Hunter Exam, Alluka's World, Thursday

[soniaroadsqueen]

Ringo was glad that there'd been almost a week of travel (on a freakin' blimp, which was totally awesome) since they'd made it down the rapids. Because that had really worn her out. It had been, in some ways, a lot harder than she'd anticipated, and while she'd made it to the bottom in mostly good shape, she'd found the next day that she'd been really sore. The second time she'd gone over a waterfall probably hadn't helped with that, but it wasn't her fault. How could a river even be shaped like that? It was crazy!

Still. Maybe she could find some time to run that again sometime. Not on her own, but it'd probably be pretty fun with a bigger raft and the right people.

This morning at breakfast they'd all been told to gather in the airship auditorium for an announcement about the next trial.

The guy who stepped up on-stage was ridiculously huge. Like, seven feet tall, or something, and all muscle. His voice was an appropriately low rumble. "Congratulations to all of you for making it this far. You've made it through two of the four trials for this year. So it's like you're halfway there." If, you know, the second two trials were set at the same level of difficulty as the first two.

Yeah. Right.

"I hope you have enjoyed your rest during this trip, but I suspect you'll all be excited to know that it is almost over. After lunch, we'll arrive over our destination for the next trial: the Bright Blue Archipelago. You'll have until we arrive to pack whatever you want to take with you, and then once we get to the area, you'll all be given parachutes." The smile on the presenter's face was probably supposed to look excited, but it kind of looked like he was anticipating how much fun it would be to shove everyone out of the cargo doors.

"There are only two requirements to pass this trial." He held up one finger. "First, you'll need to make it to the pick-up station on the western-most island of the archipelago on the seventh day after you drop. Don't bother showing up early, since no one will be there to pick you up until day seven." This was a survival exercise, after all. He flipped up a second finger, and at the same time fished an iridescent sphere about an inch across out of his pocket to hold up for everyone to see. "Second, you'll need to have one of these in your possession when you arrive. This is a Bright Pearl, one of the things that makes the Bright Blue Archipelago so famous. As some of you may already know, these pearls are produced by local wildlife, and can be pretty tricky to collect. So, you know, good luck with that."

He grinned. "I'm sure that with such simple rules no one has any questions, so you're dismissed. Don't forget to pack and meet up in the cargo bay after lunch."

Comments

[that_oldsaying]

"Come on, Ringo," Alluka said, reaching out to tug at Ringo's sleeve. "Let's go check all our stuff."

That... that seemed to be step one, really, as she mulled over the whole idea of what was really an elaborate game of hide and seek.

[soniaroadsqueen]

Ringo looked a bit shell-shocked, not looking at Alluka immediately.

"Um. Is that really it?" she asked, blinking absently as she let herself drift toward Alluka.

[that_oldsaying]

"It seems easy on the surface," Alluka agreed, since that was... a bit of a shock, really, after the time it had taken for her bruises to have a good go at healing up.

Alluka shook her head, watching the other hopefuls as they dispersed as well.

"It probably won't be that easy, though, right?"

[soniaroadsqueen]

"You notice how he didn't actually tell us how or where to find those, what did he call it, a bright pearl? The fact that they're saying so little makes me super-suspicious, you know?"

[that_oldsaying]

"And didn't mention that matters how you get one," she noted, because--yes, Alluka had paid attention.

"Um, um, I think people are going to kill each other in this exam."

Which was... rather different from nature trying to kill them, which had been most of exam one and two.

[soniaroadsqueen]

That part hadn't occurred to Ringo, but now that she thought about it, she stiffened slightly. "I bet you're right. I mean, at the very least people will probably be all over the last island waiting to ambush anyone with a pearl trying to get to the pick up point on the last day. And they may not care much about people staying in one piece as long as they get it."

She shivered.

"We should probably make sure we're ready to," she paused, licking her lips, "defend ourselves."

[that_oldsaying]

Alluka bobbed her head in quiet agreement.

"Yeah," she said, as they left the hall. "We're going to have to figure something out."

Because death didn't bother Alluka very much but, at the same time, she'd never really hurt anyone either.

[soniaroadsqueen]

"You okay?" Ringo asked, sounding a bit worried as she glanced over at Alluka.

Ringo hadn't killed anyone, either, but she'd hurt people. Bad.

Which was the whole reason she had Crazy Apple. She wasn't sure that was a good coping mechanism.

[that_oldsaying]

And Alluka was hardly the one to ask about good coping mechanisms.

There was no way she could hide for weeks at a time behind a tea party in her room while she was doing this!

"Um, um, I don't know?"

[soniaroadsqueen]

"Yeah." Ringo was quiet for a moment. "Me neither."

Her hand reached out for Alluka's, seeking some comfort in the reminder that she wasn't alone.

[that_oldsaying]

Alluka closed her fingers around Ringo's hand, holding on tight.

"I, I know that Nanika will come out if I can't save myself," Alluka said, since her sister had made that clear to her. "But I don't want to do this, relying on her. This isn't an adventure, this is a test and that means... I have to do it myself, right?"

[soniaroadsqueen]

Ringo squeezed back at Alluka's fingers. "Yeah. Both of us do."

She forced herself to straighten her shoulders.

"But we can do this. I mean, look how far we've come already?"

Though fighting the dangers of nature weren't quite the same thing as fighting the dangers of other people.

[that_oldsaying]

Alluka wasn't quite as sure that they could do this, but hearing Ringo say they could did make her feel a little better.

"Yeah," she admitted, after a moment of considering it. "There's an awful lot of people who didn't make it even this far."

[soniaroadsqueen]

"Exactly." Ringo took a deep breath.

"And we've been practicing." Though not violence. That was something Ringo probably should have thought of.

"So, enough worrying. Let's talk about what we need to make sure we've got. What're you thinking?"

[that_oldsaying]

"I haven't thought of a face-to-face fight yet," she admitted, since that was... still kind of intimidating to think about. "But sleeping, and resting, or while hunting for food--we should check what food we have--I was thinking we should look at stuff that could make traps, right?"

[soniaroadsqueen]

Ringo was nodding as Alluka spoke.

"Shelter, good call. Hunting also. I mean, we've probably got some food we can take, but I doubt it's enough for a whole week."

She pursed her lips. "What kind of animals do you think there are? Like, do we need big traps, or small ones? Or, um, maybe some for fish? They said it was a bunch of islands, right?"

[that_oldsaying]

"Fish, for sure!"

Because they wouldn't stick them on a bunch of islands and not have any fish edible, right?

... Right?

"Fruit and berries maybe, too? We're going some place a lot warmer than where we were, so... maybe?"

[soniaroadsqueen]

"Yeah, that makes sense."

"I wonder if they'll have, like, coconuts or something."

"Oh, we should make sure we split the rope we have between us. I bet that'd come in handy. And make sure we've got good knives."

[that_oldsaying]

"Wasn't there, like, that weird souvenir shop on the third level?" Alluka wondered. "It was mostly snacks, but want to check there?"

[soniaroadsqueen]

"Oh, good call!" Ringo tugged at Alluka's hand. "We should hurry. Other people might have the same idea, and we don't want them to run out of the good stuff."

[that_oldsaying]

"Let's run it," Alluka said, picking up her pace. "Because, because islands might not be too great for AirTrekking anyway, so we need to get used to that!"

[soniaroadsqueen]

Ringo pouted, but then nodded. "Good point." She squeezed Alluka's hand and grinned as she picked up her own pace to match.

"Probably won't be worse than the river, at least?"

[that_oldsaying]

Despite her (very valid) worries about this exam, Alluka had to laugh.

"Don't tempt fate!" she protested. "You know someone might hear that!"

[soniaroadsqueen]

With a giggle, Ringo made a point of looking around all paranoid-like.

"Perish the thought."

"Oh! We should also make sure to eat before we have to leave. It'd be silly to skip lunch when we know we can get food on the airship."

[that_oldsaying]

"We still have time before lunch, I think, and oh--maybe we can sneak extra with us?" she dropped her voice down low as they reached the elevator. Hitting the up button, Alluka grinned. "That way, at least, supper tonight won't be something we've had to hunt down ourselves!"

[soniaroadsqueen]

"Oh, good call. If it's something portable, anyway."

She smiled over at Alluka. "You know, honestly I'm kind of worried about this? But I'm also, like, really excited, too."

How weird was that?

[that_oldsaying]

She blinked.

"Um, um, I think... I think I feel that way too?" Which was something that still surprised her, really, since this was huge for her in ways that it probably wasn't quite as huge for a lot of people. "And I think, maybe we're making the right choice, becoming Hunters. For... for more than just seeing all the tourist sites we couldn't, I mean."

The elevator dinged.

[soniaroadsqueen]

The doors slid open, revealing that the car was already half-full, but Ringo pushed her way in anyway. Fortunately she and Alluka didn't take up that much space, so it still didn't feel that crowded.

"Oh yeah?" Ringo smiled. "I think I agree, but now I'm wondering if it's for the same reasons."

[that_oldsaying]

Nope, not too crowded at all! She leaned around one bulky guy to make sure the third floor button was pressed (it wasn't; she hit it) and then glanced at Ringo curiously.

She wanted to know what Ringo's reasons were, but not in an elevator where anyone could hear.

[soniaroadsqueen]

Yeah. This was really more of a private conversation.

So Ringo put it on pause and stood silently.

For a couple of seconds. Then she started bouncing up and down on the balls of her feet, feeling the nervous energy.

Then she glanced over at Alluka and stuck out her tongue, pointedly ignoring the pointed eyeroll from the woman standing behind her.