Open Ice / The Islands, mysterious islands... Of DOOM!

[Rakeri]

Rakeri stood on the edge of Ralthiad where the ice met the land, a sinuous line extending off into the distance on either side of him. It might well have gone on to infinity for all he knew. With a great effort he lifted his right foot and slowly stepped onto the ice. Clank went the boot on the ice. The sound vibrated throughout Rakeri’s body, shaking him to the core. This was it, the frozen border between everything he knew and all that he didn’t. He took one more step, and the worst was over. He was now on his way across the Ocean. He took a third step, then a forth, and eventually he was moving at a normal pace. Walking over to Peter, he mounted his sled and sat down on the bench at the back.

Rakeri felt guilty that he was conformable while his animal was exerting all the effort. He looked around and saw that many of the other travelers were on horses or had vehicles similar to his. However, Rakeri still felt uncomfortable – an emotion that intensified when an unexpected voice appeared in his head.

It’s alright, Boss. I don’t mind pulling you. Smiling down at Peter, Rakeri remembered that he forgotten to sever the link between the reindeer’s mind and his own. Now that he was conscious of the connection, he found comfort in it.

Then Rakeri had an idea. He concentrated on the luggage in front of him, probing for his Spirit Stone. When he found it, he extended a small thread of Spirit through the small crowd around him and let the end hang in front of Kae'lassa. After a moment, she extended her own thread of Spirit out towards his until they touched and merged into one.

Hey, he thought to her. I have an idea.

Is now really the time?

Yes. I was wondering if you could create a mind-link between all of us, including even the animals. I’m a fairly solitary person but I’m getting a bit lonely. It’s really quiet out here and I’m sure everyone would enjoy the company. After a short pause, he continued. Could you do that? (There’s some Spirit left in my Stone if you need it.)

[Talico]

Kae'lassa paused, deliberating. That's a good idea, and I was thinking of doing the same thing. However, magic is invasive to some people and you might not like others hearing your every thought. She shook her head. Nevertheless, it may become necessary if we get caught in a storm, so that none of us get lost or left behind. She was silent for a long while as she helped hitch Thunder, to her indignant suffering, into a harness to pull one of the few sleds filled with supplies. I'll bring it up when we stop for the night. It might be hard to maintain enough Spirit to keep the connection open indefinitely, but I can figure out a way. She closed the connection sharply.

Kae'lassa was almost never so curt, but she had been feeling off and nauseous recently and she already hated the neverending expanse of ocean. It had put her off shifting out of her human form for some reason - it made her queasy just to think of it. She had wondered whether to ask Areista about it, but she figured it was just the prospect of leaving her home to make this idiotically dangerous journey. She sidled up next to Caz and gave him a brief kiss on the cheek before she slid his face shield on. They all wore mask-like coverings so that their faces didn't get frostbitten by the head-on wind.

Kae'lassa gulped, suddenly and irrationally close to tears. Nothing could happen to Caz, Naehina and Thunder - she would protect them with her life.

As if with an unspoken command, everyone stopped shuffling around on the ice trying to delay leaving and started moving forward at a quick pace, Rahalia at the head. Kae'lassa swung up behind Caz onto a depressed-looking horse. Normally she would walk, but.. she stopped trying to make excuses. She just felt sick. Pretty much everyone was not walking, at least for now. Kae'lassa looked sadly at all the pack animals; with no plants to eat, the already thin herbivores would soon starve, if they didn't freeze or die of exhaustion first. They would have to slaughter and eat them raw, or just leave them to waste.

At least you'll have food, she thought wryly to Thunder as she sat behind Caz on a doomed horse. The wolf ignored her and plodded along, head low. Seagulls whirled and screamed overhead as they followed the party. Some drifted down to settle on Rakeri's sled for the long journey.

The snow drifted down, soon caking everyone to the point of obscurity.

[Rakeri]

Rakeri recoiled as the mind link was severed quickly. He understood that everyone was one edge and perhaps this wasn’t the best time to be asking favors of people.

After a surpassingly short time, everyone was covered with a thing powdering of snow. Their fur coats were completely white, and most other object were as well, which, regrettable, included the animals. It finally hit Rakeri that people were going to die on this trip. They couldn’t possible scavenge for enough food to support all the forward party, and there was no way Areista could keep them alive artificially. With the absolute lack of life out here, they’d be lucky if she could heal them after the magic in her Stone ran out. Rakeri was lucky in that his kind of magic was in an abundance on the frozen ocean. As desolate as the environment was, he found a small comfort in his favorite element.

Hour after hour passed by and almost nothing changed in the surrounding area; it was just whiteness. When the snow, blowing by as strongly as ever, began to fade to a darker color, Rahalia stopped the party. She had found a small clump of bushes, no doubt with the help of Areista.

“We shall stop here for the night,” she proclaimed, sounding just as queenly as she had sitting on her throne back in Ralthiad.

The tents were unpacked from the supply sleds and hitched by the few soldiers that had come with the Empress. After the animals had been put in a tent to shelter them from the wind, all the mages crowded into the largest of the tents and huddled around a fire, courtesy of Naehina. No one said anything, only ate the small rations that were given to them by one of the soldiers. After a while, Rakeri broke the silence.

“I’ve been thinking,” he said, “I know this trick that devolves moisture in the nearby air and condenses it into Water magic. I’ve use it in the past to keep myself dry when it’s raining. I think it could work under these conditions, too. It wouldn’t keep us warm, but it would keep the snow out of our eyes. The only problem is that in the past I’ve always had something to funnel the magic into. Also, I’ve never tried making a shelter this big before. I’m still working out the details of how I can make it work for us.

“I bring it up because I was wondering if some of the other mages could do the same thing for the cold. If an Air or Fire mage would be willing to work with me, I’m sure we could figure out how to get at least a partial Shelter up and running before we set off tomorrow. If anyone wants to help troubleshoot the system with me, I’d really appreciate it.”

[Sarurun Kamui]

"Shelter. That sounds really good right now," Kali mused, jaw chattering. "Do you think we could find enough snow to build something? Or possibly conjure some?" She adjusted her coat around her to allow for more warmth. "It seems like that would be much less work, not to mention warmer and more stable. All of us could help rather than just those of us who are mages."
She turned to face Kae'lassa and said more quietly, "Shira might be willing to go out and scout. You could ask her in the morning." She looked down at the black bird huddling beneath a flap of her coat.

[Mercelyssatyr]

"I'm afraid I can't suck out the cold," Naehina sighed. "I could add heat, but I'd need a source to draw it from. There's so little warmth out here. Even these small fires were a challenge -- I had to gather up the small amounts of heat coming off people and animals. For tonight, I can take the heat coming out of the fires and contain it around us, but tomorrow we'll be back in the cold. It would help if we could bring the fire with us, but I don't see how. And besides, without anything to burn, these fires aren't giving off much warmth at all."

Naehina stared into one of the small spheres of flame. It was floating above the ground, where the snow couldn't touch it or hurt it. In order to maintain the fires, she had to keep feeding a large amount of the heat coming out of them back in. Everyone had to huddle close to feel any of the remaining heat. She didn't know when she would be able to sleep that night, for the fires would die out if she left them alone. She didn't especially want to sleep, though; she was enjoying the trickle of Fire magic running through her body far too much. She was somewhat more energetic than she had been that morning, but she knew it would fade as soon as she had to let go of this handful of Fire.

[Talico]

Kae'lassa sat huddled in her clothes, staring moodily at the tiny fire. Something was wrong with her. She had wanted to shift into a warmer, arctic animal for the journey, but she couldn't do it. She wasn't physically able to - her body tensed up and the nauseous feeling grew stronger to the point of pain. All she managed to do was to temporarily shift her fingers into claws, and that took an insane amount of effort.

What's wrong with me? Kae'lassa wondered. I've never been able not to shift before, it's always been easy for me! At least she could still use her Spirit magic fine. She glanced over at Areista, who already looked drawn and tense. Kae'lassa wouldn't trouble her; if it got worse, she'd talk to the healer then. Maybe Kae'lassa was just losing her touch with magic.

She glanced up from the fire and met Aldicaz's eyes for a brief moment before flinching away. She knew that he was worried about her, and felt oddly distant from him. Thunder had sensed her aloofness and stayed away - the tired wolf was curled up close to Naehina and Areista for warmth, her fur frosted over with glittering white.

She wanted to slap herself. Or at least go to sleep and wake up back in Ralthiad, with the warm weather that should be there - it was nearing midsummer!

Kae'lassa sighed. Already, Ralthiad was 'there' and there was no knowing what was 'here'. There was no going back, now.

[Talico]

Areista cleared some of the snow away from the ground and stared deep into the ice. It was a clear, blueish color; that was the thickest kind. The farther out they got in the middle of the ocean and the deeper the water, the weaker the ice would be. And what if it actually got warmer? What would they do, swim to shore?

They would have to tread carefully and hope for the best. She would have enough trouble dealing with hypothermia as it was. She did a quick, automatic check of everyone's Life levels. Though morale was low, everyone seemed healthy.. though cold. The animals would last for another week at the least, but they'd soon run out of the grain they'd bough along.. the Healer's mind spun with the facts and calculations involved in this trip. She had asked Rahalia if she could fill Areista in on the situation of the party, since she wouldn't have any peace of mind otherwise. Areista now felt responsible for the rations and for, well, everyone's health.

She harrumphed quietly, and took out her Life Stone. She had used some of it in the Empress's last misadventure, to bring her and the others in the group gravely hurt up to the peak. She narrowed her eyes and gently netted the almost insubstantial amounts of Life magic coming off of the people around her. She considered funneling it right back into them, but that would take a lot from her and it would probably be of better use saved for when they needed it. She instead directed it into the Stone, and the polished amber shone softly as it worked to contain the magic.

She continued doing this well into the night as the darkness deepened and the snow fell ceaselessly down onto the small group of people's bowed heads.

She was sick of white. Areista had been fine with winter before - it was a time of purity, cleansing, recuperation... until it got unnatural. She hated the never-ending obscurity of the sky, the brittle temperatures, the random explosions of trees when their sap, their lifeblood, froze and expanded, the slow wasting away of the animals and people.

Areista finally put the almost-full amber Stone away and wrapped her arms around her knees, leaning into the warm fur of Kae'lassa's wolf at her side. She might catch an hour of sleep before the party was up and leaving again.

[Mercelyssatyr]

Caz was going out of his mind with worry over Kae'lassa. She wasn't right, she wasn't herself. Lately she had been acting distracted, distant, fatigued, dejected, even short-tempered. He didn't want to hover or fuss, since she would just be upset if she knew how worried he was. In a way he was thankful that she was so distracted -- she hadn't noticed yet that he was watching her every move, trying to figure out what was wrong and how he could help her.

It was incredibly frustrating. He couldn't even tell if her mysterious illness was something mental or something physical. Perhaps it was just the cold getting to her . . . but he doubted it. He knew she was upset to leave so many of her friends, people and animals alike, and he knew that she hated leaving her home like this. She was anxious about what would happen to them, of course, and the endless expanse, the constant wind, and the colorless horizon were disturbing everyone.

Still, Caz thought that Kae'lassa seemed more disturbed than the rest of the party. She was uncharacteristically frail. As he watched her, she gazed at the fire longingly, shifted forward almost imperceptibly, then frowned and stayed where she was. As if the mere thought of moving made her feel ill.

Caz had also noticed that she seemed to be avoiding using magic. Life and Spirit were low out in this wasteland, of course, but there was surely a decent amount radiating from the creatures beneath the ice. He was puzzled about why she never used it beyond tasks that were absolutely essential. He had expected her to shift often to scout ahead for thicker paths of ice, to converse with any flying or swimming animals they might encounter, or even to keep herself warm or to ease her traveling. Instead, he hadn't seen her assume any other form for at least a week.

She used to link into his mind frequently so they could converse when they were apart or just when they didn't want anyone to overhear. Now, when they were surrounded by people and muffled by scarves and the howling wind, she wouldn't even do that.

Caz wasn't a mage; he had only ever studied magic conceptually. Most of what he knew he had learned from Kae'lassa. He had a very unclear vision of the relationship between a mage and her magic. Was it possible that Kae'lassa was inflicted with the same depression that rested within Naehina? It was a plausible theory, but still he doubted; Naehina relished every contact she had with Fire. Kae'lassa, on the other hand, was choosing not to use her magic.

Caz went over to his wife. She winced and wouldn't look at him; he tried to ignore it, willing himself not to be hurt. He sat behind her and wrapped his arms around her, pulling her back into his chest. She was shivering, and it took her a long time to relax. He himself was feeling tense as well -- he tried to push his worries out of his mind for the time being so she wouldn't know that he was upset. Whatever was wrong with her, he would figure it out. The distance between them wouldn't last forever, and he shouldn't take her behavior personally.

Or should he? Was this somehow his fault? That seemed the most likely of his theories so far. He buried his face in her hair, wondering what he could have done to upset her so much. If he had caused this, he would hate himself with a passion, but at least it would be something he could fix.

[Rakeri]

The snowflake slowed its path across the frozen wasteland. The wind had let up a bit – it was only howling, now, not deafening. The tiny piece of frozen water skimmed low over the icy Ocean, then swept back up into the sky. It tumbled, end over end over end, when poof… it was no more.

Rakeri smiled. His Net had worked.

He stood up and slid the hood of his parka back. The wind instantly cooled his exposed skin to a deep red, the ear-splitting sound of the passing wind deafened his ears to everything around him, and his eyes stung from the cold, but he was not being pelted with flecks of ice. The snow that was being whisked here and there as far as the eye could see swirled all around the camp, but did not enter inside.

An invisible border was now surrounding the camp. Water in any form that passed across it was Unmade. The resulting Water magic was passed through Rakeri and into the ocean below. Through trial and error, it had taken Rakeri nearly the entire night to get the Net right. The plan he been expecting to use for the barrier had been complicated, but he had distilled it down to a much simpler form. It was still fairly complex, though, mostly due to the safeguard involved. What if an animal wandered into their camp during the night? Rakeri knew it would be stripped of all its moisture instantly and turned to a dust-like substance of chemicals, quickly taken away by the wind. This was something Rakeri would not allow to happen. Unfortunately for him, all the extra details that had gone into his Net were putting an extra strain on his body. That was why he was not yet finished for the night. Rakeri, of course, had to sleep, and it would no doubt be impossible for him to maintain the continuous Flow of Water that sheltered the forward party from the snow.

Rakeri slid his hood back up, and walked across the camp to the supply tent. It was a large canvas structure, though not very warm - it was meant to keep the wind out, but not provide any warmth. He untied the string holding the door flap open and ducked inside. Making his way over to his sled, Rakeri opened several of his packs before he found what he was looking for. From a draw-string bag, he removed a circular metal disk about 6” across and a little less than half an inch thick. Inscribed across all three surfaces was an intricate circular spiral that connected and enclosed the entire coin.

This was the tricky part of Rakeri’s plan. After he had discovered the correct way to create the Net, installing it was easy. However, moving the Focus of the Flow was dangerous. The coins in the bag had been designed especially for the task of having large amounts of magic pass though them for long periods of time. They had worked well in the past for Rakeri, and had been some of the best Focuses he had ever had, but he had never use one for a Net this large before.

Well, there’s no sense in putting it off any longer. Slowly, ever so slowly, Rakeri shifted the Flow of the Water magic through the would-be Focus and gently released control of the Net.

With a sigh of relieve, Rakeri watched as nothing happened. The Focus could have exploded, or the Flow could have fragmented into many smaller ones, each of them whipping around doing who knows what to their surroundings. Perhaps doing this in the supply tent wasn’t the best idea… thought Rakeri. I wonder how long the Focus will hold out? Well, at least when it finally does Break it will simply evaporate instead of interfering with the Water close by. Grinning happily, Rakeri tucked the coin into his fur-lined pocket and headed back to his tent to sleep away the few remaining hours until daybreak.

[Rakeri]

A huge yawn broke from Rakeri’s mouth. He had just woken up and was rather groggy. Looking around his tent he saw the wind trying to beat down the canvas walls. Poking his head outside, he noticed the complete lack of snow inside their camp. There was a small amount that had gathered around one of the concave walls of a supply tent, but all the rest had been blown away in the past few hours. Dressing quickly, Rakeri stepped outside into the frigid air. Glancing around, he noticed a small shimmering in the air around one of the tents that could only mean Magic was being used inside. Curious, he headed over to the tent they had all eaten dinner in last night.

“Oh, hey Naehina,” he said. “Did you get a good night’s rest?”

“Great,” she muttered offhandedly, her mind somewhere else. Judging from the circles under her eyes, she hadn't gotten a wink of sleep. It took Rakeri a while to understand her response until he saw where she was looking. Ever since he had entered her eyes hadn’t strayed from the small fire floating in the center of the tent. Poor thing… Rakeri thought. This was the first time it had struck him that the total lack of heat out here on the frozen ocean would effect anyone associated with Fire. Even this small Flow must be unusually rare for her.

“Can I get you anything?” he asked. She shook her head and continued to gaze into the fire. “Well, I guess I should go help with gathering up breakfast. See ya later…” Exiting the tent, Rakeri glanced over his shoulder as the door flap was closing and saw Naehina sitting as still as she had been, a statue glowing with magical Fire.

It took him a while to find anyone else in the camp. He eventually discovered Areista gazing down at the ice beneath her feet. “Rakeri,” she said, “just the person I was looking for.”

“Really?”

“Yes, you,” she smiled. “I need your help. I’ve found this school of fish who’ve discovered out camp and are circling around underneath us.”

“Breakfast?” Rakeri asked.

“Exactly. But I need you’re help to get to them.”

Smiling, Rakeri set to work. First he cleared away the impurities in the layer of ice on top of the ocean so he could see through it. After he had determined the boundaries of the school, he instantly turned the water around them to ice. It was painful to kill his favorite kind of animal, but they were food and Rakeri would rather eat and be alive than protect his fish and starve. After a few moments of waiting to be sure all the fish had died in the sub-zero freezing, he created currents in the water below them to push the fish to the surface. He Unmade a circle of ice around the rising column of fish to keep the nearby surface ice supporting the camp from fracturing. Also, he Unmade the ice on top of the fish until they reached the surface. Then he waited and watched the amazement on Areista’s face as the column of frozen fish rose up and out of the water. When all the fish were above water level, he stopped the currents, froze the ice under them to its previous thickness, and Unmade the ice suspending the fish in the air. Areista jumped back as the fish, now free of their icy home, fell onto the top layer of ice.

“Wow,” she said, stunned. “Thanks a lot, Rakeri. That looked so easy!”

Blushing slightly, Rakeri withdrew further into his parka. “Thanks,” he said. “I took a journey with my uncle to the Northern Shore many years ago and we worked out the best way to get food quickly and humanly.”

“You can say that again. It was scary how their Life energy just disappeared. One second it was there, then next it was gone.”

“I call is flash freezing,” he said. [Sorry, I had to.]

“So do you want to help me cary these back to Naehina? I’m sure she’ll be able to cook them for us.”

“Absolutely.” Together, they gathered up the fish in the bag Areista had brought with her and headed back to Naehina’s tent.

[Sarurun Kamui]

Kali blinked when she saw the huge bag of fish carried past her tent. She realized where they were going and said in a joking tone, "You really expect Naehina to be able to cook all of those?"
Shira crawled out from beneath her coat and fluttered over to Rakeri. She squawked at him. Kali didn't even need to translate.
"You've got plenty, surely you can share with a bird. But careful--she bites."
Shira rarely bit anyone, but they didn't know the crow that well. And the statement was in her favor.
Kali realized that she wasn't being very helpful, so she stood up and wandered around, searching for work to do until breakfast.

[Rakeri]

“Hey, Naehina,” Rakeri said.

“Welcome back, Rakeri,” she said, very much out of her previous trance. “I see you brought breakfast.”

“Yep,” Areista said as she and Rakeri set the bag of fish down on the ice floor inside Naehina’s tent. “We were hoping you’d could fix them for us. Kali said you wouldn’t be able to cook all of them, but we though you’d at least be able to make them eatable.”

“I should be able to…” Naehina said, opening the bag.

[Talico]

Areista was feeling energetic for the first time since they had left Ralthiad, due to the unexpected influx of Life she had gotten from the fishes' "flash-freezing." She watched with brightened eyes and flushed cheeks as Naehina carefully prepared the fish for cooking.

Areista was keeping a close eye on Naehina; though the fire mage was physically fine (better than Kae'lassa, at least), her Life force was still low, which pointed to the beginnings of spirit-sickness. Areista resolved to go find Kae'lassa later and ask her to keep Naehina more company. Friendship was the best cure for that sort of thing.

Areista nudged Rakeri. "Don't you hate killing fish and other sea creatures? How could you bear to betray your friends so?" she teased, half-seriously.

[Rakeri]

“It’s not always easy. They are my favorite animals. I can even transform into a few different types of fish. Yes, I can,” he said, seeing the mild shock painted across her face. “But you know, that’s kind of Nature’s way. The bigger animals east the smaller ones to survive. Nature is full of death weather I like it or not. In the City I have the luxury of being able to chose what I eat. I’m usually a vegetarian. But out here, I don’t have that luxury. It’s either the fish or me. And you. And the rest of the Forward. I was asked to be a part of this team because I could be of use. If I chose to let us go hungry just because I don’t want to conform to Nature… Well, that would be pretty selfish, wouldn’t it?”

After a few moments, and almost as an afterthought, he added one last thought. “We all have to make sacrifices on this trip across the Ocean, don’t we…” With a sidelong glance at Naehina, Rakeri nodded to the two women, ducked out of the tent, and headed back to his own.

[Talico]

Kae'lassa stood at the edge of Rakeri's ward, staring out at the white maelstrom lashing right in front of her face. Her face, hidden deep underneath her hood, was pensive, almost sad.

She heard the crunch of footfalls behind her and whirled, suddenly furious. "What do you want, Caz? Leave me alone!"

The ranger just stood there, a look of shock and pain crossing his face as she snarled. She gloried in it. "You're always hounding me like a lost puppy. Can't you tell when I want to be alone?" Her voice broke at the last word and she without warning she started crying, inexplicably, heart-wrenchingly sorrowful. She fell into his open arms and sobbed. "I'm so.. sorry, Caz.. I think there's something wrong with me.. I'm useless... I can't shift, I'm not... can't Spirit.. you must be.. so mad.. I just want it to stop!"

She peeked up at his face, which was looking confused, but strangely relieved. He slowly gathered her into his arms, wordlessly providing comfort. She cried until she couldn't cry anymore, her tears that soaked her hood starting to freeze. When she finally stopped, she felt hollow and exhausted. And..

Swiftly she struggled free of Caz's grip, leaning to the side to retch violently on the ground. She covered her mouth, swaying with nausea for a few seconds, and then it subsided. Gross.

Caz was running to get Areista.