middleofsomewhere | Let it Snow: Orange Start

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Let it Snow: Orange Start

The moment Red team jumps the voice speaks again. “Orange team to doors. Void shift imminent. Ten, nine, eight, seven...” There is a lurch and the train seems to tumble. The windows flash with the void for a second before they are once again surrounded by snow.

The train steadies, the doors open, the train is in mid-air and one step away from the train doors there is an ice platform. Crossing is not too hard, though a bit daunting. They are very high up and the ice is inherently slippy.

The platform is not large enough for them all and so the only natural way is for them to begin entering the labyrinth to allow everyone off the train. The moment the last person leaves the train it blinks away and the moment everyone has entered the labyrinth there is a grinding sound and the ice behind them closes.

For good or ill they have entered. Their goal is clear, a strange machine suspended in the centre of the maze but getting there will be a challenge. Though it looks like they should be able to merely walk towards it walls of ice stand in their way. The only way to stop any of this is to get through the labyrinth.

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Disembark:

That's a big "step". Misa takes a couple steps back and then with a running start jumps the area between the train and the platform. She doesn't go sliding, but falls to her knee and scoots a few inches. She slowly pushes herself up. That had hurt, but it was nice to see that she hadn't had any issues. She brushes off her heavy pants with her gloves and looks around. Well. Jocko always said she was a bit too courageous at times. But Misa wasn't going to be left behind!

Maze:

Misa hates the cold and would really like to go back to the warmth of Cantonica. The desert planet doesn't seem so bleak now.

She runs her hands along the walls , glad to have her knives. There's... something different about this place, and she doesn't like it.

Curufin leaps immediately after Misa does, regains his balance, and comes to her. "Nice jump! Are you all right?"

She nods, taking in a deep breath. The air sears her lungs. "Why do people live in a place like this??" She's shivering, despite her many layers of clothing. "No wonder people come to Canto for recreation."

The cold is rather searing, though it affects him far less than it does her. "I guess not everybody has a choice about where they live. But maybe it's not always winter here? No matter, it is now. And you're cold. I'm wearing two jackets, do you want one?"

She does not understand wanting to live like this. Even the poles of Cantonica are not this cold. She wraps her arms around herself. "No. You would be cold then." She says, reasonably.

People who live on warm planets are lucky in many ways. Though Curufin is from the northern regions of his own world and wouldn't have it otherwise. He looks sympathetically at her as she shivers.

"Not really," he answers. "I'm used to the cold. Besides, I wore two jackets in case anybody else needed one. It was the easiest way to carry an extra. I'm not going to freeze without both."

She shakes her head. Hopefully, she'll get used to the cold, and not freeze to death, here on this barren planet. She wans to go home. There's nothing here that even is close. She also wishes Freema were here.

"How can you be used to this? Also, I want to be free to move with my knives, if I need to."

Curufin is not happy about Misa not taking him up on his offer of a jacket. But it is up to her, and she seems to have reasons not to want to be encumbered with the jacket.

"I was born in the land of Aman, and I grew up under a mountain range. Aman was far enough north to be very cold in the winter, and I simply thought of that as being natural as I'd never experienced anything else. Besides, I loved wintertime, running through the snow with my brothers, skating on the rivers and streams, exploring the snowy forests and plains. After my family and I journeyed to Middle-earth, we migrated away from the coast and into the East Marches, the land on the border between the tundra and the temperate zone. It was the same there in the winter, beautiful forests, frozen lakes and rivers, wide white plains."

But as for that matter of moving freely: "You are a warrior woman, and you know your own skills and requirements for using them effectively. I don't know if the jacket would slow you down, but I understand your reasoning."

"Oh." She says. "Cantonica is very hot. There are oasises, but mostly, it's just desert." And she dislikes this cold nonsense.

then she laughs, behind her hand. "Warrior? No, but I can stab something and run away." She admits, with a big smile. Jocko had taught her that much.

"Then this wintertime weather would be very new to you, indeed! The good news is, we won't be on this planet for very long. And the next mission isn't likely to be on a winter world."

He laughs too. "Stabbing something and running away is at least one skill a warrior should have! And a very useful one, too."

Edited 2020-01-31 09:12 (UTC)

She nods. "The closest I've come is seeing holos of places like Hoth. Which this place reminds me of, if the holos are to be believed." She admits. "Do missions happen often?" She asks, not liking the thought of that.

The she laughs. "That's what Jocko used to say. 'Don't aim to kill, aim to distract so you can get away.'" She's repeating, but it's a good lesson to learn

"Oh well, at least you were forewarned by the holos that such places exist! Ands as for the missions, they happen every month."

He laughs again. "Jocko was your teacher in the art of using a dagger? Smart person. Getting stabbed is definitely a distraction!"

She doesn't like the cold, but the holos of Hoth and a few other places had not seemed real. But apparently, they are. Which is weird to think of after the warmth and dryness of Cantonica.

"Do they always happen in the cold?" Because if so, she's going to protest and not come along next time. She'll wait and help with making warm food and drinks or something.

Her heart suddenly constricts and she nods, looking sad. "Jocko was my guard since I was seven." She says, softly.

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so_dark_a_road - 2020-02-08 00:43 (UTC) - Expand

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Sorry, I never got back to this thread. Good place to end, I think!

so_dark_a_road - 2020-04-11 05:56 (UTC) - Expand

Padmé would state that she is not a fan of extremes either, whether it be heat or cold. Naboo is much more temperate in that regard, staying a pleasant temperature with little fluctuation. She is making out alright clothing-wise, bundled up, but her systematic exploration has so far not brought her any closer to the centre.

Padmé does hear a noise, tensing, but it is a familiar face that does come in to view. "Hello Misa. I take it that you've had little luck as well."

She curtsies as well as she can in this awkward clothing. "No, Mistress." She says, irritably. She can feel the differentness of the maze and dislikes it. It's giving her a headache. "There's a dead end over there." She points back the way she came. "And no way to climb over, to see what's going on."

"No, climbing over would be too easy, wouldn't it." A pity though, even if Padmé isn't entirely certain how well she would be able to climb it without considerable aide. "So are the previous two lefts. I'll need to go back then as well."

Misa sighs. "I don't like this place. It's... creepy." Never mind that her dream keeps coming back to her, and making her <>colder if such a thing were possible. She shivers and stops. "I didn't go that way." She says, nodding down a pathway. "Should we?"

There is a certain something about this place that does have the hairs on the back of her neck standing on edge. It could be the foreign and the unknown though, as Padmé can honestly say that she's never actually been in a real physical maze. The senate, after all, could be considered one, both with it's representatives and the actual building.

"Sure. It's always better to have someone with you anyway." Offering a smile as she moves towards the pathway, curious but cautious.

Lilith wonders if Lord Vader isn't here because the maze is just creepy. She trails her fingers over the wall and then walks along the path until her gut siezes and she's quivering.

"We shouldn't be here." She whispers, suddenly. There's a reason that she doesn't want to be here and it's up ahead.

It is the way that she says it that draws Padmé to a complete halt. She does glance ahead, before looking back to Misa. Here, as in the maze, or here, as in this path? "Do you... Think that we should turn back?"

She doesn't question Misa's words, but does take them seriously.

She's frozen in place, not sure of what she senses, but she'd always been told to listen to her gut instinct. It's when there's a flash of something in the corner of her eye that she dashes over to Padme and tries ram into her to move her out of the way. "Look out!" She shouts as water begins to swirl around.

It is because she has followed her own gut, and been around those who do as well, that Padmé does give her the credit. Of course it also means that she is watching Misa, concern there, and it is the second after Misa moves towards her that Padmé had made up her mind to turn back.

But the slight girl does bump in to her, causing her to stumble a few steps backwards, even as the water starts to lap. "Where-"

Yet she's working on getting her footing back and helping Misa along, skirting back in the direction that they had come from. While Padmé does enjoy swimming, that is on Naboo. It's far more moderate and pleasant than cold and freezing like here. A dunking is not on her list of accomplishments for today as she struggles to move away from it.

Misa does not know how to swim. Misa has never had cause to learn. Especially since that's something the lessers on Cantonica do. So, seeing the liquid ice coming after them - and that is definitely following them - freaks her out.

She manages to gain her feet, and tries to help Padme do the same. "It's... It's trying to get us!" Misa manages to pant out. "We should run." She says.

Running does indeed seem like the best course of action, as swimming is one thing, but in icy water? If anything, they could well be bogged down. Thankfully the clothing is somewhat helpful as her feet get purchase, and making certain that Misa is with her, Padmé set off. "Right!"

As water should go downhill, right, and the land seemed to have slopped a little to the left.

This water does not obey the laws of physics. It's definitely following them. Misa follows Padme. "There!" She says, running away and pointing down a side aisle again. She turns, skids and goes sliding.