Cuffed: Ron and Ryuuji [Closed] [Plot]

The airship hovers over a remote area of the snowy forest. No other teams are in sight and the weather is a nice, sunny day. Opening the hatch, the two partners, handcuffed at the wrist, are pushed to the edge of the hatch. "Okay!" Prof. Strom yells over the engines. "Rules are simple. One: Dont die. Two: Dont kill each other as there are laws against that and you will fail. Three: If the handcuffs are removed at anytime, no matter it be Grim or you, you BOTH fail this course. Once the trial is over, the handcuffs will automatically open up and send a signal to me to come pick you two up." Professor Strom made a large grin, "Also, have fun!" He yelled, pushing the pair out the hatch.

(right hand of Ron cuffed to Left hand of Ryuuji)

"Wait, so how long are we oaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah-"

Before Ryuuji could get his question out, a push on his back knocked him into the roaring winds. Due to the extra weight attached at each of their hands, the two students were spinning out of control. 'I guess a standard landing is out of the question,' he thought, trying to think of a way to right the two of them. An idea came to him, removing the dagger tip off his sword. He pushed his back onto his partner's, and using him as leverage, Ryuuji fired two shots from the hilt of the sword in the opposite direction of their rotation. The recoil slowed down their spin enough for them to right themselves, but their descent came as fast as ever.

The descent and height made the Ryuuji's head spin. He could feel himself getting ready to throw up from the dizziness. His frizzed mind could only come up with one... not so safe way to land with his movements limited by the extra weight of his partner.

"I -urf... I hope you have a better landing plan than I do," Ryuuji covered his mouth with his free hand as he spoke, his eyes swirling to readjust themselves to being righted.

I guess I should have known I would be partnered up with someone I don't know. Seems to happen a lot to me, Ron thought as he was pushed out. Responding to his partner after he righted their spinning, "It's only a small height, and we'll land in snow. I think it'll be fine if we just don't do anythi—" He is cut off as they hit the many layers of snow.

Getting up and brushing the snow out of his hair with his left hand he says, "Well on to a great start. To answer your question to Professor Strom, we'll be here for the next three days."

Ryuuji swallowed a mouthful of snow as he sat up. "Just because snow is soft does't mean I want to crash into it," he complained with a shiver. "I'm not quite used to the cold."

"Three days doesn't sound so bad," he perked up a bit. "We'll just have to get used to this, I guess. Shouldn't be too hard."

He snapped his hilt back onto its place on his belt. He looked at the unfamiliar white forested landscape. "Let's go this way." He said, pointing at what he believed to be North.

"Why not," Ron replied not minding the cold. He starts walking in the direction that Ryuuji suggested and asks, "So, what's your name? We didn't have time for introductions beforehand."

"I'm just used to warmer weather I guess," Ryuuji responded, feeling uncomfortable with each crunch of snow under his feet. "Uhm, Ryuuji," he kept his own introduction short. "Guess there's not much time for names when handcuffs and free falling is involved. What's yours?" he asked.

"Ron Rouge," Ron responded. "Looks like they stuck the R's together for this assignment."

Looking around Ron says, "So we could start with either finding food, water, or shelter first. Which would you want to do?"

A growl from his stomach gave Ryuuji a preference. "Mmm, well we could probably melt snow for water in a pinch, I bet... so it's either food or shelter..." He looked around at the neverending snow, and his stomach growled a second time. "Mmm...But isn't it more important to secure an area in unfamiliar territory?" His head swirled at his options, or maybe he was still feeling the effects of the fall. "Err, let's go look for food I guess? Maybe we'll spot a cave or something on the way?" he suggested.

"Sure, why not," Ron replied. They continued walking in the direction they started earlier, keeping an eye out for anything useful.

((OOC: Nothing more we can do until Shem posts.))

Ryuuji spotted the stream and changed his course slightly to move towards it, feeling resistance on his left hand. "Oh, right," he sighed, remembering he was still tied to Ron. "Look over there," he pointed with his cuffed hand, forcibly bringing up his partner's hand as well. He traced the stream with his hand, and pointed towards the large cave. "Not exactly home, but could be pretty comfy for a while. What do you think?" He asked.

"Looks good to me," Ron answers. Before he starts walking towards it, he takes out Cupiditas with his left hand and puts it defensively in front of him. "There is a chance that there is something already in there, so get out your weapon," he explained.

"Oh come on," Ryuuji laughed off Ron's concern. "What's the worst that could be in there?" He drew his weapon regardless, but did not extend the blade as they headed inside the cave's entrance.

You'd be surprised, Ron thinks as they head into the cave. He looks around taking in the sight of the cave.

Ron hears the growl with his sensitive ears. He whispers to Ryuuji, "I heard a growl from down there. We have to keep watch in case whatever is down there comes out." Looking up at the stalactites he adds, "Be careful about those as well. Let's move to the side for now."

Ron pulls Ryuuji to the left side of the entrance of the cave and sits down. "Okay. We need to have a game plan for the rest of the day, you agree with that?" he asked.

"I guess...," Ryuuji puffed out his cheeks. Whatever was down in the cave sounded fun, and the deepness of the cave seemed to stop the windchill from affecting him... but... 'Maybe it's not in my best interest to go looking for a fight with a handicap,' he thought, looking at his cuffed left hand. As Ron pointed out the stalactites on the ceiling, Ryuuji held his sword up and allowed it to extend. He pulled the trigger and the blade engulfed itself in flame, allowing him to use the light to see farther into the cave. The stalactites seemed to stretch into the back of the cave. However, the cave seemed deeper than his light could reach.

"Well, we have shelter... sort of... Now we just have to find food," he said aloud, referring to the list they had made earlier. "What are the odds that there's something to eat down there...?" Ryuuji wondered out loud, pointing deeper into the blackness of the cave.

"Either it's a Grimm, a wolf, or a bear. I don't know anything else that would live in a cave that growls. I'm pretty sure there aren't anything like mountain lions nearby," Ron said. "We could try to see what is down there and get rid of it. If it is just a regular animal that is a bonus; we'd get food from that. Plus, it would be warmer to camp farther into the cave and I also heard water dripping farther down. If it's an underground pond or even just a large puddle, we could use it for drinking water as an alternative to the snow, or the icy river farther down," he continued.

He took a deep breath and thought for a little bit. He finally said, "However, I don't like the idea of fighting with those stalactites there. We could either lure the beast out, or try to cause the stalactites to fall from the front of the cave. I'd prefer the second option because then we could move farther in without the threat of those handing from above. Any thoughts?" he asked Ryuuji.

Ryuuji looked up at the stalactites. "Do you know how long it takes for those things to form?" he asked, not really expecting an answer. "Even if you gave it a few decades, it probably wouldn't form anything too impressive." The bit of environmentalist in him defended the existence of the stalactites. If they fell it would be a shame if down the line someone would be able to marvel at their beauty. He patted an ammo box on his belt to get an idea of his inventory. "And besides, assuming we do it, it would probably eat significantly into our dust count."

"I bet we could have easily lure it out if we gave it a chance," Ryuuji suggested. He held his hands to his face to magnify his voice, forcing Ron's cuffed hand up as well, and turned towards the darkness of the cave. He began to make a sound which he thought sounded like a sort of wounded animal to see if it would draw out whatever creature could be in the cave, but it sounded more like meows from a cat.

"Whatever you want. I was just giving that idea so we don't have to stay at the front of the cave. Also, I don't use dust. I was just gonna slice up the rock with my swords. What you can't do that?" Ron asks, genuinely surprised.

"Cutting rock with 'Flame Oath' isn't something I like to do..." Ryuuji chuckled nervously. "But that's not it... I just... I'm just a bit of a naturalist, is all."It embarrassed him to say it. "I mean, in a few hundred thousand years, those stalactites are going to be amazing! ...probably." His eyes seemed to shine over a tad as he stared at the stalactites again.

"Suit yourself," Ron says. He shouts deep into the cave, "Oi, any chicken-livered Grimm down there!" The insult was unnecessary, as Grimm don't understand human language, but it felt good to Ron to yell it.