“Meeeeheeeeeh.”

A herd of mountain goats nibbles at the bristly shrubs along the cliffside. There were dozens of the brown-coated beasts, with dark twisty horns, and cloven hooves. The small plateau, ledge, really, was just broad enough for a dozen of them to gather. And as soon as Yuriko’s head appeared from under the ledge, the critters all shot off.

She gaped in surprise as the goats seemed to defy gravity as they clambered up the sheer cliff face, and they were dozens of paces away from the ledge before she could even blink.

For a long moment, Yuriko considered catching some. The caravan hadn’t had fresh meat in more than a week. Living on Wayfarer’s bread wasn’t really all that pleasant, and with the ration bar fabricator churning out a bar an hour, it wasn’t nearly enough to replace a meal for everyone. Still, ration bars were more nutritious than bread, at least according to Asami, and Heron.

Ah, the supply of dried meat had dwindled to nothing, too. Hmm, goats.

A moment later, she shot out towards a pair, her Animakinesis easily caught the critters and subdued them. Their distressed bleatings didn’t deter her growing appetite and she launched herself off the cliff, aiming to land towards the camp. It was only a couple of longstrides away, as the crow flies, but certainly much more than that in terms of distance walked and climbed. By the time she landed amidst the camp, the two goats she captured had fainted.

She handed the bounty to the butchers, waved at Sheamus who was salivating at the goats, then returned to the cliffside. She leapt up as high as she could and spread her Anima to catch the air. She could now manage to flap the Animawings, but they were far slower than just running. In truth, she could have reached the base of the cliff in half the time it would have taken her to fly there, and even the vertical climb would take less time, but the wings were somewhat a new thing she intuited, and she was still having fun with it. Besides, unless she practised, she wouldn’t be able to improve.

The goats’ fur unexpectedly blended well with the cliff stones and she could barely distinguish them from afar. Two goats wouldn’t even feed the caravan for a meal so she needed to grab more. There were hundreds of the critters, and a few dozen wouldn’t be missed. Still, she made sure to only go for the males, which had horns, and she left the juvenile ones alone too.

After a couple of hours, she’d gotten half of the male goats and delivered them to the camp. She felt a bit sore, well, her Anima did. No fissures or cracks, and no growth, but it felt strained anyway. She was back on the ledge, coincidentally the first one she saw the goats in, and had sat down for a quick lunch.

“Got distracted,” she muttered. The goal was to find a path for the caravan through the mountain and into the valley in between. That place wasn’t something she ever saw on a map, but the Empire didn’t have any of Zarek Mountain anyway. The map Fri’Avgi showed her a few weeks ago was clear though. The path to Synkrasia was through a valley in the southern part of the Zarek Mountain. Well, she hoped that Avos Zarek would have been able to give them a direct path, but since the gargantuan stonetoise didn’t answer the ritual, there was nothing for it. Then again, why would she expect the Avos to answer anyway? Perhaps the ritual was specific to the area near central Rumiga, or something?

Anyway, Yuriko’s scouting continued after she finished eating. She climbed the rest of the cliff face, which was about a couple of hundred paces up from the ledge, which was a hundred paces above the base. At the top of the cliff was another plateau, though this one sloped upwards towards the next set of mountains. Looking to the east, the mountain wall was tall enough that looked like a wall more than anything else. Clouds obscured the mountain peaks, and she could see dark rain, or perhaps snow, falling on the upper slopes. The snow started at another five hundred paces up, she reckoned, though that was still more than a longstride or so away.

Up here, she did manage to get a better view of the surroundings, and more importantly, it revealed that there was no easy way to pass through this set of mountains. It was all peaks, valleys, canyons, and ravines, and all of them were at least fifty paces higher than the base camp. There was a likely path, but she saw it eventually led into a canyon. Hmm, although, there may be a path there.

The path was barely worthy of the name, and most of the time, it would only allow a single file of climbers through. The wagons looked like they would be a lost cause… but she didn’t want to abandon them either. There were no passes nearby, and perhaps she should accept the futility of relying on luck to find one.

Of course, there was one in the south, but she didn’t want to risk it yet. Anyway, the schedule for scouting was for a week, and if they didn’t find any passes, then they’d have to move south and try their luck there.

This part of the mountains was covered in sporadic vegetation. Trees, pine from what she could see, grew in copses. Of the clearings, she could see that they were of barren rock, though covered with a thin layer of dirt. Bird song and animal calls rose from the small valley ahead, just past the canyon.

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She leapt down onto the narrow trail and ran. Her footing was sure, easily adjusting to the uneven path. Her Anima protected her, creating both a cushion to negate the uneven surface as well as a springboard to push against. In short order, she was there. A glance to the left and right revealed a bit of a path, but nothing that would allow them to cross. The canyon was several dozen paces deep, and she could hear water despite the shadowed slope. The gap was less than twenty paces though, and maybe she, or rather, her team could build a makeshift bridge.

Hmmm, she was strong enough to just carry the wagons over. Each of those things weighed around five to six hundred Jin empty, and maybe two thousand Jin, or two MiJin, when filled to the brim. Erm, the wagons probably wouldn’t be at full load, but other issues would be the horses. Still, if the path could be found here, then it would save them weeks of travel.

She casually leapt across the canyon and landed at the edge of the forest. This would be more problematic then. The ground was filled with a tangle of roots, stones, and bushes. She spotted a game trail a few paces to her left, which moved along the canyon northwest before slinking back into the woods. She clambered up a tree and balanced herself above the crown, using her Anima to support her more than the fragile branches.

The forested valley was only a couple of longstrides long before it turned towards the south. Another tall cliff blocked the east, but perhaps a path could be found towards the turn. She jumped across the treetops and reached the turn in less than a minute, but unfortunately, it turned into a cul-de-sac rather than continuing on. She heard water though, and on the opposite side, she saw a waterfall plunging down the cliff. The mountain wall was shorter there too, maybe they could climb up?

Alas, by the time afternoon came along, she knew that there was no easy path across the Zarek here. She came back towards the base camp, despondent. The other scouts, Saki, Asami, Gwendith, and Heron, reported the same. They would need to move farther south along the foothills and hope to find a pass there.

She didn’t know the breadth of the mountain range, but the Imperial Pass between Faron’s Crossing and Rumiga City was about fifty or so longstrides, wasn’t it? It took a day to cross it aboard a Commuter Tram after all. She also knew that the range broadened the farther south or north it went, so it was likely they would have to cross fifty or so longstrides to reach the centre. She barely penetrated a fifth of that distance today.

Even above the cliffs, there was no path forward. More cliffs, ravines, and canyons, and then, the snow. Perhaps they should follow the gentler slopes up? Or did they really need to abandon the wagons?

“We can continue south for now. There’s a dip in the peaks, some three leagues out,” Sheamus said. “Perhaps that’s a pass? Or, we can try what you suggest and dismantle the wagons. Turn them into sleds, or carts, or simply another way to carry gear while hiking and climbing. We’ll have to let the horses loose, or…er, turn them into supplies? Or use them as beasts of burden directly. A horse can walk a narrow path better than a wagon.”

“Horse might not like the heights and the potential fall,” Dominic Hurin said. “They’re rather skittish, and these ones aren't the best crop.”

“So you’re for turning them into supplies?”

Hurin shrugged. “The wagons and horses do leave us limited in our potential paths. Most of what we use them for is shelter. We don’t need to bring too much water as our lady had inscribed our canteens with water condensing runescript. Food could be distributed easily, and we’re all strong enough to carry at least twenty Jin of supplies on our backs. I’d rather we head towards the mountains now than risk getting caught by the Federation.”

“Are horses really that skittish?” Yuriko asked. They didn’t seem that way to her at all. They were pretty placid and easily followed the drivers’ commands. They ate what was fed to them and drank what was given, slept when allowed and worked when needed. They crossed the sandy desert, the rocky wastes, and now the foothills of the Zarek.

“Well, these are unusually tame,” Hurin muttered, looking a bit lost. “But these are broken-down nags. Older horses close to the end of their lives.”

“Then I see no reason that they’ll have any trouble crossing the mountain,” Yuriko mused, “but the wagons will prove to be more hindrance than not. There aren’t any roads, after all.”

“So dismantle them?” Heron asked.

“Yes, but keep all the important bits in case we can reassemble the wagons. Supplies will be distributed to everyone to be carried.”

Yuriko left the details to Braden and Orrin, both of whom seemed to enjoy that challenge. Once the meeting was adjourned, she made her way to the bathhouse, one of the first things built as soon as the decision to camp had been made.

The walls were made of compact dirt, and the bathtubs were made of the same with drainage pipes added to remove the dirty water. She was still the main source of water however, but they had built a reservoir that she used nearly a dozen motes of distilled Chaos for. It was worth the hassle of doing this though if it meant being able to have a proper bath at the end of the day.

Keeping in mind what Saki said about Finan’s gift of chocolate, she opened the box intending to eat one in the bathhouse. She wondered why but was eager to have it anyway.

The rectangular box split off a third of itself, leaving her with a two-inch cube. Another investment of Animus opened the cube and revealed a small sphere, half an inch wide, of chocolate truffle goodness. Grinning to herself, she popped it into her mouth, intending to savour it while she undressed.

The orb melted on her tongue, and a burst of flavour spread in her mouth. Then, a warmth spread down her throat, to her tummy and then…to the rest of her body. A burst of pleasure so intense her eyes rolled up and everything turned white as a moan escaped her lips. Her knees turned weak and she almost dropped to the ground but she managed to collect herself before she lost even more dignity.

Other than a sense of lingering bliss, most of what Yuriko felt at that time was a bit of shame and annoyance, but most of all, exhilarated by the thought of having two more pieces that she immediately decided that she wasn’t going to share.