V5 Incline 9: Nin

"All quiet now, so up I go." I comment, finally sorted with arranging my bag in the most convenient of ways. Food and supplies are close to the top, my beak and mask are all tucked away. Not an eye in sight, and I am ready in this quiet spot of mountain. I saddle up, shrugging the immense bag about to get it comfortably placed.

I shake my claws, shaking for so many reasons I cannot even count. Approaching the mountain, I dig my claws into the mountain- I step back, surprise widening my eyes as I acknowledge such a strange truth that was once indisputable. I can't get my claws into the stone at all... This stone is so much tougher than all the other mountains I've been near as of late.

I do not know why at all, but I feel like I can only explain this one way. It's magic. It's the only valid answer at all that I can think of. However, giving it another go, I'm able to get a clean grip either way.

All the way up the mountain...?

My old ways for just forcing my claws into the rock is not going to work with this mountain. But I feel like I can find a rhythm. Yeah, I can. A smile fills out my lips, and I get going up the mountain. My nervousness turning into excitement with each heave and pull. Maybe because after all this time, I'm relieved to actually put any effort into something?

Yet, that is also a reason to be worried. If I need to put in effort, how long until it becomes too much effort? I'm not climbing a straight line here. I'm going all the way around the road of the mountain, too. Minding the spiral-trains and the airships and all that. This is an exceptionally huge mountain, and I can't exactly stop on the climb to rest without some tremendous luck.

There's no way I can do this in a single go...

"My love! My love! Where are you!?" I barely hear from below, one claw slipping as a result. My feet almost slip, but I keep my dominant grip where I need it. A heavy pant comes out my mouth, a frown weighing down upon my face as I catch sight of Rose's headlights. Brightly shining down below.

Irritation makes my eyes twitch, and I bound away, the drop a safe enough distance for what it is, "Why aren't you with the others...?"

My words are seemingly muddled in the crash against the earth. I approach her, her body not showing any signs of shaken nerves at all. Literally or the scared kind. Yet, as I approach her, I feel like turning around... Huh, the ground's not that warped and destroyed, if at all. That's new. There's even a throbbing in my legs.

"I told you, remember? I was going to go up with you!" she insists, leaving me confused. Her smile does not waver, only becoming more visible as her lights dim.

"And I told you to stay with the others!" I go with, not willing to think about the games of Who Said, I Said.

"I am not leaving you on your own!" she repeats all but literally, coming up and holding my claws tightly. She looks me right in the eye, hers not moving away at all. She has no pupils or iris' like I do, but I can still tell she's staring right into my soul. Still... I'm in no mood for her antics. She's here, and I will now bow to her under this circumstance. It's too dangerous for me alone, nevermind her.

"Go back, Rose, let me get up there, and we will see each other then. You can spend all the time you want with me when we get up there and meet back up." I tell her, putting in as much effort as I can with this plea to her. To try and get her to go back to the other two. I can't have her dragging me down, and I will not be responsible for her safety given the circumstances... Not a situation like this.

"No," she verbally stomps, her grip not leaving mine.

"Why not...?" I question, a pain striking across my mind.

"Because I will stay with you, my love... Besides, I gave my bag to the others." she tells me, her expression turning sheepish as she anchors herself on that idea. She thinks I won't tell her to go back because she doesn't have any money, supplies or...

"You idiot... You invite Undwote to us. He will not be as convenient as he was before..." I say, the first part louder than the latter half. Still, it doesn't nothing to dissuade her. She holds onto me with unceasing firmness.

"I invite Oungicorcer so that he may bless you with strength I will invoke from you!" she says proudly, her bulbs flashing with can only be the brightest prayer in history.

"The God of Mountains!? I don't see how he will help me climb one of his creations." I go, recalling the god's title even though I forgot the opposite not that long ago. Eugh, fickle memory.

"Even the slightest help from the divine will make you stronger." she nearly whispers, coming up close and hugging me tightly. Her warmth nothing close to manipulative.

"You came all this way to help me get stronger...? You idiot! We are going to a place for that! I don't need you risking your life to do it!" I struggle to get out, unable to comprehend why she's made such a stupid decision as coming here.

"It's not a case of need, I *want* to." she tells me, relinquishing her hug so she can step back. A timid innocence to her as she keeps her arms behind her back. Chest shaking back and forth without the usual lustful intention. No ill-will at all in that smile of hers.

A long sigh is all I can manage. A long sigh that just keeps ongoing on and on before I'm left shaking my head even more so. The motions become smaller and quicker. Like a coin coming to a stop on its roll.

"Fine... Fine..." I try to say, breaking off into one final sigh as I drop down. The bag coming right off so I can open it up. There's room inside, she'll have to go in here.

"You can't be serious..." Rose lets out in that high and mighty tone of hers. My eyes snap into a narrow angle, my patience apparently still not quite broken.

"Get in." I growl, and with that said, I'm waiting for her to get in.

"What am I going to do in here?" Rose asks, already bored of her multitude of entertainment options. Like counting how many minutes she's not falling to her death. Or reading the labels of cans and the prayers on her plethora of underwear. I strap the bag on, shaking her about as a smile forms, one that's ever so slightly sadistic.

"Yes, now, make sure you are warm and that you have had a full meal before because we are not taking the leisurely route." I tell her, putting my claws as into the mountain as I can once again. My anger finds a new purpose, and I find myself able to drive them in slightly. Like bolts into the steel plates of a building at its foundations. I can feel my carapace scratch, but it will hold.

We climb, my lost time quickly being made up as I try to circumvent what I can while the rocks are large and jagged.

"You know, my love, it is nice to have you back to myself as we travel. Just like the old times." she tells me, her head sticking out of the bag to provide some light. Though, I really hope she's careful given how distinct the colour of those bulbs really is. It's not moonlight by any stretch.

"We have spent more days travelling as a group of four than I ever did with you, and even then it was not that long ago!" I can't help but snap, patting the area above and ahead.

Too much testing potential areas to climb up along now. But, as my mind had mentioned that, the idea of 'long ago.' I can't help but think of that climbing race I had with Vadei. And it only brings a small smile of comfort to my face. Though I am more of a monster now than I was then, there're no spongy sensations as I go up and up.

"I still miss it..." she whines and mumbles from her bag.

"Can't say I share the same sentiment." I mutter under my breath, the crack of the rocks not enough to hide my voice from her lengthy ears. The bag shuffles about and I know full well she's peeking out a lot more than before.

Yet, my mind lingers on something else. What happened when I travelled with just her. It was so close to when I had just turned, and even that is not that long ago, technically. The way she treated me back then, however, she acted so very differently to how she does now. I know it's been through my mind before, this apprehension she has with being around an osibindah. But she's clearly growing more tolerable to my current form.

And yet... I know she still reacts badly around me. She might've put on that whole show down below. But she's never going to get over what I am, I fell. I need to learn to stop being bothered by it. Even if it is easier said than done...

"Why not? I was there for you, and you were there for me. You saved me, and I was grateful. You began your journey into being a skilled witch. A lot of good happened in our travel time together, my love," she argues, her hand gently stroking at my head in a way that's more lethally distracting than affectionate.

"Yes, but at the same time. And I sincerely mean no offence. But since I have met you, I have nearly murdered someone, I myself have literally died, I got turned into a monster and I was chased out of town. I was shot at and nearly died again..." I explain, not particularly fond of recalling those memories that scar my carapace to this very night. What healing I have managed to get in might've fixed the seriousness of my wounds. But it hasn't erased them entirely.

Not yet.

"I understand those bother you, my love, but none of them are tied to me explicitly. I was just there for the events," she correctly points out, her caressing hand becoming all the more normal feeling as I climb. I blink at the sensation, not quite sure what to make of it as my ears refuse to ignore the rock and their crumbling cracks.

"I know, but sometimes it just feels like you are a bad luck charm." I mutter, hearing nothing but laughter from her.

"Now that's just made-up nonsense!" she finishes laughing out, a smile coming to my face as her laughter bursts right back into existence. I suppose it's true. The bad luck charm was accepting Iishar's offer to begin with. Ignore it and I would not be here at all, none of this would be on my mind at all.

"Then let's see if you bring me any good luck up this mountain." I quip, minding a few rocks as they seem almost determined to test that theory. Certainly not about the good kind of luck, either.

"I can't say for certain if I do, but I bring convenience!" she insists, her choice of words immediately sprouting a tree of Questioning Ash. Or, maybe it's an Inquisitive Oak?

"And what convenience is that?" I ask, it clearly an Asking Willow.

"I can pass you snacks and compliment you with spirit-raising love as you climb!" she cheerfully exclaims from her comfortable den in the bag. I find an excuse to stop, turning as much as I can as I hear her rummage about it. A piece of dried meat comes out first, her hand picking up the grease with each second it stays in her palm.

"Uh, thank you." I say, letting her securely put the meat into my awkward mouth. It lingers in my mouth, bobbing up and down as I can't really chew like this. Not this high up the mountain and not without a plate to catch it if it falls. Nevermind the worries that I might enter a coughing fit and unfortunately lose all the meat.

"So, how much distance are you hoping to cover anyway?" she yawns out, seemingly finding a comfortable spot to slink into. I don't think I put her clothes that high up in the bag, anyhow.

"Three days they said was how long the road would take, didn't they?" I question, thinking about the talk we had while rearranging our baggage.

"Yeah..." Rose goes, her fresh yawn muffled by the flap of the bag.

"Well, including this night with the coming day, I am hoping for at least half the distance to be done." I let out, having no actual idea how long this is going to be or how fast I'm actually going. There's no point in looking down, even with how much I want to. Just keep my head up and keep on heading the same way.

"Good luck..." Rose mutters, seemingly falling asleep.

"Going to need more than luck at this rate." I say, turning away to look at an aircraft that lingering a fair area away on our right. It's not near us by any means, however, if this is a guard vehicle, it might spell some issues. Those lights on the front end don't look like they're there for the sake of seeing where they're going. Yet, being aware of one machine only makes me all too aware of the others.

There are noises above me, noises that all but seem to make it clear we're approaching the first part of the road. Hm... Hm... Hmmmmmmmmm.

So, how am I going to get around it? I have the option of leaping if the distance is low enough, but I can easily get caught like that. Be it people or guards, and, ironically enough, the ones without guns would be more dangerous to be spotted by. One person sees me, and they'll be screaming bloody murder.

I really am just going to have to follow the road up rather going in a straight line? By all the gods above, this is going to get complicated. If I kept the mask and hat on, I might've been able to slip into the crowd. Sneak off into a quiet spot covered by trees and climb again. Reality is not my fantasy, however. My hat and mask are off and all these lovely and hideous bug features of mine are exposed for the whole world to see.

Firmly nighttime or not... It doesn't sound like the road is getting quieter. Too many machines shining lots of light, after all. Don't need that much light if the road is lightly packed.

"Maybe if I timed a leap with the passing of one of these vehicles...?" I ask myself more so to break up the monotony of the climb. The underbelly of the road feels awfully close even if it sounds no different than what it was like at the bottom of the mountain. There's no reason to be surprised at all, this is a capital city, no?

One built all the way up on top of a massive mountain. With so few ways in, they're always going to be crowded. Well, either way, I still need a way to get past it all so I can't really linger and hope for the best. Though pondering is certainly a good enough reason.

My head turns towards the bag, and I wonder. Though this bag has handled a lot of stress in the past, I know full well that a history of handling stress is not entirely forthcoming. A snap can happen at the worst of times. Even people, who are living, healthy things at the best of times, can break in the most abrupt of manners.

And if this bag snaps, then... There goes me and Rose with how high we already are.

I'm not exactly able to grab the bag if it does snap. I don't know... I just need to have faith in the idea it will hold. It has held thus far and this bag has shown itself to be a capable thing. It survived a sadroobell's claws after all. Nevermind the jaw if that ever went near it.

My mouth clicks, and I gulp down the flavourless meat still lingering in my mouth. I'm on the move again. All the way up for a real quick peek... A very lucky peek, actually.

"Huh, a checkpoint." I mutter, eyeing how the traffic is cut off like a surgeon's grip on a vein. Quite soon from the last load of people here, actually...

I move on with the plan to skip ahead, and I rush up. Running right on past the extensive building and its one-way fortifications to get back out of sight. I latch onto the mountain and climb with the same ferocity, narrowly missing a pair of airships on a rotational patrol of some kind.

"Geeehehehehehe!" I can't help but wheeze as my heart clenches itself out of paranoia. Another gulp of worry fills out my throat, choking me, and I cough. The insufferable plethora of noise drowning out anything I could possibly do as I stay within the shadows. All lucky and safe.

Up and up and up and no looking back down at all!