(no subject)
Sep. 2nd, 2009 09:40 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
pyraxis"Don't be impatient with me!" she snapped.
"Don't yell at me!" he hollered back.
Daria stood at the top of the cliff, breathing hard, seething with frustration. When she tried to think about knots, her mind went empty. The rope still trailed off her climbing harness and back over the edge, a heavy reminder that if it were suddenly pulled, she would go tumbling down and smash her body open like an overripe fruit on the rocks below.
Curse her stupidity.
She couldn't think of the right words to explain this predicament, and even if she could, she couldn't shout them all the way down to Jarid* below.
Silence from the bottom of the cliff. He probably thought there was nothing more to say to her until she got done with her snit.
The rigging loops which had held her rope on the way up still hung below the lip of the cliff, out of her reach. They hadn't counted on this when they planned the climb. She was supposed to just reach over and grab them, unhook herself and climb down without a rope along the other, far easier route behind her. But it wasn't so easy as it had looked from the ground. The top part was almost sheer, without a decent hold until as far down as she was tall. And she couldn't just grab the rigging loops - they dangled an arm's length out of her safe reach.
"Is there anything to tie off of?" Jarid yelled.
She looked around a little desperately. "There's a rock, 'bout as far around as two men." She set her teeth - that was a conservative estimate - but surely she could rig it somehow.
She thought of telling him, again, that she should leave the rigging loops and just climb down without rope. But it had taken him and Ean a long time to weave even a foot of rigging. She couldn't begrudge them that because of her own cowardice. She smiled ruefully. Ean wouldn't listen if she did.
Jarid had circled around to the 'easy' side of the rock. "I'm coming up!" he called.
Her stomach went sour. Expert as he was with knots from his time hauling gear in the mines, Jarid didn't actually have much climbing experience. Safer for her to start down without a rope than for him to scramble up as far as he'd need to be to throw her more rigging, surely. Better she should fall than let him take her risks for her -
But he was already climbing.
She paced the top of the rock as the sun blazed down on her bare shoulders. Her mouth was already dry, and she'd brought up no water. Tempting as hell to get down on hands and knees and cup her hands in the pool of brackish rainwater that had collected in a hollow in the rock. But the sun was already going to make her sick enough by the time she was back on the ground. Curse this body and its pale, easily burned skin. For that matter, curse the fact that if she went toren and just flew down, it would be left stranded up here instead of shifting with her.
Where was Jarid? She couldn't lean far enough over the edge to see him.
She held herself back from calling out. Too late to order him to stop. Better not to interrupt him with her fear.
Too late to ask him to bring water.
There. His tousled head appeared over a crest of rock. Two thirds of the way up, there was a flat area broad enough to shelter a tree. He hauled himself over the lip and waved to her.
The last bit was the hard part. Crouched at the edge, she couldn't see a single good hold, just a wide, v-shaped crack between two rounded boulders.
"Wait there," she called.
"Why?" Jarid sounded resentful.
Because you're not as strong as you think you are. She pressed her hand against her forehead, trying to force the blur in her head to resolve into a correctly knotted rig that would loop around the big boulder and let her both lower herself safely down, and retrieve the rope afterwards.
"I need to think," she finally said.
Jarid sat sullenly down in the shade of the tree, no doubt with the knots already worked out in his own head, but knowing he couldn't explain them from where he was.
There! Pacing back around the puddle of rainwater, she spotted two bolts anchored side by side near one of the other edges. There must be a second climbing route, and - she did a quick mental estimate - if she anchored herself there, it would be safe to lower down over the other side and rescue the rigging loops.
As safe as her knots could be without Jarid watching over her shoulder to make sure they were twined right.
Then started the long process of unhooking herself and hauling up the entire rope until it lay in a loopy mass at her feet. She could remember only two knots, the twin-moons and the stopper knot. Twice she had to undo them all and start again. It hadn't been quite so clear to her growing up, when she rarely talked, just watched people make things from the fringes of a group and then went off to figure it out her own way afterward. But now that she had to live among people again, it was becoming clear that she was just stupid. Her mind couldn't keep up with people's instructions. It would be a significant disadvantage back home, running Teiranen, that she would have to become very good at hiding and minimizing. She hoped that the other toren would appreciate a strong, silent, earnest type.
"I'm going for the rigging loops!" she called, in case Jarid were still listening. Finally, her hands dusted with a fresh coat of chalk, lowered herself over the side on her own rig. The rope stretched and bounced and pulled taut.
Elation surged in her as she fumbled to get them unhooked. "Got them!"
She scrambled back onto the top of the cliff.
"I can come down now," she called to Jarid.
Silence.
Realization penetrated. She was blocking him out. He wanted to join her up here. And now that she'd found the second set of bolts, he could. She probed her reddening shoulders. Yes, worth it.
"Throw me your belay device," she said. "I think I can belay you up."
And so she lowered the rope down through the wide V for the last part of Jarid's climb. A few minutes later they stood together at the summit, the sun and the wind in their faces, and laughed at their stupidity in not bringing up any water.
* Feris and Kenyn, the griff boys from Teiranen, are now Jarid and Ean respectively.
"Don't yell at me!" he hollered back.
Daria stood at the top of the cliff, breathing hard, seething with frustration. When she tried to think about knots, her mind went empty. The rope still trailed off her climbing harness and back over the edge, a heavy reminder that if it were suddenly pulled, she would go tumbling down and smash her body open like an overripe fruit on the rocks below.
Curse her stupidity.
She couldn't think of the right words to explain this predicament, and even if she could, she couldn't shout them all the way down to Jarid* below.
Silence from the bottom of the cliff. He probably thought there was nothing more to say to her until she got done with her snit.
The rigging loops which had held her rope on the way up still hung below the lip of the cliff, out of her reach. They hadn't counted on this when they planned the climb. She was supposed to just reach over and grab them, unhook herself and climb down without a rope along the other, far easier route behind her. But it wasn't so easy as it had looked from the ground. The top part was almost sheer, without a decent hold until as far down as she was tall. And she couldn't just grab the rigging loops - they dangled an arm's length out of her safe reach.
"Is there anything to tie off of?" Jarid yelled.
She looked around a little desperately. "There's a rock, 'bout as far around as two men." She set her teeth - that was a conservative estimate - but surely she could rig it somehow.
She thought of telling him, again, that she should leave the rigging loops and just climb down without rope. But it had taken him and Ean a long time to weave even a foot of rigging. She couldn't begrudge them that because of her own cowardice. She smiled ruefully. Ean wouldn't listen if she did.
Jarid had circled around to the 'easy' side of the rock. "I'm coming up!" he called.
Her stomach went sour. Expert as he was with knots from his time hauling gear in the mines, Jarid didn't actually have much climbing experience. Safer for her to start down without a rope than for him to scramble up as far as he'd need to be to throw her more rigging, surely. Better she should fall than let him take her risks for her -
But he was already climbing.
She paced the top of the rock as the sun blazed down on her bare shoulders. Her mouth was already dry, and she'd brought up no water. Tempting as hell to get down on hands and knees and cup her hands in the pool of brackish rainwater that had collected in a hollow in the rock. But the sun was already going to make her sick enough by the time she was back on the ground. Curse this body and its pale, easily burned skin. For that matter, curse the fact that if she went toren and just flew down, it would be left stranded up here instead of shifting with her.
Where was Jarid? She couldn't lean far enough over the edge to see him.
She held herself back from calling out. Too late to order him to stop. Better not to interrupt him with her fear.
Too late to ask him to bring water.
There. His tousled head appeared over a crest of rock. Two thirds of the way up, there was a flat area broad enough to shelter a tree. He hauled himself over the lip and waved to her.
The last bit was the hard part. Crouched at the edge, she couldn't see a single good hold, just a wide, v-shaped crack between two rounded boulders.
"Wait there," she called.
"Why?" Jarid sounded resentful.
Because you're not as strong as you think you are. She pressed her hand against her forehead, trying to force the blur in her head to resolve into a correctly knotted rig that would loop around the big boulder and let her both lower herself safely down, and retrieve the rope afterwards.
"I need to think," she finally said.
Jarid sat sullenly down in the shade of the tree, no doubt with the knots already worked out in his own head, but knowing he couldn't explain them from where he was.
There! Pacing back around the puddle of rainwater, she spotted two bolts anchored side by side near one of the other edges. There must be a second climbing route, and - she did a quick mental estimate - if she anchored herself there, it would be safe to lower down over the other side and rescue the rigging loops.
As safe as her knots could be without Jarid watching over her shoulder to make sure they were twined right.
Then started the long process of unhooking herself and hauling up the entire rope until it lay in a loopy mass at her feet. She could remember only two knots, the twin-moons and the stopper knot. Twice she had to undo them all and start again. It hadn't been quite so clear to her growing up, when she rarely talked, just watched people make things from the fringes of a group and then went off to figure it out her own way afterward. But now that she had to live among people again, it was becoming clear that she was just stupid. Her mind couldn't keep up with people's instructions. It would be a significant disadvantage back home, running Teiranen, that she would have to become very good at hiding and minimizing. She hoped that the other toren would appreciate a strong, silent, earnest type.
"I'm going for the rigging loops!" she called, in case Jarid were still listening. Finally, her hands dusted with a fresh coat of chalk, lowered herself over the side on her own rig. The rope stretched and bounced and pulled taut.
Elation surged in her as she fumbled to get them unhooked. "Got them!"
She scrambled back onto the top of the cliff.
"I can come down now," she called to Jarid.
Silence.
Realization penetrated. She was blocking him out. He wanted to join her up here. And now that she'd found the second set of bolts, he could. She probed her reddening shoulders. Yes, worth it.
"Throw me your belay device," she said. "I think I can belay you up."
And so she lowered the rope down through the wide V for the last part of Jarid's climb. A few minutes later they stood together at the summit, the sun and the wind in their faces, and laughed at their stupidity in not bringing up any water.
* Feris and Kenyn, the griff boys from Teiranen, are now Jarid and Ean respectively.
