"Quite alright, Nikutai, i'm sure you didn't mean to."

He kept sleeping.

Nodding, Hyeon-ju hailed the tower, and it didn't take long for them to have permission for lift-off. Soon enough, the ornithopter's engine was hard at work with the choppa-choppa sound as they set out for a trip to the Xenofungi Forest.

On foot, it would've been a long walk but having the chance to just beeline through the sky made it a much faster trip out.

"That was some pretty impressive shooting earlier today, Matsu-san," Hyeon-ju remarked to the Lioness, her voice carrying easily through the headsets they wore to be able to communicate with eachother.

Chiyoko was used to preflight checks by this point. She didn't even really seem bothered. as she shrugged. "Nothing to apologize for, you're doing your duty."

As the headset was set up and they took off, Chiyoko took the step of getting her HAR setup to be ready for unexpected bad-things. At the compliment, she shrugged a bit. "Shouldn't have missed that second shot. Was too busy thinking about speed, not thinking enough about aiming properly. But thank you."

"My own performance was terrible." Ishiyo remarked with a nervous chuckle, "I barely passed escape and evasion training in flight school...and looks like I still know nothing."

Her eyes were wandering between the instruments, skyline, and ground below. "Utaku-san's own performance was expert as well. Though Shinjo-san's recklessness seems to have won out today."

"How far out are we going anyway? I am trying to spot a clearing we can land in."

Well at least she changed the subject off the biathalon...

Not like the inflight entertainment was going to do much for him anyway.

He was doing his best to not die of pretending to sleep instead of screaming about how they were all going to die when they crash.

Yay flying.

"One miss, but quite some hefty shots anyway." She had missed one too, but the subsequent climb hadn't been as impressive from the Utaku.

Hyeon-ju smirked briefly. "Cricket was always a better shot than me." She didn't want to give excuses to her own performance, as that was unbecoming of a samurai, so she opted for praising her so-called rival instead.

"I checked out the maps the Phoenix had, for some idea of where to land. There should be a hill in the area that will make a good landing spot, so it will be a downhill to explore more of the forest. A light hike might be good after this morning's excersise. Honestly, it was like being back at boot-camp. Just less mud and more mushroom."

"More walking, eh?" She grinned as she said it. "I'd think you were a glutton for punishment after all the running and climbing." Her tone clearly a bit teasing. "What IS Crane escape training like?" She remarked towards Ishiyo, leaning over to get a better look at the two pilots.

"The bind us in silk ropes in a display of utteh decadence, keeping with the stereotypes of what my clan gets up to in secret. Probably some light paddling as well." Ishiyo pressed her lips together, her poor joke was evident on her expression. "Or they drop you in some hell hole they cleared the most dangerous animals out of and sic a team of Daidoji Scouts on you. With only the survival kit attached to you-eh ejection seat and a set of coordinates to try and make it to. There was tying involved foh real though, I tied myself to a tree afteh climbing up it so I could sleep up high enough to not immediately be spotted by a patrol."

No let's stick with the silk ropes.

At least now he had something to focus on before they all died horribly.

"Eh, this morning's run was just the warm-up." Even if she had been sweating profusely then.

"So Daidoji-san is saying she's used to getting tied up," the joke was delivered in a somewhat dry and deadpan voice. Which was Hyeon-ju's humor it seemed.

She gave a low whistle, as most of her attention was still focused on the flight. "The view from here is pretty amazing... I think I prefer plains and forests with trees, but still... kind of surreal."

At the mention of the view, Chiyoko pushed her sunglasses up long enough to take in a more unfiltered view. "Damn, yeah. I haven't seen such a pretty view to be able to just appreciate in a while."

Shokomaru also in sunglasses opened an eye and looked around the cabin.

He had to agree.

Still. He couldn't relax. He was pretty sure he'd enter cardiac arrest before they landed.

"You're pretty quiet back there, Daigotsu-sama?" Hyeon-ju didn't turn to look at the Spider, but his silence hadn't gone unnoticed.

"He is probably worried I might throw him out of the ornithopter." Ishiyo shrugs, still looking a long the flight path, "The landing is going to be tricky I think...unless Utaku-san has landed in among giant mushrooms before. Any idea how those things react to the engine wash?"

The chuui was laid back in his harness, completely slack and unmoving. Sunglasses on, he had the appearance of being asleep for certain.

And he regretted not bringing drugs to make it happen, but this would be a short enough flight that waking him after landing would have been impossible under their influence.

Yay flying.

Plus making a comment sound like a question didn't require an answer. Also he was now slightly enjoying how Ishiyo was acting.

Slowly he brought a hand up and tapped Chiyoko.

"Hohei, don't let them swoop under the mushroom hoods. Observe LZ protocol."

His hand went slack and he fell back asleep.

"Swooping... is bad," Hyeon-ju chuckled, for once in the entire miai seeming like she was actually enjoying herself. Probably because she was flying something.

"A hill I assume will have somewhat of a clearing - not that the map specified that too much. Likewise, we don't mark all the trees or the density of trees on our maps back home. Not landed in a mushroom-forest before, but in marshy terrain or regular forests. First time for everything though."

Soon enough though, they'd spot a clearing, like Hyeon-ju had been banking on. "Let's do a fly-over, before moving in for a landing.

"I am about to say something absolutely dreadful." Ishiyo remarked, she was also enjoying herself but trying to look calm to impress her fellow pilot. "But I kind of wish we had some Marine dropship training right about now. Maybe its just a hard head willingness to put your craft down on anything it will fit on but...."

She gave the Utaku a knowing and serious look.

Hyeon-ju only gave Ishiyo a serious side-eye.

That kind of talk sounded like something Yul would say...

"We are not doing anything more reckless than what we're already doing, Daidoji-sama." Probably to Shokomaru's great relief, Hyeon-ju was very no-nonsense when it came to these things.

And granted no interference from Almighty Squidcats or Crazy Stunts, the ornithopter would land safely. Hopefully.


----

OOC: Going to sleep now, craft is landed and ready for GM to do... whatever nefarious plans they might have.

If there was relief, it showed about as much as anything else would while napping.

Not too far from their landing site, a massive, nine foot long centipede is devouring a carcass of a small lizards, it's limbs clicking as it's mandibles tear chunks of flesh from the dead animal, uncaring of the samurai that just arrived.