trans_9 | Snow Sheltering [Closed]

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Snow Sheltering [Closed]

Today's trek to Pelau's glass desert had started as more of a ridiculous dare than a serious idea for Billy. Terrain to conquer just because he could? It sounded reckless, but the risk carried a reward for it too. If the rumors of a beautiful display of lights were true, he definitely wanted to be out there. Rumor also had it that a few of his friends were going, and he didn't want to be left behind.

After packing his supplies and telling a few people where he was going just to be sure, he'd set off. It was a long, slow trek, and he was sure that the others who had gone this way had long surpassed him. He was a Southern California native! The desert he was accustomed to trekking was considerably hotter and sandier.

Finally, though, he stumbled across a small half-finished shelter that another traveler had built for themselves some time ago. Exhausted as he was, he set about securing it. When it was comfortable enough for a few hours of rest, he put out a call to any friends who might be in the region. Oh, he hoped they were there.

{{Hey, it's me, Billy. Are any of you hungry? I have some food in the shelter.}}

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Oh, this was new and interesting, if only a little strange. He'd walked, ran--tracked across frozen lakes, jutting icebergs and slanted glaciers before, but he'd never...skated over them. Gnomes partook in this particular activity, he'd seen. Humans, commonly in the colder regions and the occasional Goblin in Winterspring. It wasn't really his thing, but he was sure he'd be fine.

He was really going to miss the warmth of riding on Fontaine's back, though.

Of course silly things are fine in public! Nothing wrong with being playful!

Ronnae wasn't expecting the skates, it was... odd. She know very well how to traverse through and over ice. After all, her biggest war had been in the North and wielding immense weapons while donning the heaviest armor was a feat unto itself, and she was a graceful beauty of a killing machine, so she was adept at dealing with ice...

Just not on skates.

So forgive her for fumbling a bit here and there.

Ronnae was definitely in good company. Billy had visited a rink once on Earth, but he'd been clumsier back then. Winters were mild in southern California---not much ice to skate on, anyway. His only saving grace here was his improved balance, but even that wasn't going to help him very much.

He clung to Ronnae's hand, learning the subtleties of pushing as quickly as he could manage.

"You're sure there are no lakes to fall through, right?" Billy asked nervously.

"Of course not!" Kaya called out, going as fast as she could. "Even if there are lakes that bad, I can just freeze them! Trust me, I'll know if they're too weak to skate through!"

For the moment, Kaya is going at a steady pace. Going too fast would scare the heck out of them, and going too slow would have been insulting. She chose instead to keep at a pace taht challenged them and was at least reachable.

"Just move your legs in rhythm, I'll do the rest!"

Nokosi followed right after, though he was decidedly slower--it was mostly due to the sudden liking he had for the sound of the skates rocketing over ice.

Fontaine, it seemed, had no trouble simply running along the ice beside Kaya, as if it were normal dirt beneath his paws. It was to be expected though; spirit wolves like him--like his mother, were born of the tundra. For Fontaine, this was essentially home.

It wasn't the falling into a frozen lake that concerned her, after all, long swims in frigid northern waters was a common thing for her during the Northrend War. It was looking silly by falling in front of people that was making her feel awkward.

Nonetheless, she held onto Billy both for support and to help each other get through this with as little falling as possible.

It took longer than he would've liked to find his balance, but he eventually started moving relatively smoothly. 'Relatively smoothly', in this case, meant that every move forward actually propelled him forward and went in a reasonable approximation of a straight line. He held tight to Ronnae, leaning close to her after flicking his eyes up to Kaya and Nokosi ahead.

He leaned close to Ronnae's ear, carefully blocking off access to his mind while he whispered. "I say we catch her when we hit the ground. Are you in?"

Kaya smiled when she saw that Fontaine was not only keeping up, he was enjoying himself. What was more, she saw that the oter three were compensating in their own way. She, of course, was giving them a little more of a nudge by moving just a little bit faster, smiling over at them. After all,s she DID want to get there faster.

She was, of course clueless about the plot afoot.

He would have skated after Fontaine, but he was already well aware of the devastating effects that flinging oneself into a wolf on ice, had. A race through this refreshingly chilled wind would have been perfect, too.

Nokosi blew out a stream of cold air and watched it streak past him as they skated along, eyes roaming over the bluish-white landscape. They eventually settled on the horizon--partially broken up by the pointed, blocky glaciers that jutted out of the snow.

"Despite the lack of vegetation," he huffed, trying to keep in pace. "I rather like this area. I wish the ship had snow."

Ronnie grinned subtly and nodded in agreement, ready to pounce when Billy gave the signal.

"I wish it had snow too! That would be so much fun, real snow, not in the sensoriums I mean!" she called out to Nokosi's comment as she stayed alongside Billy, already prepared.

"We'd have to start sledding everywhere! It'd be a real mess. I could duplicate a snow-making machine like the ones at ski resorts, but we don't have that much extra water to use."

It was a shame. He skated onward, just a little more confident now. Hopefully Ronnae was too. He smiled at her encouragingly, then waited to make his move. This would be messy.

"It sounds like a good idea to me! If we were able to actually have it snow on the ship, you guys could work on ice skating: its actually very good at helping people develop balance, and I hear its even considered a sport!"

Why something so fun would be a sport was beyond her though.

But at least the others were catching up! She squeezed Nokosi's hand, smiling up at him.

"Well, in one place. Like deep in hydroponics or somewhere in the city where one can enjoy the change of season." And if it was water they needed...well, they were already here. He briefly wondered how long it would take to move a few hundred gallons of snow.

Feeling a small pressure on his hand, Nokosi's attention was momentarily diverted to Kaya. He returned the smile with a grin and glanced back to Ronnae and Billy, who were still trailing behind them. Elven hearing, guys. He wasn't going to spoil your plan, though.

Ronnie blinked a few times and remained in silence while thinking, almost as if she could read Nokosi's thoughts. "I wonder if they'd mind if we took a good deal of snow back on board... I mean, I'm sure it'd wouldn't be a big deal right? We could definitely use more fresh water and this would help a ton!"

"There's plenty of space, I don't see why we can't," he offered. "Snow just gets heavy when it melts into water. We'd have to find a way to carry it."

He glanced over at Nokosi, puzzled. Was he going to warn Kaya?

Either way, this was going to become a little snowy brawl as soon as they reached their destination. They should be getting close. He squeezed Ronnae's hand, grinning with excitement.

Kaya would have been happy to tell them how hard it was to make water into snow, but of course she couldn't hear them and was only increasing her speed little by little.

And finally, they were exactly where they needed to be, so Kaya slowed the down, finally taking a breath. Making snow into ice and skating at the same time for a prolonged amount of time STILL was a lot of work!

Nokosi's eyebrows furrowed in thought over how best to transport water on the ship. Honestly, he figured it would take the minds of the engineers to come up with something that would efficiently do the job. He could be clever, yes, but that generally involved the natural world. His way would just be to grab a bucket, a dimensional bag and to get to work. The simple but timely way to complete a task.

As soon as they slowed to a stop, Nokosi became very involved in taking up all of Kaya's attention by playfully messing with the long braid she usually wore as she caught her breat. Yeah. That's him actively involving himself in the whispered plan between the engineers. Totally giving you an opening.

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Snow Sheltering [Closed]

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Sorry for the late response, guys. Been struggling with RP drive lately ._.