Flashback Tree Run

[Kaie]

42nd of Summer, 505 AV

She was not far from the safety of her village. Actually, she was still practically in it. The eight year old stared up at the big tree a short walk from her own longhouse, eyes wide as she scanned the upward expansion of its trunk. Thick like a Tskanna. It did not have very many low hanging branches for a child to play on, but Kaie did note the winding vines snaking in a spiral up into the canopy. Sun kissed hands wrapped around the main vein, she shook at the thickest vine with a grunt. True to its appearance, its fingers were so firmly rooted within the tree itself it hardly moved. A perfect start.

A little more ambitious, Kaie reached just high enough to put herself on the balls of her feet. Her fingers clasped around the hold several times apprehensively before she finally jumped. Her young biceps tensed and her developing abdominal muscles worked to keep her legs in the air, her body suspended by the childish grasp. Like useless appendages, her legs flailed a few times before they finally found a hold. A pair of uneven crevices created by smaller vines to hold her weight. With a stupid grin of meager victory on her face, Kaie's digits wandered the cracked skin for a higher hold. Finally she found a split in the tree itself to dig her fingers into. And so began her climb.

Hoisting and pulling was slow process for the youth. In time and determination, Kaie finally meandered her way toward a thick branch. Yanking her body onto the perch, the young Myrian gazed down at her world below. A thick fog hovered up toward her. One from her very own abode. Amber eyes spotted Keikyo and his father making an early morning journey into the forest. Probably for snaring, she speculated. And finally Mother. She was standing just outside the longhouse, fingers lacing through her long hair. Piece by piece, Kaie watched the locks turn into strict braids. Just by the casual turning of her head, the youth could tell she was probably hunting for her child. Waiting to drag her off into Taloba the moment she spotted her. All the more reason for Kaie to haul herself higher out of sight.

With each lift into another branch, the jungle world was opening around her. Every rise in elevation embraced her into the dense leaves that began to encircle her, obscuring her from view below. Branches and vines became more frequent for her use. Often she would find she was not alone. Sometimes a colored bird would snap its head her way and flit off into the next tree. Once she spotted a lime green lizard that raced away the moment it spotted her.

Before she knew it, Kaie was half way to the top and she had no intention of climbing too much higher. She didn't feel like being dragged off to Taloba either. Her eventual decision way to simply go with the flow of the animals and switch trees all together. If she didn't fall that is.

[Kaie]

It was rather understandable she would be hesitant. She was a confident and adventurous child, but there was something unsettling about making a mad leap like a howler monkey across a gap. So many things could go wrong. A snap of a branch, a failed grab with her hands, all leading to an inevitably squashed Myrian child on the forest floor below. Naturally Kaie did not sit there fearfully contemplating the task she had set for herself. Instead she chose to work up to it, to build her confident in her body with different feats. Simple ones first that would get progressively more daring.

Kaie reached out for a thick branch to her side and hoisted herself onto it. Slowly she grasped both hands around its diameter and shifted her feet. After an exhale, she was gradually extending her spine. First to a crouch and then a very slow, shaky stand. She wobbled dangerously until her hands reached up to grasp a higher perch. A childish grin of satisfaction worked its way across her features as she stood, relief flooding her with the success. Young eyes wandered upward where her hands laid. Immediately she was greeted with the strange, soft filtering of Syna's light through the trees. It was a calming display of radiance and life, complimented by the flitting birds and leaping monkeys that occasionally broke the scene with their shadows.

The Myrian grinned up at the Sun Goddess in delight, fingers tapping the mossy branch above her. Another silent dare. Her brow furrowed in concentration, learning how to maneuver her body to achieve both balance and dexterity. A screeched tore her from her planning. A howler monkey swinging in the tree behind her, its hands hooking in an odd fashion around the branches as it moved along. It looked effortless and graceful.The timing, the length of the swing, all was flawless. Certainly it had to be a skill learned shortly after it was weened from riding its mother's back. Perhaps one even a ground dwelling creature could utilize?

She soon found herself cupping her hands as the primate did around the branch. Then pushing off the lower branch, her feet raised to hook around the upper one behind her hands. She crossed them at her ankles, eyes widening with uncertainty as the branch wavered. Then the shaking stopped with her sudden stillness, earning another victorious grin from the girl. She bet Keikyo had never tried such a trick this high up.

[Kaie]

She hung there for several moments, staring up at the filtered light like some easily amused fool sunning herself. It didn't take long for the feat to lose its luster, though, and Kaie remained unsatisfied. She closed her eyes tight and took a few breaths. Pride and trust in her body rose to something within range of overconfidence. Then without warning she dropped her hands from the higher branch. The muscles in her legs tensed up and her ankles pressed hard against one another, all working together to keep herself from smashing her skull. Her hands went out to her sides likes bird in flight, flicking several leaves out of her way as if diving into the Kandukta Basin.

The short adrenaline rush that came with the momentary fall was intoxicating, and the primitive panic signals manifested in the dilation of her eyes. Then it all stopped, the branch above her bending and bouncing with the will of gravity and weight attached to it. A laugh erupted from her lips in the purest form of glee, feeling her body tug down and then lift with the recoil of the tree. Hanging there like that was an odd sensation, but one she found she enjoyed. Kaie imagined it was like what a spider monkey experienced, though it was far less cumbersome and far lighter. In fact, she couldn't help but wonder what the animals hiding within the thick canopy above thought of her, the odd little two legs looking very much like it was trying to drop itself on its head.

Arching up again, her hands gripped the previous branch and legs unlocked. They dropped back smoothly, swaying twice before she managed to root them back on the lower branch. Then her hands released and she fell into a crouch. Inching forward, she began to emerge from the leaves to look out. The howler had appeared again. This time it had rejoined its roaming troop in the few trees it had claimed. Kaie turned to look forward at the tree ahead of her. Her eyes spotted a curved branch hanging down that seemed pretty stable and moderately close. She bet she could reach it if she jumped. Her bare feet readjusted themselves anxiously upon the moss.

Another round of howls erupted from the primates behind her, catching her attention once again. They whooped and shook at the trees, some scampering along the lengths of the branches. Others swooped to new perches with offspring clutching their backs, tails curled defensively. They too had the hook in her hands as they moved. So as she turned back to face her perilous task, she found herself imagining she was just another furry animal in the trees. A tailless one at that, but one nonetheless. And what kind of monkey feared their own skill in the trees?

[Kaie]

Feet moved quickly across cracked and moist, woody skin. Then she dared to press off before she reached the weak end, hands reaching out with determination. She sailed across the gap promisingly, eyes narrowing with intense concentration. Then she hooked her fingers around the approaching branch, using her momentum to swing forward to find a place to put her feet. However, she thought her skills were much higher than they were, and soon enough disaster struck. Her hook failed with incompetence, feet flailing as they flew too far past the intended branch. Her other hand shot out wildly for something, anything, only to find a weak shoot that crumbled to the touch. And then she was falling. Quickly.

Her back plunged through the leaves, hands scrambled about and feet flailing. A yelp echoed from her small body, grunts following when her back hit the first solid branch. It knocked the wind out of her, turning her onto her side and rolling to continue her fall. With the new position, she did managed to grasp a crawling branch with one hand, then the other. The speed of the drop caused her hands to burn along its skin, trying desperately to slow her. She hit another smaller branch with her shoulder before she slowed just enough to wrap her legs around the vine. Her fingers tightened around it, clutching it and pulling herself in close with eyes shut tight.

When she opened her eyes again she was swaying softly from side to side, hands bright red from friction and back throbbing from impact.

"Well. I think that went pretty well."