Ember glanced around again, and then sheathed his knives. "Not telling you that." He started to go down one path but then paused. He tried to trace a way down the mountain, but there were patches of smooth rock that would prove impossible to keep foot on.
He looked around once more, and now he found a better path to head down. Starting down the rocky slope, he said, "I'm getting out of here is what's happening."
When Adrielle appeared, she was startled. She shook her head, confused. What was going on? But when she saw the four other people around her, she snorted. Of course she would be stuck in a strange place with complete strangers. .It was just her luck.
She shook her head. "If he's not telling you his name, maybe he really knows where we are." She spoke to the other two, her voice quiet, but cold. "I, for one, have no idea where the fuck we are, but we should probably find shelter somewhere. You never know, come night time, it could be dangerous." She shrugged,
Ember muttered a curse under his breath. "Get out of here." He started the long trek down to the bottom of the mountain. "You don't want to be caught in that snowstorm at the top of a mountain." He pointed up to the west, where clouds were brewing and moving slowly towards them.
"How do you know it's a snowstorm? Maybe it's a thunderstorm," Adrielle challenged. Something about this guy pricked at her, in a way she didn't like at all.
"We're on top of a fucking mountain. You don't think that water will freeze up here?" He slid down a few more feet, controlling his descent with his hands so he wouldn't fall off.
"It's not that cold," she said, rolling her eyes. She waved mockingly down to him, and turned to the other two, the nicer two. "What do you two want to do?"
“Nah, boy, he’s right. Mountains get too cold, like. We’ll be freezin’ if we stay up here.” Sid got to his feet, stumbling slightly. “Don’t matter what those clouds are, they’re bad news, you know?”
He shrugged, running his fingers over his buzzed hair. “Ehh- maybe he coulda phrased it nicer, like, but I think maybe he’s right.” He rubbed the dried blood from his nose, watching it flake off. “Also, what’re your names? Jus’ wanna know who I’m stuck with.”
“Yeah, we should find a way to get to lower ground,” he told them, eyeing the rocky trail nervously; he didn’t like the thought of going down that. “And I’m Manan. I don’t know why or how we’re here, but I’m going to do my best for everything to go back to normal.”
“Ditto. I’m Sid. Nice to meet’cha, boy.” Sid nodded to Manan, then taking a moment to look for other possible paths down the mountain. “Eh- it looks like we’ll be takin’ that path down, I think, unless any of you kids are wantin’ to go rock climbin’ today.”
"No, no, I'm good," Manan said quickly, cringing at the thought of rock climbing. Regaining his composure, he continued, "We'll have to careful though. Doesn't look entirely stable."
"Do you not like climbing?" Adrielle asked, tilting her head curiously. "That's sad." She shrugged. "Well, I'll do whatever you guys do, as long as I'm not stuck with him." She made a face at the first guy who had spoken. "I'm Adrielle, by the way."
"I'm not the best at it— usually end up getting hurt," Manan admitted, smiling sheepishly. "A pleasure to meet you all though. Would've preferred it to be in a different situation, but eh." He crossed his arms, looking to his two new acquaintances. "So, we're in agreement to taking this way down?"
Sid shook his head. “I never tried climbing, like, but I know it's not my bag.” He looked over at Manan when he asked his own question. “I think so, yeh.” Sid took a few tentative steps towards the pathway, watching Ember’s descent. “Let him finish goin’ first. See what we’re gonna be workin’ with in terms of safety.”
Ember looked at the stretch down below him. He could see that there was a lot of loose dirt and rocks; not good. He took a single step and moved it forward. There was no resistance. Fortunately, loose dirt would hold his support if they went deep enough. He pulled out two of his daggers and stabbed them both into the top part, wincing at the noise. it would take forever to get them cleaned, but it was worth it.
Lowering himself down, he grabbed the two hilts and slid on his stomach down to beneath his daggers. Now, with great effort, he pulled one out and put it back into the soil, slightly lower this time. Then he did the same with the other.
"Showoff." Adrielle snorted. "Seriously, why does he get daggers? Well, and you," she said, nodding her head to Manan, whose strange clothes held a variety of weapons. "Why don't we get weapons? It's not fair."
"Because some people actually use them." Ember reached the bottom of the loose patch and cleaned each knife quickly with a wipe down and then continued the trek downward. There was a narrow path between the cliff face and the edge, and he shuffled along with it, making sure that he was ready to hold himself steady if need be.
"Don't look at me, I don't know," Manan threw his hands up, then paused as he considered it. "Maybe we need it more for some reason?" He checked out his outfit, noting the placements of the weapons. "Either way, I feel pretty great right now."
“Aye, no, I agree wit’ her. Adrielle. Neither of us are armed, isn’t that a bit weird or somethin’?” Sid shuffled his feet a little, eyeing the slope. He paused to consider Manan’s words. “Maybe. Are either of you lads trained in ‘em? No use havin’ a weapon you can’t use, like.”
"Yeah." Ember looked up at them. "You guys should really start moving."
"I'm trained in some of them, but not all," Manan admitted. He looked off toward the pathway, taking a few steps onto the path and testing it. "It seems pretty stable so far," he told the others.
“A few’s better’n none, like.” Sid walked up to the path as well, squinting slightly to try and see further down it. “Yeah?” He tested the path with his foot. “Well. Guess we gotta find who’s goin’ first, don’t we?” He looked over at Manan.
gtg now)
"I don't care who goes first," Manan shrugged, then turned to Adrielle. "What do you think?" He stepped off the path slightly, leaving more space.
"I can go first," Adrielle said with a shrug. She really hoped that she wouldn't have to rely on these cowards to protect her, if it came to that. "I'm the most familiar with climbing and rough terrain." Without another word, she headed down, bending her knees carefully to keep her balance, and to go faster. She had gone on hikes a lot, so this was easy for her. She slid down some loose rocks, keeping her balance, and looked up at the others.
Sid slid down after Adrielle, not keeping his balance half as well. He landed with a bit of a tumble, scraping his hands lightly. He gritted his teeth, wiping them off on his legs. “Shite.. You comin’, Manan?” Sid looked back up the slope, blocking the slightly diffused sun from his eyes with a hand.
The narrow cliff part ended. There was a slope in his path that went downwards, and he had to make his way down it to get to the next part. He tested his weight, and, seeing how slippery it was, decided to slide down it. He sat down, leaning on his right thigh with both feet extended outward, and pushed himself forward a bit. He slowed down when he picked too much speed, and eventually made it all the way down without much difficulty.
"That's not how you do it," Adrielle sneered. "At least, that's not the fun way." She slid after the annoying guy, facing the side, moving like it was a wave to be surfed, and 'accidentally' showering dirt and gravel all over him. "Oops."
"Oh no… You covered me in dirt! Who could have foreseen this." Ember sighed. He picked up the pace while making his way down.
"Um… everyone who is anyone? So, basically, not you." Adrielle rolled her eyes and continued to slide with ease, not seeming to mind the dust and pebbles that got on her weird robe-things and in her boots.
"Everyone who is anyone? What does that even mean?" Ember brushed off some of the gravel.
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