Cat was finding her movement was coming back slowly but she still didn’t feel confident climbing up that wall without a safety rope so she doubted Indi was going to find it very easy. Cat sat there and debated the climbing order. If she went first then she could pull from the top and help the others up faster. On the other hand if she went up first that left Indi and Amanda to tie themselves in. Well Amanda could probably do that okay. Still she didn’t like leaving them to go last.

Amanda, as if reading her mind, nodded at her. “Go, we’ll be fine, Kass will have set up a proper belay system.” She handed Cat the end of the rope, which she’d made into a makeshift harness, just like Kass’s.

Cat took the harness and slowly and heavily climbed into it.

“Pull that bit so it’s tight,” Amanda instructed.

Cat frowned down at the knot, unsure what she meant, so Amanda motioned for her to come closer.

Cat stumbled as she squatted down so Amanda could adjust the harness. She managed to catch herself against the wall.

“You alright?” Amanda asked as she fiddled with the rope, loosing some sections and then pulling others until the harness was more fitted around Cat’s waist. Half way through Amanda stopped and closed her eyes.

“Are you?” Cat replied.

Amanda nodded and gave a reassuring smile. She still looked clammy though. “You’ll pull Indi right?”

Cat nodded and got sluggishly back up to her feet. Her legs were still slightly numb, but more responsive than before at least.

“When you get to the top, undo the harness before you throw it down.”

Cat gave her a puzzled look.

“So it doesn’t catch on anything,” Amanda explained.

Cat nodded. She unsteadily walked over to the base of the wall. Her legs felt like jelly.

“Ready!” she called.

She felt the rope tighten and then start to pull her up. She hadn’t expected that and found herself scrambling for hold on the rock. She briefly considered yelling at Kass to quit pulling and just let her climb but the pace was fast and objectively she knew she wasn’t going to be able to climb at this rate. The harness was not comfortable at all. It dug in hard. Cat tried to aid in the speed of her ascent but she only succeeded in knocking out a large grassy rock.

“Heads!” she yelled and then gave in to the pulling.

She yelped as she was pulled over the top and the force pulled her in, stomach first against the edge.

“Sorry,” Kass apologised but she didn’t stop pulling until Cat was a few metres on solid ground.

“How was that?” Kass asked.

Cat groaned and rolled over. “Awful.”

Kass nodded as if that was what she had been expecting. “Now for the others.” She loosened her pulley system then walked over to Cat and stood expectantly, not giving her any time to rest.

Cat didn’t complain, knowing that speed was important and she could rest once Kass got the rope off her.

“I managed to figure out how to look at it so I could pull consistently with my telekinesis,” Kass explained. “It worked quite well actually. I just focused on a piece of the rope and moving it through.”

“Great,” Cat groaned without enthusiasm. She remained lying on the ground, tired and sore.

Kass walked to the edge with the rope and peered over.

“Untie it first,” Cat called to her without moving from where she was lying.

Kass glanced back and gave a single nod. She untied the end, twisted it into a loose coil and then yelled, “rope!” and threw the bundle out as far as she could.

She watched it uncurl all the way down and then returned to her position by the tree. “Listen out for their shout.” she told Cat.

Cat sat up, still feeling like her body wasn’t hers to control. The damn bullet wound had still bit hard when she’d crashed into the cliff though. A dull pain throbbed throughout the rest of her body and she felt sort of tingly all over. She hoped that wasn’t a sign of anything bad. Probably just the last of the mushrooms wearing off.

After what felt like ages she heard Amanda yell, “ready.”

“You need help?” Cat asked Kass.

“Nope.”

She watched as Kass leant forward and focused on the line of rope running through the centre of the small loop. The rope slowly started to move.

Cat didn’t dare talk after that least she break Kass’s concentration. Nor did she peer over the edge, not trusting her balance to keep her from falling over right now. She just sat, cross-legged and waited.

Eventually Indi appeared over the edge. She had her shield partially raised and she was curled up in an almost fetal like position. She look strained, like it was taking a lot of energy. The second Kass had her on a flat surface Indi dropped her shield with a sigh of relief.

“Enjoy that?” Cat asked with a smirk.

Indi gave a laugh. “No. Oh it’s good to be up here though. You think Amanda will be alright?”

“I’m sure she’ll be fine,” Cat replied.

“That was a rough ride up,” Indi said as Kass helped her jellyfish out of her harness. Much like Cat had, Indi remained lying on the ground. She rolled herself over to where Cat sat. “That’s going to be hard without a shield. And she’ll need to keep her leg off the wall.”

“Was it too fast?” Kass asked.

Indi thought about it for a moment. “Maybe a little slower would be good. For me it was fine, faster was better cause I don’t think I could have held the shield much longer. But I was afraid that if I dropped it, it was gonna hurt.”

Kass nodded. She repeated the untie, curl, and throw she’d done earlier, complete with a ‘rope’ shout before she released.

Cat considered climbing down and helping Amanda but she wasn’t sure she could handle another journey up that rock face.

Unlawfully taken from Royal Road, this story should be reported if seen on Amazon.

It took longer for Amanda too get herself sorted than it had Indi, and Cat was starting to worry she’d passed out or something when finally a voice shouted, “ready!”

Cat let out a breath she didn’t realise she’d been holding. It was loud enough that it drew Indi’s attention.

Indi caught the worried expression on Cat’s face and it immediately knocked away the positive feeling she’d had about making it to the top of the cliff. She stared out at the cliff wondering how Amanda was finding it, hoping she hadn’t caught her leg on anything.

Just like she’d promised, Kass was pulling slower this time. It was almost a crawl and so time seemed to drag on for ages before Amanda reached the top.

She seemed in better condition than Indi had when she finally appeared though. She had positioned herself side on to the wall, with her injured leg on the outer side and was using her other three limbs to keep herself from dragging against the rock too much. As she came over the top she pushed herself out with one forearm until she was about level with the ground and then did a little push up so she slid neatly over. It was much smoother than either Cat or Indi had done.

Indi cheered as Amanda finally came to a rest nearby.

Kass gave an audible sigh of relief.

Just like those before her, Amanda didn’t have the energy for anything beyond throwing her arms back on the ground behind her. She gave a laugh of relief in response to Indi’s cheer.

Cat didn’t share in their enthusiasm. She knew there was still a lot to be done. And she really was starting to feel it. As much as she knew it was partly the mushrooms her legs just didn’t want to work right now.

As Kass put away the rope no one said anything.

Amanda napped on the ground. Indi stared out at the view. Cat watched Kass, enjoying the rest while she could, but knowing that as soon as Kass was done packing up the rope they should be on their way.

Kass met Cat’s eyes once the rope was coiled, a questioning look in them. “Do you think we should make a stretcher?” she asked as her gaze shifted to Amanda.

Amanda opened her eyes at that and shook her head. “Just a stick should be fine and I can hobble down to our last camp at least.”

Kass glanced back at Cat. “We were thinking we’d try make our second campsite today if we could.”

Amanda sat up with a frown on her face. Eventually she nodded. “We should should rest for a bit first though, eat a proper meal, maybe some sleep, even just a couple hours.”

“If we stop we won’t make the next camp,” Cat said finally speaking.

“If we don’t rest we might not make the next camp either,” Amanda replied. “It’s still early, we can try for it today, camp a bit higher if we have to, in the middle of the woods even, a clearing’s not necessary but we need to rest first.”

“You can rest while we carry you,” Cat replied.

“We all need to rest,” Amanda gave Cat a firm look.

Cat didn’t look happy about it but she didn’t object.

“We can make a stretcher at the cave,” Kass suggested.

“After you rest.” Amanda gave her a sideways look that said there wasn’t going to be any debate on that.

Kass had opened her mouth to object but as she caught Amanda’s look she closed it and nodded instead.

“Alright, see any good sticks?” Amanda asked.

Cat got unsteadily to her feet, finding the throbbing had stopped and she had a bit more control than earlier. She joined Kass in looking for something Amanda could use as a crutch.

“You alright, Indi?” Amanda asked.

Indi, hadn’t moved and was still starting out at the forest beyond the cliff.

“It’s so beautiful,” she replied sounding like she was lost in a dream. “I just...” she trailed off, then turned to Amanda with a smile, “I’ll help find a stick.” She got to her feet eager and was seemingly full of energy, until she stumbled sideways, almost falling to the forest floor.

“Careful,” Amanda warned.

“Opps,” Indi grinned. “You know I think I’m getting some feeling back. Sort of.”

“Use that feeling to find a good stick.” Cat suggested from the forest.

Indi and Amanda shared a smile.

Just as Indi was about to enter the thicker part of the bush to look, Kass called, “found one.”

She returned holding a thick branch that was maybe a little taller than Amanda. It even had an almost handle like bit near one end which would have been perfect if Kass had been the one injured. Unfortunately Amanda was a little bit shorter. It would do well enough though.

Indi, who hadn’t wanted to be left out of the hunt, even though it was over, had disappeared into the bush to search for a stick anyway. She returned holding one that was taller and skinnier. “Will two help?” she asked.

Amanda laughed and held out a hand. “Yeah, actually, that’s quite good, helps with the balance.”

Indi grinned, pleased with herself.

“Alright,” Cat interrupted, reminding them that they needed to get moving. She was about to start off, only she wasn’t entirely sure which way to go. Were they south or north of the cave? She frowned and paused. “Which way?” she asked.

“That way,” Amanda pointed straight east. “Well, that way,” she pointed south-east, “and then that way if the slope is anything to go by.” She pointed north-east.

“How do you know?” Cat asked.

“Because.” Amanda pointed to the sun and then what seemed like different sections of the southern hills.

Cat frowned but didn’t ask again. Everything just looked like bush. Baz had tried to explain how to triangulate your position once but she’d never figured out how to do it accurately.

She glanced at Kass who quickly changed an amused smile to a serious expression. She turned and led the way down the hill.

Cat ignored her and nodded at the other two to go first.

Indi waited while Amanda adjusted her crutches, worried that if she went first herself, she’d feel pressured to keep up with Kass who had already disappeared down the hill, and she wasn’t sure she trusted herself not to trip on the way down.

“We can make a stretcher at the next camp using one of the sleeping bags and a couple long sticks. This one’s actually not bad,” Amanda said, nodding to the thicker stick as she hopped her way down over some roots. “But I can probably move like this some of the way too.”

“I was thinking I could just piggy back you, and Kass can carry the packs. It’ll give her some good magic practice,” Cat replied.

Amanda shook her head and paused for a brief breath at nearby tree. “A stretcher will be easier and it’s not too hard to set up and take down.”

“I can help,” Indi offered, “with the carrying.”

“I don’t think Amanda wants to be dropped,” Cat remarked.

Amanda gave a laugh at that but she neither argued with Cat nor reassured Indi.

Indi pouted.

They rounded a group of trees to find Kass waiting.

“This way,” Kass said pointing with a nod of her head.

Amanda eyed the other direction then looked where Kass had pointed. “That way?” she asked for confirmation.

“Yup, I scoped them both out, this way’s easier.” At that Kass turned tail and disappeared off down the path, until nothing but her short strawberry blonde hair could be seen through the gaps in the leaves.

The others followed.

They continued like that. Kass would disappear off down the hill, scoping out the way ahead and then reappear wherever there was a junction.

They made good time in reaching what seemed like almost the bottom of the hill, although Cat couldn’t be sure. They hadn’t been as high as she had expected.

It turned out to be a bit of a false bottom. As they continued down, the slope decreased substantially but it went on for quite awhile, never quite flattening out. Kass stayed with them for this bit as the corners had vanished and the space had opened out, although they were still surrounded by forest.

“I know where we are!” Indi exclaimed suddenly.

Cat was sure she was mistaken for she didn’t recognise any of it herself.

“We should be reaching the campsite just up ahead,” Kass confirmed.

“I knew it. I recognised the rock shape.” Indi explained with a glee that Cat found insufferable right now. Mostly she was just frustrated with herself for not knowing where they were. Being lost was not a useful skill.

Despite the nearness to their goal Amanda stopped and leaned against a nearby tree. “You go ahead. I’ll be there soon.”

Indi nodded and moved on through, eager to see camp again.

Cat rolled her eyes, stepped past Amanda and offered her back once more. “Hop on.”

Amanda hesitated only a moment before accepting the offer. She was relieved to finally rest her good leg.

When they got to the campsite they found Indi hugging her sleeping bag and digging into a bag of nuts. “I’ve never been so happy to eat scroggin,” she remarked as Cat and Amanda entered the clearing.

Amanda had to admit she was glad to see that cave again.

Kass had fished out the remains of the booze. She held up the wine in offering.

“Oh yes please,” Amanda remarked.

“No thank you,” Cat replied, objecting on behalf of Amanda as she helped Amanda down, “not for anyone who’s injured or has to carry injured people.”

“Oh a little won’t hurt,” Kass replied.

“Alcohol does not help healing,” Cat countered.

“Alcohol helps my mood which helps healing,” Amanda objected with a sly grin.

Kass gave Cat a pleading look.

Cat rolled her eyes expressing that she didn’t care and they could do what they wanted.

Amanda eagerly reached for the wine that Kass was holding out. Once Amanda had filled her cup and passed the bag back, Kass offered it to Indi.

Indi eyed it warily. “Mmm, I should probably eat first. Maybe in a bit, although it’ll probably just make me sleepy.”

“You can sleep if you want,” Amanda told her.

Indi nodded and with a mouthful of nuts replied, “soon.”

“We should probably cook some dinner... lunch? breakfast?” Cat suggested as she started getting back to her feet.

“I’ll do it,” Kass volunteered before Cat was fully up.

Cat sat back down, only too happy to let some one else take over the cooking.