Well well well, this was certainly different. The mountain and forest had been pretty dry so far; nothing compared to the desert's harshness, but still no lush rain forest. This however, this was rather idyllic. A quaint little waterfall, no more than 3 meters high feeding into a little pond. Hell, the pond itself couldn't be more than 5 or 6 meters across, and unless that water was playing tricks on his eyes, it was maybe 2 meters deep at worst. Likely a tad deeper right under the falls, or would have been if the cascade wasn't falling directly onto a flat rock. It looked like it had been laying there under the falls for a very long time, the surface was glassy smooth and slightly concave in nature, allowing for a tiny puddle of water to form before spilling over the edge and into the pool. Even that wasn't much distance, only a few inches or so; nothing overtly special. Didn't mean it wasn't pretty. He could see a plethora of animal tracks and trails all around this little oasis; it was obviously a popular watering hole for the local wildlife. Excellent. It would be a good place to stalk out some game; grab a few skins and refill his stock of tannery supplies. Nothing like dried and ground deer brain to make leather buttery soft.

For now though, the water looked rather wonderful. it was crystal clear and looked supremely pure; likely snow runoff from higher up the peak. His clothing was still sandy and rough from his time in the desert, and while he normally didn't give two flying fucks about things like hygiene and all that, the salty and abrasive nature of the sand would quickly ruin his leather, and make any attempt to store new furs or tan any leather would be in vain; as it would spoil, rot, and ruin before he could finish working it. Worthless to trade, worthless to use. If Ranmaru was anything, it was efficient, at least when it came to his tannery and trapping. Everywhere else he was a wild beast with no care or plan. No amount of broken mind could undo generations of focus; his clan blood was too strong to be forgotten.

Nothing more than a kunai was needed for this; cut some strong branches off a nearby tree, strip the bark off, fashion a sort of rack that he could use to dry and repair his current gear, as well as clean, dry, and tan any furs he trapped while in the area. The find of a small soap tree, stunted by the cold climate but still fruiting and alive, was a bit of a blessing; he could use the small berries to wash his furs safely; they worked like a natural laundry detergent, but are super gentle and wouldn't ruin the water source. Plus, he could use the sap and the leaves as dyes if he felt like it; so collecting and storing what he could from the little tree was worth it.

It didn't take but an instant to confirm the water was snow run off; it was icy cold and brutal on naked flesh. Not that he minded, after the initial moment of shock he was busy working the sand and salt out of his clothing as quickly as he could. After a good hour of work, his gear was cleaned and hanging on the rack, checked for damage and repaired to working order. Enough to satisfy him, anyway. Now, a thought appeared in his broken mind. If he was going to go up the mountain, he'd need to get used to cold again. For a very long time he'd been in the heat of the desert, and while the nights sometimes came chilly, the sun was always there to chase it away a few hours later. The top of this peak was snowbound and frozen, no amount of sun could warm it. This water would make for some good acclimatizing; he could work his system into cold climate mode using it so that he wouldn't be as totally screwed once he got into the cold zones further up.

The smooth rock at the base of the falls would do nicely. Before, he'd only been up to his waist in the water, and just for a few minutes it took to wash the debris and such from his clothing. His torso and upper body had been exposed to the far warmer air, and remained dry; so while it wasn't comfortable (as his 'boys' would attest to), it wasn't really much of a hassle nor could it really do him any good. He needed to be properly submerged; and the thought of playing 'hold your breath' for hours on end didn't really appeal to him. No, he'd go another direction; sit under the running waterfall until it stopped being cold. More so, until it stopped being anything but perfectly comfortable and pleasantly warm. Easier said than done, of course; but he'd been through far worse. The shark pale scars swirling around his exposed flesh stood as testament to what he'd endured before, and what he could endure now.

His first attempt was... pathetic. The short version, he'd ducked his head under the water, it touched his back, and he shot across the pond so fast you could almost imagine the gunshot noises. Sensitive areas didn't like the stark contrast between his normally high body temperature and the nearly freezing cold water.

The second? Slightly better, he managed a full five seconds before pulling out and almost rolling himself in a fire that he managed to somehow get started dripping wet and using green wood on barely enough kindling. A spot close enough to the fire to nearly burn his skin was adopted for a bit; although this particular failure gave him a chance to get said fire burning hot, high, and happy; he'd need it for later to stave off hypothermia and to cook the concoctions needed to tan and preserve hides. Charcoal would be needed as both ingredient and dye, so making plenty now would save time later.

Once his motivation had returned, he moved back to the falls; managing to sit down this time and let the water actually finish soaking him. It was... uncomfortable, to say the least. The rock was hard and supremely cold, and the icy water sloshing down his back and chest caused his muscles to dance and spasm in turn; alternating between attempting to avoid the cold liquid and reacting to overstimulated nerves freaking the hell out. This attempt lasted a good 10 minutes before chattering teeth and shaking body had him basically turned into a shivering Popsicle. Not fun, and not helpful at all.

By now, the sun was starting to set; so he had to give up for the day. Gathering enough wood for the night, as well as setting up some sort of shelter, was far more important than sitting under cold water for however long he could manage; so after a moment of warming his hands and feet by the fire; he got to hunting underbrush and any dead and dried wood he could find.

The moment the sun was up enough to be noticed in the clearing, Ranmaru was up and moving about. If he planned on staying any longer, he needed to get some traps and snares set; he was out of food and the pond had no fish in it; at least none big enough to bother catching as anything but trap bait. It was close to noon before he was done with this task; a dozen snares and nearly as many hang traps set all around the animal trails; baited with the last of his jerky and the tiny minnows that lived in the pond. A decent little stack of wood was set aside for later, and he'd managed to find a poor turtle that made for a nice roasted breakfast. That, and he could use the shell to store the soap nuts he was drying for later; as well as a surface to crush them into powder when they where ready.

He approached the waterfall with the wariness of someone that really didn't want to do what he had to do; but it was worth it in the end. With an almost dejected sigh, he crawled back under the water and settled in; cringing hard when the night chilled water hit his flesh. It was actually thick, almost to the consistency of a watered down slushie thanks to the chill of the night that hadn't fully dispersed yet. That was pure pain to his nerves, which where right back to the dance of spasms and chattering teeth; small goosebumps erupting quickly and haggard breathing marking how much the cold was affecting him. This attempt lasted a solid half an hour before he couldn't take it anymore; all but falling into the pond itself and half-assedly dog paddling his stiff limbs in an attempt to not drown and make it to shore and therefore to the fire. He took a half hour break to shiver and steel himself for the next attempt for before moved back toward the waterfall for his next try.

This time actually went fairly decently; for a while anyway. The teeth chattering wasn't as bad; and while it was stupidly uncomfortable, he was managing to handle it pretty well for this first hour or so. Then a rather large fish of the trout variety flopped over the edge of the falls and onto his head, and he decided to call it lunch.

An hour later, he was back under the waterfall; teeth barely chattering and only mildly shivering. This was the best attempt so far, and if he could hold it; it would get him where he wanted to be. Course, things never worked out that well; and a second fish decided to commit suicide via landing on his head. That broke his concentration, and that made the water feel like razor sharp daggers ripping into his skin. Now, while this gave him one hell of a raging hard on, it was still uncomfortable as all fuck, so he call it a day and climbed down to his little camp; warming up before doing an early check of his traps. Too soon for anything to reasonably be caught, but it never hurt to look.

The next morning started before sun-up; right back into the water and under the falls. This was setting up to be a good try; the water was slushie again, but it didn't feel anywhere near as cold, nor did it hurt anywhere near as bad. This he could handle. It wasn't perfect, but it was tolerable; he could handle this for a while. A long while. Not forever, but it was better than it had been the day before; triply so his first dip days before. Hell, he made it clear through noon before he had to quit; and that was only because he heard one of his snares trip near by. A rush to check the trap produced a rather large rabbit, perfect for replacing the lining of his shoes or making new gloves for his trip up the mountain. It wouldn't take him long to skin and clean the carcass; setting the meat to roast slowly in a bed of embers while his scraped the hide and pulled it tight on his make shift rack to dry out.

One that was done, he was right back under the water. Now, now it was rather nice, actually. Not warm, not particularly pleasant; but nothing he couldn't handle easily. Hell, he could sit under this for days and not care. In fact, the longer he sat, the better it felt. He met the sunset underneath the water, and watched the stars rise in the sky. The sunrise found him still under the water, quietly sleeping and happily settled in for the long run. In the end, it was his stomach, as well as the sounds of snares tripping and traps springing that brought him out of his little revere. When he realized how long he'd been sitting, he called it a day and ended his attempt to torment himself into being a cold loving being. It was successful enough, and it would go a long way toward helping him handle pain in a fight to boot; as his nervous system was desensitized over his entire form fairly evenly. Fewer weak points, more sustainability.

Time to go check the traps, and work on some supplies. This trip was shaping up to be worth it after all.

WC: 2115 / 1925