Clean Slate

With her world narrowed down to nothing outside of the cold and the heat, herself and the finish line, the straight line of existence left nothing in Dare's scope but the drive to move forward. Somehow it moved her pas the edge of the deathly water, onto the ice sheet and then past it, onward into the snow and the scrubby frosted grasses beyond. There was almost a pureness to the singularity of it; no sense of feeling in her body, beyond the distant awareness of the impacts of each step that carried her. No real sound above the same thudding pulse in her ears. The only point in her vision was the goal line, and every other detail fell away to a void-filled tunnel beyond it.

The severe frostbite and the previous damaged before that had already worn away her normal reserves; her body was probably as close as she'd ever had it come to breaking down, but holding onto her determination kept her moving forward. Broken stumbling steps grew longer; firmer. The mantra in her head shut out all room for complaint and it no longer mattered that her limbs were frozen and broken, Dare wasn't taking no for an answer from them now. The frozen landscape and snowy tundra of the final flat moved past her unseen until, with a jolt, she found herself climbing, stumbling up the single ridged hill with hands as well as feet. There was only her, and the line, and the line as close. Within moments, with final unfelt stride, she reached the top of the hill and was able to reach for the tree in whatever way she felt she could manage.

From the moment she touched it, she would know that she had won; unheralded, the certainty of that fact flowed through her, as though it was coming from the space around her as much as from her own awareness. There were any number of responses or reactions knowing that the challenge was over might have on Dare herself, and her critically damaged and exhausted body. As it was though, whatever her reaction to reaching her goal, Logos was standing alongside her, not far away, and lifted his quill from the page. He turned over a leaf with a small smile, then began to scribe again. Dare's injuries began to knit themselves together and repair, while gradually the life-stealing cold leached its way out of her. If she looked, Hugi was now standing just behind the old man, watching her with a small mile and an otherwise content expression.

It was a short while still before Hoodwink showed up on the hill, and if Dare was in a state to see him arrive, he was, if it were possible, in even worse shape than she had been... maybe. It was hard to judge how bad she had looked herself at the finish line. One arm hung limp and obviously sundered at a destroyed shoulder join, while the other was clutched over a grisly chest wound, and it was a wonder he hadn't passed out. There was something she might recognise in his expression, though; the same fixed certainty of achieving what he'd set out to do, that she'd been feeling not that long ago. When he touched the tree, the man collapsed and rolled to the side, onto his back on a flat part of the grassy hill while Logos shook his head and began patching him up in the same way he'd seen to Dare. It might take a minute or two by the looks of things, but in the mean time she had other people she could potentially talk to about what had happened, if she wanted.

Dare could have sworn she was crawling along the ground. It certainly didn't feel like her legs had the strength to carry her. As a matter of fact, it didn't feel like her arms should have had strength to pull her up from the edge of the ice... and where was the ice now? The questions were at the back of her mind like a dull headache, but all of her momentum was carrying her forward with any strength her body could give her, the limb of the tree she was trying to reach fading out of her vision as she seemed to drift in and out of consciousness...

...Ultimately, though, she somehow passed the ice, scaled the hill, and reached her goal: unsure of whether or not she'd been the first; unsure this wasn't a final dream she was having as she'd lost consciousness. She didn't even have the energy to think anymore...

"Wait. If I don't have the energy to think, how am I...?" Dare started to consider, before snapping her eyes open and snapping her head around to consider her surroundings. "I'm alive...? I won!... Did I win...?"

Dare felt that she should definitely be celebrating if she won: her opponents seemed like magical beings and certified bad*sses. "But... I can't remember doing it... I guess I lost consciousness, but..." Dare winced, blinking as she cleared her head and turned to Logos to speak her mind. "Did I win? You didn't, like... write to teleport me or something? Did I actually make it...?" The Navi felt like manners might dictate she thank the gentleman for bringing her back from the brink of deletion, but that felt like a secondary concern compared to her question.

Still feeling dazed in spite of being now physically well, Dare took note of the third place runner making his way up the hill, gasping as she saw his condition. She still didn't say anything though, staring dumbly as the competitor passed her and crossed the metaphorical finish line. "He looks like I felt a second ago... does that mean... if I was there first, and I didn't see Hugi, did I make it after all...?" Dare cast her intense gaze back to Logos, making clear she didn't have much to talk about until she got an answer to her main concern.

Despite the physical mending that Logos had provided, It still took Dare a few extra moments to get her thoughts together after the end o her challenge. The last few moments remained less than clear, despite her efforts to pin them down mentally, but Logo raised a calming hand in her direction, the quill perched between two fingers for the moment, and he nodded.

"You made the journey with no assistance, and by your own force of Will, Dare. Not against expectation, but with unexpected speed, you have won. Did you doubt?" His eyebrows rose slightly, though the rest of his expression was still soft and reassuring. The question itself seemed like it may have been intended as rhetorical, since the old man turned his attention to Hoodwink afterwards and kept working on healing his injuries. Behind him, Hugi moved away to sit with his back against the ancient tree. Despite sitting on the grass, he still rose as high against it as Dare would have, if she sat on the twisted bend in the wood that seemed almost designed as a seat for a more regular sized person. He drew a long breath, then sighed outward again, closing his eyes, and Logos paused to write another word somewhere else on his page. Hugi faded away from their sight as he lifted the quill, and as far as the hill and everything around it was concerned, the giant might never have been there.

Eventually, Hoodwink sat up, cracked his neck and rolled his newly repaired arm with a wince, then fell back on the grass with his hands behind his head. The warm sun and the breeze on the hill felt almost blissful, compared to the conditions they'd just been in, and he seemed to be appreciating it.

"So... I feel justified in inviting you here, Dare. That's the bigger part of your test done with, and I am ecstatic. That was exactly what I was looking to see. Beautiful, pure and perfect. Got to ask though..." He rolled onto his side, propping himself up with an elbow as he looked her way. His clothes were still ripped and torn in many places, and she could see a good deal of skin through the gaps, though interestingly, the injuries he'd taken in the race had all vanished without a trace, yet his body looked like it had other scars, old ones, hidden away beneath his clothes. "What's running through your mind right now, hmm?"

The glowing praise sounded like she'd passed the test win whatever way the flirtatious thief had hoped for her, which only left a much smaller, rather insignificant requirement for her to meet after the fact. Hoodwink was eyeing her with a grin that betrayed some lingering adrenalin still running its course.

"Oh... oh yeah! Of course I did," Dare agreed, feeling irritated now that she had questioned what her innate confidence and programming alone should have made obvious. "Guess coming back from the brink of death'll do that to you..." The Navi rotated her arms in their sockets and flexed her fingers experimentally, making sure everything was back in working order.

Satisfied, Dare turned her attention to the newly restored Hoodwink, returning her easy smile to its natural place on her lips. She scanned Hoodwink's body with her eyes, perhaps forgetting that with her shades off and her helmet visor broken, her interest wouldn't be hidden. Realizing this too late, she flashed a grin when Hoodwink asked his question. "Oh! Nothing in particular, Hoodie, except how good it feels to win. I guess I'm mostly thinking about how, since our buddy over there made up this whole mountain, it's gonna be a pain in the neck to explain what I did here to anyone." She waited with a smile to see if she'd get any reaction to that, laughing if she did, and then corrected herself. "That was a joke, I know I'm not supposed to tell anyone about it. I do kinda wish I'd gotten something I could keep as a souvenir... I like to have something from all my conquests, you know."

The Navi stretched again, taking her helmet off and placing it under her arm. "Hmm... other than that, though, I wouldn't say I've got anything big on my mind." Of course, Dare suspected there was another big topic of discussion Hoodwink was waiting for her to broach, but she thought she'd wait for Hoodwink to raise it himself. That would allow her to guide the conversation exactly the way she hoped to...

While Dare exulted in her victory, her companions seemed equally content to enjoy the hill top and pleasant weather in their own ways. In response to her jest, Hoodwink just opened an eye from where he had sprawled back out again out with his head behind his hands and raised the eyebrow with it.

"Never fear, Dare... I have every confidence that you'll maintain our discrete profile, and we also have all the tools and means we need to clean up any mishaps if you don't." It didn't sound like a threat, and he delivered it with a smile and a chuckle, but given the other things she'd seen, there was every possibility that the words carried more implicit weight than it sounded. Across from them both, Logos still waited, apparently enjoying the breeze and looking out across the various landscapes. He turned his head to hem both after a few seconds, however.

"Shall I inform the others that we may have a new member to introduce soon?"
"Yes, thank you Logos. We'll catch up." Hoodwink stretched once, then curled his legs and kicked up to his feet, turning to walk over to Dare while he responded. Logos only nodded, then disappeared in a brief flurry of pages. Hoodwink stepped in closer, vaguely intimate but in a playful way.

"As for a souvenir, well... what would you have from me, to keep as a memento, hmm? A reminder of a time when you were truly alive, and where you stole victory from death by the force of your will... what would you ask of me, Dare?" Undeniably, there was something flirtatious in the proposition; his voice was playful, but there was a twinkle in his eye and an undercurrent of something eager and fuelled by lingering adrenalin. Of course, Dare did have something else she needed to pass the test, so she might possibly have other things on her mind.

"Cross my heart and hope to die, Hoodie. I've got a big mouth, but I'm a woman of my word." Dare's grin became a tighter smile as Logos left and Hoodie got a bit closer. "And on the subject of my souvenir... how about one of those fancy Pickpocket battlechips you've got so many of? I think that'd be a nice token of victory here, and one I wouldn't have to explain with a detailed story in a trophy case."

Dare felt sure there was a hot tension between her and Hoodwink now... "Or maybe that's just me? Man, I knew coming back from the brink of death, climbing a mountain, and winning a race all at once would feel good, but I had no idea I'd get so hot and bothered..." The Navi forced herself to take a step back and break that tension, still smiling. "Hey, though, Hoodie, you might want to tell your book club buddy not to start hanging up the streamers yet. Remember what I told you...? First of all, I said I'd win and show you I was worthy. Did that, I'm pretty sure. But I also told you this was a challenge for me to complete... I needed to think about whether I'd join up or not."

The Navi threw up her hands, shutting her eyes and smiling sadly. "I'm out," she said, feeling a bit remorseful... but it was the decision she'd come to. "A couple of things you said make this a club I don't think I ought to be a part of. First off, you guys and your non-complete clause... I think it's a great thing in the long run, and it'll get you guys consistent, considered victories. My will, though... you saw me nearly drown and freeze to death, the worse way to go for a Navi like me, and for what? A win I can't tell anybody about? Your Pickpocket battlechip, if you even want to give it to me? My wins are for me, not for some well-thought-out bigger picture. And I can't ever make them about a group, not even one with handsome folks and omnipotent powerhouses like you all. If I came into conflict, I don't think I could see the greater good and set my goal aside. That's my will."

Dare turned to the side, banished her helmet, and looked up at the sky as she crossed her arms behind her head. "The other thing, the more important thing, I guess... Part of being in your club means there's a part of my life I'd have to segment off and hide from the people important to me. Now I'll keep your secret, but when it comes to me and who I am, I don't intend to hide it from anybody. Trying to tiptoe around how I'm part of the mighty and powerful FORFEIT? Don't think I could live that way, no offense. I've got a lot of respect for you guys who have come together with your skills and game plan, but I don't think it's for me."

Dare shrugged, turning back to Hoodwink and trying to read his reaction, but keeping her smile fixed to make it clear she'd made up her mind. She wouldn't cut him off if he wanted to try and convince her more.

... On the other hand, she recognized that she was dealing with some powerful people who, evidently, used that power to avoid taking "no" for an answer. She therefore found herself tense as she observed him, willing to relax only once she had the idea that he didn't intend to pull a weapon on her.

As Dare named her reward, it drew an amused laugh from her companion and he stood back again, no longer pressing the most overt aspects of his flirtation. Still looking at her, Hoodwink shrugged.

"Eyes on the prize, uh? Well, I never could say no to a charmer like yourself. Normally I might ask what you'd do for me in return, but I think today I won't press my luck." He made a small gesture with one hand, a sort of flourish that revealed a coin like token with a hole in the centre, between two of his fingers. As the gesture completed, the coin flipped up, turning into a small bandcoon that landed to perch on his wrist and look out at Dare, before her flicked his arm again and caught the coin. With a small, elegant bow, one foot forward, he held it out to her between two fingers.

"If that's... all you want, Dare, then of course I won't press you for more. Keep it, with my blessings."

He stood from the bow after handing what did, indeed, turn out to be chip data for the specific chip in question, to her, then listened as she gave the rest of her answer. As she spelled out her reasoning, however, he retained a small grin, though it grew a touch wistful. At last, he sighed softly and shrugged, arms going wide for a moment in helplessness.

"If that is the way you feel, Dare, then let me not dissuade you. With us, you would pursue your own goals as you willed, and only as you willed with agreement not to interfere with the will of others for respect, but you are right, in that some portion of what we all do considers a larger scope. It's a shame, but I won't seek to change your mind." He shrugged, and let a second or two of quiet silence play out.

"Well, chief, she shot you down. Now what?" The sudden voice was the same one from when Dare had first entered the space, seemingly omnipresent and relaxed, belonging to either hoodwink, nor Logos now that she'd met him. Apparently whoever was running tech for Hoodwink was still watching, and likely had been the entire time. Hoodwink didn't respond right away, but just looked at Dare, watching her face and tracing her expression as long as she had her visor off.

"Nothing." His eventual murmur still held the edges of a small smile.
"Nothing-at-all, or just nothing?"
"Just nothing. Dare... if you're ready, I'll return you to where we left... and if it so be your will, you will never need deal with our little 'book club' again... at least not directly. Shall we?" He extended a hand to her, palm up.

((Dare receives: PickpocketDamage: 0
Accuracy: B
Description: Summons a Bandcoon to steal from opponents before vanishing.
Duration: Once
Element: Null
Special: Success and quality of theft affected by RP quality and luck.
Trader Rank: C))

Dare accepted the chip and watched Hoodwink in the final moment of tension, finally relaxing a bit and returning his wistful smile with one of her own as she conceded to let her leave. "Probably would have been fun, in another life," she thought to herself. "Don't feel too bad you didn't get this one, Hoodie. For a player like you, there'll be plenty more games. But yeah, on that note, don't be a stranger! On the contrary, I'm hoping I'll run across you guys real soon. Winning competitions against a bunch of bad*sses that are working together in a shadow conspiracy I exclusively know about? Doesn't get much more exciting than that."

Smirking, Dare summoned her shades in a puff of flames as though drawing them from air, then returned them to their rightful place. "Give your buddies my compliments! Logos and your... uh... other friend... did a real nice job with the decor for this party, and with patching me up. You guys decide to open an R&R resort and I'll be first in line. Just, uh... no more snowy mountains, please."

Finally having finished up her small talk (she felt like she had a lot to say, now that she could talk without her breath fogging her helmet and her teeth rattling out of her head), Dare stepped forward and took his hand, placing her right hand on his without hesitation. "Oh, wait! One last thing. You guys said you were watching me earlier. You done with that now, or have I got to change and shower in the dark from now on?" She gave Hoodwink a final cheesy grin and a wink that was mostly hidden behind her shades.

When she took the man's hand, Dare experienced the sudden, slightly disorienting slide of the same transit that had brought her to the blank space, before he could answer her question, and when her vision cleared again, it would be back at a far more 'on the map' location once again.

((FXP tally coming up for both this thread, and the net-square wrapper thread, to be delivered with final rewards over There))