15 C15 - Climbing To The Source

Nathan had spent the last few minutes planning. As he felt like he had missed someone, his eyes turned to look at the woman he had forgotten, Kai, staring at him with barely any emotion. It was hard to tell her feelings through a regular standard, mainly due to her race communicating by scent and smell. It was easier for them to do everything this way.

The communication via telepathy was due to him not wanting the race to be stuck unable to talk to anyone else. It was a compromise, since they had no way to speak to anyone vocally. He turned to Kai and nodded to her.

"Kai, want to come with me?"

He saw the woman nod her head, coming over almost instantly. He could swear she was happy. He just sighed as he started to move towards Ameria's group. He saw her talking to three women, each of them slightly older than herself.

Kaye listened to Ameria, nodding her head as she looked to the mission. Apparently, the Demigod had assigned tasks to everyone, and she was assigned to find the source of water. She was about to hear who else was coming on her mission, as Ameria had been somewhat vague.

Kaye stood at an impressive height of 5'11, her muscles defined and able to put any man to shame. Confidence and pride showed on her face, as she knew her mission was of the utmost importance. Short rough-cut brown hair hung on her head like a mop. She also sported freckles and one large scar along her jaw that showed her skill in previous combat. Her armour was made of iron plates and silver inlining, magical runes carved onto it, with magic stones attached in the sockets to allow cooling of the armour.

Kaye had her two sergeants with her. While she was with the logistics group that did not dull her sword or her member's blades, she saw her job as the most important of the entire group. Supplies had to do with the whole army, and she even gave aid to the regular army. She also had seven days worth of supplies for her small group, showing that she was prepared for this.

Ameria saw Nathan and Kai coming, and she clasped her hands together while nodding to them both.

"This is the group. You three will go with Kai and Nathan to find the water source and bring back some fresh water. I know you will do best to..."

Before Ameria could even finish her words, Kaye's eyes widened as she stared at the man who was coming to assist them. He was skinny, almost like a bag of bones. She had expected them to gain some assistance from the locals, but this was insulting. The Demigod had requested this mission, and when she finally met the Demigod, she wanted to be successful and not regretful due to the extra baggage.

"Commander, I request that we do not take this peasant. He is malnourished and should stay here."

She had even noted his strange eyewear and clothing, seeing that he was a foreigner as well. She had nothing against people from other countries, but she knew that culture boundaries could cause friction, and she needed her first mission to go flawlessly.

Ameria stood, shocked. She felt like the woman she had just assigned to this mission was going to stab her in the back with her dealings with the Demigod. She bit her lip, about to speak up for Nathan, but sadly she was beaten to the punch.

"Oh, you think I will be useless. Well, we shall see now. Come along, tin can, let's see if you can keep up." Nathan sent out a verbal bash of his own as he turned and walked towards the dried river bed to the south.

Kaye felt her rage surge, her face turning red as she charged forward after him, her two sergeants looking to each other before following. Kai took up the rear. Ameria was stunned, but decided not to say anything. If the Demigod had a plan, then she would trust him.

Following the path west, it seemed the tension between the small group had grown to new heights as the knights glared at the man. Kai and Nathan just ignored them both as they continued to ascend to the west, eventually reaching what looked like an old fall area, a small indent into the ground.

"This must have been an old waterfall, it's eroded away this wall, and the water must have created this hole at the bottom. We have to continue up and over to find the source. I hope you can climb well, Tin-can."

Kaye seethed as she looked at the man. Maybe he was more intelligent than what she had pegged him to be. He could potentially be a noble, but in the vortex, that did not matter.

"My armour is made out of highest quality iron with silver inlines and magical inscriptions that you could only dream of owning!" she spat back at him, defending her prized equipment.

Unfortunately for her, it seemed that Nathan did not even care about this, his bored face seeming to taunt her.

"Okay Tin-can. Let me know if you need some oil on those joints. Let's hurry and climb this."

Kaye charged past the man, unhappy with the situation, but keeping her cool. She did not want to get caught punching a non-military party member. It would cause too many issues thanks to her rank. As she approached the wall of stone, she began to climb, switching out one of the heat crystals for a weightless gem, making the climb easier but not by all that much.

Ten minutes went past before she finally reached the top, her body sweating crazy as she smiled. She must have been first, given the weak strength of that man. Her smile disintegrated rapidly, however, as she saw not only the man, but also the plant woman from before, standing at the top and looking bored.

"How-- That is not possible! She must have helped you!" Kaye shouted, indignant. Both her sergeants pulled themselves up and over at that moment with an expression of death. Climbing in armour was horrible. Each one of them had to switch out the heat crystal for a weightless one, but now they all felt cooked on the inside.

Nathan just stared at them, a smirk spreading across his face as he just shrugged.

"Kai climbed herself. I beat her here. It's fine, I know that the metal around you probably cooked your brain, but fear not. Once we get some water, you will be fine."

Nathan and Kai continued walking up, following the dried up riverbed, leaving the knights and Kaye foaming at the mouth behind.