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Bright, cold and shining. That was the world that young Harakan beheld as he tromped down from the mountain, fresh and fed. Not well-fed, mind, but the stocky lad had had a bite, his supervisor on cooking duty today. They'd been surveying a site for possible granite mining, and the terrin was taking longer than they'd first thought. The sounding line hadn't been enough, so she was rigging a workaround while he hiked back to civilized parts. Not to mention the last of their food stores were dwindling, so he'd also been sent to arrange another delivery, and bring back whatever he could carry. Better that than waste a trip.

For the geian lad himself, this was a welcome break. Sure, he had to hike all the way back lugging a couple dozen pounds extra, but compared to some of the conditions in this last week? Holding the grade stick with a lantern in sleet with the wind blowing it near sideways? A shudder was chased away with another huge lungful of this wonderful air, leaving a broad smile on his face. By this week's standards, a clear morning chill was to be savored, whether he took his sweet time down the trail or not...

Staff in hand, the 'prentice surveyor was making good time down the 'path'. ...Alright, not so much a path as a game trail, winding between rock and tree along the mountainside. It served its purpose well enough to haul equipment up, and that's what was important, wasn't it? All else could be hauled up stage by stage with a block and tackle, once the topfolk gained a decent ledge to hang a rope down. The downside, of course, was that this was exactly the sort of ground for which his staff became necessary.

The greeting didn't much dim the smile, and Harakan's voice boomed back in cheerful response. Aurick might as well have been standing nearby for how clearly it came. "Hoy there! I'd certainly put it so!" He blinked, noting the direction and mentally dredging up the maps he so often worked with. The topographical ones. The storm last night and the one before had hit from the west, and there was an earthy slope running just east along this road. The town proper sat to the north, what was how he remembered the road at all. Lots of sunlight, which meant heavy plant coverage, but perhaps not enough to anchor it. The hiker stopped, looked back down the road, and called down from the slope. Again, a much larger voice than his stature should've held rolled out from one earthling to another. "Your pardon, my lad, but you wouldn't happen to be heading southward, would you?"

Though the volume decreased in proportion with shrinking distance between the boys, every word felt like a hearty slap on the back. This was someone clearly practiced at holding conversations with folk the whole next hill over. It would quickly become apparent that the body had some filling out to do beore it matched that huge voice. "I might well need to head you off, I'm afraid. Only we heard a landslide somewhere that way the night before last, y'see. What with the storms the last two nights, there may not be much road left past that bend up yonder."

Though the thick staff remained firmly in hand, it remained a walking aid. To be fair to the lightning fellow, Harakan hadn't really considered potential ill intent into things either. Perhaps it was naivete or confidence; we'll be kind this once and not call it arrogance. But even in a land where war had been a distant concern for so long, you helped your fellows on the road. Hospitality's sanctity had underpinnings, after all. "I don't suppose you're familiar with the game trails hereabouts?"

"No trouble at all. Good luck I was about, even if I'm wrong; the ground thereabouts might still be unstable." Rather than turn north to Vamon, Harakan turned south again, examining the road ahead for traces of his own predicted blockage. No rumble of upset earth came, and that was well. Thick brown arms golded over a broad chest as their owner considered. Not so much what needed to be done, but how best to go about it. Dawdling in his task wouldn't cost lives this time, but getting distracted on the job was a bad habit to start.

After a a little while in that pose, he fished around in one of the several side-pockets of his hiking pack. Eventually a spoil of bright red ribbon came free. This he presented to Aurick. "Hrrm. I'll tell you what: I was mostly come down from the slope for supplies, but this is what surveyors are for. I'll help you pin down a route around, so long as we mark the edges of it for later travelers. You get to visit your folk on something resembling the right timescale, and my master won't tan my hide for wasting time on a victuals run."

Eager to get to work, the geian lad had already begun to shake his head. Hospitality was one thing, but unearned rewards didn't sit so well. "Oh no, I had a bite to get me started alre-" A growl from his belly cut the resonant voice off mid-word. Dark skin darkened further about the face with Harakan's blush. Pride and stubbornness only got a body so far on their own, and the hiker's eyes dipped down. "Er. If they're going to go off before long, then I'll help lighten your pack, with thanks.

"One of the meat buns, please? I'll want both hands free, likely as not, but it might take a moment to look over the damage. Got to know where to start before you do!" Bad manners to decline, his father's advice said. So long as what needs doing is still done, replied both his mother and his teacher soon after. Once obliged, the doughty young man would turn and take up his feet again, keeping pace with Aurick 'til they neared the disturbance on the road....

While the shorter boy could blush as well as any his age, holding onto that embarassment was another matter. One swiftly dispelled by culinary means. To wit, nodded thanks and acceptance of the green package. He did look it over before eating, tho'. Being offered the nitwits of the batxh had been half-expected, and nothing to complain over, but it seemed he'd been passed a good one. A bite, and time to chew, brought a second look at the pastry, and to Aurick. "I'll need to take you at your word, lad; this is fresher than I've had this week. All the bread we stocked was fortified, might as well be that museli stuff from over in Oba. ...Wouldn't be surprised if we could wrap and bury it for an emergency cache years on, truth be told." Of course, there were drawbacks. Every town had their own recipe. No real baseline for what one might call 'good' strongbread.

Between large bites of good food, Harakan answered as best he could. A large mouth had its uses beyond mere volume. "Not so often on the main routes, I find. The Transportation Sector has a knack for building roads to last, wot? Got to keep wagons trundling or trade gets stopped up, fouls up great bunches of things. The old roads, the ones what people've used for years ('round the mountains especially), these are ticklish." A moment's juggling ensued to balance food and staff one-handed, the other patting a jutting boulder by way of emphasis. "Mountains and weather don't always get along, you see, and when they have a spat, well..."

A sharp corner came, revealing the rest of the road all at once. Or what was left of it, half a hill spread over what they could see. Green eyes had gone wide, their owner fair startled by the sheer masses of earth tumbled. He rest of his breakfast vanished in short order, the ribbon returning a moment after. "...This. We get this. Hope to the skies nobody got swept up in that; they'd be beyond our help by now." With that grim thought, straps tightened over thick shoulders, and he handed the spool to the lightning baker. "Come on. Slowly, and mind your feet. No telling how well it's settled yet." Warnings said, Harakan left the road, always poking at the earth ahead with his staff before trusting his weight to it...

A last broad grin shone from the dark face a the offer. "Quite kind of you! Especially if these are just your castoff foodstuffs. Willow woods, eh? We may take you up on that yet!" First, though, there were treacherous grounds to navigate, to assess. The grimmer working face slid back on as focus shifted to the landslide. It'd been a day or so, not too great a chance of afterslides, but the earth was due her respect. Any hiker ignored her at their peril, surveyors just the same.

Worse still for them that weren't used to the mountains and kept to the roads. As he went, testing the footing before trusting his weight to a step, Harakan laid out some basics. It'd be unfir to expect everyone to know this sort of thing. "Keep your eyes and ears open, Aurick. Movement, cracking wood, or especially muddy water; keep alert for those. I might miss something, and it's better to be paranoid here. Seems to've stabilized, but we can't be sure. We look to be around the same weight, so step only where I've stepped. Tie a ribbon to a branch where we stop, will you? Eye-height should do nicely."

Instructions out of the way, his businesslike tone regained its warmth. "What, mountaineering? I suppose so. Don't rightly recall a time I wasn't trying to wander off to see what's 'round the corner. Caused my poor parents no end of distress, I can tell you! Or my aunts when they kept me. And you? How'd you get to learning an oven's secrets?"

A few steps, testing all the way, listening, watching. The slide had stopped a little ways past where things leveled out for a stretch. Had it dipped much lower, the surveyor would've advised turning back entirely, bringing back a work crew. Nothing he knew could breathe mud, let alone dirt, and gravity usually took the landslide's side of an argument. So far, no trouble. No notable instability, and for such slow going, they were making good time. The whole thing had been deeper than it was wide. A little more before he might get a good glimpse at the path of it...

Aurick's holding up as well as he did wasn't to be downplayed. With how thoroughly civilized a lot of lightning folk were, especially a professional baker, the taller lad carried on sensibly. Though the dark face remained, the booming voice carried well behind, warm and confident. Confidence was as contagious as tight nerves, if it stuck around. "Ha! If it's the land's bones that catch her fancy, I look forward to working with 'er. If it's elsewhere, I can still wish her well. Exploring's never a poor goal." If she was as like to Harkan as that, a good stout rope and learning sailor's knots might've served better.

"Can't blame you there. Never did take to more study than I needed. Too much sitting about for me; I can feel my feet itch just thinking on it. Maths are fine and useful, but they're no more than another tool to my sort. ...Of course, can't say I'm any great shakes as a cook, either. Decent with roasting, but anyone paying attention might do that, eh?" Most of it was chatter, just to fill the air. In part to seoothe the baker's nerves some, in part to let any wildlife know where they were. He might have a tooth on his belt, but this was neither the time nor place to try for anothet one...