bottlecaplogs | October Quest Catch-All

[ Chara, on their part, is incredibly glad that whatever shape it is they have now, even if strange, is not so susceptible to the heat as a flesh and blood body. The mask might be a little uncomfortably warm, but for now it is tolerable.

With any luck, and avoidance of the geysers, it will remain that way.

* It is interesting, is it not, that Pyroar did not choose to come here themselves?
* Well.
* On the bright side, your dragon typing does confer upon you a resistance to fire.
* Also, you are the only one here who has to worry about the supply of drinking water.

Hydration will be, probably, a pressing concern. They do not trust their ability to haul the Deino back should they pass out, and they are unsure about the ... other presence? That seems to cling to them.

* (... All around you, ash swirls its way through the air.)
* (Visibility is poor in these conditions...)
* (And to your left, a crack in the earth hisses forebodingly.)
* (But perhaps, if you forge on regardless, you can find somewhere beyond this field of ash and steam.) ]

[They still can't help but cringe hearing that extra voice in their head. It's weird. At least before they had their thoughts to themselves, even if something else was listening in.

* (Feels kind of like training your replacement. Or something.)
* (But you don't think they'd be interested in taking your body. At least they...)
* (...)
* (Oh. Right.)
* (You... uh.)
* I. Am not used to this.
* ...
* Ignore all that.

Nailed it.

They decide to focus on the quest. Kris... has no idea what's going on out there, with all the wind and steam and ash blowing around. It's probably best to leave the scenery to their teammate. So where does that leave them...?

The point about hydration sticks out. They think about all the times they've "forgotten" to eat until they were at their limit. For something that's so good at fighting for their life, the Soul sure is bad at basic ~~human~~ monster needs. This would be an especially bad time to let those bad habits creep up.

* (You think very, very hard about the importance of hydration.)
* (You... imagine a health meter. If it gets too low, you'll collapse.)
* (You'll have to manage your resources carefully if you want to make it back alive.)

If the Soul heeds their warning, it doesn't say or do anything to show it. Which is probably for the best, since they're hopping carefully around some sketchy cracks as they make their way along the plateau. So far so good...?

* So. Maps.
* Any cool landmarks yet?]

[ * What?
* I seem to have developed very selective hearing loss for a moment.
* ... awareness loss?
* Oh well!

Is what they say, anyway, though the information is being noted down for further curiosity. That said, they are taking their job seriously enough, their perception split between the shared senses of the Deino and wherever their own source from whenever they're not fully manifest.

The lack of overlapping visual input really makes it simpler for them to do this, really. They probably wouldn't have been able to pull it off with someone else, but the Yamask's arms, extended out from the golden mask atop the Deino's head, dutifully mark down the features and landscape they move past on what is hopefully fairly fire resistant drafting material. (Features which right now mostly comprise of where all the steam vents and geysers are.)

As for Kris' question, however...

* Mostly rocks and more cliffs.
* That said...
* (In the distance, past drifting haze and soot...)
* (There appear to be some strange-looking structures.)
* (You cannot quite yet make out the details of them through the heat haze, but regardless, they are quite distinctly shaped.) ]

[Structures. Towers, pillars, something else...? Could be natural, or maybe not. It would be weird for the Yamask to start lying to them now, so they'll just have to trust that they can't tell from here. Not yet.

What matters is that they're big and distinct structures. That's something they can use as a way point, easy.

Their body continues its forward march, then stops at another wide crack that billows with steam. Even without seeing it, they can smell the intensity of the sulphur, feel the heat wafting off it... seems dangerous. Maybe they can go around it? Or—

or they could just step back for a running start and leap over it like a crazy person, sure! It's over in a matter of seconds, passing through the curtain of heat like swiping a hand through a campfire. Kris nails the landing. It probably looks very cool. They would feel more cool if they weren't coughing up geyser fumes immediately after.

* (You should try to find another path on the way back.)
* (Pyroar might not be a fan of "make a leap of faith" on the map.)

... if it was just them, they'd probably be over it already. But they're kind of pissed it's being reckless with someone else tagging along. It wouldn't kill them to give a warning, jackass.

* Hope you like living dangerously.
* I haven't died yet so it'll probably work out.

At least they can tell the mask is still stuck to their head.]

[ In Another Medium, that might have looked quite cool indeed. Or rather pedestrian, considering how many times one had to leap from the vents in succession for that one puzzle in Hotland. This is before, of course, the impression of their solid landing is ruined by the coughing fit. Hmm. On that note...

* Well, for starters.
* I am not even entirely sure if I do count as living, even as I am now?
* It is a little ambiguous with ghost types, I hear.
* Does that make it un-living dangerously?
* Still, I do not mind.
* (Pyroar might also object on the grounds that not every Pokemon might be able to make such a jump.)
* (They do, after all, come in all sorts of shapes and forms.)
* (Perhaps securing an alternate route of some sort might be in order...?)

* (The steam vents and fumes might also be objectionable to certain types.)

Kris, being a dragon, boasts at least some resistance to one of those, at least, and Chara's own state of (un)being lends them also a certain kind of ... resilience.

Haven't died yet, though? Now, is that in a way that hasn't managed to stick, or ... not all?

(Don't mind them. It's enrichment, wondering these things as they roughly draft out the map thus far— with a gap to indicate the one the body they're riding along with just leapt over, space to the sides left to explore or fill in.)

[That's... a good point. They remember hearing once that ghost monsters can't die, normally? Or only under specific circumstances? They didn't talk to the ones that live ("live"??) in Hometown much, so they don't know the details. It's not exactly a topic you can just bring up out of nowhere. Even their Soul isn't that bold.

* It counts enough.
* Unless you really want to test that.

... they shouldn't be giving it ideas. Talk about something else.

* What were you before?

Even as I am now has some weird implications. Were they already a ghost, or were they something else "non-living"? They've met enough Darkners that the latter wouldn't surprise them much.

* I'll tell mine if you tell yours.

The geysers seem a little more spread out in this section, so it's probably fine to leave the Soul to navigate by itself for a bit. What's it gonna do, get them lost?]

[ Their what is a little slower to come this time, though whether it's from focus on mapping, distraction, or just thinking over their answer isn't readily apparent.

* Not human.
* Not anymore.
* Not quite a ghost monster either.
* Truthfully I am not sure what one would call it.

Theirs was a soulless existence, and they hadn't expected to wake up again in the first place. Flowey and the Amalgamates of the True Lab are one thing, but it wasn't even something they possessed that...

* When one is the lingering remnants of someone who very much did die, and who very much already did have their soul absorbed by another...
* Well!
* Not exactly a lot of precedent for that, is there?

After all, not one human soul was ever taken by the monsters during the war. Not according to the writings in Waterfall.

As for the other six souls, those who fell after them, and then fell, one way or another ... those are all accounted for.

Determination makes quite a few impossible things possible, it turns out.

* Does that answer suffice? ]

Edited 2025-11-03 00:45 (UTC)

[They're quiet, seeming to soak in all these gruesome details while the Soul putters around, picking up rocks with their mouth.

...

* Damn.
* I was gonna guess you were a hat.

Were they actually? Hard to say. Their tone is as dry as always.

Not a Darkner, though. Distinctly human, but also... not anymore. They're not sure how they should feel about that. They thought they'd be more disappointed to find out their new friend was a human, but in the end it doesn't seem like it makes much of a difference.

Neither of them are human anymore. Neither of them seem to regret that fact.

* Same.
* Aside from the whole dying part. Only the human part.

Which feels kind of lame when their answer is just the default of most of the Pokemon in their situation, but also, they never promised their answer would be interesting.]

[ * Oh no.
* Completely unwittingly, you have uncovered my shameful secret.
* So shameful I spun an outlandish story of being a soulless ex-human instead...!
* Isn't it a more interesting tale that way?

They'll match that sardonicism with their own. But for a moment their focus turns back outward, and ... hmm.

The path they're on, it is no longer quite so level, is it? Given that it is beginning to slope downwards, they must have crossed a decent portion of the plateau by now, though ... was their objective not to thoroughly map the entire thing? Or merely to mark out a single safe path?

(* Onward you forge, across the erupting plain of an active shield volcano.)
(* Ahead, the caldera awaits.)
(* The thought of unveiling those shapes in the haze, and what else might possibly be found there... it fills you with determination.) ]

[Kris snorts, nearly choking on a rock in the process. Their body pauses afterwards, as if waiting to see if they'll say anything more before it finishes making its little rock pile near the edge of the caldera.

They're still not keen on possession, but maybe it's fine if it's just stuff like this. Someone to talk to, without any filters. Someone who maybe gets it. They bury that thought in the back of their mind.

Thoughts of determination make their posture straighten, staring ahead pointlessly.

* (Smells like ash and dust.)
* (Leaving the geysers behind, your mouth already feels drier.)
* (You're filled with the power of remembering to stay hydrated.)

...

They actually do stop for a second, gnawing at the bag under their mane to get a drink from their water pouch. Holy shit. Gamification actually works?

Once that's done, it's back to the mission. They take a straight path towards the nearest shape—Chara will no doubt have something to say, but whatever it is, their reaction will be the same. Kris succumbs to their draconic instincts and immediately bites the object.]

October Quest Catch-All

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we persevere for the sake of karta-knives

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