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.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

Can you walk, do you think, if one of us guides you?

[Muffet speaks up for the first time since leaving their makeshift camp, her voice gentle and soft. There's absolutely no way they can just leave the child behind, but if they can keep walking then maybe they could just hold onto someone's hand and follow, instead of having to be picked up in a way that is clearly upsetting them.]

[Even if her voice is gentle, it isn't particularly wanted. The look they shoot her way is more than proof to that, smile wide and words all too sharp.]

If you touch me, I'll kill you.

[If she touches them again- ever again. If she touches... ha ha. Chara shudders violently, twisting in Tim's hold. Not so much struggling out of Tim's arms as they are to see what's around them, tremors returning.]

Where are they?

My P- where is Kittu?

We're gonna find them.

[That's priority number two. And if Muffet wants to help - she can help. He glances up in her direction, trying for firm and ending up more in the realm of anxious.]

Kittu. Kid with a bun. Striped shirt. You know them?

[She knows them.]

[She never lived in the sunbeamed flagstones and the misted-over skies fraught with black shadows. She knows them, even if it's subconsciously, because her mind was never scalded clean with the gleaming torch of something nestled in the crags beneath a bridge.]

[The words are urgent.]

We need to find them. Now.

[Their voice goes... strange, for a moment. It feels bizarre, and yet Muffet has a nagging feeling that she should know it, that this sound touches on something fundamental, that some part of her can't help but recognize deep down.]

[But now isn't the time to wonder about that. It isn't important compared to getting everyone through this safely.]

[She responds calmly, making no move to get closer to them:]

I won't, if you don't want me to. You could hold Tim's sleeve, perhaps, if you'd like him to guide you without touching you.

[She does know them, although it's still questionable how well. But that's another thing for later.]

Yes, we do. The last time I remember seeing the rest of the expedition, they were at the other end of the camp, outside of that plant creature's range. I didn't see any of them once I returned from luring it away, but they likely haven't gone far- we can rule out the direction I ran, at least.

I could try casting some magic upwards, like a flare, if you think it would get their attention?

[Hold onto Tim's sleeve- because they need to rely on him to take care of them. They laugh shrilly; with plenty to say of that observation- she has no idea, the things they have done to keep him close, keep him safe. No idea at all.

Perhaps it's lucky for everyone, that they're quickly distracted. And their attempts to remove themself from Tim's grip becomes positively frenzied, not even bothering to stop themself from hitting the ground hard, the moment they untangle their body from his arms.

Lurching upright, red flickers across their chest, SOUL bursting forth and coming to rest on trembling, outstretched hands; a response to the soul gleaming in the distance.

Demons come when they're called. They barely manage to take a step, before stumbling right back against Tim, breathing ragged.

Looks like Frisk will have to take up that mantle, for a moment.]

Edited 2017-10-14 12:23 (UTC)

As Lup and Kittu search the area around the camp hand in hand, illuminated by the child's brightly glowing soul, she thinks she hears a tinny, panicked burst of laughter in the distance. She can't even tell if it's another illusion but she zeroes in on it anyway, heart in her throat all over again with worry but they need to find something, someone, finally.

And then another light flickers to life in the dark, a twin of the one held aloft by Kittu, and relief washes over Lup. "Kittu, look!" she gasps and speeds up, ready for them to let go of her hand so they can run to their sibling, reassure themselves they're whole and okay.

Only, when she gets closer, they don't look okay at all. Even in the dim light they're ghastly pale, hunched, trembling like a trapped animal. They've come too late to save them from the worst, and she hates it, and the thought of Taako cowering somewhere in the woods like this, terrified and alone, is overwhelming. She's got to go, can't waste another moment, no matter how much she wants to make sure the kids are as safe as they can be now. She glances over at the others gathered, Muffet and a man she doesn't know, but Kidwun has their back to him and that's good enough for her. "You got this?" she demands, and the look she's giving them suggests they had better not fail these children.

((as always feel free to keep bracketing my dudes))

[A moment before the dark peal of laughter, the light over Frisk's chest sputters tumultuously, and they look over just as it sounds. Squeezing her hand again -- this time out of anxiety, not reassurance -- they take off the very moment she does, releasing her as soon as the twin glow of red lights up the distant dark.]

[They feel it ͔̩̝͎̪͕̪c͘o҉ǹ̤n͚e̬͝ͅc͕̠̠t̯͚͖ͅ with an ugly, sparking twist of]

[ha ha]

[-- fall to their knees right in front of their Partner, one hand ungluing from its violent twist in their shirt so they can extend both trembling palms out to Chara. Their breaths are heaving despite only having run a short distance; it's the effort of maintaining a connection like this, the feeling of knives and pointed bone-shards inside them, the way their SOULs flicker like lightbulbs near the end of functionality.]

[Their eyes, shadowed and quiet, flicker up to Tim. Briefly. And then they're back down to Chara.]

[When they speak, however, their words are solely in response to Lup.]

Go.

[Find your brother.]

[They fight their way out of his grip with the tenacity and intensity of someone who's dying, someone who's panicking, with all of Jay's wiry, spider-legged strength. He can't keep them in his grasp, not with his brain clouded and muzzled with gas and the glint of Alex's glasses in the periphery of his vision and them fighting so hard, and they slip-tumble out, manage to land on their feet.]

[They fall back against him. He's already dropping down to meet them, half-crouching to allow for stability without the added invasion of physical restraint.]

[His throat is ragged and torn, but the words are steady. They come to him, instead. Linked by the red of their souls. He doesn't recognize the woman with them, but he can't say for certain that he should.]

Shh. It's okay. [It's mostly uttered to the kids, who might not be okay but can fake it like champs. Who learned to, longer back than he can say. He has to shutter his eyes and focus completely and entirely on them - or risk the intrusion of a man with a hood pulled over his features, the red, foolishly cartoonish frowning face slashed over black.] Breathe.

[Muffet tenses at the sight of their soul appearing, her eyes widening slightly in surprise. Is there another monster around, or are they doing this themselves somehow?]

[She relaxes very slightly on recognizing Lup, and a little more at the sight of the two children reuniting. She wants to reach out to them, but suspects that it would be cruel to intrude on what they're sharing now. Instead, she replies to Lup:]

The plant creature that attacked us is very dead, now. Did you run into any others? Those... spores that they throw seem to be some kind of hallucinogen.

Edited (Wrong icon.) 2017-10-24 00:04 (UTC)

[They don't have words, exhales long and ragged as their shoulders slump, as their fingers push between the spaces of Frisk's and they hold on for dear life. Head dropping forwards, resting against their Partner's shoulder as they close their eyes, keep them closed.

Their SOULs continue to burn, somehow, no matter how alarming the flickers of light may be. As Frisk lends them their strength, it's up to Chara to begin picking up the slack, fighting for some sense of normalcy. Slicing panic down into a sharp, angry blade they can use to- keep Frisk safe, somehow. Just keep them safe.

Whatever keeps them from considering what they'd seen-- and how having Frisk close brings both a swell of relief and pure terror.

Unfortunately, they're not up to speaking, at the moment. That might be upon the adults to handle.]

It's good of Kittu to voice what she's burning to do, to make the choice between responsibility for these children and her brother a little easier. But she hesitates anyway, alarmed by the way their souls seem to flicker so violently despite - or because of? - being reunited. She still doesn't understand what kind of magic this is, but it can't mean anything good.

Still though, right now she's trusting these kids to handle what's going on with that more than the adults. The dude looks like kind of a wreck, probably struggling with the same nightmares in his periphery as she does, and while Muffet's got a good strategic handle on things, she's standing to the side like an uninvited guest at a funeral. Lup runs a hand through her hair roughly, ears twitching wildly at the sound of Barry screaming for his life in the distance. Fuck all of this.

"Yeah, that thing fucked us up but good. Didn't see any others though. Listen, give 'em space but don't let them out of your sight until morning, alright?" God knows the last thing she'd want is some near stranger penning her in, if she were in Kidwun's shoes. That wouldn't end great for anyone.

She glances down at the twins again, locked in a desperate embrace as their breathing and the pulsing of their lights start to settle into a joint rhythm. She looks like she's about to say more, but the kids aren't listening and the adults wouldn't get it. So she simply turns on her heels and rushes back into the night to find her own other half.

[It's hard to concentrate. It's hard to suss out anything other than the broken-string chords wailing through the Resonance, trying to sever the connection with cold terror. If Frisk had any less practice with linking their SOUL to another -- if it had been anyone other than Chara they'd tried this with -- they don't think they'd have managed it.]

[They're not certain they are now, not until there's a gentle weight on their shoulder that must ground them at least as much as they're grounding Chara, and it helps them bring up a flicker of consciousness for anything outside of the two of them.]

[Tim -- he's safe. Muffet -- complicated, but safe, they think. Lup -- they swallow, turning their head to stare after her rapidly retreating form. They're worried about her and about Taako, and if they can't help, then they can at least...]

Thank you.

[Lup bolts. He can't blame her for that, he supposes. Frisk tells her to go, and she goes. At least she kept them safe. And Chara can see Frisk properly now, which means - means that if there's any chance the both of them can calm down, shake off the shreds of that gas that has them seeing things, their best hope lies in each other.]

[He moves back slowly. Assuming neither of them need his support, he'll let them start with each other.]

[Where they usually do.]

[A quick glance at Muffet, just to double-check. You never know with these things, and it pays to make sure.]

You're still clean?

That I can do. Good luck.

[Muffet doesn't waste time trying to say anything else before Lup leaves- it was pretty much exactly what she'd been planning to do anyway, and even if it wasn't she wouldn't try to keep the woman from finding her brother a second longer than she had to.]

[When Tim asks his question, she nods in confirmation.]

As far as I can tell, yes- I stayed at a fairly good distance from the creature the entire time we were dealing with it, and I tend to be less affected by most toxins anyway.

[Not surprising, really, between being venomous herself and being made of more magic than matter.]

Is it fading for you at all, or is it still as bad when you were first hit with the spores?

[Breathe.

That horrible static. His tone hadn't been unkind, but it was blunt. Just a single word, the briefest pause, before he'd moved on to more important things.

But that had been numero uno. Breathe.

Frisk's shirt smells like soap. They've been stubborn about that- for both Frisk and Tim. Their clothes were washed every three days, alternating each person so only one would be left uncomfortably hot or, in Tim's case, hiding in the shack until he had clothes to wear. It was just one routine they had- before this had started, they'd been considering how they needed to ask Lup about getting more soap. One, two bars. Three, if they had something to bargain with. It wasn't exactly comforting to share a bar of soap between them, either. But resources are valuable, here.

They can hear Asriel screaming as gunshots ring out--and yet they're thinking of the laundry. A hysterical giggle bubbles up in their chest, muffled into the fabric of Frisk's shirt.]

Want to hear a joke, Partner?

[They can't put it off any longer. They can't. Frisk's teeth grit, feeling the static slosh inside of them, an ocean spilling into a bay, ebbing with their sand and stone, and they do everything they can to keep it inside of them -- but it unsteadies them, too, and as stolid as they try to remain, Resonance has never been about one side acting as a tether for the other. It's give and it's take.]

[Frisk tries very hard not to give. What they take -- what they finally use to steady themself, they clutch at their Partner's sleeves, hoping it's the least offensive thing they can do, pressing their cheekbone harder into the top of Chara's scalp to try and draw attention to that stimulus instead.]

[Their Partner's laugh vibrates their skull like a wash of static. They use that, too, to ground themself, to register the backdrop of conversation happening above their heads as a goalpost. That's real. That's safe. They can get there.]

No.

Later. Tell me later.

Good.

[Is it fading for him?]

[He has no idea. He blinks several times, shakes his head with a swift rattling of movement. Some things overbalance and tip out from the edges of his consciousness, and some things remain. As always, it's impossible to truly tell in earnest. Silhouettes with blurred and bleeding edges, tall, spidery things leering out from the cut edge of the shadows, and all he has is...]

[All he has is the moments in which he can breathe and press fisted knuckles to the center of his chest with a set jaw and let it all tick out, breath by breath.]

No clue.

[The two of them, on the other hand - he doesn't exactly want to interrupt them, especially as they seem to be stabilizing one another. So he keeps his distance.]

...seems like some of it might be, though.

[Muffet grimaces, quietly worried for both him and the children- although at least the latter two appeared to be helping each other. She'd take Lup's advice on that one, keeping them safe but not pushing her company on them without invitation.]

There's that much, at least. I could try healing magic if you want, but I don't know how much it would speed things up if your system is already filtering the poison out on its' own.

[Left unspoken is her suspicion that it might be better to save her energy until they saw how the rest of the group was doing, assuming Lup found them any time soon- she didn't want to make him feel selfish if he did want healing, even if there might be more things to attend to later.]

[Two children step off the edge of the cauldron to hell.

It's not good enough, apparently. Jokes aren't good enough either, not at the moment, and they stifle another laugh into Frisk's clothes, flinching at the stimulus of a cheek pressing to the top of their head.

They have to back up. Have to lift their head, breathe. Numero uno, in and out.

Second? Tell him everything they can see, right now. Tim stands slightly farther away than they last recognized- but he's there. He's there. So is Muffet; their voices a quiet back and forth in the darkness. The glow of the campfire in the distance. Everyone has scattered.

Breathe. It's a struggle- clearly visible in the way their smile stretches too wide, in the deep breathes they're taking, but Chara attempts to address what's outside of them, outside of their Partner.]

There's no point. Healing magic won't work on poisons. [They shouldn't know that, and yet, there's no point in her wasting her energy. She either takes them at their word, or she doesn't.] Mister Wr--

Tim. Is everyone away from the camp?

Taako's missing.

[They blurt it out on reflex, their brain's attempt to expel any unneeded thought while already at capacity, but it helps in its own way; they lift their cheek from Chara's head and turn it away. Need to, or their words will disappear as muffled noises into their Partner's thatch of short, sweaty hair.]

[Everyone already knows Taako's missing, but saying it helps. It's a fact grounded in reality. It exists outside the two of them, though sometimes in Frisk's brightest, perfect moments of clarity, they're not entirely sure anything actually does.]

[Chara breathes, and Frisk breathes, too. They feel that rhythm in the Resonance as strongly as everything else. So Frisk breathes, and thinks harder.]

Chara. Have we used it today?

[Their SAVE.]

I think so. I can double-check, but...

[He half-glances in Muffet's direction for confirmation - she'd know better than he would - until Frisk pipes up in reference to something he doesn't need to grasp in its entirety to know what they're referring to. But that's not what makes him blanch, ghost-pale behind the greenish screen of smoke, for a hair of a moment.]

[It's fine. He's not panicking, but the kids plainly are. And he just kind of has to hope that this won't lead to awkward questions from Muffet over here, as to why one name doesn't quite align with the one Chara's been giving people.]

[So focus. Speak loud and straightforward, and blow past the error like it was nothing.]

I don't think anybody stuck around.

[Nice try, Tim.]

[...No, seriously, Muffet genuinely respects that you're trying to cover over something these kids are clearly uncomfortable about, it's a nice thing to do. Sure, it didn't work at all and she absolutely noticed that slip-up, but it was a good try. As it is, though, there's no way she's going to try asking them about it now- these poor kids are traumatized enough as it is, she's not going to make things worse by demanding answers.]

[You can't force people to trust you. You can only make sure they know they have the choice.]

[So Muffet carefully shelves away her increasingly firm conviction that Frisk is lying to her, the quiet worry about what the thing they might or might not have used today actually is, and the nagging feeling that she knows the name Chara from somewhere and it's very important.]

[Maybe they'll come to her about it eventually, maybe they won't. For now, there are more immediate problems.]

Yes, hopefully Lup will find him. The camp was deserted apart from us when I returned from dealing with that creature, I know that much- and I didn't see anyone in the woods that way either going or coming back.

[She rapidly reviews her memory of the people in their group and:]

So that's four people still unaccounted for, including Taako.

[Taako's missing. They don't actually care so much, but can imagine that Lup would- Lup, who they'd been speaking to not a few hours ago. They can't share the same relative concern for his safety as Frisk, but it's still smart. Casting lines out, making a web (HA!) of thought for them both to tread on, before they wind up sinking again.

Very clever, Partner.]

H-have we-?

[SAVE. Their SAVE. Immediately, Chara wracks their brain, looking over the past fifteen hours as best they can. The sun was barely up when they left- at least ten of those hours had been walking. The heat had forced them all to stop-- Tim had ensured that they and Frisk were hydrated. It was exhausting, but it always was. But have they used-]

No. [Immediately, their eyes go to Tim, then Muffet. They can't ask- can simply hope he understands the implications, that he can distract her for a moment, pull her away to allow them the chance to do what they can.]

Perhaps you should scout the area.

[Wrapped up in their private chaos, Frisk utterly fails to recognize the blunder that has Tim scrambling to cover them. It's all they can do to focus on Muffet's calm, even response, pull a sense of relevancy out of it. Lup will... find Taako. They're sure of it. That kind of determination -- there's no derailing it.]

[So, four people unaccounted for. Frisk tries to summon the names and faces, but then Chara speaks again, and the foundation for their bridge to the others creaks, their attention drawn back to their Partner. Only once the implication registers do they look over, first to Muffet, then to Tim. They try not to linger. Biting their tongue, they clutch at their sweater and reach through the staticky bramble, still their expression even as their SOUL fills with the hair-trigger sensation of accessing their SAVE.]

[They're going to do it whether Tim and Muffet leave or not. It's a matter of waiting to see if they'll be that lucky.]

You wanna fan out and look for 'em?

[He'd prefer it if he could just - if he could get her to go, just to make sure that the error doesn't mean the kids are both out of their minds, but that'd be suspicious as hell, he knows, if he tries to shoo someone away with every intention of remaining himself. If they can use the restorative power at their command, then they might turn out fine. Might.]

I can take one end, and you can take another.

[He's already moving to do precisely that, turned away so the tension knotting his expression isn't quite as obvious.]

[And she won't have to witness the kids doing something that might potentially jog her memory.]

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

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Now would be a good time for the others to come in. Also, sorry I'm late.

Lup and Frisk in after Chara reacts to Friskydoodle's ACTion

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