Closed An Arrow Please.

[Leaf]

"A waste of time, huh? We will see. Maybe the Dek can scoop you off the ground when we are done." Leaf shot at Niro with a quick, pointed glare before turning it on the woman. It was easy to look down at her. She didn't have the passion and fire most of the other Inarta possessed. Even this vagik of a hunter, Niro, had a good chance of earning Leaf's respect, although it wouldn't be given easily. "Let's go then," he said to the two Inarta. He looked at the nearby Dek. "Keep an eye on our ranges, Dek." He glowered at the woman that had waited on them for the past little while. The poor woman nodded mutely and wrung her hands. Leaf turned away from her and missed the hard glare she returned to him. Looking again at the Inarta to see if they had chickened out or not, Leaf led the way out of the Second Quiver and up through the inner warrens, past other men and women that looked on the serious-faced Kelvic and his companions with curiousity. Leaf didn't look back to see if they were following or not. He wouldn't let them live it down if they chickened out now. Although, he kind of hoped they would. Leaf wasn't one for climbing. Flying was one thing, but he had never before needed to climb anything other than some trees and then they weren't exactly life threatening unless he fell face first. He didn't want to lose face however after making the challenge and didn't offer alternatives to it. This was do or don't. It would prove his mettle in the days to come. Finally, they came to the Edge of the World. The sky opened up all around them, clear and dazzling in its splendour. Birds wheeled about overhead, hunting and flirting, and it wasn't hard for his eyes to see an Inarta upon the back of a particularly large eagle. It figured there would be a watch rider over the city. He came to stand at the very edge and peer down the steep cliff riddled with hand holds and foot holds. There were others on the cliffs today making their way down laboriously and clinging for their loves to the cliff wall. Leaf felt a sense of impending regret building in his gut as he looked at the long drop before him. This was going to be fun.

[Niro]

"Where's your spirit, woman? How boring. I bet you're not even a good petch," he stated, grinning wickedly all the while. She was nice enough on the eyes, but gods she'd already made herself annoying. Refusing a Dek's service. Whining about a little bit of noise. "Yes. A waste of time." He turned to follow Leaf. At least this guy had the intensity to do something about an annoyance. Whining. Whining. Whining. Gods it got under his skin. There were too many of these better than you Inarta running around. Niro was better than them all, so something had to be done. For the moment, he was pleased with Leaf's challenge. He could shut her up. Shut him up. And get back to dominating everyone with his bow. It's good to be me. As they arrived at the location of their challenge, Niro's eyes widened as he realized just what he'd gotten himself into. There was no turning back now, but if there was, the arrogant Inarta would have excused himself instantly. What a horrible mistake. Stupid. Stupid. Stupid. This was the day that Niro would die, it seemed. Falling, falling, falling, until everything went black. Curse my pride. He knew it would be his downfall some day, but not at the hands of a cliff. Niro always figured he'd die destroying some great evil, save all of the Inarta. Save Wind Reach. Be remembered for ever as the greatest hero the city had ever seen. Instead, he'd be a mess at the bottom of what may as well be an endless drop. How depressing. There were plenty of others on the cliff side, scaling down expertly like it was of second nature to them. It wasn't even third or fourth for Niro. He gulped, inching ever so slightly closer to the edge. Was this really how it would end? Goaded into dropping an eternity into nothingness? I hope I'm reborn as something big enough to eat these two. "S-so. Ladies first?" He, of course, motioned to Leaf. There was no other way to go about it. "Your idea after all," he muttered, crossing his arms and looking away. "So stupid. Climbing. What the petch?" Three residents of Wind Reach would breath their last this day, or so he believed.

[Saori Mithi]

[Leaf]

Leaf's heart was sinking in his chest as he realised his stupidity in challenging two people to something he didn't even know how to do. He wasn't afraid of heights or even petrified by the drop, no. He had made dives in his bird form along this wall many times, exhilarated by the sheer drop and the experience of shooting to certain death only to change direction and fly away to safety. No, it was having to do the climb as his human self and use muscles he never really had use for in everyday life. He was climbing, not flying. This was the day he would die, the beginning of the end. At least he'd take down the bothersome boy with him, and that annoying girl. "Fine, let's do this, woman." Leaf shot right back at the other male. He was cut short by the actual woman going first but didn't let that stop him forong, quickly following suit and sitting at the edge of the cliff before lowering himself down and catching his toe in a pretty stable foothold. It had begun. His descent began cautiously. One foot at a time, followed by a single hand and then the other foot, feeli.g for purchase in the stone. His heart hammered frightfully at his chest, very uncomfortable and distracting in normal situations, but he couldn't allow it to effect him now. He absolutely could not let himself be distracted. He had to win and not die doing it. His fingers were getting sweaty eleven ticks into the climb, making them slick and gripping the rocks difficult. He wiped one hand against his shirt and then the other, exchanging them for gripping the surface of the wall tightly while he did so and trying not to show any fear in the face of death. Those brat Avora could be looking. He took a few deep breaths to reassure himself of his safety and continued again, going even slower than before. He tried to pay it no attention though, tried to just go hand by hand and live in the moment and not think that a wrong move would send him to becoming a puddle on the ground.

[Phoenix]

Niro

Award

Skill	XP Earned
Weapon (Bow)	3
Intimidation	2
Dancing	1
Brawling	1

•	Lores Earned
•	Sizing up the competition
•	Archery: Bulls-eye!
•	Showboating
•	No bite to backup the bark

Saori Mithi

Award

Skill	XP Earned
Weapon (Bow)	2
Climbing	2
Intimidation	1

•	Lores Earned
•	Archery: Loss of focus equals bad aim
•	Better than the Boys
•	Taking up Leafs challenge

The Order of the Phoenix

I wish this thread could have continued! Great job either way, I love the back-and-forth between all the PC's involved
If you have any questions or concerns regarding your grade, please send me a PM and we can figure it out.