[D4 ea] Billy the Hill

[Ares Pax]

Ares glanced up at the mountain, then to his companion. "So. To the top then?" He seemed less tense than usual lately. He closed his eyes for a moment, and slowly opened it.

"This place is nice, but so. Force-ridden. Bright."

[Zanja]

“Of course to the top. What’s the point otherwise?” Zanja grinned and plopped her knapsack down on a handy rock, so she could extract her climbing gear and begin laying it out.

The Zabrak had a pair of scanner goggles propped above her freshly tattooed forehead, and pulled them down over her eyes for a moment while she took a better look at the slopes above them. “Good light for climbing if we don’t go blind from it.” She pushed the goggles back up and returned to checking her equipment.

[Ares Pax]

"Thanks for sharing the gear." He turned away for a moment. "Yeah... though it needs some getting acquainted with." He sighed and stretched.

"Let's have at it then, eh? Oh, how come the tattoos?"

[Faily]

While there was that sense of the Force being stronger here, they could also notice as they began climbing the mountain that it seemed more... primal. More dangerous.

[Zanja]

"No problem. Climbing someplace new, it's smarter to have two people anyway." Zanja finished arranging everything and handed Ares his share of the safety harness and other gear.

"Huh? Why?" Zanja looked up from clipping her harness together, eyebrows knit together in a frown. "Because I'm a Zabrak. Why else?" Shrugging, she squinted at the hillside. "Let's start there." She pointed at a likely spot to begin their climb.

[Ares Pax]

Ares accepted it and started going uuuuuuuuuuupwards.

"Oh, it's a Zabrak thing? I didn't know. Well, I mean I saw others with tattoos, but never thought about it." He grunted slightly as he was moving. "Did it hurt?"

[Zanja]

"Yeah. And yeah." Zanja grinned, showing teeth just sliiightly sharper and more serrated than a human's. "It's a coming of age thing. Everybody does it."

Unless Ares objected, Zanja would take the lead climber role--they were using her own familiar gear, and it would be much easier for Ares to hold her lighter weight on the line if she slipped and fell from above than for her to hold him.

[Ares Pax]

"Yeah. And yeah." Zanja grinned, showing teeth just sliiightly sharper and more serrated than a human's. "It's a coming of age thing. Everybody does it."

Unless Ares objected, Zanja would take the lead climber role--they were using her own familiar gear, and it would be much easier for Ares to hold her lighter weight on the line if she slipped and fell from above than for her to hold him.

Ares allowed Zanja to go ahead. "Ah yeah. Don't think we have that. At least no one told me that." He smirked. "So you're a grown up now? Should I call you Ms. Zanja?"

[Zanja]

"No." Zanja reached for a handhold and hung for a moment while setting another anchor bolt into the rock for their rope. "But you can call me Padawan Zanja in a couple weeks, how's that?"

She clipped the rope to the bolt and let herself half-dangle for a moment, leaning out a little to look down at Ares. "Hey. Do you feel anything... different out here?"

[Ares Pax]

Ares smirked as he followed her slowly, hauling his weight with ease.

"Yeah... looking forward to that. Wonder what will change." He seemed to drift for a moment mentally. "With our lightsabers and all."

He frowned, then closed his eyes. "It certainly feels... more wild, I guess?" He reached out with his newfound senses.

OOC:
D4 EA I sense the mountain: 1eF 1 Light Side

[Zanja]

Zanja realized what Ares was doing and tried it as well, but it was... elusive. Well, or scary. Or elusive because she was scared to reach out properly to what she felt?

--

D4 EA--guess I will also Sense stuff?: 1eF 2 Dark Side


I considered flipping for that, but I think climbing is too much Zanja's happy place for her to be using DS points...

[Faily]

Wild was perhaps one description. Another was the feeling of the place making the hair in the back of the neck rise.

If this was a wilderness, maybe they were the prey rather than the predators.

[Ares Pax]

"We should slow down, and keep an eye out." He took a breath. "This mountain, this area.... is untamed." He glanced at her, and started slowly climbing after her. "No need to hurry. I'm sure it'll be fine, otherwise the masters wouldn't let us wonder around, but still. Let's be careful."

[Zanja]

" 'Course," Zanja said, nonchalant once more (albeit only with a certain amount of mental effort). "Anyway, nothing bigger than us is making it up here, unless the wild animals on this rock have climbing stuff." She hauled herself up to the next handhold and added, "You meant the Force, though."