May His Passing Cleanse the World

Her heart sank as Chip began to rattle off his plan. No, no, no. Squished up close to Colette for the entire car ride? It was bad enough they had to share a train car. She would sooner ride in the trunk, or maybe steal a horse. Evelyn met his expectant gaze with a vacant stare, not sure to respond. It was sensible, sure, but fuck that. Shotgun seat or bust. But as she opened her mouth to argue, Colette clambered into the back, and Jace was already motioning them to get a move on... but not before making some lewd suggestion first. The Winter flowered into a blush and crossed her arms, locking Jace with a disapproving glare. One of the girls, but not one of the boys. Chip was the smallest out of all of them by a long shot. Maybe he could sit on Jason's lap for the bumpy car ride throughout the desert. Wouldn't that just be lovely?

Although... That would at least mean she wouldn't be next to Colette. The memories came flashing unbidden through her mind, and Evelyn could almost taste the alcohol and chocolate on her lips again.

HOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOONK.

Evelyn jumped up, startled. Nergui drummed his fingers on the steering wheel, that easy and welcoming smile that had greeted them nowhere to be found. "Will we argue about seats all day?" he asked flatly. He turned the key in the ignition, and the Jeep roared to life. "Are you so picky back in America? Make room, sit in each others laps, lie on the floor. It does not matter here, friends." He slammed his palm on the horn again, and her heart leapt in her chest. "If you are not inside in thirty seconds I will leave you. The sun will set soon, and we do not want to be caught driving at night. He hunts in the darkness."

She was quick to scurry to Jace's side. It was stupid, but for whatever reason, Nergui's last words sent chills run down her spine. "C-coming." she piped up, her voice too high pitched. Maybe it wouldn't be so bad scrunched next to someone or sharing a passenger seat. Better than ending up in an Ulaanbaatar gutter, or so she told herself...

Seeing the others climb into the car, he hurried in into his assigned spot, not wanting to get left behind in the city. Getting here was hard, but getting back home without enough money to buy a ticket and natives that didn't seem like they enjoyed his presence made it seem like a much harder time. As soon as he got in, Chip laid the thick book down on his lap, then took off his pack and put it between his legs. Because of his small size, there was more then enough room for the girls to encroach on his space if they wanted to.

Fastening his seat belt, he looked though the front windshield, anxious for the ride to be over. They had spent hours on an airplane and an even longer trip, via train. Getting off the train was a blessing, and they got to stretch their legs for a little before they had to hop onto the car. Chip just prayed that it wouldn't be too long. On the other hand, he got a break from carrying his book and bag. Hopefully he wouldn't have to worry about carrying his book until they had to go back.

If they go back.

Well, it looked like that was settled. Not everyone was so keen on the seating arrangements, but there wasn't time to hash out the details and have full court proceedings on the matter. Ambling towards the car, Jacob opened the door and got inside, taking his side seat opposite Colette and Evelyn. Letting a hand rest upon the doorframe, he gazed up at the setting sun and wondered just how 'accommodating' their accommodations would be. If this beast hunted at night, were they truly safe anywhere? Or perhaps it didn't enter any human dwellings. Or, perhaps, it didn't actually exist.

With little shame, even revelling in it a little bit, Jason looked down at laughed quietly at her reaction; having to stifle it with the back of his hand. He took a quick breath and regained his composer for a split-second, before their gracious host decided to blare the car horn, which admittedly made him flinch.
Jeez, wasn't it Americans that were supposed to be the impatient ones? He considered a few choice words to say back before Nergui mentioned that their Mongolian Bull Worm liked to hunt after dark. There was nothing to be said to that. Frowning, he watched Evelyn shuffle quickly up to his side as Chip climbed in, and Jacob after him. Why hadn't she gone in yet, he wondered. He wasn't completely serious about his little offer. (The concept was nice, but she'd already done her fair share of damage to him, so...)
The young man shrugged off his bag, climbing into the passenger's seat and tucking it in at his feet - so there was more room to sit. "Come on, Eve." He said, offering a hand out to help her get in. If she wanted to pass on sitting up front with him, she could've easily climbed through the front seats and slid between Lette and Chip. That is, if it's a two-door like Ebs imagined. Fal's post threw her off a lot. Damn Jeeps.

This topic so far.

Evelyn looked over the hand with suspicion before lightly grasping it and pulling herself in. Oh God, now what do I do? There was absolutely no way she'd sit on Jason's lap... except the only other option was sitting with Lette. It would be too awkward to try and squirm in between the boys now after Chip had laid out his plan. That would just make everything obvious. The Winter stood there helplessly for a moment when the Jeep lurched forward and she was thrown right onto Jace. "F-fuck... s-s-s-sorry..." she said through grit teeth, crawling over him and clambering into the back. I guess it's true what they say about Asians driving... She was about to scold herself for stereotyping when Nergui took a sharp left, hurling her forcefully into Jacob's legs with a grunt.

Their guide did not seem to notice. "I am sorry for my impatience back there, friends." he said after a moment of silence (his ears deaf to Evelyn's muttered curses and surprised squeals as the car twisted right, flinging her across Chip and Colette's lap). "But I know how you westerners are. You would have kept us up for the next hour, and I am starving. My mother's buuz is no good cold." A smile played on his lips. "The olgoi-khorkhoi does not exist. I do not think so, anyways."

Evelyn managed to pull herself to her knees, forcing a space between Lette and Chip. Dark towers rose around them, and with dawning terror, she realized there were no street lamps to light their way. The terror was fleeting however, as Nergui turned to dodge a pothole and sent her spilling onto the floor at the trio's feet. She just lied there, staring up at the blood-streaked sky, wondering why God had forsaken her. "People have long spoken of it in this country, but in our stories it has always been tiny. Now they say thirty, forty, fifty meters... It is madness. How could such a thing even live? What would it eat? Camels? They'd be snacks."

They sped past a man crying something out on the street corner, with a small group gathered around. He was gone in a blur, and it was easy to tell that they were going well over any kind of speed limit. It might have been okay, had there been any seatbelts, as Evelyn realized trying to clutch onto something as a handhold as she crawled back up."Look, even here! They say it is God's judgement, and that it has slept since ancient times. Some say it is God himself." He snorted in laughter. "God as a big slimy worm... I must do as I am bid, however. I will help you on this... how would you say... 'fool's errand?'"

Jacob was just realizing that this Jeep did not contain seatbelts when the car lurched forward, nearly sending him into the seat ahead of him. Only holding tightly onto the side of the car kept him from bouncing around the Jeep like poor Evelyn who, while he couldn't exactly see her, definitely felt her slam into his legs with a grunt. Before he could reach down to try and steady her, the Jeep turned wildly once more, sending her back towards Chip and Colette. If there was a speed limit, their guide was surely bypassing it, though maybe the bigger danger was driving so carelessly in a place where citizens were. He did seem to think this worm a myth though, even calling this mission a fool's errand, so that was comforting in some way. Looking over to see how his compatriots were doing, the Summer leaned back just in case a sudden stop - which seemed almost inevitable - propelled him harshly into the seat ahead of him.

Jason had let go of her hand the moment she had found her way in, reaching over with his other arm and pulling closed the door on the passenger's side, leaning back while Evelyn seemed to hover awkwardly - like she had absolutely no idea what to do next. Well, at least they were all inside. That had to be something. Now, if Nergui could wait two seconds -
Nope. His hands instantly grabbed onto whatever they could for support as the Autumn was taken aback by the sudden drive away. "It's alright." He managed to get out, his face towards the window as she climbed over him and crawled into the back, which didn't work out as nearly as well as he thought as it might. 'Fucking. Shit. Ow.' The young man muttered curses in his head, letting a small sigh of relief when shotgun seat was fully his.

He was mildly surprised at how fast they were going, keeping one arm propped up to help steady himself against all the sharp turns. Jace stayed quite for the most part while Nergui talked. He supposed since he was in front seat, he was obligated to be the once participating in conversation, especially since he didn't hear any of the others moving to speak up. (In which case, perhaps it was somewhat a good thing he had stolen the front seat from Eve in the first place.)

Nergui's skepticism left him a bit worried as he shot their guide a curious look, trying to think of the right words today. "You make us out to be fools, then?" Jason asked blandly. He didn't take offense and wasn't at all surprised. Most people had no idea what was out there in the world, and what sort of things really existed. Their guide might not have the slightest idea of who there even were, he realized, or - if he did, he might not have believed it himself. Just a man of the government doing what he was told, taking a bunch of crazy kids to hunt down an imaginary death worm. Jace wished for a moment he had a more practical gift he would be able to show off then and there, or that someone else in the group did, just to show him that there was some truth to what tasks he'd been given. "Calling it a God is sure as hell a long shot," The blond agreed, "But I wouldn't rule out it's existence out just yet." He let his golden gaze trail out to the window, watching the large clouds of dust as they drove.

As the Jeep began to speed down the road, Colette was thrown backwards in her seat, then forwards, then backwards. Her sunglasses flew off her face and onto the dirty floor of the vehicle, and the clacking of the cheap plastic could be heard as it bounced around her feet. Shit, shit, shit. thought the girl, moving the toe of her shoe around the floor as to locate and stabilize the glasses. Her seldom seen blue eyes were focused on the ceiling of the Jeep, and she dare not focus on any of its passengers. Her power was a spiteful thing, activating at the worst of times. If the driver caught a sight of her eyes when red, they'd immediately crash.

Where are you, where are you...--
She felt the plastic against her shoe.
Aha!
With a sudden jolt of the Jeep, the glasses flew forward in a desperate attempt to follow inertia.
Dammit!

"I make you out to be teenagers in need of a vacation." Nergui replied finally with a smirk. The ride passed in silence then, and it wasn't long until Ulaanbaatar was far behind them. Now there was only the flat and open steppe stretching before them and into the distant horizon as the sun began to dip. The first stars could be seen twinkling faintly above in the bruised purple sky. It might have been pretty, Evelyn thought, if it wasn't for the car jostling with every bump in the road. She grit her teeth and finally managed to clamber into her seat, forcing her way in next to Lette as the girl was bent over double fishing for her glasses on the floor. I'm not the only one who's had a rough ride. Nobody looked comfortable. We're all idiots. Why did any of us even agree to go to this stupid fucking shithole? Mongolia was endless grassland broken up by ugly brown hills and tiny grimy cities, not even mentioning their little god-worm that they had to deal with if it ended up existing.

"It will not be long until we find my mother's ger, friends. She lives with my brother out in the grass. You will like her, I think." Nergui said finally, breaking the silence. His face betrayed what he was saying, as if his smile pained him just to talk of her. "Tomorrow we drive into the desert to look for your worm. If it's a hundred meters it shouldn't be too difficult to find, eh? Tonight we eat and sleep, though. It won't match the comfort of what you have back in America, but..." Evelyn just drowned him out as he began to drone on and on about the quaint pleasures of living in a shitty tent out in buttfuck nowhere. She tried staring blankly ahead, but inevitably her gaze kept being drawn to Lette. Her heart began to flutter in her chest. Stop, Evelyn told herself, squirming uncomfortably in the small space. Just stop.

Jason scoffed at Nergui's answer, rolling his eyes and continuing to gaze out the window, a small smile still on his face. Of course. He supposed he shouldn't say much more, even if he wanted too, not wanting to come off as rude... Or ruder than he might've seemed already. One thing he had learned many times over was that it was stupid to piss off your host, and he wasn't sure if Nergui was the type to blow his cap more than once - recalling his sudden outburst with the seating arrangement, he wouldn't put it past him. He didn't bother to comment on anything else their guide had said, simply thinking to himself what the hell they had to use against the giant creature - if they could find it. And more importantly, how long until they reached this damned tent, because he was tired of moving and would like to be able to stay in one place the rest of the night. Food was also an ever inviting prospect. He didn't even notice when he felt the small bump of glasses against his feet.