Completed [Edge of the World] Falling off the Edge

[Lavira]

Time stamp: 51 Spring, 513

"Thanks, Lavira, come back anytime!" The weaver called after the young woman, waving congenially. It had been a fair trade for both, Vira only losing a single pinion and a few hours of free time as a volunteer to the man for the four foot length of rope she'd acquired. It would serve well enough as an anchor to some of the other hooks, eyeholes, and nooses that littered the inner face of the Edge and provided perfect grips for those wishing to practice their mountaineering skills.

Vira threw a wave back at the craftsman and headed through the halls to the Outer Warrens to make the trek up to the Edge. The day following market days were usually extremely busy for Inarta as shifts began again, but the young Chiet was lucky this day and had managed to find time slip away for half a day of climbing, hoping to hone her skills on the most difficult cliff available. She did not know what to expect that morning as the Edge's weather could at times be unpredictable, between fierce updrafts against the cliff and even fiercer winds on the Outer side of the Edge. She silently hoped it wouldn't be too bad that morning so that she could complete the ascent and descent within the time she had and make it back to her spot with time to spare.

Her lunch had been packed as soon as she'd woken, heading to the kitchens to obtain her rations for the noon meal, scarfing down her breakfast, and then heading to the gallery to talk to one of the craftsmen about obtaining the very length of rope she'd just bartered for. Now, it was time to head to the pathway leading up to the Edge, excited to get a move on. Hey, maybe she'd run into a couple of others who might have time and they'd share in her climb that day; it was always more fun working with others than alone, afterall, and you never knew who you might encounter in the corridors of Wind Reach.

[Aidara]

Agreeing to go rock climbing with Sira on their first date had been completely from the kindness of her heart, though Addy would never admit it was because she had been riding the giddy, childish sort of high that a new crush infused in a person. Frankly, She would have done anything Sira wanted.

Going back to the Edge of the World just to try her hand at climbing, for real this time, was simple stupidity. The first attempt had nearly broken them, both women walking (limping) away with several injuries. They had laughed it off in each others company, but as soon as Addy had kissed Sira goodnight and disappeared into the aerie she had shared with her sister at the time, the little healer had entrenched herself in he bath for bells upon bells.

As it were, Addy sat on a rock protruding from the otherwise flat cliff not too far off from the climbing wall. Her elbows were on her knees, and her chin in her hands as she stared at the daunting task before her. A harness, rope, clips, spikes and all manner of climbing equipment sat at the base of the rock wall mostly untouched. So far, Addy hadn’t been able to find the motivation to even get started trying.

Overhead, a dark splotch swooped and swuerved, quickly altering its flight path so that it headed straight for the pouting little Inarta below. Ash was able to pull out of his dive above Addy’s head, but only just, the strong beats of his wings throwing her hair up into a ginger tornado, completely obscuring her vision and elicting a cry of protest from the woman. “Hey! Stop that, you!”

Though an owl, Ash was a strange one. For one, he was out during the day. It was a new development, but strange to be sure. The little soot owl had been rescued by the little healer seasons before and had refused to leave her side since. The magic that seemed to affect all the birds around Wind Reach had gotten to him, too. But rather than listening to his owner, the little bird winged back up into the air and prepared for another dive.

[Lavira]

With few about the corridors but the late shift Dek, Lavira made it to the path alone and moseyed her way along the dangerous trail with a pleasant little hum filling her throat. The moment she'd set foot outside, Tulaj had assaulted her, the obnoxious harrier shrieking his incessant disdain for all things even as he settled on his caretakers shoulder. "You are the most bitter creature I have ever met, I hope you know." The woman replied, though she gave the albino the same affectionate scritch he always received upon meeting up with her. "I haven't the foggiest how you became such a brat...maybe your parents pushed you out of their nest on purpose."

Laughter preluded Vira's appearance at the point where Aidara sat, the redhead rounding the corner of the pathway with the harrier pulling on a hunk of her braid. This had been done up tightly today so that the winds that came sheering against the cliffface wouldn't tear it loose. With a final hawking scream at her, the bird took off, pinching her shoulder one final time before rising into the bright morning light.

Vira watched him go with a merry enough grin, then lowered hergazes to spy the young healer she'd seen off and on, evidently being likewise assaulted by an owl!"You don't see them out and about this early in the day often. Handsome nightwing." She said, the term an endearment to the various nocturnal species of aerial predators. Then her one eye settled on the gear layed around Aidara and a grin returned to the Chiet's features. Going climbing too, miss? I could use a climbing-partner. She gave a shrug to the small length of rope she herself had looped around her right shoulder. "Though it looks as if you've better gear than I. How could you afford all that? You must've saved for a year!"

The thought of all the things Vira would have had to trade for just to obtain the harness was shameful enough, not to mention the rest of the gear Aidara had! The young hopeful worked her butt off day in and day out nearly every day per period and still could barely afford the meager accommodations she had in the Commonrooms.

[Aidara]

Ash hooted happily as he took another dive at the cowering redhead below, aiming for the bits of dark auburn hair that floated up between the arms she had protectively curled around her head. The strands of hair had been caught by the wind and were dancing just a bit too incitingly back and forth for the little owl to ignore. Wings folded and the night hunter dropped in a sudden dive, a sooty bullet towards Addy’s head. That was when the new voice floated into their vicinity.

Starting at the sound Addy looked up and around, completely forgetting about the owl dive bombing her from above. Screeching in alarm, Ash altered his dive and with an awkward flaring and flapping of wings, was able to pull out just above the little Inarta’s head, his extended talons barely avoiding leaving long, deep gouges in her now unprotected scalp. Scared and more than a little embarrassed (as only the birds around Wind Reach could be), the little sootwing regained his balance in the air, winged his way back to a higher altitude and hooted indignantly down at Addy before darting away in what appeared to be the direction of her Aerie.

“I don’t know what just happened.” Flushed and more than a little rumpled, Addy finger combed her hair back away from her face and secured it with a leather thong before turning to completely face the newcomer. A rather attractive young woman stood there watching her, a bright grin on her face and a falcon swooping around her head; for coming upon such a strange sight as a woman being attack by an owl, this woman seemed hardly phased. Her grin was also infectious, and Addy felt one of her own spreading to dimple both of her cheeks as she stood and closed the gap between them.

“You don’t see them often at night either, if you know what I mean.” A terrible joke, but Addy couldn’t help the half snort, half giggle that escaped with her words, a hand extended towards the newcomer. “I’m not a miss; call me Addy.” Hands were shook, more smiled exchanged and the formalities were drawn neatly to a close.

“Ah, it’s my sisters gear. And… I, uh borrowed some of it.” Following Lavira’s gaze to where her equipment lay, Addy tried to smother the blush that crept into her cheeks, but to no avail. Of course, she had been able to get any gear that she wanted too just by asking; and that was exactly how she had come across some of the equipment that lay at the base of the climbing wall; Addy had her own gear, of course, but it wasn't a complete set. However, the little white lie slipped through her lips before Addy could do anything to stop it.

Though she should be proud to be Endal, the little healer found herself trying to hide that fact more often than not; it was rare that someone didn’t recognize her these days, and it was a simple sort of relief to be treated like she had been when she was just a healer. Everyone seemed to get so uptight when they found out she was Endal, and that was more tiring than anything else. “All I know is that it’s good stuff and will keep me from falling. That’s what matters, right?” More dimples and a flash of white teeth to, hopefully, distract the young woman from asking further questions.

“I’m not very good, I am afraid. My only other attempt at climbing was disastrous. I hope, for both our sakes, that you’re better than I am if we’re going to try this together. Though I wouldn’t be averse to you having a go at it first. I can stand here to catch you if you call.” An impish grin and a flirty little wink was sent Lavira’s way, Addy completely unable to keep from testing the waters whenever someone even slightly struck her fancy; she had learned better than to go all out, since not everyone swung that way. But flirting was part of her nature, and most of the time she just couldn't help it. Lavira had a sweet face, and an infectious smile that just begged, on some level, to be corrupted. However, that's not why Addy had come, though it was a nice benefit. Today was about climbing. “But you can use my stuff too, if you’d like. I’m not against sharing.”

[Lavira]

Vira had to cover her mouth to keep from guffawing when the owl screeched, nearly taking Addy’s scalp off. He was a handsome thing, too, but Vira remained partial to the diurnal species. The night hunters lacked a certain level of intelligence on some fronts that the Chiet couldn’t understand; of course, they were devastating hunters in their own right, and no less respectable for it. ”Oh, I certainly do. Morning, Addy.” Lavira finished with a slight bob of her chin down, polite. The low light did not afford a very good look at the other yet, or she might’ve recognized Aidara for who she was. Working where she did, the other tended to see Endal often, though it was mostly the Wind Eagles. ”I’m Lavira.”

When the other tried to clarify about the equipment, however, Vira just raised an eyebrow (the broken one over her blind eye) and smirked. The inflection in the others voice suggested an almost truth, but not the whole truth. Of course, this made little difference to the teen; she herself would do what she could when she could sometimes too. You did what you must to make it here. ”It looks like good equipment, too. Your sister is very generous.” The Chiet winked at the other and moved to the base of the wall, staring up at its face and listening to the other talk. Tulaj had returned to sight already a dead mountain vole in his beak and descending quickly to land on the ground near Addy. His wings lowered some from his body and head dropped to let the little morsel loose from his beak before staring with those hateful eyes at the other girl. ”Watch your fingers, Addy. He’ll try and take them off if you’re not looking.” Vira warned then turned her own eye onto the girl.

”And it doesn’t matter if you’re good, as long as you’re not careless. The whole point is both for the experience and the training, right? What better place to train than one of the toughest cliffs in the area?” The woman motioned her over, unshouldering the length of rope she herself had to begin tying it around her waist. ”Well, if you insist. Do you have some spare hooks? I don’t think I trust these low ones; they look kinda loose to me.” The overuse of the low level ones might prove dangerous if the weight of the girls was put onto them so it was better to go ahead and replace them with a few of their own instead. At least most of the grips and grooves looked in good condition at this level. She’d just need to grit her hands a bit, just to be safe.

[Aidara]

“Yeah, sure, why not make harmless practice into a life or death situation.” Matching the little harrier glare for glare while still keeping a safe distance from that wickedly curved beak. Really, the little bird hardly frightened her; she had seen Sira in terrible rages before, putting those talons and that beak to good use. That didn’t mean that she lacked the healthy respect required when in the vicinity of the aerial predators.

Stooping to retrieve Lavira’s requested items, Addy rifled through the gear at her feat until she found what looked like big, thick, metal fishing hooks. “This thing?” It was lifted and rattled around to draw the young girls attention if she had happened to look away; Addy had seen her admiring Ash as he flew off, smiling at the familiar sense of longing that she imagined she felt emanating from the girl. Kindred spirits, or at least two women who shared the same interests; it wasn’t all that long ago that Addy had become Endal, still familiar with the burning desire to be in the sky and to be surrounded by the birds of their mounting. It was hard for her not to immediately like Lavira.

Holding the hooks separate, Addy scooped up the rest of the gear and plopped it down next to where her newest companion had (more neatly) placed her own. The hooks were handed over, small fists transferred to the curve of her hip as the little healer stood back and watched Lavira assemble… whatever it was she was assembling. “To be completely honest, I have no idea what any of this really does. The last time I was doing this, everything was already set up and ready to go. It was a date, you see.” There was a smile of remembrance there, images of Sira and her first date flashing quickly through her mind.

It took a moment for Addy to draw herself from her reminiscence, but when she managed to return to the present, her smile flanked by dimples that she flashed at the young girl. “I am impressed, though, because you seem to know what you’re doing. Do you want to explain it to me? I really do hate not knowing what’s going on.”

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[Lavira]

The teen laughed when Addy showed off the fish-hook like curves and shook her head afterwards. "No, no, not those. We need eyehooks, see?" She pointed to the rockface where the screwed in bolts with circular ends were threaded. "The eyehooks are what we put the rope through. If we fall, they help keep us from plummeting to our deaths." The Chiet stepped up to the wall and reached for one of said hooks that was wedged between a crack, prying it loose and confirming her suspicions that it was most definitely not secure. "See?" She held up the bolt to the other so she could see. It was rusted and worn and looked ready to break. Sometimes we need to replace what others have left because they wear out. It happens. The higher we go, the more we may have to replace, but we'll see, hm?" She grinned good naturedly and tossed the bolt to one side. It could be sold to one of the metalworkers later as scrap metal to be melted down and recycled.

Vira moved over to Addy and looked through the gear after kneeling down. She fished through the rope bolts and metal until finally finding what she was looking for. "We can use some of the rope as thread to keep it secured to us as we climb and then just take it off and replace weak ones as we go. You just put the end of the rope through the eye, here-" she indicated the hole in the loop of metal and put a finger through as an example. "I'll go up some first and start an anchor line, okay? The anchor line is what we'll use to keep from falling all the way to the base again. You're a bit smaller than me, it looks like, so I'll have to do most of the support, but to start, I'll hafta climb up first. Do you know how to stabalize yourself when another is climbing?" She asked, but the general look from Addy answered her immediately. "Well that's okay, I'll show you."

The woman took a length of rope from the pile and tied it around her own waist first, just a simple brace line without a harness incase she fell. She then waved Aidara into a standing position; once the Endal had obliged, Vira stepped close. "I hope you don't mind. I've gotta get close to show you." She held the rope up and stepped on the bottom of it, measuring about ten feet of rope in all. "You'll hold one end with your dominant hand and use your body as a brace, okay?" She then knelt to one knee, canting her head to get a good gauge of position, and reached around with the rope behind Aidara. This length was settled on her hips. "Hold this end." She held up the end that had previously been stepped on and then knotted herself to the other end. "I don't know many knots, I'm afraid, but this is a simple one. It's how we keep the ropes together for basic security. It's called a Butterfly Bend." She gave both ends a hard tug.

"There's a bunch of others, but I'm still learning myself. Now, I'm gonna put some weight on the rope and I want you to just hold on, okay?" Vira looked at the others hands now and frowned thoughtfully. "You're probably gonna get some rope burn...you might wanna use your katinu so you don't get blisters." She demonstrated with her own, simply grabbing the rope through the overcoat and holding. "If you think it's gonna slip, you could give it a single wrap around your forearm. So when you're ready..." If Addy obliged her instructions, she'd follow through and lean back on the rope, putting more and more weight steadily upon it to test the Endal's grip. "Set your feet about shoulder width apart with one leg forward; use your heels and keep your own weight on the back foot for the most part. That'll help your balance."

[Aidara]

The rusted eye-bolt hit the stone ledge with a sharp crack, bouncing once before it began a wobbling roll towards the edge of the ledge. Dust kicked up behind it and Addy eyed its progress as she listened to Lavira explain, only a slight widening of her eyes belaying that anything was wrong; it was just slightly overwhelming. Her date with Sira definitely hadn’t been this… well planned.

However, the lithe woman was a good teacher and Addy found herself nodding along and repeating what she thought were the important bits aloud to herself whenever Vira paused to adjust, demonstrate or otherwise fetch a piece of gear. “Replace the hooks, anchor lines save your neck, and she expects us to get really high up there.” Craning her neck until her ear almost touched her shoulder, Addy peered up at the top of the climbing wall and huffed out a little breath of surprise. The top of the wall flirted with a few wisps of fog, it’s jagged peak rising high enough to rip into the clouds that scuttled overhead. “That’s ambitious.” Addy tended to show a bit more self preservation than most of her race; bold and ambitious when needed, but otherwise pretty unwilling to just fling herself into danger just for the thrill of it.

Interrupting the swell of panic that started to rise in the little Endal’s chest, Lavira had moved to loop the rope around Addy’s waist and was showing her how to hold it firmly so that she could keep a safe and taut hold on the only thing keeping Lavira from smashing into bits if she fell. Again, no pressure. Gripping tightly at the end Addy was ordered to hold, she watched as Vira tied herself off. “You’ll have to teach me those afterwards. I usually do the bunny ears method.” Flashing a grin, Addy readjusted her grip on the rope and nodded her readiness. “I think I’ve got it.”

Wrapping her fingers in the fabric like Vira demonstrated, the little woman smiled ruefully and couldn’t help but laugh. “I feel like I’m a Yasi just playing copycat.” Bracing herself, Addy shifted her hips so that when Vira put weight on the rope, she wasn’t yanked forward immediately. When Vira began to climb, Addy actually leaned back far enough that she felt as if she were sitting on air, kept aloft only by the tension on the rope between the two women.

It was harder work than she expected, holding that rope. Thinking that she was going to watch her new friend expertly scale the cliff before them, pounding in hooks an shimmying from one to the next. Though she was pretty sure the charismatic young woman had no interest in swinging that way, Addy hadn’t been against the opportunity to watch the woman as she scaled the rocks. She was attractive, alive and well. Apparently those were the only requirements.

However, much to her disappointment, Addy actually had to pay attention to her task. At first, the rope slipped and pulled through her fingers after Vira had gained some height and, the heat of the rope whipping through the fabric created enough friction to burn her fingers a bit. “Ouch!” Biting down on the yelp, Addy dug in her heels and clamped her grip down on the line. “Sorry! Sorry! I think I got it now. Are you alright?” Not daring to take her eyes off her of hands, as if her gaze was the only power holding the line in place, Addy called up to Vira, unsure whether or not this slip would have resulted in any sort of disturbance in the woman’s climb. “I overestimated myself and was too focused on my balance that my grip failed!”

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[Lavira]

Only after Addy had demonstrated positively that she could support Vira's weight did the young woman approach the wall. In her mind, she was hoping the smaller dame would be able to hold her; one didn't typically use the smaller one to lay lines. The lighter was supposed to start the threads so that when the heavier began to climb everything was secured.

Vira took a look up, measuring her path carefully before reaching high overhead and grasping a jutting stone. Her opposite foot rose to find a grip next and she pulled herself up, the length of rope between herself and Addy extending as she began to climb. The first usable hook was almost at the end of the main line; it was this that she quickly threaded some rope through and took a peek down at the other below, just to be sure Aidara was okay. Once the line was threaded, Vira undid the rope connecting her to the Endal below and tied it to this one, allowing her to climb further up without becoming tangled. She rose another ten feet, twenty feet of rope extending between herself and Addy this time, and tested the next hook. It was a little loose but looked like it might be okay. She was just about to put some weight on it when she felt pressure on the line and looked down again.

Addy was calling an apology. "I'm okay, just be careful of your grip, Addy. Balance is important, but if you don't have a good grip, you and I will both fall." Vira looked back to the rockface and checked for more grips. The vertical wasn't usable, the surface too smooth with nothing that Vira trusted from this vantage to support her weight. She looked left, canting her head this way and that in that not-quite birdy fashion, and spotted a little ledge about a body length over. "Addy, I've gotta shimmy to the left some. Let the line loose so I can move that way and set a new hook. On three."

"One."

"Two."

"Three." Vira pushed off with her right foot, using the brief momentum in the half-jump to carry her the six feet to the little ledge. Her fingers got their grip quickly and she moved her feet along the wall as steadily as she could while holding on with fingertips for a support. Her left foot had just found one and she was about to balance there so that one of the eyehooks could be obtained when her fingers slipped.

The teen yelped as she slid down the wall and swung back to parallel with the line already threaded. Her face had struck the stone as she slid-swung and a nice little patch of skinned flesh had been opened on her right cheek, teeny, tiny drops of blood rising to the surface of the raw patch. "Ow..." Vira had one hand on the wall and both feet pressed against it while gingerly touching the welt. "Petch, didn't want to go to the infirmary. You alright down there?" She called distracting herself from the rockburn.

[Aidara]

Don’t look up, don’t look up, don’t look- “Petch! How did you get up there so quickly!” Speaking more for her own benefit than Lavira’s, Addy found her gaze riveted to the young woman as she scaled the rock face, green eyes wide with amazement at the apparent ease with which she did so. Feeling further and further out of her league, the little Endal tried to simply keep her focus on the one task she had been assigned. She had one job and she couldn’t mess that up.

When Vira called for slack on the line Addy obliged, allowing a bit of the rope to slip quickly through her fingers preemptively, closing her hands down on it again when the woman dangling above her began to count. “Be careful- Ah!” Preoccupied with shouting her warning, Addy was a beat behind Vira, belatedly letting the rope loose as the teen swung wide. Though her delayed response didn’t seem to hinder Vira in any way, Addy gasped loudly when the “shimmy” to the left ended the sick smack of skin on rock.

“I am fine. I'm not the one that just kissed the rock wall. Aer you okay?” Watching helplessly from the ground, Addy winced as the girl carefully checked the tender, raw spot on her face; Even from where she was standing Addy could see the skin begin to swell and seep. “You don’t have to go to the Infirmary! I’m practically the whole place.” Injecting humor where it didn’t belong was one of the little woman’s most awkward talents, but she smiled and plied her dimples nonetheless. “Do you want to come down or keep going? Looking at it won’t take long. Here…”

A sharp whistle broken up in to three short notes pierced the relative silence that had settled around the two women, a sort of peace that was only broken by their own voices and the wind; climbing, while terribly difficult thus far, had sufficiently distracted Addy from her troubles, realizing belatedly that she was actually having fun. And all she was doing was holding the anchored end of a rope.

Only a few short ticks after her whistle, Ash flew up and over the top of the climbing wall, his wings held close to his body as he arrowed towards the healer. Ready for this, Addy held up a small scrap of cloth she had torn from the bottom of her bryda, the end fluttering in the wind and whipping it up just far enough so that when Ash’s sharp little talons flicked forward and clamped down on the fabric, Addy’s skin was spared.

Beating his wings to regain altitude, the little owl swooped back towards where Vira hung, simply dropping the cloth in her general vicinity as he passed overhead; not exactly what Addy had taught him to do, but close enough. She was simply pleased that he had responded at all. “Sorry! He’s kind of a brat! Use that to try and wipe away what dirt and stuff you can!”

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