Plot Thread 1.4: Blood Inheritance (THE TRUTH)

[Andy Jammer]

The journey to Ghiaccio was a few days, even by some of the more faster ships, the crew went under the assumption that the person they are chasing was a day or so ahead him - they could only hope that they didn't find what they were looking for before they arrived. Once the weather started getting colder Andy was nagged to getting something warmer on, the robe Griever gave him was nice but sleeveless and not made for cold weather - he needed something warmer.

It took longer for Andy than the rest, mostly because every article of clothes he picked were not any better than the last. Arguments with Jasmine went somewhat of the following 'this robe allows me to fight better!' and the rebuttal was always 'its sleeveless and there is no undershirt, you'll basically be walking around Ghiaccio shirtless and Andy it's taking all my willpower to stop myself from saying yes!'

So after three days of arguing Jasmine finally got Andy to agree on an outfit, it was thick, lined with fur, and most importantly: had sleeves. It even had a hood to keep his head warm, the downside was no gloves but that got fixed quickly.

When the crew had disembarked from the ship they found themselves assaulted by strong snowstorms, which turned a five hour walk to the capital a ten hour walk. When the storm got too fierce to see, the group was forced to make shelter under one of the large rocks. One of the props to having people with magic is securing a safe spot and a fire rather quickly, as the group sat around their fire Andy took a look around at his group.

"Once the storm lets up we'll continue onto the castle, now I have no idea what we're going to expect there...or what we'll find. So lets keep this visit as quiet as we can, no alerting the people, we don't know where exactly they're going to be and they don't know we're following them, so lets keep it that way as long as possible."

[The Other]

The Other sat away from the rest of the group, looking into the blasting wind of the storm as he drummed his fingers against his arm impatiently. The hours were beginning to drag on, and with no one around for miles but the so-called Heroes he'd surrounded himself with there was no fun to be had.

"I'll never understand you silly mortals. There exists a part of the world so unwelcoming to you that the climate itself kills you without even really trying, so what do you do? You come in, wearing the skins of the animals that live here and burning the trees all just so you can barely survive here. Your hubris is astonishing."

Of course for the Other the bitter cold was nothing to him; one of the many wonderful benefits of not having a fragile body filled with nerves. The winds may have pushed and pulled at his large bulky frame but to him that's all it was. A force, waxing and waning and devoid of any feeling that exerted upon him as time past.

"I don't suppose any of you have a way to quiet this storm? It almost makes me miss Yeligar a little. He'd have had us moving in no time."

[Dios Sarvo]

If there were several things Dios hated it was travelling by foot and freezing his ass off. Having grown up in Crepusculum Kingdom, Dios was used to a much more forgiving climate, and not the extreme echelons of heat and cold present in the less temperate regions of Allorum. Having bent his own shadow into a cloak to try and cut the cold, Dios' face still hung in the open, privy to the blustering cold, and his glowered expression showed all to well his disdain for it.

Those factors in tow, Dios' impatience also ate away at him. He wanted action, but his want to follow this being called "The Other" forced him to steady his hand, as his time spent by this other worldly being only continued to assure him that he was a point of interest, something to be studies and analyzed.

A shrill sneeze broke Dios' thoughts, sundering his only respite from the chill air that surround him, and reminded him of the awful situation and the self imposed limitations that he was forced to endure for his goals.

Huddling closer to the fire, Dios let out a small chuckle as he looked at his travelling party.

"Surrounded by a bunch of snot nosed kids, and here I am with my own running nose. I certainly hope I haven't caught a bad case of naivety," he thought, a wide grin stretching across his face as he revealed in the irony, almost as much as the fire's warmth.

[Andy Jammer]

"Can't have what we want all the time," Andy shrugged, keeping the fire stoked. "I suppose though, if we were to think about it...we're no more prideful than a king on a throne who thinks they can keep a kingdom in line. Or a man who thinks he can keep a group of thirteen together and under his rule."

It was moments like these Andy was glad he wasn't in line for the Ignis throne, not that'd he take it...he was more of a warrior than a ruler. He had his reservations about Roxa, he knew he was more morally just than Seigmand, but ruling a kingdom is a taxing job.

He had no idea how Kara did it sometimes.

[Monthu]

Montu was laid out in the snow on his side on the edge of the group. He was wearing a white combat outfit versus his usual black and grey one, a long white hood covered his head with the lens of his monocular poking out from underneath. He was effectively invisible. He'd even swapped his bow limbs and frame for a white and grey design that blended in with his surroundings, same for his arrows. Monthu took being invisible very seriously when he was on recon, and he longed for Bast's ability to go invisible, but he would need to make do with what he had.

His bow was laid out in front of him on it's side, if he spotted anything, he'd be able to draw it back thanks to the way it was positioned in the same direction as him. Deliberately small and short clouds of breath were exhaled occasionally, a testament to the marksman's ability as he silently watched the group. Truth be told, this level of surveillance and security wasn't quite necessary given their number, but he didn't feel like talking with everyone at the moment... He felt almost too alien... He couldn't help but wonder if he was a weak link here...

[Navarre]

Navarre was over to the side practicing swinging his sword, his instructor told him to practice swinging to make perfect. He was overhearing the conversation, but there wasn't much to add to the conversation. After a while, Navarre put his sword away and put his fur coat back on. He walked back to the group and sat next to the fire. He thought of one of his video games that he played as a child, as they were in a wintry area that was freezing, How the hell did Tifa keep warm, wearing what she was wearing? he thought to himself.
"So, how much farther to the castle is it?" Navarre asked, making small talk to the group.

[Andy Jammer]

Andy thought about it for a moment before he answered, "Well...if the storm dies down, it'll be maybe a half an hour's walk. I wish I could say that if the storm doesn't die down we can stay here...but truth of the matter is we don't have that time. I only stopped because I noticed some of us are being easily affected by the cold, once we rested up a bit we need to keep moving whether or not the storm dies down or not."

The general safety of their small group was Andy's top priority, he could tell Navarre was not used to the cold - as well as himself, probably Jasmine too. He couldn't bring the group to the castle tired and weak, if they were attacked there they would be overwhelmed. He needed everyone at their best.

[The Other]

"It appears you all are having a hard time getting the motivation necessary to move us all along. Perhaps I might be able to help you all out on that." Rising from his resting place the Other strolled over to the group that had huddled around the fire, eyeing them all up with a barely hidden contempt for their idleness. Turning to the fire he hovered his hands over it a moment, perhaps even fooling them all into thinking he was warming himself over it. Of course that idea was quickly spoiled when he shoved his hands down into the fire with a powerful force, sending the embers, the half burnt wood and the fire scattering out into the stormy winds where it was quickly consumed by the snow.

"Now you have two choices, continue onto our destination or stay here and freeze to death. I do hope you're all capable of figuring out the right choice." He said dusting his hands off with no mind paid to the still hot embers he brushed away.

[Monthu]

Monthu watched as The Other plunged his hands into the fire and left the embers smoldering in their place as he gave the tiniest shake of his head, enough to show disappointment, but not enough to possibly give away his position. If this was The Other's way of rallying and motivating everyone, he was sorely disappointed. He for one, would not be moved by his display, especially considering he was surprisingly comfortable in the cold. He was a trained killer and if this thing thought that bullying his way about would budge any of them, he was going to be sorely mistaken.

Monthu kept his opinions silent, and instead trained his ears intently. Andy was calling the shots here, and under Itami's orders he was to do what the Hero told him within reason... He wasn't going to let The Other give him any orders... He closed his free eye, the one covered by his monocular still trained on the horizon, waiting for any opposition.

[Dios Sarvo]

As The Other plunged his hand into the fire, smothering it's warming glow from existence, Dios' temporary grin stagnated back into a grimace. True, he understood, and almost appreciated what The Other was trying to do, but that didn't in any way dispel any of the contempt he felt for him at that moment.

Pulling his cloak tighter in a rather pointless attempt to contain the vestigial remnants of heat, Dios couldn't help but speak up and agree with The Other, at least in his own way.

"Whether or not we like it, our "persuasive" ally makes a good point, if not presented as poorly as possible. If time is of the essence, then we don't have time to sit here with our thumbs up our asses, do we?"

Dios' tone was curt and and he all too unapologetic in his delivery of his rhetoric, his usual strange admixture of personable speaking and almost patronizing tone having disintegrated completely, presumably from the biting cold eating away at his usual guise.

[Andy Jammer]

Andy glared at the Other and Dios, he was not going to be bullied around like this. He reached over behind him for his spare set of logs, using his sword and a stone he scrapped them against each other and began building the fire.

"If that's the case you and your 'persuasive' ally can go on ahead. You see Other, you may not be affected by the storm, but I have three people here who have little body weight attached them, who need to be fed and warm and no human can resist this intense cold. In fact actually if you're so irritated go on ahead to Ghiaccio and meet us there, you can brag about how much work you got done."

As he got another fire started he stood up, "You see maybe you mistook something here, but I am the one calling the shots here. Its not a matter of who's the strongest or who knows what they're doing, because despite your power you clearly have no understanding of the human body and how the organs can shut down the colder they are. So imagine we went through this storm, we get to Ghiaccio and we find ourselves ambushed - half of your party cold, freezing, and unable to move their hands. You just screwed over half your squad in a haste to get to your destination, now obviously this won't affect you because you obviously remain ignorant of these simple biological facts."

He paused before continuing, "Now, you can fight me. I am sure you're itching to and you probably might win, but the fact is I have to question something...if you're so powerful and so smart then why are you here? Why not just go scour the planet for Duo and handle him yourself? You see, I know you're smart enough to have thought of that so this says to me the reason why you are here is because you did think of that and realized it wouldn't work, so really we are not dependent on you: you are dependent on US. So while that part is clear, you will not bully or intimidate in any possible to either of us. So you can fight us, kill us maybe, but then you would be back at the part of the plan that you realized wouldn't work: also on that matter should any of our old friends hear of this they will not help you at all. You will still be on your own, working on your own, losing to Duo all on your own. So you can either sit down and shut up, or go out and lose to Duo."

He sat back down in front of the newly built fire, "I do hope you're capable of figuring out the right choice."

[The Other]

"Dear dear boy, you could never begin to understand me. You, who has so been consumed by the fires of senseless combat, could never begin to grasp the idea that one need not reduce everything to battle." The Other's voice was thick with a patronizing tone as he patted Andy on the head. Granted the boy was not entirely mistaken, The Other knew his lead to Duo was dependant on following what Andy seemed to know, but he did have to chuckle to himself at how simple he thought his motives were.

"If I wanted you all dead I'd have done it on the boat, so do please stop beating your chest like a prideful monkey. I merely thought the mortals who bested Gods and monsters could handle a little snow is all, but if you really are all that weak then I suppose I don't have a choice do I? You are the mighty, if delicate flower who is calling the shots after all."

It was a dirty game of course. As The Other sneered at the young red head he wondered how long it would take before ridiculing his weakness would get to Andy. He had heard that humans with red hair were suppose to have fiery tempers. Wait...if that was what red hair meant what did the others mean? The idea was stupid but it managed to sidetrack The Other long enough to keep his boredom at bay. His attention floated away as if carried away by powerful winds, leaving him staring into space as the new fire roared away.

Entirely invested in the idea he stepped towards the young girl that Andy seemed so protective of and asked in his most charming voice. "Little girl, what does your hair colour signify?"

[Andy Jammer]

Andy was smirking in his head, aside for the Other's...well, 'insults', in the end he did get what he wanted. He took his seat and did not tease the Other any further with attention or conversation, though as he approached Jasmine he tensed slightly - he did not react or make a move to intervene yet, Jasmine was a big girl and had more than many situations in which she was confronted by monsters before.

There was another reason why he insisted on keeping them warm, his hands were getting too cold even with the gloves. Since using his sword requires him to be at his best, he needed to make sure his hands weren't afflicted by frost bite or such. He did absently notice the storm was starting to quiet down a bit, he didn't announce it but in five to ten minutes the storm might be past them and allowing them to move forward.

[glitters]

As horrible of a display as The Other had shown with the fire and telling them to get out or die essentially, it scared Jasmine to see the logic in it. You know, except for Andy was right and the human body wouldn't survive even the relatively short walk there in this weather.

That was when Jasmine looked at her hands, the idea of 'fire' fresh on her mind and her mind led her away to things that were linked to the element--Ignis, Andy, her father...

'...Papa would have kept going. He and I can do fire magic...' she slowly realized, though kept quiet. She felt guilty for it, but Andy was the leader right now.

The Other pulled her attention away from her hands and she stared up at him blankly as he asked his bizarre question about her hair colour. She recalled a moment back when her father first came out of hiding, sitting around the table with him and her mother one afternoon where he'd made a passing comment about "that dumb, blonde--" before he realized he was being glared down by her mother. He then quickly changed his tune and announced 'blondes are actually highly intelligent creatures'. She never understood why that mattered, her father had blond hair as well, why was that an issue?

"It signifies my parents both had blonde hair, milord," Jasmine gave her cheeky answer slowly, "is there anything else I can do for you? Otherwise we could be doing something a little more productive than complaining, hmm?"

He was an ugly, ugly guy. Yet Jasmine looked up at him anyway and spoke as politely as ever.

[The Other]

He looked at her inquisitively for a while, wondering for a moment if she'd really been bold enough to give him a snarky answer before dismissing the idea. Turning away with a dismissive "Bah" he set himself to pacing back and forth, looking with growing displeasure at Andy and the rest of the group in between idle looks at the blinding whiteness that surrounded them all.

Blasted snow, blasted mortals. If they aren't going to have the common courtesy to at least entertain me than I should at least find something that will.

"Well, as absolutely personable as you all are, I'd really rather be threatened by violence than spend another minute staring at you all." The Other reflected on the way they'd been traveling before they set up camp, yet minus their long-since covered footprints he was able to at best pick an approximate direction before he starting moving forward, progressing as the little rock and fire became just a distant speck with a faint glow around it.