[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

Ok! I shall leave it in your capable hands, then~

[shiromadoushi]

Bakura blinked. "What, the egg...?" he asked, utterly befuddled. He was barely keeping himself on his feet, making him even more easily confused by his double than normally.

o/! I shall not let you down!

[feelsgoodinyou]

"Eating the soul." He corrected. His host could hate it for all that it was worth, that didn't matter.

\o/

[shiromadoushi]

The Weapon looked uncomfortably to the side. "It isn't that I hate it or anything..." he protested softly. "It just... doesn't ever feel right. That thing... it was a person once, even if it's not an more..."

It was hard to explain, and he felt a little foolish, trying to. Especially to the Ring's Voice.

[feelsgoodinyou]

"Which is all the more reason to act responsible about it, isn't it?"

[shiromadoushi]

Bakura nodded, rubbing his stomach slightly in an absent minded way. "I just can't help but wonder sometimes," he admitted softly. "If this is really the right way to go about it... But there isn't any other way, right? They can only be taken care of by Weapons eating them..."

[feelsgoodinyou]

He turned his back and started heading downhill, trusting that the other would follow him if he wanted to.

"Saying that there wasn't any other way is the same as that you're not guilty and shouldn't be blamed, from what I've experienced. But sure, whatever it is that you want to believe in order to do it."

He wasn't even sure why they were having this talk now. Probably to occupy his brain from thinking about how much he was freezing.

[shiromadoushi]

"I guess..." Bakura admitted, watching the ground at his feet as he walked, doing his best to keep his purchase on the snow.

He was quiet a moment before speaking again. "It bothers you...?" he asked, voice soft.

[feelsgoodinyou]

The snow crunched under his feet as he kept up a steady pace. What they needed now to keep moving, no matter in what state their bodies were. If Ryou gave in he'd just continue without him.

"What does?"

[shiromadoushi]

"Everything with the souls here," Bakura clarified. The conversation was a good distraction, something to focus on. One foot in front of the other, just keep going. He could sleep once they got back safe... "Even though you tried eating one..."

[feelsgoodinyou]

"Tch." He scoffed, eyes darting to give the boy behind him a look before they focused in his path once more. Despite his injuries Bakura's senses were wide awake and alert - they were easy prey like this. So at least one had to be careful and aware of that.

"You've met the Pharaoh, haven't you?"

[shiromadoushi]

Bakura nodded. "Un... When he arrived."

What that had to do with his question... was curious.

[feelsgoodinyou]

He made a disapproving noise at the back of his throat. Of course. And he was willing to bet that that hadn't been the only time.

"Then you can ask him about it. Let's see how much he is willing to dish out about the truth to his friends." His voice lost the scathing quality it had momentarily regained. "But to be clear, I don't give a fuck about the souls here."

[shiromadoushi]

"Then why did you say not to hate it...?" Bakura asked softly. "And I don't know if he thinks of me as a friend.... he's..." Bakura hesitated a moment. "He doesn't remember anything from Domino... he's from before then. From Egypt. I don't know if he'd tell me anything, any more than you would," he admitted softly.

There was a belated thought that maybe he shouldn't have mentioned that, but he was tired and it was likely that the Voice already knew anyhow.

[feelsgoodinyou]

"Then all that you can do is not to ask him and keep guessing." He shrugged his shoulders, not letting any more emotions that he might have had about the topic cloud his words.

"I said that because I felt like it."

[shiromadoushi]

"You and Ryuzaki-kun... you do that," Bakura sighed softly. "Is there another game to figure it all out...?"

[feelsgoodinyou]

He gave him another look but didn't say anything about it. Some things didn't mean anything if you didn't figure it out by yourself. Sometimes people simply didn't feel like talking about something. Both was the case here.

"How was the Pharaoh? Was he the hero you thought he'd be?"

[shiromadoushi]

As if there were any way for him to find out about it except by asking.

Bakura gave a touch of a wry smile. "You ask as if I've seen him do anything other than be confused about finding himself 3,000 years in the future..."

[feelsgoodinyou]

He scoffed at the reply. "I'd be very surprised if 'being surprised' was all he did."

[shiromadoushi]

"He didn't even know what card games were.... it's all just been Yuugi-kun and I trying to explain things and him being standoffish..." Bakura explained with a shrug, shifting his shoulders a little to try and find a way to hold in the heat better.

[feelsgoodinyou]

Okay, that earned him an amused look. "He just arrived and is obviously not the one you're familiar with and you guys had nothing better to do than to talk with him about that silly card game?"

[shiromadoushi]

Bakura's smile was almost sheepish. "We thought it might help break the ice a little..."

[feelsgoodinyou]

"With a game he has never heard about. Excuse me for calling you idiots if I haven't already done it before." He all but rolled his eyes as he climbed over an ice-covered rock.

[shiromadoushi]

"A game is a game, right?" Bakura shrugged, carefully following over, doing his best not to slip. "And it seemed to help..."

[feelsgoodinyou]

"Not really." He stopped for a moment to scout for hidden kishin eggs as he waited for his host to follow him down. Damn, he just wasn't getting warm anymore and his head felt as if it had a lump the size of an egg by now! "Dark or ceremonial games were something different than what you guys play for fun."

[shiromadoushi]

"But the game's based on the old ones, right?" Bakura asked, skittering a little before catching his balance. "So we thought it would be close enough... and he did say it was a bit similar."