TEAM 1 - Snowy Slopes

"Storm?! Storm, they say?!!!" Thana yelled. "Can't the storm pick another day to come?"

"Think we could use that up there?"

Thana look at the cave Puniceus pointing. It was not too big, and not too small either. Perfect.

"Should we get some tree branches and rocks to make some camp fire? We can't rely on Argent forever. He should rest too." Thana suggested.

The wind is getting crazier. And it started to feel that Argent's heat couldn't even catch up with the dropping temperature. "T-This getting crazier and crazier and crazier..." Thana mumbled.

"Crap." Argent muttered to himself as he heard the message, the wind picking up and whipping at his hood almost as if on cue. Turning to where Puniceus was pointing, Argent grimaces. We have no idea what could be in there. Heck, that might be where that screeching came from. He though to himself, the wind pulling back his hood right before he yanked it back into place. "We'll think about that later." He said. "Just pick up some dead wood. I can seal the entrance a bit and dry the wood inside." Argent added as he quickly trudged towards the cave, waving his hand behind him to call the others to follow.

"Just pick up some dead wood. I can seal the entrance a bit and dry the wood inside." Argent said before gesturing for them to follow him to the cave.

"Alright, i'll get all of the wood then, meet you guys there in a bit." Puniceus said, stopping for a bit to think, he added "I think it'd be safer if we went in groups of two. Virgil, you come with me. Argent, Thana you two go check out the cave. Sound good?"

"Alright, i'll get all of the wood then, meet you guys there in a bit. I think it'd be safer if we went in groups of two. Virgil, you come with me. Argent, Thana you two go check out the cave. Sound good?"

This isn't normal. They promised us that this'd be a walk in the park. Nothing too drastic, nothing too dangerous...

Then again, when has safety ever been the norm out here?

Virgil was still lost in thought about the snow storm and the cave when Puniceus called his attention. He took a second to collect himself as he looked at his teammate in obvious confusion.

"Huh? Oh. Yeah, sure. But we'd better have some sort of signal so we all know where we are and how to find each other. Any suggestions?"

"Won't need it for each other." Argent said, stopping to turn around. "You two shouldn't split up more than Thana and I, then. Best to stick together." He added, motioning to the both of them. "I don't think you'll find good firewood but like I said, I can dry them so that should be fine. I don't think sound'll carry too good in this wind though so you might want to stick close."

"Alright, so it's all figured out then? Argent, Thana, Good luck. Come on Virgil." Puniceus started walking towards the forest. 'damn this wind, not going to be able to zip around with my wires...' Puniceus said, deep in thought. After a while of walking he smacked into a tree with a loud thud. Falling flat on his backside.
"Ow, ow ow ow..." He whined, rubbing his forehead and turning to Virgil saying "Not a word."
He hopped back up on his feet and kept walking. Puniceus let out 5 wires and started looking around for loose sticks laying on the ground and such, after picking all those up he reached out and started nabbing some small branches still attached to the trees.
"Is that it?" He asked Virgil, smiling with the fire-wood seemingly hovering above him.

"You guys, don't go too far' kay?" She stopped a moment. "Make sure you don't lost sight of--"

Well, she is too late. They have gone too far, it seems. Too far for them to hear what she just say. She sighed and wished the best for all of them. The cave it self didn't look too far from their current position.

"Not a word."

Virgil can't help but stifle a laugh, then mimes zipping his mouth shut and throwing away the key.

"Yeah, they won't hear it from me. I think this is enough," he says while holding up his own pile.

"We should head back. Who knows what else could be out here with us?"

Virgil looks around on instinct, praying his words hadn't jinxed them by any chance.

"Hey Princess, come on." Argent yelled over his shoulder as he grasped the mouth of the cave. "Well that's disappointing." Peeking his head in, Argent finds the cave to be smaller than the opening let on. Only a few square meters, it could just about fit them and a small place to put their fire and gear, though leg room might be a bit scarce. Walking in, Argent bends his neck slightly, the top of his hair brushing the ice covered ceiling. The walls and floor were the same, his footsteps cracking the frozen gravel loose. "Can't melt any of this or we'll get soaked to our asses." He muttered as he kicked at icy floor, clearing a space by the entrance for a fairly sized fire and hopefully getting keeping where they'd be sitting above the sinking cold air. Heh, late night nature documentaries finally paid off. He thought to himself as rocks, pebbles, and ice flew out of the cave.

"Hey, you got anything we could sit on?"

"We can't light the campfire then?" Thana asked, clearly disappointed. "Can you heat the air? To make is a little bit warmer for us?"

"Hey, you got anything we could sit on?"

"Unfortunately, no." She shook her head. "How about snow?"

"Nah, we should be able to get a fairly sized one going." Argent said as he finished kicking out the fireplace, their sitting spots half a foot above the floor by the entrance. "It'll melt the ceiling a bit but it's not completely made of ice so we should be safe. It's far enough from over here so we don't get dripped on too." He said as he sat down, stretching his legs in front of him while he still could. Reaching up behind his neck, he unclips his hood and puts it on the floor beside him. "Here, not exactly a throne it should be more comfortable than icy pebbles."

Thana shook her head. "You better wear that back. Let's just endure the pain in the ass for a while. I think the storm will disappear as quick as it comes."

"It's fine. It should get warmer in here once the fire gets going." Argent said as a few flakes of snow blew in the cave, as if on cue. "Doesn't look like it's letting up either so get in here. You're not gonna help anybody by freezing yourself by the door."

Puniceus started walking in the direction he and Virgil came in from, soon enough he hit the treeline and was out of the forest. He paused and looked up the mountain. 'now where was that- ahh, there it is' he thought, spotting the cave. 'not too far from here' he thought, as he started walking. A couple of minutes passed and was at the entrance.
"Hello?" He said, peeking in.

Argent is right. If she standing there by the entrance, she will freeze to death even before the storm calms down. She crouched and lazily crawl deeper into the cave. She positioned her self in front of Argent and sit quietly when Puniceus suddenly appear out of nowhere and asked, "Hello?"

"Hello?" Thana replied back. "So how it is going?"

"Suit your self, Princess." Argent said, chuckling lowly to himself. Picking up the hood, he gives it a few good pats, shaking loose ice and gravel, before putting it back on his head, a resounding snap indicating it was secure. Noticing Puniceus peaking his head in, Argent gets up, shuffling past Thana. "That looks like enough wood for now." He said looking at the stack of slightly damp wood. "Set it down here and I should be able to dry it enough." Argent added, gesturing to the depression in the ground right inside the entrance.

"Alright, cool." Puniceus said, setting the wood down where Argent had pointed before throwing himself down for a rest. Puniceus lay there, trying to get snug, rolling and shuffling around to get that perfect spot. finally finding it, he started thinking. Laying there thinking about his teammates, 'They're alright, I guess. But how could I easily get them to do my bidding? hmm...' his own thoughts trailed off as the warm grasp of sleep surrounded him.

Virgil carefully steps into the now crowded cave, looking for a spot to sit and rest. He sets his pile down next to Puniceus' and gets the vacant spot closest to the entrance.

Looks like I won't be sleeping that well tonight, he thinks as he braces himself against the oncoming harsh weather.

"Well I guess that's all of us." Argent said as he watched Virgil walk in. Picking up one of the branches, Argent grimaces. Damp. He thought as he put it back down. "You guys may want to stand back." He said as he rested a foot on the pile. Suddenly, repeated blasts of scorching hot air erupted from the boot, the crack of drying wood echoing through the cave's icy walls. Ice both below and above him melted, causing droplets to form on the gravelly floor but it was quickly evaporated leaving dry stone floor and ceiling around their fireplace

Deeming the wood sufficiently dry, Argent turns his back to his teammates and faces the cave opening. Placing his hands on the ground, he forms a wall of ice, covering the entrance. Standing back, he delivers a few quick and kicks, obviously scorching hot as well, to the upper section of the of the 'door' until a sufficiently sized hole was poking though, three fourths up the wall. That'll keep us from suffocating.

"So, now that the wind's gone, anyone got a light?"

Thana lift her still-sheathed Vortex. "Um, my gun?"

"So you can only release heat, but not fire?"

"Pretty much." Argent said, giving a noncommital shrug as he put his foot on the pile again, giving the wood a few more blasts for good measure. "So princess, can you light this without breaking down the door?" He said, tapping his foot, metal thumping dully on the brittle wood.

"Leave it to me."

As soon as Thana said so, she shift her index finger and pressed the trigger. A gunshot later, the wood is started to burnt. "Is that enough?"

"That thing's a gun too?" Argent said as he eyed the sword as it burned the wood. "A bit too much though." He added as he pulled out some of the branches that still haven't caught fire and set them aside. Methodically stacking them away from a foot or two away from the fire, Argent blows a bit on their current one, bringing it to life as a small campfire filled the room with warmth, soft gray smoke billowing out the 'chimney' he had made in the door. "We should save the rest of these 'til it's needed. I don't want to have to keep breaking down and rebuilding this door." He said, patting the ice wall.

"Yes," Milfich hold up Vortex. "The gun is attached on the cross guard."

Thana then put it down as she unzipped her jacket and tucked in the sleeve, as the temperature inside the room is started to warmed up.

"By the way, there's not really much to do right now other than waiting for the storm to stop, right?"

A frighteningly loud sound smashes Puny awake, sitting up straight instantly.
"what the hell was that!?" He said turning to see the fire lighting up the cave. "Oh, you got the fire going. Good. I hope you wouldn't mind doing it quietly next time, okay?" He said laying back down and looking at his teammates. Half yawning he asks:
"So, what now?"

BANG

Virgil is jolted awake and confused by the sudden gunshot, but is immediately calmed as he sees the fire and his teammates around it.

"Oh, you got the fire going. Good. I hope you wouldn't mind doing it quietly next time, okay?", he hears Puni say as he yawns.

"So, what now?"

"Well, we can't really do anything with that snow storm outside," Virgil says as he stretches the sleep off, "so we might as well think of a plan to get to that summit as soon as this weather lets up. So we know we're in the forest, and the summit's on the other side of the clearing we were in. Any suggestions as to how we get to there from here?"

"No other way than walking." Argent said as he sat down in his previous spot, pulling his hood back down. "It's fairly straight forward. The only problem'll be the weather and whatever that thing was." He said, scouring his memory for anything that could make that noise.