May His Passing Cleanse the World

A lone train rumbled into the station and slowed to a stop. The doors slid open with a hiss, and Evelyn stepped onto the platform with a deep breath.

What the hell was she doing all the way out here? The last mission she was on she almost got shot to ribbons by a mad Englishman, but here she was again, out in Asia, chasing rumors of a giant worm that devoured whole settlements. Before coming to Beata she had rarely left the state. Once, as a little girl, they had taken a vacation to Wyoming and went sight-seeing in Yellowstone. Now she was in Ulaanbaatar, a small city that served as the capital of a country that hardly anybody had ever heard of back in America.

All Evelyn had known was that she needed to escape campus, even just for a week, and in a drunken state she had signed herself up for the first mission she saw... a decision she severely regretted come morning, when she was prodded awake at dawn the next day to be driven out to Fargo. From there it was a long flight to Seattle, and another even longer flight to Russia, where most of the group's money were "confiscated" by officials. It had taken half a day of haggling in broken English to get it back, but finally they had managed to take enough to buy their train tickets, and here they were.

Evelyn wasn't sure whether to be glad or not that they had finally made their destination. They were finally done with airplanes, thank God, but now their mission had begun, to find some "death worm" that the locals were talking about. And if that wasn't bad enough, her companions couldn't have been worse. Colette, Jace, and Jacob, whose name she only learned about once they were stuck on a train together. The only person she didn't know was Chip. Supposedly he was 13, but he looked like a little kid. That was just as bad.

She gripped her backpack's straps tight. Inside were blankets, spare clothes, her knives, the Hitchhiker's Guide to Mongolia, and most importantly of all, a thermos full of a certain illicit beverage. Evelyn suspected that she'd need it. The girl hadn't the slightest idea how she was supposed to kill a giant worm with a dagger and some throwing knives, and her lovely companions weren't armed with anything much better. "This is stupid..." she muttered under her breath to no one in particular. According to the new Head of Summer's e-mail, they'd be staying overnight in a yurt out in the middle of nowhere with their guide's family, a bunch of rural camel farmers. That would be even better, but there was also the promise of vodka. She supposed that balanced it out. With vodka, anything became bearable or doable.

It struck her that she was now thousands of miles from home, in a country she didn't know anything about that had a language she did not understand, with people she hardly liked. This is how I die, I guess.

Poor little Chip. He hardly knew anyone. Well, he knew a little bit about Evelyn because she has a diary, but it hadn't been updated in a while. The others were  Colette, Jacob, and Jace. He recognized Jace from the rumors/notes passed around school. The older student was the Formal King, and He knew Jacob slightly from the time at the library, all Chip knew was that he liked true crime books. If 'Jack the Ripper: The Final Solution by Stephen Knight' was anything to go by. But, anyways. The only one he didn't know was Colette. So, he stuck to Jacob, and only talked when spoken to.

It was a long flight, and the young boy was practically devastated to find out that there was a longer ride on train. However, he was glad to step off the train and onto ground that wasn't moving. The young boy glanced around, his small arms tightening around a comically large book that he held close to his chest.

Of course he was frightened. Even if the stories seemed over exaggerated. Shuffling his feet, he looked over at the girl in charge. "So, uh. All I could find out about the Death Worm, is a book written by Roy Chapman Andrews. He said..."It is shaped like a sausage about two feet long, has no head nor leg and it is so poisonous that merely to touch it means instant death." Is that what we are looking for? Or is it supposed to be, uh...Bigger?" Chip paused, before adding, "And it likes to feed on camels." He looked down at his book, which by no means was where he got his information. But having a book gave him his power. Without it, he'd be a useless little kid.

No, not a little kid. Just a useless freshman. Man, he felt a little left out. Wasn't he the youngest here? 'I must really seem small...' His lower lip jutted out slightly at the thought. 'I don't want them to think I'm weak! I'll have to do my best to make up for my age!'

The train screeched to a halt at the platform, signaling the end of their long voyage. Once the train came to a complete stop, Jacob stood up and closed the Hitchhiker's Guide to Mongolia, holding it in one hand while hoisting up his backpack with the other. Inside, he had made sure to pack the important supplies he'd need for this mission, along with the jacket he was currently wearing. Truth be told, he found it very unlikely that such a creature that was described could possibly exist, but he had taken a shine to the thought of traveling, and if he could help disprove such a fantastical creature, well he guessed that was a plus too.

The long, long ride to Mongolia was rife with silence through most of the way, though in a group with Evelyn he was hardly surprised. Debriefing the mission had given him the knowledge of her name, along with the other riders: Chip, Colette, and Jace. Now, he already knew Chip from the library, so having known both him and Evelyn was a relief, though his conversations throughout the entire trip with the Winter had included one resounding greeting, and that was all. She hadn't seemed exactly keen on fully acknowledging that they knew each other, so he spent most of the trip fraternizing with Chip. As for the other two, he had never met Colette, so she was an unknown to him. As for Jace, while he had never met him, he did remember the seemingly alpha male from the dance. The prom king certainly did give off an air of royalty, or maybe that was just arrogance. He did seem fit though, so perhaps he would be very well-suited to combat.

Perhaps they all had something that suited them well in the midst of battle, but where he was concerned, he wasn't too sure he would be that big of a help. All he could do was shroud lights in darkness and heal wounds. That didn't sound entirely helpful if there really was a giant death worm burrowing its way around the desert. Still, he had made sure to learn up on where they were going so at least he would be able to do something in that aspect. Stepping off the train and onto the platform, the young male murmured some Mongolian phrases under his breath, attempting to memorize them in case they were needed. He was so far away from home, and for a moment his mind strayed back to Beata, where Alicia was. He hoped she was okay, and that she would still remember him when he got back. Hopefully he wasn't blushing at the thought of her.

Formal King. Royalty. Alpha Male.
Keep 'em coming. He really didn't mind at all.

The young man straightened out the scarf around his neck, letting a sigh out into the warm, woolen fabric. He'd been half-praying near most of the time over that this "worm" nearly wasn't as big of a threat as they had made it seem to be. People had been claiming plenty of things about the creature, but then again, people were rather - well... stupid when they were frightened and could easily make up the wildest things, not always close to the truth; at least, in his experience it seemed to be that way.

Still, he was relieved when he was finally able to step off the train, signaling a near close to their long and annoying travel with his "teammates" - one of which he actually knew (and wasn't exactly on great terms with, when he cared to notice). The others he couldn't say he knew, the white-haired girl looking some-what familiar, but the others didn't ring a bell. He'd have figured that the Summer - Jacob, he learned - would've at least have sparked some life into the dull journey, but it simply didn't happen. He was stuck staring out the window, fiddling with his instrument, and lazily skimming through his copy of the 'Hitchhiker's Guide to Mongolia'. To say Jace was ready to hit the hay was an understatement. And by the sound of it, hay was most likely the think they'd be sleeping on, literally.

"Is that it?" Jason raised a suspicious eyebrow at the youngest student's words. Chip? The Autumn pulled his phone out of his pocket, moving to check the email sent to the sent to them all. He'd read it about twenty times before, but something left him wary about the words Professor James had given them. "Two feet and a hundred feet seems like a bit if a small gap." He mused a bit skeptically before shrugging. "Maybe our worm grew up?"

He straightened out the luggage on his back, glancing around for their host - this Nergui fellow. Perhaps a photo of the guy or something might've helped them. Then again, in a place like this, the five of them had to stand out like sore thumbs. They couldn't have been hard to find.

The train ride was terribly awkward, even for Colette's standards. The girl stepped out into the sun with a feeling of relief, being the boss of her own mobility once more. The girl stretched, letting out a soft, high pitched sound as she did so. Her apparel consisted of a vest, worn over both a t-shirt and a jacket, and a hiking backpack equipped with food, extra clothing, and some other things. The bag was a moderate weight on her shoulders, but it did not bother the girl very much as she initially stepped onto land. Sunglasses rested on her pale noise, as they always did. Now it seemed more natural.

She listened to what Jason said, and was reminded of the monster they were up against. Uuugh, the worm. Her heart sank and her stomach lurched. Colette shrank a little under the weight of her backpack. Her hand gripped the strap on her right shoulder, causing her knuckles to become even whiter. The worm, the worm, the worm. She repeated its species over and over, expecting it to morph into something less intimidating. In a way, a worm was not intimidating at all! It was a stupid slithery creature. On the other hand, though, a giant death worm seemed a tad tougher to deal with...

A two foot long poisonous sausage seemed to differ just a bit from the monstrous town-consuming death worm they'd been hearing so much about. Evelyn couldn't help but be skeptical. Most likely it was just the exaggerated stories of stupid yokels, as tales like these often were. The Hitchhiker's Guide to Mongolia admitted to over one third of the population being nomadic, and many of them believing in omens and evil spirits. Chances are that if this worm wasn't fabricated completely, it was something harmless, more or less. The Guide only mentioned it in passing, a sentence or two that affirmed what Chip had already told them. Two to five feet long, the ability to discharge electricity, spit acid, and to eat the intestines of camels. Despite many claims from locals on the steppe who seemed almost unanimously to believe its existence, no such creature had ever been documented or found. Otherwise the book was more or less useless, and just covered basic Mongolian history and culture. It was considered rude to refuse food or drink, there was a sort of dice game played with the ankle bones of sheep, fermented mare milk was the national drink...

"Friends! Friends, hello!"

The accented English voice among the low buzz of Mongolian voices was a relief, and Evelyn soon found a tall Asian man waving enthusiastically from across the station and making his way across the crowd. He was young, perhaps in his mid-twenties, and of a height with their very own Jason. It wasn't long before he made his way to them, moving right past her to shake hands excitedly with her companions; first Jace, then Jacob, Chip, and finally Lette. He didn't seem to acknowledge Evelyn's existence, but she didn't mind at the moment.

"Nice to meet you, nice to meet you..." he said with a genial smile. "Welcome to Mongolia, friends! I am Nergui, your guide." Nergui looked around for a moment for the fabled fifth member of the party before his eyes found hers. He laughed and grabbed her hand as well, a firm and earnest handshake that left Evelyn almost stunned.

"Erm... hello." Evelyn said, but Nergui didn't seem to hear as he turned away and towards the others. Well, he seems friendly, at least. His accent was noticeable, but easily discerned. He seemed more like a tour guide than a member of the government, especially with his age. How many students came out to Mongolia anyways? It was the sparsest populated country in the world, so the Guide said, and one of the coldest, with Ulaanbaatar having the dubious distinction of being the chilliest capital city in the world. Evelyn clutched her backpack straps tighter and studied him quizzically. High cheek bones, short black hair, not exactly handsome, with yellow teeth and a wisp of a mustache.

Chip puffed his cheeks, a frustrated look adorned his face. The boy glanced over at Jace, the large book clutched tightly to his chest. "The book was published in the early 1920s. It's sure to have grown..." Early 1920s...Wait. That was before the World War Two! He mentally smiled, proud of his small accomplishment.

His face melted into a look of anticipation, air dissipating from his cheeks. Chip wasn't that scared of the stories about the worm. From what he could tell, it wasn't real. Only stories here and there, no solid proof of the monster's existence. But if it was a true thing, it would be amazing to see. Despite the danger, he believed that with his group there, they wouldn't be in trouble at all. It was a childish hope, but the little blonde boy didn't realize that. His attention was drawn away from his thoughts and to the outside world when a heavily accented voice called to them. Chip's blue eyes wondered over to the man approaching. Swallowing, he put on a confident face, adjusting his pack, then standing a little taller.

Jacob wondered just how long they were to stay in Ulaanbaatar anyway. If they found the creature, that was all well and good - well, good from a confirming existence perspective - but if they couldn't find such a beast, how long would they stay here until the search was given up? His thoughts were interrupted, however, by the greetings and appearance of someone who appeared to be a local man with a broken English dialect. The man eagerly shook all of their hands in turn and introduced himself as Nergui, their guide. Well, that was a start.

"Hello Nergui," he responded in kind, giving him a friendly smile. Well, at least there was one friendly face here. The email they had gotten made it seem as if everyone would be casting suspicious glares at them. Or maybe that was just the vibe he got from it. He certainly wasn't going to ask anyone else if they felt the same about such a trivial matter.

Jason seemed mildly surprised when their guide approach, though he wasn't sure why. His smile, perhaps, or cheery attitude - maybe just the way he looked. The Autumn honestly didn't know what he was expecting. It didn't stop him from smiling back and returning the firm handshake himself.
"Thank you, Nergui." The young man said back as earnestly as he could. "I'm Jason. This is Chip, Jacob, Colette, and - Evelyn." Hopefully no one took note of the slight pause as he quickly moved on, "We're pleased to meet you too. It's been a long travel here." He said lightly, the smile still on his face. inside he was dying. hue.

"Hi..." was the silent reply delivered by Colette, shaking his hand and letting her few drift. The girl stood behind everyone else, absentmindedly attempting to read all the signs around the group. They were in a strange Asian language, and common sense told Colette it was Mongolian. It seemed similar to that of Arabic, with cartographic symbols dissimilar to those in Chinese or Korean. How interesting. When Colette refocused on the group, she found herself staring at the guide, analyzing his words and his face. Curious eyes poked over tinted sunglasses.

Nergui nodded before stepping back. "Well, no use sitting out here in the middle of the station, friends. Come! See the capital!" The man turned on his heel and Evelyn was quick to follow. Each step sent stabs of pain through her aching shoulders. The long train ride had done a number on her spine, and now all she wanted to do was lie down. Compared to the seats on the airline, a sleeping bag on the cold hard ground sounded almost like a soft feather bed. Evelyn found herself almost looking forward to meeting Nergui's family... she was absolutely exhausted, getting hardly a wink of sleep the whole way through. The hassle with the Russians had drained any energy left in her, and damn, she was starving. A drink wouldn't go amiss either, and if Mr. Wilson was to be believed, she might not even have to waste her own...

It wasn't long until they walked out of the station and into the city.

Oh.

Mongolia was sometimes referred to as the Land of Eternal Blue Sky, but there was not a patch of blue to be seen. Instead, Evelyn found herself looking up at an unbroken ceiling of gray dreary clouds. She swept her gaze around. Old and grimy high rise apartments towered around them, and down the narrow dusty street a man on a horse trotted by. His gaze lingered curiously on the group as he passed before sneering, pulling back on the reins, and riding off in a gallop. Somebody in a felt cap jumped out of his path and shouted something angrily in a strange tongue. It was surreal, like stepping into a racist's mental image of what a Mongolian city might look like. This was the capital? It was like a ghetto in Helena, except somehow shittier and with wandering horsemen. Evelyn didn't know what she had expected, but the Guide had described it as the most populated city in the country, and its largest manufacturing and economic center.

Evelyn shoved her hands in her coat pockets to try and stay warm, and watched as her breath billowed out in a cloud in front of her. God damn, it was cold. They were supposed to find a desert nearby? Mongolia was just getting stranger and stranger.

Her gaze caught on Nergui's gestures towards an out of place Jeep resting on the curb. "Greatest city in Mongolia, friends. Impressed?" he smiled, and Evelyn shied away so she didn't have to look at his teeth. The guide didn't seem to notice as he led them to the car. Red, with only two doors, and no roof or cover of any kind. To her horror, there only seemed to be five seats in total. With Nergui driving, that meant... "Don't mind the stares. It's not often you get to see westerners in Ulaanbaatar." he prattled on, seemingly oblivious to their plight as he climbed inside and slammed the door behind him.

Shotgun. Evelyn wanted to call out, but the words caught in her throat and she sheepishly looked down at the sidewalk, praying that they'd forget about her for the moment and rush to pile into the car. The last inside would get the passenger seat, and the rest would be squished uncomfortably together in the back. If anything, they ought to just stuff Chip in the trunk. It was dangerous to stuff too many people into the seats...

Chip's grasp tightened on the large book, as they continued through the city. From all the books about Mongolia, they never really told the bad things about the city. Just...stretched the truth...far. His back wasn't in prime condition, but he was used to sitting for long periods of time. So he wasn't as stiff as his teammates were. Perhaps those long hours in the library paid off! But even if his back didn't hurt, his small arms ached from carrying his book around. Usually, if they were at school, he would have it float, and not think a thing about it. However, that would be a bad idea, considering they were in public. Chip really didn't want to ask one of his teammates to carry it. Not because he didn't want to be a bother, but because he didn't feel comfortable without the book within his grasp.

His eyes glanced at the natives, not meeting any eye contact in case doing so might provoke them. The boy only kept a steady pace behind Evelyn. Or, where he thought she was. He looked up to see his own breath create fog. It then dissipated into the cold winter air, before another burst came and created the same fog. The youngest kept his mind off of the trip, and only focused on the cloud formed by his respiration.

Only when he saw the guide climb into the car, did he freeze in place. There was no way they were all going to fit in there. Unless they did some kind of clown car trick...

His big blue eyes glanced at the others in his group, unsure how to go about this. His cheeks red from the cold, he took a glance at the inside of the car. It was too small for them to all in unless they did some strategic seating. Which he knew was going to end badly for him. Deciding to be helpful, he went over some options in his head.

For the shotgun seat, perhaps the tallest would sit, to make room for the other smaller people in the back. Which would be Jace. Then Jacob would need his own seat, giving him the left or right seat in the back. The boy turned back to the other girls. He hoped they wouldn't mind sharing a seat. It wouldn't have to be a sitting on lap kind of thing, but a two to a seat, share a seat belt, side by side. 'Then that would leave me to sit in the middle.'

Pressing his lips together in attempt to gather his courage, he turned to face the group as a whole. He then proceeded to explain his arrangement. Jason for shotgun, Jacob with his own seat(left or right) Chip himself in the middle, and finally Colette and Evelyn side by side. He glanced toward the leader of the group, but seemed slightly lost for a slight moment because he couldn't seem to make eye contact. So he settled for looking her way, not specifically at her.

This place certainly didn't look like the capital of anything. As Jacob and the rest of the group followed their guide, he couldn't help but notice how dreary all the buildings alongside them looked, as if no one had bothered to clean them… or as if they were built to ward off foreigners. People living in squalor gave them glares, which put the boy off a bit, but he attempted to ignore it as they reached the Jeep which, as it seemed everyone else was noticing, was not exactly built for the group they had assembled here today. After Chip told them his idea concerning the seating situation, Jacob shrugged lightly in an 'I guess that can work' kind of way. He couldn't help but glance over at Evelyn, or where he believed Evelyn to be, with the thought that she probably wouldn't be too thrilled sitting so close to someone. Maybe she and Colette were friends though.

Jace shrugged his bags again onto his shoulder and followed on with the rest of the group, his golden gaze trailing around as they left the train station and dove into the actual city. He'd honestly never had seen a place that looked so, well, gloomy. It was as if the very air around them was nothing but dirty smog, almost as filthy as the town itself, and the people. He eyed the man on the horse that passed by, glaring their way. "It's something else, that's for sure." The young man mused, forcing another smile.

He shoved his hands in the pockets of his jeans, looking at the old jeep as Chip relayed his little plan to him. It was a better idea than trying to climb all in at once - and he got the best seat, no issues there. "Fine by me," Jace said, walking over to the jeep and holding the door open for them to climb in. "If you girls don't feel like being squished, though, I don't mind one of you riding on my lap." it had to be said, sorry, not sorry. He made a small motion with his hands for them to come on. It'd be rude to make Nergui wait too long, he guessed. Probably.

Why couldn't it have been sunny? Upon leaving the station and approaching the Jeep along with her fellow students, Colette became self conscious. The girl was wearing sunglasses on a cloudy day. The stares from pedestrians aided this feeling of embarrassment, and she thought of herself as appearing to be a dumb Westerner. "Silly American, using sunglasses for fashion instead of their intended use." the eyes of one Mongolian sneered. Another pair joined in with: "Maybe she wasn't taught what they're used for!"

I am not using them for the sunlight, you fucking assholes. answered Colette in her mind, face hot with anger regarding the simulated ridicule.

The girl listened to Chip explaining the seating arrangements and followed accordingly, not exactly thinking about what they entailed. She wanted to get in the car. Walking around to the side facing away from the station, Colette opened the door and climbed into the truck, squeezing over as to give Evelyn some room on the side of the door. Only when she did this did Colette realize the conditions of the seating chart.
Shit.