Raina watched with a goofy smile as Sara established herself with the dogs. She felt her own playful nature take over. "Sara... I'm sorry." she laughed. "I didn't even think they'd give you any trouble." as if to furthur the point Star hopped over and nuzzled against Sara's leg giving a friendly Yip. Raina laughed.

"OK Gang." she announced when it seemed like everyone was packed and ready. "Sedna brought us supplies to make a shelter out there... it'll look like those teapeas and wigwams you see on TV." she joked. "I hope no one's offended... they're made of animal skins." she wasn't sure what the group though of animal rights. She was against animal curelty but her tribe depended on animals to survive and they used every little bit. "I think it'll be good for you to ride with Luke, Sam." she said approving of Sam's idea. "You may not be able to navigate the snow with your power but you'll see any obstacles ahead of us long before we will." she nodded.

"The dogs are all trained. I'll be taking the lead so you all wont have to do much Just keep in line behind me which the dogs will want to do naturally. We have to go to the hunting grounds before we can hunt. They are very specific places and certain animals are off limits. We need to survive for a few days on what we take down so try to be weary of that but also don't take anything we can't eat or that'll spoil on the way back. Stick to small and medium game. That means no giant Caribou Naveed." she shot her brother a look knowing he was the type to go for the biggest wrack of antlers around.

"When we get to the hunting grounds we'll have to set up our base, then you can all head out where you want. If any of you are nervous about navigating we can set up the GPS in your phones but you'll find in a snowy region like this your mutations will bring your senses alive and navigating wont be too hard. Just don't go too far. Being on a flat white land is a lot like being in a desert." she was nervous about the idea of breaking everyone up but knew it would be best that way. "You can head out on foot or take a dog. They're hungry too." she laughed picking Star up and setting him inside her sled.

She pulled her hood tight around herself and pulled her scarf around her face. The sun was nearly blinding and she scolded herself for not bringing sun glasses. It may be winter most of the year up here but sun reflecting off of snow could burn your eyes out of their sockets.

"Alright, we're off!"

***

They'd been travelling on what looked like a blank canvas for the better part of an hour when Raina came to a steady stop near a charred fire pit in the snow. When everything came into view it could be seen that the landscape changed from a vast white nothingness to meet the ocean on the right with frozen slabs of ice and sea birds, to the low forest on the left complete with tundra and a few grazing animals.

Raina leapt off the skis of her sled and started taking a few items off already. She'd packed snow shoes for herself and a few other pairs incase the others were interested but she highly doubted that Sara or Sam would want them. "Looks like another group was here before us. That's alright though because they've moved on." Having another group here earlier was actually a help. The snow was already quite packed down and she could see the holes in the snow where the poles from their shelter had been. No drilling at all tonight!

She kept the dogs harnessed but let the line slack as she pulled out a thermous of warm water and poured it into a few plastic bowls. It was nearly impossible to carry around water in tempertaures like this without it freezing so it was often a nesessity to carry it warm. The air cooled it quickly enough as it was and the dogs lapped it up eagerly. "Naveed- you wanna help me with the shelters, Luke, Sara, Sam... can you start unpacking everything?" she noticed a square hole in the ground that would have been the previous hunting groups freezer. again she was thankful for the hand-me-down.

When they went for the sleds they'd find a few fishing polls and ice drills for an easy catch, all the hunting gear Naveed had brought as well as gear for their first fire which they wouldn't set up until tonight when everyone was back. Raina did her best to allign the poles and with Naveed's help drape and wrap the animal skins. It really did look like something out of a movie. No igloos here! She pulled in a tarp and rolled it out on the snow then brought in the sleeping bags to roll out.

She had just stood up and whiped her brow when she heard the barking of dog sleds- another hunting party. She looked up fearful they were returning. She had thought the space vacant and the last thing she wanted to do was impose on her tribe when she was already in poor standing. By the multitude of faces that stared at her were friendly and happy... even smiling.

"Lady Raina!" came one of the men's voice. "we caught word that you and that nasty brother of yours had come back.

As the sled approached a man in his thrities hopped off. He had long hair like Naveed that was pulled back in his parka. His skin was dark and his eyes like huge almonds. They were gray... like Rainas. She grinned. "Hi Kitiri." she grinned. "We didn't take your hunting spot did we? It seemed vacant..." she tried to smile but her posture showed that she was worried.

"Not at all. We're on our way back and we always check the sites on the way home. We're heading to help with the whale hunt and then off to home. Don't suppose any of your men are interested?" he looked to Naveed. "We could really use your help brother. And anyone else who you could spare."

Raina too looked to her brother curious as to what he'd say. The whale hunt only happened once a year and the Inuit were only permitted to take one whale a year. It was a huge custom for the men of the tribe. She wasn't sure Luke would be all that interested... but Sam... that was another story.

Naveed rolled his eyes at his sister just to bug her while he finished up with his sled. He looked his dogs over and frowned when she took Star. Well.. when he thought about it logisitcally Star was probably not up to the task of running with the other dogs... at least he'd be around them that was good.

When everyone was organized in a line he decided to bring up the rear to keep the group tight. He told the dogs to mush and as they headed off into the brought sun his thoughts drifted to an old race. Naveed had always wanted to participate in the Ididarod. He had always wanted to take part in that famous dog sled race... he had even been preparing but he ended up leaving a few days before it began to find Raina.

Naveed always liked dogs. He wondered if that was the reason he gravitated torward Sapphire. That or her taste for power. Probably power. Also, she was hot, He grinned at himself stupidly as the march went on.

***

After almost an hour they came to a stop and Naveed started mimicing Raina giving his dogs some water and unpacking the sleds. As she fumbled with setting up the shelter he rushed into help her taking note of the signs of a previous hunt. "Hope we do as well." he thought to himself.

The two had just stepped back when he heard the familiar voice of Tio Kitiri- an old childhood friend that he would never foget. He gave a grin and a nod of his head as the man approached them and let them know it would be fine for them to use this place. It seemed the whole damn tribe knew what they were up to and that made Naveed nervous. It meant they were all being watched. He didn't like being watched. Kitiri offered an invitation to whale hunt knowing full well that due to tribe tradition Naveed couldn't refuse. He gave a sigh. "I suppose I could." he glanced around the group. Thankfully women weren't permitted so he wouldn't have to ask the furball who would likely be delighted at the idea of landing a giant fish. And blindey over there wold be absolutley no help in a boat as far as Naveed was concerned. So that left just one person. "How about it kid?" he said looking to Sam. "Up for a little fishing?"

Ok. So Sara was laughed at. Like she shouldn’t of expected that. She was a cat, and she was sort of sitting on three dogs. “Har har har.” She said at Sam’s comment about not letting her live it down if she lost. To Luke’s about then needing the dogs it was just a simple “They started it.” Story of Sara’s life.

Star just had to add to it. The pup came up and nuzzled against Sara’s leg when everything was said and done. Giving a little yip. Sara reached out and gave Star a pat on the top of the head. “Don’t you start with me too.” She said as she gave him the last peace of caribou she’d salvaged from the meal the night before. This seemed to baffle Sara’s dog team even more.

Things were soon packed up again. Sara left her turtle neck off this time, so she could shift her weight comfortably on the skies of the sled, without the distraction of her fur being pulled the wrong way. Her vest was put on over the tank top with the zipper half way up.

When they were off. Sara took the second spot. Right behind Raina. Taking the opportunity to listen to the voice commands and how he handled the dogs. Her second position also allowed her to scan the terrain ahead for possible trouble, as her eyes adjusted to the bright light reflected by the snow. Other than that, all Sara had to do was enjoy the ride.

When they came to a stop, it almost seemed like too soon. She imitated Raina, in giving her team water, and then helping to un pack the supplies. The snow shoes sort of caught her eye and she wondered if she’d be able to fashion them to stay on her feet. Walking around in deep know was going to be a little bit of a challenge for her, compared to walking around in normal New York City snow. Her feet put more pressure down in one area, so she sank a little deeper. Good for landing a kick in a fight not good for trying to walk normally in really deep snow or on ice.

Sara curiously investigated the fishing poles and the chisel for the ice, as they were up packed. She’d never done that type of fishing before… The spears. Now there was something Sara knew… Sort of… She was moving past the fishing equipment onto investigating the spears, when she heard the dogs coming up fro the distance. “We’ve got more company.” She said softly. She waited long enough to see things weren’t going to be a problem, then settled for being a piece of the back ground when everything was calm. Listening quietly about the whale hunt. “Yup definitely sounds like it’s up Sam’s alley.” She said as she was passing Luke. Sara supposed her little contest with Sam would have to happen after he returned from the whale hunt. Besides. Getting food was more important. They needed it and so did the dogs.

Luke had just been about to open his mouth and say that he would prefer to ride with Raina when his girlfriend came out and whole heartedly agreed with Sam's suggestion of riding together.

"So I get to ride in the sled like a invalid... wonderful." The blind man thought to himself rather wryly. "Looks like we get to have some male bonding CS." He spoke up, doing his best to grin and bear it as he walked over and settled into the sled, "Should I make up some hot chocolate?"

***

The ride was relatively smooth and flat... very flat. As far as Luke's sonar could see it was flat snow and ice with only the slightest ripple formed in minute drifts here and there. Other than watching the other dog sleds there really wasn't that much to see for entertainment. Occasionally he'd hear the call of a bird overhead but most of them were to high for his sonar to pick up.

"This is the life." Luke muttered under his breath, doing his best to ignore the cold wind that continued to blow into his face as they moved along the snow. Retrieving some cold weather chap stick from his pocket, Luke made sure to use it liberally. Since he wasn't used to the cold weather or snow it would be very easily to end up with painfully cracked and chapped lips. Just as he slipped the plastic cylinder back in his pocket Raina pulled into the area that would apparently be serving as their base camp.

"Nice driving CS... if we had gotten out first I think we definitely would have beaten everyone." Luke said with a quick grin at the icemancer before walking toward Raina and Naveed to get instructions. They were the ones that knew how to live in these kinds of conditions so they were the experts. He was going to listen to what they had to say and follow their instruction to the best of his ability.

Within a few minutes Luke had joined in with Sara & CS to get the sleds unloaded. Unfortunately, other than the hunting equipments, fishing equipments, shelter, sleeping bags, and any extra clothes there really wasn't much to unpack. "Should have packed more food." Luke thought to himself as he grabbed his pack and pulled out a jumbo pack of beef jerky. After retrieving a piece for himself he tossed the bag over to CS. "Here CS! Take some if you want it and pass it on."

Right then Luke picked up the sound of approaching dog teams and turned to look off in the direction the sounds were coming from. In a few minutes the other hunting party had arrived and was excitedly talking with both Naveed and Raina. While the idea of a whale hunt did sound interesting, Luke thought he had better stick close to dry land for the time being. He had gone swimming in cold water back in New York but he had been prepared for it. Here the water was even colder and he did not have the appropriate gear. No, cold dry land sounded much better than cold wet water.

"I'll stick around here with the ladies." Luke spoke up, "I have always wanted to try ice fishing." It was a completely blatant lie but it was the only excuse he could think up on such short notice. Why in the world did he have to be such a bad liar?

White as far as the eye could see, snow, ice, trees, small white mammals everything was white. He could blend in hear perfectly, ice up and all it would take is a little snow and he would be as good as a ghost. He could disappear out here the perfect place to run away to. If only he was smart enough to run here when he was little instead of crappy run down shacks in hills and mountainsides, which smelled of thirty year old skunk and warm garbage.

As they slowed to a stop Sam looked as the others began unloading the tent and the rugs, again Sam felt he could have created something a little more spacious then a teepee but then again he didn’t want to upset anyone else there so he kept his mouth shut, well for now at least. When night would role around he would be singing a different tune, tonight he was sleeping out side, wolf or bear nothing was going to keep him from sleeping out doors.

After help move some blankets Sam snagged some jerky from Luke, licking his lips and then taking a piece he grinned and said, “Thanks man, and yes if we were the first ones out and if we knew where we were going we would have beaten everyone out.” Sam neglected to mention that he used his powers to make the sled slide smoother so it was a less bumpy ride for Luke who was riding coach.

Turning his head from Luke, Sam noticed a group of men ride towards them, this time instead of ignoring like he did with the elders all except Sedna he liked that old woman. The words of Whale Hunt stuck out more than anything else anyone said all day, “Whales?” Sam asked sounding interested, “We can hunt those here?” he hunted a lot of things mainly for food but as long as the entire whale was going to be used he was up for it, “Yeah count me in…” he paused then looked to Naveed, “It's Sam, not kid…”he flashed a quick grin which faded into a smile, “As long as I can go for a swim,” he stretched his arms, ”Never went swimming this far north before…” his smile widened at the thought.

Looking back to Luke and patting Luke on the back, “I’ll tell you all about it when we get back,“ turning his head to Sara’s direction he grinned, “Guess kitty won’t get the big fish?” Turning his head to Naveed with excitement on his face, “When are we going?”

Raina laughed at Sam's enthusiasm. "It's a traditional thing... whale numbers are decreasing so legally with the treaty they can only hunt 1 of each specific whale a year. If my math is right you're heading out for a gray whale hunt. It'll feed the tribe for a good 6 months." she remembered how fatty she thought whale meat was. "I think you'll have fun. They can totally use you. Make sure the whale doesn't sink! There's been some awful times when whales have sunk and when they finally floated again they were so far rotten nothing could be eaten. We don't want anything like that happening."

She wondered what it felt like for Sam to be here so immersed in his ellement. She may control ice but Raina felt herself to be more of a fluid ellement like water. Afterall- look what water did to her. "Naveeds heading out... you better go now!" she waved. "Be back by nightfall and bring us some meat!"

She knew one by one her friends would start heading off in their own directions. She could start a fire now... or start it later. Even in a wilderness of snow it was safer to wait. She checked out the dogs... she'd be riding slay for this. "You think you two will be alright?" she asked Sara and Luke while packing up a backpack with a few things she needed.

ooc: continued here

Naveed grinned standing next to Kitiri. "Kid..." he said pointing his finger hovering in the air at Sam "Sheba..." he said moving it to point at Sara "Blindy-McBlind" he added pointing at Luke "annnd...." he moved his finger to point at Raina "annoying fishy big mouthed little sister." he grinned a menacing grin from ear to ear. Kitiri stifiled a laugh.

"Ok. I'll take Sam. You really don't need to explain all the rules Raina... I have done this before." he jabbed. "Get a bag packed." he said to Sam. "we will make use of your gifts today. Thats for sure. Kitiri you got enough kayaks?" he inquired turning to his friend.

"We'll be fine. Some of us are in a speed boat, others in Kayaks. When you say gift... what do you mean?" his voice dropped a bit lower as if everyone would be offended if they heard.

"Is he like Raina?" snapped Naveed "Gifted?" he paused. "Of course, they all are. Why in the hell do you think we came back and brought them with us?" he stared at Kitiri silently. It was evident that a silent conversation was happening between their glares. Kitiri didn't seem all that enthusiastic anymore about having helpers despite the fact he didn't know Naveed was a mutant as well. "You'd do well to learn from Sedna old friend. Let's get going."

ooc: continued Here

Sara had listened half way to the men, and in the other half of her mind was making a mental check list. Now that they weren’t moving, and Sara’s body wasn’t working on the skies of the dog sled and she was standing , the cold was starting to slip in through her fur. She was just shrugging into her vest when the smell of Jerky started making her mouth water.

“Guess kitty won’t get the big fish?”

“Kitty would rather move around on land, thank you very much.” Sara said rolling the spear between her fingers. There was a bow and arrows she’d seen earlier, and wondered if there was a second set. Sara had only used them for a year. They made things much easier, for Sara, back in the old days.

"You think you two will be alright?"

“Think about who you’re talking to.” Sara grinned as she spoke. They would have things covered. Sara thought as she plucked a couple of pieces of jerky out of the bag, with the tips of her claws. She plucked the first piece in her mouth and started to suck on the flavors. “We’ll be fine.”

(Continued in this Hunting solo.)

"No problem Raina." Luke said with a quick grin at his girlfriend as she prepared to take off for her hunting trip, "We'll see you a little later."

***

For Luke the decision to fish over hunting had been an easy one. He was experiencing with throwing his baton but shooting a bow or throwing a spear were deffinately out of his field of expertise. Over the years he'd heard plenty of people talk about ice fishing and the enjoyment you could derive from it. A lot of them might have been 'fish tales', told by the rich and famous that were trying to brag about their Alaskan vacation but Luke really had no way of knowing.

For the next fifteen to twenty minutes Luke carefully loaded a pack with some jerkey, a canteen of water, and a thermal blanket. Along with those items he grabbed a fishing pole, a hatchet, and a saw for cutting through the ice.

"See you later Sara!" He called as he headed off toward the shoreline, "Happy hunting!"

***

(Continued In "The Bitterness Of Failure")

Listening to Raina about the one whale a year rule, “Makes sense,” Sam said as he looked over to Naveed and nodded, “Bags packed, go it.” Sam immediately started to pack his bag, most of which was food he brought along for the trip. Unlike Luke who was smart enough to bring beef jerky, Sam brought power bars and small packets of ramen noodles that he figured he would make over a fire by nightfall if they couldn’t find anything to eat.

Looking to everyone Sam waved and followed Naveed and called back to Raina, “You got it I’ll see you guys later tonight!” Sam said as he hopped on the sled and followed Naveed with his backpack full of power bars. Only once or twice Sam had used his powers to catch a fish, the net at a waterfall was probably the only time he caught anything worth eating. ‘Don’t think I could catch a whale with a net made of ice think it would be to big’ thought Sam as he set off.

(OOC: Posted out of order for story purposes and to try and bump things back into action )

IC:
The hike had been a long one but finally Luke walked back into the campsight. He had known from a good fifty yards away that it was empty other than the dogs and he really hated to be the first one back from his fishing expedition. Especially since he was coming back basically empty handed. Taking the one fish he had caught Luke laid it down beside the cold campfire and then walked over to set his pack inside their shelter.

Returning moments later Luke could only shake his head in annoyance as his sonar watched two of the dogs stripping everything edible off of the fish and then trotting back over to join their companions.

"Your welcome!" Luke barked out, channeling all of his frustration into those two words before finally taking a deep breath and releasing it. Ok, there was no denying it. He was a city boy and there was no way he could survive out here by himself.

"How in the world am I supposed to help anyone out here?" Luke muttered as he walked around, gathering up the dry wood that he could find in order to build a fire. At least this was one thing he did know how to do. Anyone that had done rudimentary camping or even had a fireplace knew how to build a decent fire!

About fifteen minutes after arriving in camp Luke was stretched out with his back up against a large rock. The fire was burning well and for now didn't need tending to so the blind man hunkered down to chew on a little more beef jerkey in between sips of water. Oh yeah... he was doing soooo well here in the Great White North.

It was the glow of the fire that drew Raina back. Truth be told she was tired and hungry and her sense of direction was failing. All she wanted to do was curl up in a sleeping bag with Luke under one of those tents next to the fire and just sleep for days. It's funny what simply breathing in cold air on a consistent bases can do to a person. Though it's hardly on par with coming home.

She emerged from the darkness and stood across the fire, across from Luke. "Well hey there sexy." she said with a grin. She took in the scene for a moment. His dogs seemed content enough. "No luck Eh?" she asked edging around the fire with her few hares. "Just enough for the dogs." she laughed piling her catch near the fire. "How was the great experience of ice fishing? All you dreamed of?" she parked herself down next to him and suddenly being hit by how cold she was edged in as close as she could get. "I missed you. "

Sara had had fun, and that fact disturbed her. She liked to think that she kept herself on a close leash, That she kept herself from doing unspeakable things and here she was. Admitting in her head that she had fun killing cute little furry critters. Sara even sniffed at the tip of the spear she’d employed. Her eyes had dilated and her heart speed up. Her mouth had started to water, before she yanked herself away from the joy.

The experience had made Sara stop and clean the spear head off, best as she could, in the snow. She still had the blood from the actual hares but for some reason, she was more attracted to the blood on the spear. Maybe it was the fact that Sara had used the spear as a tool to kill. That she’d been so successful. She had killed eight hares. Each one she knew exactly where they had been hiding, each one she had flushed out herself, and each one hadn’t been able to hide fast enough again. Not for her.

The fire told Sara she was headed in the right direction. Even though she suspected as much as she followed her own sent that had drifted 30 feet to the side of the tracks she had taken out. The dog teams stirred as she came within their reach, and passed them, but that’s all they did. Watch her and not growl or attack. They didn’t even push her about the fact they could smell cute dead furry things.

“I believe I over did it.” Sara said carefully. Looking between Luke and Raina as she tried to decide their reaction. “But I don’t know how much you eat.” Her mutation did make Sara have to eat a lot more than others. In her eyes she was using the fact as an excuse.

"Well well well. Kitty caught some hares. Wouldn't she rather like some seafood?" came the booming voice of the dark that emerged to be Naveed. He grinned triumphantly dragging a sleigh full of sectioned whale meat. "I see Sam and I here did all the real work." he teased taking a glance down at Raina and Blind guy who didn't seem to have anything but what they came with. Kitty however smelled of blood. Hey, he had to respect that. He might even be impressed if she wasn't so harry.

"This should all last us the next few days." he said taking a seat next to the fire. "We can get this stupid quest over with and get back to the city. I like being back in the cold... but I don't like being back here..." by here he meant home. He looked to Sam "come show them your catch and regail us all with the tail of catching the whale will ya snowman?"

ooc: to get the ball rolling I'm going to post out of order. CS is away for a bit, CS when you return please feel free to summarize everything and fill in holes for your character! We've had this thread going for a while. Time to get to our vision quests!

IC:
Raina rolled her eyes at her brother. She wasn't one for whale meat but was thankful he brought it back anyway. In truth she'd probably stick to what Sara caught. Whale meat always seemed so chewy... and Raina had a thing about not eating something so close to her own genetic makeup. But she knew she wouldn't hear the end of this from Naveed and Sam that was for sure.

****feel free to fill in gap***

The evening went by rather quickly since everyone was pretty tired out from the days work. Raina did notice Luke didn't seem to be in the best of moods but she knew the cold could bring out the worst in a person. She suggested they all retire to bed since tomorrow they'd be going on their vision quests and it wasn't long til everyone was heading to their respective tents. The dogs were all fed and put down for the night- Star right in the middle of the others. She crawled into bed next to Luke and wondered what the \morning would hold for them.

***
The morning went about as quickly and quietly as ever as everyone set to work eating, packing for the day, and checking the dogs. Raina made sure to pack her bag well and felt nervous about what was going to happen. Sure, they'd technically all be together but they'd have their own individual experiences and wander off. She wouldn't say out loud that she was worried they'd all get separated and freeze to death. She knew they were all capable and their mutations gave them an edge. but being alone today seemed much different than being alone while hunting.

She'd been hanging onto the little package Sedna had given them to mix in their drink. She knew it was a hallucinogen but in it's purest form. Drugs weren't always used the way they are today. They were often for sacred rituals of the past and never tainted. Raina knew too that the drug was only part of it. It allowed their mind to be receptive to the spirits. At least growing up that's what she was taught. It still didn't sit well with her.

Soon there wasn't anything left to be done and she found herself sitting around the fire. She poured warm tea into a cup for everyone and stirred the contents of the pouch in. She knew it had been explained in part to her friends... and she hoped that would be enough. She passed everyone a cup. "Ok, I'm not too sure how this works. I've never done a 'vision quest' before. So I guess once everyone's all packed up we take this. Make sure you make it back to camp before dark... uh... if you feel the urge to leave anywhere." She looked hopefully at her friends.

ooc: feel free to post without Naveed, I'll get him to post last. Don't forget to stick a link to your VQ when it's written up!