Iron Monkey (Miro)

by **Aello** on August 4th, 2012, 3:18 pm

Summer 8, 512 AV

Aello kicked off her boots. She knew she wouldn't need them. Not for today. With the sun's golden rays licking her bare skin, she could only smile as she looked up at the trees. The lush green which wavered in the soft winds as her feet sank into the mud. Earth strangely sodden, despite its having stopped raining hours ago. She eyed the clear blue sky, and fluffy white clouds, akin to a lamb's wool through their filter. Her toes wiggling as they continued to sink in, sloshing through the mud as she gingerly lifted her quiver and other belongings from her back and shoulders, and lay them in a harder patch of ground. When she finished, she took a moment to shake out her limbs before ambling over to the old oak she had spotted no more than a few chimes prior. She looked up at it, fattened trunk with drying bark of a diamond backed pattern. Long limbs, twisted and gnarled, climbing all the way up its length, starting from the base. Yes, you should do, she thought, as she set her palms against the trunk. As she put her bare right foot on the lowest branch, no more than a few inches off the ground. Furled her fingers as she dug her nails into the tree. Flicking off wooden shards as she pushed up against right foot, clung desperately with her hands, and thrust her left foot upward, bringing it onto the neck wrung, no more than eight inches off the ground.

"Come on Miro, I've got an idea," Aello called down to the younger mage as she pulled her right foot onto the branch her left was on, and drew her hands a little higher before extending right foot to another branch, about a foot up from this one. She could feel it shaking beneath her, unaccustomed to her weight, or perhaps aggravated by her presence, she supposed it was threatening to snap. Thus, urging her onwards a little faster than she had anticipated, forcing her to make the three and a half foot climb in a few breaths. For by then, she had reached a much thicker branch. One that only twisted towards the middle, and was relatively straight besides. One she could tell just by looking and probing with her magic would support each of their combined weights. She stood a moment, catching her breath as her hands hugged the tree. "Don't be afraid," she added, "it's not very far up. A bit shorter than you, I'd say," she added as her hands circled the tree, coming closer to where her form lay in wait. Gingerly, she pushed off, sending her form a few steps back, towards the center of her branch.

Aello could feel her feet curling over the sides. Pinching the tree's limb as though she were a bird whose agile talons could achieve a proper grip. With arms rising slowly so as to be held out to the side for additional balance, she continued to step back. Her eyes fixated on her feet as she came to the extension's center and then paused. Dropped her hands to her sides and looked up. Searching for Miro's gaze. Willing it to settle upon her. "Today, so as to help with our balance as well, we shall fight from up here," she said. "Fighting on the ground being child's play," she added as delicate smile crossed her lips, and she pulled leather chord from her pocket. Instantly, her hands came up and twisted her hair, tying it into a tight knot. With it out of her face, her hands dropped again. "Unless you're too scared. If I was your size perhaps I would be, but... it's not a very long way down, if you're foolish enough to fall. It shouldn't hurt too much, and if it does, it should teach you not to make the same mistake again. Don't you think?" she asked, as her right foot slid forward a few inches, and pointed at the toe. Ensuring she had more time to practice her balance than Miro. Giving her the upper hand.

Or so she would like to think.