sticksandbones | [CLOSED] let's go get lost

[The mushrooms disappear, the monster transformations go with them, and the bright idea of the hour is to go camping in the mountains. Y'know, the place that only Timekeeper Cookie had ever visited. The place Zonari is really obsessed with? The place that takes a whole week to walk through with the Golden Glasses? Yeah buddy let's go that way. At least the walk doesn't feel like it's been a week. We love time being fucked up!

The mountains are covered, covered, in various mineral veins that jut out of the ground. They're sharp and pointy, and Ain wonders just how far they can go before the crystals get too sharp and too clustered and block the path and/or cut them to ribbons. Hm.

He points to a cave opening in the side of the mountain on the ground as they approach, squished between two sharp clusters of quartz or selenite or one of those white sorts of rocks.]

Do we want to set up camp in there? That looks cozy.

[It's the mouth of a cave it's not cozy it's going to be WET and COLD]

[God it's so nice to not have fur anymore. Or like. Actual hands. You never realize how much you miss your hands until you have paw-hands for a good two months straight. So, you know what? Why DON'T they celebrate this by going camping in the middle of fuck-off nowhere? Camping, roughing it...Wolfwood's in his element. Something tells him that out of the three of them, Ezell might struggle a little, but what does he know maybe the guy is a secret camping savant or something. He only knows Ain knows his way around a campfire because the El Search Party just does that a lot.

Of course, just because you've been camping before doesn't mean you're necessarily smart about it.]

Cozy because it's dark, maybe. But I guess a cave is better than the ground out in the open, assumin' that one ain't just full of standing water.

[ Ezell is... well, a little out of his element. After all, he's a rich boy. Camping was always done in that rich, bougie sort of way for him. But he has gone camping before. As such, he's done his part to prepare, and has even chugged along a rather large backpack with things they'll need. Some food, in case they can't find anything to eat out here, and some things to make their trip out here more comfortable.

That said, he super doesn't know how to pick out a campsite that isn't already set up and ready to go, so, uh- ]

We can test it out, at least. If it's only damp and not full of water or anything like that, out tent should be able to keep the ick out~.

Haha, it probably won't be~. Don't worry about it.

[Well, it's still a little bit wet when he pokes his head into it, but that's to be expected from caves. It's mostly-dry, and their tent has a bottom, so it shouldn't be that much of an issue. There's juuust enough space for them to set it up and have room to amble about, as well as light a campfire without immolating anything. Stalactites made of more of those white stones hang from the ceilings, and it's sufficiently dark in here to boot. Dark and cold.

Ain uses his magic to light it up for now, the yellow Edel Eids floating after him. Wheeeee.]

See?

[Dark, cold...mmm sounds like camping alright.

Wolfwood carefully shifts his weight onto his good foot just in case his prosthetic decides to treat the slippery cave floor like a slip-n-slide, folding his arms across his chest as he gives the interior a once over.]

Not the most comfortable but it beats the elements. Might as well go 'head and drop that stuff here.

[Said to Ezell, still carrying his huge backpack.]

Ya'll ready to learn how to make a fire with your bare hands?

[ Ezell begins immediately by not putting his stuff down on the cold, wet, dirty floor, thank you very much. Instead, he eyeballs out the area, and stomps a bit on some of the parts that's more dirt than rocks to make it flatter, and moving aside any loose stone that's too sharp or large or bumpy.

Once finished, he just reaches around to grab at the tied up tarp to the side of his hiking bag. He unravels it simply by taking one end and throwing it out like one does their own bedsheets, and lets it flutter to the ground. It flattens fairly easily, and only then is he content enough to put his bag down. ]

Oh, I have charcoal, if you'd like it to last some time. Since Mister Enciodes passed along the animals to me, I have to take care of them now, and some of them eat coal and charcoal. Flamebringer is kind of having a blast having something to intentionally burn.

[ He pulls out a tuna can with a very charred piece of wood slathered with alcohol inside. ] I have about three of these, but they're easy enough to make even while we're out here. They burn for about two hours and will make using our camping stove easy.

You make it with your bare hands? I just use magic.

[Ain is not Flamebringer, definitely not, but he knows enough fire magic to make a tiny flame. Realistically it's always one of the siblings or Aisha making their fire... sometimes they can skid a stick off Raven's arm if he's overheated and act like he's a matchbox, but he apparently "doesn't like that". Ain thinks it's funny, though.

Now that they can put stuff down, though, Ain will help out with what he was carrying, though...]

Camping stove? We have a stove? Isn't that too large to fit in a bag?

[Local man does not know what a camping stove is, please advise.]

Y'think I had magic back in the desert to make a fire with?

[Wolfwood sighs, rubbing the back of his neck just as Ezell starts pulling out some of his bougie camping supplies. He had a feeling he had something stuffed in that giant bag of his, but an entire camping stove...?

He'll take the can Ezell is holding so he can give it a closer once over, turning it over between his fingers.]

Look, if ya'll wanna use fancy shit that's fine, but knowin' how to make a fire with only what you can find around you is smart. What if the Forest decided to teleport you out in the middle of nowhere with no charcoal- [He wiggles the can.] -and no magic? What would you do then?

It's just a camping stove, love. Here, it's not that big. [ He takes out a bag full of metal plates. Essentially to make something not all that big. ] It has to be assembled, of course, but like this it's easier to carry.

But now is a good time for Ain to teach that to us, too, right? Since we share his magic? And besides, it's simple enough to make a fire! Even if I didn't have my gun for gunpowder — which would never happen, to be clear, this is just hypothetical — I would just find pyrolusite and oxidize it for potassium permanganate. Which is an important material anyway for purifying water, so it's important to have on hand.

[ As such, Ezell produces a small jar of fine black powder. Presumably said potassium permanganate. As well as a clear, smaller bottle of a clear liquid, clearly labelled "GLYCERIN". ]

And you need sugar alcohol. This is pure glycerin, but you can use the impure kind from plant oils for starting a fire just fine. It also works to treat insect bites, sunburns, and a moisturizer~

[ Ezell scoops out a bit of the black powder to put on a second charcoal can he pulls out, and sets it down. He makes a little divot in the powder with his thumb and takes a little bit of the glycerin to fill the divot with. ]

And then we'll give it a minute!

Edited 2025-07-21 00:26 (UTC)

Aah... I feel like I'm talking to Mr. Crane or Mr. Pirate, and one of those people is with God now...

[Gnosis voice: stop telling everybody I'm dead

Ain's dragon tail droops a bit as he tries his hardest to process what Ezell is saying. He basically gets the gist of "combine two things make fire" but the terminology is lost on him. What is this about a pomegranate...? Why can pomegranate be moisturizer? Help.

He sits down by the stove and nods to the others when Ezell is done.]

I can show you how my magic works, yeah. Uh. ...so.

[Ain has never explained this before. Um. Help.]

When I do magic, I imagine... The thing I want to use. It's called Projection Magic, my specific type. So if I wanted a spear, I'd focus on gathering the energy around me into a spear. Or a flame, I focus on what fire feels like and the thought of heat and warmth.

...

This is really hard to explain. Can you guys try tapping into the necklaces and seeing if they feel different if you think about something like fire? It's a lot of willpower to cast something. You have to... You have to think about it very hard, and then force it outwards like you're blowing out a candle, maybe...?

[Ezell certainly means well, but "it's simple enough to make a fire" causes Wolfwood to make a face like he's eaten a lemon. Yeah, it's easier if you have exactly everything you need to make a fire, but he still wouldn't call it simple. He's had days where no matter what he tried, he just couldn't get a damn fire to light because the conditions weren't right, or the kindling wasn't dry enough, or this or that was causing issues.

To that end, he ends up flopping into a sit with a grunt, huffing as he looks off to the side and pulls out his lighter, flipping the top with his thumb while he rummages around for his cigarettes with the other hand.]

Yaknow you coulda' just told me you didn't want me to show you.

[He grumbles that under his breath as he flicks the lighter, causing the flame to spark to life as Ain's explaining how his magic works. Think about it very hard, then force it outwards...

He still won't really know what the fuck he did even after it happens- maybe it's because he's grumpy because he wanted to make a fire the old fashioned way because it's literally the One Thing he knows how to do that he could teach them- but without warning, the flame burning from the lighter suddenly WOOSHES out several feet straight up into the air, a plume of flame that the little thing absolutely shouldn't be capable of making, happening for just a split second before it sputters and dies, prompting Wolfwood to drop it with alarm after snapping it shut. He can feel where the flame scalded his fingers just a little with its intensity, but otherwise he's unharmed.]

Shit-!

[ Ezell jumps a bit at the fire, as he's seconds from reaching over to try and comfort Wolfwood. How's it feel that both boys here can feel your emotions, buddy? Still, he's careful to reach out again after the lighter is dropped. ]

Are you okay? That was scary-

[ POP!

The materials Ezell put on the charcoal have melted together and now with a loud sound, there's fire. It sparks it life with a small flash and now the tuna can with the charcoal is aflame. Yaaay- ]

[There is now So Much Fire in here. Help—

Ain does feel Wolfwood pinging "aaaa" into their emotion link and frowns, not really getting it until he grouses about not being able to share. He supposes he could have made his intention to ask Wolfwood about it more clear, but he'd been so distracted by trying to teach them how to Willpower Externalize Fire that he didn't try. Oops... of course, the results of this are that Wolfwood accidentally taps into the part of Ain's magic that's entirely controlled by his emotions, and thus...

Thus.]

Um! That was really good and all, but also not exactly what I meant...!

[He was thinking little flame, like. Candleflame.]

But that was a great first attempt! You could really light a fire with that! You should show me how you wanted t— [And then Ezell's mini charcoal bomb detonates and Ain jumps like, several inches off the ground.] —hello?!

[Wolfwood sure hates the way his feelings are just magnified across this link they now share, because he can't really help the way he feels sometimes, even if he's pretty good at burying it for the most part. It's when he gets frustrated or angry that he's still really not good at hiding. He's learned a lot of tips from Mizuki, but that only helps so much when you've got people who can still sense it from a mile away regardless.

Anyway, Wolfwood shakes off his hand before sticking the edge of his thumb between his lips for a minute, grimacing.]

I didn't mean't-

[But that's around the same time that both of them are startled nearly out of their skins when Ezell's fire suddenly starts. There is fire, they have doned it, but wow it also sure sounded like a mini-explosion in the confines of these cave walls. Wolfwood is very glad he's not a wolf for real anymore, otherwise he's pretty sure his ears would have been ringing for the next hour.]

S'it supposed to blow up like that??

[ Honestly, the explosion doesn't scare Ezell in the slightest. He's expecting that, after all. He pulls his hand off Wolfwood's shoulder and just begins pulling out the pieces for the stove. ]

Yes, of course. That's how the fire is made. It's a relatively small reaction, though, don't worry. The sound is a lot worse than it is. And look, with the charcoal, this'll burn for some time. If we're able to get oil from plants around here, we might even be able to smear it on the other charcoal cans for an even longer lived flame.

That said, I could put this one out if you want to show your way, Wolfwood. I'm interested in our different methods all around! Isn't that the fun of camping? Or I could start putting the tent up, if you'd prefer that...

Don't put it out, you made a whole explosion about it... Nikolaus can just show us his method real quick. I'm sure it's something similar to what the El Search Party does when we camp, but you should show us anyway.

[He's going to grab Wolfwood's singed little fingers and mwah mwah mwah them. They don't need to be healed, it looks like, but they get smooched anyway.]

And... maybe I show you guys how to do non-fire magic first, just in case... I can't restore your eyebrows if you fry them off, haha~.

[Not his singed fingers...he's fine though, despite appreciating Ain's kisses all the same. He sighs and takes off his shades for a moment, folding one of the legs through the neck of his shirt so he can better see what he's doing in the semi-gloom of the cave with the light from Ezell's fire flickering between them.]

I always had at least a piece of flint and steel on me, back home.

[He pulls out the dagger that Gnosis gifted him from somewhere on his hip, and then out of one of his pockets comes a little chunk of flint he'd brought for the occasion.]

But you can do it with just two sticks if you got enough time and patience, it just fuckin' sucks ass. You literally rub 'em together hard and fast enough to cause the wood to smoke, and if you do it right you can get your kindling to catch fire. But if you can make a spark...

[He holds the chunk of flint carefully against his palm, bringing it near a little cluster of kindling that he'd been sort of poking at while they were talking, having gathered it bit by bit on the walk up this way. It takes a couple of attempts, striking the blade down across the flint in a way that causes sparks to kick off of it onto the dry grass, until eventually the sparks catch and begin to smoke, prompting him to lean forward and cup a hand around it. He'll blow on it and carefully push the kindling around a bit until a fire properly starts, allowing him to feed it with a few sticks. It won't last long without more fuel, but it's enough to demonstrate.]

I've never been all that good at using flint and steel personally. But… maybe just the feeling of metal scraping gives me the ick. [ Local gun enthusiast gets squicked out by metal scraping, more at 11. ] But… umm… here, can I see your necklace for just a moment?

[ He's blindly holding his hand out as he digs through his bag. ]

Can't you do it with two rocks, too? You bang them together until they make sparks or something.

[The tip of his tail wags. Wow, fire! Not wanting to be left out, Ain holds up his hand, pointer finger extended to the ceiling, and a tiny flame ignites at the tip of it. Unlike what Ezell may be used to with Flamebringer, though, this one is made of El Energy. The magic signature is ~different~ okay. And it's also a bit glowier in the ethereal sense. Ain's magic is quite strange.]

I just do this. And then I go— [he sets his finger at the edge of the kindling until it lights.] Boop! Haha~.

Ezell, did you want my necklace too? [you know the one with the five fucking pendants on it]

Well, that's why you use the sticks. It's a suckier method, but it still works if you got the patience for it.

[As for just hitting two rocks together, Wolfwood isn't entirely sure. Can you make a spark like that? Probably if you tried hard enough, but it feels like it could be even more unreliable than the stick method somehow.

He raises a brow when Ezell asks for his necklace, unsure what he's getting at, but he'll take it off with one hand and hand it over.]

You're alright, love. [ He takes Wolfwood's necklace, though, and begins to dig around in his camping bag. Apparently, he was prepared for things he didn't even need to be prepared for. Overachiever. He starts pulling things out for the tent, mostly to get them out of the way to look in the bag, but also because he should start setting that up after all this.

He attaches a flint striker to his necklace and hands it over with a smile. ]

There. How's that? I don't have anything cooler, I'm afraid, but…

[Ain peers over the edges of Ezell's fingertips to see what he has, then looks back at Wolfwood as if Wolfwood is going to mindbeam it into his head.]

What is it?

[Watches Ezell hand the necklace back to Wolfwood like !!!!]

[Oh...

Wolfwood, a little surprised that Ezell is just carrying the fucking World with him apparently, takes his necklace back and turns the flint striker over between his fingers.]

It's a piece of flint n' steel, made to be all portable n' junk. ...it's a ruler too, I guess.

[...]

I can have this?

[ Ain is going to get a little pat pat on his head. Sorry, Ezell doesn't have fun knickknacks for you. Not yet, anyway. He might stumble across something his beloved wants, but for right now, he can at least have little hair ruffles. ]

Mmh, you said you used to have it on you all the time, right? Well, now you can be comfortable knowing you do. Especially if that magic stuff doesn't come easily.

[ He wants to be helpful. He also feels bad that apparently Wolfwood wanted to show them Cool Survival Hacks!!!! and has been shut down by two boys who either camp all the time (Ain) or just know too much about chemistry for making bombs (Ezell). ]

Now, Ain, wanna help me set up the stove, and I can show you guys how it works? It's really nothing more than a metal box that makes it easier to put your pans and such over for cooking and staying warm...

[Hair ruffles are just as fun as trinkets in this essay Ain w—

He scoots across the ground toward the stove, looking over at Wolfwood with a smile before he turns back to Ezell.]

Okay, but you're going to have to show me how. I'm not good with mechanical things.

[Babe it's a stove.]

...Nikolaus, you lived in a place with no foliage for a long time, so how did you even start fires? It's not like there are dead sticks or anything around, right?

[Ngl, Wolfwood feels kindof Bad now for bitching, but that kindof tends to be the way it goes with him. At least he's learning!

He will take that part of his necklace and carefully tuck it inside his shirt for safekeeping, though.]

Well yeah, the desert was mostly sand. But there're people who live in cities that have plants that can grow a limited variety of shit, so if you need wood you're more likely than not gonna get it from a wanderin' trader. I usually tried to keep some supplies like that on me if I was gonna be on the road for a while.

[ Feeling bad isn't legal!!! Ezell was just trying to help. :(

Realistically, he knows that Ain's world and Wolfwood's world and his own world are all vastly different. Their idea of what's needed for camping is vastly different from Ezell's. Yes, there's the bougie shit, which Ezell is currently pointing at the metal stove to set up for Ain. It is very small and simple, actually. Ezell could've opted for a gas camping stove or something really extra like that, but he had to give up some of the fancy stuff to make space in his pack. And, since it's the middle of summer, he didn't bother bringing something to go in the tent, either. No real need to keep themselves warm beyond blankets and such, right?

But more than that, Ezell realistically didn't need to bring all the catastrophe gear. He knows it's less likely to get those here than on Terra, but he wants to be sure. It's good practice, at least. He can't be leaving that stuff when he goes back to Rhodes. ]

So... where you lived, it was... all desert?

[Y'all will regret not bringing a campfire when you have to feel Ain's cold hands all night.]

I saw some of it the last time our memories got conjoined. Nikolaus was wandering in the desert, and then he used his big gun's laser to slice a giant monster in half. And then he ate it~.

[He laughs, lightly, and continues trying his level best to set up this stove. Ezell will have to carefully instruct him here, because Ain and technology are not homies. This legally counts as technology.]

[Bro you say that like that's NOT their master plan.

Wolfwood sighs though, propping his chin up against the heel of his hand as he looks off to the side.]

I mean...yeah, that did happen. Y'see, the "big monster" he's referrin' to...the planet belongs to them. Us humans are just passerby. You could call us parasites on their land, not the other way around.

The world was never meant to be hospitable to people like us, but it's what we're stuck with for right now.

[ Were Mizuki here, he might say, "oh, worm?" or something like that. Which is multiple layers of funny that no one would get except him and Sesa. Alas. ]

I see. [ He wants to ask "are you going back home, then? After this?" but figures that line of questioning would stress Ain out. He tries his best to word it in such a way that might be easier on his anxious love, but before he's able to...

There's the sound of an explosion off in the distance. ]

!

Oh! I think we've got food~

[That line of questioning would make Ain explode, yeah. We're trying to avoid Ain exploding, sort of like dinner did outside. Which, speaking of, Ain's head whips around toward the cave entrance like he's expecting an attack, and he makes to get up until what Ezell says actually registers.

...

Hello—]

Did you... set traps...? [Did you set traps with bombs, Ezell? Is that what that is??]

[Wolfwood jumps, looking over as well with an expression that is honestly hilarious.]

T- Traps?! That wasn't a trap, that was an explosion!

[You BLEW UP their food??]

I did. And explosions can be traps, Wolfwood, don't be like that. Isn't it better if we know when they go off, anyway?

[ Ezell is already standing up to prepare to bring back exploded dinner. ]

["Don't be like that" he says...]

Haha, we'll keep the stove-thingy burning while you're gone.

[Ain at least understands how to poke hot coals to keep the fire burning, although he isn't entirely sure he has to with technology like this? As Ezell leaves, Ain says softly:]

Camping equipment from other worlds sure is interesting, huh Nikolaus?

[Yeah, fortunately it seems that this stove will probably stay burning without issue even long before Ezell gets back. Its efficient that way in the way that a regular campfire more than likely isn't.]

Yeah...kinda makes me wish I had it back home. Woulda' made dinner a whole lot quicker, that's for sure.

[ Ezell will return a little bit later with the remains of what was once a biblically accurate deer with scorched fur at the front and definitely missing it's front two legs and part of its jaw. Gross! And yet Ezell is hauling it back like it's not an issue. ]

This might be too much meat for us~ But I'm sure we can make some good meals from this, for sure!

[...that poor mangled creature. Holy shit.]

Are you gonna skin it and do all the prep stuff? We could probably bring some meat back with us. I can use my ice magic to preserve it until then.

[He's no Gnosis, but he does know how to freeze things solid, okay?]

I actually don't know much about skinning animals. [That was not his job.] And they have guts that you have to take out, right?

[He can hear Aisha and Add screaming from here, he swears.]

[Oh god. Wolfwood is no stranger to mangled corpses, but given it was exploded, he's kindof surprised it's not worse off for wear. He makes a low "eugh" sound.]

Anythin' that's alive does, babe.

[Wolfwood leans back on one hand, giving the carcass a once-over.]

I've carved up a worm before, but never a mammal that wasn't a bird. Can't be too different though, right?

[CLOSED] let's go get lost

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