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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[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.]

[Muffet... sighs, pinches the bridge of her nose with one hand in manner of one attempting to ward off an impending headache, and then lets the hand drop to her side once more and turns directly to face Frisk and Chara.]

Please do me the basic courtesy of not assuming that I am completely oblivious.

[Her tone isn't cold or angry, just... weary, and at the very most mildly exasperated.]

You intend to do something. Whatever it is you, for some reason, would prefer that I not see it.

And you have a right to that.

If you want to keep something private, then that's your choice to make- I don't have the right to demand to know everything about you, only what you're willing to share. All I want to know is this:

Will what you're going to do hurt you or anyone else?

If you can tell me that the answer is 'no' in both cases, then I'm perfectly willing to go walk over there and spend however long you'd like... let's say inspecting those trees, which I'm sure I will find incredibly fascinating to the point of noticing absolutely nothing else that's happening here.

[Her phrasing is deliberate- she's not demanding that they answer honestly, only that they tell her it's the case. She won't stop them if it's important enough to lie.]

[Muffet isn't stupid. It hardly takes a genius to work that out, but as Chara's eyes train upon her, they do hope to some extent she wished she hadn't spoken at all.

The intensity with which they stare at her- stare her down, is purposeful. As is the silence they maintain with a sharp squeeze to Frisk's hands- a request to not make this easier for her. To drag the silence out in absolution of the fact that she has stepped across a line that, perhaps, should not be trodden upon in the best of times.

This is not the best of times.]

The fact that you presume any right to even the smallest point of knowledge from my Partner is laughable, ma'am.

I have not forgotten your ACTions.

[Their hold on Frisk relaxes, after a moment, a shuddering exhale that is done as quietly as possible, lest Muffet catch wind of it. Tim catch wind of it.

She's not the only one who is tired. And unlike her, Frisk's presence is a tether that demands their anger hold only the shortest of fuses; resentment stifled and tucked away for another time.]

Is it worth demanding such knowledge when your continued presence ensures our continued suffering, miss Muffet? That is the only answer you will find here.

[Muffet meets Chara's gaze without the slightest flinch, making steady eye contact without even a moment of hesitation. She's not human, to be given the kind of determination that bends the world around it, but nor is she still the person who- though she still doesn't know it- first met them more than a year ago in her timeline.]

[Frisk and Chara fought a monster who was far older than they were, but still much younger than her pride would have ever let her admit. She'd never seen a human in her life, had only heard of them in history lessons and horror stories. But this Muffet isn't a mislead mercenary, trying to cover up her fear and guilt with a melodramatically sinister performance, making grand speeches and elegant gestures to hide the fact that she had no idea what she was doing.]

[This is a Muffet who's spent over a full year striving to establish her business on the Surface, a world vastly different from her homeland and thoroughly unforgiving. She's stared down the kind of businessmen who think nothing of profiting off of others' misery, and kept them from taking what was hers, and by now she knows the difference between a human child angry and defending themselves and a human that genuinely wants to hurt her.]

[She knows there's more here going on than she can understand right now, the way their voice shifts and twists in a manner both alien and familiar, but even so... they don't scare her. Not anymore.]

[She's only afraid for them, now, these two children.]

And what is it I have forgotten, that you should warn me so?

[Her voice is soft but unyielding. It's a genuine question, not an accusation, for all that she doubts they'll answer. She isn't Sans, to shift back through strange impressions and pull out impossible guesses, but all the Underground has felt brief moments of deja vu by now, and those words in that red voice stir something in her, some strange conviction that there's something she should know and doesn't. She knows which of her actions she'd hold herself accountable for, the fight against a child she never should have raised a hand to, much less attempted to kill.]

[But what doesn't she know, and why do they?]

I wish to know in order to avoid further suffering, and that is answer enough.

[It isn't, honestly- she could point out any number of things here. How it was a simple yes-or-no question, and they wasted far more time by trying to dodge. How she demanded knowledge from them, not just their partner. But she doesn't, knowing it won't help. Sometimes you have to let go to keep going, giving them ground so they'll have enough to stand on, because right now she's fairly certain they're not on stable footing. Ultimately, winning an argument with a child in pain isn't important, no matter how much Chara seems to see everything as a fight. The important thing is that they're not hurt further than they already are.]

I'll be over there. Call out once you're finished, otherwise I'll return in ten minutes.

[She turns to leave, heading for the trees. She doubts they'll try to stop her.]

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

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