Stoicism Versus Benevolence

After a brief exchange of paying for their meal, and allowing Freyja ample time to give her dessert a sample if she wished and look at information on Yosemite park, the demon eventually gave the woman a warm nod in confirmation of what she said. And lead on she did after a moment to collect her bearings. She took a rather winding road to lead them to their destination, which eventually shifted off from city streets to wilderness streets. The demon hummed pleasantly, taking inquisitive looks around the area every now and then before she eventually took a stop; pointing in the general direction of their destination.

“We’re just a hop, skip, and a jump away. I would say we could speed it up, but the environments on the way are worth seeing.”

After allowing the two women to appraise their destination, Arianda led them on once again. As they walked, the wood thickened, and long shadows of aged trees lined their path. The demon once again hummed quietly, taking it upon herself to summon a gentle light to better help illuminate their path; especially given the sun’s current eastwards path. It was low in the sky, given the women had what was a little early dinner, and light was fading gently. But their surroundings were nonetheless beautiful. Eventually, within a half-hour walk/hike, they had arrived at the start of the National Park; which, from there, would give them enough access to the mountain Ari had spoken of.

“Well~? How are we faring so far? Ready to get on top of that mountain? We probably will have to utilize a bit of supernatural climbing instead of embracing the normal way... considering it's almost dark and I don't want to risk us climbing up or down this mountain in the dark with normal methods.”

Arianda gave them both a grin and she walked towards the mountain before them looking around at the handholds and nodding to herself, looking up and down the mountain before she seemed to stop moving entirely. It was very, very obvious that the demon was focusing intensely. However, during her state of intense focus, nothing seemed to happen for a good couple of minutes. Then, rather abruptly, a pair of wings that looked quite draconic in nature, likely being modeled after the wings of a dragon, sprouted from Arianda's back. The wings themselves were a dark shade of red, which looked almost black in the low light. However, the membrane of the wings, which were lined with various networks of veins, were silver; much like the shade of Ari's eyes. The demon considered them, flapping them a few times to test, and then gave the two women behind her a small grin.

"Alrighty! I'm ready, let's go! I'll fly with you two, just in case something goes wrong and one of you falls for some reason. I ain't gonna have any injuries on my watch; especially when climbing this mountain is my possibly great, possibly stupid, idea. Alright! Say something too if you run out of handholds!"

With a surprising amount of force, Arianda kicked off from the ground the same time she flapped the wings that had sprouted from her back. It was clear that, despite how accustomed she was to wings, it took her a few seconds to get used to the motion of her wings. Rapidly, erratic movements, born out of lack of practice turned into, turned into smooth, graceful movements through the air. The demon gave them both a surprisingly brilliant grin, humming pleasantly to herself.

"Well, c'mon then! I don't want you two climbing a mountain in the dark; to the top!"

To be honest, Arianda was slightly surprised that Freyja had, instead of performing a bit of climbing, had essentially decided to challenge Arianda to a bit of a race. The demon couldn't help but grin playfully as she watched Freyja conjure wings of reishi; catching up to her in a few moments. It was hard for the demon not to chuckle as Freyja seemed to gain a slightly playful air, even if there was little proof to that feeling aside from her desire to now race; even that tiny smile before she took off seemed to point all indicators to that one result.

"Oh yes you will, Freyja~"

It was impossible for Ari to not take the challenge. Her playful grin remained in place as she gave Freyja a bit of a head-start while she made sure Amelia had sure enough footholds and handholds. Afterwards, the demon gave Amelia a gentle smile before she pushed off a patch of hardened energy beneath her feet; rocketing towards the shrinking form of Freyja. It was rather quick to see that Arianda, while not only graceful, had strong muscles in her back and wings to be able to flap so fast and so hard. Shit, it looked like she even had a tail emerging from the folds of her skirt; likely to aid in stabilizing her flight.

As Arianda approached Freyja, the beat of her mighty wings creating a gentle thud with each flap, she decided to make things more interesting and try to match Freyja's speed and only slightly overtake it. Her intentions were to make everything just that much more fun so that way it was a neck and neck race, instead of Arianda just taking the lead and blowing Freyja out of the water. Meanwhile, the whole time, she kept a sharp eye on Amelia's position; making sure that if the woman fell, Arianda could make an immediate dive at any given moment to save her. Even if Amelia likely didn't much like Ari, Ari was more than willing to save her. After all, she didn't care who Amelia was, or her feelings about Ari; all she cared about was to make sure she was safe. Not because of Freyja, not because she was a Quincy, but because Arianda would help her no matter what if she needed it.

In the meantime, however, Arianda would engage Freyja in what Arianda believed was a very, very fun race to the top of the mountain; which would likely end in a very close victory for one of the two. Ari had her money on herself, even though she had no bets in this game; but she might let Freyja win... who knows~? Then again, Arianda would feel better if the woman earned it instead of just being given it. Not to mention, she didn't know if Freyja was but Arianda was having a lot of fun at the moment.

Even if Arianda looked wholly and completely absorbed in their little competition, in which Ari would assuredly win; assuming there were no interruptions. Frankly speaking, Arianda was having a great deal of fun, and was still purposefully trying to make this a neck and neck race. However, what she eventually believed to possible occur, did. At was like she felt the falling herself as she felt Amelia's presence suddenly start dropping down the cliff at an increasing race. As if it was planned, both Ari and Freyja looked down towards the distant falling form of Amelia. It was too great of a distance for Freyja; but not for Arianda. The demon sprang into action with practiced grace and speed. She shot towards one of the cliffs before them, landing on it with enough force to make the surrounding rocks shake a tiny bit. However, she soon kicked off in a downwards trajectory, her wings folded against her back, using all of her speed and strength to pour herself into one headlong dive that caused her to briefly shatter the sound barrier and create a super-sonic crack; somehow quiet enough to not disturb the surrounding rocks.

It was like Arianda had planned this as she was flying up the mountain. Not Amelia's fall, of course, but how she would react and save whomever may have fallen down the mountain; it just so happened to be Amelia. Even if Amelia was flailing, or falling calmly; trying to slow her dive, Arianda would flare her wings out and match Amelia's falling speed. She reached out, holding the woman like a princess, and began the rather slow process of slowing their descent without hurting Amelia. Of course, they long stopped descending before they hit the ground. With a few powerful strokes of her wings, she started back to flying up the mountain, this time taking great care to measure her speed so that Amelia would not be overwhelmed.

After she arose to the top, or met Freyja in the air and then soared to the top, she carefully set Amelia down on her feet; her draconic wings and tail fading back into her form like they had never existed. Without a single word, she took Amelia's hands and turned them over to look at her palms, seemingly looking for wounds. A few more cursory touches in places Amelia wouldn't be too uncomfortable with, and Arianda let out a gentle sigh. Uninjured, for the most part. What's more, and what may even surprise Amelia, was Arianda's genuine concern for their wellbeing. After a small bit of time, Arianda smiled warmly at the two.

"All's well that ends well, huh? It should be getting dark soon, and the city will really start to light up. It's not as nice as the stars at night, but it's a lot harder to take a picture of those when we're this close to a city. Enjoy the sights while we have the time; then I need to get you both to wherever you are staying. After a day like today, some rest is just what the doctor ordered~"

Arianda was quite glad that Amelia was alright in the end, even if she was a little embarrassed by Ari's touch. But, at the moment, Arianda was thinking more as someone who wanted to make sure that she was uninjured. Shit, she even used a few silent spells to make sure that she had no internal injuries either. Regardless, at the end of it all Arianda let out a gentle sigh of relief and took a seat on a nearby rock; which was just the right size to be sat on comfortably. She smiled warmly at Freyja after everything, and also gave the same smile to Amelia, who had bowed to her moments before; which Ari probably had no honest reaction to other than to pat the woman on the shoulder. Afterwards, Arianda let out a gentle sigh, tilting her head to the side as she looked at the night sky; staring at the stars and constellations they formed. Luckily, because they were basically in the middle of a national park, there was very little light pollution. While you couldn't see the milky way, you could see a very nice assortment of stars; and the distant lights from the nearest city.

Arianda then turned her head towards Freyja, blinking a tiny bit at what she said. Frankly speaking, the demon hadn't taken much notice of the amount of dessert Freyja had ordered. Apparently, it was just enough for all three of them. Ari still blinked in minor surprise for the next few moments before her lips slowly turned upwards into a smile; well meaning and accepting.

"If you don't mind sharing, Freyja, I'd love to have some."

Likely after Freyja had doled out the cakes, or they were all crowded around the to go box, Arianda looked at Freyja and tilted her head; realizing she had no idea where the two were staying. Then again, they could just be heading right back to the private jet Freyja arrived on. Instead of just leaving everything up to chance, she decided to ask. She didn't want to seem rude, after all; and it was likely best to make certain of their plans.

"Freyja, Amelia, did you two plan to stay in the city overnight or are you taking your private jet back to the Vandenriech? I just realized we never really discussed that... Then again, this has been a rather sudden tour after all~"

The demon chuckled softly, giving them a smile and ample time to reply while she returned to her own cake; absorbing their words while she ate her cake. Frankly speaking, she wouldn't mind putting them up for the night, but that was a bit of a ways away compared to where they were now; and especially because this "local" city was just the closest one to Ari's home. She decided to wait and see what the women would decide, ready to guide them back wherever they need be.