A Tall, Sheer Cliff with NestMan

The coordinates Chrosa picked up from the GNA would conveniently deposit him in Yumland Net, though not as conveniently as if he'd been sent straight to the top of the tremendous, oddly rectangular slab of a mountain protruding from the net's surface. All around, the net was grassy, lush with vegitation, a babbling brook running nearby, sun shining above... all natural elements, excluding the giant monument at the center. If he hadn't been told it was a hill, he probably would think it was some sort of statue. Someone seemed to be using it as a graffiti board; small messages here and there, some even forming conversations... not about anything that seemed important, though. Most notably, they all ended at about head height. it would seem no graffiti artists had yet begun the same journey he was bound to undertake.

Also at the base of the mountain were two figures, looking conspicuous in the idyllic expanse of nature, sitting on either side of an egg, which rested on its side in a small nest. Speaking of nests, the left-side navi was clearly the one who's assigned the mission. He was a man of average height, with a somewhat wide silhouette and short legs, but whatever manliness he had seemed to vanish into the ridiculousness of his outfit. On his head he wore a brown nest of twigs and leaves attached to the hood of his skinsuit. Several birds peaked up from the brim, ones with bulbous, angry eyes and flailing beaks, seeming to peck at both one another and sometimes nothing at all. For now, they were quiet, at least. The skinsuit was green with brown camouflage worked in; over it he wore white chest armor and gloves, with bird-house structures fitted into the shoulders. Another red, coarsely-feathered bird head peeked out from one of the holes. His gloves were fairly heavy, looking a little like a falconer's, though nothing about those birds screamed "falcon." On his face was a sleepy smile on a pale face, with bright, unassuming brown eyes.

The other navi looked somehow a great deal more out of place. The navi was taller, skinnier, with a red-and-blue striped outfit, with overly tall white boots, tight white gloves, and a black belt with a sword in an ornate white scabbard. Atop his head sat a wide-brimmed black hat with a white feather sticking high from the top, flopping slightly at the end. His face was covered by a white mask, which depicted a frowning face with a tear running from one eye. The holes of the eyeholes were entirely black with no signs of the eyes behind. While the nest-wearing fellow seemed to be all energy, despite his dopey smile, the masked one looked like he'd lost all of it somewhere in Yumland. After a brief silence, he spoke aloud: "Woe," in a voice dripping in misery, placing one hand to his mask and raising the other into the air and allowing it to tremble, before clenching it into a fist.

"You old fuddy duddy!" NestMan laughed, causing the birds to start chirping along noisily in response.

"Are you not feeling agony yourself?" the other responded, crossing his gloved hands beneath the point of his chin. "You're the one who's making such a big deal out of this, after all. I myself am about to die from a lack of... inspiration. Passion! Interaction. Direction."

"That's a long-winded way of saying you're bored, my friend. If you waste your younger years, you'll regret it when you're older!" NestMan giggled, speaking in a very merry, decidedly womanly voice. "Now, put on a happy face for when our new friend arrives! Our little egg is about to get on his way home."

"... I don't smile," the morbid fellow grimaced, presumably, behind his mask. He was probably telling the truth; as long as he wore that mask, there would be no smiling. "And don't call it our egg," he shuddered. Neither of them seemed to have noticed Chrosa's arrival, so he'd get the first word in.
[I'm back from exam stuffs.] :MrProg:

Chrosa only took a second to arrive at his destination, and it only took another to confirm his mission point as the two flamboyant men were sitting bored out of their minds. Between their sitting spots, a curious egg that Zed is dying to know what exactly is it. Chrosa however was more interested in being acquainted to the fellows. NestMan seemed like he was trying to keep DramaMan intertained enough to keep an eye on the egg. "It's time to reward them for their patience."Chrosa whispered to himself.

Seeing as they were preoccupied, Chrosa waved first. "Greetings gents. I thank you for dressing up so noticeable. My name is Chrosa and I'm operated by Zed Pellin."

"Hello, yeah were the ones that accepted the mission." Zed decided to butt in after Chrosa said his name. He took a moment to look around the dense wildlife but with a worried look. "This is the mission right? Wouldn't want to know what two Navis like you are doing in the middle of the woods. Umm.. that's rude of me. Sorry."

Chrosa sighed. "Would you mind if you give us another briefing. Maybe an in depth knowledge of the area?"
The two navis remained seated as Chrosa revealed himself; the nest-dressed man patted the spot next to him, indicating Chrosa may want to take a seat. "Sorry, friend. I'd stand up to shake your hand, but I've been seated here for so long that my hips start screaming every time I try to uncurl my belly," NestMan sighed, then put his eyes back on the egg in front of him. "My name is NestMan and this here is my friend, DramaMan," he introduced himself, gesturing to the gentleman in the mask across from him.

"You seem to have gathered the nature of our being together out here in the wilderness quite aptly, Sir," DramaMan answered misleadingly, placing one hand to his face (or the mask, rather) and tilting his head backward to look up at Chrosa. "All things are born, and here, the essence of birth itself: the humble ey-gg," he pronounced, pointing an open palm outward towards the oval-shaped item at the center of their huddle. He paused when Chrosa asked for a briefing of the area. "... I believe a cursory inspection of this area will tell you all that you need to know. It is dull, dry, without intrigue... and with little moisture," DramaMan declared, stretching out one arm of his sleeve where it was becoming embarrassingly damp with sweat.

"Not so true. I think there's one structure here we're all curious about..." NestMan interjected, looking over to the tremendous wall, standing freely in the net and seeming to extend upward forever. "Unfortunately, the two of us know so little about it, we can venture no guess as to how it got there, how high it goes, or what its purpose is..."

"Mysterious. Droll," DramaMan commented, pressing a hand to his mask again. "But what I do know is that this egg could only have come from somewhere up that towering monolith. You see... there are no trees around here, anywhere. There are no nests. There are even very few burrows. No wildlife! The only things you'll find in this area of the net are drab grasslands and this huge tower. Of the two, I'd say the tower is more likely to have produced the egg. Something nested further up the tower, that is."

NestMan clutched his hands together and stared up at the clouds. "You know I can't leave it alone! This poor baby... It misses its Mama," he commented sadly, looking like he was honestly about to tear up. "I could raise it on my own but... well... until we verify there isn't a Mama up there, it would be almost like stealing the baby. We must at least make the effort to return the egg to its proper place!"

DramaMan seemed to suddenly become more enthusiastic, though one might notice he hadn't perked up at the talk of the baby more just at the crying. "It is to weep!" he cried, confirming that suspicion. "It's time! Chrosa, you must scale the tower! And you must take... this ey-gg." He handed the egg over, urging the many-legged navi to take it. "You'll start your climb here, at the base, and... keep going up... until you find... something." It sounded awfully monotonous, but also fairly simple. After all, there didn't appear to be any virus life anywhere around here, so maybe he'd be safe all the way up? Then again, things were rarely as simple as they seemed.

If Chrosa wanted to start on his way up, he'd find he had two options: climb up the tower keeping his current upward orientation, like a normal person might, or turn so that he was using his feet and keeping his hands free. Whichever way he did, he'd find something strange: the moment he touched to the surface, the source of gravity seemed to change, making the obelisk the "floor." He'd find that if he tried to climb the way a normal person would have, he'd now be crawling across the "ground," and if he tried using his legs, he could walk along the surface just like he was standing upright on the "ground." The strange part would be that he'd be looking straight at the sky of the net, which was currently covered by clouds... the tower went on so far that the clouds seemed to engulf it, becoming obscuring fog at a point. It looked very, very empty, but with nowhere to go but forward. It would, however, be dangerous to stop using his suction cups. Leaving the obelisk completely seemed to disengage the gravity completely.

"Oh! Here's my direct link, if you need to talk to me or DramaMan. Simply send us a message! We can't go with you, but if you get bored along the way, maybe we can keep you company that way? Or you can always try singing to the baby! I've come up with a song-" NestMan shouted over.

"Just go! Please! Spare me," DramaMan urged, waving his hands to indicate Chrosa should get a move on before the singing began.
Seeing that the two men had tired themselves out by just resting endlessly, the octopus Navi went to greet them himself at their resting spots. He declined Nestman's gesture, as his body would take up all of their precious resting spots. "It's good to see good samaritans even in places like this. I apologize that you've waited so long till your muscles started aching. Maybe I ought to return the favor by massaging your worn bodies?" Despite asking beforehand, his tentacles already start twitching uncomfortably. Zed quickly picked up his partner's antics from proceeding. "Chrosa, I know you just want to be a gentleman, but that's gonna give off...a bad impression. 'Sides, there's more pressing stuff that we need to do." Chrosa wondered the first bit and what Zed meant before remembering the mission. DramaMan gave some basic intel of the area when he asked for the intel of the area. The pair scouted around to confirm DramaMan's words. All around them was the green grass, and a gurgling brook, the place would be a napping haven minus the fact that there aren't any shade to cover the sun. "This place isn't very... dramatic is it?" Zed commented the view dishearteningly, pun unintended.

However Nestman interjected and pointed out the towering obelisk and faced upwards to the veiling cloud above, making everyone look at the spectacle too. The obelisk made Chrosa more mystified by the egg's presence, "Now then, if there's no wildlife down here, how could anything even survive up there?". Zed clears his Navi's bewilderment, "You shouldn't be so naive Chrosa, the networld obviously works differently than the real world. I mean, we've got living proof right here," he points at DramaMan. "Oh yes, how is DramaMan able to survive in a place devoid of entertainment?" Chrosa was genuinely intrigued, which made Zed give out a small chuckle.

"Anyways, I apologize for digressing." Chrosa shifts his mind back to the egg. NestMan seems to take the egg business very seriously, spilling his emotions and loving care to the egg. Even DramaMan became more enthusiastic over the welfare of the egg. He readily hands over the egg to Chrosa, which he tried his best to handle with utmost care. Chrosa stores the egg in a place that he can guarantee the egg's safety...inside his gelatinous head. Shoving it inside his head, its size makes Chrosa's head bulge a bit, which looked quite uncomfortable to viewing eyes. "Function over form, huh?"

After the small talk with his patrons, Chrosa excused himself to examine the stone monument. He looked up to find the pinnacle, but it struck to him that the height of the monument exceeded the clouds and even beyond that. Clearly this wasn't any normal structure. Because when he touched it's surface, he felt a strong force acting upon his arms, and the weight of his body was providing a much greater force that pulled him to the wall. The shocking reaction made Chrosa tug his body away from the walls, freeing himself from the monument. He stumbled back due to the excess force that he used. Luckily for the egg, it was suspended in Chrosa's head, safe and sound.

"Woah, you alright Chrosa?" Zed stammered when he saw his Navi acting ungentlemanly. "I'm unscathed thankfully. However this towering stone slab clearly has something quite unusual about it. It was pulling me with great force when I touched it." Chrosa was perplexed and clearly was hesitant to touch the walls again. His operator was gathering some thought to the mysterious phenomenon. After a few moments, Zed caught a flash of clarity. "I think I've an idea. You might think it's magnetized, but I think it creates a huge gravitational force so that it changes the wall to act like the 'ground'. So I think you'll easily scale it if you climb it with your tentacles." Hearing his operator's explanation, although a bit confusing, Chrosa knows that Zed was reassuring his determination. Before he made his final preparations, NestMan hollered him. The walking nature gave a direct link to Chrosa in case the journey might be a bit boring. DramaMan urged Chrosa's leave before NestMan creates a new Shakespearean tragedy. So Zed's Navi went forward to take steps on the stone monument. "Well, here I go." Chrosa stuck his suction cups on the walls but immediately felt of ease, feeling like he was walking on the ground normally. He still decided to walk along while suctioning himself just in case. The Navi continued on to walk briskly ahead, to save DramaMan from needing to hear any awful singing.
"That's very sweet of you and any other time I'd take you up on it... parenting takes so much out of me," NestMan chuckled, politely declining Chrosa's invitation. "For now, let's focus on the little one."

"Indeed, you are correct. The lack of aesthetic sense here is... utterly draining. Even in the sun's coached prairies, one expects at least to see wildlife. There is a distinct feeling that nothing could happen here," DramaMan bemoaned.

NestMan shook his head, then pointed towards Chrosa's, which had now expanded to the same oversized shape as the egg he was housing. "That's not quite true... there's our own little miracle," he cooed. Only, if it was really that little, it wouldn't be stretching Chrosa's head right now.

Soon enough, Chrosa had begun his ascent, away from the nursery song that NestMan had started. He meant well, but he lacked a bit of nature's grace or a mother's softness when it came to singing to children. If Chrosa stuck around down there, the egg she'll might start to crack from the high notes NestMan was hitting.

At first, it seemed as though the adventure upward was going to be just as boring as NestMan had warned it might be. However, once he'd ascended high enough to the point that looking down would give him vertigo and the forms of his employers would appear like small insects, he noticed the scenery begin to gradually change. What had appeared to be flat, black, shining stone was gradually changing to reveal small indents of wear, along with a yellow dividing line down its center. The texture changed from that of polished marble to that of asphalt... not exactly mode comfortable, but not much worse than walking a sidewalk.

Something like a sun began to appear over the hill... but that couldn't be right, because Chrosa could still see the sun high on one side, hidden behind the clouds. Whatever the new light source was, it shot a beam of light out towards him, cutting through the clouds that had formerly been overhead, but now obscured his destination. For a scary moment, it might seem like headlights were coming towards him down the new roadway.

Instead, a navi revealed herself: her only particularly feminine feature was her face, with pale gray eyes and long lashes, but the rest of her body looked like a child's and was concerned by long, plated gray armor, hanging far past where her feet likely were... it was hard to tell given the way it hung, seemingly adherent to the new gravity source despite not touching the object. Her head was similarly clad in a tall, gray, plated helmet. If she had arms, they weren't immediately apparent. The armor split into something like a "Y" shape around the collarbone but no arms were visible.

The navi spoke up, sounding very close despite keeping a good distance away from Chrosa. "Hello... my name is Path. I haven't seen a visitor in quite some time. But if you are here, it must be for a purpose... if you will entertain me for a moment, know that I believe you are here for guidance. My place is to guide... I can guide you, Chrosa." It seemed she knew his name even before it was given. "You may think you know your purpose here... but even that is shrouded in secrets. Come closer, Chrosa... Come closer, and I'll lift the veil around those secrets."

It didn't actually seem possible to come closer: even as he climbed, she seemed to be floating slowly backwards. Still there was nowhere but up to go regardless.

"RoadMan is my assistant... he's here to help guide you, just like I am. He can't speak to you right now... not in this form. But he can help you all the same. Before we can start... I need to know your goal. Not the actor's nor the birdkeeper's... but your own," she beckoned. As she spoke, the path seemed to very suddenly branch into three directions, like a forked road. She continued floating down the middle path, ignoring the other two. "Tell me Chrosa... Tell me what your purpose is..." It seemed like a pretty broad question. More over, he might begin to wonder if he'd bitten off a little more than he anticipated with this mission, which seemed increasingly less focused on the egg he carried.