Quest Southward [A Tundra Tale]

[Arnor Skuldsson]

Arnor, had bad days now and again.

But he had yet to be caught in a natural disaster.

The Rock face wasn't close enough for him to make it in time.

He regretted packing so lightly. A shield, or a house would have been nice at the moment. He saw the rock face, he saw everyone going for it. He saw the snow. He saw the ice. He saw it all coming for him. And he could only close his eyes as he was enveloped in white, being dragged. He felt himself being dragged for a while, before stopping suddenly. Snow had built up around something hard, more than likely a tree or another boulder, and he landed in it. But he had traveled a great distance, and tumbled around violently.

He remembered his bastard's father's words. Faarin was host to many avalanches, and getting caught in one was a common occurrence that children were often taught how to escape one if need be.

He reached up and touched his face. He created space in the snow, to breathe, to coordinate. The mind and body couldn't tell without orientation if it was upside down or not, even with the light. So he spit, and waited for the spit to fall either upwards or downwards.

Downwards, went his spit.

Arnor was upside down. His feet were comically sticking out of the snow, almost a hundred feet from the rest of the party after the avalanche subsided.

He wiggled his feet in anger and desperation.

 

[Magrin Kor]

The Snow was deep. Being that he was shorter than many of the others save the women it came a little higher than his waist at some points. Magrin's muscles tensed and tightened as he moved through the snow, trudging onwards with obvious exertion but showing no signs of slowing.

He'd wandered Nordengaard for the majority of his life, his body had adapted to the cold and his limbs were used to pressing through the snowy resistance of the winter paths. This wasn't anything new to him though the look on his face, always stern or grim maintained that he would have enjoyed being back in the Mead Hall than trekking through this Mountain Pass.

It wasn't until he'd heard the voice of Maude that he'd have broken from his single minded focus of forwards momentum. The call of avalanche quickly set his mind to working as he turned his head.

"Come here Smith!"...his voice was a growl, Magrin had made sure to stay near Solveig Odasson the entire time, Maude had charged him with his safety. As the roar of snow cascading down the mountainside came on like a tidal wave Magrin would use his left hand to reach for Solveig's belt and clamp a powerful hand down around it, his grip was incredibly powerful. Pulling forward he'd attempt a quick movement through the deep snow while his right arm withdrew the axe on his belt. When he came within reach of an outcropping of rocks which should have provided some cover he'd have swung the axe so that he could hook its cleft against the stone and provide him some increased stability from the encroaching wave of snow...."If we die I hope the wolves don't eat us."...he never wanted to be a meal for wolves.

Everything went white then, the snow washed over him and everything disappeared but the axe held, hooked into the stone he'd hooked its cleft on and Magrin held, his grip tight on his charge.

 

[Hugi]

Hugi had turned to the rock face when the snow began to cover him, and his hands grabbed whatever was free to hold onto to. Having braced himself, the cold slide of snow and ice across his back made him cringe, but he held fast until the event was over. The layer of snow over top him was nothing compared to the space he had made for himself.

The large man let go of the rocks once things had settled, tamping the bit of snow that had fallen in with him before pulling the axes from his hips and shifting to his Svalen form. The furry form pushed out from the snow cave, his loose gear bundled in the half cape and ax heads sticking out of either side and captured in his mouth as he wiggled and pushed out of the snow.

He gave a grumpy snort of a call, eyes spying a pair of legs sticking out well below the group as he pushed a path through the snow. His seven foot form easily seen over the top of white snow, brown and wheat gold trudging along and plowing a path around him easily four feet wide at the smallest. His grumpy grunts could be heard easily through the bundle in his mouth as he neared the protruding legs and gave a testing pull. Gentle at fist before standing upright at his full eleven foot and lifting them straight upside down out of the snowy bank.

Arnor Skuldsson would be staring at the underbelly of a very large brown and wheat gold bear with a bundle in it's mouth.

 

[Brenna]

Bre narrowed her eyes at her Guards snort. What? What had she done so wrong now? She had been trying incredibly hard to keep Gylfi involved in the group and had even made sure to be a little further away when she was talking with Sol and Magrin for clearly he didn't like the other young man. But all she had had so far was a stony face, a cold shoulder, and these god damn snorts. He reminded her of the teenage boys back home and she had had enough.

As the snow fell down the cliffside, boxing the pair in to their own little chamber of solitude and after checking that the rope was secure, she stood up and crossed her arms over her chest. Her face clearly said what is your problem, there was no need for her book or signs to get that across. If he turned to leave and avoid her question she would grab his hand to hold him firmly in place. Despite her small frame she had a stronger grip than most seemed to expect. She wanted nothing more than to go find her brother, but she wasn't spending another moment on this trip with a Grumpy Bear.

After a moment she reached into her pocket and began to write.

I don't know what I've done to offend you and if I have done something I am sorry, but I won't be standing for it for the duration of this trip. Come down when you've finally found your big boy pants, or go home and I'll tell the Queen you weren't cut out for this mission.

She slammed the page against his chest, shook her head and signed the words for Grumpy Bear, then shifted into her Svalen form. Shunting him to the side, gently and firmly, she then ploughed a way out of the small cave. The pair were right at the top it seemed and most had made their way to the bottom or were heading that way so with a small amount of childish glee she launched herself onto her fluffy belly and went sliding down the steep slope in a streak of golden copper fur.

 

[Hugi]

The man was lifted for a short time by his legs, the sound of something sliding had Hugi turning at the waist expecting another tide of snow only to see another svalen incoming. The impact made him lose the careful grip as he turned while picking up a leg, cartwheeling Arnor away into the snow and onto his side as both svalen crashed before continuing the slide down the hill.

The brown and gold bear tangled with copper, putting themselves in front of the other svalen to avoid them getting hurt on the way down. The grunting roar of surprise turned into what could be called, at least for a bear, a rumbling guffaw of laughter as they slid down the slope.

 

[Brenna]

Despite what had nearly just been a tragedy Bre was having the time of her life right now; especially when she took out Hugi. The collision if anything only seemed to speed up her descent down the hill. For a tumble or two they were a ball of different colours of fur before finally reaching some sort of position where Hugi was the sledge and Bre was splayed out precariously on top. They whizzed past Valthar, Magrin, Sol, and next Mika and Talus in a blur.

If she had been able to control her laughter she might have even attempted to stand up and splay her paws out, but it was probably a good thing she didn't as they hit a group of trees. Bre suddenly realised why Hugi wore a helmet.

Thankfully she was small enough even in this form compared to him she could press her snout into the fur at the crook of his neck and let the helmet take most of the hits from stray branches, though occasionally she put a paw in the snow to veer their course to avoid actually smashing through the centre of a trunk. Finally they came to a stop, ironically where Maude's scent was actually the strongest yet. She was definitely nearby.

 

[Hugi]

The world whizzed by, a blur of fur, snow, and rocky outcroppings. People occasionally flitted into view as he braced for an impact of significance. Luckily, Brenna steered them away from such a thing, and he only had to withstand the whipping of branches and the occasional grab of rocks just below the surface of snow. All in all not a bad trip as they slowed to a stop, near a familiar scent.

The grunting laugh of a roar slowly died from Hugi, a moment of lightheartedness in a previously dire situation. The shine of his eyes plain through the helm now as he rolled away from the other svalen and slowly rose to shake out his fur. He would have to try that again when they weren't fresh from an avalanche.

Sniffing harshly to catch his sister's scent, his nose leading him on as he began making grumbling huffs and jaw pops to try to catch her attention. He hoped dearly she was alright, and the fear of what was possible slowly began to creep back into his mind.

 

[Brenna]

Bre wanted nothing more than to keep playing. The ride had made her frisky and fresh, but she knew the smell of their queen brought the harsh reality back to them. After what passed for a grin for a bear she rolled off the large male so he could also stand up, then huffed after him at a trot. She still had no hearing in this form. When she had left on The Path she had secretly hoped discovering her Svalen would open a world of sound again but alas it was not meant to be. But in situations like this she could be a bit more thankful for the way her other senses had over compensated for the loss.

Catching a stronger whiff she took off at a lumbering run, nose to the ground before stopping by a mound of snow and beginning to dig carefully down.

 

[Solveig Odasson]

Magrin Kor held onto him by the belt like an aberrant pup, but as the snow rushed in, an altogether unexpected thing happened. The axe anchored them, but Sol swung like a weight on a rope in the others' grip. For a moment he saw what was coming as rocks filled his field of vision. But there wasn't enough time for the likely stream of expletives to be voiced. Just for him to open his mouth, roar inarticulately, then slam into the rock outcropping he had swung towards as the snow enveloped them. As one might noticed, he had slammed face-first.

Honestly it might be for the best. With as much as he ran his mouth, it was very likely the strongest part of his body.

 

[Mikaela Ryurik]

Once she caught the scent of Talus being somewhere ‘downstairs’ as well, Mika didn’t hesitate in following them. Everyone had someone to take care of and the one she was supposed to keep intact, her friend, had somehow sailed down all the way to the bottom. Apparently with some others too. Their scents marked the snow. Perfect time to join them.

Taking the shield from her back, a plain wooden one, painted white and held together by iron and leather, she placed it on the ground. A moment later the raven head was sliding down the snow. Using her hips to navigate between the various trees she gained speed while crouching a little and holding onto the leather straps. If she hadn’t done this so much playing as a child with others, or hadn’t been as lean, holding her footing and managing her course might have been a bit more difficult. Not that she was allowed to lose her concentration right now, for this speed was greater than the ones she had gained during playtime.

Noticing the bears in the distance, she started to zigzag as much a possible. The roundness of the shield made it quite hard to slow down without falling into her back. Eventually she had to choose between potentially sliding past them, crashing into something in order to stop, or jump from the shield and pull it back by the leather straps. The last one seemed like the best solution. It, however, left her buried in the snow all the way up to her shoulders because of the speed she had ended up jumping with. Using the shield as a huge shovel to scoop away the snow, Mika thought to hear some of others of her group. Brenna’s scent, Hugi - check, Maude? - Mika shook off the snow to see Brenna digging... Talus was nearby as well, she took a guess he had used some of his magic to get through the avalanche. That was good.

Most of the party was here.

Surely the others would soon join them.

Mika was already on the lookout.

* * *​

 

[Magrin Kor]

Just before the snow obscured his vision, filling it with white and then the darkness that followed Magrin would have seen Solveig as he swung around in his grip, hurling himself towards the rock face. Gripping him by the belt Magrin's fingers would have loosened after he'd made contact with the outcropping that awaited him.

There was a time when everything seemed still in his mind then. Magrin hadn't taken the worst of the avalanche but he was buried. There was no light, there wasn't much air but there was a chilling cold which told him he was still alive. With that knowledge he got to work.

An arm would rip its way out of the snow, followed by another shortly thereafter. The Axe he'd been holding in his right hand dislodging itself from the stone where he'd hooked it now that the worst had passed. As Magrin forced himself up and out of the snow he hardly noticed it still came up to his waist, it didn't seem to matter. All that mattered was freeing himself and..."Where are you?"...he'd wipe his face once then use a thick hand to start beating away the snow closest to the outcropping.

His task was to protect Solveig Odasson. The Blacksmith was his charge, Maude had deemed it so so despite what else went on around him Magrin's focus remained on point. He wasn't satisfied until he could set a large hand on Solveig's shoulder while stowing the axe back on his belt again..."There you are."...the remark was accompanied by a small grunt of satisfaction..."It's good you're not dead."...that was enough for him. Hopefully Solveig hadn't broken something when he rammed into the rock but Magrin hardly gave it a second though.

Once he'd found Solveig Magrin would have turned, his feet shifting and legs moving with some exertion through the deep snow as he carried himself towards the edge of the path they'd been traveling on. Tipping is head, narrowing his eyes he'd make out the forms of some of the others further down and prepare to join them after rolling his left arm, the same one he'd grabbed onto Solveig with. Its muscle might have been bruised, there was a dull ache but nothing that wouldn't heal.

 

[Talus]

Talus came wandering above the snow as though nothing at all had happened. Even the fur cloak he wore seemed entirely unruffled by the events.

His steps were careful within the snow, treading softly over towards Mikaela. "I thought there would be more frost giants."

The young Dreadlord joked.

"Instead it seems to be the elements constantly trying to kill us." Avalanches, blizzards, and forests. That so far had been the greatest opposition in the entirety of his journey throughout the Tundra.

Perhaps there was a lesson in that.

 

[Baise]

All Valthar could hear was his own stuttered breathing. His jaw trembled, his hands trembled, everything trembled. There was still enough light to see his own breath turn to mist so he couldn't have been buried too deeply.

Valthar pressed his hands through the snow to find the rocks he had clung to. A growl of determination dropped two octaves as he shifted.

His head burst from the snow and swung slowly from side to side.

"Anyone?" but they had mostly slid much further down the slope.

 

[Magrin Kor]

Shortly after coming to the edge of the slope, bracing himself with one foot so that he could lean forward without going over the edge like the others who had been caught head on by the avalanche Magrin heard another voice.

As he turned his head he would lay eyes upon Valthar, his head bursting out of the snow as he looked for signs of life before Magrin cleared his throat and craned his head to one side..."Further down. Avalanche took most of them I imagine. I don't know, I was buried in the white near a rockface."...he'd poke out his thumb and jerk it back towards where he and Solveig Odasson had been.

"It's good you survived. Your sister would be upset if you died."...Magrin's tone tended to be flat, especially considering everything that was happening around him but he shot Valthar a small grin following his remark. It occurred to him that if Hugi was further down the slope he might also have to take charge of Valthar's safety before they reunited with the rest of the group.

Idly he'd wonder how far down it was to the others, the slope seemed thick so a man could not traverse it easily. Now if he was thrown on the otherhand....

 

[Maude]

Brenna Ardullsson was getting warmer. The deeper she dug the stronger the scent of the Queen would come to her until eventually her claws thrashed across a leather and metal gauntlet. The hand attached flexed, indicating signs of life and consciousness. A groan sounded from deeper into the snow.

As Brenna made her efforts to extract her, Maude gave a gasp for air once she'd pulled her head free, followed by a sharp yelp after a muted crunch echoed up, "Stop...stop...something's broken."

 

[Solveig Odasson]

Muttering, Solveig stood and tried to work his jaw. There was a clicking and popping, and a garbled yelp of pain as Solveig discovered his jaw was broken, if not shattered. Muted grunts and curses followed as he rubbed at his cheek where a lump and bulge of deformed bone was. But, in an odd display of restraint, he clamped his jaw shut. A nodding to Magrin Kor indicated he was alright, as well a hovered finger over the starting bruise and deformity, holding a finger to his lips to indicate silence.

Gripping the haft of his axe, he pulled it from his belt. At the touch of his hand on the haft of the weapon, it went from dull glow to a brilliance of a North Star in his fist. Slowly the glow muted, but he nodded downslope and then to Magrin, shrugging his shoulders, the gestures clear that he was asking what to do next. Maybe he'd need to ask Brenna Ardullsson about the wiggly-fingers bit she used to communicate. Later though

 

[Brenna]

Bre shifted back the instant Maude began talking. Her face was an open apology for the pain she caused and she raised her hands slightly to show she wouldn't move her anymore. She was young and it was going to take a while to learn to be so gentle and careful in her Svalen form. Once the initial tide of pain seemed to pass the queens face, Bre gestured she wanted to examine the broken limb as she pulled the pack from her back and began rifling through it for her first aid supplies.

First of all, however, she passed Maude her skin which was filled with mead - that should at least help with the pain a little. Bre offered her a small smile before returning to taking out the bits she would need.

 

[Hugi]

Hugi had followed and let Brenna take the digging, since he would likely just end up swatting Maude without actually helping much. The yelp of pain from her however elicited a surprise yelp from him, before a worried series of grumbles and snorts as he shuffled backwards to give the girl room to work. His worried grumbling was deep, carried up the slope easily as he paced and continued making noise.

Too anxious to remember to change back, he turned towards their origin, sending an annoyed rumble up the slope in hopes the others would hear and come down.

 

[Baise]

Valthar swung his head, looking between Magrin Kor and Solveig Odasson. The latter had obviously broken his jaw.

"She would be upset, yes," he rumbled. It was impossible to tell whether he had found humour in the joke.

He shuffled over the snow awkwardly. Having been in the summer lands since pandemonium he was embarrassed to think that he had never traversed snow in his svalen form before. Some things came naturally and he was soon sliding and shuffling down the slope towards the others.

 

[Mikaela Ryurik]

“Tssssk and I was worried about you for a second.” she shook her head. Perhaps she had been more worried about what Maude would do with her if she lost him during their first day. Or worried about the suffering her pride would have to go through. Regardless, he was here and he had looked worse the day before. Chuckling while shaking her head again, she climbed out of the snow before turning toward the grumpy noise of a huge bear coming from a little further down. One of theirs.

“Seems like there might be some trouble there,” Hopefully nothing too bad.

Her jogging through the snow felt easy now. After having been smothered by the usually featherly light substance, well, she enjoyed the cold entering her lungs and the ability to move freely again. Later she would have to figure out who had thrown the rope and thank them for that. Hadn’t that been the case things might have been very different for the young Nordenfiir.

Soon enough she reached two bears and a half-buried Maude. “Fuck,” she mumbled under her breath while putting the shield into the snow to free her hand and kneel next to the bear that’s been uncovering Maude from the layers and layers of snow.

From the looks of it something was wrong. Otherwise Maude would have surely climbed out of her snowy pit by now. She wasn’t here to hibernate. Unsure of how to help aside from carefully using her fingers to brush away more snow without actually touching Maude’s body, she looked to the side, up, toward Talus.

If the queen was hurt, then hopefully he had some healing abilities. Because herbs wouldn’t cut it now.

* * *​

 

[Talus]

He shook his head. "Think I'm the least of anyones worry."

The comment to him was simple fact. He had no doubt in his mind that his own death would be mourned by only one person in this place; and that was Mikaela.

Of course, at this rate he was also just about the last person that would be hurt. Oddly enough, that was something he had the Proctors to thank for. Some of the lessons of survival had carried over quite well it seemed.

When Mikaela ran off, Talus quickly followed.

Unlike the Nordenfiir, he did not trudge through the snow, but rather simply walked above it. Odd blue wisps rolled off of him, as though the wind itself were attempting to push him away as he phase-walked through the difficult terrain.

Arriving, they found the Queen and...bears.

Talus wasn't entirely sure he'd ever get used to that.

When Mikaela peered at him though the request in her eyes was more than clear. "I know Rune Magic."

An art of healing that had been forgotten by most, and one that did not always work as many might think.

 

[Magrin Kor]

Braced on the edge of the slope and leaning forward Magrin had spared Valthar a final glance when he entered his svalen form and commenced down the slopes towards the others. At this distance, eyes narrowed and looking carefully he couldn't tell what had happened entirely but the avalanche had not been without its injuries.

As he turned his head back towards Solveig Odasson he'd have noted the bruising and bulge caused by the bone of is jaw prompting him to state..."Well don't blame me. That snow probably would have carried you off otherwise."...but understanding the shrug and the body language as Solveig questioned him over what they should do next Magrin grinned briefly..."You should change."

The Innuendo was clearly or so Magrin had hoped. No sooner than he suggested it did he act.

It was a difficult thing to ask a person to throw themselves down a slope but Magrin was here to help. Once he'd suggested that Solveig transform into his svalen, assuming that he was capable of doing as much he'd have swung out his arm, gripped Solveig by the shoulder and leapt forward. Pulling with is arm and his body weight Magrin meant to take Solveig with him as he leapt over the side, letting go when they had momentum.

Unlike Solveig Magrin didn't have a svalen, he couldn't transform into an enormous Bear so he pulled his Axe again, gripped it in his right hand and swung it backwards in a long arc that would eventually see it chop down into the dense snow. As he went, skidding and sliding he'd use the axe to maintain control, hoping it hit stone beneath the snow to increase drag and slow his descent.

 

[Maude]

Maude could feel in her left thigh the sharp edge of something hard cutting through the flesh. Having been thrown about within the snow down the entire mountain slope she hadn't her mental bearings nor a solid understanding of what was up and what limb was where. Mikaela, helping to dig her out, began to pull away red-soaked snow. The Queen growled, reaching down to help clear the area around the wound, fully expecting the white of bone to come through.

Instead what she found was her bow; snapped in half and sunk into her thigh between pieces of armor.

"Ohhf-" Maude huffed a sigh of relief, "Mikaela, take it out. Hugi," a hand lifted to the great ursine, grabbing a fistful of thick winter hide and holding on while he backed her out of what would have been a very cold, quiet, and lonely grave.

She sat in the snow catching her breath, bleeding, and eyeing the broken bow with equal parts sentimental disappointment and physical relief that it had not been her leg. A short glimpse around showed her a fair portion of the group, "Are we all-" another glance from her spot in the snow, counting faces as they came into view, "is everyone alright? Talus. Gylfi ... Brenna, Hugi. ...Magrin? Solveig? ...Arnor?"

"Where is Arnor?"

 

[Mikaela Ryurik]

One bear, one Dreadlord, two very worried young women and a queen. More were coming, but Mika’s eyes were on the smeared out crimson around what had to be Maude’s thigh. Gently, but quickly, her slender fingers worked as the thin layer of snow melted away beneath the warm liquid seeping from under the woman’s armor. Soon enough the culprit was found; wood stuck from between where the armor joined. It could have been worse, Mikaela realized when Maude’s reaction seemed to be one of relief.

Focussing on the task at hand, she clenched her teeth as if she was about to be the one experiencing pain. Of course Maude has had far worse during her life. That, however, didn’t mean that it was easy for Mika to cause her pain. Even if it was for the greater good. She put her left hand on the woman’s hip to hold her steady, her right hand hovered around the broken bow for a moment before she gripped it tightly and pulled it back; quickly and precisely, like a hunter firing off an arrow - her hand didn’t shake. She threw the bloodied piece of wood to the side and watched how Hugi helped her to slide out of the snowwhite bed painted various shades of red. Hopefully she hadn’t lost too much blood. Shouldn’t be the case.

They had to put pressure on the wound, however. With the femoral artery somewhere there, afterall Mika wasn’t a medic, this could turn bad if left unattended.

“Talus, can you stop the bleeding? Can you heal the wound?”

Question was, would Maude let him even if he could?

* * *​

 

[Talus]

"Err..." Talus made a strange noise with his throat.

The Proctors had always been rather strict about learning more than just personal magics. They had tried to stress that battle was more than just about your own expertise. College magic and the Runes were just as important to winning a battle.

Talus had believed it, but actually studying it had always been...hard.

Now he was faced with a decision. Did he say no and let the Queen of these people die, or did he say yes and perhaps lend her the same fate? "Yes."

He answered after a moment of thought.

Stepping forward the Dreadlord motioned towards Maude, not entirely sure if he should even approach her.

"It will be painful though." The Healing of Rune Magic was not exactly a pleasant sensation, something he'd learned first hand.