Taking her eyes off the path ahead for a second, she regarded the sword, and then gently took it from Snake's hand.

"If it is okay with you, I think I'll try it.  I don't know what the gems will do, but if you say it'll help, then thank you.  I appreciate the help, Snake.  Maybe you'll let me take a look at that hand later?  I might be able to do something about that burn you received, too.  It might be difficult, but there's a chance I could cure it, perhaps."

She touched her free hand to her forehead and then lowered it.

"Maybe one day in the future, I'll be able to teach these techniques to others back at the monastery.  There may be many these techniques could heal, and it may, in effect, bring us closer as Kai."

Even as Rain Feather examined the sword Sun Snake had offered her, Sun Fox paused as the corridor broke down into three roads again and asked, turning to Sun Snake:

"So, which way now?"

When Sun Fox asked the question, Sun Snake almost reached back for the sword. Instead, he politely gestured for Rain Feather to dig the sword in to the ground for a moment. He also gestured for Alyne to come closer.

"A sword is a very definitive construct. It is made for one purpose, every element of its form is in service to that function." Sun Snake gestured to the surroundings. "When it meets the rest of the world, it has a very fixed reaction. The surroundings give or resist it very specifically. Even a person's reactions to it are fixed to a few definite emotions. Even the air pools or splits about its blade very specifically."

Sun Snake touched the blade, and closed his eyes. "If you ever needed a compass to extend your senses, it is a strange yet very appropriate lodestone to how the world around it truly is."

Sun Snake then looked around to Alyne. "I once said you should practise with a different sword than your father's. However, I think your skill is such that any concerns I had are unfounded. That sword not only has a definite funciton, but a very definite past and wielder to you. It can be a lodestone in another regard. An anchor to your past, even as the gifts that unlock its use are a window to your future. A perfect way to keep on your path. A reluctance to use it in aggression and anger in the coming day may ensure that path is one of peace."

He concentrated on the distance for a moment, then stood up. "The most right path is another dead end - literally, another chasm. The ascending path is the shortest way, the third path will add a day of meandering to our journey."

Sun Snake then looked to Sabre Fox and Sun Fox. "The quickest ascending path becomes vertical though. You two navigated the waterfall earlier. Do you think we can manage a further long climb, the five of us?"


I actually had a sword/axe metaphor I could make, but running out of time - maybe later!

Also, if Alyne still has Snake's old sword, might be nice to get it back! Not sure if she dumped it a while ago.

Well, it's not like Rain is keeping Prudence, she's just temporarily borrowing it. As for Alyne, yes, she still does has your old sword, but since you've no free slots to carry it into, I'm unsure as to how you'd carry it.

Alyne nodded to Sun Snake's words, clearly thoughtful, and then said, in a soft tone:

"I will try to do as you say, Master... if you really thinks that connection might help me, I will do what I can to pursue it."

Then, before the girl could say aything else, Sun Fox, who had been considering Sun Snake's question, nodded to herself and spoke, in an assertive tone:

"I and Sabre are good at climbing, and once we're up there, we could drag the rest of you upward - it'd take a bit longer, but will make it the climbing a lot safer for all of you."

She paused, then turned to Sabre Fox and asked with a grin:

"What do you say, Sabre, feeling up for another bit of climbing?"

"Am i up for climbing?" Fox said. "Of course I am! I could scale walls in my sleep if i have to! Lets get to it!"

"Let's go then!"

And with that, the two sprinted forward, leaving the others to follow at teir own place while they moved forward; sure enough, just as Sun Snake had predicted, the ground quickyl took a sharp incline, eventually turning into an almost vertical climb that went up for over an hundred feet.

Which, for us metrical users, is about 30 meters. A relatively dangerous climb, considering that a six-meters fall is usually lethal... hopefully nobody will fall! ^_^

This, Sabre Fox, would be a DC 11 Hunting roll to climb; of course, all your modifiers for equipment and disciplines apply as usual.

Rain, Snake, you two are free to post yourselves speaking to each other, or with Alyne, while you wait for the Foxes to make their climb. :)

Looking at the steep incline, a grin appeared on Fox's face for a moment as he looked at Sun Fox.

"Race you to the top!" He smirked before starting his climb

Usual Fox esque I rolled a 9 :) With Hunting and equipment thats like a 14 :)

That's great! Then you're up; I'll give Rain Feather and Sun Snake a chance to make a post for themselves before having them climb up as well.

Meanwhile...

As the two of them set up the ropes so that the other three Kai could have an easier time climbing, Sun Fox turned to Sabre Fox and asked, in a more neutral tone:

"Sabre, did the Drakkar told you what he was planning to do with... with the Grandmaster and the Sommerswerd?"

There was a clear hint of worry in her voice, even if she did her best to keep it from showing.

"I think I understand, Snake... it feels like there's a power there, but at the same time, it's not mine.  It might help me, but it won't ever be mine.  But what you said is true- Kai are supposed to be more well-rounded, and if there ever was one who needed to be, I guess I'm it."

She looked back at the wall, keeping an eye on the two as they started their trek up.

"You know, whoever gave Sabre his Kai name should have called him Sabre Squirrel, the way he keeps climbing up walls like that..."

Im assuming that the Fox's are out of earshot of the others for the time being and talking while climbing, so therefore wont react to Rains mention of Fox

"No" Fox said sadly at Sun Fox's question. "Like I said, Vyctar took the Sommerswerd and made sure not to touch it. So at very least he needs the sword and its power in tact. Im just hoping that if i complete his mission he will at least divulge some information to me, and hopefully give me back the sword since ill be the only one to use it in his forces"

Yep, you can't hear each other at this time, since you, Sabre, are now at the top of the wall, securing the ropes so that the other will be able to climb more easily, while Rain and Snake are down, waiting for you to finish.

Sun Fox nodded and said, in a cautious tone:

"I guess. However, I must say, Sabre, that if he wanted to get rid of you, well, he did it with great ease. After all, this mission he gave you might very easily be impossible to complete... and if so, then I wonder what he's really planning."

"He also could have ordered his unit to kill me the second i gave up the sword and Grandmaster" Fox replied. "But he didnt"

As he was securing the ropes he continued

"He said before that it might take his entire unit to kill me after the fight with Haxadrom. So for him to not take the chance when he could have and let us regroup is foolish. No, I believe what he said was true. That he doesnt trust me completely and this is a test of that"

"Well, let's hope that you pass it, then - so you can better trick him later, right?"

She chuckled, then shook her head and returned to the work of securing the ropes so that the others could climb.

"Well as long as we can at least find one of the Drakkar alive, then I can pass. Hopefully by then it will give you guys to track after us"

Sun Snake watched the two Kai ascend the sheer face with skill while speaking to Rain Feather. "It is always good to expand your learning, but you do not necessarily have to weaken your own focuses. The difference between a sword and axe, construction wise, is very minimal. And yet an axe has far more utility than the sword - I know which I have always preferred to have by my side in the wilderness. Find ways to augment your martial skills with your psychic ones, rather than learn afresh, and you may find you can increase your battle skills and psychic skills at the same time." Sun Sake seemed to realise something, and said it as much to himself as to Rain Feather. "Kai's gifts always grown in to new disciplines as we expand what we know, instead of forcing what we do not."

He turned and gave a smile to Rain Feather. "Well if Sabre is more blade than squirrel and falls, at least he'll have you to look after him. I am glad you already found a way to turn your psychic gifts in to means to cure." After a hesitation, Sun Snake extended his own hand. "You yourself said Master Blue Snake told me to look after myself better. Perhaps you could check my hand is alright before we attempt the climb?"

Sun Snake then thought for a moment. "We should attempt to contact Master Blue Snake, and the others, one last time before we leave these tunnels. Also, we should perhaps attempt to feel out any eavesdroppers when we do."

"I can take a look at it, if you want.  I should be able to make a go at it, to see if I can try to fix the damage.  At the very least, I could heal those cuts and scrapes."

She slid Breakwater back into its holder upon her pack and held out her hand.

"I just hope you're willing to trust me to do it... I don't know what is going to happen, but I will do whatever I can to heal it."

At the idea of contacting Blue Snake, she nodded.

"If this works, I want to see what it would take to teach others how to do it.  White Mantis might be able to use this knowledge, and it would be a breakthrough to be able to heal these injuries."

Sun Snake raised an eyebrow at the warning, and had already seemed reluctant to have the dual cuts healed for some reason. However, his nod showed none of the previous hesitation. "I trust you," he said simply, clearly encouraged that Rain Feather had found new great powers in turning away from her darker ones.

Sun Snake moved himself to Alyne could also see what was happening, while mentally lowering his defenses.

Sun Fox chuckled at Sabre's words and said, in an amused tone:

"Sun Snake is finding his way around in a labirynth of stone he's never been in before - I'm sure he'll manage to track down a person he's known for half his life."

Then, having checked that the ropes were finally stable and capable of supporting a person's weight without breaking, she shouted to the group downward, in an amused tone:

"Hey, you lazy bunch, you can climb now! We'll be helping drag you upwards as you go, so it should be easy now!"

For the climbing, it's a DC 3 Hunting roll thanks to the combined effect of having a solid infrastructure and the help of two other Kai in the climb.

Of course, if you want to complete this healing procedure first, you can - just say so.

This message was last updated by the player at 12:41, Sat 16 Mar 2013.

Her power would wash out and over him, doing its best to heal the wounds he had, and it would push against the scar, but when it was over, it would still remain.  Her eyes would flick down and a Kirlundin curse almost surged past her lips.

"I... I guess I need to get stronger.  Maybe if I work on it, then I might be able to get rid of it, but I need more work with my Curing.  I'm sorry, Snake... I just hope I was able to do something with your other wounds..."

OOC: Burning 5 WP to heal Snake for 10 EP.

She would release his hand and turn to the wall, looking over at it.

"I promise that once I get it to where I can work with it, yours will be the first one I remove.  But I think we've waited long enough- we should get up there, with the rest of them.  There are battles ahead."

With that, she was over to the wall and up the rope, quickly ascending it.
This message was last edited by the player at 00:07, Wed 20 Mar 2013.

Thanks Rain! Now to climb to the top of the cliff and be pushed to our deaths by Sabre and Sun Fox. Well, maybe just my death.

Sun Snake looked sadly at the scar, but it seemed not to be regarding Rain Feather's actions. "The fault may be mine, perhaps I am not ready to let go of those scars yet. An unwilling mind may hamper the body's healing?" Looking to his other hand, with the acid splash damage from the Cener, he shrugged "And powerful evil magic created this wound."

Sun Snake looked encouragingly to Rain Feather. "At the very least my fatigue seems to be gone, so I do not have to fear falling down this face here. Perhaps when we are not distracted, we can concentrate on giving you you more experience." Sun Snake looked upwards with a distant smile. "I don't think Sabre Fox would welcome his famous scar being removed, but if we know we can heal others, perhaps we can give him some convincing wounds to make Vyctar certain of the man's ruse." Sun Snake flicked a gaze to Rain Feather. "I seem to recall that perhaps Sabre's ruse still hasn't been fully forgiven. Maybe he owes you a chance to experiment?"


Sun Snake gestured for Alyne to go next after Rain Feather, and after testing the rope and his hand, he then climbed up himself with confidence in Sabre Fox and Sun Fox's preparations.


Climbing roll is 8!

Well, you all rolled amazingly well on this climbing... it seems the night of sleep helped you all recover?

With the help of the ropes and their fellow Kai dragging them up from above, the Sun Fox, Rain Feather and Alyne had an easy time climbing the rock wall, despite its lenght.

Once they were all near the top, Sun Fox turned to look at the two road in front of them before asking, her voice feeling energetic:

"Which way do we go now?"

Before you go forward, you all need to eat - you might need to remember that to Sun Fox, who's now in full action mode. :)

Alyne and Sun Fox have three meals among them; since there's five of you, that means that you need to pull out at least two more meals from your backpack.

Otherwise, this place count as an "area hit by caresty" (as you might remember me describing when you entered the chasm) which supercedes the fact you're in caves, so the DC for huting a single meal is 8, which goes up to 10 if one is looking for enough food for the entire group - in this case, five meals.

This message was last updated by the player at 22:33, Wed 20 Mar 2013.

"To the left," said Sun Snake without much hesitation, barely staring off in to the distance. "The right will double back in to the wall below us." Sun Snake seemed energised himself, but did not move forwards to continue.

"Now may be a good time to eat and prepare ourselves for moving onwards. And also, to attempt to contact Master Blue Snake again and inform the order of what has occurred."

"Let my stomach have some rest first" Fox winked. "I wouldn't want to waste time foraging but I do have a meal to eat."

Sun Fox nodded as she sat down, then pulled out two meals out of her backpack and asked, showing them:

"I have an extra one. Does anybody wants it?"

I happen to know that both of you, Rain Feather and Sun Snake, have no spare meal to eat... I guess one of you will have to take the -3 END hit - likely the one slower to accept Sun Fox's offer.

Although, of course, you could try and demand that Alyne gave her meals to one of you two - she's just the student after all, and you're both Masters. Not like it would be abusing your authority or anything... ;)

"Go ahead and eat, Snake.  I'm in the best shape of us at the moment, so I'll be fine."

She grinned, but shook her head at his other suggestion.

"I'm not going to outright inflict wounds on someone just for something like that.  If we're moving forward, we'll have plenty of enemies who would be just as eager to try and slice us up- and we'll want everything we can hit them with."