The Lotus Peak

Eka was well and truly comfortable now. This was the coziest she had been in a long long time, despite the fact that she was on top of a mountain in Japan. The cold didn't bother her, her losses didn't bother her, her studies didn't bother her. Her azure eyes were closed and she was warm. Feruza was embracing her very closely now, and Eka appreciated it on a very deep level.

But she knew it was not going to last forever. It couldn't. Feruza had still not reached to top of the mountain, and she wanted to be there for her when she did. But it was just so nice...

"Yes, we should get going. Soon." Her words implied an action that was simply not there. The Georgian girl moved around a bit, but she did not get up.

After a little more cuddling, Feruza broke off her embrace, and began to get up. She rubbed her eyes as she sat up, yawning. She then got to her knees and knee-walked over to the corner, where she had put all of her clothes, and began to get dressed.

She applied a bit of deodorant, and began to slip into the two layers she had brought with her. That damned bird was still squawking. "Ugh, will have to find rock to kill that thing." the Uzbek groaned, looking over her shoulder at Eka, to see if she had stirred any more.

Eka brushed her hair aside, and look upwards. The light filtering through their tent was quite beautiful, in a way. It wasn't the Sistine Chapel, but in a way it was far more beautiful. Eka had never been to Rome before, but she would not have traded the whole of the Vatican for a moment like this. The Georgian girl was happy and warm, and she wanted this to stretch out forever.

But she knew she couldn't do that. Her throat was still killing her, crying out for water. Eka emerged from the sleeping bag drowzily, and crawled over to her backpack as if she were a bear. Tumbles of her long hair fell in front of her face, and she brushed them aside before she dug around in her backpack. She found her water bottle without that much feeling around, and took great big swigs once she had it in her hands.

The bird was still squawking in the background when Eka began talking. "I think we can reach the summit, and make it all the way back down the mountain, if we are quick. It should not be that hard, yes? But we might need to go fast."

Eka then went about the start of her day, ditching her pajamas with as much care as she put them on, and preparing for another ascent.

Feruza looked back at Eka, to see her crawling for her water bottle... and a very nice view of the Georgian's butt. She watched her for a bit, before shaking her head and carrying on getting dressed. She fastened her boots to her, hit her chest playfully a few times, to show she was all bundled up, and opened up the tent.

As she was about to get out, she was spoken to. Feruza turned around, and nodded. "Fast. Fast is thing I can do." she said, pausing a second. "See you on outside." she said, exiting the tent, closing the door behind her, and starting to do a little yoga. It was nothing impressive— Feruza wasn't super flexible— but it warmed up her muscles, important for the hike in front of her.

And what better time to salute the sun than when it was low in the sky, greeting you? So Feruza faced it, and did just that. She let out a series of satisfied grunts and sighs as she did so, hopefully not too loud. She didn't want Eka to hear her and think she was some kind of unfit girl... but she had seen Feruza in her pajamas. Surely she knew that she was fit.

Eka dumped some instant coffee into her bottle, and drank it. It was the most disgusting thing she had ever tasted in her life, but the awful taste (and to a lesser extent, the caffeine) gave her a jolt of energy that would provide the boost she needed to get up to the top. The Georgian managed not to gag too badly, and soon she emerged from the tent. "Here, I have a plan. We can leave our stuff here, and then go to the top. Japanese people are very nice, and will not disturb it, yes?" Eka just didn't want to have to haul her back pack up to the top for a second time. It had everything she could possibly need up here on the mountain, but that meant that it was terribly heavy. In the ring, Eka was capable of going the distance against any girl in the league. But she didn't have to do that with a few dozen pounds on her back.

Her parka kept her warm, and she had a hiking stick that helped stabilize her. She marched across the snow to the little water pump, where she cleaned the remnants of the disgusting coffee out, then filled it up to the brim. Eka shook her sleepiness out of her legs.

"Whew." Her breath turned into mist in the cold air. It was nowhere near as algid as it was during the evening, but it was still quite cold. "You are ready, yes?"

"Yes, I am sure. Can you write in Japanese? Mine is not very good... but we could make sign that say to not disturb." Feruza suggested, turning around after she finished her routine to answer Eka. She worked out a few more kinks in her neck. "I think that would be good idea." she said, before realizing that she was very hungry, and remembering that she had some food in her cinch sack.

She walked over there, and opened it up. "Do you want breakfast?" she asked. There were a few apples, a whole bunch of granola bars, a sandwich... maybe Feruza had overpacked. However, now that there was another person around, it seemed the perfect amount. How nice. She began listing off what was inside. "Granola bar, apple, sandwich, pear..." she said. She grabbed herself a big granola bar, and opened it up.

The crunch was rather loud, seemingly disturbing the peace of the immediate area around her. As she munched on it, she apologized. "Sorry for noise. This brand is very loud." she said, smiling, and then taking another bite. They were loud and crummy, but they tasted really good.

What a good idea, Eka thought. "Yes, I can write Japanese. I have no paper, yes? But I will try to write it in the snow." Usually, her handwriting in Japanese was terrible, which was one of the reasons that she preferred to type. The Georgian girl was quite adept at that, but here in the snow, she proved herself to be a calligrapher. Languages came quite naturally to her, so when she finished up her little sign on the ground, she marveled at it for a second.

Then Eka returned. She jumped at the chance to get the taste of the horrid coffee out of her mouth, and share a meal with her friend. "What about...a pear, and a granola bar?" Eka was going to be moving a lot today, which meant that she needed something light and something that would give her the energy required to make it to the top. Eka reached down and picked up a granola bar, and crunched just as loudly as Feruza.

"It is no worry, yes? And we are very lucky. It is a clear day. I wonder if we can see all of Japan from the top," she commented, "the view will be breathtaking."

Feruza watched Eka carefully spell out the "Do not disturb" sign, and nodded. Eka's snow handwriting was impeccable, and Feruza made sure to congratulate her on it. "Looks very nice!" she said.

"Pear and granola bar... your choices are good!" Feruza said, rubbing her hands together excitedly. She was so excited to ascend, and to see so far... there was a taller mountain in Uzbekistan, but it was part of a large mountain range. Fuji was solitary, jutting up from the ground defiantly. The view would be awesome, whether it was cloudy or clear.

"I am sure it will be." Feruza said with a nod, before picking up her cinch sack and getting ready to leave. "Shall we, friend?" she asked.

"Higher, higher, to the top!" Eka struck a pose as she made her little proclamation. She could not help it, as she was now bristling with excitement. The pear found its way into her hand, and the cold mountain air made it nice and hard. One big bite followed another and soon the whole thing was in her belly. Eka stowed the core in her backpack. On an ordinary mountain, she would have happily chucked it as far as she possibly could. But this was the holiest mountain in all of Japan, and Eka was going to ensure that this place remained clean.

The Georgian girl looked back, and then took off upwards. Feruza was wearing the same Red Army jacket that had drawn them close together, and she still looked quite good in it. Eka was not a jealous girl, but she envied Feruza for it. She made a mental note to grab one off of an online army surplus store. But for now, her blue eyes were cast upward, and she wanted to mentally prepare herself for the hike.

One more time, she turned to Feruza, before she started up the trail.

"You can lead." Feruza said, waiting for her beautiful hiking partner to set off up the mountain before setting off herself. She was so happy to be climbing the mountain, but hiking with Eka made it even more fun. The sticks and snow crunched under the pair's boots as they ascended, Feruza occasionally letting out a labored grunt. Going up a mountain for that long was laborious for any person, even one as fit as Feruza.

Feruza noticed that Eka put her pear's core in her backpack, and thought that was nice. She knew how holy this mountain was, and it was respectful for Eka to have not littered on it, even if it would have degraded after not too long. But she didn't focus on that too long. Like Eka, her eyes were pointed forwards and upwards, deadset on getting to the top.

"Peak or bust, as they say!" the Uzbek said cheerfully.