Adventures in the Far Reaches (for Weiss Ritter)

[Xatarias]

Tysera's mouth quirks in grim amusement as you not-so-subtly suggest your preference for disposing Heft on the field of honor.

"I'd rather keep a reputation for thuggery exclusive to the Donyas, Orion. I don't doubt that you are more than a match for this worm, but your first kill should be made in defense of your clan. Protecting someone you love. Some pine for the days when killing came as easily as breathing, but I've taken more lives than anyone in this clan and found that it causes more problems than it solves. Simmering resentment, blood feuds... It would cripple the Clan and darken your soul."

Her hand snatches forward with a dexterity that echoes her younger years as Hellion of the Reaches. Your chin is tilted up, forcing your gaze into those steady gray eyes.

"You are a good man and a powerful warrior, Orion. Often it is those unwilling to rule that make the best rulers. I have struggled for this clan's survival, but maybe... Maybe you can lead us down a better path. I want to give you the chance. It will be a hard road and filled with sacrifice, but I think that's a cup you've drank from before."

She releases you, eyes firmly fixed back to the neat rows of script of her notes. As much as she tries to hide her emotions from you, you can still detect a slightly wistful tone to her words.

"So go chase spaceships while you can. Your new position will be waiting when you get back."

 

[Weiss Ritter]

Orion was expecting a mostly practical rebuttal. Perhaps a concern that a Firevein cutting down a Donya outright would escalate an already simmering conflict into one that would shatter Cloudclimber outright, or the possibility that the people of the Gate District would have less confidence in a would-be leader who removed Heft through brute force rather than one who successfully dragged him and his crimes into the light for the clan to judge.

The young man wasn't sure what to say at first, and he wavered outright when he felt Tysera's hand forcing his eyes to meet her own. Orion's lips curled up in a trembling smile despite her words. "Th-thank you, grandmother. Don't worry, I may only be your second favorite, but I'm still too good a grandson to let you down."

Sacrifice...

Uncertainty still lingered in his expression. Sarisa's words as well as Tysera's warning about the toll killing more than mere beasts in the jungle took on a warrior's soul echoed through his mind. Few had suffered or struggled more than him, but his grandmother's training had been a matter of life or death. Orion had lost comrades on the hunts and patrols he'd lead, but even the ones whose company he enjoyed in one form or another were not dear to him in the same way Ilyanna and his family were. Was sacrifice, true sacrifice, a challenge he could honestly claim to have mastered...? Would it even matter long as lead with wisdom and strength? A leader ensured his limits never needed to be tested outside the sparring fields, after all.

"I...yes, grandmother," Orion stood. Both his smile and the uncertainty lacing it remained firmly in place. Ilyanna believed the vessel was so much more than an amusing diversion, and daunting as the task of restoring it seemed, he found it hard to argue with her vision. Perhaps, they could succeed there, he would do more than met his Tysera's expectations or curb the Donya threat for more than a season. "I'll try to prepare myself in advance if I have the time. I won't be working alone and I don't intend to let Heft or his partners bribe my people out from under me,"

The young man offered his grandmother a courteous nod and then left her to her notes. Unless he was halted, Orion was heading straight for his hammock...and the book Ilyanna had loaned him. Hopefully Syndra's gentle sisterly bullying kept Alec too busy to deface this one.

Let's see..."Alas! he gets nothing by that. In our last conflict four of his five wits went halting off, and now is the whole man governed with one: so that if he have wit enough to keep himself warm, let him bear it for a difference between himself and his horse; for it is all the wealth that he hath left, to be known a reasonable creature. Who is his companion now? He hath every month a new sworn brother."

...Ancestors, I'm starting to see why Ilyanna likes this one so much.

 

[Xatarias]

Tysera snorted as you took your leave.

"Alec broke my best pipe earlier and has been made aware of his demotion. Don't get yourself eaten, oh favored one." Her words are light, but carry a certain earnestness that you haven't heard in a long time. Was this your grandmother softening in the final stages of her life, or was the trust between you growing, giving you a window into her past where Tysera was less the hardened matriarch and just another warrior without the weight responsibility.

Not that there were any new conclusions for you to draw. Tysera's past was a closed book as far as she was concerned- everything from the Flower Wars backwards was a subject that earned only a flinty scowl when raised, and your mother maintained a firm silence on the matter. Some old wounds never really healed.

You fall asleep with the paperback braced on your chest, the words of another era drifting through your dreams. You can see a vast plain of water, sparkling with the light of that improbably warm sun. A trill of laughter floats on the air as Ilyanna's long legs were ensnared by the surf, her golden skin kissed by droplets of moisture, eyes creased in pure delight.

"Ry Ry come on~"

It takes you several minutes to realize that the words weren't uttered by the siren of your dreams but by the very real shamaness perched on your chest.

"You talk in your sleep." Your beloved says with the detachment of one remarking on the weather.

 

[Weiss Ritter]

"Tch!" Orion let out an amused hiss despite pausing on the chamber's threshold. He hadn't realized how much he missed this sort of earnest affection from his grandmother. It wasn't that he ever really feared that he'd lost her love or respect, but for so long she had been his mentor and chieftain first and grandmother second. He was almost scared to hope that they would be able to steal more moments like this despite the ever-increasing pressures mounting against them, but he did.

It wasn't hard for Orion to fall asleep. His exertions and Devin's drugs certainly helped, but tonight his thoughts were free and his mind tranquil. The young man had much to be concerned about, still, but he also had Tysera's approving words lingering in his ears and the prospect of the first of many new adventures with Ilyanna hanging before him. He smiled softly as the warm light and water of paradise embraced he and the shamaness. Her laughter peeled out over the surf, free from their cruel world, free from all woes and weighty responsibilities that came with being born into Cloudclimber. Orion's heart thudded in his chest as he approached. His arms drew Ilyanna's strong and lithe form against his own. He could feel her breath brushing against his flesh as he leaned in to claim a kiss...a real kiss from her perfect lips.

"Grah...!" Orion jerked at the unintrusive pressure pushing down on his bare chest. The sudden motion was enough to send the paperback tumbling to the floor despite his hand desperately reaching to catch it. "Shit...!"

The young man blinked and stared at his one true friend for a moment, as if uncertain the vision of her straddling him was not yet another dream. Ilyanna's cavalier remark put a swift end to that concern.

"Whatever you heard, it wasn't as bad you think!" Orion blurted out, his crimson eyes wide and his heart thumping. An awkward moment passed, but it was enough for him to steady his nerves and give their position another once-over. Things were probably going to get quite a bit more awkward if Ilyanna allowed her body to linger atop his like this, or if the shamaness squirmed just right over his naked flesh. That didn't stop the young man from flashing her the confident grin that had helped him seduce more than his fair share of huntresses during the glad-to-be-alive celebrations, albeit with a more impish air than usual.

"Unless you want it be..."

 

[Xatarias]

Ilyanna arched an imperious brow and trailed a fingertip down your nose.

"I'll pretend that you didn't just proposition a well-bred lady such as myself in such an uncouth manner. Aren't you supposed to ply me with poetry and shiny things? My archcaster could use a new capacitor."

She hopped off you with a whip-like grace that made your lungs swell with relief and... other parts ache with wanting.

"Besides, I'm the one you won't bed, remember? Girl's gotta feel special somehow."

You catch a little wince cross her face before she turns and feigns interest in the goings on in the street below. Glancing over at the fallen paperback, her expression softens and she swiftly changes the conversation.

"I've got our gear ready outside. I figured we'd finalize our route before the gate whistle... While you feed me of course~"

 

[Weiss Ritter]

Orion met Ilyanna's stare with a cheshire grin that he managed to maintain even when he felt her finger gliding down his nose. Her retort didn't disappoint.

The young man let out a faint 'oof' when the athletic shamaness pushed off him. He sat up with the next stroke in their verbal swordplay on the tip of his tongue only for Ilyanna's words and wince to stop him cold.

"Ily, that's not- it isn't like that! I just..." Orion's voice tapered off into a soft growl. He stared at the floor as frustrated and awkward silence began to reign. Dammit, he'd tried to sort out this...tangled mess their friendship had become in spite of its warmth and intimacy, but she'd danced away with a grin as she always did. 'More of the same, only better'. Ancestors, did she even know what she meant by that...?

"Of course," Orion forced a smile but wasn't entirely able to suppress a sigh. "Well, while my mother feeds you, anyway. If I have to do that while we're patrolling, I think you'll find it a little more...utilitarian."

The young man reached down to collect the fallen paperback to stash somewhere high Alec couldn't reach. Ancestors, for such a doe-eyed waif of a boy, his little brother had a talent for mischief...

"...Ilyanna? I know what you said about the future, but there's something we need to discuss. At least as far as our not-so-little project goes," Orion glanced over his shoulder to make sure the shamaness hadn't already made a mad dash to beat him to the table. Again. "I think you're right about it, but some things are changing. We're just going to have to work closer and harder to see it through."

 

[Xatarias]

"It's fine, I misspoke," Ilyanna murmured with a conciliatory smile. "Besides, I can hardly hold some sleepy mutterings against you, can I? We'll talk details while we eat- I saw vent crab on your mother's table and we're likely to miss out on breakfast if the twins get there first."

As if on queue, an excited clamor emanated from the the trap door as Alec and Syndra caught the scent of your family's favorite breakfast. Ilyanna moved to the floor's exit but pauses just before swinging through, offering you a cheeky smile.

"Although I must say, you didn't hold back with your sleep talk. Makes me wonder what that dream was about~"

She of course doesn't offer you the opportunity to demand clarity on the matter, slipping away quick as an old-Earth minx down the ladder and towards the kitchen. You suspect her flight is in some part strategic- the twins were still young enough that the subject of anything romantic earned choruses of disgust and spectacularly forced grimaces. You follow after the shamaness to the kitchen where the rare sound of your mother cursing reaches your ears.

"It's making a break for it! Don't let it-"

Ilyanna fails to scoop up the glowing crustacean as it flees its eminent demise within your family's cook pot.

 

[Weiss Ritter]

Orion reflexively sprang to his feet at the ominous noises Alec and Syndra were making below. Vent crab! It was enough to make him forget that Ilyanna had just postponed yet another potentially meaningful talk before disappearing down the trap door entirely.

Ancestors shun-! It's like you're the one girl who doesn't want to be bedded, Ily!

The warrior clambered down after the ever elusive shamaness with a bemused sigh. Four days could be a deceptively long time and he was loathe to share Tysera's political gambit with his impressionable younger siblings. The details of his new post and how it would effect his and Ilyanna's projects would have to sorted out later still. Hopefully their patrol would give them the time and privacy for it.

The sound of his mother cursing was enough to make Orion stop and flinch as if he were unsure whether he was in the midst of a very disappointing dream. Then the family breakfast came skittering out of the kitchen.

Orion's speed band flared and he snapped forward in the wake of Ilyanna's failed attempt to recapture their prey. The world around him slowed to a crawl as he willed himself into The Wake only a few scarce feet from the unfortunate creature. He remained in that state only for the instant it took to calculate where the vent crab's many legs were about to take it and how to seize the walking breakfast without risking his fingers to its desperate claws. The resulting attempt to scoop up his prey would have been every bit as precise as it was swift, something of a rarity among Cloudclimber's warriors.

Assuming the creature didn't evade him in spite of all that, in which case his mother would not have been the only one cursing, Orion would have flashed Ilyanna a cheeky grin of his own before turning it upon his mother.

"Last to the table means first served when he's a proud hunter with such a magnificent catch, right?" The young man held the squirming vent crab up as much to display it as imply it would "accidentally" fall to the floor if his domestic heroics were not suitably rewarded.

It was a painfully transparent bluff, of course. There were precious few things that could strike true, pulse pounding and mind-freezing fear in the mighty Firevein's heart. The steel melting gaze of the woman who'd won Tysera's confidence, tamed his father, and ruled the kitchen and beyond with an iron, knuckle-busting spoon was one of them.

 

[Xatarias]

Your mother rolls her eyes, but you don't receive a rebuke for your antics either. With practiced precision, she grasps the unfortunate critter behind it's head and dispatches it with a swift snap. A few moments later and you were served a steaming plate of the glowing delicacy. For once there is no bickering at the table as the twins devour their portions, seemingly intent on eating their own weight in the delicious meat.

"Chew Alec~" Your mother instructs, trying not to smirk as your brother emerges from his bowl, cheeks swollen comically.

"I'm thinking we'd take the northern route, but seeing as how active the lower vents have been, maybe it'd be best to head for the bluffs and descend towards the disp- towards our objective."

Discarded pieces of crab shell make a crude outline of Skyhold and its surroundings. Ilyanna's clever hands direct your attention to a curved piece of carapace placed in such a way to mimic the contours of your Clan's northernmost territory. The bluffs were filled with matured razorbeaks and other horrors that made for poor hunting and dangerous traveling, but it certainly minimized the risk of overactive lava flows. You hadn't scouted the area in some time, but it seems as good a route as any. The real trouble would be when your course turned east towards disputed territory and Clan Shadowglen.

"I've made a wish list." The brainy beauty continued, sliding over her handheld for your inspection. "Parts in order of priority and weight. I can fabricate most everything here, it's just a matter of time. This though...."

Her dexterous fingers swooped across the screen bringing up a device that looks like a bottle with a glowing core suspended inside.

"Containment field for the reactive element that powers the thing. The speeders we restored all had theirs intact, but it seems to be missing from the... My collection." She makes the amendment, glancing towards the still-feasting twins.

 

[Weiss Ritter]

Miraculously, Orion managed to properly savor the rare meat without winding up a mirror image of his younger brother. Truly a great victory for the dignity of the Fireveins.He chewed at a moderate paced and scooted next to Ilyanna. He was almost close enough to feel the gentle heat of her body, something he couldn't help but notice given the intimate note their morning opened on.

Orion nodded at the improvised map and Ilyanna's first few words. The razorbeaks and their ilk didn't make the route a very attractive one, but they were unquestionably the lesser of the two evils. Fierce as they were, those beasts bled the same as any other, but there was little his runeblade and her arc caster could do against the all-consuming hunger of the lava flows.

It was Ilyanna's first verbal stumble that prompted a subtle tension in his body and expression. Tysera's warnings were as fresh in his mind as the night she'd delivered them. One wrong move, and that entire starship would be turned to scrap. That would probably be just the start if Shadowglen caught wind of Cloudclimber salvagers breaking the tacit understanding their clans had maintained for so long.

"Hrm..." Orion grunted as he scanned over Ilyanna's handheld. Much of what was displayed may as well have been an alien language as far as he was concerned. The desperate period he'd spent trying to bypass his death sentence of a Trial by studying for the Temple's exams had been brief and the warrior had neither the spark of genius nor constant practice to retain what little engineering he'd managed to understand. The news that Ilyanna was able to fabricate virtually all of it was enough to make him visible perk up a little.

Orion almost immediately regretted getting his hopes up.

"I see..." He replied in the sort of thoughtful tone usually reserved for when Ilyanna's scavenger hunts demanded that he come up with a way to single-handily clear out a den, nest, or hunting ground a full party of Cloudclimber warriors would balk at. One part...just one trip into the disputed territories he'd frequented so many times already for a prize that dwarfed the knickknacks he'd taken more for trophies than anything else. A prize that could change everything for the clan if even half of Ilyanna's hopes for that magnificent vessel of their ancestors were realized.

"We're going to have to transport this thing all the way back to Skyhold, and we could wind up in a lot of trouble if this containment field gives away our position out there," Orion's crimson gaze flickered pointedly over Ilyanna. They definitely were going to have to discuss the finer details of...well, everything once they were truly safe from prying eyes, but for now he'd settle for impressing the seriousness of what she was proposing on her. "Is that going to be an issue, or do you already have a plan around that?"

 

[Xatarias]

Ilyanna nods and leans down to retrieve her pack from under the table. After a few moments rummaging, she emerges with a small power pack and a dubiously small sealable container. Seeing your expression, she grins.

"Check the dimensions on the screen. Basically, it's miniature of the reactor powering all of Skyhold. Most of the hardware in the Heartroom is for coolant functions and radiation shielding. The actual reactive housing could fit right on the table so..." She tapped her glorified thermos. "We should have no problem getting it stowed for transport once it's ripped out. That's the good news."

"Bad news is, we'll have to test the thing to see if everything's still intact. A small jolt will be enough to tell us what we need without blowing us up in the process... But it might cause a large enough discharge of energy to trip the sensors of every Clan in the valley."

 

[Weiss Ritter]

Orion nodded and was just about to relax when Ilyanna added the part about the reactor's size being the good news. By the moons, was she trying to sport with his emotions even beyond the matter of the ever-present tension between them?!

The warrior winced and rested his forehead against his hand. There went the bulk of Orion's hopes of this being a relatively painless and quiet affair. "Do we need to test it on the spot, or can it be at a time and place of our choosing?"

That was the big question. An energy discharge of that scale was going to raise uncomfortable questions no matter what, but if they could conduct their test safely within Cloudclimber lands, they could at least minimize the risk of the other clans interfering.

Either way, Orion had enough of a sinking feeling in his stomach to conduct a quick scan of the room while he leaned back to take another bite of crab meat. Whatever he decided in the end, the last thing he wanted was for Tysera to walk into this conversation knowing what she did...or for his mother to put two and two together and report it all to the Firevein matriarch.

 

[Xatarias]

"It's a tradeoff," Ilyanna mumbled around a mouthful of crab, pausing when your mother slid another platter within reach of its ravenous occupants. "Doing it in the field increases the risk of interception, but if we wait, we won't know if we grabbed a dud until getting back to Skyhold."

It didn't make much sense to test the part unless Ilyanna expected the opportunity to salvage more than one containment field... And there was only one place in the valley with that much scrap aside from Skyhold itself. But she couldn't possibly be suggesting you lead her through that twisted hellscape. Not many made it three clicks into the Barrows, and certainly not an inexperienced Shamaness that barely spent any amount of time in the jungle.

"I figure we'll be hard to track where we're headed, so we should have plenty of time to get our hands on the genuine article... Unless you have some objection?"

You can think of a few. The dusty iron-laden landscape of the Barrows had a habit of kicking up sand storms that carried a significant static charge. Archcasters were known to fizzle and even the most robust sensor array went haywire when the wind picked up... And there was the little matter that the supercharged Barrow Haze often let loose literal bolts of lightning that would leave one's body a smoking ruin.

Your thoughts were interrupted as Ilyanna's hand reached for your shoulder.

"Not backing out on me, are you Ry Ry?"

 

[Weiss Ritter]

Orion wore a terse and thoughtful expression while his gaze drew distant. It was almost hard to believe just how quickly this "patrol" of theirs had escalated. The jungle was ferocious, the razorbeak infested crags merciless, and the hellish Barrows all but designed to neutralize all the strengths a shamaness like Ilyanna brought to the table. He would have been hard-pressed to come up with a better suicide mission than this. He was also having trouble coming up with a true alternative if they wished to see the starship skyborn soon enough to matter.

In four short days, Orion would have cesspool of a district to wrest away from the Donya and restore to the dignity becoming of Cloudclimber. A monumental task that could well lead to him ascending to the Council if he did it well. There was no telling when those mind-boggling responsibilities for a man his age would allow him the luxury of another adventure with Ilyanna. And he knew her too well to expect the willful young woman to meekly wait until politics and family deigned to grant her another chance to better Skyhold and its people.

"No," Orion offered his beloved a cautious smile. It might have maintained the ruse for his family's benefit, but Ilyanna could feel the iron muscles in his shoulder clenching as he tried not to think of her beautiful tanned features being reduced to smoking ash and bone by a stray bolt of lightning. "I want to take a look at the equipment you picked out, though. You might be the Temple's star pupil, but I'm the one that knows what we'll be getting ourselves into out there."

There was only so much anyone could do to prepare for the hellscape that was the Barrows. It was the relative privacy Orion really wanted. Ilyanna needed to understand what even a brief venture into the Barrows entailed, the new post making him seriously consider risking it anyway, and the ultimatum Tysera had made. They were risking so much...he had to be sure she understood that and that this was a matter of success or failure, not simple expediency as Tysera had suggested. Not that he needed to be an engineer to understand how rare a containment unit like that would be...

 

[Xatarias]

Ilyanna flashed you that pearly smile, but the slight furrow of her brow told you she had caught on to your trepidation.

"Sure. It's out in the courtyard."

The twins don't blink as you leave the table, either oblivious to your conversation or simply eager to have the rest of the breakfast feast all to themselves. Ilyanna leads you through the front door, crouching over her bulky pack and methodically displaying the contents.

"Cured needlefin, plenty of water, dried produce from the greenhouse. It should keep us going for a few days and I suspect you'll supplement it along the way with that legendary Firevein hunting prowess. No archcaster for obvious reasons, so put a few modifications on this compound bow..."

She glances up and winces at your expression, as if realizing she couldn't carry this conversation forward without first addressing your concerns. With a small sigh, she sits back on her haunches.

"Alright, so I may not have been exactly forthcoming about our destination. I'm sorry, but I didn't want you to say no. I..." She let out a frustrated puff of air. "I need to go there Ry Ry, and you're the only one who can make that happen."

 

[Weiss Ritter]

Orion let out a faint but audible sigh of relief when Ilyanna motioned to her compound bow. Good, she hadn't allowed her excitement or inexperience with the wilds to blind her to what a trip to the Barrows meant, at least not entirely. Clearly the shamaness had put some thought into...just how long had she been planning this expedition? He had a feeling the gears had been turning in Ilyanna's head long before Tysera formally assigned them the northern patrol.

The young warrior's accusatory frown didn't survive long. A brief moment of silence reigned after Ilyanna's pseudo-apology before Orion broke it with an agitated breath. "I know but...grah, Ancestors shun you, Ilyanna! Maybe I wouldn't have agreed to start with a run through the Barrows, but that was before. Now, I could have helped with the planning or-!"

Orion stopped himself, stared at the likely confused shamaness, and took a breath to steady his nerves. "In four days, Grandmother intends to make me Arbiter of the Gate District. If I succeed there, I may be elected to the Council. There's no telling when I'll get another chance to help you like this for some time, so we need to make this trip count."

The young warrior crossed his arms over his chest. The tension in his body and expression was as naked as his torso. Ilyanna had probably been right to fear his response, but her minor deception stung deeply all the same.

"So, I'm with you on this. Whatever you need, we'll get it. Just...don't do this to me again, alright?"

A weak but sincere smile spread across Orion's features as he rested a hand on Ilyanna's shoulder. "We've been together through thick and thin, supported each other against everything the jungle and Skyhold had to throw at us. That's never going to change as long as I have anything to say about it."

 

[Xatarias]

Ilyanna's eyes widen as you make your declaration. Her brow furrows and she falls back, bracing herself against her cumbersome pack.

"Well shit..." She murmured, absently biting a thumb. "So that's what the old bat has been planning for you. I suppose it isn't much of a surprise. As a resource, you had been withheld for too long. This changes things."

Ilyanna remains somewhat distant as you finalize your preparations, divvying up gear and bidding your family farewell. You often find yourself repeating yourself in order to pull her from her thoughtful muttering. It's only when you find yourself at the city gates below that the shamaness seems to recover some of her spunky enthusiasm. She points excitedly to the massive, creaking hydraulics of Skyhold's blast doors as gears and belts rumble unseen within the ancient ship's guts.

"Just shy of 100 metric tons," She says excitedly as if you hadn't seen the portal open and close hundreds of times. "We figure the ancient's electric motors were much more powerful than what we can fabricate today. The hardest part was cramming in all the replacement machinery without compromising the hull. Beautiful~"

Her eyes remain starry even as the massive jerry-rigged mechanism seizes and halt the gate's upward progress. The operator gives you a rueful shrug and you are forced to crouch down and under the massive slab of steel.

 

[Weiss Ritter]

Orion's lips twitched downward when Ilyanna called his harsh but beloved mentor one of her less flattering titles. "Yeah...like I said, Ily, some things are changing, but that doesn't mean things won't get better,"

His almost-frown remained as they packed their bags and said their farewells. The shamaness's reaction was about what he anticipated, though precisely what was going through her head right now eluded him. Revised plans for any further trips into the Warrens and beyond? Concern over what association with a political active Firevein would mean? Fear that Tysera was finally on the verge of making her wayward grandson accept the marks pledging him to a woman who had not taken the Temple's vows against wealth and power...?

"If this goes well, I might be able to do more about your ideas than hear them out and loan my sword, Ilyanna," Orion glanced back at the shamaness. He wasn't even sure she heard his attempt to point out the bright side.

Still, Ilyanna's excitement was contagious when it was finally restored. He smiled and nodded as if he were a young acolyte seeing the great doorway for the first time; as if a lecture about the intricacies of the unfathomably advanced machinery controlling it could have ended in anything but confusion and headache.

Orion's smile vanished when the gate stopped halfway. Yet another example of Skyhold's erosion. Whether it was magma flows, irreplaceable parts breaking down, or a sheer lack scap, such incidents seemed to be becoming more common with each passing week.

"You're not thinking of grabbing any replacement parts for that too, are you?" He asked, half-joking, as he crouched beneath the imposing portal. "Sometimes, I think you enjoy making me sweat and strain a bit too much, Ily."

 

[Xatarias]

"Nah, she just needs a tune-up is all. Isn't that right, baby?" She murmurs, stroking the underside of the massive door with a tenderness painfully reserved for fine rivet and cog-work. Her lingering is cut short when a teeth-clenching groan of rusted metal rends the air and the gate drops a few inches. Ilyanna hastily slides out next to you with a rueful smile.

"So maybe it needs a little more than a tuneup-" She says while sparks start to fly from a nearby rotor. "Repairing the hull has diverted a lot of attention from standard maintenance. Honestly we're in desperate need for the new class of acolytes to start their training. Your grandmother has given us plenty of unskilled laborers, but we need more engineers and supervisors."

While ingrained lessons have impressed upon you that no place outside of Skyhold was truly safe, the immediate perimeter of the colony was well-patrolled and kept clear of jungle beasts for the most part. Only the most brazen wildlife would venture here, so you can rest easy making the initial hike to civilization's outskirts.

Rounding a bend, you reach the limits of the craggy outcropping on which Skyhold perches. The valley stretches out beneath you. The jungle vegetation shimmers with a luminous swirl of green and purple as the breeze coaxes out a muted version of their various defense mechanisms against predation. Most animals knew to stay well away from these captivating fairy lights, but from several hundred yards up, the vista was terrifyingly beautiful.

Cutting through the deepest part of the valley were the vents and lava flows. While not truly a river of molten river of rock, the permeating heat from these hellish founts supplied most of the energy for the ecosystem and it was where vegetation grew the densest. Your path would take you north, away from the cozy jungle depths and into the frigid spires of rock ringing your ancestral home. It was a journey you hadn't made more than a handful of times and carried a set of challenges atypical for a typical jungle hunting trip.

Food for one. Hunting in the valley while you could would be a prudent measure since everything at higher altitudes was either too dangerous or flighty to make the effort worth it. Then there was the cold. The higher you went, the more dramatic temperatures dropped. You had packed plenty of warm clothing, but it was the carefully charted system of caverns that would be your true refuge when the whole moons sank below the horizon and only Lunara hung in the sky. Migrating nomads of Clan Thunderfall were also a possibility, although their customs usually allowed passage through their ancestral lands... Usually.

"You're thinking," Ilyanna says tapping your forehead with a smile. "Isn't that my job?"

 

[Weiss Ritter]

"Hrm..." Orion grunted thoughtfully. The lack of properly trained acolytes was not a problem that had occurred to him. The snippets he'd overheard from the council meetings tended to revolve around a lack of raw material or grumblings about Skyhold's misfortune. Perhaps that was to be expected while the Donya and their allies were aggressively pushing their martial agendas against Tysera's more level-headed policies.

Gazing down at the beautiful yet merciless wilds below, it didn't take long for Orion's thoughts to shift towards more immediate, less abstract problems. Hunting while the game was still good was definitely in order. Extra provisions in general never hurt anyone, and, more specifically, having some expendable meat in the event they needed to bargain with the tentative masters of the frigid spires could prove invaluable. Otherwise, he and Ilyanna had already packed and prepared for the journey through those unfamiliar lands as best they could. They would just have to be careful and keep their eyes, ears, and minds open to any new dangers or lessons these rarely-explored wilds had to offer them.

Ilyanna's tap earned her an arched brow and a playful smirk. "No, actually I was thinking about the best way to do my job so that you could do your job, and now I'm thinking that you're not quite as good at figuring out what I'm thinking as you'd like to think."

Orion tilted his head, bemusedly daring the shamaness to either give him a good roast or pout adorably in a way she rarely did since they were children.

"Still, I've never failed to let you bait me before, so, yeah, I'll bite. It's your job, but you can only be in so many places at once?"

Orion cocked his head; a knowing expression waited to be either validated or wiped clean off his handsome features.

"It's how I feel sometimes, anyway. It doesn't matter how good you, me, or any one person is. You can't feed or repair an entire district alone these days..."

 

[Xatarias]

"Oh Ry Ry... That was almost clever~" Ilyanna says with a giggle before giving your shoulder a bump with her own. "I think that I know what you think exactly as much as you think what I know.... Contingent on you actually knowing what I think~"

The bewildering beauty tosses her hair before securing the rappel line to a peg fixed in the volcanic rock. Being the more experienced climber, you make the initial descent, rappelling halfway down the cliff to a ledge below. Ilyanna is quick to follow, letting out a childish woop. Her features flushed and eyes bright, she continues where you had left the somewhat sobering conversation.

"I know what you mean, but we can't be discouraged about what lies ahead. Sometimes I feel helpless about the scale of our peoples' problems and all I want to do is lock my workshop and toil with my projects until it all goes to ruin... But then things- people move me to act. We're going to change things Ry Ry, we've got to. And no one says it has to be with just two pairs of hands."

 

[Weiss Ritter]

Orion chuckled and grinned at Ilyanna's splendid bit of wordplay. In any dueling ring, the shamaness would likely find herself outplayed by him within seconds, but the verbal arena? There she was quite the match for him, perhaps even more than one.

...Not that he was going to admit it any time soon. That was, perhaps, the one pleasure the young man had every intention of denying her.

Orion found it hard not to laugh again as Ilyanna descended the cliff with all the enthusiasm of a bold youngling taking their first trip down one of the Proving Grounds' climbing wall. That was another reason he enjoyed their adventures together. To the shamaness, the wilds he had come to know like the back of his hand were still new and full of wonder. What were mundane and routine motions to him were new and exciting experiences to cherish without scarring memories of depthmaws, thornapes, or corpsevipers...

"You're right, it doesn't. It's still probably going to take a lot of sweat, though, and probably a fair bit of blood. Mostly mine, I'm sure," Orion flashed Ilyanna a wry grin. "...I guess that's how I feel about all this, though. Getting involved with Grandmother's plans in earnest now. I don't know how I feel about what it may do to my life, and I'm not sure how good a politician I'll really be once they want me to do more hunt criminals in Skyhold, but I have to try now. If I can't help steer us down the right path, the least I can do is make sure we don't go down the wrong one..."

Orion was silent for a moment before gently bumping Ilyanna's shoulder with his own.

"Of course, that's what I have you and your brilliant ideas for. You're at least going to watch and offer unhelpful commentary while I squirm around in the great web of politics, aren't you?"

 

[Xatarias]

Ilyanna purses her lips in thought and leans precariously over the ledge, raven tresses whipping like a banner in the wind.

"The world seems like it's closing in sometimes. You have your growing responsibilities, and I... Well some things are bound to change." She says offering you a small smile. "Don't worry Ry Ry, I'm not going anywhere. Someone has to be a foil to my brilliance- although if you are elected to the council, it might start making me look bad."

Her fingers danced on hard granite surface, scuffed nails tapping out a fast, aimless rhythm. The silence that progresses fills with something you couldn't quite place, blossoming from an easy understanding you hadn't quite felt since enduring Tysera's crucible. You had almost forgotten how easy things could be with Ily. Words apart in so many ways, you both had an unshakable commitment to family and clan. It was almost enough to forget the confusing twists and turns adulthood had inserted into your relationship... Almost.

"Well Gate district is a little further from the temple than your mom's place," She says finally. "It might be a little difficult to drop by and witness your crime fighting skills... But I think it's doable~"

 

[Weiss Ritter]

Orion's pulse quickened when Ilyanna conceded that some change was inevitable. It was ridiculous. He'd been thinking and saying that for the last few days now. He knew her too well to expect the tenacious shamaness to let anything get in the way of something as precious as their relationship. Yet, Orio found himself smiling and trying to stop himself from exhaling a relieved breath all the same.

"We can't have that. Maybe we should work out a way for you to make a suitably dramatic entrance once we have that ship up and running. I need you to make a worthy foil to my skill and cunning."

Though Orion's movements down the side of the cliff-face were swift, precise, and masterfully practiced, the fact remained that one wrong move could send one or both of them tumbling down into an agonizing trip to the infirmary. Yet, he felt calm and relaxed in a way that went beyond making a fairly routine climb. The complexities and frustration of life in Skyhold were distant out here. There was only the unmitigated warmth of Ilyanna's presence; a precious thing he could never get enough of. Their bond was...special. Unique. Orion had shed sweat and blood alongside many others, and his bedding of Sarisa and the other huntresses was not without some sentiment-whatever those who thought of him as a hormone addled hedonist believed-but none of it even approached what Ilyanna meant to him.

She had been there for him when no one except his family would, and loved him in a way the Fireveins could not. Things were more...complicated now, and often frustrating, but without her Skyhold would have felt as cold and empty as the peaks they would soon be journeying through.

Orion's heart warmed when she spoke again. "Good, there's few things I enjoy more than showing off for you. I guess that means dropping by the Temple in my free time will be similarly doable. I have to keep by sneaking skills sharp somehow if I'm going to be stuck in Skyhold, and getting the first look at your projects is always...interesting. Sometimes even inspiring."

 

[Xatarias]

"Much as I hate to say it, I think your grandmother needs you now- or at least the people she's out to protect."

Your body jerks as she gives your well-muscled side a teasing poke, causing a few errant pebbles to tumble over the precipice.

"When we get that beauty in the air, Skyhold is the last place I'm thinking of taking her," Ilyanna says with an eager grin. "I want to go places, Ry Ry... Although it couldn't hurt to park it at the front gate with much fanfare. You can be my prow ornament if you like~"

With that she rises and tugs you to your feet. After a vehement assertion that now is not the time to start modifying well-trusted climbing mechanisms, and several minutes of rappelling, you find yourselves in the midst of the jungle. Beyond the perimeter of sentry towers and frequent patrols, anything could happen here. You and Ilyanna dart through the underbrush like shadows, obscure trails as obvious to you as pre-space highways.

(Insight check: 12. Success!)

A ruffling in the underbrush draws your attention, causing you to come to a screeching halt. A few sinuous motions pulls you up a gnarled tree trunk and into the canopy, Ilyanna not far behind. From your leafy vantage point, you survey a herd of thickly armored quadrupeds, their placid demeanor a sharp contrast to the nearly meter-long spikes protruding from their shoulders.

"Ironhides," breathed, eyes wide. "They usually don't make this far from the passes during the Flare-up season."

You watch as a female nudges her young from the clearing's edge and resumes grazing, long dexterous tongue grabbing up razorgrass even as the foliage tries to retract into the ground. With calves among them, it was a good thing you had circumvented the herd- the herbivores would play you no mind so long as you kept your distance. The real problem was what their presence meant for your expedition. Ironhides were sturdy and predictable in their migration patterns, leading you to wonder what could have driven them from the relative safety of the alpine meadows into the still-active vent territory.

 

[Weiss Ritter]

Orion let out a mock-gasp. "That's my reward for making your dreams come true?! Demotion from constant companion to bound trophy?!"

He paused for a moment and flashed Ilyanna a smirk. "I can think of worse fates. I trust you'll return the favor if I decide to make a similar show of becoming the best Councillor the Gate District has ever seen."

Resting in the canopy, Orion surveyed the herd of Ironhides and the path they'd stamped through Cloudclimber land with a troubled frown. He murmured back to the shamaness. "No they don't..."

What could possibly have driven such formidable herd so far from their usual routes? It was nearly impossible to conceive of any predators-human or otherwise-that possessed the strength, numbers, and willingness to force the ironhides from their usual meadows. That only left the environment itself. Nothing less than a natural cataclysm...but what and how? A new fracture in the landscape, one spewing lava and withering breezes that would have eradicated the alpine meadows in minutes, perhaps? Surely the ironhides couldn't have simply gotten lost or made this journey on a whim. They weren't a species known for emulating Ilyanna.

"Did you pack anything that might shed some light on this?" Orion asked as he pressed himself a few precious inches higher up in the tree to get a better look at the horizon and the ironhide's trail. Some binoculars or whatever the Temple-issued equivalent were would have been useful, but he might have been able to make out a dramatic shift in the environment with his naked eyes if his perch was high enough. Perhaps the scanners Ilyanna was familiar with, either at Skyhold or ones that could be carried, could be used to detect any jarring shifts as well.

 

[Xatarias]

Ilyanna snorts as you scan the distant mountains, hooking her legs around a tree branch and inverting herself while rummaging through her pack.

"Do I have something... Catch!"

The crystal of the spyglass she tosses up is cracked, but even with its splintered magnification, you get a good scan of the outlying terrain. Dense canopy obscures your immediate surroundings, but beyond there is the highland scrub and alpine meadows- all laid bare to your scrutiny. Nothing in the craggy rock fields and flowering valleys seems out of place. A few rock slides have disturbed certain areas, but it wasn't anything that the well-adapted ironhides would have trouble contending with. All evidence points to this herd's presence being a product of chance... But for some reason your instincts aren't buying it.

A coo of amusement draws your attention and you watch as Ilyanna plucks a nearby leaf and sends it gently drifting below to settle on a young calf's nose. It blinks cross-eyed for a moment before its tongue laps up and around to snag the leafy treat. It hums for a moment, staring at up at your perch. One massive tail-strike later and you barely manage to keep your foothold to safety.

"Clever boy~"

You're pretty sure the now leaf-covered creature is female, but the interjection of such information seems ill-placed as Ilyanna smiles with delight watching the Ironhide smugly devour this new source of food.

 

[Weiss Ritter]

Orion fought back the near-instinctive urge to fling a pithy comment in Ilyanna's direction in favor of extending the spyglass as soon as his hand snatched it out of the air in a practiced blur of motion. He grunted unhappily at the cracks spiderwebbing across his vision, but it was hardly crippling enough to warrant a remark. The fact that any such commentary would probably end in Ilyanna smugly reminding him which of them was the master-engineer was secondary, of course.

"Tch..." The young man rapped his fingers along the length of the spyglass, frowning thoughtfully. Maybe some odd but harmless twist of fate had compelled this herd to break their usual pattern. His gut didn't buy it, but it was going to take a little more than that to radically alter their course. Time wasn't a resource they could afford to be frivolous with this time. The Gate District and a substantial part of the web Tysera had woven to restrain the Donya from selling Skyhold's soul in exchange for death or dubious glory.

Besides, they were nominally patrolling Cloudclimber lands. If something had changed, if something lurked out there that could drive an entire herd of Ironhides down from their meadows, they'd be shirking their duty to family and clan to not even make a cautious attempt to investigate.

"Grah...!" Orion's muscular leg shot out when the entire tree seemed to tremble from the well-placed whack of the calf's tail, propping him back against an opposing limb just in the nick of time. He shot Ilyanna and the ironhide a dirty look, but doubted either would care even if they did notice.

...Ancestors, this was a calf. What could have possibly forced a whole herd of such mighty creatures off their land?!

"Oh, found a new apprentice?" Orion looked to Ilyanna with a smile that was only slightly forced. Her spyglass was collapsed and dropped into her waiting grip as soon as she was ready. "What are you going to teach them next? How to build a settlement? Trade? Give it some time and they might elect you their new leader. Chieftan Ilyanna Ironhide has a nice ring to it, doesn't it?"

Looking back to the horizon and the more serious note it represented, the young man took a breath. "I didn't see anything out of the ordinary, so no detours for now. Still, keep your weapons close and your senses sharp. My instincts haven't had me this on edge since the last time I let you talk me into helping with one of your experiments..."

 

[Xatarias]

"There will be no election, only a coup worthy of my deviousness" Ilyanna quips, pulling a leaf nested in your hair with the hook of her recurve bow. "But don't worry, I will be magnanimous in rule. You can be my fan bearer~"

Another blow to your perch's trunk persuades you to move along, remaining in the canopy until a good distance separates you from the mighty-if-ponderous herd. It is past midday when the jungle begins to to thin and the luminous foilage start to transition to the spikey growth of the scrub lands. You and Ilyanna alternate positions of pathfinder and guardian, one keeping an eye out for trouble while the other determines the safest and most expeditious path.

You are the one with hand on bowstring, duty conflicting with Ilyanna's fine posterior, when a melodious howl pierces the air, causing the Shamaness to pause climbing a large boulder. The Hexapuma's call was close... Close and very familiar.

"You're the expert" Ilyanna murmurs, tensed muscles a sharp contrast to the levelness of her tone. "Are we someone's lunch, or are they just passing through."

Passing through if you were any judge. You didn't possess a keen enough ear to differentiate individuals at this distance, but there was no mistaking your adoptive family's territorial signal. This was the edge of their domain and likely wanted you to take notice.

 

[Weiss Ritter]

Orion opened his mouth to retort in kind, but even his once-sure footing was faltering against Ilyanna's newest disciple's quest for tasty greens. It was time to climb down and get a move on.

The next leg of of their journey proved mercifully uneventful. The greatest danger Orion found himself contending with was making sure Ilyanna didn't catch his gaze wondering from the trees. By all rights, he should have been used to the beautiful young woman his one true friend had become after spending her childhood as a mishappen outcast. At the very least, Orion had improved since the first time he saw her after he'd endured Tysera's trials and returned laden with trophies. That wonderfully awkward moment when the cute weakling stood before his clan triumphant and transformed into an almost impossible paragon of martial prowess...only to start staring and stumbling like he was seeing a girl for the first time when Ilyanna pushed her way to the forefront.

Now he could look at and banter with her just fine. It was when they went on adventures like this, when those hard, chiseled muscles of her stretched and flexed while her perfectly toned rear was thrust into the center of his vision, that he felt his heartbeat quicken and his gut lighten...Not enough to truly distract him from his duties, of course, but still.

Orion reflexively tensed at the familiar yowl wafted through the air, but a faint and almost wistful smile formed on his handsome features. "Passing through. We're just dancing around the edge of their territory and they want us to respect that. See? I told you they're decent enough neighbors to have."

Most clanmates probably would have looked at Orion like he was mad for expressing such fondness for some of the most dangerous predators to stalk their merciless world. Even Ilyanna was surprised to seem him hesitate to force the matriarch and her cubs out of their nest in the Warrens. Being forced to track this pack down with no food or water, to pray that he'd learned enough of their ways and looked pitiable enough to be offered steaming, regurgitated meat, rivaled being thrown into the depthmaw's den as the worst thing Tysera had ever done to him...but the Hexapuma themselves had shown him more care and affection than vast bulk of Skyhold had before he returned.

Orion was never going to forget that.