The Only Way is Down

We returned to our previous path and were not far away from the path down the cliff. It took us couple of days in order to return to our original location but we managed that without any other hiccups. The dreams stopped again, I didn't train my body or skills and I didn't kill people. I again obtained the peace of mind and focused on traveling and exploring. We didn't play that game anymore. We would always hunt together now, just in case someone tried to ambush us separately.

After two days of travel, we arrived at the path that was supposed to take us down the cliff. 'Indeed, there is a path down but it's not going to be an easy descent' I thought and looked at Shelly. Shelly was not very keen on the idea of taking that path. It was too steep and at some points, I would have to jump in order to reach the overhangs protruding from the cliff's face.

I said to Shelly "Don't worry, I will carry you with me when we have to move between the overhangs" but Shelly wasn't keen still. I then said "Come on, it will be interesting. Besides, I want to leave this place and explore something new, something interesting". Shelly nodded its head but reluctantly.

I said "Great! then it's decided. I still need to figure out the best and safest path so wait a bit while I look more closely at the path". Shelly complied and waited beside me, not making any noises. I looked at the path downwards and tried to figure out the best way down.

The path started very steep and then ended abruptly. From that point on, we would have to jump between the overhangs. Some places were difficult to reach, the overhangs were far apart or or the was only one lone overhang at the end and the only path would be to jump down to the next overhang.

I deliberated different paths that were traversable and chose the best out of those. The problem was also our weight. My bag alone weighted a lot so for that occasion, I decided to empty out all the unnecessary weight in order to gain speed and strength that no doubt would be needed.

I said to Shelly "I have a path down and it is the safest as well as the easiest one I could find. I will tell you how we are going to go down, just in case we have to act due to some extreme circumstances". I then explained my plan to Shelly "It would seem that going down the slope till the end would be the best idea but the path there is not optimal and more dangerous. We will stop about halfway down the slope and then continue using the overhangs. Don't worry as I will carry you most of the times. Let me show you the overhangs we will use".

I then pointed at the overhangs we will use in descending order. Shelly nodded its head and I continued my explanation "Do you remember the rope that was use to tie you up? I have it with me and it will be very useful to us". Shelly showed confused expression because it didn't know where the rope would come into play. I said "There is one overhang below the one we will stand on. In order to reach that overhang below, we will need a rope". I then pointed at the two overhangs that we would need to cross.

I then continued "You will have to hold the rope while I go down". Shelly thought about it a bit and then became angry, making noises as if cursing me. I knew what Shelly was thinking about. If Shelly is up there holding the rope and I'm below, then how is Shelly going to go down? I explained "I know what you are thinking and the solution is simple. You will jump while biting the rope, I will either catch you or the rope. So even if I fail to catch you, there will be a rope attached to me and it will prevent you from falling any further. I will just pull you up. That is the hardest part of this path".

The further my explanation went the more fear I could see on Shelly's face. It would have to jump but I would be below with the rope still attached to me. So even if I didn't catch it, the rope would still be there. Shelly shook its head many times and started to back away. I said "No time to hesitate now, you already agreed". I swiftly picked Shelly up and ran down the slope towards our new destination.

Shelly screamed and tried to break free but I didn't care, I ran down the slope a bit and then at the appropriate moment jumped. "Hop!". We landed on one of the overhangs and fortunately it was sturdy enough to withstand our weight. I placed Shelly down and said "Now there is no return". Shelly looked at me with teary eyes and moaned. "I know I said that if you didn't like the path, we would look for another one but I want to experience some thrills as well. Stop moaning, we will get down safely… I hope".

I continued "I already showed you the path and most of the time, I will be carrying you so don't worry". Shelly nodded its head although with tears in its eyes and fear plastered on its face. I picked Shelly up again and said "Ready?" to which Shelly shook its head to show disagreement but I disregarded that and jumped to the next overhang.

After couple of jumps, we landed on a narrow overhang that started to crack the instant we landed. I said "No time to think!" and jumped to the next overhang. "Crack Crack… Swoosh". As we landed on the next overhang, the previous one broke off from the cliff's face and fell down. "Booom!" the piece of rock hit the ground and made a hole. Shelly again started whining and fearing for its life. I said "We are already halfway there so not much left to go. Hold on, we will reach the overhang were rope will be needed soon". I jumped down couple more times and fortunately none of the overhangs broke off.

We were now located at the place where Shelly needed to hold the rope while I descended to the next overhang. The rope was long enough for that and the overhang below was not far away, it was the difficult of getting there as they were almost perfectly in line with each other.

I took out the rope and said "Shelly, now it's important. Hold this rope as hard as you can. I will descend and then you will slowly jump down. Don't jump forward, jump down and I will catch you. When I call for you to jump from below, jump". I don't know if Shelly listened properly but when I handed it one end of the rope, it bit the rope tightly and stood near the wall of the cliff.

I started my descent while saying "Don't ,under any circumstances let go of that rope". My weight made Shelly slide forward a bit but when Shelly applied more pulling strength, it stabilised and stayed there. I made my way down as quickly as I could in order not to strain Shelly's grip on that rope.

Getting on the the overhang was not easy either. I had to swing in order to land there so I shouted "Shelly! Hold the rope very tight, I need to swing to get to that overhang. Hold on!" I started swinging and felt the rope moving down a bit. It was probably Shelly sliding again but I didn't say anything and simply focused on reaching the overhang. As long as I got stable footing on it, getting Shelly down would be easier.

With the final swing, I jumped and landed on the overhang. There was no cracking sound or any signs of movement form that overhang, which was a good sign. I shouted "Shelly! swing the rope a bit so that I can catch it". Shelly swung the rope and I caught it. I then shouted "Now! Jump down!" but in response, I could only hear moans and unwillingness.

I said "Do you want me to leave you on those cliffs? We have no way of going up anyway. Our only way is down, whenever we go down safely or fall, it is the only way. Jump! I will catch you. Trust me!".

Shelly didn't make any more sounds and silence filled the area. I waited for a while and then heard shelly's voice "Maaah" then the rope started to descent. I thought 'Shit!' I was a bit unprepared and rushed into the position. Shelly jumped a bit too far forward and it was impossible for me to catch it. I caught the falling rope in the middle and shouted "HOLD ON TIGHT!" then pulled the rope.

The falling Shelly had its eyes closed so it couldn't see what was happening but it could feel a sudden tug on the rope and the change of direction. I pulled so hard that Shelly flew towards me and rammed me into the cliff's wall behind. "Ugh" Shelly was heavy indeed and thanks to my strength pulling that rope, the damage I received wasn't very big but it still hurt like hell.

After a while, I said "Shelly, it's alright now, I caught you". Shelly opened its eyes that were full of tears and complained. Shelly wanted to say that it would never do this type of thing again. I packed the rope back into my bag and thought 'Now it's just formality, nothing should go wrong'.

I picked Shelly up and said "Now we shouldn't have any problems, we will be down soon" and jumped to another overhang landing very hard. The overhang cracked but before it could break off, I already jumped to the next one. Some overhangs fell down, some stayed in place while we made our way down. With the last jump we were on the ground.

I said "See, it wasn't that bad" but Shelly was grumpy and still made noises about my stupid idea. I said "It's time to explore this area, I wonder what type of thing could be here".