Olomana Mountain Range
Mount Olomana or simply Olomana is a set of three mountainous peaks on the windward side of Oahu near Kailua and Waimanalo. While historically only the first peak was called Olomana and the second and third Paku'i and Ahiki respectively, most people call the entire section Olomana.
The mountain itself is covered with vegetation, from grass to shrugs to trees. The eastern slope having a more gentle slope compared to the west.
Everything is half-hidden, nothing clearly seen in the dark fog. It's warm and still. The dark shapes of nearby trees loom at you suddenly out of the deep grey fog as you approach them.
The drive up to Olomana took the couple northeast of Honolulu, past and through the village of Maunawili. Scattered along the drive up to the mountain were teams of cars, including Sheriff vehicles, no doubt part of active and volunteer search parties. It had been over 5 days now, and it was clear the net had spread far down steams to the ocean with individual teams check the ravines to the west of the primary peak of the ridge.
Grace sat in the driver's seat of her car, glancing at the vehicles as they passed them, checking over the rare volunteer that wasn't in the woods doing their team searches. Her lips were resting in a calm, placid sort of line, making her look pleasant but also decidedly removed. Grace's dark, dark eyes, though, they were wary, watchful, and seemed to be cataloguing everything she saw into some sort of filing system. "We'll have to make sure they know we're here to help the search, Bjorn. Just so that there's no misunderstandings if we come across another team searching for the boy." She'd dressed to be prepared for the woods. A pair of olive green pants with a couple of extra pockets, a set of sturdy looking black boots that could have been worn by any small-footed soldier trekking through unhealthy terrain, and a simple, black, ribbed tank top. In the back seat there was a fairly flat looking backpack, smallish, that held an over shirt in case she needed it, a canteen of water, and some snacks (more than likely for Bjorn rather than herself). All of that long, dark hair of hers was pulled up into a tight ponytail and then braided, before being wrapped into a bun to keep it entirely out of her way and secure while they moved through the woods.
A nod is given as Bjorn watches all the various people as well while Grace drives. He keeps the window cracked at least, to get an idea of the various scents as they make their way along. "I'm sure we'll find a base camp or check point or something at some point where we can get that sorted out. Hopefully they don't give us a hard time though starting at ground zero, as I'm sure they'll want people out searching grid sections they haven't searched." He's wearing a pair of his military boots instead of just his hikers, apparently wanting something more durable, along with some blue jeans and a durable black pull over long sleeve shirt, sleeves rolled up. He has a pack as well, but it contains spare clothes for himself since while he doubts he'll be in a spot where he could change. Lately clothing snaffu's have happened at inopportune times and he doesn't want to end up naked among various people in the mountains.
The 'base camp' was a couple of vehicles parked near the entrance of the Olomana trail entrance. A sheriff's Cherokee 4x4 was parked by a pitched cover tent with a table and chairs. A small generator hummed on the background, powering the lights, battery chargers for phones and radios, and coffee pots. The ground had grown muddy from the rains and constant foot traffic around the tent. With the fog rolling it, it seemed like the remains of an overran outpost from a post-apocalyptic horror movie. A easel held a topography map of the immediate range with a number of pins of various colors pinned into it. One sheriff remained, his uniform dirtied by mud, the pressed lines barely holding up to the humidity.
Grace let out a slow breath. "Alright, I'm going to get the tent out of the trunk and have you carry it, if you don't mind? Sometimes, staying still in an area and listening for anyone calling out can yield results. So we can explain that we're here to essentially hold vigil through the night, and camp near the area he went missing in hopes that maybe he can be heard in the stillness. The police likely won't appreciate us going out to search for him at night, and will strongly suggest we don't, so they don't end up looking for two more bodies." Grace's decidedly European tone indicated that she was in a dedicated 'time to seek answers' mode, but that she was at least thinking it through. "We're going to have to be subtle, make sure you ask where they searched today and if they've found any sort of hopeful hints, or suggestions as to where the young man might have gotten off to. We can also let him know that we'll be available to help with searching come morning." Grace looked over at Bjorn and offered him her gentle, slight smile. "That way, when they look for us tomorrow and don't find us, they can assume we started at daybreak."
Bjorn smiles and offers a nod as Grace lays out all the points for the conversation with the police. "See, that's why I knew to bring you along. You'd think of exactly what to do." He reaches over and brushes her cheek briefly with the back of his fingers, and then adds, "Hopefully it all goes smoothly and we can find something. I don't know what I'm more worried about, that it might have been them in the wrong place, or that something targeted them all specifically. The girl's room definitely smelled... wrong." If he gets the chance he'll definitely be looking out for that scent tonight. He'll get out of the car when she stops it, taking a moment to stretch those long legs from being in the smaller vehicle before moving to deal with tent carrying, then moving with Grace to chat with the sheriff.
The tide is high and slack.
The sheriff sitting at his table, talked into his radio. "Roger 32, I'll update the roster. We'll meet back here at 0500. Over." The radio squealed back, "See you then. Out." The man released the radio on his shoulder, watching the car of the couple park before adding a note to his clipboard. Dropping his pen, he stood up, straightening his shirt and worked over to the pair, raising a hand in friendly gesture. "Aloha folks. Can I help you with something?" The man was of Asian descent, but that wasn't exactly anything new for Oahu, he offered a tired smile to the two of them.
Grace had her beige backpack held over her left shoulder, and walked directly up to the Sheriff with her right hand extended to offer him a handshake. Her eyes moved over him from top to the breast of his shirt where she could read his badge. "Sheriff Tanaka, a pleasure to meet you. I've read your name in more than one form, and often, living on the Island." Grace's tone was pleasant, and that oddly soothing, if strangely formal, European accent help it maintain that gentle lilt that almost hinted at a long dispelled Chinese accent on her vowels. "I'm Grace Lam, of Lions and Lams Self Defense Academy, this is Bjorn Andersen; he actually taught the missing young man in his Art studies at the college." Grace's hand shake was firm, and she didn't look exhausted, so there was that. "We were hoping to stay here overnight as a sort of vigil, sometimes in the stillness and in the dark, if someone happens to wake up, you can hear noises more surely than you can during the daylight." She motioned in toward the woods, then at the tent Bjorn was holding. "We'd of course be available in the morning to help with the search by day, but I was thinking this might at least be a new attempt to help? With a fresh set of ears, and eyes for tomorrow."
Bjorn waits his turn, letting Grace get introductions out of the way. He'll offer his hand in turn, and adds, "They're all my students actually. I went to see the girls at the hospital, well Lisa I got to see anyway. I know she's very concerned, so I figured no better way then to offer my help too." His accent isn't as crisp at Grace's, there's still the slightest twinges in it that show him as not strictly mainland American, though it's close. Glancing about briefly he adds the question, "I don't suppose there have been any leads yet, some trace found of where he went maybe?"
Sheriff Tanaka dusted his hand off on his hip, before he reached out and shook her hand firmly, "And I've read about you, Ms. Lam. Sent a few women your way for some self-defense classes. It's nice to meet the person behind the reputation." His dark eyes went to Bjorn and he nodded to the man. "The university is having as much luck as our department in contacting Ms. Stein's family. If you know of a way to contact them, I'm sure both offices would appreciate it." Opening his breast pocket, he pulled out a worn notepad, pen, and a business card. "Sign-in sheet is on the table. I wouldn't recommend going up the trail now. The rain has done a number on the trails, and there's steep drop-offs on the west slope of mountain." He motioned them to follow him to the table, "I can show you where a good place to set up camp on the map, and hand you a print out. The man grimaced at Bjorn's question. "We got some clothing pieces a couple kilometers down stream, boats were checking the ocean, and parties making their way upstream, but it's dozens of trickles off the mountain... Hundreds when it's raining. We were able to backtrack on of the girl's paths, but it's not good terrain for dogs."
The tide is high and ebbing.
Grace offered the Sheriff a pleasant nod, her smile growing slightly. "It's good to know that our Academy has been of some help to the island, Sheriff, as well as to some of the people you knew were in need of the assistance." She moved over to look at the sign in sheet, quickly putting her name to it, along with Bjorn's so he wouldn't have to do so himself. If anything, her penmenship was even more precise than her spoken tongue, leaving the letters perfectly aligned and almost script-like in their presentation, while maintaining a print that didn't evolve at all into cursive. "I can assure you, we aren't here to seek out any harm to ourselves. We're just here to help find the boy or at the very least help find answers as to what might have happened to him." Grace shook her head softly, not at all having to fake the slight tint of sadness that crept across her eyes. "The map would be most helpful, as would the location of a good place for the tent overnight. It's not been too horribly long since I spent a night out in the woods, but knowing where you can do so without risk of slipping off of a cliff in the middle of the night is always more than appreciated."
As Grace discusses the map, and finding a good spot to camp Bjorn just adjust the strap on his shoulder. He doesn't seem to be having too much difficulty with the gear however, other than making sure it doesn't throw his balance off too much. "Anything that can help would be great Sheriff. Believe me we just want to do our part, not add to the problems. A nice safe spot for the tent would be great." He looks at the map with the pins on it briefly while Grace signs in, to try to get an idea of where the searching is currently, where it's progressed from, starting point, etc.
The ledger marked the name spaces as 122 and 123. The sheriff nodded to Grace, "I was just warning you before you went off into the fog and mud." The man opened a folder, picking out a photocopy of the boy, and a copy of the map for the area. He started marking out locations on the copy. "You find some flat terrain here and here, on the west slope base. On the east, there is here, any farther up and you'll have only rocks and mud." He glanced back at the map to double check as he marked out more places. "We found evidence of one of girl's path heading up this way, near the highest peak. She was found here. And the other flagged down a driver here." The places he marked were on opposite sides of the mountain. His pen followed the ridge, "There are several outcrops that parties checked. Be careful of wild boar in the area." The man paused as he stared at the map, hesitating for several seconds before he turned his attention to the clipboard, paging through it to a sign-out sheet. He annotated it as well, then turned to take a radio and a fresh battery to side in and test. "Dispatch is listening on 2 and 32. We're on 4. We're mustering at 0500 here, updating search areas and heading. There'll be hot breakfast, and a buffalo for water."
Grace watched as the Sheriff made his markings on the map, then eyed them in relation to where the girls were found, nodding thoughtfully. "We'll be sure to be on alert for any of the boar, though I'm imagining many of them have run off with all the activity around. They don't much want to be thoroughly traipsed out of their environment, but they also don't much like hanging around where humans are constantly poking and prodding." Accepting the radio from Tanaka, Grace simply stated "2, 32, 4 for the search parties. Many thanks." And then there was a moment. Grace was mid-way through tucking the radio into the side mesh pocket of her backpack when she stopped moving and looked up at Tanaka with one eyebrow slightly raised. "A... Buffalo?" Her mouth stilled for a moment as she stood up, putting the pack back over her left shoulder. "Perhaps I'm not thinking of the right thing? I only know the word from the English translation as being... well I'm not sure how a huge land beast would help with the water? Are they like camels? Do they pack it up?"
Bjorn tries to get a good idea of the map, always good to memorize what you can just in case something happens to your physical one. He recites the numbers as well, a second person remembering numbers is a good thing. "Two, thirty two, four, gotcha." At the mention of a buffalo, Bjorn grows pensive, and then at Grace's question he offers a shrug "Only other thing I know of is the military vehicle..." He looks to Tanaka to clarify, perhaps now curious himself.
Sheriff Kamaka listened Grace, "Their mating season ended back in January, that means litters as late as May. The boars aren't as tied down and leave, the females will charge at anyone that gets near their nesting piglets, and they're nocturnal." A tired laugh escaped him, "Water buffalo... Large water container on wheels that gets pulled behind a truck. We've has a few of our volunteers get themselves a case of heat exhaustion." His humor was short-lived, the exhaustion setting into his gaze as he looked back at the map. "Tomorrow is day 6, and the reality of the situation has been setting in for the last 48 hours. Fewer people come back to help with searches." Kamaka gestured to Bjorn, and nodded to the man. "Picking up the map and the photo, he passed them to Bjorn. "If you end up hearing or seeing anything, don't hesitate to call out over the radio."
Understanding lit in Grace's so-dark eyes and she nodded. "Ah, I see. My apologies for the misunderstanding, but I really do appreciate your explaining it instead of just walking away laughing, Sheriff." Grace smiled at Tanaka delicately, and gave him a slightly more formal nod, almost like she was quasi-bowing. "We'll be careful and watch out for one another tonight. If we hear anything or something happens, you'll be the first person we notify. Well, you or anyone that happens to be listening on the channels." Reaching out, she put her hand on Tanaka's arm, as she was a bit shorter and putting it on his shoulder would have been awkward. "Tanaka, you should go get some rest. There will be people here tonight, listening, holding vigil. Coming back after getting some sleep will be better for you, better for everyone. Maybe a good, hearty meal, as well." She looked obviously concerned for the man's well-being, but had said all she really could at the moment, so she didn't leave her hand on his arm for long. That said, she looked over at Bjorn and offered him her gentle smile. "Should we get going? Better sooner than later in case it decides to rain on us. We'll want the tent up if that happens."
Bjorn nods as Grace mentions getting going. Moving to tuck the map and picture in one of his pockets, not that he needs the picture but good to keep. As she talks of the rain he frowns and nods a touch. "Absolutely. Hiking in snow I don't mind, but rain... rain eventually gets through everything, even with waterproofing." He offers a wave to the sheriff, and a weak smile, as the somber reason they're there makes it harder for the smile to be more uplifting. "Take care of yourself too Sheriff." Doing one last adjustment of the straps of his gear to make sure the weight is still settled alright, he gives a nod to Grace and lets her lighter feet lead the way if she likes.
Tanaka patted Grace's hand on his arm before it left, and offered a weak smile. "I can sleep next month. My deputies have been on this search with me, and coffee isn't cutting it any more. I'll get a couple of hours after I'm done updating the plans and my relief gets here." The man tipped a non-existent hat to the two of them. "If you start slipped on a path, you two call it there. Wet and fog is not the weather you need to push yourself through."
Grace gave Tanaka an understanding nod, obviously getting the fact that he couldn't quite just go home and sleep. One might even guess she'd felt the same way about things herself in the past. "Best of luck then, Sheriff, that the couple of hours are quiet and restful. I can assure you, if things get too dangerous for us, we'll stop moving forward." She looked at Bjorn and then seeing he was ready to go, she started off for the woods, heading toward the area that Tanaka had indicated was good to set up the tent. "We'll set up the tent, at least get ourselves a nice spot to have as base camp." Grace said this quietly to Bjorn once they were out of earshot of other people. She glanced at him and gave him a subtle, supportive smile. "From there, we do what we need to do. Make sure you're keeping track of what you can smell out here, too. We'll want to be warned far in advance if one of the wild pigs is coming, I don't want to kill anything out here if I don't have to." Surprise + ability to leech all life from something is never really a good combination.
The tide is low and ebbing.
A nod is given while they start to walk along, Bjorn watching his steps, but following what Grace suggested, sniffing at the air. If it rained hopefully it was only light, to freshen scent and not wash it out. "I always wanted to go camping with you Grace, just... under better circumstances." Still he was thankful to have someone like her he could count on to help with this. He slowed a bit sometimes but otherwise tried to stay close to her while they walked, on alert for animal scent, or worse that wrongness smell he got from the dorm room.
Grace gave a light chuckle, that odd, soft, huffing of breath that was at least her version of it. "I'm happy to be with you doing whatever we do, Bjorn. Though I have to ask, exactly what did you mean by the odd smell you picked up at the apartment. We hadn't really talked that through, and I'm finding myself sticking on it a little. What sort of scent was it that you picked up that you found so odd?" Grace glanced back at Bjorn, her expression curious. With her hair up out of the way entirely, it was remarkably easy to see her face at least, even in the dark, foggy evening. Staying close didn't seem to be a problem for the two of them, especially with Grace leading the two toward the campsite and her much shorter footsteps.
As he walks along, Bjorn explains, "At their dorm it was mostly normal college scents... pot, booze, them sleeping there... Apparently the two girls were an item, then Lisa ended up going for the young man instead. But there was an underlying.. I can only describe it as wrongness." He pauses and sniffs higher, his chin raised up. "The rains washed a lot of the scent out, but I keep picking things up higher up."
Grace nodded her head and frowned slightly. If anything, her attention seems to have sharpened. Her eyes were scanning through the forest around them as they walked, her feet were placed carefully, and while she didn't have hair in the way of her ears, she did manage to kind of cock her head to the side every so often if she heard some movement in the bushes or in the trees. For all the fact that she wasn't, herself, a shapeshifter, she kind of had the body language of a bloodhound at the moment. "We'll get ourselves to the campsite, set up, and then go from there. I'm not sure if we'll find more than they did, but maybe they didn't have someone with your particular skills sniffing it out. If you do smell that... wrongness? Just make sure you say something. I don't want something coming up on us that might be really bad." And with that, Grace led them along the route to the campground, stopping when they had found a nice, smooth, grassy spot to set up the tent. "This should do nicely." She nodded once, then set her backpack down on a stump that looked like many an ass had rested on it, and the ones nearby, as they made up a little circle of sitting stools around a long burned out campfire pit.
And behold! The grassy campsite! Bjorn goes and gets the gear off his shoulders, so he can work on setting up the tent, Grace more than welcome to help as well. He works quick, but not too quickly, taking care not to miss any steps. Muscle memory from growing up will kick in eventually hopefully. While he works he replies to Grace, "Don't worry, if I smell it, last thing I'll want is us walking right into whatever it is. That's actually what makes me wonder if what happened to them was... somehow done to them. I don't know how magic or anything like that works though, so no idea. It just seemed weird the wrongness would be in their room before they went camping."
Grace of course helped with putting the tent together. She didn't exactly seem to have a ton of experience with it, but she was very good at putting poles together and stringing them through the folds of canvas to help erect the tent. Other than that, she stayed out of Bjorn's way pretty much entirely. Once the tent was put up, Grace set her backpack inside of it, out of the way of the doorway so that when they got back they could enter without crushing the water or the snacks she'd packed. "Alright. If you want to bring your pack, feel free, but I'll leave mine here. If we find him, we're likely not going to want to move him. And I'm not sure that we could even get the snacks or water to him, as they'd have found him if he were obvious." She glanced up at Bjorn and motioned to the woods. "Which direction do we start in?"
As they finish up and Grace talks about packs, Bjorn nods. "I'll take mine... just in case. But yeah so long as we have a walkie if we find him we should just not move him." He thinks as she mentions where to start. "Well...most of the smells of animals and the like are up higher on the mountain." He thinks and then pulls out the map. "Do we try to find where they all got separated from each other? Work out way out from that point?"
Grace nodded in agreement. "Alright, let's move up that way and head to where they got separated. We'll move on from there, maybe follow his scent as much as possible. The girls, we at least know where they are. And that's why we're out here, really, to find him." Grace offered Bjorn a light smile, put a flashlight into one of her pockets, and then clipped the radio onto the waistband of her pants. "I'm ready." She made sure to zip the tent up before they started off to where the kids had been split up.
The tide is low and slack.
Bjorn nods and making sure everything is in his pack he might need, clothes, spare shoes, small flashlight in a side pouch, he'll follow along. "Hopefully I can find his scent. The rain was a horrible time to occur when it did. I wish I knew about it sooner." No time to cry over things that can't be undone however, he just steeled his resolve and was ready to follow along. He just hope of hoped could find clues that would lead to the missing guy best case scenario, or barring that any answers about what happened.
The idea of going up a mountain is a simple one, it's just ensuring that you're lifting your knees higher with each step. Land navigation is the terrible realization that the shortest distance to a destination is not always the quickest or safest. While Bjorn started them on a 'Great' path to go up the mountain, it became evident that 'Great' in fog, on slick territory, with treacherous land features, in the dark was difficult. Sure footedness is great in boxing, but when the ground trades between trapping feet in mud, snagging roots, and seemingly friction-less spots. Their path up the mountain left them muddy and a bit bruised in body and ego.
Grace, firmly ass planted in the mud after a little slip and slide, managed not to look too annoyed. Of course, the woman's face was impassive pretty much any time she didn't remind herself to wear her smile, so... it was hard to tell if she'd gotten frustrated after the third or fourth time she coated her butt in squishy earth. This time, though, she stilled for a moment instead of standing right back up onto her feet. "Bjorn." His name was spoken calmly, though there was an edge to her voice, like she was certainly expecting him to look her direction. Reaching into the side pocket on her pants, she pulled out the small flashlight she carried, and pushed the button to turn on the LED illumination, pointing it at some bushes nearby. "Do you see that? Someone moved these bushes. I'm not sure if they were digging and pulled them up, or just ripped them up out of the ground, but they're not where they started." She scanned over the area to either side of the trail, revealing that it wasn't mud that had simply washed down, as some of the dug out plants were removed in the opposite direction of the mud flow down the mountain. "Why would something tear up the whole plant out of the ground? And not just one, but a bunch of them." She frowned a little, peering at the holes in the earth that had filled in some with the water bringing more dirt into the cavities the plants had left behind.
The tide is low and rising.
Looking back and forth between where the plants ended up, and where they were Bjorn grew pensive. He was coated in mud as well, the better boots a good option but even with he was dangerously close at times to getting mud right down them. Jeans were coated all over, as well as his at least up to where he rolled his sleeves up. It took reminding himself that time in the service was just as difficult starting out to temper his agitation. Sniffing the air around where the plants were pulled out from, he looks down into the muddy holes, then asks Grace, "There isn't anything covered up by the where they moved the plants is there?" He sniffs in that direction as well, hoping he'll get an idea at least by the plants or in the standing water of the mud hole.
Sniffing at the plants, there's suddenly a growl from deep in Bjorn's throat. as he looks about. His voice low, almost feral sounding he says, "The wrongness... it was here." Touching the base of the plants he adds, "Something with hooves..." Bjorn's face flushes some, and he briefly gets' a wild look in his eyes as he looks further up the trail, perhaps trying to see if he can smell where that wrongness went.
Grace looked at the plants, her curiosity obviously piqued, though the reasoning why the plants were torn asunder didn't make any real sense to her. She cocked her head a little to the side, frowning a bit as he mentioned the 'wrongness' and the 'something with hooves.' "Wait, so you're saying there was something here with hooves, the same scent you got at the dorm room was this thing with hooves?" She finally pushed herself to her feet, getting them solidly underneath herself. "So did you lose the boy's scent, and pick up the scent of this other? Or do you still have both?" Grace kind of swept the flashlight beam back and forth a little, looking to see if there was some trail of some sort of uprooted plants leading from the spot they were at.
A faint sheen touches the clouds in the sapphire night sky to the east.
A shake of his head as Grace asks about the young man. Bjorn says after a moment, "No, there... maybe a faint idea of something that could be his scent... but so much rain. But the wrongness, that is strong, that is noticeable. Perhaps if we find where that has went we might find him. It would explain why he has not been found yet." Not that he really wanted to throw down with some unknown entity but...
Grace nodded her head surely. "We should follow that trail, then. At the very least we might get some sort of answer." She looked at Bjorn and reached out to rub his arm softly, up along his triceps. "If you can track it, let's go. Better to find him sooner than later, no matter what we find. It seems like something it would be better to search out before it rains again to weaken the trail."
Nodding, Bjorn motions up the mountain. "Then as difficult as it may be, up we must go." He looks at the landscape and claws at his shirt a moment, leaving a mud stain across the chest. "I wish you understood bear.. it would probably be easier to get up there if I were one." He reaches over and moves to brush Grace's cheek, then stops realizing he'll get mud all over it and says again, "Up we must go."
The sun rises, painting the eastern clouds with a pink and pale gold glow.
"If you need to shift into bear, and want to go up that way, we can go ahead. Just like... lift your paw up over your head or something when you need to warn me. It might leave some odd tracks for the rest of the people searching for the boy, but.. maybe they will be washed away by rain before anyone sees." Grace smiled softly at Bjorn and then nodded toward the mountain. "Either way, I'll follow you and your nose up. Bear buns or the buns with only two legs." Her light attempt at humor was delivered with that dry sort of tone she used in most 'joking' moments.
The trek up the mountain was slow going, the mud attempting to give way with every step, and the darkness making plotting a proper path seeming impossible. Grace kept her eyes peeled for damaged vegetation, but it was mostly the occasional bush washed out, but it was mostly just trying to stay upright and keeping up with Bjorn. Nearing half way up, the path became part of the ridge line and they were forced to stay on it to save a tumble down the side of the mountain. To Bjorn's nose, the scent of wrongness was stronger, and he picked up the occasional very deep track in the mud made from the same split hoof. They found a tree with the bark nearly rubbed off on one side of it, and nested between a pitch of wood was long black, bristled hair. The rub started four foot from the base, and went up to the eight foot mark.
Sticking to human form for now Bjorn says as he starts to move further up, "I'll be fine for a bit yet, though if we run into what looks like very bad things... Maybe I'll spare going through another outfit getting ruined and switch." He mutters something about his favorite boots as well as he grows quiet, the work of the climb taking up most of his focus, and breath. It's when they get to the tree that he holds up and eyes go wide. He's used to being the tallest thing in the woods, at least here. "That's... pretty damn big..." Maybe it's time for that change after all...
At least fit enough to manage a climb, while not particularly talented at the concept of 'mountain climbing' (especially in the fog and mud), Grace did keep up with Bjorn. She was still looking worse for wear, with most of her clothing dipped liberally with the mud she'd taken random seats into. She huffed out a soft, half chuckle when Bjorn mentioned his favorite boots. "I still don't suggest removing them just yet, I feel as though bare feet would make this harder. Unless you were immediately going to be switching into Bear Feet." The little play on words had her so-dark eyes glinting slightly with humor, though her smile remained gentle, it showed as more deep an expression in the crinkling around her eyes. When the two of them made it to the tree that had obviously been marked by something QUITE big indeed, she raised her brows and looked up, gauging the height. "Well then, that... seems very large. No wonder it was able to pull up those bushes so completely." Grace reached up to feel the texture of the fur curiously, her lips having gone flat as she pondered. "I don't know if going bear is called for just yet, but... I wouldn't negate the idea of being large and furry at some point tonight. It feels very bristly and thick. Does that mean anything?"
Blinking at the hair he gets a light out, and still seems to have no idea. "Umm.. Lynx whisker?" Yeah that's it. Not a trash panda, something even more unlikely, especially since it's probably fur and not a whisker, but it's debatable Bjorn's ever even seen a trash panda, he actually hasn't seen anything mammal related sides people on the Island in the woods besides a boar until this large marking. "As whatever we're following has hoof tracks, let us just be extra careful." He sniffs at the tree to make sure it's indeed the same wrong scent, and swallows hard as he looks at Grace to see how she's doing.
Grace wasn't quite frowning, but she wasn't exactly smiling, either. Perhaps 'mudded into a grave and then dug my way out' wasn't the precise look she'd been going for today. She just nodded to Bjorn, and patted him softly on the side, before motioning up the ridge they were climbing. "I'll follow you, Bjorn. I'm imagining we're not going to find any large cats, since... yes... hooves. But you never can tell. Chimeras exist, after all." There might even be a little amusement back in Grace's eyes when she mentions that bit. Either way, she continues to follow Bjorn up the trail, attempting to make sure she doesn't fall right off the damn mountain. She might be hindering his speed a touch, considering she was essentially in his pocket, but she damn sure wasn't going to get lost alone up a mountain in the dark fog. That never seemed like a good idea.
Continuing up the mountain became a brutal trail, and both individuals ending up crawling on their hands and knees to continue advancing. An ill-timed slip put them into a mudslide and dumped them onto a stone outcrop, leaving them both trail-beaten. From the smell, Bjorn had managed to put his arm into literally hours old shit, his nose picking out the scent of the boar's meals, a mix of bugs, vegetation, and rodents, it was also decidedly wrong beyond any prey animal that he had even come across. Grace was also panting and miserable, and she stared into the ribbons of fog. page Grace=A sound had drawn her attention drop the cliff side, a break of the fog allowed her to notice something extremely large being startled by their fall. She guessed the cliff was maybe 35 to 40 feet down.
There's that instinctive want to scream out as they slide off, but as they're hunting gods know what he manages to stifle the urge. He manages to exhale and tense so as to hopefully not completely get the wind knocked out of him, and then takes a minute when they haven't fallen off the side to their deaths. Resting after their fall in the mud a moment, his nose and face wrinkled up more from the smell on his hand and wounded pride than actual hurt he lets out a breath. "Sorry..." He looks at Grace, forgetting about himself a moment to see if she's alright, especially since he doesn't feel anything seems to be broken. While she was the worse for wear in terms of mud covered before he's definitely caught up with this, mud probably all on the inside of his clothes now as well as out, as evident when he pulls his shirt up to wipe at his face with the inside of it and it doesn't look any better. He just tries to make sure his eyes are clear enough to look over Grace.
Grace had fallen far too many times to react with panic. Instead, she went limp, allowing the mountain to drag her and drop her where it intended. Just before final impact, she spread her legs and her arms out, giving as much surface area to the landing as she possibly could, which likely meant poor Bjorn ended up getting some of her force into his ribs courtesy of the arm she'd laid across his abdomen. Nothing broken, though, so there was that. Taking a couple of breaths just to check if there was anything jutting into her lungs, Grace slowly moved to sit up, her eyes going to Bjorn as she shook her head and motioned down, where she'd seen something on the cliff below them. A muddy set of fingers touched his lips to keep him silent, before she nodded to the edge of the outcropping they were on. "Down there. I see something big. But it knows we're here, we surprised it." Grace's voice was kept to a soft whisper, spoken near Bjorn's ear as she brought her lips close enough to almost touch his skin before saying the words.
Within the swirling opening of the fog below, the vegetation of the forest floor was visible, looking mostly as wet and muddy as the path they were taken. A massive shadow moved, a three-year sapling bent over and tip whipping wildly back and forth with animalistic grunt, until the sapling creaked and cackled under the stress. Bjorn may have caught a hint of claim on the air, and it too, was decidedly wrong. The drop down was significant.
As she quiets him and relays what she heard, Bjorn moves to see if he can get a look at what she did. He hears the sapling anyway, definitely not a good thing. Seeing as he's covered in mud anyway by this point he moved to pull his pack and then shirt off, soaked and coated with mud anyway and facing... whatever the hell that is, he'd rather be prepared. Boot laces next, dear lords at least let him get the boots off before he has to change. He looks at Grace, watching her to see if she still manages to spot it while he gets ready.
Grace looked at Bjorn as he was starting to strip off, a moment of admiration there as she gave him a soft, lopsided smile, then shook her head and reached for his backpack. Opening it, with some attempt to keep from getting even more mud inside it than was outside, Grace, shifted things around until she could grab a loop of climbing rope from within it. Pulling the coiled up length of climbing rope from the pack, she looped it over her shoulder before closing up the pack again, protecting those extra clothes that Bjorn had remembered to bring along. She looked at the drop off and sighed softly. "Hold off changing, unless you can actually climb down this rope as a bear. That's far too long a drop for you to be safe, and I don't want to give whatever that is an element up on us if I break something and have to heal it up before I can handle the situation." Grace took a moment to find a solid growth of a tree around a rock, tugged on everything with some real effort a few times, then tied the end of the rope off around that to anchor them. "This way, we get down without killing ourselves." Grace's voice was still coming in hushed whispers.
Once Grace had everything tied off, she moved over to the edge of the outcrop, then let the rope drop down along the cliff face. Better to have a place to put your feet while you hold onto the rope, after all, than to just dangle out in nothing. Taking a breath, Grace wrapped the rope around her waist and held onto it with her hand, stepping out and using the cliff face as a repelling wall.
And then, she started down.
As Grace grabs the rope and gets ready and started to make her way down the wall, Bjorn grabbed hold of the rope, making sure it didn't sway too much or start to get cut by the rocks on the edge. That wouldn't do at this juncture, newp not at all. And so he just holds the rope and tries to split his attention between watching her descent and looking/sniffing about for SnarlyMcLargeHuge.
Grace slipped down the rope and cliff, the climb going well until the rope started dancing around her legs back and forth. A split second later she was jerked away from the mountain, only to slam back into it. Her bruised fingers failed to hold onto the rope as she started to slide on stone and pebble. By her count, she banged knees, scraped her hips, and lost two fingernails, but by some miracle she held to cliff side all the way down.
Bjorn cringes when Grace takes her topple the rest of the way down. And she's the more dexterous of the two. As she seems to have not killed herself however, he gets ready for his way down. Still, was just like back in the military right? Just... it had been awhile. Like a bicycle you don't forget eh? And at least he's not going to go face first like back then, just slow, steady and short hops. And as such he makes his way over and starts his way down, hopefully at least not fairing worse.
At the bottom of the cliff, before Grace had completely recovered, a massive weight pressed her to the cliff wall snorting and groan. The mass split against her, a stone-like dagger picked roughly at her shirt. Like attempting to deny a forklift, the mass tried to force her to the ground. The fact the woman rolled with it and back onto her feet to look back at the massive shadow. A large black bristled boar squealed it's fury at her.
He didn't see so much as hear the commotion beneath him, as he wasn't going down Australian rappel style in this weather, and with his boots already loosened slightly. As much as he wanted to turn and leap the rest of the way, breaking himself wouldn't help Grace at that moment. And so Bjorn took his time to try to get to the bottom, waiting to touch earth again before moving to shift and help Grace.
Grace, now facing a large, hulking shadow which had attempted to pin her to the ground like a forklift, relaxed her stance and reached into her pocket. Pulling out her flashlight, she pressed the little button to make it illuminate the mammoth thing in front of her. Her eyes may have widened slightly at seeing the two, huge, husks coming from the front of the beast that stood 6 feet tall at the shoulders, and the fact that the enormous pig's head was the size of her torso. "Be careful of the tusks, Bjorn. They're going to be as dangerous as the hooves!" Grace then set the flashlight onto the ground, angled, to at least give some light to the damn night. Thank god for LED flashlights.
As Grace's flashlight danced over the massive boar, she quickly realized that the massive weight on her was in fact a wart-covered head larger than her torso. It's wet and muddy snout wiggled as it pulled at her scent, drawing in ropes of fog before exhaling through its mouth, the mist swirling around its nearly foot long tusks. It let out a disgruntled sound as Bjorn landed next to it. Then its fore paw pulled a meter yard trench on the mud and it turned to Bjorn, and rose up to its full bipedal height of over 11 feet. It's clenched hoof opened to drop the mud before him, before it unleashed a roaring groan of challenge at the man, sending ropes of saliva and mud towards him. In a flash, it twisted, bludgeoning the man and sending him staggering a few paces along the base of the cliff. The scent of wrongness weep from the creature, seemingly radiating down a series of scars over its body.
Bjorn umphs as the Boar sends him bouncing off the rocks, and He has just enough presence of mind to shift, clothing be damned (it's why he brought spare). Growing, turning into a size more equal to that of the mutant boar, he bellows a challenge to the thing standing his eleven foot height and then pouches at the thing, claw and teeth, and probably somewhat surprised he's unable to land a solid hit on the thing.
Yes, Grace knew that Bjorn was busy fighting the creature she'd finally shed some light on. That was important, of course, but so was getting an idea of what they were dealing with. The focus was there, as she stared and saw how the creature moved, its attitude, its overall actions, some dawning of understanding came over her countenance, and her jaw dropped. "Bjorn... I think it's cursed. And not used to this form, though it's making good use of it. It's trying to beat you back from what it thinks will be its next mate, because it's rutting." Grace's eyes went purely black, but rather than shimmering in the darkness, they seemed to drink in any light around them into their pure, inky, velvet wells of boundless depth. "We need to calm it... still it. Try not to kill it!" There wasn't any worry in Grace's voice, not really, but there was that strange, dark, emptiness that filled her words as she spoke, and the sense of hunger in her had started to creep out into the soil at her feet.
The second attack of the Man-Boar of Wrongness was not as calculated, its snout quivering as if deciding why the man being slapped was now a polar boar. Its maw gaped and it repeated its challenging roar, thrashing its massive head as it charged their Bjorn. The bear dodged the sword-like tusk, but was still knocked solidly enough for his hind leg to buckle for a split second. The same shoulder screamed in protest, threatening to lock in place before long.
There's an almost yelp/snarl fro Bjorn as he's wracked against the rocks by the boar again, though at least he avoided getting skewered. He's pissed, but as Grace calls out to him he tries to shake his head clear and take what she says to heart. She is the brains in this. As such, Bjorn moves to bull rush the thing, instead of biting and clawing just wrapping it up, keeping those tusks from flailing about and goring him or letting the thing move to hurt him, or worse try to do things in heat that would be very bad for Grace...
Grace watched as Bjorn got the giant pig into a nice, tight, hug. Then she cocked her head to the side and smiled slightly, the expression disturbingly serene as black veins could be seen pulsing under her skin. She didn't have to touch it, didn't really have to do more than look at it, to begin to sip deeply of its very life force. As Bjorn held onto the pig, the shifting of heat in its body was palpable, as it cooled to the touch. Sweat broke out on its hide as it experienced the sensation of its vision darkening and exhaustion settling bone deep into its limbs. "Good, Bjorn. I'm going to try to drain it enough it loses its fight." Grace mentioned it as an after thought almost, as the surge of life crept away from the boar and back to herself.
As the Manboar dropped onto its fore paws, struggling to free itself, spinning under the bear, its very yang was pulled away from it. The need to rut and challenge for a mate escaped it so completely, it gave an confused snort. Panic, fought with fatigued muscles as it out squealed loud enough to seemingly vibrate the fog, slipping from the polar bear. And the massive boar reared, evacuating its bowels and urine in effort to drop ballast, and it started to bolt.
The Boar runs, one could hypothesize scared shitless? Whatever the outcome, that left a Bjorn hurt and tired, the huge bear breathing heavy deep breaths to recover some. He looks in the direction of the boar, and then to Grace, then back again, about as questioning a look on his face as he can muster to her. He doesn't charge after it yet though, until he hears from her what she wants to do.
Grace pointed at the evacuating boar and called to Bjorn "Catch it! We need to capture it!" Before she sent another long look the Boar's direction... a moment later frothing sweat covered its hide, and the limbs attached to its body started to visibly shake with pure exhaustion. More than likely it was running in zig zag patterns as its vision became that of the smallest of tunnels and its body temperature dropped to exceedingly low levels. "I've exhausted it... but we can't let it get away." Grace, on the other hand, was looking anything but exhausted. Despite the black veins and those fathomless, velvet dark eyes that sucked the light instead of refracting it, her skin glowed with health. Her lips had darkened like they'd been kissed roughly for at least the last few minutes. Her breath came faster, and for those with enhanced hearing, her normally mellow and calm heartbeat was sped up. She was, quite strikingly, ALIVE.
The manboar felt it's energy ebb farther, and there was still a polar bear standing there. So the boar out a long series of squeals as bolted at full speed away, rooting up bushes that got snagged on its tusk. It was a mad dash to leave the immediate area, and it prayed to never look back and see the shadows that remained.
Bjorn at Grace's urging gets up and starts to get his mass up to speed. Bears can be very fast when they have cause, and keeping the boar man from getting away was cause indeed! And so the huge polar bear ran the pig down, grappling on top and dragging it to the ground, pinning it there for Grace to help finish incapacitating him.
Grace picked up the flashlight from where she'd set it on the ground, then moved after the duo of Bear and Pig (manbearpig, if you think about it). As she came closer, the scent of sheer vibrancy from her was noticeable, as was that radiant glow in her skin. She licked her lips, and cooed softly at the gigantic pig in Chinese, her tone gentle and mild... As she did so, the black veins just under her porcelain skin flared, and the pig's breathing slowed even further. After a shudder, the pig sucked in a huge breath... and began to snore. Heavy, ratcheted snores as it slept like something that had literally run 300 miles to drop here, in this place, to rest.
Grace then looked up to Bjorn and nodded to him, offering one of those rare, vibrant smiles to him. "Well done, Bjorn. He's asleep now, you can let him go. I'm fairly sure he's going to be asleep through tomorrow afternoon, if not longer. And even when he wakes up, I'm certain he won't be fixated on raping anymore females, not for a little while at least." Despite the mud caked onto her clothing, and the fact that the woman was decidedly closer to being an add for when you need to use Tide to clean your clothes, Grace looked at Bjorn warmly, heat in her eyes as they bled back to her normal, almost black, but at least had the whites again and weren't endless, blackened, pools. "We should wait until very early morning to call the Sheriff and tell him what we've found. So... we have some time."
In the jungle, the mighty jungle, manbearpig sleeps tonight!
A nod is given as Bjorn moves to sit on his rump, catching his breath. He looks at the boar a bit longer, perhaps wanting to be sure before he shifts back, body contorting some, healing though as well fortunately and he lays down, mud be damned. "Good, cause I really didn't want to have to run him down again. Very strong... " He thinks a moment then says, "He smells like the wrongness in their room. I worry this is the missing lad... Perhaps someone cursed him into this state? Would explain why there's no trace of him, and why the smell was in their room. Unless I'm completely off base, which is possible since I'm not really in my best frame of mind... adrenaline and all." He can add two and two... sort of.
Grace looked at the pig sleeping a moment, closing her eyes as if she were accepting, or just sensing, experiencing. She sighed softly and opened her eyes again, turning her attention to Bjorn. She cocked her head to the side and nodded just a little, offering Bjorn a longing sort of look as he was now shifted back to his human form. "I can help with the adrenaline. Maybe that will slow mine down a little, too." Flushed as she was, Grace didn't even have the ability to blush with what she was suggesting as she brazenly walked up to Bjorn and lifted her leg up over his lap, choosing to sit herself squarely onto it, facing him. Sure, they were right next to the napping pig. But that didn't seem to matter to the woman in the slightest as she slid her muddy arms up around his neck and pulled herself up against him in a full body slide, suggestive and obviously filled with intent. "Let's see if we can't get some of that excess energy out of our systems." What followed was, without a doubt, some of the more aggressive kissing Bjorn had really endured from Grace. To be fair, though, he'd never been with her just after she literally drank a giant, cursed, were-creature before. Heaven only knows what the next hour or two brought the man who might well have ended up curling up near the pig for a nap himself while Grace waited for dawn to call the sheriff on the radio.
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