When Astrid invited Iryla on a job with the promise of adventure and some pay, she hadn't exactly been expecting to trek up the side of Mount Dakolt. Really, it was her own fault, she should have asked for more details before agreeing to meet with the young girl. But there was something about Astrid that managed to put even Iryla off her guard.

Mount Dakolt had always been an intimidating figure in her life. This looming presence casting shadow and ash over the city she grew up in. It's ash colored her youth in its shades of grey. But right now, rather than being intimidated by its dark face, Iryla just felt annoyed. 

"I thought I was used to the feeling of ash on my feet, but somehow it's even more uncomfortable when it's in your shoes." She grumbled while looking down at her boots with a wrinkled nose. "How did you even hear about this job anyway, Astrid...? And... Who exactly is your friend again?"

Somewhere in the distance the sound of lava sizzling drifts to her ears, further reminding Iryla that next time, she should ignore all the puppy dog eyes and ask questions before agreeing to run off like this. Really. She could only imagine the looks on Cyran and Zarius' faces when she came back to the rookery tracking in all manner of soot in her wake. Her hair would probably be black by the time she got back home-

B-Back... Back to the Rookery. She meant back to the Rookery.

Blue Raspberry walked up the mountain holding their mouth open like a child trying to catch a snowflake on their tongue as ash gently rained down on the group. Of course, the ooze didn't notice much of a difference between eating ash and snow, enjoying it either way. They looked toward Iryla as she addressed them.

"Oh, right! I'm Wolfe, nice to meet you!" they replied excitedly, giving a wave with their free hand, their other holding their helmet under their arm as they walked along. They could normally just absorb their helmet, but they didn't want to do that while in the presence of anyone that wasn't aware of their true form as an ooze. Right now, they had opted to appear as a humanoid man with a blue hair and beard, the same color as their ooze form.

They honestly didn't know much about their mission either, trusting Astrid to lead them wherever they needed to go right now. They had just offered to tag along with their friend to help out and they always found going on adventures fun, especially with the half Dwarf girl that knew who they really were, or what to be more accurate. They just remember a conversation with some nerdy people about the volcano and finding something up there that went missing.

With their introduction finished, they went back to catching ash in their open mouth as they treaded up the mountain path.

To be completely fair, Astrid didn't exactly ask for a lot of details about the missing researcher. Well, she didn't at first, but Melodia reminded her she needed more information before she excitedly just made her way off toward the Rookery to invite Iryla along and reconvene with Blue Raspberry. She of course has plenty of energy for a mountain trek - the worst part of it is honestly the heat, but that's something she can tolerate after spending more time in the desert at Bellighul's house. 

"Ya've got ash in yer shoes?" she asks, looking back at the uncomfortable Iryla. Then her eyes look down at Iryla's shoes. Simple leather with laces. "Ah, yeah, ya've got ta get somethin' a bit denser than that, otherwise, ya'll never get the ash outta yer socks." There is certainly a lot of confidence in what Astrid says. The ash doesn't bother her nearly as much as sand does. It's coarse and gets everywhere. "I find it's important ta make sure they're especially tight, and it don't hurt ta add an extra layer of material over the laces and ta tuck yer pants in." This is of course said by the girl tromping up the mountain in thick leather boots covered with metal greaves that clank with each step. 

Blue Raspberry introduces themself, and she nods in affirmative. "Aye, they're me best friend, most reliable knight in all of Charon. We're in good hands with 'em around."

There is a distinct pause before Iryla responds to Astrid.

“Socks?”

Right. Huh. All of Astrid’s advice sounds like it probably makes sense to her, though it was a little late now for it. Iryla doubted there would be a place to find better shoes and socks this far up the side of the volcano. She was still getting used to regularly wearing shoes, and hadn’t really thought about it before agreeing to go on this trek…

Right, just more evidence that she needed to ask more questions before agreeing to go on random adventures. Surely, she would not make this mistake again…

“Er- Nice to meet you too, Wolfe. I’m Iryla.” At least their company was also nice. Iryla knew very little of this Wolfe character, aside that he had been friendly enough, although seeing him eat ash out of the sky like that…

Eh. He clearly was not from Darkveil or the Ashlands. And humans didn’t tend to have blue hair, so maybe it was normal for him? Whatever he was.

She wouldn’t think about it too much.

“Right, well. You, me, and the most reliable knight in Charon. Sounds like we have a good group for this job, but what exactly are we even doing?” Wrinkling her nose, Iryla looks up towards the top of the volcano. “I didn’t think there was much up here to be seen besides rocks and more dangerous liquid rocks. Why would anyone come up here, let alone us?”

Blue Raspberry looked down from their ash catching to give a big, toothy smile full of pride as Astrid called them her best friend and the most reliable knight in Charon. They gave a sloppy salute as they walked confidently up the mountain.

"Oh, do you need some socks? I think I have an extra pair in- I mean, on me!" they said, reaching a hand behind their back and under their cloak and pulling it back out with a clean, white pair of socks grasped in their gauntleted hand. They looked like socks meant to fit a man much larger than the knight and, although almost unnaturally clean, they looked worn. Indeed, this pair of socks had in fact been worn by a large bandit man that Blue Raspberry had consumed whole while in the form of a dire wolf. The ooze actually still had all of the clothing of all of the bandits they had consumed that day stored inside them. The ooze still had a lot of strange things inside them from various adventures, actually, though even they forgot about a lot of them.

They held the socks out for Iryla, a friendly, innocent smile on their face. "You can have them as a gift!"

Caught off guard, Astrid pauses her ascent up the mountain path. "Ya... Ya don't know what socks are?" she asks, trying not to sound rude, but she is truly surprised. Astrid may have spent a lot of time on the streets, but she had socks at one point, and she saw others wearing socks, and she just... "Why? Don't Zarius and Cyran give you socks? Socks are important ta keep yer feet from gettin' blisters! And they keep yer feet warm! ...Granted, ya don't need 'em ta be warm up here, but still!" The half-dwarf wants to know so much more about Iryla now. Clearly, the half-elf has also Been Through Some Shit^TM. She watches Blue Raspberry offer up some socks that she has no idea the source. "...After alla this, we should get ya some socks that'll fit ya properly."

"What're we doin' up here? Did I forget ta tell ya? We're lookin' fer a researcher. Seems like they haven't come back down from the volcano, so we're just goin' ta see if we can find them and help 'em if they need it. They're probably alright, but if they're not..." Astrid pats her bicep with a grin. "We can take whatever's got 'em." She still dreads the trek ahead of them.

Iryla is not expecting to be given a pair of socks right then and there, but she does not reject them. “I- Er- Thank you, Wolfe.” Her thanks is genuine, though she isn’t sure that this pair will really fit her. They look so large she’s a bit worried they might make her shoes feel even more uncomfortable and constricting… For now she tucks them away in a pouch on her hip. Then something Astrid says catches her attention.

“I know what socks are!” Vaguely. She’d seen them before hanging on clothes lines, and had sometimes seen people wandering around the streets of Darkveil wearing them but no shoes. It was just… Iryla hadn’t had them herself.

“...I probably have a pair back at the Rookery,” She admits, just a touch sheepish, “I’ve never worn them before, so I didn’t think to put them on before coming here. Shoes are still a bit new to me...”

She nods along as Astrid explains their goal up here on the mountain, though there is a bit of a dubious expression on her face by the time the younger girl is done. “Are we sure that anything ‘has’ this researcher? I’d be more willing to bet they’re lost, or maybe.. I don’t know, tripped somewhere on the mountain and can’t get back down. I can’t imagine anything actually lives up here.”

Thinking about it for another moment as she kicks a volcanic rock on their path. “Then again, I did grow up hearing spooky stories about this big old rock. Stuff about monsters in the lava. I honestly kind of thought those stories were just meant to keep us from wandering up here, though.”

She squints as she looks up at the peak.

“I guess in Darkveil might be a bit smarter than this researcher we’re after.”

"She doesn't know what socks are, that's so sad." Blue Raspberry said sadly, shaking their head side to side with face like they were about to cry. They couldn't keep it up for long though, and soon their expression gave way to a joking grin. Ironically, the ooze also didn't know what socks were until they'd been taught what they were by Astrid in a very similar fashion to how she'd just educated Iryla, but Blue Raspberry still never wore socks before despite having multiple pairs of them stored inside them.

"Don't worry, I've never worn socks before either! Or shoes! Or underwear.... or a hat... orrrrrrrrr oh! Earings! Uhhh, never worn..." Blue Raspberry continued on they walked trying to list things they'd never worn before. The list was fairly long since they almost always wore just their suit of armor. "What are those straps that go from your pants and then over your shoulders? I saw someone wearing those once. Never worn those before."

Soon, the group reached the top of the volcano and looked around for the missing researcher. Blue Raspberry put their helmet back on, preparing themself to face whatever they might have to fight to complete the rescue mission. Then, they remembered something very important.

"Oh, right! I uh, know some magic, so just if you see me do something weird, it's a spell!" they assured Iryla about their abilities the best they could think of.

Of course, the half-dwarf isn't making fun of or faulting Iryla for not knowing what socks are, regardless of if that's actually true. There are plenty of things she doesn't know anything about, and Blue Raspberry certainly has been absolutely clueless about a lot of things, too. Sometimes she looks like an expert by comparison. She does wonder if Iryla actually knows what socks are because she herself would absolutely not make a long walking trek up a mountain without them. 

"Ah, yeah, the ol' mystery of what ta do with new clothes," Astrid says ponderously. After spending a lot of time with the orphan children, she does consider herself lucky she at least knows how to read and write and how to wear most clothes usually. She spent a lot of time studying clothes and armor whenever she could, or at least figuring out how the different pieces fit together. Overall, she'd say her understanding of the way things fit on the humanoid form is pretty strong. 

"I think those straps are called... upenders? No, that ain't right," she murmurs. "Oh, suspenders! Even though they're just holdin' yer pants up and not necessarily doin' any suspendin'. Weird name if ya ask me." 

As they approach the crest of the volcano, Astrid looks up at it ahead of them. "Well, researchers can get a bit wild lookin' fer information about somethin' they're excited about." Astrid relates to researchers in this way, and she's certainly gotten into her own trouble trying to study mechanical things and suits of armor. She may or may not have broken a couple of small bits on Charles while inspecting his internal components. "S'pose we'll either find a crispy body or someone who's dehydrated."

"Ah, yeah, the ol' mystery of what ta do with new clothes."

Though the embarrassment she’s feeling lingers in Iryla’s cheeks, she’s at least a bit mollified that Astrid seems to understand where she is coming from. She didn’t really know Astrid’s circumstances, come to think of it. And she certainly had no idea where Wolfe had been, or what kind of life he’s lead. But she does hope that Astrid perhaps cannot relate to Iryla’s plight too closely. She was a nice girl and well…

Iryla really hated it when she saw younger kids in the same position she had been before being taken in by Cyran and Zarius. It… itched at her in an uncomfortable way.

She’s quiet while they talk about whatever they’re talking about, suspenders? She’s not sure. Whatever it is, she lets them discuss while she takes a look around at their surroundings, trying and failing at first to spot any clues as to where they might need to look for this researcher.

They still had a bit of a trek up the rest of the mountainside, but certainly the person they were looking for couldn’t have gotten too far on their own, right…? They would have to spot some signs of them soon. At least, Iryla hoped they would.

“Do we still get paid for a crispy body?” Her question is only half joking. “Maybe we should- Wait a second.” A flash of color against the darkened scenery catches her eye as she spots a scrap of fabric caught on the jagged branches of a withered bush.

Approaching it, Iryla grabs the fabric and takes a closer look. Though dirty and torn, the fabric didn’t appear to be very weathered yet. Someone had likely been here recently and gotten their clothing caught.

“Huh, I guess we are on the right path, then.”

Blue Raspberry didn't know much about researchers. They had no idea what the researcher might be up here to search for, especially a second time. Whatever it was must be really important. If the researcher was already a crispy body though, they wondered if Astrid would let them eat it. Although that might be a bad thing to do in front of Iryla.

Blue Raspberry stepped forward and took a look at the scrap of cloth in Iryla's hand. They leaned down and put a finger to their chin as they took a good look at it, trying to see if they could gain any information from it. All they could think of was that this researcher was wearing the color green. A light green. How... interesting? Very useful information probably. Detective Raspberry stood straight again and gave a thumbs up to Iryla.

"Nice clue! We'll find them in no time, right Astrid?" they said, turning to look at their friend, but then felt something odd. A liquid was dripping down the front of their face. They looked up to see if it had started raining, but there was nothing falling from the sky except volcanic ash. They wiped their hand down the side of their face and took a look at what was on it. It was blue.

Blue Raspberry hadn't realized at all what effect the extreme heat of this place was having on their ooze body. Their form was slowly becoming less solid, melted by the heat. They looked at both Astrid and Iryla, half of their face lower than the other and continuing to slowly melt.

It hadn't occurred to Astrid the consequences of the very real possibility that they'd find a crispy body on the volcano. Well, maybe it had, but she stuffed that into the back of her mind and focused on moving forward. When Iryla finds a scrap of cloth, she perks up. "Good find! Means we're on the right track!" That's a relief. Maybe the two-searcher won't be dead after all. That'd make things a lot easier. Unless they're badly injured, in which case, she has no healing... But Blue has a flask of magical healing ooze they carry around, so maybe they'd be fine.

"O' course, we'll find 'em!" she says cheerily, looking toward Blue Raspberry. Her head gets the slightest tilt to it. There's something off about the ooze knight, but she can't put her finger on it. Weird. She'll have to ask them about it later. And then it gets worse. "Wha- Bl- Wolfe! Yer-" '-melting!' goes unsaid. She cries a half exclamation and frantically rushes over to cover up their face. What do they do?? The first thing she thinks of is the cape, so she suddenly grabs the hood and yanks it over Blue Raspberry's head. Her shouts come in distressed whispers. "Helmet! Put yer helmet on!"

This certainly puts a pause on their progress. And they're so darn close to the top!

Iryla looked to Wolfe as he came over to get a better look at the scrap of fabric she had found, holding it a bit closer for his inspection. She has something in mind to say, but when she looks at his face, all thoughts she might have had fly out of her head.

His.

His eye.

His eye had not been there before. Had not been that low on his face.

And why was he smeared with blue? What even was that?

She watches, a little incredulous as Astrid tries to hide the obvious melting of Wolfe’s face as if he had not been standing only a few feet away from her and grinning directly at Iryla a moment ago.

The half elf opens her mouth, attempting to find something, anything to say in this situation. But all she can do is gape.

“...I- You- Okay.” She takes a deep, solid breath, holding her hands in front of her body with her palms open and fingers spread wide. Deep breaths, Iryla, deeeeeeep breaths. What would Cyran or Zarius do in a situation like this?

…

She had absolutely no idea what they would do. Who in the hell would know how to react to a man physically melting?

“I. Alright. I have questions.” An understatement. “And I would very much like some answers. But. Considering the fact that we’re on the side of a death mountain looking for a man who is likely injured or just outright dead, I’m not going to ask those questions right now. They can wait. I can be patient.”

She sounds a touch hysterical even to her own ears.

“...You’re not going to completely melt, are you? Because it’s only going to get hotter from here on up and I don’t think I have any buckets with me.”

"Uhhhhhhhhhhh..." Blue Raspberry said, one eye turning to look at Astrid while the other still faced Iryla.

Unsurprising to anyone who knew the ooze closely, they did not know the answer to that question. They'd never been melty before. This was their first time in a place as hot as this one.

"Mmmmmm... Probably not?" they guessed, but their tone was clearly unsure. They put their helmet over their head with a wet schlorping sound that reminded them of when they had not yet figured out how to really shift their body into a shape properly, just relying on the shape of the armor to keep them looking human. It gave them an idea.

"Oh! Hey Astrid, do you have any bandages? Maybe if we cover all the gaps in my armor, I won't leak!"

As they spoke, droplets of blue liquid began to slowly streak down their armor from the different gaps. Blue Raspberry looked down to see the streaks running down their boots and gauntlets and dripping onto the ground. That wasn't good. What did Iryla say about a bucket? That sounded like a good idea!

"Um, hold on, uhhhh, buckets...."

They reached into the top of their cuirass and pulled out a wooden bucket and then a metal one. They placed both on the ground and stepped into them.

"Perfect! Now I just need to figure out how to walk in them.... Oh!"

The blue goo flowed out of the gap above their boots and covered them. They lifted their legs and the buckets were stuck to them thanks to the sticky goo. They gave a thumbs up, drops of blue liquid dripping from the gaps in their gauntlets.

---

Slimy Hands

Well, this is only going to get worse. Astrid stammers, stepping back from Blue Raspberry and trying to formulate an explanation. She can't. They're going to be given away. Crap. Super crap. 

"B-Bandages?" she asks. "Erm, yeah, I've got a kit fer injuries." Cautiously stepping away from the oozing knight, she glances between them and Iryla then rushes back down the path to Charles to start digging her medical kit out of his storage unit. His metal surface is hot to the touch but doesn't stop her. By the time she's gotten the bandages, the knight now has buckets for greaves. She just looks lost and exasperated. The bandages probably wouldn't help anyway, so she dejectedly puts them back. What are they to do?

"Right, ya've got questions. We'll save 'em. We've gotta move fast or we'll be carryin' a researcher and an o- and B-" She keeps fumbling her words. "-and Wolfe!" With a breath, Astrid looks around. "Alright, I'm gonna fly up and try ta find any sign of the guy! Iryla, keep Bl-Wolfe from... bein' a puddle!"

There's so much concern on her face, but with that, two wings unfurl from under her cloak. Each of the wings are both feathered and leathered, with an odd mix of bird and bat wings between them. The main arms of the appendages are feathered with long finger-like tendrils spreading from the fold, webbed like the wings of a bat. Astrid gives her friends a nod then with a powerful flap, launches herself into the hot air. Heated gusts batter her from time to time and threaten to throw her off entirely, and luckily, that helps her keep some focus instead of panicking.

Other people have found out about Blue Raspberry, but she's concerned about how some people will react if they find out. Iryla can't tell anyone. Astrid would... She'd rough her up herself if she compromised Blue!

Getting a good vantage point above, Astrid spots a camp on the other side of the volcano's caldera, shielded from some of the heat by staying out of the center itself. That must be where they need to go! Phew. Okay, that was easier. As she starts to make her way back to land, she spots movement in the lava pool central to the top of the mountain. But there's nothing. Must have been a trick of the eye or a lava bubble popping. 

---

Bat Wings [Post 1/3]