rock climbers [lycoris, open]

"It feels off because it is off, Xara. The moon should not be full already. I enjoy monitoring the lunar cycle and this is not an occurrence that happens. The ocean will be turbulent because of this. Not just that, but it shifts the very balance of nature. The moon is extremely important in many different things. What caused this is something I do not know, but there is a great deal of magic swarming chaotically everywhere." Lycoris spoke louder to make sure she could be heard over the sound of the rain. Adell's presence would be very welcome right now. Where he was, she did not know, and that alone worried her. Going off with just Xara didn't strike her as a thing that she needed to fear, it just made her wonder how far the two of them would actually get. How much progress could they make? What could they discover? Those questions, as frustrating as they were, would just grow more frustrating since she didn't have a single answer to go along with them.

"As for climbing, the magic I possess should help with that. Never you worry about me slipping and falling. If I do, it is my own fault for being so careless, and my neck will be the one to suffer because of it. I am positive you can come up with a creative excuse for why I have a broken arm." The teasing jab would hopefully come across just as that - a teasing jab. Going out of her way to make Xara fret wouldn't take much. ...so it really wouldn't be going out of her way at all. Tempting. Another time, perhaps.

"It is hard to tell where the sound is coming from." Lycoris' brow drew together as she frowned. "I cannot tell if it is something I am hearing or something that is being felt. It is... peculiar." Their options for progress were limited to up or around. Hanging back a bit, Lycoris tilted her head towards her maid. "Shall we go further up or play it safe down here?"

The tides being thrown off-balance wasn't something that Xara had considered yet, but with he moon as it was, perhaps she should have kept a closer watch of things. Not that there was much she could do about it, but it did explain the princess' desire to look into this at all. "So soon after the last one, too... All the more reason to be careful, then. If there's someone or something causing this, then we need to make sure not to draw their attention."

That was assuming it was a person, anyway. If it was just some unnatural phenomenon, then there wasn't much they could do other than just being careful in this general area.

The thought of Lycoris breaking her arm or worse was enough to draw a slight grimace from the maid and even a lull in her attempt at remaining professional even without anyone else around. "Hey. Hey. You're not breaking anything while I'm out here. If you get tired, then I'll just have to carry you." Letting out a low sigh, Xara furrowed her brow for a moment before leaning in, a smirk creeping across her face as she whispered to the princess. "And you know where my hands'll be if that happens."

The sound of another person's voice behind them snapped Xara out of her brief moment of amusement as she turned quickly to face him with her usual calm expression. "Hm? Is there... Something we can help you with, sir?" Looking him over once, the maid stepped forward just enough to keep herself between the newcomer and the princess. She wasn't sure whether he was a threat or not just yet, but this was a rather strange place to see someone wandering around. Perhaps... He was the person responsible for all this?

Hallucinating under the light of the altered moon seemed like a very real possibility. Their voices sounded real enough, however, and their images were crystal clear. Remembering himself, but still wary under the current circumstances, he bowed stiffly. Perhaps it was the years between him and Heim, but the gesture felt ridiculous.

"Pardon my manners. Yes, I came out here alone to pursue the moon's sound… Your Highness. Ma'am." The latter acknowledged the woman who was, presumably, either a very close friend of the princess or one of her servants, if the two of them were truly present.

His ears hurt from the thought of how his father would react to this. Utterly absurd, all of it.

"Wise men say only fools rush in." Lycoris kept her voice low, though there was no wariness or uncertainty in it. Giving a stranger absolute trust would be as ridiculous as refusing any sense of trust at all. There was nothing wrong with walking the delicate line between guarded and curious. With where they were and the fact that he stumbled upon them by what appeared to be accident, being able to relax a bit surely wouldn't hurt anything. If for some reason this did turn out to be a weird elaborate trap, it would be their fault for venturing out under the moon's light anyway.

"As long as we are all out here, there is no reason not to continue investigating. Three pairs of eyes make more progress than just two when darkness is involved." The mountain that loomed in the distance would still take quite some time to reach, so hanging around the area they currently were at would work better. What would they find, if anything at all? Potentially nothing. Potentially something. No time like the present to begin looking around.

"The two of you may introduce yourselves." Seeing how he addressed her properly - a bonus point for him since certain other men lacked the common sense to do so - there would be no need for her to do so. Lycoris moved closer to wall of a cliff that would take them further up and get them a better view. True, climbing in the dark could be disastrous, but the risk was hers to take. Finding proper footing and grips proved to be a minor challenge. Once she felt secure, she pulled herself up slowly, manipulating the air around her to keep herself balanced.

That settled that matter, then. Xara would still need to keep an eye on him, but relaxing a bit would make things easier for everyone. Turning to Aldebaran, she offered him a pollite smile and returned the bow with a curtsey of her own. "Xara Raihan. Likewise, Sir Bates."

It was incredibly tempting to call him Master instead, but that would just be crude. She made a mental note to mention it to the princess later just to see how she would react, but that would have to wait until they were back in the safety of the inn.

"If I may, what spurred you into investigating this-" The maid cut herself off with a worried grunt once she noticed Lycoris starting to climb, hurrying over to get underneath her. Xara knew better than to say or do anything sudden to startle her, but at least she would be able to catch the princess if she happened to slip.

Climb the cliff? Aldebaran did not like the thought of that at all. He stared helplessly at the muddy rock face, and then sighed under his breath and pulled his umbrella closed. The cold water on his head made him shudder, but he needed both hands to climb. He secured the umbrella in one of his coat's belt loops and fumbled hesitantly for the handholds that the princess used before. There was no other way to the top that he could see.

His foot slipped once before he even began to climb, but the rest of the ascent was, thankfully, free of mishaps. Her explanation was finished by the time he pulled himself over the edge. Straightening up, he wiped the mud from his hands, essentially washing them in the rain. His clothes were not so fortunate. 

"I understand. Should you require any assistance from me, Your Highness, I will gladly offer it," he said, and did his best to mask the breathlessness. He did not consider himself to be exceptionally patriotic, but this was a matter of formality.

The sound from where they climbed up to sounded the exact same as it did from down below. In fact, there was no change at all - not even a little bit to suggest they were closer or farther from the source. That in itself was rather disappointing in its own right. Lycoris took a few steps around to see if changing her position would make it easier to figure out a direction to begin heading towards. Nothing changed even with that. Yes, rather disappointing indeed.

"It sounds the same here as it did in town despite the distance we traveled. Something is telling me that we will find nothing out here even if we look until we are colored blue in the flesh from the cold of the night." Resisting the urge to shudder, she started to rub her arms. An umbrella could only do so much and climbing took her away from the protection of it, leaving her soaked.

"Would you accompany us to the inn in Asgard, Aldebaran?" He and Xara could both use a towel and cup of hot tea as well. "We can continue to look around on the way back. Progressing further here in the dark might lead to someone getting hurt." A twisted ankle, a fall into the mud... such things were likely to happen.