[Edge of the World] A Rocky Start (Solo)

[Risa Moontide]

(7th of Summer, 511AV)
The monstrous wall ahead stretched into oblivion, greatly overshadowing the already grandiose room. Risa admired the amazing scale of it all. a few people were in the chamber, many scaling the wall, even a few children among them. Fala whistled loudly from atop the rope strung across Risa's shoulder and she swore she heard his intentions, a clear "Wow. I gotta fly that."

With that the small bird took off toward the wall, flapping his wings and trying to catch an updraft. Risa smiled and approached the wall, watching Fala get higher and higher. He circled higher, letting the warm wind draft up from the stone raise him toward the top of the impressive gorge. Risa called out to him, her voice a cheery beacon echoing back from the wall's vibrancy.

With a perched call, a small eagle screeched nervously on the cliff far above. She didn't want to jump, she was just a baby, her screech revealed. Risa watched the spectacle, taking her eyes off Fala for a second. The nestling was too far above to make out clearly, just a brown blip on the top of the huge length before her. Risa smiled at the sight of the baby creeping towards the edge. So nervous! I'm sure it's adorable!

The eagle above took some steps back and finally charged the edge. The youngling, flapping its wings at first, screeched out in fear and closed its wings, diving down. Risa's eyes widened and she gulped for the poor nestling, before she noticed the youngling's treacherous destination. Fala rose ever higher, into the path of the falling and frightened child.

Risa screamed out, "Fala!" her voice suddenly a panic. Fala's going to get hurt, that poor bird is going to get hurt! She quickly looked around at the other patrons, most of whom were just staring at her outbreak rather than the situation above. Risa looked back up quickly, the ideas of scaling the wall or perhaps using her slingshot jumping into her head but quickly dismissed as impossible and stupid.

Her heart jumped a little higher; she could feel adrenaline coursing through her veins. There was nothing she could do. She screamed out one last time, desperation filling her voice. "PLEASE! FLY!" Her voice was more like a shriek than a shout, sounding almost like a hawk call than her own voice. The young eagle finally spread her wings and soared, talons and tail feathers mere inches above Fala's now-panicky wing strokes.

Risa put her hand against the wall, breathing heavily. That was terrifying! Fala fluttered down slowly, letting the draft move him more than his wings, and landed on the ground near by. He whistled up at her curiously, eyes thoughtful and bright. "No, no. As much as that scared me, we can't leave. I gotta figure this out."

Risa looked up at the wall and grabbed her rope. She wasn't sure how this was going to work, but she was going to figure it out.

[Risa Moontide]

The third fall was the most painful yet. Risa's knee had hit the ground before any other part, and it reared up grumpy and painful like a bad hangover. Risa sat back, looking up at the insurmountable wall. The rope was useless; she had no way of attaching it to the wall nor any way of getting it to the top. Each groove in the wall was another challenge and she hadn't understood the difficulty.

Rubbing her knee further, Risa backed away from the surface. Climbing a rope had certain similarities here, but the path was laid before her on the rope. Here the path warped and changed with the stone and she couldn't figure out the pattern. She needed to just watch the wall; watch the other climbers and figure out what they were doing. Most of the kids around her were climbing without any kind of equipment, a select few using bits and ends to attach themselves to the stone surface as they got higher. Nearly all of their hands were wrapped, which defiantly could explain Risa's own red palms.

Risa sat down on the stone surface, brow furrowed. How were these kids doing it when she couldn't get more than a few feet up? It just didn't make sen- Wait... I'm looking at the wrong thing. It's not the climbers that I need to watch. It''s where they're climbing! Risa starting to pick up the patterns in front of her, the road laid out in the stone. It was subtle; her mind had to piece together the light shadow from the changes but she could see the route to get up.

Risa stood quickly and walked over to her bag, going through her clothing. She pulled out two long strips of fabric and began wrapping her hands. She was determined to make it up the wall. Risa felt her breathing increase; she was getting herself pumped up. Moving back toward the wall Risa could see the pattern before her. She put one hand on the wall and pushed herself up.

[Risa Moontide]

Risa was frozen. She had made it half way up but could go no further, her hand just couldn't reach where she thought it should go. Her legs were wobbling and didn't want to support her weight anymore. She was impressed; she'd seen a lot of kids give up well before they got where she was. But she was no kid, and now she hung dangerously over the cliff face.

Fala was far below now; his short wings weren't meant for flying for long periods of time. Risa wanted him with her, to encourage her to go on. She felt one of her legs slipping and wanted to just dig her hands into the wall, stay herself from falling. This is up to me. I can't give up. I have to keep going! The wall above had gotten less rock and more smooth, it was only more of a challenge on the way up than what she'd already come from. She gulped, trying to find the pattern and path that would get her to the top.

Risa decided what she was going almost by the time she had to do it. As her leg slipped Risa pressed against the wall with her other leg and jumped over. The second she was no longer touching the wall felt like a thousand bells. Her heart was pounding and now nothing kept her from plummeting to the ground but her own momentum. Her hands scrambled to grab at the hand points she had recognized, scrambled to grab anything to stop her descent.

Her hands both caught a point! Risa was panting quickly and felt sweat forming on her brow, but she wasn't out of the storm yet. Her legs hung uselessly below her as she slid them against the wall, trying to find a point to take pressure off her slipping fingers. Her hands were slipping and she couldn't see anywhere to put her legs. Risa was screaming, though she didn't realize it herself. I'm going to fall, I'm going to kill myself, oh gods save me!

[Risa Moontide]

Risa's left hand slipped and she swung over on her right. Her right hand also slipped, but only an inch and not free, but she knew her fingers couldn't hold the weight of her body much longer. She felt tears starting to form from the fear but held them off a while longer, kicking at the wall again. At last her right foot barely caught a ledge far to her right and Risa brought up her left hand to grab the same ledge next to the right one.

Risa's chest was pounding and she was poised at an awkward angle on the wall. She finally let her right hand loose and grabbed another section to level herself out, put more weight on her leg. Risa took a deep breath pushing out the fear and doubt. I can't go higher. The truth was painful to think about, but she needed more skills. Risa peered down below her, trying to eye a path down.

After a few minutes of clinging silently to the wall she saw the path down. It was easier than the path up, that's for sure. One footfall at a time Risa climbed down, taking it slow and only moving one limb at a time. Her arms hurt, her legs hurt, her head was starting to hurt. But she was more cautious now, she didn't make a move unless she was sure she was secure. As she approached the bottom she wanted to jump of the wall, but refused. Risa made sure she climbed all the way down to the very bottom before she let go of the stone.

This is all too much. Risa wanted to cry, wanted to rest. Fala flew down onto her shoulder now, somber and quiet, most likely as tired as she was. She kept her composure though, not looking at any of the other participants, many of whom were leaving as well. the sun was getting lower and Risa needed to sleep. The walk was going to hurt her legs even more, but she decided to walk back down to Thunder Bay, get back to her ship. Part of her knew she'd probably tie the sails into a hammock and cry, but better there than her amid strangers. Risa started walking.

[Flicker]

Experience for Risa: Climbing 3 Observation 1 Lore for Risa: The Intimidating Scale of the Edge of the World. The Danger of a Fledgling’s First Flight Being Stared at for Unnecessary Panic Finding a route by watching other climbers Hand wrapping for climbing Climbing fatigue at a height one shouldn’t fall from Dynamic Climbing (jumping from hand hold to hand hold) Weakened and falling while climbing Down Climbing a new route Finding out one isn’t strong or skilled enough to jump from hold to hold on a brand new route Making it down safely knowing she might not have One Edge of the World Route almost to the top Comments: Risa is going to be sore through her shoulders, forearms, hands, thighs and calves for about a week, with blisters on her hands. Good training thread! I’m glad she was scared at the end, it’s terrifying being up with no safety and feeling your muscles giving out. If you know of any XP or lores she should get that I overlooked, let me know. 