Ain't Cutting no Ice [Gin/Alain/Mami/Jack Mitchell]

[Alain the Carnedge]

They didn't get far before he hit the brakes. The solid ground hadn't lasted long before they reached ice, thin enough that you could very clearly see where you'd end up upon if it broke. His attire made it a bit unlikely he'd die from the blizzard, but clothing offered a lot less protection against freezing cold water. Alain glanced at Lubbock, who had noticed he'd stopped and was now flying around on his dragon. It was a few seconds before Gin came along, coming to a halt when he saw that everybody else had stopped. "Has something happened?" He asked.

"Nope, but I don't think we're getting far with the ice. The dataverse said that the ground's gonna be more solid when we get further in, but until then, well..." Alain pointed at the icebergs floating around the frozen ocean. A few corpses, likely adventurers, floated on the waters. The mercenary turned back and shrugged. "Well, let's go. Lubbock, you can find a cave for us to summon supplies in, right?" Alain didn't wait for a response before taking a slow step forward. He knew it was slightly more unlikely that the ice would break as long as he treaded cautiously, as he wasn't carrying anything particularly heavy, but you never know. Lubbock and his dragon flew past him towards the mountains in the distance.

The mercenary kept moving, each step feeling like a game of russian roulette as time went by. His hood got blown down more than once by the winds, to the point where he had to hold it up himself. Alain was ready for the ice to crack, just hoping that Gin was as well...at which point he saw them flying in the distance on their bird thing. Goddamn it. GIn briefly stopped on some ground in the distance, then immediately took off again. Alain knew they'd yelled something, but the cold wind was almost completely deafening. Unfortunately he got the idea that stopping would lead to a cold death, so summoning a ride of his own still wasn't smart. He kept walking, making sure to stay as far away as he could from where the corpses were.

Thankfully, nothing happened. Every moment of worry seemed to be another one wasted. It was still freezing, but at least that danger had passed. The mercenary stepped onto more solid ground and took a few more steps until safety from drowning was almost certain. One part of him knew that he'd got lucky upon looking back at the ocean. If he was carrying anything heavy, he'd probably be dead. He turned back to Gin, who was sitting in the snow next to the black bird. The mercenary scowled. "N-ice to see you made it here." Alain said.

...Eck.

The mercenary put his head in his hands and lamented the loss of his sense of humor.