot faster than Rista, who reluctantly had to admit that it was correct, and that the others process of thought was quicker than her own. Honestly the girl would probably had been a better leader than her; she was liked by the others even though she didn't participate as heavily in their banter and games, and seemed to have some kind of quiet dignity that made even Rista think twice before demanding anything from her. It gave the mongrel a feeling of inferiority; one that she was quick to try and beat down, but couldn't quite get rid of entirely. It was a good thing that the girl didn't seem too interested in taking charge, or her dark-haired companion wouldn't have stood a chance in keeping her authority.

After changing directions and moving away from the path of stairs that kept slithering down the mountainside towards the valley that lead toward Thunder Bay, Rista began to keep an eye on the surroundings as much as she did on the group, looking for signs of animal life and edible plants along with trying to judge hoe much longer the yasi would be able to keep going. She herself was feeling tired; her legs were sore, the feet a bit painful and the headache had grown stronger, but aside from that her mind was still clear and refused to acknowledge the signs of fatigue; she wouldn't be the first one to give in and start complaining. How would that look after all, if the leader bailed out first? It was her normal refusal to give in to the people around her, the same stubborn determination that led her into fights and arguments all the time; it was bound to lead her into trouble here as well, sooner or later.
The sun was sinking lower on the sky when the group showed signs of not being able to keep the pace up much longer. The muffled voices of the youngsters had been quiet for a while, their focus set on simply placing one foot in front of the other and performing the tasks they had been assigned; Rista was pleased to see that the scrawny boy and his companion actually focused on their task of finding plants; none of them appeared to be edible as they were, but some turned out to hold medicinal properties or have other functions; like the mountain flax that could be collected and dried and used to make thread and cloth after processing the long fibers, some flowers and roots that could be used for dye, and other such things. It was interesting to hear the comments from the people in the group; everyone seemed to know at least a little something about most of the things they found, and when putting that information together.. It wasn't done happily, but Rista thought it was good enough that people actually did what they were supposed to do.

When the water group once more found a spring, slightly larger this time with clear water streaming in a little creek down towards the valley below them, Rista finally allowed them to stop and rest. She was tempted to do like them and simply flop down onto the ground, sighing and moaning over her sore feet; instead she ignored the warm pounding of the soles and moved over to the Endal, her shoulders shifting sorely under the weight of her backpack.
"How long will we keep going today?" she asked, tiredness evident on the voice and face alike. It was probably her task to determine that, but the headache made it hard to think and make proper decisions. Most of all Rista just wanted to sit down, take off her shoes and dip the feet into the cold water of the murmuring creek.