Staying Awake

by Elusive Phoenix

Rating: teen
Tags: Sex, Tragedy, Twilight Sparkle, Dark, Princess Luna, Gore, Original Character, My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic, Comedy, Other, Romance, Adventure
Length: 5524

Cynogryphon. A near extinct race of two-sided creatures. Hunted by the Gryphons their entire lives, these half-Eagle, half-Wolf creatures have fled their homeland. Will they find refuge at the end of their quest?

Cynogryphon. A near extinct race of two-sided creatures. Hunted by the Gryphons their entire lives, these part eagle, part wolf creatures have fled their homeland. Will they find refuge at the end of their quest? Will the Gryphons assault Equestria just to get the Cynos?
__________________________________
Preread by Literature and Jade Groove. Big thanks to Jade for being the most demanding editor ever. Seriously, I appreciate it.

Published 2013-02-28 15:10:02 UTC
Last updated 2013-02-28 15:10:02 UTC

Survival

Tiberius<

I held my attacker's sword above my snout, both my daggers' blades and my hind legs being used to suspend his full weight above me as I lie helpless on the ground

I could imagine my strength failing, and my neck being cut open in a split second. The picture repeated over and over as I held him there.

There was a slit of a moon, giving me only the outlines of everyone. Their bodies were just silhouettes.

"Kismae!" I screamed while our weapons screeched together, sparks occasionally flying. I heard my friends' weapons clang together with our enemies'. But I could only stare into the piercing eyes of the Eagle above me. His smirk was lowering my confidence. I would soon succumb to the pain.

"Kismae!" I attempted to call once more. The Gryphon on top pressed down, bringing my daggers close to my neck. Now I was afraid.

The arrow seemed to fly through my attacker's head, but it remained inside. The attack ceased.

I used my legs to propel the creature off me, his sword still gripped in one claw. I rolled onto my paws, regaining my stance. Glancing around, I could tell that everyone was doing fine.

Zarrus had his sword in one Gryphon's head as he lifted one back leg to kick another in the face. While the Gryphon recoiled, Zarrus ripped his sword from his now dead enemy, and brought it to the next one's face, cutting his jaw, and making the Gryphon collapse in shock.

Zarrus impaled the downed Gryphon, ending his pain.

I looked to Ruffdown.

Standing on his hind legs, Ruffdown, smacked one Gryphon in the face with his shield, disorienting it. With his other paw Ruffdown stabbed a Black-headed Gryphon through the chest, its sword flying off and, out of pure luck, hit its assistant in the head.

Ruffdown brought the sword up through the Gryphon's chest with extreme force, pulling it out the top of its head. He brought his sword over his head, then down and slashed through the remaining Gryphon.

I checked on Kismae.

Wow.

She was standing on her hind legs using her wings to load arrows into her bow. That was new.

The barrage was faster than I could comprehend, launching the arrows almost in a stream. While she used a paw to draw the arrow, one wing loaded the next after she fired it, and while that one loaded, her other wing grabbed another arrow.

Gryphons were charging up to her, ignoring their fellow soldiers as they were mowed down. The hill she stood on almost looked like it was purely a hill of bodies.

I flicked to Niyla.

Okay, she could use some help.

She was being attacked from all sides, and only swinging randomly was keeping the six Gryphons back.

I sheathed my daggers and sprinted toward her. She was slightly downhill.

Perfect.

I jumped at her, high enough above her to clearly see her situation. Each Gryphon had a single short-sword, each one of them standing on their hind legs. If Niyla lifted her hind legs, I could take some of them down for her. I resorted to the well-practiced plan, hoping she could hear well at the moment.

"Fallout!" I yelled from above her. She threw her ax, slamming it into one of her enemies' faces. She stood on her forelegs and lifted up her hindlegs. I landed forelegs first on her hind legs, using my wings to pull out my daggers and throw them to my left and right, impaling two Gryphons in the eyes.

The remaining three Gryphons lunged, their swords sticking forward.. I leaned forward, Niyla leaned backwards, about to land on her legs. Before I landed on the ground, I grabbed Niyla's forelegs, and she blasted her wings with one massive swing. We blasted straight up, and each of the Gryphons accidentally impaled each other with their extended swords.

I heard Ruffdown yell over the commotion, "Fail!" I couldn't help but smile. Even in battle, Ruffdown was a comedian.

I glanced around.

Only seven Gryphons left.

I used my position to push off of Niyla, who did a back-flip to recover from my propulsion, and I rolled to the ground to retrieve my daggers, sprinting to both Gryphons to retrieve them. During that time, I heard a Gryphon screech, obviously one of getting killed.

I plowed through a creature to make my way to the center of the clearing, slicing his neck open in the process, then quickly stabbed his head to finish him off.

As I reached the center, I waited for an enemy attack.

None came. I glanced around.

Apparently the last five Gryphons had been taken down by the rest of the team.

Well, that was anti-climactic. I didn't even get to do a badass finishing move like jumping over him, then throwing him over me, and right into Ruffdown's sword. I dreamed. God, that would have been cool.

Feathers littered the ground and air, down tickling my nose as it floated by. Blood was still soaking into the dirt and grass, staining red splotches into the ground.

I flicked my daggers to rid them of blood, then stabbed the ground to remove the stubborn liquid. The rest of the team did the same with their respective weapons.

Except Kismae. It's hard to reuse cracked and blunted arrows again. She put a lot of force in those. Some even pass through heads, leaving a gaping hole of gore in its wake.

Zarrus spoke up after checking that nobody was left alive or injured. "Alright. We're done here." He sheathed his sword, as did I. "We obviously need to keep moving."

Our "Camping Site" hadn't worked out too well. We hadn't fought in a week, maybe two, but the attacks were getting more frequent. They were finding our travelling pattern.

The rest of the team sheathed their weapons, and we all began to walk north as a group, panting. A night without sleep was better than dying. Hopefully Equestria would be as safe as they say...

And hopefully we're not the last Cynogryphons left on this planet.

There are five of us left.

There's Zarrus. He looks like a massive wolf, his back fur and top of his wings are grey, and his underside and bottom of his wings are a brilliant white. He's a nice guy, keeping us alive. I'm pretty sure all of us consider him the leader. He gets into leader mode anyway when we get into a fight.

There's Kismae. Her slender green body and golden wings make her the most attractive out of us. At least to Ruffdown, anyway. She's kind of a jerk, but she follows orders and stays alive (and by stay alive, I mean kick ass). Sometimes I wonder if she's better at stealth than I am.

And there's Ruffdown. Joker of all jokers. Seriously, almost every second he has a joke pop into his mind, and will wait for any moment to use it. I bet he has more than four hundred jokes that he remembers that he'll say at some point. But altogether, he's a nice guy. Sometimes I think the brown and red of his fur colors are a bit contrasting to his personality. But that's just me. His Wings were almost as golden as Kismae's. Just another reason he loved her. None of us knows if she feels the same. His massive build isn't from working out. He was just born that way. I'm surprised he lets Niyla use the war ax.

Niyla. I love Niyla. And by love, I mean love. And (like Ruffdown and Kismae) Ruffdown, Zarrus, and I have no idea if she feels the same. Guys have some way of not knowing. Her golden and orange fur and wings are the most beautiful things I'd ever seen. Her body was much larger than Kismae's, and even mine, but she was beautiful. I'm amazed Ruffdown loves Kismae instead of Niyla.

Not that I'd want that.

But Niyla is usually really quiet. She barely ever speaks, only when something needs to be said.

And there's me, Tiberius. My coat was an even mixture of blue and black, never one color, never two. It was perfect for blending into shadows. My wings had a single primary feather (my longest) that was a pure blue, making my friends able to see me. But I'm also silent as a dead vole. Ruffdown and I grew up together. If ever there's trouble, we've got each other's back. Except the last battle. He was obviously busy. And, well, so was I.

The five of us are the last remaining Cynogryphons, persecuted for being half breeds. And by persecuted, I mean hunted down like -- as if we're a plague to the planet.

That's why we're heading to "Equestria". We'd heard from many Cynos before the persecution that Equestria was the safest place on Eques.

So that's where we're headed. Maybe they could help us, or even protect us. I don't know, but I don't want to imagine of any sort of bad outcome. But if there was one, we'd get out fine.

We always did.

So, here we are. Paws on the ground, pushing us on as the pure orange sun rose above the mountains and leaked through the trees of the spring forest. We'll reach Equestria soon enough. And hopefully they'll be on our side.

Hopefully...

Author's Note

I enjoyed writing this, and it actually gets WAY more plot driven later (heheh, plot).

Hike

Tiberius<

I stumbled over the random tree root, my foot caught in its oddly-shaped hole as it grew out in a circular shape. My mind was on other things, and not where I was stepping. Ruffdown was the only one to glance my way. Everyone knew I was thinking.

When I think, I stare at the ground, my ears telling me when to turn as my friends moved around. I stood in the back with Niyla on my right.

To my amazement, I wasn't thinking about her. I was just... thinking. There was no general worry on my mind, no hate for the Gryphons. Just my thoughts. I don't know what I'm thinking of, but I know that I'm thinking.

Maybe that's what I'm thinking of. Thinking. Or maybe I think of how weird the word sounds now because I've thought it so many times.

I saw Niyla glance at me in the corner of my eye. She only looked for a second, before turning her head to look at the trees we passed. The grass I saw below me was a lighter orange now that the sun had raised. The trees were even lighter, having more sun on them.

The grass became quite mesmerizing. The shadows glazed through each blade, and some blades were even blocked out completely by the one in front of it.

With each step, I crushed a chunk of grass, and my shadow took its place. My shadow was also on Niyla. Her legs were shaded by me.

I looked at her. She continued to look through the trees.

Even the back of her head was beautiful. Her fur blew in the wind, flattening it sideways. I looked down to her legs.

Then there was only one thought that crossed my mind.

Hot-hot-hot-hot-hot-hot-hot-hot...

"What's on your mind?" I almost panicked. Almost. Apparently Ruffdown had slid back to Niyla and me, walking to my left.

Without thinking, I whispered, "Hot-hot-hot..." My eyes widened when I realized I said that. At least I whispered it. I glanced to Niyla.

Her head remained the opposite direction.

THANK GOD.

I looked back to Ruffdown, who grinned at me slyly. "Again?" I wasn't sure if that was it or if there was more on my mind. There probably was, but I was unaware of it. I shrugged, then tripped on small mound of dirt, falling face-first. But I quickly recovered.

Ruffdown chuckled, "Did you have a nice fall?"

I grinned back. "Two seasons too late, I'm afraid." I spit some dirt out as I said it, rubbing my face with a paw while continuing to walk.

"Or one too early." He replied. We had a joke battle sometimes. It usually started with my clumsiness and ended with Ruffdown's hilarity.

I looked forward from Ruffdown. Kismae stood directly in front of Ruff, and Niyla walked in front of me.

I'm pretty sure we both thought the same thing at that exact moment.

Hot-hot-hot-hot-hot-hot-hot-hot...

They took a step, and their whole backsides moved.

Hot.

It moved again.

Hot

Again.

Hot.

Kismae turned her head to look at me. I know she caught me looking at Niyla's... uh... rear end. Her face was suspicious as I obviously looked everywhere but forward.

Ruffdown had been lucky enough not to be caught, and he simply stared at me to lose attention.

Oh yeah, thanks.That helps.

Kismae looked back to whatever she decided could have her gaze, and Ruffdown immediately went back to staring at her. I almost laughed out loud at how fast he had gone back to it. I slowly turned my gaze to Niyla. Her wings were suddenly spread.

Hhhhooooooooooooooooooooooooooooot.

She flapped them slowly. That or time slowed just for me to observe it.

She lifted off the ground, going above the trees, my gaze following her, showing me her underside.

Hot scale: HHHHOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOT

Ruffdown realized that this situation could get very awkward, so her used his right wing to push my head down to look forward.

"Ahem. Excuse me." I whispered to him. He smiled. He knew that I really meant, "Thanks, I needed that."

He nodded.

Niyla came back down, landing softly in front of me, back in our formation. I glanced at Zarrus in front to prevent me from looking at Niyla. Today was one of those days. One of those awkward, awkward days.

Zarrus turned his head to Niyla. "Anything?" She shook her head. "Good."

___________________

I held my breath as the deer passed by. This was the first buck we had seen in weeks. So far we'd been surviving on anything; berries, voles, even a raccoon.

Ruffdown and Zarrus were the only two who carried the food. Niyla had water (maybe a bit too much, but you never know), and I carried anything else.

In other words: the entertainment.

Whatever possessions we could grab before we left The Den, we put in those bags. Memories, mostly. Childhood trinkets, pictures, anything that reminded us of our past.

Each of us carried our favorite mementos, but I carried the rest. Luckily it wasn't that heavy, which is saying something for a Cyno like me: slim and weak. I guess I was lucky to hold that Gryphon on me at bay for that long.

But any time we were stopped, I'd find a tree or a wall of some sort and throw my ball at it. It was a strange thing, that ball. It was said to have come from Equestria. I had left it with the rest of the bags when the team continued onward while Kismae and I hunted.

I used one wing to pull out my dagger. I lifted it, just ready to strike...

An arrow impaled the deer in the head. I stopped, and so did the deer. We both stood there for a few seconds before the buck collapsed.

I glared at Kismae, who currently hovered above the trees. "What?" I continued to stare. "You were taking too long!"

Then I grinned. "Remember the rule?"

Kismae slid her bow onto her back and crossed her legs. "What rule?"

My grin widened. "The killer of the creature kills the skin." She almost froze.

"You are not making me skin that thing!"

I walked back into the trees. "Good luck!" I called behind me, using my wing to throw my dagger into the ground next to the deer.

Less work for me! It's always good to get revenge.

______________________

"Give me my ball!"

"Make me!"

*Headbutts*

_______________________

Yep. Sweet revenge! Even if revenge was already given, I bet she'd done something of jerk-like quality lately.

I slid back into camp. The sun was setting behind the mountains. We're almost there.

It was said that crossing those mountains led to Equestrian territory. The forest, however, was perilous. They had to cross a blizzard-ridden mountain into a forest of extreme danger.

But, in the end, it will hopefully be worth it.

Hopefully.

Our "beds" were spread out evenly in a circle around the fire in the center, well-guarded by its stone pit. All beds except mine, which was close to a tree. I knew it was mine.

At night I use my ball and think, bouncing it off the tree and catching it with my wing. My ball wasn't just a thinking device. It also improved accuracy with throwing, and I throw stuff quite a lot.

I stared around the camp. Ruffdown was talking with Zarrus about the plan for tomorrow. (which was amazing because usually Ruff just goes along with whatever it is we're doing!)

Niyla (hot) was reading one of her books. She had brought many with her (that I had no problem carrying for her), and almost any time we were resting or something she would pull one out.

If I could work up the courage, I would tell her how I feel.

But, naturally, I'm too shy to do it myself. So I'm waiting for her to make the first move. But part of me knew that I'd need to be the one someday. She was more shy than I was.

I laid on my bed after grabbing the blue rubber ball from the sack. With my wing I tossed the ball at the tree, angling it to bounce from one wing to the other. Then I did the same in reverse.

I repeated the pattern, thinking.

We're almost there. The ball almost missed my wing, but my blue primary grabbed it and brought it back to me.

We've almost reached Equestria.

Author's Note

Guys, you know that's what we do!

Trek

Ruffdown<

I lay on my mossy wad that we called a "bed". Despite being slightly wet, it was surprisingly comfortable.

I watched the sun go down, the fire in the stone pit keeping up the light. Tiberius lie in his little corner, tossing the ball back to himself. The tree was his only friend at the moment. When he thinks, he has many ways to show it.

Sometimes he paced; others he looked off into the moon. Sometimes he examined the ground; others he tossed the ball.

I would talk to him, but he was using the ball. He was in deep. Breaking him out of ball-mode was worse than walking through a Gryphon nesting grounds. When he has the ball, he's more likely to attack you than determine exactly who you are. I almost lost my head once because of that.

_______________

"Hey, Tiber, I-"

*daggers fly above my head after I duck*

_______________

True story.

I looked around. Zarrus was still at his rock, examining the mountains and finding a path. The formations were too high to fly over, not counting the never ending blizzard. We'd have to hoof it. I'd already gone over the general plan with Zarrus. Get over the damn mountain.

I glanced to Niyla. Still dug into her books as always.

She used a paw to turn the page.

Today had been an awkward day. A good type of awkward. Tiber and I both felt that way today.

Now, Tiber didn't have a plan on what to do with Niyla.

But my plan for Kismae was unbeatable.

When we reached Equestria, I would, in whatever way to say it, ask her out while she's flooding with the joy of survival. When she's in a good mood.

The perfect plan.

I was thinking of telling Tiber to do the same with Niyla, but I realized it would be better for him to figure out a plan himself.

Then angels sang as the most beautiful sight walked in:

Kismae holding a skinned buck for dinner on her back.

Dis gon b good! The infamous joke I had created a while back when I was hit in the jaw, and couldn't speak correctly.

Zarrus dropped what he was doing to go help her, as did Niyla. Tiber continued with the ball, unaware of the coming food. I would have warned him, but as I said earlier, it wasn't a wise idea. I watched as the trio brought the deer to the fire.

I would help, but with the other two already there, it would end up being more awkward than romantic or helpful to Kismae.

_________________________________

They hooked up a mechanism using the weight of the deer to turn itself as it turned over the fire. It was interesting really. The way that Kismae had created that tool. That was another reason I was so in love with her.

She was even smarter than Zarrus. Maybe all of us combined.

That may have just been my heart talking, but I swore that was true.

It had to cook for another few minutes before we ate it. We were wolves, but we were still intelligent creatures.

I still want to know what that first Gryphon was even thinking. How do you even love an unintelligent animal like that? The thought scared me sometimes.

Tiber remained with his ball and the tree. It had been half an hour, and he was still there. It amazed me how long he could hold out with just a sphere and a tree. He hadn't looked away once.

I was about to fall asleep, but there was no way I was missing buck. That stuff's delicious! I crawled closer to the fire, my nose warming up from the heat it gave off.

And then I had a psychological moment, and many epiphanies were had; about fire and life, and sparks and other things.

But nobody wants to hear those.

I watched the flames dance, as the term goes. It seemed to wrap around itself, and yet it disappeared as quickly as it had sparked. Fire was an odd thing. The smell of the deer was leaking into my nose, almost making me drool. It was good we were having this for dinner. We were going to need the energy to make it over the mountain.

__________________________

Oh mah Gawd, that was delicious.

What? Sleep? No! I want to savor the flavor!

Heh, that rhymed...

No! Sleep! Nooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo...

___________________________

Why, oh why must I carry the food? We had overloaded with birds, berries, and whatever else we could scrounge up this morning. And now I was walking up a seventy degree angle in a white blanket that was more slippery than mossy rocks. I hate my job. Even if I'm the best suited for it.

The snow fell lightly, my fur slowly being whitened, flake by flake. The same occurred with my friends' coats. At least we hadn't reached the blizzard. Yet.

Tiber shifted his pack up onto his shoulders. He stood next to Niyla, like he always did. She, once again, looked around at the surrounding area, as if trying explicitly to look away from Tiber. This may have been a good sign. Or maybe she was just looking around.

I flicked my eyes to Kismae, who stood up front with Zarrus. She spent an awful lot of time with him.

Then the thought reached me. It was unlikely.

But was it really? Could she love him?

I would have continued the thought if Kismae hadn't slipped. She screamed lightly, attempting to get a paw-hold on something.

That didn't work out. And to my advantage, she was sliding toward me.

I noticed that now we had reached the blizzard in such a short time. Or it reached us. Either way, it was on top of our group, and we were in for a treat.

I sidestepped to the left, unfurling my right wing. "Grab on!" She did so.

With her teeth.

Scratch the "she's smart". What kind of idiot bites their rescuer? She could have used her wings or paws, but she decided to use her mouth.

I slid down with her a meter before I could stop myself. She remained on my wing, digging her teeth into my bone. God, that hurt. Her weight along with the bite was like having my wing severed off. But I persevered, pulling her up as she continued to try and get a hold on the ground. I guess I was in a better position.

Oh, she better love me after this.

I was pressing my feet into the ground as hard as I could, even feeling the dirt a few times. Kismae obviously didn't have that kind of strength.

I glanced back at her while I marched. Unsurprisingly, her eyes were as wide as a tiger on steroids; her pupils were so small I could barely see them. They were flicking in every direction, like she didn't know what she was grabbing, but she knew it was saving her.

Great, she won't even see me do this. Maybe I could let her go, and let her climb up on her own.

But that wouldn't be chivalrous, now, would it?

The pain started to numb. At least I didn't have to deal with it for much longer.

Then she found her foothold.

Letting go, I realized she had actually made my wing bleed. Cold, liquid, and air aren't a good mixture for a wound. Any time.

I almost slipped and fell into her, it hurt so bad. Remember the severing feeling? Multiply it. By four.

I fell to my knees, the snow crumbling before me. Luckily I was heavy enough that I fell a sufficient length into the snow so I didn't slide through.

My wing slowly gathered itself, not letting me snap it shut. It hurt too bad for me to move it faster.

As I brought it to my side, I'm pretty sure Kismae was blind as a bat. She walked by without even looking at me. The flakes of ice were almost blinding me too. My fur was long enough to keep it out of my eyes for me. I'm muscular, and I'm also super-fluffy.

I was able to gather my strength and will, and stood up. I seemed to get colder my reaching the storm. It was probably the wind grabbing my legs.

I pushed forward, unable to see anyone but Kismae in front of me. The storm was worse than I thought. Kismae's wing was covering her face, letting her see whatever she could see (which was likely less than I could). I listened for voices, like those of Tiberius or Zarrus.

Completely off subject, I realized that both of their names ended with us. Odd.

But no sounds came but the wind in my ears. I tried to call out, but the words were swallowed in my mouth by snow and air.

Out of nowhere, an arrow whizzed past my head. That wasn't good.

As Kismae and I progressed further up the mountain, I began to make out shapes. Multiple with extended faces. Sharp, extended faces.

Gryphons.

But how? I wondered. An eagle-lion slid past me through the snow, blood trailing along behind it.

Okay, so, the obvious layout is:

Zarrus, Tiber, and Niyla were at the top of the hill, the Gryphons engaging them and attempting to race through the storm. I glanced to Kismae. Her bow was missing. The only other one who could possibly operate that thing is Tiber. The question was: Where'd he get the arrows. Kismae still had her's.

I used my good wing to pull my sword off my back, attempting to get behind the Gryphons. This was going to wipe them all out.

Except there was one flaw with my plan.

Kismae was now proven blind. She pushed up into a Gryphon, causing them both the tumble down the hill.

"Kismae!" She could at least hear me. She managed to get a hold on the ground while the bird rolled down the mountainside.

I was glad to see she was okay. She did the smart thing (finally), and crouched into the snow.

I continued up behind the remaining Gryphons. They probably didn't see me, and saw Kismae begin to fall down the hill with their comrade. They won't know what hit them.

And, surprisingly (man, I led up with that drama), they didn't. I cut one's spine, then stabbed my sword through two of them. Gryphon-shish-kabob.

The last two were dealt with in the most epic and dramatic way possible, and time seemed to slow.

I swung my back leg around to smash him in the face (narrowly missing his beak), and threw him down the mountain to his doom. Continuing my spin, I flung me sword into the next one, causing him to stumble away from me slightly. I jumped to him, putting enough power into my landing to reach the dirt. Once again, I used my good wing to retrieve my sword from his flesh.

The creature fell down the slope trailing blood along behind him. The blood took only a few seconds for the blizzard to cover up.

That was awesome. Much better than Tiber's dull quick-finish last battle. Man, what I just did must have looked awesome from where he was standing. I pulled myself up through the cold white frost, reaching the other three of us.

"Ruff." Zarrus greeted me when I reached them. I glanced at Kismae. She had started climbing toward us. Hopefully she could see now. "What happened back there?"

I looked back to Zarrus, my eyes passing Tiber; equipped with Kismae's bow and a quiver of Gryphon arrows next to him. They probably belonged to the one that fell past me before I reached them. "I would ask you the same. I'm down behind Tiber and Niyla, and next thing I saw was Kismae falling toward me." I extended my right wing slowly. It had stopped hurting now. "I caught her, but she injured my wing in the process, though." Zarrus glanced along my wing, noticing the bite-mark through the snow that covered it. "Like I said. She injured my wing."

Zarrus nudged my wing lightly with his paw, and I re-coiled it. "Niyla was injured too. The Gryphons fell from the clouds." I sighed. Gryphons were better suited biologically for inclement weather. "The Gryphon that owned these arrows (no doubt you passed him) shot Niyla."

"What'd he hit?"

"He hit her wing as well." Oh, great. Neither of us can fly. At least I still had the food.

I glanced behind me.

Yep, got it. I often have moments like that. The pack remained on my back. Heh, more rhyming.

Zarrus began to walk away. I followed quickly, checking on Kismae and Tiber. Kismae had reached us, directly behind Tiber. Tiber was a meter or so away from Zarrus and I. He allowed Niyla to use him as a support. The pain must have left her shaken.

But we trudged up the mountain. We were all alive. I guess it was for the better that Kismae slipped.

_____________________________________

Okay. Top of the mountain? Snow as slick as black ice? "Tiber. Do you know what this means?" He nodded, smiling. I looked to Zarrus and the others. They would take the safe route. Everfree forest lay down there, so Kismae probably wouldn't be very excited to see it. The romance would come later.

Oh and the dangers of Everfree, blah-blah-blah, who cares!

I prepared myself to jump, as did Tiber.

Zarrus was kind enough to start us off, even with the blizzard blasting into the group. "Ready!" I crouched lower. "Set!"

Aaaaaaaaaand...

"Go!" Tiber and I jumped forward into the snow, sliding down at unknown speeds.

Rocks and trees sped past. I occasionally shifted my position to move away from an obstacle. If Tiber or I hit one of those, we'd both be toast.

The whole thing was exhilarating, but it was just the same thing lasting for five to ten minutes, so, sadly, it would be boring to explain every detail. It would definitely take a while for our friends to get down.

The blizzard passed through us like a curtain, suddenly stopping, and there was only left over snow. The ground soon came to dirt.

When we reached the bottom, I hadn't thought about a few things, and nor had Tiber.

One: Our ears have adjusted to pressure, and now it was almost impossible to hear.

Two: How am I supposed to slow down? You would think, Oh, just use your wings! That's what Tiber thought of. He slowed down fine. So... what about me?

Plan: When I reached the bottom, tuck and roll.

That actually worked fine. I felt only the pain of sudden direction change. But someone had to put a forest in my way.

Note to self: Never roll into trees at the speed of sound. It hurts.