Completed Fallen from Grace (Matthew)

[Sagitta]

Sagitta wasn't exactly surprised when Matthew had admitted right away that he didn't know about survival. Not that he didn't seem capable - he just seemed as concerned for their situation as she was. When he tried to rephrase his statement, she couldn't help finding the effort pleasant. And the fact that he seemed embarrassed by it was actually funny. It didn't do much but she was thankful for it. She looked at the man who had risked his life to save hers. It was sort of stupid, if she had to be honest, but it was endearing still. "I'm sorry I got you here. If you didn't help me, you'll probably be relaxing somewhere by the beach or something." Even as she said it, she was actually thankful that he was here. If she was tossed here by the ocean, alone, she wasn't sure what she would do. She wasn't even sure she could survive the swim. He still held her hand as they started walking - or what passed as walking anyway - and she was actually relieved that he didn't drop her hand. A part of her worried that she might actually stumble and fall face first on the ground. "I guess, you're right," she said, trying her best not to sound lame. She could see his effort in reassuring her. The look in his eyes told her that he wasn't so convinced, but she tried not to think about it. She wasn't a pessimistic person and she was determined to see the bright side of it all. For one, they actually made it out alive. Drowning was a real possibility considering that neither knew how to swim. But they didn't That should mean luck was on their side, right? The girl stared back at the calm blue sea. As far as she could see, there was nothing insight. No boats, no land, nothing. Just the great expanse of water. Sagitta loathed the idea of trudging through the wilderness with only a pair of shorts on her, but something told her that they had no choice. Staying here doing nothing wasn't such a great idea either. They would need water and soon. "I think we should try to go to the cave. I mean, we can't really rely on the chances that a boat might come passing." At the same time, she wondered what might await them in the forest. There certainly would be animals and what would happen if one tried to attack them? Sagitta should probably stop thinking about it. It only heightened her sense of panic. Not helping at all. Pressing her lips together, Sagitta tried to smile at him. "Again, thank you for saving me."

[Matthew]

Another wave of his hand dismissed her apology, blue eyes skirting the cliff face with some actual focus this time. If they were to get out of here, they were going to have to climb that thing, or at least walk down the beach until they were lucky enough to stumble upon some path up. However, he remembered some geography from his studies in Zeltiva, and he did remember that most of the Syliria coast consisted of cliff edges. They were lucky to find one that wasn't that steep, nor did it look that sheer. This would probably be their best chance for now, and he didn't wish to waste any time finding a path that might not even exist. "Don't mention it. If I didn't help you, you very well may have washed ashore in one piece, and near civilization." He offered her a small smile, eyes still distracted by the cliff. If they both climbed it and took their time, it shouldn't be that hard... should it? There looked to be plenty of hand-holds, and he was in good enough shape. He could feel strength returning to him by the second as the sun beat down on his skin. What about the girl? He turned a critical eye to her, glancing her up and down. She looked to be in decent shape as well, and was only as beaten and bruised as him.

Making up his mind, he started towards it, fingers lightly tugging on hers. Hearing her opinion on the matter, he glanced back, raising an eyebrow. "Climb the cliff face near the cave, or go into the cave and hope it leads above ground?"

He stopped in front of the small cave opening, peering inside to the darkness. Shaking his head, he turned back to her, chewing his lip. "Too dark. Up the cliff face, then. If we can. Are you confident in your climbing skills? Do you feel better? Good enough to actually give it a shot? You can go first, and I will come up behind you. If you fall, I might actually be able to catch you, while me falling onto you would just end badly for the both of us." He reached up with his free hand, touching it to the stone. It wasn't slick at all, and was fairly cool to the touch. The sun hadn't made it to a spot where it would shine on the cliff just yet, leaving it fairly decent for the climbing.

Hearing her thanks again, he nodded with another small smile. "You are quite polite. No need to thank me. Like I said, I haven't really saved you yet. Hopefully I can call myself a hero after this, but until then..." He paused, face going blank, then a slightly repulsed look spreading across his face. "Hero. I don't like that word. It sounds too straight and narrow." He didn't explain his random outburst, merely turning back to the cliff wall again. "After you, Topless."

Ah, a nickname. What a cute one. His face was a stone statue, nothing betraying his amusement at her shame besides the twinkle in his eye.

[Sagitta]

Earlier, Sagitta had hoped that it was possible for them to travel through the cave. She couldn’t be sure if her muscles would be able to take it if they were to scale the cliff. But even before Matthew said, she knew it would be impossible for them to navigate their way through the cave. The darkness was so thick that she couldn’t help wondering if something was hidden in it. The thought sent a shiver down her spine. “Climbing, huh?” Sagitta said dreamily, half-taken by the flashes of memories. On the idea of doing something so familiar to her mortal body, Arivia took over mind, the two person molding perfectly into one. Yes, she could do it. A nervous twist settled in her stomach. She was not used to climbing cliffs with no equipment at all. She had done it before – it was one of the basics of climbing – but she wasn’t sure she was good at it. Her body was used to scaling buildings, not cliffs. It shouldn’t be too hard, right? They had a lot of time to climb, so there’s no rush while she was used to scale with haste for her job. “Can you climb?” “Straight and narrow? I thought every man wanted to be a hero,” she commented lightly. At his last remark, Sagitta rolled her eyes and shoved him away lightly. “Haha, very funny, Shameless.” Despite her oh-so-witty comeback, she was still flustered, suddenly reminded again by her current state. Somehow, she would need to find something, anything to cover her upper body or she would be blushing the whole time. She still find it odd that he didn’t seem to be disturbed by it, not even the slightest. Taking a deep breath, Sagitta pulled her hand away from Matthew and stepped closer to the cliff. “I’ll try it.” Her hands ran over the surface, trying to find a firm hold. The gesture was so easy, so natural that she was convinced she had done this a lot. She eyes the top, wondering how long it would take to get there and whether it would even out as they got higher. She hoped not. It would make things much more complicated. Usually, she would use ropes and grappling hooks but she was sure she could scale this cliff. Not easily, though. It was not that high or steep and it seemed doable. She might be wrong and she might be overconfident, but what choice did they have really? “Let’s just pray that I won’t hurtle down to my death.” With that, she dug her fingers into a crack while her other hand searched for a higher hold and did the same with her feet. With a grunt she hoisted her body up, pressing her toes against the uneven surface. With no shoes, this would be tricky. Slowly, Sagitta made her way up, hesitating only to look down at her companion.

[Matthew]

Her question on if he could climb went completely unanswered, and purposefully so. No, he could not climb. He was in excellent shape and hoped that would help his poor muscles make the ascent, but he had never ever tried anything like this before. Even as a young boy, he had been deprived of scaling any tree branches, and had been too scared of the resulting punishment if he were to try and get caught. But, what other choice did he have? The best and safest way was up the cliff wall, and it was only a dozen or so feet at best. If he fell, since soft sand was underneath him, he doubted he would hurt himself that badly. Instead, he moved right along to her next comment, opening his mouth only to get interrupted by her shove. The resulting wobble made it look as if he was going to fall right over from her light push, but he kept his feet about him, straightening fairly quickly. Shameless, had she said? He shook his head, trying to keep the mood light, sharing with her a small little self-named title he had rarely shared with anyone. "King of Harlots, thank you." Her upper body still recieved no attention from him. He seemed to avoid even glancing in it's direction with complete and utter ease. It was his profession. It was almost a bad thing. The wonders of the female body had long since been lost on him. How would his future wife feel about that, he wondered? Would he even be one to get married?

Sagitta started up the cliff, and he quietly watched her go. Sucking in the smallest of breaths, he willed just a tiny trickle of Djed to his eyes, using the magic for only a second. Her Aura shone for him, briefly flickering in his gaze to reveal a few small aspects of her to him. She was tired and aching, but the stress of climbing the cliff face didn't seem to be turning her helpless quite yet. She was ashamed, as well. Probably her lack of clothing. He smacked his lips for a quick second, swallowing the taste of the sensations, never getting used to the fact that Aura's could 'taste'. He wasn't even close enough to get a mouthful of them.

She was high enough to give him room, and he followed. His long and graceful fingers found nooks and crannies in the cliff face, and he quickly clung onto them, pressing his battered body to the cold stone. He held on for dear life, bare feet and hands slowly and carefully finding secure handholds and footholds to use. He constantly found himself holding his breath as he inched higher, forcing himself to start breathing the moment he realized it. He was scared, though he wouldn't admit it. His face might betray it, though.

At one point, his foot slipped, and he felt his breath catch and a soft noise escape from his mouth. His foot desperately scrambled around, cutting itself a little on the jagged rock, but soon finding another toehold to support his weight with. He breathed out, heavily, the air ragged in his lungs. Sagitta glanced back down at him, and he gave her a shaky smile, trying to look as calm as possible. He answered her earlier comment, recalling that he had never got his response out. "Some men do want to be heroes. However, that isn't my type of thing. I am not as much of a hero, as just a man who wants to live life the way I want to live it. Not as any title, such as 'hero'. The only title I'll really accept is the one I told you before." He offered a wider smile, which only helped it shake a bit more.

[Sagitta]

She tried not to think about it too much as she climbed gingerly. Sagitta found herself moving automatically. Occasionally, she would lose a handhold or a foothold, letting the gravity take her before finding another place so support her weight. It was painful work. One leg up. Reach out. Hold on. Other leg up. Reach out. Hold on. It went like that again and again, interrupted only by slips. Her body screamed at the exertion, sweat quickly covered her under the sun – it must’ve been a summer day. There was a gentle ocean breeze, whipping her blonde hair lightly. The top wasn’t too far, but it felt like it was. Matthew’s gasp had nearly made her jump. It was so quiet that that single breath was enough to send her heart pounding. She looked down carefully, tightening her grip on the handhold. A part of her expected him to be sprawled on the ground. Thankfully, that wasn’t the case. She couldn’t see much of him but she could tell that he had gotten himself a steady position. Then, he had started talking about her earlier question. He was probably trying to distract himself or something. “You alright?” she called out. Sagitta kept moving still. Perching on a cliff would do them no good and the faster they get to the top the better. Her legs had started to feel uncomfortable, her muscles starting to ache at the weigh she placed there. The girl couldn’t depend on her arms to hold her up for it was much weaker. She took a few seconds of break every time she moved up, readying her limbs for the next climb. They were lucky that it was not a hard climb. If it was any harder, Sagitta doubted she would be able to scale it. This was hard enough for her. Her body was scraped raw by the cliff, but she was forced to keep her body against it as she moved. Gods knew how long they’ve been there but finally, her hands reached the top of the cliff. A cry of relief escaped her lips. Alright, what she had to do next wouldn’t be easy. She would need to reach the edge, grab a hold and let herself up by arm-strength alone. Carefully, she shifted her position, searching out for a better place to reach the edge. Alright, you can do this. Swallowing her fear down, Sagitta dug her fingers on the rough surface – she was sure that after this, she would find her fingers torn bloody. She brought her right leg up – the stronger of the two. Then, she shifted her weight, her arms taking on as much as it could while her legs tried to push her up. That didn’t work out so well. Instead of getting up, her grip faltered causing her to slide lower, her bare torso scratching against the rocky planet. A cry slipped from her lips. Her heart pounded frantically, her breathing coming in out in short bursts. Her fingers tightened on whatever it could hold on to. After calming herself for a few seconds, she cleared her head, realizing that she was probably not up to the task. “I . . . I don’t think I can pull myself up,” she said helplessly, shakily. During normal circumstances, Sagitta might actually have a chance to hoist her body up. It shouldn’t have been too hard. But considering that she had been wading through the sea for bells, her arms couldn’t take it.

[Matthew]

Oddly, even with all his fears about the climb, he found himself unable to doubt that he would make it to the top. The slow and painful climb allowed him a bit of self-reflection, and oddly enough, to found himself questioning his confidence. What was it inside of him that remained optimistic even in times such as this? Both him and the girl had no clue what they were doing, were beaten and battered, and had no sure way of telling if they would even find enough handholds to get themselves to the top. Somewhere inside of him though, he could feel this steely core of simple belief in himself. It was being assaulted by fear, but it held strong. Somewhere inside of the fear, he could also taste delight. He enjoyed the fear? He doubted it. He wasn't one of those cool and calm adventurers who danced with fear like it was a lover. He was a coward deep inside, he was quite sure. He was okay with this, though. As long as his faith in himself took the form of a iron pillar in his stomach, and the fear remained just an annoyingly persistant tease... the faith should win out every time.

"Yes, fine." He answered her question shortly, finding it harder and harder to talk as time went on. It took a considerable amount of strength to slowly lift himself up the tiny crevices that invited his grip, and his breath was already coming sort. By the time he realized his lungs were working overtime, it was too late, and they were halfway up the earthen obstacle. He had to conserve air for his aching lungs, and keep his breathing as normal and steady as possible. Words would not aid him in that.

Time passed, and he focused on his breathing. He focused on the in and out, the feeling of it swirling through his body. His motions became almost automated, feeling desperately around for the nearest handhold, and letting lose a small sigh of relief when he found it. Even if they were small and cut into his fingers, he still praised some deity somewhere for their existence. Luck would have it that they had found a cliff they could scale, and all seemed like it was going to be well. Even with his fingers and toes bleeding, he was sure he could keep this pace up for at least several dozen minutes more. If they truly were put into a desperate situation, he was sure they could find more comfortable handholds to briefly rest on.

Then, Sagitta paused, causing him to come to a stop as well. Her words came out, shaky and unsure, and he felt something inside of him shudder just a bit. He quickly grabbed onto whatever was shaking inside of him, holding it, clamping imaginary hands around it to hold it solid. It was probably his faith. If that was lost, he would be lost. He gave no more thought to it, and instead focused on getting them out of this. He could go around her perhaps, and then maybe help pull her up. Or, he could try and be a sturdy foothold for her, and let her push off of him to get up onto the ledge. He had no idea which would be better, even when he put all of his logical prowess to work. He knew nothing about climbing. Checking to make sure he was still breathing steadily, he put his mind to it again, thoughts swirling around in a variety of ideas and theories.

Somewhere in the middle of all that, he noticed she had slipped a bit. He hadn't seen this earlier. She was barely holding on. He didn't really have any more time to think.

He moved sideways, skirting under her and then alongside her. Swirling magic inside of his stomach, the all-too-familar taste of his most intimate art, he glanced over to her and willed a single idea in her direction. [i]I can hold on just a bit longer. Just a bit longer. He tried to look reassuring, not giving her the direct thought, just the feeling. He didn't want her to know he had done anything to help her out, though his expressive eyes screamed for her to hold on anyways. The moment was quick and fleeting, and then he was grabbing the edge of the cliff. He didn't have the strength to get up either, but he didn't acknowledge that. He hooked the edges of the cliff with his bleeding fingers, and whispered under his breath, teasing a bit of Hypnotic suggestion into his words. He aimed to force thoughts into his own head, to boost his own confidence. His faith. He mumbled to himself, voice a tad desperate, laced with his magic. "You can do it. You can do it. Do it. Do it. Do it. Doitdoitdoit."

With a groan, his muscles creaking, he forced himself up onto the edge of the cliff, his mind eventually overpowering his body. Crimson-stained fingers immediately dropped over the edge of the cliff, long arms offered to Sagitta, giving her something to hold while he was still under the impression he had some sort of strength left. "Grab on. Push with your feet. I'll pull." His voice was raspy and deep, his eyes locked onto hers. No longer did they ask her to hold on, but now, they almost aggressively demanded that she obey. The minute she got a good hold, he would pull as much as he could, even when flat on his belly.

[Sagitta]

At that moment, when her grip had loosened, Sagitta wondered what would happen to her if she fell. The cliff itself wasn’t high, but she was definitely sure that it wouldn’t be pleasant. A shot of fear nearly clouded all of her senses, a fear she had felt before. She couldn’t die. Not again. The rational side of her knew that it was no going to happen. Even if she did plummet towards the ground, her body would know how to break the fall properly. She had done it countless times – leaping off a building, landing perfectly in a roll before jumping back into a run. It would be alright. Still, the dread would not go away. She squeezed her eyes shut as she tried to control her breathing. Getting hysterical would lead her to nowhere. Everything would be fine. She could do this. She had done harder things than scaling a cliff. And this was also not the first dire situation she had encountered. The burst of confidence had come out of nowhere. It calmed her down for the moment, letting her collect her thoughts. The girl barely even realized that Matthew had reached the top until the moment he called out to her. She looked up, her eyes locking on his. He looked bad. Pale and wasted, yet his hands still reached out for her. For a moment, she hesitated. If she did grab onto him and it was not enough to pull her up, things would be bad. It was safer for her to fall on her own rather than pulling the man along. Maybe she could ask him to leave and just wait out on the beach. There was no way she could know if he would bother to help her after that, but at least, no one would end up hurt or dead. Unfortunately, her subconscious had made the decision for her. When her right foothold crumbled, she screamed and reflexively grabbed Matthew’s outstretch hand. Her other hand searched frantically for another hold, but she was too panicked to do it right. That means she needed to reach the edge. Sagitta prayed to Leth or any god who would help for that matter, that Matthew still had the strength to hold her at least a bit longer. Using his arm, she propelled her body higher, grabbing the ledge. Her feet were planted shakily on the cliff face, ready to give her the extra boost. With a cry, she hoisted her body up with the help of Matthew’s power. For some reason, they cry helped, giving her a short burst of strength she had desperately needed. Her muscles protested painfully, having to reach its limit, but she ignored it the best that she could. Sagitta couldn’t really remember what happened next, she barely thought about it. Her limbs scrambled as she hauled herself up, practically throwing herself to the top. Her body crashed into Matthew and she let out a weak whimper. She was up. She was at the top. They had somehow done it. She was left drained of any strength and will to move, but she couldn’t care less. Not for the moment. Her heart hammered against her chest, her whole body was aching both from inside and outside. But she had succeeded. They had succeeded. Her mind could scarcely believe it. Yet, there she was. “This is insane,” she said softly, not to anyone in particular.

[Matthew]

Yahal, she was heavy. That, or he was weak. His eyes bulged as she grabbed on, and he felt his body tighten against the ground he was laying on. He was thankful he had anchored himself in this way, instead of trying to kneel over the edge of something. Her grip would have pulled him right over. He struggled and strained, and somewhere or another, she managed to find the burst of energy needed to yank herself those last couple of feet. He groaned as she crashed into him, causing aches and pains in places he didn't know could hurt. He rolled away from her, flopping onto his back, staring up at the bright sky as he took a moment to catch his breath. After a few seconds of silence, he heard her voice whisper out, and he couldn't help but chortle a little bit. "Look at us. Banged, cut, and bruised. And we just made a, what, 12 foot climb? I can't figure out if we should be impressed at our survival skills, or horrified that we have only made it a little ways from shore and are almost completely beaten up." He chuckled some more, the movement sending some pained jolts through his worn body.

His chuckles dying off into pained groans, he tried to re-orient himself on their current status. They had beaten themselves up a little more, but all in all, they seemed okay. This was just an intense work-out, perhaps. He wiped his bloodied fingertips on his underpants, trying to keep the torn skin a little clean, the action sending little sparks of pain through his hands. He clenched and un-clenched the fists, trying his very best to ignore the annoying pain. They weren't useless, though he doubt he would be doing any particularly precise actions with his fingers. That would be a pity, in his line of work. He would have to quickly get them looked at.

After a few minutes of simply laying on the ground to catch his breath and let his muscles regain some strength, he slowly sat himself up, staring around. Forest surrounded them, causing him to wonder if he was in the Bronze Wood. He tried to remember the maps he had studied in University, but couldn't manage to bring the images to mind. He wasn't sure if it would help anyways. There were a ton of trees in the Syliria wildlands, and thinking that this was the Bronze Wood would probably only send him in the completely wrong direction. But, if he recalled, there was a road... the Kabrin Road. But where was that?

He let out a sound of frustration, staggering to his feet, swaying a bit. His lithe body uncurled, muscles working overtime, flexing and twitching to frantically aid in his movement. This was insane. He couldn't believe how helpless they were in this sort of situation, and how hard of a time they were having. They hadn't even had to deal with anything but the natural elements so far. This is why he stuck to the city. This is why the walls of Syliras were so petching handy. Mumbling over and over to himself, he turned to Sagitta, checking on her recovery. If she was ready, he would awkwardly crook his arm at the elbow and squat a bit, his way of offering her a hand up. He doubted she wanted to take his blooded fingers, and he knew he didn't want her to. That would hurt, and every part of him was already in enough pain. "Ready to take a leisurely walk through the woods?" He offered a slightly-pained smile, still doing his best to keep it light.

[Sagitta]

To be completely truthful, Sagitta had no interest in walking into a forest where she could not possibly guess what dangers awaited them there. She would prefer simply lying quietly right here, staring up at the sky - maybe catch a bell of rest or two. Her arms felt like they were going to fall right out of their sockets and she wondered what it would feel like when she actually had to use them. Her lungs labored with every inhale, there was just not enough air. She was staying still and yet her mind was already pelted by mind-numbing pain. There was no guarantee she would make it out of the woods anyway. She was weak and cold and thirsty and hungry. Not such a great shape to be trudging through the wilderness. At this rate, she feared she would simply blackout. She couldn't help but looking at Matthew weirdly. He had somehow mustered the energy to act lightly with all of this. He looked as bad as she did, in a way worse. No idea where the thought came from but something told her she was more used to this kind of situation. "We don't exactly have a choice, do we?" When Matthew offered her his arm, she wondered if it was a gesture of courtesy. After hoisting her up from the cliff, he couldn't possibly have more energy to waste. She could probably do fine on her own. Besides, she didn't want to use her bloody hands to grab on anything for now. Sagitta pulled herself up to her feet, staggering and swooning, taking a shaky step back. They were still close enough to the edge that she might actually fall off if she was not careful. Her knees shook, but she figured after all that, she wasn't about to faint just like that. She leaned on the man for a moment, steadying herself, before straightening up, her grey eyes fixing on the trees in front of them. "We need to find shelter to rest and some water and food, I think. I doubt we could keep on our feet for long," she suggested. At least she couldn't. A headache had rested inside her mind, throbbing roughly. They had been amazingly lucky so far and she was not sure how long the luck would last. And from experience, she knew full well that it was a matter of time they encounter something they couldn't face if they kept pushing it. Even if they did find the road, what would she do? She had no home, no place to go, not even something to wear. Sagitta hadn't let the train of thought enter her mind earlier. What was she supposed to do? She did not belong here, her very soul trembled with grief as she watched her surroundings. This was not her place. This . . . This cycle of life should've ended for her. Leth had taken her away from it. Did she do something wrong, to be tossed down from the skies? She wanted to break right there, right then and cry. But it was not the time. Not until they find some sort of safety. Her jaw clenched in determination as she turned back to Matthew. "Let's go. I think we should get moving quickly. Well, as quick as we could manage in this state, at least."

[Matthew]

He tried his best to straighten his face when she gave him the odd stare, realizing that his strained sense of humor probably wouldn't help them much. He wasn't that good at Acting, but he tried his very best, assuming a serious look and glancing around with some resemblance of a man who knew what he was doing. He didn't notice when she kindly left his arm alone, but when she staggered back, he actually let loose a little yelp and shot out a hand. His bloodied fingers hooked the waist of her shorts, and he quickly pulled her, right as she leaned into him any way. He gave her a look, quietly begging her not to go and tumble off the edge of the cliff, then went back to scanning the treeline in front of him. Food and shelter, she had said. Alright, he could do that. A quick rest probably wouldn't be a bad idea anyways. It was silly enough that they had barely gone even a few dozen feet and were already breaking. He would really have to get out more, or at least read a book or two on Wilderness Survival. "Alright, food and shelter it is." Once again taking her hand, apparently not at all caring about the blood that stained both of their fingers, he took off for the forest with a determined look on his face. "We can perhaps find berries. Or roots. Aren't those the sorts of things people eat whenever they are in the wilderness? Or we could set a trap for a rabbit." He had no clue how he would do that if she agreed. "As for shelter, I suppose we could grab some sticks? You always hear about them making a little tent out of sticks and leaves. I think you just kind of lean them up against a rock or tree, and then use leaves like a wall, I suppose?" He furrowed his brow, moving through the trees slowly. Out of the corner of his eye, some sort of animal track caught his vision. He nearly turned his head to check it out, but fearing for his peace of mind (which was already pretty much gone) he just ignored it. If and when an animal decided to visit them, then they would deal with it. Hopefully it would be a rabbit willing to give itself up for some sort of meal. After no more than a couple of minutes walking, they suddenly broke through a small clearing in the trees. Before them was a ruin, one of many in the Wildlands. It was a massive pile of broken stone and wood, scattered all over the place, leaning against trees and covered with vines. He had often read about the ruins in the Wildlands, but had never encountered one. From all he had heard, they weren't supposed to be this far off a beaten path at all. Much less near something that could be called home for a number of creatures. He shifted uncomfortably, hand tightening on Sagitta's, blue eyes darting back and forth as he tried to work out the puzzle. So far, nothing had revealed itself from the pile of ancient stone. This might make a good hiding place, at least until they had caught their breath. Faintly, he could hear the bubbling and crashing of a nearby waterfall, though he couldn't see it. Would it be okay to rest here, or should they go with his original idea of sticks? He turned to the girl, tilting his head, gaze curious for her opinion. "Do you think we should rest here? We could check around for signs of anything else, and if it looks safe, take a quick break."