Cold is the Void

[Amaterasu]

Expedition, Day 2

Amaterasu woke up first among the three of them, and was immediately met with a pleasant surprise: a fresh layer of snow, so white that it blinded her until she got her stained-glass goggles out, had formed during the night. The clouds were still hanging above the morning sky but moving away fairly rapidly, so fast that she could see it with the naked eye.
When the expedition dwarves found out they were rejoiced. The snow was a perfect surface for the Fur-Selkies to slide on, much better than the half-frozen muddy substance that happened if no snow fell for a few days and the water mixed with the ground. Bent on making the most out of this fortunate weather change they saddled the Fur-Selkies early and departed a little more hurried than was previously anticipated, enjoying breakfast while riding and taking a shorter break. Thanks to the virgin snow however the Fur-Selkies slid along the ground as if flying, meaning that it was much less tiring than a regular day.

Early in the afternoon a pair of Snow Demons engaged them in hot pursuit - wolf-like quadrupeds with light blue skin, horns and claws supposedly made of ice, who were smaller but much faster than the feared wampas. They first got so close to the Fur-Selkies that Urist readied his axe to ward them off, but then they began falling behind again and eventually had to break the chase. The deep snow was not favoring them, though it certainly did so for the Fur-Selkies. They scuttled off in search of easier prey and left them to continue their journey without interruptions. Amaterasu made a mental note of them however - it was possible, and in fact likely, that they would meet them again later.

They covered a great distance that day, and Amaterasu celebrated it by allowing everyone a little beer and summoning a little feast for them, instead of easily digestible, high-calory but bland provisions that they usually fed on. It went against her better judgement, yes, but she felt like they could enjoy life a little. The expedition was "only" two days away from Dwarfholm, they were still in a relatively safe area, as safe as one could call the Frozen Fields anyway. With full bellies and the joy of a small victory, they slept well that night.

Expedition, Day 3

The third day was going to be more difficult, Amaterasu noticed that right as she woke up. Due to the unpredictable climate changes to the naked eye and the lack of fitting equipment to see past the immediate changes the expedition dwarves could not foretell the weather more than a day ahead, and even that was uncertain. But this time they could tell that something was brewing in the air, and they could not ignore it. Large clouds gathered in the morning sky, obscuring the sun and making the air feel heavy. It might not be a full-blown blizzard, but the dwarves were worried and made everyone get out of their beds fast. Oki and Fiara were mildly hung over after the last night, but even they understood the importance of following orders and thus mounted the Fur-Selkies as soon as they could, again skipping breakfast to eat from the back of the mounts. The dwarves insisted on a fast pace without breaks to cover as much distance as they could before the elements came down on them, and they were very right to do so: in the early afternoon hail started to fall, first only lightly, then increasing with every passing second.

Many of the hailstones were huge - some coming to as much as the size of a balled fist. Had it not been for the dwarves, Amaterasu thought to herself as they found shelter underneath a large overhang, their journey may have ended then and there, with their skulls shattered by a ballistic missile from the sky. The Kami of the Sun created a few plates of solid rock as a wall, to prevent a sudden change of wind from allowing a stray hailstone to hit them or to shred their tents, while Oki used Kutone to gingerly gather one hailstone after another, to boil them into hot water.

"The climate of these lands is really not to be toyed with", remarked Fiara as, shielded from the eyes of the men in the group, she took a bath with the water they had made, and Amaterasu sat on the other side. She trusted Oki and Urist, but the other dwarves... well, she didn't know them and Fiara didn't feel comfortable being naked around them so she had asked her to "stand guard", so to speak.

"No... and we're still in a below-average danger zone. The mountain is going to be much more hazardous from what I know, and we'll cross a few high-risk areas getting there." She listened closely and heard the hail still falling outside, the hailstones breaking each other as they stacked on the ground. "Tomorrow will be difficult... icy terrain isn't ideal for a Fur-Selkie."

"We'll be okay, Mother Amaterasu. So long as we got you and those expert dwarves are with us we are good to go."

"I guess. Now finish up, the others are going to want their turn as well."

Expedition, Day 4

As Amaterasu had predicted the remains from the hailstorm had created a difficult terrain for the Fur-Selkies. Thanks to the light snowfall during the night and the freezing temperatures the ground had turned into a relatively flat ice surface but it was not as good for navigation as snow, meaning that their speed was greatly hampered. The clouds were also not fully gone yet and the dwarves predicted more hail and possibly a blizzard, so they decided to play it safe and stop early rather than late. After lunchtime they traveled for another three or so hours instead of seven to eight before announcing that they would set up camp, and shortly before the end of their trip Oki noticed a gaping hole in a cliff wall, which led into a natural cavern. A great stroke of luck, especially since there were no remains of recently deceased animals, only a handful of aged bones. In other words, there was no wampa in here.

While the dwarves set up a basic campsite Amaterasu used her Cherry Bomb to cause a pair of controlled avalanches that made the entrance to the cave small and easily defendable, then Fiara and Oki took turns at watching the entrance while she summoned provisions to restock everything. The expedition dwarves proceeded to sketch their findings onto their maps, though with warnings to be cautious around the cavern - You never know when a pack of ice-wolves decides to make an abandoned burrow its new home - and Urist cooked up a dinner for them all. Finally, Amaterasu summoned a flat large rock that completely concealed the entrance and made it look as if it was caved in entirely, but left them openings to breathe fresh air through. Like that, they were secure for the night.

"Hey, Ama..." Urist asked just as she was finishing the summoning. "Ye've been summonin' all this stuff - the Fur-Selkies, food, now those rocks 'n all... are ye not runnin' out of yer Omnilium?"

Amaterasu blinked at that request. She had never thought about it, to be honest. "I don't think so... I can't feel how much I have left, there's no... no gauge or anything, but I haven't run out so far. And I do try to grab Omnilium where I can... I've stocked up a lot during my time in Dwarfholm, for one, and if you remember, I've extracted a lot of Omnilium from what we left behind in the other campsite, while you guys were packing stuff up. I don't think I used up a lot of it."

"Eh, ah guess ah'm worried bout ye running out in the midst of our ascent, y'know."

"That won't happen. I am determined to reach the top, Urist, and I have prepared myself for that. If I somehow run out I'll just have to extract more. Besides, I have you guys."


"Yeah... eh, thanks fer doin' this, though."

"Hey, I'm drawing an advantage from this as well if it works out, so no need to thank me."

"What 'bout Fiara an' Oki?"

"They're in it because I am."

"No goals o' their own?"

"I don't think so... they would not have much to gain from it."

"Aye... yer right. But listen... what if we don' find anythin' up there? If it's just the dragons and nothing else?"

"Then at least you will know that it's just the dragons and nothing else... it's better than to be left in uncertainty." She stood up, her work finished, and dusted her butt off. "How's the stew coming along? I could use something filling right about now."

The grin returned to Urist's face. "Sure! Oughta be ready by now... let's get it before the others empty the pot."

1438 + 1503 = 2.941 / 20.000 words.