Hunter Exam, Alluka's World, Thursday
Jan. 10th, 2019 08:50 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
soniaroadsqueenRingo looked around the room curiously. It was an odd combination of an observation deck, with windows all around, and an auditorium with about a thousand seats. She guessed that the room could sort of transform since there were shutters closed tight over all the windows in a way that really emphasized the auditorium feel.
"Ahem." A middle-aged man in casual clothes cleared his throat from on-stage, causing most of the people in the room to look forward with surprise. He hadn't been there a moment ago, had he?
"Ah. Welcome to this year's Hunter Exam. It's too bad that not everyone who registered it made it to the venue on time, but you're all here, so bravo."
Ringo wrinkled her nose and muttered under her breath, "That's because you guys made it a stupid complicated adventure just to find this place."
Alluka’s giggle was muted, mostly because she didn’t want to draw the attention of everyone in the room to her, but she patted Ringo’s arm anyway.
“It was the first test,” she breathed. “The, the test before the test, remember?”
"Yeah, yeah," Ringo pouted, turning her attention back to the stage where the middle-aged man continued to speak.
"I'm sure you'll all be relieved to know that the first task of your exam will be nice and straightforward. No clues to find, no mysteries to solve." He grinned and waved his hand in some sort of signal which caused the shutters along one wall of the room to open up.
"No. None of that complicated stuff. Your task is simple," he waved at the scenery outside the now-open windows, "climb to the top of Mount Kilam."
The mountain revealed outside was anything but simple. The bottom was wrapped in dense forests which would be a pain to get through all on their own, but above that the terrain turned into rocky cliffs and loose stone. And above that was kind of hard to see, considering how high up it was, but it was very obviously covered with ice and snow and did not look particularly inviting.
"There's a cabin at the peak which is where you'll need to check in to officially complete this particular task." The man on stage smiled a friendly smile that set absolutely no one's mind at ease. "And that's it! Nice and easy." He waited a beat, then blinked. "Oh! Right! I almost forgot. Anyone who fails to check in at the peak within 48 hours will be disqualified."
"Good luck!"
[ooc: NFB, off-island]
"Ahem." A middle-aged man in casual clothes cleared his throat from on-stage, causing most of the people in the room to look forward with surprise. He hadn't been there a moment ago, had he?
"Ah. Welcome to this year's Hunter Exam. It's too bad that not everyone who registered it made it to the venue on time, but you're all here, so bravo."
Ringo wrinkled her nose and muttered under her breath, "That's because you guys made it a stupid complicated adventure just to find this place."
Alluka’s giggle was muted, mostly because she didn’t want to draw the attention of everyone in the room to her, but she patted Ringo’s arm anyway.
“It was the first test,” she breathed. “The, the test before the test, remember?”
"Yeah, yeah," Ringo pouted, turning her attention back to the stage where the middle-aged man continued to speak.
"I'm sure you'll all be relieved to know that the first task of your exam will be nice and straightforward. No clues to find, no mysteries to solve." He grinned and waved his hand in some sort of signal which caused the shutters along one wall of the room to open up.
"No. None of that complicated stuff. Your task is simple," he waved at the scenery outside the now-open windows, "climb to the top of Mount Kilam."
The mountain revealed outside was anything but simple. The bottom was wrapped in dense forests which would be a pain to get through all on their own, but above that the terrain turned into rocky cliffs and loose stone. And above that was kind of hard to see, considering how high up it was, but it was very obviously covered with ice and snow and did not look particularly inviting.
"There's a cabin at the peak which is where you'll need to check in to officially complete this particular task." The man on stage smiled a friendly smile that set absolutely no one's mind at ease. "And that's it! Nice and easy." He waited a beat, then blinked. "Oh! Right! I almost forgot. Anyone who fails to check in at the peak within 48 hours will be disqualified."
"Good luck!"
[ooc: NFB, off-island]
no subject
Date: 2019-01-11 01:54 am (UTC)Alluka laughed, feeling relieved, as the bell rang to signal the start of the exam.
"That's all?" she said, patting her number badge to make sure it stayed put, and looking up at the mountain. "That doesn't seem so bad, doesn't it, Ringo?"
Around her, people began flowing towards the mountain.
The loose rock was dangerous and the snow and ice were going to make things uncomfortable but she'd been worried it would be something she couldn't do. This, Alluka was pretty sure she could.
And it wasn't something her father had taught her. This was something she could do, so if she won or lost, it would be due to her own skill.
no subject
Date: 2019-01-11 01:56 am (UTC)That lasted for maybe a second.
"But you're totally right. I mean, we've practiced in way worse terrain than this!"
Not for as long as it would take them to climb an entire mountain, but it probably wouldn't be that different, right? Or, at the very worst, it shouldn't be so different that they had much trouble with it.
no subject
Date: 2019-01-11 02:01 am (UTC)So either they would have to go really slow or...
no subject
Date: 2019-01-11 02:04 am (UTC)She chewed on her lip thoughtfully. "Maybe we should figure out a route that lets us avoid the others?"
no subject
Date: 2019-01-11 02:07 am (UTC)"Maybe around the back?" she wondered. "They didn't say we couldn't, after all..."
no subject
Date: 2019-01-11 02:10 am (UTC)Then she nodded. "That's a pretty good idea, actually. It looks like it's not that steep around the base, so I bet we can get around to the side way faster than most other people."
no subject
Date: 2019-01-11 02:16 am (UTC)"Let's do that then!" she said, and took off, hair whipping out behind her as she darted to the left, angling for that side of the mountain.
no subject
Date: 2019-01-11 02:25 am (UTC)"A couple of people are watching us, but it doesn't look like anyone's following at the moment." She grinned, relaxing a bit as they got a little space between themselves and everyone else.
"Race you?"
no subject
Date: 2019-01-11 02:36 am (UTC)"Just try to catch me!" she said, putting on a burst of speed and knowing that Ringo was faster than her, but also willing to do her best to try and win anyway.
no subject
Date: 2019-01-11 02:48 am (UTC)The terrain was pretty rough, but not so much that Alluka or Ringo would have much trouble with it. Not after all the practice they'd put in.
Of course that was bound to change once they turned to actually ascend the mountain.
no subject
Date: 2019-01-11 02:56 am (UTC)She darted around a pile of rock, then was forced to do a skip jump to keep from falling over another pile.
no subject
Date: 2019-01-11 03:04 am (UTC)"Maybe some pair tricks or something?" Bouncing off of each other and stuff wouldn't reveal too much, she thought.
no subject
Date: 2019-01-11 03:16 am (UTC)"We could angle ourselves up and around that way," Alluka suggested. "So that we're making progress up the mountain too?"
no subject
Date: 2019-01-11 03:18 am (UTC)She did a little twirl, then surged ahead. "Let's do it!"
no subject
Date: 2019-01-12 09:26 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2019-01-12 09:49 pm (UTC)"Let's do this!"