[OPEN] Mission 156

[soul_mods]

Characters: Open to participants who signed up here.
Location: Lake Tahoe, CA
Rating: Various.
Time: March 27th, late morning.
Description: The second of the three Madness emitters outside Death City is the target for this mission. Bundle up, everyone -- it's gonna be a cold one.

The mission begins late in the morning, to allow the mission-goers as much sunlight as possible in the warmest part of the day. Not that it'll help much… Temperatures are well below freezing already -- unnatural even for early Spring in the mountains -- and a howling snowstorm threatens to blot out the sun, beginning up the mountain where the slope just begins to rise sharply.

The slopes themselves are fairly barren: a windswept-looking tree here, a cabin that may have once belonged to the snow patrol there, maybe a Madness-crazed bear or mountain lion. Those braving the storm are lucky enough to see five feet in front of their face in these conditions!

Those brave few who manage to make it to the top (enduring falling temperatures and defeating the corrupted fauna and hulking kishin yeti along the way) may come across their goal at the very summit of the half-mile-high mountain: the Madness emitter itself, in the eye of the storm… And one last obstacle: the Witch guarding it.



OOC NOTES.
- The event summary post containing all relevant links is located here.
- Make your own threads, but please indicate in your subject line [CHARACTER(S) | LOCATION | OPEN/CLOSED]
- If you have any further questions, the mod thread on the coordination post is here!

Comments

[de_faulty_hero]

Cloud couldn't help it; he was curious of the beast rather than afraid of it. What was a normal creature doing this close to the summit? He suspected that it was here for a purpose, especially with the call that it sounded. Didn't witches have familiars that were actually animals? This... might have just been a regular beast, but he doubted it.

"Wait..." he mentally murmured to his partner when the creature simply turned and began to walk along whatever trail it was plowing through the snow. He slowly lowered the Masamune again before he began to head off after the beast. "It could be a trap, but it could lead us to the source as well. There could be a witch... or prisoners."

[pure_lineage]

He had felt the curiosity within even before Cloud had communicated with him to delay any attempt to slay the beast. That in itself was a poor idea in his own mind, and Sephiroth inwardly frowned even if he didn't verbally protest it. The wellbeing of others didn't interest him on a good day, and it was even less of a priority when Cloud's safety could be put at risk.

Sephiroth didn't bother hiding his displeasure at the thought, even if he murmured instead, 'If you believe it to be the best course of action, then I will support you.'

[ooc: feel free to keep following the yak for another round. It will just be walking for a while (until Sephiroth gets impatient and just tells Cloud to kill it) and I figure that it will save us a little bit of time :) ]

[de_faulty_hero]

He knew well that Sephiroth disapproved of his choice to follow the woolly creature, but he made the decision to see where it lead them. They were more than strong enough to handle the creature if it turned out to be a kishin egg, so he wasn't too concerned.

"We are strong enough to be able to handle most things. I want to see if this is worthwhile." He pushed through the snow after the yak, finding it difficult in the blowing snow to keep track of the creature. He pushed on though, following tracks and the vague outline ahead of him.

[pure_lineage]

Sephiroth fell quiet at Cloud's assessment. There were times where he forgot that the blonde needed moments like this, and he felt his protests disappear. This was something that he would do for his partner, and he huffed lightly in amusement before synchronizing his soul wavelength with the younger male's.

[namelesswitch]

The yak in question continued to move through the terrain as if there was no hurry to its movements. It nibbled on the snow covered leaves here and there while making certain that the pair followed it. They didn't disappointed it, and it continued back towards its master bringing its prize closer with each and every step.

She was there waiting for them as the yak stepped through the trees. Icy cold eyes slid towards the area behind her familiar, waiting for the prey that it made.

[de_faulty_hero]

Cloud wondered about a normal animal moving around in the frozen mountaintops where madness was obviously prominent. He suspected that this animal had something to do with the emitter or maybe just the witch that was around it. Why else would it be stopping to graze long enough for him to catch up? It was starting to feel a little like a trap.

However, he was the type to go running headlong into most traps because he was confident that he could bust his way back out again. When they emerged from the trees, his scarf blew around his neck as he looked around and spotted a dark shape that was definitely not a horned woolly beast. "So you're it, huh? What the heck is that animal anyway," he asked, pointing at the yak.