Editing Story:ROAD TRIP! (Warhammer High)/Part Four (section)

===Back Down to Fenris===


Freya bounded up the last meter of the pillar and scrambled to the peak.  She grinned from ear to ear in the rising wind, holding her fists over her head in triumph.  “FUCK YEAH!” she crowed, panting in the freezing wind.

Her collar crackled.  “Did you make it to the top?” Remilia asked.

“Sure did!” Freya said happily, pumping her fist over her red mane.

“What took you so long?” Venus asked.  Freya turned to her cousin’s pillar to see her sitting, cross-legged and smirking.

“You…you beat me up?” Freya asked.

“No, I actually got up here while you were dancing around on your pillar,” Venus admitted.  “Now.  How the hell do you get back down?” she asked, glancing around.

“Oh.  Uh, just head back down the line, and remove the spikes as you go,” Freya said.  “Use the claw.”

“Right.”

“But, you know, take a holo or something!  We just climbed a basalt pillar, celebrate a bit!” Freya said.

Venus tapped her waist.  “I’m recording this, trust me.”

“Oh.”  Freya squinted and spotted the tiny holocam Venus had snugged in her bag.  Freya sank back down onto the edge of the pillar to wait for Remilia to finish.  “Have you climbed before?” Freya asked.

“All the time, in the Public Center in Startseite, just not as part of a school thing,” Venus said.  “This is my first outdoor climb.”  She grinned across the gap between pillars as Remilia’s blond hair emerged from behind one of them.  “Remilia, this was a great idea.”

“Thanks,” Remilia huffed, clambering up the last few steps.  “Where’s Alex?”

“He bailed, his hands were freezing,” Freya said.

Their radios crackled.  “You all made it?” Jake asked.

“Was there ever a doubt in your mind?” Freya asked cheerfully.

“No,” Jake admitted.

Venus paused to snap another holo before grabbing a sturdy piece of rock at the top of her line of spikes.  “I’m coming back down,” she said.

“All right, we’re not going anywhere,” Jake said.  “I could start reciting lines from the movie we watched last night, to speed your descent,” he suggested.

“Sure, that’d be great,” Venus deadpanned.

Jake hesitated.  “You’re kidding, right?” he asked over the radio.

“Of course.”  She gripped the top handhold and eased herself down.  “Hasskald still MIA?”

“Yeah, he’s off in the woods,” Alex said, shielding his eyes against the glare.

Freya started back down as Remilia paused to drink from her insulated water bottle.  “Let him, he’s probably just off hunting.”

“Ah, here he comes,” Alex said, spotting a flash of blue armor in the treeline.

“And…he’s bringing lunch, I see,” Jake added for the girls.  Indeed, the Grey Hunter had a deer carcass draped over his shoulder.

“Oh my god, seriously?” Freya groaned.

“Yyyep.  Big fucking deer.”  Jake stared.  “This will be an educational meal.”

“Not if I can help it,” Freya muttered.  “Unless…unless you guys actually WANT to watch a Space Wolf disembowel and devour a fucking deer what the FUCK am I saying, I need to get down there,” Freya said, descending her pillar as fast as she dared.

“Hang on, he’s stopping,” Alex said.  “He’s just putting it down.”

“Wait, is he looking around for something on the ground?” Freya asked.

“Uh, yeah,” Jake reported.

Freya sighed in relief.  “Oh, thank goodness.  Never mind, we’re clear.”

“What is he doing?” Alex asked.

“He’s just looking around for wood to start a fire,” Freya said.  She gripped a spike and ripped it from the rocks.  “Be right down.”


By the time all three girls reached the bottom, Hasskald had lit his fire, and was roasting the deer over it, still a decent distance from the vacationers.  Freya opened the pack they had brought, pulling some food out.  “All right, who’s hungry?”

As the teens grabbed their food, Hasskald tore into his own.  The wind was picking up considerably, and soon the barren snowfields were covered in tiny flurries as gusts of wind kicked up flakes from the surface.  Jake huddled against the cold, munching on his bread.  “So what’s the verdict on Fenrisian rock climbing?”

“Fun as hell.  Awesome idea, Remilia,” Venus said.

“Thanks.  I’m glad we went with this,” Remilia said, downing a little water.  “There any other places we could go?” she asked.

“Well, yes, but not around here, we’d have to fly a good ways south,” Freya said.  She bit a chunk off of a fruit none of the others could recognize.  “Actually, we sort of have tomorrow off.  I was wondering if you guys would be okay with me heading out to see the people a little,” Freya said.  She glanced at the others, taking in their expressions.  “Would you mind?”

Nobody objected.  Freya nodded in relief.  “Cool.”

“How are you going to do it?” Jake asked.  “Just pick a tribe and fly out there?”

“No, that won’t work.”  Freya’s red hair swung over her thermo shirt as she shook her head.  “We’ll land a bit outside the settlement, and I’ll just sneak in.”

Alex looked a bit worried.  “Will you be safe?”

“Not if I were going alone,” Freya admitted.  “Two Hunters and a few snipers will be in the area anyway, so they’ll keep an eye on me.”

“But you won’t be going as Freya Russ,” Alex pressed.

She half-smiled.  “Nope, just Freya.  It’s a fairly common name.  I might wear a falsehood or a mask that covers my teeth, though,” she said, tapping her lips.  “Just to keep them hidden.”

Jake looked confused.  “What’s a falsehood?”

“It’s a kind of holographic projector that makes your face look like a mannequin,” Freya said.  “It’s obviously not a real person’s face.  There’s other kinds that just shift your real appearance a tiny bit, though.  So if I set it to cover just my mouth, it would look like I didn’t have these guys,” she said, tapping her mouth again.

“Do you even have one?” Jake asked.

“Well, I think we have a few in the armory, but…oh, crap, I’d need to personalize it,” Freya realized.  She snapped her fingers.  “Well, so much for that.”

Alex awkwardly shrugged.  “Will people notice if you just don’t talk much?”

She grimaced.  “I guess not.  They’re not too visible when I speak, are they?”

“No, not unless you’re looking for them,” Venus said.

“All right.”  Freya sighed away sudden nerves.  “Tomorrow, then.”

Hasskald finished his meal and dropped an armful of snow on the fire.  He turned to see the group finishing up their own food.  He walked over, shielding his eyes against the rising winds.

“My young friends, I think it would be best that we depart,” he said.  “The weather is turning.”

Alex rose to his feet, wiping his hands on the snow.  “Sure.  Back to the Fang, Freya?”

“Yep, we’re done here,” Freya pronounced, springing to her feet.  “Thank you very much for giving us some help, Brother,” she said as Hasskald turned to activate his Thunderhawk beacon.

“It was a privilege, Sister,” the Grey Hunter said.  He clicked the runes on his wrist-mount auspex and glanced over the display.  “The gunship will be here in four minutes.”