[Open] Hit the Slopes

[topgun_textiles]

Characters: Everyone!
Location: Mount Hood, Oregon
Rating: Varies
Time: July 28th - 29th
Description: Skiing! Hot chocolate! Snowball fights! Hiking! Folks of Death City say 'screw the heat' and decide to take a frosty vacation a few states away. COMMENCE MISCHIEF.



The discounted price came at a surprisingly good time. With the temperatures in Nevada climbing and no end in sight, it seems the owners of a Pacific Northwestern lodge took pity on the Meisters and Weapons of Shibusen and offered them a break from the heat. Despite it being July, the snow was still plentiful for skiing, snowboarding, sledding and innertubing! Dress warm, rent some gear or bring your own and have at it, they say!

From dawn to dusk, the mountain is lively on all sides, boarders and ski nuts to ski newbies enjoying a mid-week break while nature buffs take hikes over the trails on the greener side of the mountain, reachable by a short bus ride from the main lodge. Whether you're more into the powdery white or the vivid green, there's a spot for you to take a breather on Mount Hood.

The question is, where do you even start?



[I volunteered to put up the log for the Oregon trip, and here it is! Tag in to one, two, or all three of the areas noted and start your own open or closed threads within. Tag yourselves in (you guys know the drill), mingle, and enjoy!]

Comments

[scatterflower]

That sounds great to me Minako-chan! I'll definitely be in need of some company, no matter how many people we have.

[heretic_hamlet]

It is not a matter of spell but of sway. A sorcerer may call down lightning and fire from his hands, but a knight or two can dispatch him in battle all the same. [Granted, in his world, knights could WITHSTAND said bolts of lightning and usually not suffer too badly for it...] But a king or baron with clout reaching far across the land leaves no means to fight back and little refuge from their sway. Magic is not the only force that makes for a powerful enemy.

[But as for the summoning of demons... that was a far more convoluted tale.]

...The means of summoning was bloodshed. The ritual was a war, its participants unknowing save a few, the orchestrators needing little more 'magic' than honeyed words. And in the end, they gave their lives for their fel master... she would have entered the world unshackled.

[kimochi_warui]

[Asuka is starting to feel a little bit of the warmth from Chika's body emanating into her now, so she's shivering a little bit less.]

I wanted to come th-though. And I didn't think it'd be th-this cold!

[tearsofahacker]

Aaahhh! I think you're doing really great for only having been once before!

[He says as he hasn't actually really seen her skiing. Okay, thank you, Chihiro.]

[scatterflower]

[ Chika nodded, glad to notice that the other girl wasn't shivering as much now. Not that it stopped her from trying to pull the other girl closer to her. Seeing Asuka upset like this felt like someone was trying to stab part of her, and it really sucked. ]

It'll be okay. We'll... figure something out for tomorrow before we go back home.

[ At first she had been a little bit upset that the trip was so short, but now she couldn't help but be glad that it was only two days long. ]

[pishirogane]

[Chihiro...]

Not really. I only managed to move this far today.

[vintage_magic]

I guess you know what it's like to be misunderstood and a loner too, huh? [She could kind of relate with how most folks had been scared of her.] I reckon you must miss this friend of yours if he helped you out like that.

But being yourself... Was it really that simple? [Even if her friends back home had come to accept that she was a witch, it still seemed unwise to admit that to many here. It seemed safer to try to deny that about herself, keep people from getting too close.]

[topgun_textiles]

S'a long story. ...But I miss the hell outta the guy. He was here once or twice, but he ain't here long. I guess he's safer back home. More than I can ask for. All I gotta do is worry about Naoto, Chie-senpai and all of you guys, and watch out for all of you all the same.

[He looked down, forming snow pig ears.]

Simple...? Nah. I almost died, man. There were parts of me I couldn't stand up to, that I was scared of. If I didn't face 'em, they would'a welled up n' killed me. That's how Shadows worked in my world. If ya had somethin' to hide, somethin' ya weren't ready to face yet... it'd bubble right up and taunt you. Denying it makes it stronger, turns it into a monster.

[He hesitated. Kishin Adachi had the power to make Shadows.]

I know it's weird to hear from a dude that's almost too young to be givin' out advice, and I ain't all too good at it, but... don't deny what you are. We all got doubts n' bad shit livin' in ourselves, shit we don't like to admit to or think about, but nobody's perfect. Nobody's a damn saint.

If it comes down to facin' yourself... accept every part.

That don't make any sense, but I just wanted to let that out, especially after learning about the you-know-what stuff.

[unbreakably]

[ BUT THEN WHAT CAN STOP YOU, BROYE... ]

Yeah, but it's.. y'know.. my style! [ A little hesitant since he doesn't want to go on about how she made it SPECIFICALLY FOR HIM if that doesn't turn out to be true in the end.. he'd sure look like a huge idiot then, right. ] Here, these are just like my cool pins!

[ "cool".... ]

[draculabackwards]

He would never say yes. But...I suppose you do have a point about us being through a lot together.

Sorry this is so late! Got distracted by the holidays and other things. ._.;

[vintage_magic]

Kind of like a more advanced version of a stuffed animal, huh? [That's what it sounds like to her anyway.]

[And she nods in agreement.]

I reckon most sensible people would be worried about letting a child that young get involved in fighting demons. I worry about people your age too. It's not likely most would even have any experience battling the supernatural.

Soldiers... Maybe, that would have helped. [It wouldn't have helped with the supernatural back home but the fighting here did seem more along the lines of causing physical harm so it might not be too far off.] I remember one who came into the shop. Steve. But I haven't seen him for quite a while. I wonder if he got sent back too. [She frowns, thinking there's been a lot of people she hasn't seen lately...]

[prosecutory]

In about fifteen minutes. [HE COULD HAVE RELAXED MORE IF PEOPLE HADN'T BEEN INTERESTED IN CHUCKING HIM INTO THE POOL. GOSH.

Also he did not mention what he'll do next after work is over.]

[prosecutory]

But he still managed to continue the battle, correct?

[prosecutory]

Er...

[He glances to the side briefly, still looking awkward. A hand reaches up to adjust his cravat.]

It's alright, it happens.

[scatterflower]

Not really. Though I guess that's kinda the games that kids play with stuffed animals when they're just not snuggling them.

[ She does frown a bit at the talk about anything. ]

Yeah... I kinda get that. Though from what I've been able to tell, most people here my age actually do have experience with things like that. Or at least know people back home who did. So it's not as odd as it first seems.

But yeah... a lot of people seem like they've been getting sent home lately. It's... kinda worrying.

[pishirogane]

Of course. Still, he couldn't continue being hit. Her power was great enough that those attacks would have brought him down in a few more hits. Deflecting a few more shots and firing back, we moved in to confront her directly. She tried drowning us in Madness as a result.

[evokes]

Awesome, now we've got ourselves a plan! I know we're on vacation right now, but I'm already looking forward to doing all of this too.

[evokes]

[i don't know.... I REALLY DON'T KNOW........]

No one ever said I can't make stuff for my friends, did they? It's more fun that way anyways. ["cool" just like josuke's hair is "cool" tbh.... but 4real does minako ever actually keep anything she makes?? probably not considering you can give away pretty much anything she does to social links.]

[evokes]

[She looks at him a moment longer before looking back down to her knitting, giving a sort of bemused smile.] ... ah, well. I guess it's just my imagination then. Don't mind it.

[scatterflower]

Yeah, I know what you mean! I'm super excited too!

[ She grins, looking at Minako's sewing project again. ]

Though I guess I'm distracting you from what you're trying to do right now, aren't I?

[vintage_magic]

But if sorcerers are so powerful, they could harm, even kill, lots of folks by the time they're stopped! [People in her world generally don't deal well with being struck by lightning. And even though her magic can speed up healing, it's by no means instantaneous.] Surely, that's a tad more dangerous than just political influence alone?

[But it was the second part that caused her to stare, stunned for a moment before she could manage words again. Summoning a demon back in her world wasn't nearly so drastic. It was more drawing the proper magic circle and commanding the demon to show itself. She wasn't sure if she wanted to know what demon needed a war to be summoned.]

...An entire war to summon a demon? They didn't succeed, did they?

[heretic_hamlet]

[How could he say it...] ... Certainly I've seen those who could, and who would; for true, a master of magic is a fearsome foe. And a wizard could put a man to death with a wave of his hand, mayhap even five... but a monarch or bishop could put a thousand or more to death with a wave of his. I have stood against both, and I know which I fear more at the day's end.

[But to speak of fear, her second question was one of a much more grave tone... it had been months, now, but the sight of the horrific, skeletal fiend in flesh was burned indelibly into his mind...]

...They succeeded. A girl was used as the medium to bring it into the world but through will she forced the fiend apart from her. A hideous thing- a winged, almost skeletal monstrosity- with magic and strength unlike any we had ever seen... but, in the end, it fell to blades and spells of mortal hands.

[Ramza looked to the ground... and the months hadn't made his worries for his sister and teammates any quieter. He let out a long, contemplative sigh, staring off into the fog of his breath as it swirled ahead of him.]

...I was sent here in its death throes.

[vintage_magic]

[Chie? That was an unfamiliar name, presumably another of his friends from home. But she didn't interrupt to ask.]

So, your fears could literally kill you where you're from. [She frowned remembering he had mentioned shadows before, that they were like personal demons.]

[But even if she herself had come to accept that she was a witch long ago, that didn't mean she was confident in admitting it to others. Not here anyway. She sighed.]

It'd be easier if I actually thought folks would accept me. A lot of people back in my hometown were scared of me. It was better in San Francisco and I guess it's ironic what you said. There was a man I liked back home who couldn't accept what I was and I broke up with him because I couldn't deny that. But I guess things have moved backwards here.

[vintage_magic]

[She blinked. Sure, there were some who'd told her about fighting the supernatural in their own worlds but could that really be the majority?]

Really? Most people where I came from would think that kind of thing was fiction.

[A nod.] I don't think I've heard of any big groups being pulled in lately either and there had been dozens of people when I first ended up here. I wonder if that contraption has decided we're not what it really needs.

[topgun_textiles]

[He nodded to confirm. Yeah, how weird was that, your fears killing you? But he frowns when she brings up Max.]

...Good. I learned that relationships are about accepting each other, or makin' a compromise on stuff ya butt heads over. People always ask how the hell Naoto n' I work out, and... I know she's serious, she's super smart n' all, but we got a lot in common and I feel like we balance, y'know? I--

[He paused, cleared his throat.]

A'right, so maybe y'don't wanna hear about all that. ...So, can I ask about the weird dude that comes in a lot? Brown hair, glasses, dresses like he's come fresh outta some renn faire?

What's his deal?