Empirica #10

Even the slightest injury was bad for anyone who was climbing up to a high place where the air was much thinner.

The open wound could easily become infected and the blood loss could cause dizziness.

A single small dizzy spell could prove fatal to someone that was hanging on the side of the mountain.

Yvie grit her teeth and reached for the rock above to hold onto, the small droplets of blood fell down her leg then gravity did the rest as it fell towards the ground below.

The problem was that a small droplet of the blood had fallen onto the head of Wanda and a small part of it had dropped into her eye. "Ugh."

It was enough to cause her to close her eye and wish to rub it, instinctively she raised a hand to wipe it away leaving only one hand gripping onto the rocks.

Her body was hanging and had swung awkwardly due to the shift in her weight and movements so Wanda was far less stable than before.

She used the edge of her long sleeves to rub her eye and was relieved to be able to see better once again until a change took place.

The rock she held onto had broken and had caused her to fall downward. "Ah!"

Her face was full of fear and held a hint of regret as she expected the worst but she could feel an arm wrap around her suddenly.

Milky saw her friends actions and became more cautious, she knew that it was an important time where something dangerous could happen at any moment. 'Why something like this now. We are already so close to the top.'

Her feet were firmly placed on some rocks that had enough room to place her foot on or within then readied her body for anything that came.

Her greatest strengths lied in her speed, agility and leaping so when the moment had come, she had already leapt up from the position she was in then captured Wanda by wrapping one of her arms around Wanda's waist.

The other arm was raised up and a look of trust was in her eyes, that trust was not lost as she saw something coming towards her.

Val had noticed the strangeness and had moved the moment that Milky had. "Target saved."

It was in Val's best judgement to prioritise Milky to grab due to Wanda being too distraught and distracted during the fall.

She was not in her best mind to respond as quick as Milky who had acted calmly.

A rope was caught by Milky who had been swung back closer towards the wall which allowed them to regain their composure.

They did not have long before more Slinky Vines had fallen down again which caused them to slow down a little more to avoid suffering a similar situation.

Once they had reached a part of the mountain where it was not completely all steep slopes and dangerous areas to climb, they all settled down and Alyssia bandaged the wound of Yvie after applying a little medicine.

Alyssia looked above towards the clouds that had grown nearer. "We are almost there right?"

The final third of the climb had been very challenging due to the frequency of the Slinky Vines appearing and being more closely packed.

The more they travelled down, the more they spaced out and there would be some Slinky Vines which had halted some time during their way down the mountain so it was a sign that they were reaching closer to the peak.

Their bodies felt heavy and the air had become much thinner so those that had visited the Sky Islands had faintly remembered that same feeling they had back then.

Many hours had passed since they began their climb the mountain and day had turned to night.

Their rations were much lower after taking some time to rest and recharge.

The mental and physical stress on each of them had been very high but they had been able to overcome the final hurdles that had been thrown at them.

They all stood on the peak after enduring everything together and saw a magnificent view of the vast blue sky, the clouds and the faint image of the island below which was slightly obscured by the clouds.

On the top of a mountain was a very study looking and heavy pile of stone slabs which seemed to have been placed by the previous people who lived on or had climbed to the peak.

No other human was in sight but there was a vibrant patch of different plants and there was a large pile of the tangled Slinky Vines which had failed to make it down the mountain.

Alyssia, Yvie, Ting and Ton had exclaimed together. "Ahh this is heaven!"

There was a much larger variety of unknown herbs that could be used that could survive at the peak of the mountain but what caught the eye of Alyssia the most was a giant tree that was at the top of a large slope. "So that is where it came from."

The giant tree was ancient looking and had many long branches which were barbed and had curled up just like the Slinky Vines.

The branches were long but did not seem to pass a certain distance away from the tree and it seemed to behave in a way that reduced the strain on the greater sized branches.

Those closer to the end of the branches had curled up more than others and were closer to meeting the same appearance as the ones that caused everyone so much trouble.

One that was within the view of Alyssia had suddenly snapped on its own then fell down to the ground. "So that is how it works."

The Slinky Vine that she named had hit the ground then was then on the move downward due to the stope the tree was on which created the initial movement that lead them down the mountain.

While everyone was gathering and celebrating, Alyssia went closer to the tree and started to take some samples then went on to collect some samples of the herbs that caught her interest.

A little while later they had gathered by the tree and the edge of peak of the mountain where there were the greatest view then snapped some pictures together.

Yvie had her arms up in the air excitedly with a grin on her face.

Ting and Ton were in standing on each hand of Yvie.

Wanda raised her head to the sky with her hands on her waist.

Milky was in the middle of jumping into the air.

Archie was lying around lazily and had a foolish grin on his face.

Ideo took up a serious boxing pose.

Alyssia took up a fighting pose with her front leg being raised a little.

Jester kept up his trademark smile and was juggling some knives.

Sunila and her weapon snake were seen playfully glaring with each other.

Several other variations took place as they had numerous solo and group shots taken.

While they enjoyed their time up there, they made sure to add to the stone tile pile to commemorate their achievement before thy went to sleep for the night.