phantasmalrift | DUNGEON - BELLMARE MOUNTAINS, PT 1

DUNGEON - BELLMARE MOUNTAINS, PT 1

Expedition day dawns with the androids in a final flurry of activity - this time, it's in the glider hangar, where they're furiously setting up racks of heavy coats, piles of warm socks, and snow boots, as much as they could manage to pull together. If you've already got your own, great! Otherwise, you can grab some here, though it will be in the usual amount of mismatched Keystone chic.

There's also a variety of emergency flares and the like. Strange is there to admonish everyone to take at least one - unlike Earth flares, they're magical and silent, and will recharge over time - just in case.

Because you're going up into the mountains, and even more so than the usual abandoned places that you explore, it's going to be dangerous just by the nature of the place, nevermind what you might find up there. Incendia was the biggest market for the Bellmare mountain resort, after all, and you're all quite familiar by now with how long that's been abandoned. More to the point, it's far easier to lose track of each other in the snowy slopes. Keep your phones handy and look out for each other, as well as anyone else you might find up there.

Indeed, in addition to the clothes offered for you now, Strange will push extra warm clothes on anyone with hammerspace, and Down, surprisingly enough, has emerged from their usual place with a good number of extra communication devices to hand out. You should still have signal in the mountains, even in a blizzard, but it's better to be prepared for things to screw up.

Once you're all bundled and ready to go, it's off with a wave, into the land of ice and snow.

[OOC: There is an exploration header for each area of the dungeon! Please limit yourselves to 3-5 characters per thread, and don't double dip in order to allow everyone the chance to explore! Otherwise, feel free to top-level as normal.]

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Enter the FORB

[Kurama does have winter gear. A heavy coat with a hood, pants, boots. It's alright, he supposes, if awkward. It does not take him long to decide human bodies are completely impractical for this sort of weather and turn into a fox. He does not look quite the same as usual?

Apparently his winter coat came in at some point. He's so fluffy he looks round, except for his still two-dimensional, tattoo-like tails. He shakes himself a little.]

That's much better.

They're sacred ancestral relics but it's fiiiiine.

[It's a bit later and a lot further in, up on the slopes, that there is a special sort of sight. Kurama is half-crouched on what looks like a long, narrow shield. It might look familiar to those that have witnessed other shenanigans. Except he also has an oversized lance, with some of the telltale markers of another Royal Arm. He's very deliberately slaloming wildly back and forth across the slope on his way down, stirring up the snowmen and then bursting them apart into powder with the lance.

When he hits the base of the slope, he jams the lance's point into the snow in front of him and pole vaults off the shield, landing on his feet in the snow neatly, grinning wild and fierce.

If anyone was wondering why the Lucis Caelums adopted Kurama? This might help explain.]

Tabula Rasa

[But from the third to the fifth day of the expedition, things are different. Kurama is different. He stops changing form. Stops using any of his powers. He's less confident. Softer, looking more like an actual teenager for once.

There's no recognition in his eyes when anyone approaches him for the first time after the change.

Once they all know what's going on? Kurama is almost always accompanied by at least one out of Akira, Goro, or Minato.

He's still doing his best to help, though, once someone explains to him how to set the stabilizers.]

Edited 2018-12-17 00:34 (UTC)

[Kurama's human form is easy to see up here in the mountains. His red hair is like a beacon against the snow. So Minato won't have any problem spotting him.

The problem is that he's being attacked by some of the snowmen.

The bigger problem is that this shouldn't be a problem. Kurama is usually very capable of handling himself. But right now he's just...dodging and weaving frantically, trying to escape. There's no effort to fight back at all.

And there's a bruise, dark purple and blues, blooming across the side of his face.

Kurama cries out, loud and pained, when one of the snowmen crashes into him hard. It knocks him to the ground, his leg at an odd, uncomfortable looking angle, and tries to bury him.]

[That's wrong.

Minato doesn't need to be close, physically or emotionally, to know that. Kurama is extremely capable at the worst of times. Minato would be dead multiple times over without him. And he doesn't need to be anywhere near as close as he is to help.

He bolts, a streak of blue across the snow. It isn't unlike in the palace when he ran to get Ignis out of danger. Kurama will have one moment to see Minato silhouetted dramatically against the snowman before them, gun pointed to his head. Bang.

He's already turning as the burning woman materializes to destroy the thing. Kneeling by the older teen's side, already moving to shield him in case there are more.]

Kurama-san-!

[Oh.

The dramatic entrance makes Kurama's breath catch, just a little. He has no idea who this person is or what he's doing, but he can't help appreciating the style. His attention is yanked from that by the appearance of the burning woman, though, and he flinches back harshly from the fire even as it makes his leg scream with pain.

But he doesn't shy away from Minato as the teen spins towards him, even though green eyes are wide and wary, uncertain. There's no recognition there and if Minato could destroy the snowman so easily, what could he do to Kurama?

...shield him, apparently. Warmth spreads through Kurama's chest as the other boy moves to protect him, and his cheeks go slightly pink. There are two more of the snowmen, Kurama might have gotten away if it had only been the one, but dodging all three had been harder.

But. Who the hell is Kurama?]

[He ignores them. Kurama has all of Minato's focus right now. The fact that he was in trouble at all screamed that something else was horribly wrong. Compared to that, these snowmen he can dispatch with a well-placed Agi are nothing. He spares them only enough attention to ensure they won't hurt Kurama again - and this means Minato tanks all of their attacks instead.]

Kurama-san...? [The older teen's eyes are wide, unseeing- no, no that's not right. He sees him. He just doesn't recognize. There's nothing there, no sign of response to his own name, nothing-- A tree branch rakes across his back. No time to worry about this now. Minato grits his teeth, putting together a plan.] It's alright. Won't let them hurt you. Just hold on.

[That leg, first of all - he expertly blocks another swipe with a branch from the snowman on the other side with one arm. It'll be bruised later, but what's a few bruises? - that leg. He runs fingers across it gently, watching Kurama's face for signs of pain. He hopes it's just the position. Once he knows for sure, he starts...gently moving it to a more natural position. He moves slow, working to make this as painless as possible.

He's so focused on his task, he doesn't even flinch or react at all when something hits the back of his head. He's not sure if it was a snowball or just a rock or piece of ice, and he can't tell if that's blood or water in his hair. He doesn't care. It doesn't matter. All that matters is that Kurama needs him.]

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Locked to Minato

Re

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Locked to Akira, nighttime, Day 5

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her canon has so much amnesia, i couldn't not

That's fair.

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So I couldn't resist, after all...

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totally the proper use of royal arms

Best use

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