Out onto the Tundra

[jeoha]

WHO: Lee Chang, Archeval, Lan Wangji, Eleven, and anyone else who decides they want to tag along to go hunting in the tundra.
WHEN: April 25
WHERE: House of Dew -> The Tundra
WHAT: Lee Chang needs money and probably so do you, so it's time to head out into the tundra to... well, Wangji wants to kidnap animals but they're allowed to kill ones that want to kill them.
WARNINGS: Violence against animals, stuffing Wangji's sleeves full of rabbits, awkward discussions of relationship status and general shenanigans.

It is an hour before dawn, the sky is just starting to show a little light, and Lee Chang and his bodyguard Ylsa stand outside the House of Dew in the cold. Ylsa has somehow managed to get them a dogsled for the day - though she told Lee Chang that it would cost him half his share - so their supplies are already loaded up on the sled, the dogs patiently waiting in their halters and sniffing at each other. Lee Chang has never seen a dogsled, but the idea seems sound and the dogs seem excited, their tails wagging as their breath mists before their face. At the front of the sled there is an oil lantern hanging, already lit, casting enough light for the dogs to see by and for the humans to make do once they are out on the tundra.

Lee Chang at least seems to have real clothes, now, thanks to his sugar daddy's Mingyu's generosity, but he's also wearing many many layers of women's silk robes underneath to give himself as much insulation from the cold as possible. They have enough food for three days - though they hope to be back by the time the sun sets, it is always wise to plan in advance. Down-filled bedrolls have been secured for a similar reason, and dogs always make good bedwarmers.

Lee Chang waits for the others, breathing out slowly. He feels a little more relaxed, now, with something to do other than simply while away his time, and he is eager to get out into the wildnerness.

Ylsa, as ever, seems put-upon and darkly amused, as if she is entertaining Lee Chang's idea simply to see what kind of trouble they are going to make for themselves. She only greets the others as they arrive with a small nod in their direction, while Lee Chang tells them:

"Once we are all here, we will depart. If you do not have weapons, Ylsa has some that you may borrow--"

"Purchase," she interjects.

"-- purchase from her, as necessary. Sling shots, and a few long spears."

Lee Chang, for his part, has a new sword at his hip, a strangely bright red ruby in the hilt catching the low lamp light as it flickers.

Comments

WAIT WERE YOU ALL WAITING FOR ME, I AM SO SORRY, I DIDN'T REALISE

[downswing]

One blink, ether, the next: master Lan. A vision of battered silk, drenched in dawn's slush, string and thread and twigs of hay, and lone bindings of parchment clinging to his sleeve and hair. He peels them off, one by one, like a spider's web, recovering his bearings from the clutches of what some might name — a feral nest.

"Apologies," this, dripping close to the rendez-vous point, within steps of the hounds — steering away in a discreet arc, before they may trace him. Scent carries each way, and he keeps at their borrowed home a flightier animal than the dogs that court him. "Matters of cleansing."

It is a thing of toil and husbandry to burn Wei Ying's wayward, often magically-syruped possessions each morning, but he does his part.

Before him, then, their wondered party: the lone lord, the child, the sullen death hand and... a woman, glare intent on gently submerging Lan Wangji into the nethers. His brow perks at her. Flies higher. Perhaps she may lesson in Yunmeng on this, learn to sharpen her terror.

For now, only the sketch of a bow, a slow inclination of the head, the tip of his sword — still bound, but carefully presented. Armed. Ready. Very well.

"Rabbits will scatter shortly. We may go." Since, clearly, he is the man delayed.

no worries happens to the best of us!

[darkeststars]

It takes all he has in him not to roll his eyes, but taking issue with Lan Wangji's general state of being will probably just escalate into something more serious and certainly derailing of their morning. Since this isn't exactly a situation where he's prepared to draw saber on someone over an argument, and they're on a schedule besides -- Archeval simply goes with roundly ignoring the Lan for now as he straightens from introducing himself to the animals, idly brushing off black-gloved hands.

"The dark is wasting. I'm prepared if you are," he says to Lee Chang, reaching up to pull his hood forward a little. Luckily a decade of Imperial service has left him very well-equipped to conduct missions cordially with people he'd just as soon shove into a snowbank.

[bearshermark]

Eleven smiles mildly enough in spite of the breath of tension that passes through their small group in the wake of Lan Wangji's arrival. It's too early to work through what he might mean by rabbits, and also far too early for more than what's necessary.

The dark is wasting, he muses instead. Later, it will be light that is wasting.

He takes a step forward. "I'm ready. I have fire and healing magic, should we need it."

feel free to splinter off into mini threads from here, guys!

[jeoha]

Lee Chang doesn't quite manage to hide the small, amused smile, even as he lowers his eyes to the ground to do so. He isn't entirely sure he understands Lan Wangji, at the best of time, but something about the man amuses him.

Disarms him.

Maybe it's because even in their very short acquaintance he is fairly certain that he can trust the man to believe what he says. And that, in itself, was rarer than gold.

"Well, I wouldn't dare hold up the group," He replies to Archeval, the amusement audible in his voice. He looks over at Eleven. "Let us hope we don't, but I am happy to hear you are prepared."

He shifted his gear again, then started walking. "Very well. Let's go."



He stayed quiet for most of the walk out of the city, listening to Ylsa murmur quiet things to the dogs as she led them, the rythmic scraping and shuffling of their paws on packed dirt and snow almost soothing. The dawn sun brought no warmth with it, the summer's warmth a forgotten thing even as a beam broke through the clouds to greet them.

He missed the summer sun. He missed it more than he had in any other winter. But he'd also never known a winter quite this long.

The tundra itself was sprawling, and barren - the recent blizzard shrouding the low shrubs and grasses that still clung to a brown, hibernating life. The rock still showed bare, in some places, the winter wind sweeping the snow into careful and beautiful dunes that would be scattered by the next day. He had never known a landscape quite so empty - it seemed to sprawl out forever, the grey sky dwarfing him in ways he had never known in Joseon. Even in the mountains, the forests offered cover to a moving party, a way to journey without being seen for miles away. Here, they had no such luxury. Though the horizon wasn't entirely flat, any prey they chased would still be able to see them coming from a long way away. He hummed lowly under his breath, stepping up onto one of the small rocky outcrops to try to get the best view possible. Far off in the distance he could see smudged shapes against the skyline - likely the caribou that Ylsa had spoken about.

"How likely are they to run, if they see us?"

She shrugged a little. "If you get too close, if they think you will attack, they will run. But it is not worth it, to the herd, for them all to move. Even the wolves and the bears - they will ignore them, then outrun them. But we are not killing them, yes?" She asked, sending a withering glance in Wangji's direction.

"Mm. But the wolves and bears that hunt them... They will have seen the herd, too."