riverviewlogs | [closed] mission: carnivorous harvest

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[closed] mission: carnivorous harvest

who: hana song, genji shimada, x'rhun tia, shigeru miyata, keith, shiro
what: the carnivorous harvest mission
when: sept. 15-18
where: the jungle; outside of the abandoned city walls
warnings: none foreseen; will update as necessary

TRAVELING, CAMPING

[ It’s early in the morning when the team sets out from the Perimeter Guard’s base of operations; they have a long ways to go to reach the jungle, which lays beyond the outerwall that surrounds the abandoned city. The Guard has equipped them with supplies for traveling, including camping gear, containers for collecting the Lababerries in, and of course the information they need to reach their destination within the jungle.

Passing through the abandoned city before reaching the outer wall is quicker than the traveling they will do outside of the wall; while the abandoned city is grown over, there were still paths that were relatively clear for the party to travel along – there won’t be much of that out in the jungle. That does not, however, preclude any sudden appearance of the monsters that may have broken through the outer perimeter of the city.

Traveling concludes during when night falls, which puts the team just within the confines of the city: it would be easier for them to take on what may lie beyond the fence once they’ve rested for a night. They camp out around what would have been an old house on some small plot of farmland at the very outskirts of what would have been settled before the Quarantine was compromised. At the very least, it provides some solid shelter in the event of a freak weather event, but vines and other vegetation have overtaken it to the point that it was really barely a shell of its former structure. The area around it is open and well-suited for setting up tents and a fire and everything else.

Members of the team, of course, take turns keeping watch through the night.

The plan would be to find a suitable campsite for the following evening within the jungle but away from the area where the Lababerry plants grow; it wouldn’t be wise to camp near carnivorous plants, after all, although there’s nothing to say that there aren’t other dangers lurking within the jungle. After examining the search area and locating the plants, they would harvest the fruits and then journey back, likely making this a four-day trip in total. ]

SURVEYING THE SITE

[ After about half of a day’s travel into the jungle from the outer perimeter, they reach an area that had been marked down as habitat for the Lababerry-growing, carnivorous plants. The party will have to make camp at least some distance away come nightfall lest they be eaten in their sleep, but in the meantime they can get to work by surveying the habitat area and pinpointing the locations of the plants; both for data collection purposes and to make it easier for the seasonal harvest that will take place once the plants are once-again dormant because, in an environment as rapidly-growing as the forests outside of the Quarantine, things are constantly changing.

The Lababerry plants grow on a shrub that enjoys the shade and dampness of the jungle’s understory. At first glance, it is almost indistinguishable from most other plants growing beneath the large trees, but closer inspection would reveal the Lababerries themselves growing in clusters directly along the shrub’s stems. But closer inspection would get your hand and/or face possibly bitten off by the leaves also growing on the stems. They appear to be completely unsuspecting until someone gets too close, at which point the leaves split and reveal toothy openings much like a venus flytrap’s that can elongate and extend from the stem almost like a vine, and snapping at its prey much like a snapping turtle. So, good luck fighting off the plants while making sure the berries stay in tact (which probably means less fire and explosions, more hacking and slashing). The goal, for now, would merely be to observe the plants’ behavior and come up with a good strategy for harvesting later.

Oh, and making sure the party doesn’t get attacked by any of the other monsters dwelling in the jungle. ]

HARVEST

[ After a day of surveying and clearing the area of any outside threads, it’s time to harvest! If the team has prepared sufficiently the previous day, this should be the easiest part of the mission! Hopefully. Barring, again, any angry monsters coming through.

Using the information they gathered on the plants and coming up with a good way to extract the fruits, the team will have to fight the plants without completely destroying them to leave enough crops for the next harvest season and collect them in the containers provided by the Guard before making their journey back toward the inhabited area of the city. ]

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

[Shiro wasn't going to take that victory away from her. She was proud of it so he couldn't say anything]

Yep. Just putting them together. We need to loop some of them through the slots in the tent to keep the fabric up.

[He made sure the bottom pieces were centered correctly before starting to help arrange the sides for easy construction]

Yeah, it does. Completely different than what we normally do.

[ She nodded and got to it, snapping pieces together to connect them and handing them to Shiro as he arranged the sides so he could demonstrate how to slip and loop what would be the frames holding the tent up through the slots he'd mentioned. And in the process, she said, ]

And everyone on the team gets along, so that's good. I was kinda worried about going away for a few days, but it would've been so much worse if we ended up with anyone who wasn't a good player, you know? And I get to be on a mission with Genji!

[ There was a smile on her lips, then - she really, really held Genji in high regard and respected him, and she felt comfortable conveying as much to Shiro, since she knew the two of them had already known each other before this mission. ]

[Shiro did indeed demonstrate the last bit of putting the tent together when she handed him the polls. It wasn't too complicated, but just right to make sure the sides stayed up and of course didn't leak]

Yeah, that's a good thing. Always better that a team work together. Sometimes it takes some time, but this group seems to be getting along without having to do much work. So Genji is from your world but you have never worked with him before?

[ She'd put a lot of stock into how easily the team got along in the fact that many had seemed to be friends already before the mission. X'rhun was one of her roommates before she and Genji moved out of communal housing, and he'd been asking for her tech advice ever since. Then there was Keith and Shiro, of course, and Genji, and Shigeru&mdash— was friends with Genji. (And Hana knew that her roommate had feelings for their glasses-wearing party member. So you know.)

But speaking of their cyborg ninja friend, Hana's face lights up at Shiro's question and she was going about a mile a minute in her answer. ]

Yeah! Genji and I are from the same world, but we never met there. I didn't really get to travel outside of Korea, except for some competitions back when I was a pro, but after I joined the army I only really traveled in Asia. But Genji is— he's kind of like a superhero, you know? Well, he used to be. He was in this organization called Overwatch back in the day before it got disbanded and said he was kind of just traveling around after that, so. He's pretty cool!

[If Keith and Shiro hadn't gotten along there was a problem. Their lions might have been an issue, but since they took their cues from their paladins, they could tell if the situation required them to react. Since Shiro was going about things as if this were normal, Black had decided to just camp out and observe.

Her description of Genji brought a smile to Shiro's face. It was hard to realize things about people when you only just met them randomly so it was interesting to get a third person perspective of them]

Really? I wouldn't have even guessed. It definitely seems like he's been involved in a lot, but he didn't tell me about all of that. That's good to know.

[ She nods, but for a second she put their work down so she could fold her arms and hum thoughtfully. ]

Yeah, he's not the type to just say that kind of thing out of the blue. I think to him, all the stuff he did with Overwatch is kinda 'in the past,' you know? I didn't know him back then, like I said, but I think he's more at peace with himself now than before.

[Shiro sat back on his heels as she put the stuff down. He knew she was thinking but he was getting hot out in the jungle still in his full suit of armor so he began to remove the white pieces of his armor]

He did seem to have a lot figured out when I spoke with him. I wouldn't imagine that he would talk about things of his past, especially when there was something that clearly happened.

[Given Genji's physical state, something had to have happened]

... Yeah.

[ Shiro was right on the mark. Hana had learned a little more about his past when the two of them sat and dyed Genji's hair green and a section of hers pink, but since then she hadn't been sure how to bring it up again.

In any case, she watched him start to remove his armor even as she talked - because she was curious about how the Paladin armor worked, of course. ]

Anyway, I'm glad you and Genji get along! You know, he makes Japanese food sometimes for dinner. You should come over next time he does!

[The armor wasn’t too complicated, but there were a lot of pieces, helmet and various pieces of armor on the arms, torso, and legs. Removing the pieces from his arms and chest revealed the black suit of armor under it. That’s when he opened it, sliding it off his arms, tying it around his waist. Like she had unintentionally showed off to him, he was unintentionally showing off to her now, his chest bare. She would probably be able to see the numerous scars along his torso and arms as well as full length of his metal arm.

He smiled when she said that]

I’d like that. I’ll have to make something as well the next time he does.

[ She watched as he took the pieces of armor of one by one, gaze shifting back and forth from Shiro to the armor set aside, wondering if he'd let her take a closer look at the armor later on.

When she looked back up, her eyes found Shiro's bare skin and. Oh. Okay. That sure was happening. She had seen him like this once before, when they were at the pool during the masquerade, but - the lighting had been dim and weird then and maybe Hana was a little tipsy - so she kinda. Stares. She remembered seeing scars, but seeing them with the light from the campfire cast upon them, she could see them more clearly now.

She snapped out of it when she heard him speak again. Jeez, pull yourself together, Hana. ]

Good! I'll let you know when that happens. Then I can beat you at video games after dinner!

[He'd be happy to let her take a look at his armor more closely later. They were still in the middle of getting set up for the night so it would at least have to wait until then.

He did notice that her gaze seemed to linger a bit when she saw him without the black armor covering his chest. It didn't really give him that much pause. Some of the other paladins jokingly commented on his physique, positive of course. Also he'd notice that other people noticed here as well so he didn't really focus on it.

He chuckles at the last part]

I've been practicing. I might be harder to beat this time.

[Harder. Not claiming she won't beat him]

[ How dare you notice, Shiro.

His claim, at least, manages to be distracting enough from the actual distraction (Shiro's bare chest) because - damn, he was really serious about getting better at games. She did notice that he didn't say he would beat her, just that it might be more difficult for her to. And she... found that she really liked that. For one, that he didn't mind that she kept beating him at games and for another, that he actually worked harder to improve himself even knowing that, honestly, he'd probably never beat her. It was refreshing in a way, when most people either got salty about her wins or sort of just stopped trying. So she smirked at him, humming a bit. ]

Hmmm? What's that? You're trying to make me work harder, Shiro?

[ guys stop flirting you're on a mission ]

Well, the way I look at it, if I'm going to keep losing, it will give me something to shoot for and it will keep you on your toes.

[Video games were something he could afford not to win and in someway that took some of the pressure off it for him. He couldn't afford to lose to Zarkon, to the Galra, to let himself or any of the other paladins be captured. Those were true life and death situations. Playing a shoot 'em up video game to beat zombies or a simulated fighting game where none of the moves made sense and the outfits were impractical to actually fight in was not something he needed to be worried about. Maybe that's why it was easier for him to keep trying and still accept losing to her gracefully. It was something he was allowed to lose at.

Plus it let him spend time with Hana]

I shouldn't make it easy, right?

[ Hana would be glad for allowing him some time to goof off and let loose. She knew - or at least hoped - that he had fun whenever they played together, but if she knew it somehow gave him some peace of mind... she'd gladly play games with him whenever he wanted or needed to.

It let her spend time with him, too.

She smirked at him, chuckling a bit. ]

Well, yeah. It's exactly like you said - if you made it easy I'd just get bored. And you wouldn't want me to get bored with you, would you?

[ She even threw in a wink! ]

[He chuckled at that too]

No of course I wouldn't want you to get bored. Who knows. Maybe I'll actually be a challenge for you.

[These two really do need to stop flirting when there are important things to be done. Like you know, putting together the tents like they are supposed to so people can sleep tonight]

[ what tents ]

Wow. That's pretty big talk, Shiro. I've gone up against the best pros in the world, you know. Think you can keep up?

[Tents? What tents? I don't see no tents. Everyone has to sleep outside tonight because Shiro and Hana were flirting]

I think I can keep up.

[Or he will die trying]

[ Except for Genji and Shigeru, because we all know that there's already a tent for them somewhere and that they are making good use of that privacy. Good on them!

Shiro and Hana, meanwhile... ]

Uh-huh. Or maybe you just can't get enough of me? [ she teased. ] That's okay, I understand. You're pretty lucky, getting all this one-on-one time with D.Va, you know.

[Oh of course. They probably moved into the first one that Shiro had set up.

That did get a chuckle]

So very modest I see.

[She really did remind him of Lance in someways. Lance would have eventually broken out that ego of his to try and impress someone. However, also like with Lance, Shiro was not intimidated by it. It also helped that "D.Va" was just another name to him. He didn't have a differentiation between Hana and D.Va]

You know, I do think I'm pretty lucky. Not often I get one-on-one time with someone like this.

[Because you know... four younger paladins who eventually turned to him for something or he needed to keep in line. Not to mention Coran, Allura, and this mice.

And now completely on a whim...]

Or maybe you're the one who wants to spend time with me so you can spend more time with the Black Lion.

[Black, in the middle of his watch, made an audible lion grumble at that]

[ She wasn't quite expecting that he's actually roll with the punches; but he did, except that his response sounded way more sincere than she was expecting. Her brows go up a little in surprise, and she found herself smiling a bit bigger.

But then he went on, and she threw her head back and laughed at what he'd said. Yup. She 100% agreed. ]

Oh, yeah, totally. I'm definitely only spending time with you to hang out with the Black Lion.

[ She turned to Black's direction, who was grumbling, and waved at him. ]

It's not like I was already friends with you before Black got here, right? Come on, Shiro. Give yourself some more credit. You're a pretty cool guy!

[He was sincere in his comment about feeling pretty lucky about it. Quarantine had actually been good for him. Yes, he still had something to keep feeling like he was doing something with Perimeter Guard and doing missions, but he'd had the chance to spend more time with people in a way he hadn't in over a year. Including staying up to all hours of the night playing video games with Hana]

Of course you are. I knew it.

[No, he's just kidding really]

Really I do know. Thank you. I really do enjoy spending time with you. You're pretty cool too.

[He gave her a smile. There really was just something about her]

[ Hana didn't think she could ever complain about Shiro enjoying and wanting to spend time with her. He was always incredibly patient even when she kept beating him at games, but he was fun to talk to, too. She knew he was a bit older than her but he didn't treat her like she was a kid who didn't know anything, either. And she liked hearing him talk about space and adventures with Voltron and all that.

There really was just something about him.

She couldn't explain the way her cheeks felt warm at his words, though; of course she was used to people telling her she was cool, but it felt different coming from him. It certainly felt more sincere and heartfelt. ]

Aww... Thanks, Shiro. I like hanging out with you, too. And I'm glad we got put on this mission together.

[ The smile she gave him at that moment was less teasing and much warmer, but only for a moment before she added: ]

I can't wait to see Black in action! And you, too, I guess.

[Shiro would be a hypocrite to comment on her being too young when she was older than most of the other paladins and he trusted Pidge, who was the youngest, with his life. He knew that skill didn't require age. It just had to be and anyone could have it. He liked hearing her talk about the things that she was passionate about even if he wasn't as good at those, along with how she listened to him go on about space.

He gave her a smile back, full of warmth]

I'm glad we got put on this mission together too. I'm sure you will get the chance to see Black in action. It's quite impressive... though I've never seen Black fight without a pilot before.

[Black mentally reassured Shiro that there would not be a problem]

And you guess me too?

[ She smiled back at him - how could she not, the way he was smiling at her like that? Once again, she couldn't explain that flutter in her chest when she saw the way he looked and liked it...

Even if she would continue to tease him with that mischievous look on her face. ]

Yeah, I guess you too. I guess you can kick ass and look cool.

[And she was smiling back at him. It felt rather... nice to see her smiling back at him like that. He didn't know why he liked it so much, but he did]

You guess? I'm pretty sure that I can. I'd think you'd seen some of that with the fire.

[closed] mission: carnivorous harvest

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