Already though, Kat could feel the tension seeping back into the air. Despite everyone seeming calm, that was only on the surface. As Grace walked her hand would constantly brush past her dagger. Skye for her part always seemed to have her hand twitch whenever it reached the end of its natural arc.
Kat for her part was just casually keeping up. Seemingly oblivious to the mounting tension, with her large strides and tail flicking. Her two passengers seemed to agree. The Timmy's were admiring the scenery as they trudged on and pretending to laugh at the occasional chunk of snow that looked a bit off.
"So-" Kat started trying to break the silence a bit but Grace just shook her head and Kat kept quiet. No reason to antagonise her contracted partner for nothing. *But still, the tension is so thick I'm pretty sure I could slice into it with my tail.*
*Surely it would be better to calm down a bit. I'm not saying to completely relax, but this tension can't be good for you. I feel like I remember something about stress being bad for the body… Eh whatever.*
The group continued forward, with tension just a thick, and Kat's attempts at lightening the situation forgotten by all but the Timmy's. The third one would show up occasionally in the corner of Kat's vision, and then flit away again. It seemed to be using the trees to transport itself.
*And I guess that makes sense really. Thyme uses plants as the base for his teleportation I think, or the base for everything really, so I suppose it's no surprise that these smaller variations would do the same.*
After another five minutes of walking the sand skipper came into view, and Kat wasn't quite sure what to think. The 'sand skipper' was more of a canoe with a sail strapped to it. There were two smaller sections that were attached to the main body, presumably for balance… but what really confused Kat was how this was piloted by three people.
*In fact, I'm not even sure you can fit three people on it. Looks more like a one person raft if you ask me.* Kat looked to gauge Grace's reaction, but other than a slight twitch of her ears, Kat didn't see anything that could signify a particular emotion.
"Well, looks like we're here then" said Grace glancing over at Skye
"That's right. You can stop glaring a hole in my robes now. See, everything intact and ready to go" said Skye
"Sure, if you count a single man sand skipper one that requires three people" said Skye with an edge to her voice.
"Why you wound me Grace" said Skye gesturing at the sand skipper in question "You need one person on the rudder, one person on the sail, and the third person is needed for balance"
"Sure…" said Grace clear suspicion in her voice
"Well, as an elf have you ever even ridden a sand skipper?" asked Skye, and seeing Grace's offence but lack of reply charged forward "Of course not. Now, are we going to pilot this thing or not"
"Well, I'm just a poor elf whose never even seen a sand skipper, how could I possibly help pilot such a complex craft" said Grace sarcasm dripping from her lips.
*Welp, here they go again.* Kat lowered the Timmy's from her head and started to teach them how to make snowman. The third Timmy popped out of the snow nearby to join in. After some minor demonstration and assistance the Timmy's really picked it up.
"Oh, why it is very simple. I'm sure practically anyone could do it. And while I respect elves as a race with a long and storied history, full of intelligent individuals, perhaps if you can't even perform basic tasks you aren't one of them" said Skye
"Oh, you wanna play that card huh?" said Grace "After developing all the new methods of strengthening ourselves human lifespans have started catching up. I mean sure, you kill yourselves off in such great numbers that only the fact you breed like rabbits could keep your population stable but your trying right?"
The Timmy's showed great skill and expertise once they got their balls rolling. Already they had managed to create two snowmen each and Kat was looking for suitable things for the faces. She didn't want to just resort to compact dirt but there seemed to be a lack of real stones under the snow, but Kat was determined to find some.
"Oh ho ho. I was genuinely trying not to resort to targeting your race rather than your character, but it seems you can't even have a proper argument with me other than resorting to such childish stereotypes. Perhaps if you'd take a moment to calm down a bit we'd be already on our way" said Skye
Kat finally managed to fine a rock. Perfect size and shape for an eye… just the one though. After seeing the Timmy's complete an army of snowman fifteen large, she instructed them to help her find similar rocks to the one she was holding. No snowman was complete without eyes after all… even if they had to skimp on buttons.
Grace took a long breath and then let it out again. "Perhaps we got off on the wrong foot. I'm nearly annoyed that we've been led astray by someone I don't trust. Instead you've given some strange excuse like needing the extra weight to justify us bringing you along"
The Timmy's were much better at searching through the snow then Kat. She assumed that they could sense the ground underneath it somehow, or perhaps it was just that they hard three of themselves to look where as Kat was alone.
Skye smiled "But I'm not lying to you. Proper weight management is very important with sand skippers, and even if that had not been the case, why I was nice enough to share its location"
Having successfully procured the eyes, Kat then led the Timmy's on a search for twig arms. They needed to be surprisingly small because of the Timmy's snowman's size, but that just meant they could break up the larger stuff if need be.
"We didn't even need this. Kat and I were more than capable of making it across the desert by ourselves. We only came along because you said it needed three people, and you certainly weren't getting across yourself" said Grace.
Arms and eyes secured Kat wondered if there was something she could use as a scarf. Considering the rather barren landscape Kat thought it unlikely. Taking a quick look around, Kat remembered she had yet to fix her outfit. Quickly dismissing and resummoning it, she continued her search for scarf materials but came up short.
"Oh? You can make it across, can you?" said Skye "Just like how you could deal with that Barbarashi tearing through your partner? Heck, I doubt you could have beaten the thing. And even if you could, you'd have been in no shape to start traveling, putting you so far behind the curve"
Kat tried communicating with the Timmy's to explain what she was looking for. Wrapping her sleeve around her neck and then gesturing to the snowmen. They understood what she was looking for, but gave her the negative when indicating if they could find something suitable around
"We were just fine. The Barbarashi couldn't touch us. Sure we might not have been able to kill it but outlasting it was certainly on the table. Worst comes to worst we could have run away ourselves, it can only chase so far after all" said Grace
Satisfied with the snowmen and accepting they weren't getting any better Kat then started teaching the Timmy's the rules for a snowball fight. Standard affair, one hit and your out. Start with ten ammo and go nuts.
"Oh yeah, while Kat was bleeding out you could pepper it with your ineffective arrows" said Skye "You guys landing one. Count it, ONE solid hit on the thing, and that was all Kat. Heck even then it didn't really do any damage. So pray tell what could you and that little bow of yours do Grace?"
Things were going well. If you ignored the fact it was 3v1. Kat still had the upper hand though. The Timmy's snowballs were tiny and she had an easy time dodging them, whereas her own were half the size of a Timmy and could be thrown much faster. Granted the various angles they were getting on her complicated things, but Kat was fine.
"We were never in any danger. Kat had my back the entire time, and she was more than capable of recovering from taking a hit or two. Once we had our stride dodging was the easiest thing in the world. Right Kat?" said Grace
Grace and Skye turned to find Kat expertly dodging by bending her back over on itself and letting three snowballs fly past where her midsection once was. When Kat dodged these snowballs they didn't just stop.. In fact they kept flying until they made contact with the next thing in line… Grace and Skye.