2018-12-08 - TIMELINE 1: Chatmobile: Sledding Edition
| Title: Chatmobile: Sledding Edition | |
|---|---|
| Summary: A day of sledding with friends turns into an impromptu rescue mission that goes slightly off course. | |
| Who: | |
| Where: Hokkaido Snowy Island - Ski Course Kubota | |
| OOC - IC Date: 12/8/2018 - 12/25/2018 | |
*********************** Earth - Hokkaido Snowy Island ************************
*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+ Ski Course Kubota +*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+
Hokkaido's mountains have some of the thickest, driest powder anywhere, and
every winter they draw skiers from far and wide. This particular resort is
set into the high-altitude foothills of a majestically-ridged peak,
encrusted year-round with snow. Hardy alpine trees delineate the various
courses from one another, and Kubota offers a good variety thereof, from
bunny slopes to the black-coded expert slope. Oddly, the easiest slope and
the hardest slope are right next to each other. Red metal chairlifts offer
an easy way up to the top.
Beneath the slopes, thick evergreen forests permit hikers to explore the
mountain at a more meditative pace, with the particularly ambitious
utilizing snowshoes to range beyond the path. The resort is some distance
from civilization, requiring a bus to travel up desolate mountain roads, and
so exploring around it reveals a wealth of frozen lakes, shallow caves, and
winter fauna.
Kubota has a lucrative sponsorship with Olympic skier Saeko Yamamoto, who
often winters here while working as a celebrity ski instructor.
<Pose Tracker> Adrien Agreste [Juuban Public School (7)] has posed.
Adrien hadn't been sledding since he was little. He had clear memories of his mom laughing as Adiren accidentally covered his father in snow as he reached the bottom. However, Adrien had a feeling today would be a fun memory too. IT was cold, but not freezing to the point it hurt to be outside. Just enough that it was brisk and kept the snow nice and soft to land in. There was no wind or a storm cloud in the sky, Adrien couldn't have picked a better day to sled, and better yet to do it as the resort where he could do it with two of his good friends.
Adrien laughed as he held up the black sled that had painted cat whiskered and handles that resembled cat ears. "Alright, this sled can hold three people if we don't mind being a bit squished, " he said as he set the sled on the ground. "So, we doing this as a trio or as a pair?"
<Pose Tracker> Marinette Dupain-Cheng [Juuban Public School (7)] has posed.
A good afternoon's shopping and a good night's sleep managed to resurrect Marinette's enthusiasm for the Great Outdoors. She's admittedly yawning a little bit, having been up fairly late with a sewing kit, but she's got her backup boots on and a black scarf to go with her pink jacket. It's a beautiful day, after all, and the Hokkaido adventure won't last forever.
The memories, on the other hand, will.
"...yeah, there's no way I'm forgetting this...construction, Agreste." Marinette gives Adrien a grin as she does a walkaround of the cat-sled, eyebrow in an almost permanent quirk. "Was this the last one left, or is this a rebellion like that time with the pizza parlor? It's just, this sled..."
Reminds her of Chat, a quiet little superheroine in the back of her head pipes up.
Slightly higher-pitched and higher-tempoed, she rapidly finishes. "Just not really what you tend to bring to these sorts of things and maybe I'll just shut up now. Um. Niramo, what do you think? I mean, I guess the three of us could all squish together..."
That'd be fine, right? Sledding with friends.
<Pose Tracker> Niramo Umokeshi [Juuban Public School (7)] has posed.
A mended coat makes all the difference in the world when dealing with the frigid cold. Sure, there was no replacement yet for her trusty scarf, but after everything that's happened, Niramo is just happy to be able to leave the lodge without turning into an ice cube. "Thanks again, Marinette-chan. You made it look so easy..."
Niramo tugs on her sleeve slightly and smiles as the stitches hold strong. If you looked closely enough at the seams, you might be able to see a bit of red-spotted cloth sticking out, but you would need to know where to look at to notice the repair. When you know exactly what you're doing, repairing a coat must be easy!
Niramo tried her hand at sewing once, when her parents wern't home and the sewing machine was just begging to be tried out.
How it froze solid in two stitches is a mystery that will never be solved.
The ski lift makes getting up the mountainside easy, and with how picturesque the day was, it is a day begging to have fun. No one should stay behind when there's enough room. Maybe. They might need to hold on tightly. "Well, I think if we all bunched on board, it should be enough. I might need to go on the back since i'm the...lightest."
There's no way she's admitting she's short out loud. A growth spurt is bound to happen soon!
But Adrien's choice of sled is an interesting one, to say the least. Maybe he was a closet fanboy? Or maybe...Niramo shakes her head, throwing off the thought. Who would be silly enough to try hiding in plain sight? "Maybe Adrien-kun always wanted a sled, but...well, you heard how his dad is!" Now, how were they all getting on board without breaking something?
<Pose Tracker> Adrien Agreste [Juuban Public School (7)] has posed.
Adrien blushes and laughs at the comments as he rubs the back of his neck. "Um..a combo? It was the biggest one I could find, and honestly it was this or the dinosaur and believe me this one was the more sensible of the two." He smirked slightly as he stood. "Also, might be a bit of rebellion. I wanted to ensure he wouldn't try to send a photographer along to take photos of me." He points to the sled. "Think of this as a sled if anything else."
That was the true reason, but Adrien couldn't deny there was a bit of super hero pride in the choice too. If he had his way he would own a catmobile, but a sled would have to do.
Adrien adjusted his scarf and climbed to the front. "I'm assuming I'm the heaviest so I should sit in the front which means," he look to Marinette "you should sit behind me right?" He shot a wink in a friendly teasing matter. "Although if you rather sit in front I won't protest."
<Pose Tracker> Marinette Dupain-Cheng [Juuban Public School (7)] has posed.
At the praise for sewing skills, Marinette flushes a bit. "I'm glad it's working out! Sorry it's not more professional, I'm still trying to learn - I mean I'm not officially learning to be a professional, that'd be a vocational school in a few years that I haven't gotten to-"
A gust of ice-cold wind jolts her out of her babble, and she slaps her own cheeks. "Anyway! I'm glad it worked, Niramo-chan!"
She takes another look at the sled, stepping back to look at both him and his catmobile monstrosity of a sled. A moment's thought, and then she flashes a grin. "Alas, your rebellion is at an end - for a wild photographer has appeared!" In a blink, she's pulled out her cellphone, snapped a photo, and flipped it back into her pocket-
-or she would have, if not for fumbling the phone entirely just as there's another gust of wind. Marinette's luck being what it is, the phone is caught on the breeze, and winds up in a tumble back down the hill. "My...my phone..."
She looks between Adrien and Niramo, friends that they are, and nods firmly before carefully stepping over to the sled. "R-right! Behind you, in front of Niramo-chan, I'll be the sandwich filling - er, I'll be in the middle! ...do you think we can catch my phone?"
A phone shouldn't be light enough to be floating away on the breeze, and yet...
<Pose Tracker> Niramo Umokeshi [Juuban Public School (7)] has posed.
Laughter bursts from Niramo before she could restrain it to a giggle, and she just ends up shaking her head at Marinette. "I'm not too worried about if the colors match or not, as long as the air conditioning on my coat doesn't come on, i'll be happy. I guess that's a perk of not being big on fashion?" As long as things are functional, that's all that matters in her books.
And this is the outlook she has after years of 'lessons' from Yuhira. Sometimes it's a question on if she's even trying to stay with the trends...
Seeing what Marinette was up to, the short Juuban girl runs up to Adrien and sticks her hand behind his back, giving him two bunny ears made out of fingers for the lens. There's always a way to sneak those in if you're prepared for it. But alas, karma strikes back instantly at Marinette for the sudden photo shoot, and now the evidence is going downhill!
Looking down the hill at the escaping phone, then back up at her friend, it takes a moment for her to get her voice. "Marinette-chan, things always seem to snowball out of control with you..."
But all is not lost. After all, they have the means of catching up to that phone and-oh wow, it's really going now. After Marinette climbs aboard Adrien's trusty catmobile, Niramo climbs on behind her and holds onto her friend by the shoulder. "Adrien-kun, I think we have a goal. For the sake of Marinette's phone bill and that poor innocent picture..." A finger is dramatically pointed down the slope, and a energetic grin flashed at the lone boy of the group. "Go as fast as you can!"
Someone must have had some extra sugar for breakfast...
<Pose Tracker> Adrien Agreste [Juuban Public School (7)] has posed.
Adrien places a hand over his heart as Marinette takes out her photo. "No, how could you betray me," he starts to tease only to trail off as the phone falls from her hand and goes down the hill. Adrien blinks. "Huh...you need a better lucky charm Marinette." He snickers at Niramo's pun. "Yes, lady luck tends to act rather cold towards her at times doesn't it?"
Then the girls climb into the sled and Adrien grins widen as he climbs to the front. "Of course! We must not let our target get away!" He pointed ahead as the sled gradually moved forward. "AFTER IT!"
He screams in delight as they rapidly gain speed and go down the hill. "Hang on tight, and Niramo I think you're the best on to grab the phone! Get ready!"
The phone was within their sights...or was it. Did it get covered in snow and becoming a large snowball?
<Pose Tracker> Marinette Dupain-Cheng [Juuban Public School (7)] has posed.
Although the bunny ears were making things so much better, a prank of pure betrayal has backfired, and at the moment Marinette is realizing just how much things can go wrong for her. As Niramo climbs behind her, she buries her face in her hands for a moment. "They do. They seriously do, Niramo-chan. I swear, I can't be trusted to do anything ever, or I'll just wind up tripping and knocking over a traffic sign that makes a truckful of-"
She's distracted, thankfully, by Adrien climbing on board - and abruptly she has that belated teenage realization that she is a girl in very close company of a boy.
...and another girl. Does that make it less scandalous or more?
There's more important things to worry about than that, though, and she nods emphatically while putting her arms around Adrien. The cat-sled is astonishingly fast, and there's a glimmer of hope that they might be able to get the phone early - but then it bounces along the hill, picks up snow, and the problems literally begin to snowball.
"Just what we need...Niramo, you're a lot less clumsy than me - just do your best!" Keeping one arm around Adrien, she fumbles behind herself to grab onto Niramo - in the hopes that the lighter girl won't be lost while trying to grab her snowphone. Please, please let this work...
<Pose Tracker> Niramo Umokeshi [Juuban Public School (7)] has posed.
Eyes focusing on the phone tumbling down the hill shift to a friend's backside, and a smile fueled by adrenaline shrinks down as Marinette begins to beat herself up. Both of Niramo's hands move to grip around the stressed photographer and pull her in for a quick hug. "Marinette-chan, it's not your fault, okay? Things just happened to work against you and now we're going to fix it. That's what friends do, right? Like how you fixed my coat. Just have more faith in yourself, okay?" There's no room for self-pity on this sleigh. Niramo is barely holding onto the back as it is!
Thoughts of saving a phone is more pre-occupifying than worries about what others might say about two girls being with a single boy. This was more than just looking forward to hours speeding down hills with cold winds making their cheeks rosy.
And despite how much she may have been mentality joking that the sleight was silly-looking, it's more than fast enough to the task! Every bump of the hill as they speed downwards is breathtaking as she momentarily loses contact with the sled, but Marinette's grip is strong enough to keep her on board. "Alright! A little more to the left...a little more!"
And now for the crazy part. It's one thing of talking about saving a phone with a sled, but usually things were not moving quite this fast. Leaning over the side of the catmobile, Niramo reaches out for the tumbling phone-ball with one hand still holding onto Marinette's waist. The first attempt only has her grabbing air, but the second has her wrapping her entire arm around the head-sized snowball and bring it in close to her body. "Got it! Just--"
Another slight bump in the slope jostles Niramo while she's still leaning out, and now she's having a bit more weight added to her, sending her downwards...and over.
And she's still holding tightly onto Marinette, who's holding onto Adrien...
<Pose Tracker> Adrien Agreste [Juuban Public School (7)] has posed.
"Hey, everyone has a bad day Marinette," Adrien said with a reassuring smile. "Besides, when you get struck by it you never give up. It's one thing I like about you."
Adrien can't spend any more time discussing his thoughts as he has to concentrate on driving. All things seem to be going well, Marinette clung to him while she held onto Niramo and Niramo had just grabbed the phone....then the bump came.
Adrien yelped and tried to keep his hold but it was too much. They all tumbled out of the sled.
On instinct, Adrien tried to grab onto the two girls to shield them but he couldn't do much else until finally they were at the bottom and a snow bank appeared.
He gave out a shout as they all tumbled straight into it.
Adrien cough up snow as he climbed out and frantically looked around. "Marinette! Niramo! You two okay?" He never forgive himself if either of them had gotten hurt.
<Pose Tracker> Marinette Dupain-Cheng [Juuban Public School (7)] has posed.
There's reassuring words from her friends, and Marinette's face flushes again as she hangs her head. "Thanks, both of you. I just...this always seems to happen, and it's not easy staying positive - but I'll do my best to..." She looks up into the whipping wind, and abandons whatever motivational line she had. "Mogul mogul MOGUL!"
It's a knuckle-whitening ride, and it's all Marinette can do to hold on - but it's exhilarating at the same time. Even the panic of losing her phone pales before how much fun this is. Mind, it'd be a lot more fun if not for the source of panic - and she doesn't have magical parkour abilities to back her up right now.
(Nestled in a warm blanket beside a plateful of cookies in Marinette's room, Tikki sneezes.)
She beams as Niramo saves the day - and then they all hit that bump, and go flying. Into the air, into the cold, into the beauty of the day...and into the snow.
When the snow has settled, and the Catmobile: Sled Version has finally slid to a stop somewhere, a voice calls out from a mound of snow the size of a Volkswagen. "I think I'm okay...and I am fixing everyone's coats when we get back to the lodge." A few sounds of digging, followed by another call from the snow. "...Niramo-chan, if you somehow managed to save my phone in all this, I swear I will learn how to sew a new coat and then I will make you one."
Still not visible, mind, but...Marinette is presumably okay.
<Pose Tracker> Niramo Umokeshi [Juuban Public School (7)] has posed.
The snow settles on the snowbank, and both Adrien and Marinette have sounded off, but a few seconds pass without word from their third friend. Just when it appears that something is terribly wrong, a mittened hand breaks out of the snow a fair distance away from Adrien and waves around for attention. A mittened hand holding a snow-plastered and surprisingly functional cell phone.
"I'm okay! Just tell the world to stop spinning, okay?"
The hand drops back down into the pile of snow, and a few seconds pass before its' owner pushes her head out of the snow, covered with enough wet snow to make it look like she was trying to be a snowman. Standing up takes Niramo a moment to steady herself, but she seems to be alright for the most part, just a little dizzy. The same couldn't be said for her other mitten, likely buried in the bank or lost on the slopes during the tumble.
Walking over to Adrien, Niramo rubs the back of her neck with her exposed hand in embarrasment and lets out a sigh. "Sorry I pulled you and Marinette-chan down with me, Adrien-kun. I guess I should have let go instead of making all of us fall off, huh?"
Looking towards the snow bank, Niramo carefully pockets the cell phone so as to not start another snowball and gives a sheepish smile back over at Adrien. "I suppose we need to stop her from making snow angels without us. And...thanks for trying to protect us. Really."
And now to find Marinette through all that snow, but it sounds like she was okay too! "Don't worry about the coat, the one you fixed is good enough for me, Marinette-chan! Let's just reunite you with your phone, okay? You're not an eskimo, so you shouldn't keep your money in the snow bank." Yet another groan-worthy joke, but she must be still feeling herself.
