"And you're sure you're confident leading? I honestly don't mind placing the gear..." I'm cut off by his overly confident and quite grating voice as he tries to assure me that he knew what he was doing. I really wanted to ask him why he'd need me if he knew exactly what to do, but I wasn't going to say no to what he was paying me.
"Ok, I'll see you there, just ensure you bring everything on that list and it'll be a day to remember." I say before leaving the call, sighing as I shove the phone into the bergen beside my chair, zipping up the bag as I stand up from the brown leather chair. I pull the fully packed bag up to my shoulder, heading to my front door with a small smile.
Before I leave I take a quick look in the large mirror in the hallway, I give my short blonde hair a little run through with my fingers and check my clothes to make sure I looked ok, the black wicking shirt I wore covered my sports bra and the walking trousers could always be made into shorts if it got too hot... and I knew I'd packed a fleece and waterproofs if the weather went bad...what was I... oh shit! I chuckle to myself as I grab my shades from the stand and then unlock the front door, stepping out of my little cottage.
I turn back, lock the door and jog over to my car, chucking the bag into the back seat before jumping In the frivers side. The Land Rover Defender's engine roars to life as I start the engine and put it into gear, slipping my seatbelt on and starting some music up as I set off with a bright smile, looking forward to a good day climbing.
As I drove, I hummed and sang along to the song, my smile growing as I drive through the scenic countryside. I roll open the windows with a sniff and a relaxed sigh as I near the coast, today I was meant to be helping some rich businessman from London do some trad climbing... on a sea cliff... not bad right? I was looking forward to an easy and fun day with a nice paycheck by the end of it, weather report says it's going to be sunny, few clouds but nothing else. I probably need some suncream, not that my pale ass needs it, but it was rather hot out, even with the car windows open.
I almost space out as I drive along the coastal road, focusing on the road with the occasional glance over at the beautiful scenery, the sun causing the ocean to shimmer as it rushes beside me. Eventually I turn off the smooth road and roll onto a dirt pathway used by the local farmer, nice guy he was, name was Derek... made the best steak pies... I shake my head and carry on down the road, taking it slower as the car rolls over the bumps and dips in the divited mud and grass.
Up ahead I see a shiney new Bentley SUV, obviously my client, unless Derek had splashed out on a luxury vehicle... nope, definitely my client. The numpty was stood by his car waving at me, already in full gear and holding his camera, wait...why the fuck did he bring a tent? I look over at the tent set up by his car, trying ti decide whether I should be shaking my head or laughing, we were only here for the day after all. Whatever...I shake my head and pull up beside him, cutting the engine and jumping out of the car with a smile.
"James right?" He nods. "I'm Amy, just give me a moment to grab my kit and we can start!" I say happily, almost bouncing to the back of my car and pulling out my bag, dropping that on the floor before slipping into my harness and clipping on all my gear. I scoop the bag up and sling it onto my back, tightening the straps before moving to shake the man's hand.
"What's with the bag?" He asks as I shake his hand.
Glancing back at the bergen, I explain. "Just in case we get stuck on the coast or something goes wrong for either of us. Shouldn't need it either way."
"Ohh, ok" He nods, looking over at the first section of our day, a simple abseil from some anchor points I set up.
I ignore his staring as I head over to the points, pulling out some static ropes and quickly setting up the anchor point for the rope, slipping a karabiner through the figure of eight just over the edge before feeding the other static rope through it and then ensuring the system was secure.
I clip myself into the system before gesturing for James to come over to me, clipping him onto a dynamic rope that i'd be using as a safety rope for him, having fed that through another karabiner and a belay plate. So he'd be abseiling himself down with the extra security of me stopping him from becoming a red mush on the lovely pebble beach below. I check over his harness and rope before taking in the slack rope.
"You ready?" He nods and steps up to the edge with me, a small and childish grin on his face as I lower him over the edge. I smile back and wait for him to disappear over the edge before shaking my head, he was totally eying me up... I keep lowering him down as I hum to myself, waiting for him to reach the ground, as soon as he does I unclip from the rope and toss it down. I hook myself up to the static rope through the belay plate and quickly absiel my way down the cliff, the rope sliding through my hand with practiced ease.
I soon reach the beach, quickly detaching the belay plate from the rope along with the karabiner and putting them on the gear loop at my hip, starting a short jog over the beach towards our climb for the day, a fun and challenging cliff with some difficult gear placements. As soon as I reach the climb James starts climbing. I rush up and tie in before setting off after him, swearing under my breath about him being too eager and rushing off, collecting the first set of gear as I reach it, my job was to simply clean up the hexes he leaves behind while following him up the climb.
"At least his gear placement is ok..." I mumble to myself, removing another hex from a crack as I carry on after him, we carry on for a few minutes before taking a break, simply hanging from the wall and taking a drink of water. "You ok up there?" I call up to him, recieving nothing but a thumbs up as he breathes heavily, I sigh and put my water bottle back into my bag, following him up as we carry on up the climb.
I find myself removing a hex , looking up to see a lack of gear below my partner... where where they? I see him stopping to place one, having paused taking out my own. FUCK! My heart drops as I see him fall, the rope cracking past me as his body passes me, my body being slammed into the wall with his weight before the rock breaks, shattering above me as I experience weightlessness, the shards of rock seeming to float as I look up at them... it was almost peaceful... until I heard his body hit the ground with a cracking thud, I'd soon meet the same fate, the world coming into focus, the wind rushing past my ears, the smell of the ocean, the feeling of the air ripping against my skin and clothes... If I wasn't dying, It'd be a nice feeling I guess. I close my eyes and wait for the end, feeling my body snap backwards with a intense burning before slipping into darkness, my last thought? "Fucking Ouch!"
...so cold...
...is that snow?
My eyes flicker open, my entire body burning with pain, numbed by the biting cold as I look around. Where the hell was I? Last I knew I thought I was on some cliff in the UK, not some snowy mountain in the middle of nowhere... I shiver as I right myself slowly, looking up at the rope snagged on the rocks. "Fuck me..." I say as I look down, seeing a sheer drop below me, nothing to break my fall.
I look off to my right and have to rub my eyes, is that a fucking city?! "What the..." I murmur before squinting, seeing some brightly coloured dots drifting around above it. It seemed like the city was built into the mountain, based around a rather pretty and ornate castle, almost like a fairy tale castle in my eyes.
I drag my attention away from the city below and start to scale the rope, using an ascender from my gear loop to work my way up, trying to ignore the pain, trying to stop my shivering and shaking, the searing pain and biting cold not helping my situation as I haul myself and my bag up the rope. After what seemed like an eternity I reach the top, untangling the rope and getting away from the edge, throwing my bag to the ground.
I kneel next to my bag and pull out my fleece and waterproofs, it wouldn't be much but it'd help fight the cold, I throw them on quickly and grab my first aid kit, taking some painkillers with my water before eating an energy bar rather rapidly. I check over the rope, ensuring it was still safe to use before heading down the mountain as quickly as I could, I wouldn't survive up here for long and I knew it, every step felt agonising but I had to keep pushing! I wouldn't... I couldn't give up!
I focus my mind on the task at hand, clambering down the icy rocks and loose snow. It was difficult, but I was doing it, swearing at myself with each little slip, this was too sketchy...
After what seemed like a few hours, I eventually reach the cliff overlooking the strange city... what the hell were those things flying around? Drones? Helicopters? No... they seemed to have wings, maybe exotic birds? No, too big... I'm so focused on these things that I fail to notice a set of golden blurs approaching me, only realising when they slam into the snow behind me with a thud.
I spin around and look back at the group of... tiny armoured horses? I do the sensible thing as I hear one of them shout "Freeze! Canterlot Guard!"... I start laughing and curl up... I think I hit my head on way down.
I don't hear one of their horns humming, or even realise I'd been shot with something until I fall over, still laughing as the blast knocks me off my feet and into the snow, my vision fading as I look at the group.
Goddamn tiny horses...magical tiny horses.