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Post by Shehrazad on Nov 1, 2008 22:00:43 GMT 1
Max, Yvonne and Adiyah travelled through the Umbral city in their wolf forms. Without really knowing where they were going, they let the river and the waning light of the crescent moon guide them. The three ran well into the night, with the red and tan wolf that was Adiyah setting the pace for the two black wolves.
And just when they were starting to feel that they couldn't run anymore, the terrain started to change. It became rocky and rough, and the river curved and dipped, where it became a waterfall that dropped about fifty feet into the depths below. The climb down seems dangerous, but not impossible.
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Yvonne
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Post by Yvonne on Nov 4, 2008 14:40:47 GMT 1
Yvonne pads up to the edge of the cliff and looks down, comfortable with the height, and tries to gauge how many stories down it is. "Does anyone know how long we've been running for?"
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Max Heller
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Post by Max Heller on Nov 4, 2008 16:54:12 GMT 1
Max was glad for the stop, even though the terrain looked rough. He was starting to get tired. He shifted to his homid form and looked at his watch. "I don't know, when did we leave," he said. "It's two in the morning."
He had completely lost track of time. He walked over to the edge and looked down. "Well, my mountain climbing gear would have come in handy at this point," he grinned. "If we're to keep following the river, we should go down."
He paused and considered the rocks, then turned to the girls. "How good are you at rock climbing?" he asked.
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Yvonne
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Post by Yvonne on Nov 4, 2008 19:09:40 GMT 1
Yvonne turns, reverting to her natural form. "I'm quite good at it, though it's easier if you're quite strong and well, I'm not. It will be an easier climb if we use Crinos, actually, and we'll be more likely to survive a fall."
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Adiyah
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Post by Adiyah on Nov 5, 2008 19:57:11 GMT 1
Adiyah sniffed at the air and looked at her two companions, then back at the terrain. "It hasn't been long enough yet, it feels like we've been running all night though."
She looks down at the waterfall and the rough climb down, considering what Yvonne said. "Yes, since we're in the umbra, Crinos should be alright."
She frowned, shaking her head at Max's question. "I'm not that great, I've done it before, but without equiptment it's tricky."
She looked to Max to see if he had any objections to taking the war form. He has the closest they had to a local, so he might know something they didnt.
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Max Heller
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Post by Max Heller on Nov 5, 2008 20:42:57 GMT 1
Max nodded. They were both right. The rocks didn't look at all safe, and Crinos claws would give them a stronger grip.
"I don't think we've been going long enough either," he agreed. Yvonne seemed a lot more confident than Adiyah in her climbing abilities, so Max made a quick decision. "Alright, I'll go first. Then Adiyah, follow in the same route I take. Yvonne, you go last. If we get stuck and need to back up, you can find the easiest way back. And if any of you feel like you're about to slip, let the others know."
He shifted to his Crinos form and looked down, trying to judge the safest route. "We'll move slowly and stay together," he said. "If only we had wings like Danny, that would have really come in handy."
He would have just settled for a rope at that point though. Taking one last deep breath, he started to climb down, moving slowly on the slippery rocks to make sure the girls were always one step above him.
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Yvonne
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Post by Yvonne on Nov 7, 2008 22:06:45 GMT 1
"Don't worry about it." It's partly typical Yvonne optimism, partly the fact that she knows from experience that worrying about it is one of the easiest ways of slipping. "Just keep your body as close to the cliff-face as possible and test your hand or foot holds before putting your weight on them. It's really quite easy when you're strong enough to bench-press a motorbike." For once, Yvonne knows what she's talking about. She makes the gradual transition to her sleek black war-form and stands at the edge, giving the first two a hand down to start them off.
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Adiyah
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Post by Adiyah on Nov 8, 2008 17:38:22 GMT 1
Adiyah nods, not caring about being in the middle. She shifts up to Crinos, red and tan fur rippling as she starts down after Max. Carefully picking her way downwards, she focuses on doing exactly what Yvonne had instructed.
"No problem." She looks down at Max and back up at Yvonne, noting their positions and proximity. If something happened it was good to know where everyone was.
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Post by Shehrazad on Nov 8, 2008 18:47:44 GMT 1
They started to climb, Max going first, Adiyah following closely in his footsteps. Despite the darkness, Max managed to find a route down that was relatively solid and supported their Crinos weight . Adiyah, despite her inexperience, got off to quite a good start. Max and Yvonne's coaching and instructions almost made the climb feel easy. Yvonne took the rear, but despite her confidence and resolve managed to lose her footing on the slippery rocks. She held on for dear life and through blind luck managed to grab on to a fairly sturdy shrub in the rocks. She lagged behind, but Max and Adiyah paused and waited for her to catch up before continuing their steady climb to the bottom.
They were almost halfway there when Max stopped, unable to get proper footing. As he paused to test the rocks with his clawed feet, Adiyah made the mistake of looking down. It wasn't a long drop, but something about the darkness below made it seem a lot more ominous. She was sure she saw something white flicker below, and that was when she slipped. She scrabbled to regain her hold on the rocks, but it was to no avail. She dropped like a rock, dislodging Max on her way down and sending them both plummeting twenty-five feet and landing on the rocks by the river. Max hit the ground and the ground took offense and hit him back, dazing him. Adiyah landed on top of him less than half a second later.
Yvonne made the rest of the climb down, jumping the last stretch and landing, quite gracefully, on her feet near the other two, who were already regaining their senses from the fall.
Damage (in bashing) Max: 4 Adiyah: 2 Max is stunned, but by the time Yvonne has reached the bottom, both have healed a level of damage already.
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Adiyah
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Post by Adiyah on Nov 8, 2008 19:08:16 GMT 1
Adiyah felt the air rush around her for a split second before crashing into Max. Despite feeling panic at the fall, she worked hard not to scream. The noise might already attract unwanted attention as it was, no need to bring more.
She gasped a bit as they tumbled together and landed in a heap at the bottom. With a groan of pain she realized poor Max was beneath her and rolled off him. "Oh my goodness, shit, you alright? I'm so sorry, Max!"
She patted him to see if he was conscious, or at least breathing. Her eyes moved up to the waterfall, scanning for what she thought she'd seen, but it couldn't of been...could it?
"I thought I saw a..............did you see it?"
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Yvonne
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Post by Yvonne on Nov 8, 2008 19:22:12 GMT 1
Yvonne kneels at Max's side, looking him over carefully for any sign of broken limbs before meeting his eyes again and offering him a hand to his feet. "You look okay, how do you feel?" She looks up worriedly at Adiyah's question. "See what?"
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Max Heller
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Post by Max Heller on Nov 8, 2008 19:27:43 GMT 1
"I think I'm alright," Max said, trying to move and finding it was far from impossible. He looked at Adiyah, and finding her in one piece, he let Yvonne help him up and groaned as his bones returned to their proper places. At least he had been in Crinos.
"That," he breathed. "Was awesome." Falling was alright; actually it was exhilirating. It was hitting the ground that hurt. "Don't worry about it," he grinned at Adiyah. "Are you ok?" He looked as if he was about to suggest they do it again when he noticed she was looking over at the waterfall. "See what?" he asked as the damage the fall had caused finished healing. "What did you see?"
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Adiyah
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Post by Adiyah on Nov 8, 2008 19:44:28 GMT 1
Adiyah looked at Max, relieved that he seemed alright. "Awesome? You sure you didn't hit your head too hard? I'm, okay, I think you uh.................broke my fall."
She smiled a moment before turning back to the waterfall and getting to her feet slowly. She shook her fur out nervously, wincing at a still healing bruised elbow. "I swear, right before I lost my grip I saw..........a white stag. It was standing right up there."
She pointed to the spot she'd thought she'd seen the creature, now of course, the spot was empty and silent. She lowered her hand. "It was there for a second, then I was falling, we were falling. and it disappeared."
She frowned, now it sounded silly. Like she'd lost her balance over seeing a figment, but she knew it had been there. She sighed. "I take it neither of you saw it then, but I know I did."
Adiyah waited for the others but was already slowly walking towards the waterfall.
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Yvonne
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Post by Yvonne on Nov 8, 2008 20:01:24 GMT 1
Yvonne laughs with relief at Max's response, then looks at the waterfall with the others as her attention is drawn to it. "A white stag? Sorry, I didn't see anything."
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Max Heller
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Post by Max Heller on Nov 8, 2008 20:18:44 GMT 1
"Yeah I think the ground broke mine," Max was still grinning. He seemed strangely high on the whole experience.
"A white stag?" he caught up with Adiyah, but looked over to Yvonne to try and judge her reaction. He hadn't seen anything, but then he hadn't been looking. He wanted to add: 'Are you sure?', but Adiyah seemed quite convinced she had seen it.
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