[NOTICE] Attn: Yukiko (Strawberri Stardust) [FIN]

[FA Eros]

It was a few days after a visit from Anteros.

The poor god seemed like an utter wreck. Not knowing where his mother was left him very nervous at best and upset at worst. He wanted to know where she was, where she had went, who had taken her -- all questions he couldn't find any answers to.

It was inevitable that the visit would end with Anteros going off to see if he could figure out where she was once again.

A few days later, Yukiko would hear a knock at her door. Perhaps she assumed it was Anteros returning once again, or her son, Adelphos, coming to visit her. She would probably be surprised to be greeted by a gaggle of cherubs instead, one holding a scroll in its hands, and the others crowded around, whispering to each other in hushed, nervous voices.

A couple flew by her head, darting into her house and looking for something, knocking a few things over, before coming back and shrugging. There were a few more murmurs, before they all shrugged and turned their attention to Yukiko.

The lead cherub cleared its throat, unraveling the scroll. "Yukiko!"

Quote:

I believe I have foiund a clue as to where mother is. I have included a map with a general area. I believe she may be in one of those mountain caves.

Please venture there and see what you can find.

He rolled the notice back up, handing it to Yukiko. Then, the cherubs all saluted, and flew off.

Strawberri Stardust

Yukiko has been given an ... assignment? If Yukiko takes this assignment, she will need to follow the map to a vague spot in the mountain caves! If you choose to take this assignment, please write some posts about her getting ready, adventuring out there, and trying to find this cave. We will respond again when Yukiko arrives there.

This Notice will need to be completed by February 14th or she will be considered to have failed in this mission!

 

[Dragon Berri]

Yukiko had been worrying about Anteros since he'd left to search for Venus. Her heart went out to him and it killed her that there wasn't anything she could really do. And yet, she couldn't keep it off her mind. In an attempt to clear her mind, if even for a moment, Yukiko had been cleaning and reorganizing her entire apartment.

The knock at the door had her squeaking before hurrying to open it in case it was Anteros or Adelphos. She was, however, disappointed to see a group of cherubs. "O-oh...can I help you?" she asked as her shoulders sagged. "Hey!" she cried as some of the cherubs flew past her and knocked things over. She flinched when she heard glass shattering. "What are you doing?!"

She didn't receive an answer, but the cherub holding the scroll read it to her before handing it over. "Anteros?" she murmured as she opened it and read it over while the cherubs left. She chewed her lower lip nervously as she read and reread the note. He hadn't signed it, but perhaps he'd just been in a hurry...

She was being paranoid again. Shaking her head, Yukiko rolled the notice up once more and prepared to pack for her trip.  

[Dragon Berri]

despite her previous trip, Yukiko was not the most outdoorsy of Pae. She'd tried to pack things she might need for a trip to this cave that Anteros was sending her to, but she didn't know what to be prepared for. She had rope as well as some supplies that she could make a torch out of if she needed it. Some food and water, of course.

Right. Taking a deep breath, she left her apartment, heading for the caves Anteros had designated on his map.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Though she wasn't terrific at map reading, she had managed to figure out what she hoped was the cave she was looking for. It was a long trek, but she would do anything for Anteros. He and their son meant the world to her. And, by extension, Venus meant much to her as well. Had the goddess not allowed mere mortals to dance with her sons and daughters, Yukiko would likely still be alone.

She sighed softly and smiled. Yes, she was prepared to do whatever she had to do to help her darling Anteros find his mother. This time there would be no hesitations.

She hiked her way to the bottom of the mountains and looked up at them. Somewhere, in one of those caves, Anteros believed his mother was being kept. In one of those caves, if she was very very lucky, she would find Venus. She just hoped she could find the goddess before something else found her.  

[FA Eros]

The Mountains were not terribly friendly.

Perhaps it was something she knew well, considering her son's familiarity with the North Wind -- and the fact it originated from the Mountains. No matter what Yukiko did, she would find it difficult to avoid the winds and the cold that she was trudging through the closer she got to the required location--according to the perhaps hastily drawn map, anyway.

Still, despite their reputation, it was almost serenely quiet. Besides for the winds, there was not terribly much else up here other than the white of the snow drifts and the occasional Solamir fairies buzzing by with some kind of goods or another in their hand.

She would find that while the caves were more distant here than they were lower on the mountains, there were still quite a few in this area, so it perhaps would not be so easy as just locating and entering the obviously correct one. Yukiko was going to have to do some looking.

In the general area she was in, she would find three caves. There was one nearly buried behind a snow drift, with a narrow entrance that quickly seemed to descend into darkness. She would likely need her torch to find her way through this one.

The one nearest to her was the clearest, and she could see quite far into it. The walls appeared icy, the ground looking equally as slick. It seemed like it might be easy to slip, though in such a featureless cave, it was hard to tell what other dangers might be existing the further in she went.

The third had the largest opening, but the ground and walls seemed the most jagged and unstable. If she neared, Yukiko would notice a small rock fall from the ceiling to the ground.

Strawberri Stardust

Yukiko will need to make a decision about a direction and start venturing into the caves! Please write her dealing with the obstacles in front of her.

 

[Dragon Berri]

The wind bit and snapped at Yukiko as she climbed up the mountain. It was strangely quiet up here, except for a few of the mountain fairies and the wind of course. Once she'd gotten to a big enough ledge to rest her limbs, Yukiko pulled out a poncho from her bag. She hoped it would keep her warm enough as she ventured through the caves.

A little more climbing had Yukiko at the mouths of three caves. Oh lovely. She wondered which one she should choose. Huddling into her poncho, she took a closer look at the one on her left. It was half covered with a snowdrift...and she'd definitely need the torch down there.

The second cave looked slippery, and like it would be hard to travel on its icy floors.

The last one looked the most dangerous. As she leaned in closer a rock fell from the ceiling of it. She squeaked and jumped back.

Right! Time to pick a cave. If she were keeping someone hostage....she'd want to use the cave that looked the most dangerous...to keep others from venturing in there to save them. Okay, so now she knew which cave she was going to choose. Taking a deep, steadying breath, Yukiko stepped carefully into the third cave.

No hesitation this time.  

[FA Eros]

Luckily for the already-ponchoed Yukiko, that was likely going to be enough to keep her warm in this cave. The biting winds appeared to pass over the cave, remaining outside and blowing westward in the direction of the other caves.

That was, perhaps, the only thing that was lucky about this path.

Yukiko would quickly notice that this cave was not particularly stable. Any sudden movements would cause rocks to fall from the ceiling and to the ground. Larger movements would cause larger rocks to fall, possibly piling up around her, or landing on her head.

The snowy angel would need to venture forward cautiously.

Strawberri Stardust

Yukiko can explore for things that might help her journey, continue straight-forward, or even call for assistance! Whatever she chooses to do, though, she must be careful. Too many unexpected movements could cause her more trouble.

 

[Dragon Berri]

Yukiko tip-toed through the cave, careful not to make too much noise. "H-hello?" she called quietly. "Venus?" Okay that was more hopeful than anything, because there was no way she'd find the goddess so soon. She peeked around her surroundings, but she didn't see anything that might be worth picking up.

She ventured straight forward deeper into the cave. "Anyone here?" she wondered quietly.  

[Dragon Berri]

As hard as she tried to ignore it, the cave was giving her the heebie jeebies. Not just because it looked like the cave could collapse on her at any moment. Or that it was dark....and cold....and creepy.

Nope. She was trying so hard to ignore all that. While her mind worked to not think about that creepy feeling, her skin was already crawling with ohmygodspleasenotspiders!!!! Clutching her poncho closer around her, she allowed herself a shiver to course down her spine.

She closed her eyes for a moment and took a deep breath in an attempt to steady herself. She couldn't give in to her fear. She had to do this, for Anteros at the very least.  

[FA Eros]

It was definitely dark, cold, and creepy. Perhaps there were spiders. This cave had that much going for it in spades.

As she walked, she would notice that rocks were now rolling downhill as they fell from the ceilings and the walls. This consequentially made it a bit darker -- but as the winds were far away, some of the cold was beginning to disappear. Then again, perhaps it was just the warmth of the Earth starting to reach her inside the cave.

If Yukiko took a few moments to look around, she may start to notice scraps around on the ground. It seemed like someone had been here recently. Perhaps ... someone with blue feathers, like the one she just stepped on?

Strawberri Stardust

 

[Dragon Berri]

The further she walked into the cave, the more she noticed the floor beginning to slope downhill. Along with rocks rolling down alongside her feet. She stepped more carefully now, watching the floor of the cave for anything that might cause her to trip. Except it was getting darker...maybe she should pull her torch things out...

She squeaked a bit as she stepped on something strange. Wait... She frowned and bent down to pick it up. Her eyes widened as she looked at the feather she held in her hand. "Anteros?" Her voice wavered with concern and fear as her eyes widened. Standing up again, she moved faster, deeper into the cave. "Anteros, are you here?" she called, trying to be loud enough to be heard but not so loud as to cause a cave in.  

[FA Eros]

Her calls would heed nothing. If she wanted answers, she would have to explore deeper in the unstable cave.

On the path, she may find a familiar item -- a bottle of ale, similar to the ale that Yukiko had been asked to 'liberate' last year. Perhaps she should pick it up?

Strawberri Stardust

No signs of Anteros here! She's gonna need to keep going.

 

[Dragon Berri]

She kept moving deeper into the cave, her concern moving her feet faster than was probably wise, but she needed to know, needed to find Anteros. Or y'know. Venus. Since that was who Anteros had sent her to find. But the feather she clutched in her hand didn't belong to the goddess of love.

A few feet further and she found a bottle of ale. "What..." she bent to pick it up and frowned. This looked like one of the bottles Venus had sent her for last year. Something was wrong...she just didn't know what it was yet.

With the feather in one hand and the bottle of ale in the other, Yukiko continued forward with a new conviction in her steps. She just knew that someone was messing with them and she was determined to find out who, and why.  

[FA Eros]

It was dark, very dark, and no light seemed to reach down here.

Not even her torch, when lit, seemed to do much good. The darkness seemed impenetrable, though there was one thing that remained. The rocks fell, she could still hear their sounds echoing off the walls, bouncing back and forth and between.

Strawberri Stardust

Perhaps something is messing with them? She's gonna need to figure out how to navigate down here! Good luck.

 

[Dragon Berri]

As the cave grew darker, Yukiko paused long enough to pull her torch materials out of her bag and light it. Not...that it seemed to do much. She sighed softly and closed her eyes. The rocks still fell, still echoed off the walls. Walls. Opening her eyes again, she shuffled along the floor of the cave to one side, arm outstretched until her fingers touched cold stone. Perfect.

Keeping her hand on the wall, she continued to move forward.  

[Dragon Berri]

The deeper into the cave she went, the more nervous she became. To keep her nerves from overwhelming herself, she began to hum a lullaby, something she'd sung to Adelphos when he was a baby. It always comforted him, and it soothed her nerves now.

She kept going forward, deeper into the cave. The lack of finding anything else breathing (besides what could have been spiders) down here was both encouraging and disheartening.What if she'd chosen the wrong cave? She had been assured by the things she'd found thus far, but how could she be sure they hadn't been planted?