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The problem with patterns, recognizable patterns, is that whenever they were broken, those subject to the same pattern loops over and over again fell into a trap often known as a curve ball.



Caelius sending a text not only a whole day prior, but also sending it for a request at an entirely reasonable hour was something that any respectable trainee, even respectable Hunter would have been highly wary of. It usually meant, instead of throwing them left and right into wherever the next mission may or may not have been, or into some training exercise that really taught no moral lesson other than please try not to die... again, the Death Hunter Leader had spent a little more time planning ahead their demise.

This was not a good thing.

The second curve ball was the request not to meet in the usual classroom for debriefing but actually past the portal, no comments on how or why. Instead, trainees simply saw the next day an ordinary canvas tent set up with a familiar looking portal.

Stepping through proved to be another feat in itself entirely: the climate was warm, hot, humid, very much tropical, if not confirmed by the massive foliage and overabundance of greens in the area. A second tent was set up with what looked like basic Hunter equipment, though there was noone manning the tables.

A little past the tent was what could only be explained as something of a cave.

The crater entrance almost twenty feet in height made the structure entirely obvious, and a little ominous. The fact that there was still noone around kept the atmosphere tense and uncertain, as if any second, something would jump out from the dense trees and swallow them whole just like the last Sahara mission.

At least that would be a curve ball the trainees would be used to by now.

Rep had been rather glad to receive the text. As much as lazing around the island was fun at first, it was starting to degenerate into a sort of cabin fever. There was no nightlife, no booze, and he'd found he was doing the most utterly inane things to pass a few hours here and there when not training out the time in the gym or on the training fields. Needless to say he was hyped at the mission even reguardless of its early morning start and had been up and dressed bright and early.

He arrived at the portal with about five minutes or so spare and wandered through, once again hit by that dizzying disorientation as the change in humidity and climate made it difficult to breathe. ******** hell it was clammy. Wearing his jacket had proven a bad idea and he took it off to tie it back around his waist as he checked out the area, peering into the cave from a distance before stalking back to the tables to hang around, spotting Cass but not approaching for the time being, kept at bay by his wariness of anyone in the b***h division after the yeti mission. Besides, he was still absolutely no good at non-insulting ice breakers with women. He doubted she'd respond well to "Why the hell are they bringing women on another mission?"

So he simply feigned he hadn't seen her.

The fact that Caelius had sent a text to the trainees earlier and within reason made Gale highly suspicious.

Trust Caelius to weird him out by doing something actually decent.

When he made his way past the usual classroom (strange...very strange..., he thought), down towards the makeshift canvas tent, all there was was an all-too-familiar portal. Gale hesitated at the entry momentarily - it was all very odd - but after a moment he sighed, pushed his fringe of blonde hair away from hisf ace, and stepped into the portal.

...out into...humidity. Instantly Gale felt his face warm, though - for once - not from anything self caused (thankfully). It felt strangely hot here, very...not island-y, as weird as that sounded, even to himself. Clearly they were in some sort of tropical region, since, as Gale looked around, all he could see was green.

And the tent. Which was, in fact, empty of any life forms, human or otherwise. All it held were normal hunter supplies, but as Gale made his way around the tent he could see what appeared to be a cave of sorts, stretching out from the ground, an imposing black hole gaping at him. The air here felt stifling, made not much better by the fact that there was no one around - no one, at least, for a few other trainees - Cass, the redhead, and Robert, looking as though he had just woken up.

Gale did not like dark spaces. In fact, even as he was staring at that horrible black opening he had taken an involuntary step back, swallowing hard.

<< Gale. >>

Shut up. I'm fine.

<< You most certainly are not. >>

Yes I am. Shut up.

He wasn't, but he wasn't about to let the horrible, dark, dank memories that had suddenly resurfaced prevent him from going on the mission. Pressing his lips together in a grim line, Gale pushed his slightly damp bangs out of his eyes and resisted the very strong urge to bolt right then and there. He was not going to wuss out on this, he was not going to be ridiculous, even if he did feel slightly nauseated - not that he was going to let that show.

But he didn't really make a move towards the cave entrance just yet.

Another big mission. It was time. Deryk wasn't entirely certain how well he'd fair seeing how he was recovering from that last EM, but he was determined to do his best. Though, he was mentally whining about having a big mission so soon. Regardless, he showed up when it was time. At least it was later in the day, but that didn't make him feel that much better. What was going on?

Once on the other side of the portal, he quickly noticed the humidity of the area.

"Whew... we in the Amazon or something?" he asked no one in particular while shifting his coat a bit. It wasn't very comfortable in this sort of climate.

Spying the cave nearby, the death trainee shifted a little uneasily. They were probably going to have to investigate that, weren't they?

4:00 a.m. on the morning of the mission - Wake up, brush teeth, brush hair, braid hair. Dress. Undress. Redress. Undress. Redress.

4:45 a.m. - Leave dorm.

4:46 a.m. - Realize that Nona is still in the dorm. Head back, grab barrette. Leave dorm again.

5:05 a.m. - Grab something to eat from the kitchen. Change mind, eat nothing. Grab some water instead.

5:10 a.m. - Head to training fields.

5:45 a.m. - It's way too early to be awake. Pass out. Have nightmares of the Jenga room.

7:00 a.m. - Wake up. Cranky, disheveled. Immediately get into an argument with Nona.

8:00 a.m. - Still fighting.

9:00 a.m. - Still fighting.

9:45 a.m. - Admit defeat just so Nona shushes up.

10:00 a.m. - Go through portal.

It was hot. Too gosh-darned hot, and immediately the sweat beaded on her brow and dampened the feathery strands of hair at Sasha's temples and nape. Removing her jacket, the trainee promptly tied the sleeves around her waist and began investigating. Or standing around looking a little lost and useless. Take your pick.

The "subtle" fight bell ring of a text notification came through on Leon's phone after a nice session of pullups on the door frame. It was a bit of time since the last mission he was on with the others and the fresh meat, he hoped that most of them had figured out that this stuff was to be taken quite seriously.


And then he remembered exactly who those new faces were and didn't expect much from them. But a mission was a mission as he flipped through the phone and kept track of what he needed to grab in the timespan of six seconds before he had to rush out the door. And brunette eyebrows flew up in shock at the timespan given to prepare. "Nearly 24 hours, and at 10 am?" he blurted out in the solidarity of his quarters, except for the dragon voice in his head that is. Hey, Nid. -Yeah Meathead?- came the rumbly response of the partner in battle Lets have a good meal today, I think we might need to fuel up, or at the very least, enjoy our potential last meal he muttered quietly to the dragon boil, the pessimistic worry dripping from his final words.

However all Nid heard was Good Meal and that was all that he cared about. -Well jacking hurry up boil, I want us to feed our faces and have some Meat. MMMMMMMMMMMEEAATTTT- Nid howled in anticipation.

after three square meals, a night of decent rest in the last 24 hours, Leon charged out of the room and headed through the portal and fanned himself from the sudden climate change, the arid humidity of the new location making his clothes feel more constricting than ever. "Well, isn't this a peachy place for a mission." he barked out sarcastically before bumping shoulders with Deryk and Cass with a friendly smile on his face. "Anybody else have a foreboding feeling about this particular mission?" the Life hunter asked quietly in the hopes that superior Cael wasn't around, waiting to try and kill them with words and then leave their bodies to rot in whatever god trotting mission he devised for them.

Spotting Rep and Robert didn't do much to ease his worry, having the two here meant certain doom one way or another as he gave them both a hard glare.

Gale jumped abruptly, the gentle pat from Cass startling out of his inner musings. He flushed a little, and frowned, pressing his lips together again as he tried to get his heart rate back down to normal.

Stupid, stupid, stupid.

"I'm, ah...fine," he said, in a voice he hoped sounded relatively normal, but he had the feeling it didn't sound quite as calm as he hoped. Swallowing, Gale bobbed his head up and down in a fervent nod, his face already beginning to close off, his expression shifting to an a vague, somewhat thoughtful one.

<< Gale. >>

Shut up. I'm pulling it together, I am.

<< I know you are. >>

Gale sighed, reaching up a hand to pinch the bridge of his nose between two fingers. He was feeling stiflingly hot in his coat, and he'd already slipped off the scarf from his neck, tying it around his waist instead.

"Sorry," he mumbled to Cass, feeling horribly embarrassed. "I'm, er....fine. Just a bit of...bad memories, is all. I'm fine."

At least this time he sounded much more like his usual too-serious self. His eyes flickered towards Sydney, standing a few feet away, and Gale gave her a small nod in greeting.

Ofelia had missed the mission set aside just for her people. She had missed it all too well and the end result was her being miserable and cursing on that weird twitter thing about how she'd missed it and how she was never going to miss anything again. With a brand new phone and a poorly kept promise on reading the guide to learn how to work it, as soon as the text came in Ofelia was there. She went ahead and put some decent shoes on this time (she had her flip flops too, tied on a string for luck!) and it didn't take her long at all to meet up where everyone had gathered. The first time she'd gone through a portal she may or may not have had reservations. The second time she just casually strolled. This time?

This time she jumped through in a kung-fu kick pose. Because she could.

Right off the bat she recognized a few of the faces (which sadly meant she should have known them all - there weren't that many people in the club around as far as she was told), and even then all she wanted to do was just stand there and wait. It was hot, humid, and it reminded her heavily of being back home in Georgia. Her lack of a strong and thick shirt was good, the whole jacket around her hips was good too, and Ofelia cackled a bit as she surveyed the area. This was going to be awesome.