OOM: Elysium or Shephard's quest for an arm.

[brave_kreyu]

Even before the Combine came, Shephard's world had few places left that had never known the touch of men. This forest has no name, for no tribe of wanderers has ever dared to settle here, to harvest the mighty oaks that tower far above his head.

It is nearly noon on Midsummer's day, but little light reaches Shephard and Kreyu down here on the forest floor. The only thing of note in the clearing is a large ring of mushrooms, a formation sometimes called a faerie ring.

Comments

[hecu_marine]

"That's quite all right, ma'am," says Shephard. "You got it goin' proper in the end, that's what matters. We won't mention this to nobody."

He nods to Kreyu- that's a fair thing to say, right?

[brave_kreyu]

Kreyu nods in approval.

"Now all you have to do is dive on in and swim down," the maze replies, relieved. "You'll know when you've crossed it properly and can start swimming back up again."

At first, the water is what one would expect of any pond in the summer, the water tepid but getting darker and cooler the further down one dives.

And then, the world turns upside down with the feeling of a roller coaster doing a loop. The water changes, going from tepid to ice water in an instant. As they struggle toward the surface, they're greeted with the now frozen over surface of the Mirror.

Kreyu shifts her hands to claws and starts tearing at the ice, trying to make a hole so they can escape the frigid water.

[hecu_marine]

What in the ever-living hell-

Well. Shephard's been hauling a shitload of bronze around for a reason, hasn't he? And he's been defying his doctor's orders in private so's to keep both his arms strong even if one of 'em's not what it used to be, hasn't he?

It'll use up what oxygen he's got left in his lungs, but he's gonna see if he can't bash at that ice as hard as he can with that damn shield before it drags him down.

[brave_kreyu]

Oh, fuck this! When the world is starting to go grey from oxygen deprivation, they finally break through the ice. More than human strength allows Kreyu to haul the two of them and their gear up onto the ice.

After that, a rapid stream of spells pulls the water off of them and shifts the temperature of the air around them from 'arctic' to 'autumnal'.

"It would appear," Kreyu hisses acidly, "that our hostess neglected to mention that the seasons would also be mirrored."

[hecu_marine]

"Must be getting on in years," Shephard mutters. "Least we're out of that shit now. Lead on- standin' still don't make nobody warmer, in my experience."

[brave_kreyu]

"Nor in mine," Kreyu agrees. Wading through knee deep snow isn't FUN, but at least they know the way out of this damn maze now.

The air is quiet and still as they thread their way through the maze, and the sun seems to be dropping lower in the sky. It will be near dark by the time they finally reach the exit. Kreyu frowns. "As dangerous as it is during the day, worse creatures roam at night. It might be wise to make a camp and rest a while."

[hecu_marine]

"Brought a flint," Shephard says. "Used to knap my own arrowheads- made me a knife a long while back from the extra. Can't strike much of a spark off bronze, though. Gon' need to gather up a couple things to make a proper fire drill."

[brave_kreyu]

"I can create a spark with magic readily enough, unless you would prefer to do it your way?" Sometimes, magic is handy.

[hecu_marine]

"Your way's faster," says Shephard. "You go ahead, I ain't gonna argue."

Seriously, using a drill takes time. Fire now is good.

[brave_kreyu]

Once they've hauled enough wood for the night into a sheltered location among some old pine trees, Kreyu makes with the magic.

One musical sounding phrase later, there is Fire.

Maybe just in time too. There's an eerie howl on the wind that's not quite the right sound for a wolf pack, or any other beast that Shephard knows.

[hecu_marine]

"There, uh-" Shephard glances out into the darkness. "There any rules here 'bout what I am and ain't allowed to kill if it comes lookin' for us?"

[brave_kreyu]

Kreyu shakes her head. "Self defense is perfectly acceptable."

There are shadows moving among the trees, but they do not come close. It would seem that, like many night hunters, they fear fire.

[hecu_marine]

"Fair 'nough," says Shephard. He settles back into a low crouch, the sword in his left hand and the shield braced in front of his knees. "You need t'sleep or somethin'?"

[brave_kreyu]

"I can go several days without sleep, if need be," Kreyu says with a small smile. "You ought to sleep, if you can."

[hecu_marine]

"Fair 'nough," says Shephard. "I've slept fuckloads worse places before. You wake me if you need me, mm'kay?"

And with that he stretches out on the ground, the shield to one side and the sword just shy of his reach to the other.

[brave_kreyu]

The night is uneventful, unless you count some truly peculiar wildlife noises. The eerie gray light of pre-dawn may serve as an alarm clock of sorts as it filters its way through the bows of the local evergreens.

If that fails, the smell of rabbit cooking may do the trick. Two rabbits wandered a little too close a few hours ago and nominated themselves for breakfast.

[hecu_marine]

Shephard props himself up awkwardly- very awkwardly. The first time he tries he does so with his right arm and misses by a few inches. He scowls and gets it right the second time, though. "Mornin', Kreyu," he says. "I miss anything?"

[brave_kreyu]

Kreyu pretends to have missed the awkward propping up entirely. "Good Morning. You missed nothing other than the rabbits, none of the hungry and the curious last night dared come close enough to our fire to be clearly seen."

She pulls the rabbits off the fire to let them cool enough to be eaten. There's also water in the form of melted snow, if he's thirsty.

[hecu_marine]

Yeah, he's gonna just nod and start scooping snow together. You need a lot of that to get anything near the right volume to be worth drinking. "Much obliged," he says. "Here's hopin' we don't got to spend another night like this. I ain't dressed for it."

He'd really prefer a shitload of body armor in a place like this, is what he means.

[brave_kreyu]

Kreyu nods. "I hope so as well. I would have offered you bronze armor for this journey, but I've found that that takes a good bit of getting used to."

Water for the journey will be melted and breakfast will be had. Afterward, they'll clean up their camp, leaving as little sign of their presence here as is possible.

[hecu_marine]

"Yeah, I remember readin' 'bout a hoplite's gear in ancient Greece," says Shephard. "That'd be more'n I was ready to handle, all things considered."

He's good at wiping out his traces. Comes of years of hunting, and a fair amount of time evading possible Combine trackers. It's not so much courtesy as survival.

"Which way from here?"

[brave_kreyu]

Kreyu pauses for a moment, senses searching out the path. "North and west, toward those mountains."

The sun has climbed slightly higher in the sky before they reach the next landmark of note, a cavern opening like a jagged mouth in the side of a mountain. Kreyu frowns. "The path goes through that opening, into the heart of the mountain."

She glances at Shephard. "I could make a light, but that will make us easy targets for all that lives beneath the earth. It would be safer to cast a spell upon you to lend you better sight in dark places." Kreyu does not need her eyes to navigate, but humans tend to have a hell of a time when they can't see.

[hecu_marine]

"Damn shame I couldn't bring my gas mask," says Shephard. "Thing had starlight scopes built into it. Made seein' in dark places a shitload easier. Let's go with that spell, I ain't interested in hangin' out a fuckin' sign."

[brave_kreyu]

Kreyu chuckles at that. "You may wish to shut your eyes, the change can be a bit disconcerting."

When he opens them again, the shadows are a lot less...shadowy. "I have heard this spell called cats-eye more than once. It does little for seeing color, but for seeing where there is little light it has no equal."

[hecu_marine]

"... that ain't all that different from the scopes," Shephard says with some surprise. "Less green, though. Huh. Am I in trouble if somethin' comes 'round a corner with a torch or shit?"