lifeaftr | I’ll take my throne, lay it on a mountain

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I’ll take my throne, lay it on a mountain

Who: Our volunteer mountaineers
What: Two parties split up to scale the mountain from two sides, planning to meet at it’s peak. Shenanigans occur along the way.
When: September 13th to 16th
Where: Group 1: G3, H2, G2 || Group 2: F3, F2, G2
Warnings: Please note any warnings in your subject headers!

Word spreads quickly in a small community such as this. What was originally intended to be a small party turned into something much larger- and on the day Chara planned to leave for the mountain, it’s not one, but two parties that make off for it’s peak.

Group 1, led by Chara, moves off during the early hours of the morning, seeking to search the furthest part of the mountain by following the river upwards. The path is longer and more winding- however, they are unhampered in when they can travel.

Group 2, led by Ardyn, takes off after the sun has set- due to the needs of multiple members to avoid the sun’s harsh glare. Their route takes them up the closest side of the mountain, which provides an easier path- however, they may only travel whilst the sun is set.

OOC: Welcome to the mountaineering open post! Keep in mind the following;

♆ RNG was happily done blind by our wonderful Guzma mun, with our animals RNG'd by Wade Wilson's! Thank them both for all your misfortune.

♆ Prompts have been provided for each group below! Simply toplevel wherever you wish and treat this like a normal open post!

♆ Since each group will generally be in close contact with one another, consider asking others if you can threadjack here and there; nothing says team-building like being a nosy parker.

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Yeah, obviously Taako is gonna be scoping out buildings his own dang self. What if there's cool shit? The prospect of cool shit, however unlikely, outweighs the idea that the ruins might be full of ghosts or minotaurs or something. Which he also deems very unlikely. Honestly he isn't taking island lyfe all that seriously yet. Besides the heat, which is very real and soulcrushing, making this little side trip all the more appealing.

He spies the kid doing much the same as him, and it takes him all of three seconds to work out who they are. It's not rocket science, is it, there's matching sweaters, if you can't make your own siblingry, storebought is fine. He's met the other one, they're not true twins but he still gets it. Supposedly this is the less 'intense' one, the one he refuses to think of as his counterpart, because not all hardknock children are a direct analogy to his and Lup's life, thanks. Still, less intense sounds good to him.

Less intense or not, he knows better than to do them a startle, and his steps are very deliberate, crunching bits of crumbled stone uncharacteristically audibly. He makes very sure there's no mistaking him for a threat, even though absolutely none of that projected caution makes it out his flippant mouth and into his voice. "Hail and well met, dude. What's good? Any loot?" ~~Please don't summon the stab twin.~~

They've just hauled themself onto a particularly intact and vertical-resting pillar, having used a crumbled bit of wall as a platform, when the sound of crunching stone underfoot catches their attention. The stride is deliberate and slow enough that it registers as unthreatening, so Frisk takes their time wobbling to their feet on the uneven square that forms at the end of the pillar.

Once they're assured of their balance, they turn to the source of the noise with a downward glance. It's Lup, making her way towards them -- though, wait, that's not right, they realize with a jump of their eyebrows. That's her brother, isn't it?

They respond to his hail with a wave of their hand down at him; no summon circle for the stab twin in sight.

"Nothing. It's looticrous."

I guess we're just starting off on this foot, then.

Despite the rundown from Lup, he isn't expecting the kid to open with a comedy routine, and he laughs high and surprised. The pillar doesn't make a half-bad stage, and it's precious that they've clambered up there for just shit all of a reason, honestly. He clambered on enough shit at their age (well, species respective, of course) that it doesn't much occur to him to worry about the potential of a fall. "Lup wasn't kidding, you're a treasure." They can't all be winners, can they.

"Can you believe we got dragged along for this trainwreck? Siblings, right?" It sounds like standard trademarked-to-Taako insouciance but there's a cant to one ear, like a cat that hasn't decided to stop being nervous quite yet. Hasn't really been a great or super profitable mission so far, has it. And that's as close as Taako is gonna get to asking how it's been for them.

Their eyes crescent into half-moons at the praise, and, a little more confident, Frisk plops down in the center of the column to dangle their feet over the edge. They're quite small enough for it to be comfortable. They haven't gotten a chance to speak with Taako one-on-one yet, but if he's anything like his sister, they don't anticipate needing to keep their guard up around him like a normal stranger.

They shrug, a gesture childlike in its exaggeration, and kick one of their boots through the air.

"Someone had to explore here," they say flatly. "At least we have style."

That's...pretty touching, actually? Taako knows a guard-lowering when he sees it. For the trillionth time, and always against his better judgment...at least the people on the island don't suck, even if the island itself and its just general, everything, are hot liquid garbage. It coulda been way different. A hundred years, a hundred planes, it coulda been way worse. There's worse things than people making even small shows of trust, earned on his sister's credit. It isn't safety or comfort, and he still definitely doesn't belong here, but. That, and the lack of a palpable sense of impending doom, can really get some mileage.

"That's the spirit, no wonder Lup likes you." Kid's just a riot, fake name, deadpan and all. He's pretty sure he wasn't this put together as a child. "Though, if you really want style, you should drop by the store some time. Tiger print is really in this season, if you like stripes." He grins lazily up at them, more relaxed himself, since the kid seems to be handling this mission well enough to keep a blase attitude, and that's what counts, really. Yeah, this probably is his knifechild analog. "Bring your sib, they're cool too." Though he wishes they hadn't set this precedent of politeness he doesn't understand, what's next, thank you notes, Candlenights cards? "I'm glad you ran into Lup when shit popped off, that probably could have gone worse."

Although they say nothing, there might be something to be said about the way Frisk's shoulders square up at the mention of Lup liking them. That's the impression they had, of course... but it's different to hear it from someone else. Especially when that someone is her brother, who probably knows her better than anyone.

Look, it's a little embarrassing, but it's just nice to get affirmation sometimes.

They pinch the fabric of their longsleeve shirt with a small, amused smile, shaking their head politely. Thanks, but tiger-print isn't really their thing. Then their expression sobers, a little. They release their shirt and rest both hands flat on the pillar, leaning forward to study Taako with interest.

"Is she doing okay?"

Affirmation, huh? Taako from tv wouldn't know anything about that, sorry. Can't relate. He accepts their rejection of tiger-print gratitude with good grace, though he does make a note internally to find something they'd actually go for. That kind of plotting of preferences, and then retaining them is both an important chef skill and just, how he expresses various forms of good will. Because he doesn't find needing affirmation relatable at all, remember.

What is relatable, of course, is concern for Lup. Though, also of course, what comes out of his mouth is bullshit, in the same vein she would have said herself, in all likelihood. "Lup's fine. She's always fine." They're both invincible, thanks for asking. No, really, thanks? It's not a rebuff, anyway, as much as it could have been with that phrasing; he intends reassurance. "We have a lot of experience with being stranded in seriously fucked up situations, actually, kind of our thing." His slight wince of an expression is at odds with his breezy declaration. "That's not as much of an advantage against hallucinations, it turns out. Kind of, more of a highly exploitable weakness." He can't quite help the smallest moue of distaste.

Yeah, sure. Frisk and their sibling are always fine, too. They stare at him evenly for a beat or two, but there's nothing else in their body language that suggests they don't believe him. Rather -- after a moment of silence to mull over his words -- Frisk simply begins mildly kicking their boots again, leaning forward over the pillar with a casual sort of slouch.

They won't call you out if you don't do the same, my guy.

"Have you ever heard of Shadows?"

Capital-S Shadows, not that they make that distinction clear, verbally. Something else they and their Partner encountered in the castle. Which should be off-limits for discussion, Frisk and Chara having agreed to keep everything about their previous lives under wraps, but Frisk figures that Taako falls within the same safe category as Lup does. They're a bit fast and loose with their own rules that way.

It's a strangely tense moment, being--evaluated? Judged? By a literal child, pillar or not. Taako shouldn't feel as relieved as he does when they resume their more casual bearing; he assumes he passed. Great, perfect, Taako definitely comprehends and accepts that unspoken agreement that just happened, wholeheartedly, probably. You know, at least you always knew where you stood with the twins in their younger days; you got your stuff stole or on fire, but it was still a simpler time. Kids today, it's all knives and inscrutability.

Unconsciously he mirrors them, a bit, stepping closer, sort of committing his focus to this conversation in a way he hasn't so far. He's an educated wizard who's seen some shit, has he heard of Shadows? He thinks for a second, eyes darting quick up and to one side (the memory side, not the lie side--he's good at suppressing that one) while he concludes he hasn't. "Not in whatever way you mean, probably. Should I have? Or am I about to?"

"Probably not."

Yeah, Frisk is pretty straightforward that way. They pause one aggressively casual tic to indulge another; a new one, in this case, in the form of adjusting the headband that pulls their thick bangs back over their hairline. A gift from Lup that they've found delightfully useful beyond just being cute. Anything that can tame their wild hair-nest in a climate like this instantly makes it to the top of the 'equippable' list.

They use the moment of tucking escaped tufts of hair back under the band to deliberate a further response. Once they've seemed to decide, their arms lower to cross over their chest.

"They're from another world. I haven't seen any here, though." Then their voice lowers conspiratorially, and they lean forward again, arms still crossed. "But they're really.... hecked up."

Yeah, Lup's great at giving useful gifts, at least sometimes, surprisingly so. And fostering healthier tics than some that might otherwise take their place is her style too, even if she didn't intend it in this specific instance. Does that mean the other kid has that kinda skillset? It's hard for Taako to imagine, having never seen it. Which is probably some of the point.

This is getting into spooky campfire territory. Taako leans in too, choosing to be taken in by Kittu's delivery. It's probably not going to be a pleasant story, but this is the only good thing about experiencing a lot of deeply weird, deeply bad shit, right? Getting to tell other people, and see their morbid curiosity, basking in a bit of credulous thrall. He wouldn't deny them that. It leaves him particularly vulnerable to unexpected almost-swears, and he looks legitimately shocked, for a brief moment, before making it something a little more theatrical, pressing his fingertips delicately to his chest like a southern belle. He politely keeps his amusement well hidden, though. Hecked up. "How hecked up? Is that," he hesitates, "Is that something you saw? In a hallucination?" Or is this just some kind of inexplicable zone of trauma-sharing now?

Frisk shakes their head solemnly, which allows a few strands of their just-tamed hair to fall back out from the headband. It seems to be a lost cause. They pay it no mind, however, and their voice lowers into an even lower timbre; which, given they're eleven years old, mileage may vary on the spooky effect.

"They show up and try to kidnap you. Some of them look like birds or big men. Some of them are like dogs." They pause. "Mean dogs."

Frisk is partial to dogs themself, but they haven't forgotten that it was a Shadow hell-hound that was ultimately responsible for their... diminished state, back in the castle.

Their stomach is prickling with the guilt of knowing that they're sharing far too much about their previous life, but it's almost cathartic, in a way. And besides -- if Shadows ever do show up here, it'd be good if at least a few people knew what to expect.

"They come out of portals and try to drag you in. But they don't like the light."

Well, damn. The voice put-on might not be the spookiest, but the rest of it sounds...not great. Taako listens intently, offers no interruption, ears forward and then swept back in sympathetic fear. And maybe sympathetic isn't the right word, because some of that had sounded pretty familiar, actually. It isn't, that's not how it works at all, he doesn't have to play detective about this, but hearing about a Shadow monstrosity in many shapes is enough to raise some visceral ghosts of his own, however faint. Eight deaths. He frowns around a metallic taste.

"Guess that's why they're Shadows, huh. Well, good. Light's easy to keep around." Except when it's that Light, ha ha. "I haven't run across that exact thing, not in a hundred different planar systems. But the thing we were running from was kinda like that. Every plane it destroyed, it got to use the, the bodies from it. Robots, animals, fuckin big giant hands. All black, but full of colours."

Maybe actually what you don't do is swap spooktastic badguy stories with children, come to think of it. Now this kid is probably going to have nightmares, and the store is going to have to stock sleepy-sacks. "Neither of those things is going to turn up here, though."

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I’ll take my throne, lay it on a mountain

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