[Red Right Hand] Where the Viaduct Looms

Before setting out, Riley partook in the Question oath among the gathered party.

"By my side, shield by sword, sword by shield. Though our mettle be tested, no foe shall break our honor, no fear shall thwart our goal. For as long as your shield is mine, my words are yours. Bonded in our quest and by our words will hold true till our task is complete."



The journey into the Mojave was met with a cold and aloof Riley. They weren't happy being back here and tried to block out the memories with a calculated and driven focus. The ordinarily charming and chatty Darkling was neither of these things. Hopefully not for the entire journey.

Beyond their gloomy manor, a noticeable difference in the Wisp's appearance is the scars upon their face and hands. Lasting scars from their last visit to the desert. Usually well hidden under makeup and the occasional glamour, but not for this journey. It was a reminder.


Crossing the gate into the Hedge, Riley followed close behind Gavin. They had a survival kit packed in their hiking backpack and were wearing practical clothes. Stapped to their belt was a simple knife, their hedgespun gauntlet on one, and their hair was pulled back in a greased ponytail, held in place by their Golden Hairnettle. Hanging from their neck were the glamour beads provided by Bastile.

Looking out across the rickety cliff path, the Darkling let out a groan. Glancing briefly at the foggy abyss below.
"You have got to be kiddin' me."

Riley looked at the others for a moment. They were confident they could make this walk; they were light and well-balanced. Archie, however, unless they set up a safety system, might have trouble.

" Hey Arch, how ya feel about asking this cliff to widen a bit. Give'em the ol' Razzle dazzle," Riley said with a smile, glancing up towards the cliff face. Their hair tie sparkled and shimmered as one of the beads around their neck cracked and turned to dust.

" Excuse me" They tapped the side of the wall with their gauntlet.
"Perhaps we could bother you for a moment?" Riley asked the rocks, making an introduction for Archie.

"Alright, I've got a bit of stuff to cover; I'm just going to run right through it all and leave it open for questions after. Now you're about to see some shit going back into the bush. Remember you've all been there before. Some of you may have more experience in there than others. Some not, so here's a refresher. Your Freehold Oath gives you a little edge in working the areas in and near the Freehold--It's good to have friends. The Hedge is going to be on our heels as soon as we get in there. It wants to guide you into the thorns or send you back there. That's not where we're headed, right? The bush will respond to our collective feelings. If you've ever get high on shroomies or Lucy, it's kind of like that. If you're in a good way, things will flow. If you're sad, or anxious, it will feed into that and give you a bad time. Have to stay in the right zone. It's a lot more complex that I'm making it sound, but that is the best shorthand way to say how it is without overwhelming. Things are going to change around us, a lot. The bush will give us little troubles to slow us down while it makes problems for us and make us lose our way. Stay together if you can--work together if you want to make big changes to our collective pipe-dream."

"I'm not going to willingly leave you on your own in there. If you get hopelessly lost or something happens to me, remember you can change your intended destination and try to get back to this gate. Consider taking on some goblin debt and pay for help to get out--better to pay a toll than to have this place swallow you again."

"Right, now I need to take a second for my basic preparations going in there. I'm going to look quite a bit more scary than usual. Remember I swore an oath to go on this quest with you. Gavin is your friend. Scary Gavin is there to help you. Think good vibes about Scary Gavin, and each other. Unless things go very wrong I will avoid entering the Chrysalis so we can keep gabbing to each other. If I do have to change forms, It will likely be to the scariest blue skinned feathered dinosaur you've never thought you'd run into, or a horse with some similar scary features. Scary Gavin is your friend." He needed them to not panic and bring extra worries and concerns into the Hedge with them and they needed to know what to expect. They'd never seen the Cassowary. Lots of learning was about to happen.  


He turns away a second, popping something small in his mouth. An instant later Gavin's already pronounced 6 inch bird claws, lengthened further, curling slightly and honed to a vicious edge on their inside tracks. His legs became scaled, leathery, and bent the opposite direction than previous, each ended with similarly wicked appearing pointy bits. His eyes enlarged and somehow despite all the other parts becoming menacing, were pretty and orange with magnificent lashes. His ears receded into his head leaving indents. All in all, there was a lot more bird and reptilian anatomy that previous. 


Archie and Riley seemed very enthusiastic and moved on ahead a little, but not so far that Gavin couldn't react. He hung back a bit to see how they might respond to the first obstacle held in store for the troupe. Gavin smiled at the joint effort put together to try and coax the Hedge into compliance. When it didn't budge. He stepped forward, not wanting to let the hedge roll up on them too quickly. It wouldn't do well for Gavin's reputation as a skilled Hedge-guide if he were to lose the first group he guided for the Freehold.

"Good thought. Good working as a team. You're talking to it like you'd talk to an object in the real though. Like you didn't actually expect it would move, and so it didn't. This is the Hedge. It responds to feeling and belief and imagination. It's still okay."

"You wanted a wider and sturdier pathway. There's more than one way to go about it. This edge is precarious and narrow, but over here," he gestures with his grotesque claws, "is a bunch more virgin rock that hasn't begun to crumble. I'm going to try to tunnel it into being wider by cleaving great chunks out of it to shape it up."


The beast cleaves into rocks like they were made of butter, first flaying slates of rock at angles where they'd easily slide off the cliff-face and out of the way, free-falling silently for a time before thunderous crashes began to echo in the mountainous pass. He then feverishly dug in the leftover corner areas to create the sturdy flat hard surface the lot of them were hoping for. The speed he moved was almost dream-like and astonishing. 

When his work was finished he howled with delight, "Woo-yeah! Come on now."

The tunnel is dark.

Wayland cracks and hands out the glowsticks, illuminating the fresh carved  feature of Gavin's expert handy-work. Watching the Beast in action and the Summer courtier on top of logistics provided some relief, even as Archie and Riley's creative approach doesn't generate a fantastical result.

After walking at an even pace for twenty to thirty minutes, Wayland leaned against the stone, trying to catch her breath with the weight of her armour feeling a little too tight. Archie and Riley stalled, taking the cue that they could finally admit that they were harrowed several minutes ago.

As the Beast turns back, he notes the lack of noise and shuffling companionship.

Wayland, Archie, and Riley blink as they face several tunnel routes, with no direct indication of which one Gavin made aside from blessed tug of their Pledge indicating he was downward. 

The darkling felt a small wave of embarrassment when the Hedge didn't respond to their and Archies attempts. While Gavin was trying to be kind, the moth felt a hit to their ego when their creative solution failed.

Gavin carved his way into the mountainside, which was far better than navigating that damn footpath. Following behind, the Darkling eyes adjusted slowly to the familiar dark. Their hands trail along the side of the cave wall.

The air was growing thin, and the moth had to slow their breathing to not get light-headed. Glancing back to their Motley mate to make sure he was okay. When Riley's gaze returned to focusing up front they saw that Gavin was gone.

"Shit" The moth whispered realizing the hedge was pulling them apart.

shitshitshit.

They took a breath, and the oath that bound them to Gavin and Wayland tugged at them for a moment, like an invisible compass. Riley sighed, they knew where they were. The problem was navigating the caves to get there.

At least the Bright Ones glow provided some light in this mess. They stopped as Archie mention he might have a guess, glancing towards the doorway.

The hauberk is heavy. No, it’s the chain’s normal weight. It just feels heavy because her shoulders are moving with the force of her breath. Shit. The air is thin down here. Thin and bad. Isn’t there a trick for thin air? Mountaineering, she’s sure she’s heard about it. Singing, right? Singing will help keep you from passing out when the air is thin. Wayland moves forward and touches Riley on the shoulder, “Hey,” she gasps, “Hey, d’you know,” pant, “The words to…” What are some famous songs, some common songs? Some songs anybody should be able to sing along to?

“... Bohemian Rhapsody?”

She waits until the Darkling nods, before taking a breath, “Is this the… real life?” She begins, and gestures for Riley to join her. “Is this just… fantasy?” It doesn’t have to be good. And indeed it’s not, they’re both breathless. “Caught in a… landslide? No escape from reality?” They’re not singing karaoke here. Wayland’s just trying to keep them from fainting. “Open your eyes… look up to the skies and… seeeee!” She reaches forward to touch Archie, making a ‘come on’ gesture for him to join them.

“I’m just a poor boy! I need no sympathy...
‘Cuz I’m easy come, easy go.
Little high? Little low.
Anyway the wind blows, doesn’t really matter to meeeee.
Toooo meeeeee!”

She can already feel it, less lightheaded. She’s breathing easier. Hopefully Archie and Riley are too. Gavin looks fine, the lucky bastard, no she should expect that from an experienced Hedge guide. The air is still thin, no song’s gonna change that, but she can manage easier as she shoulders her pack and treks on after Gavin, doing her best to help keep the group together and moving forward.

Gavin leapt as his clawed feet dug into the stone, tearing the narration of the tunnel as the world blurred around him — ready for a new idea. His warning echoed up the route, bouncing off the rock as Wayland sings to herself, her next gasp blessedly deep as her muscles stop protesting the lack of oxygen.

Riley's lack of music is noted as the Ogre turns back, noting the moth was barely a pinpoint of their radiating light as the tunnel seemed to have stretched. Archie must have been even further back.

The Twilight dancer leans against the wall, dizzy from the strain as they watch their footing and focus on tracking Gavin. Vision sparking, it felt like they weren't making any bloody progress at all. Ice needled up their spine as a feeling of danger caused their flesh to prickle.

Where the hell was their motley member?