She picked up the rope, looping it around her body. Rykon left Ajax to glare at the mountain alone, trying to make it flat with his eyes. I don’t think it was going to work, but more power to him. He barked out over his shoulder, “Then I’m taking the weapons with me and that’s final.” I looked as I saw Emerald roll her eyes but she didn't say anything as he moved her two swords over to his pile.
Rykon moved in next to Emerald, silently moving her hands away from the rope and out to her sides as he took the rope and started to loop it around her body in a more even way that would be easier to haul up there.
I watched as he gave her stolen glances, her breath coming out faster when his eyes connected with hers, watching him help her. Soon it turned really sensual, and I was getting hot and bothered by just watching it. The repetitive motion of tying someone up flashed in my mind and I wanted in on that action. Whether it was me being tied or her, I didn’t really care.
“Soooo.” I slid up next to Rykon as he was looping the last loop. “Are we going to have a three-way with rope or what?”
Rykon’s hands paused while Emerald’s face got flush. Yes, that was perfect. The two of them being shy and timid, I think I liked this game.
Rykon was the first to talk. “Shut up, Zay.”
I elbowed Emerald as she lowered her hands now that Rykon was done. “Admit it. You like it. You liked the idea of being a little tied up?”
Rykon rolled his eyes and turned away, saying he had enough of me, but when I looked at Emerald with her stoic face, she turned and winked at me, immediately headed towards the mountainside.
Oh, my gods! She just winked at me. Did I dream that? No. No, she definitely meant it… but what did it mean, exactly? Was she down to being tied up? Down for the threesome? Down for me being tied up? So many questions flooded my brain as the little minx left me there in a tailspin of thoughts and possibilities.
While I was going around positions and thrust movability in my head, I heard Ajax call out, “Be careful, Emerald! If you fall, I am going to be very pissed at you!”
My eyes snapped up to the location she was at on the steep rock side, already fifty feet up, with nothing to help her but the grip she had with her climbing claws and feet. What the fuck? That was super fucking dangerous.
I scurried up next to Rykon and Ajax, who were watching intently. I barely heard her volley back. “If I fall, I’ll be dead so you can do whatever you want.” All that did was make Ajax grind his teeth so hard I thought they were going to break.
“Why the hell did you guys let her do that?” My accusing voice matched the worry in my eyes as I pointed up at her, looking back and forth between her and them. There were so many possibilities of this going very wrong.
They both glared at me but said nothing as they heard a rock fall down and they quickly looked back up to where Emerald was, holding their breath that it wouldn’t be her coming down next.
It took a few hours, a lot of holding our breath, pacing, looking up and cursing, but as soon as we saw the end of the rope land about twenty feet from the bottom, we all took a collective sigh of relief. Less than an hour later, Emerald was rappelling down the side of the mountain, using the rope for stability but pushing off with her feet and letting gravity help her come down.
Once she got to the end, she looked down like she was going to jump, but three screams of “No!” She shook her head in exasperation and gripped the rocks again, climbing down safely the rest of the way.
“Alright. We need to get going. Who’s next?” Emerald came over to us and Rykon lifted his hand and headed over to the rope.
“Anything I need to watch out for?”
She thought for a second, “When you get about halfway there’s a split in the rock formation, take the right side up. It has some natural grooves that’s easier to grasp.”
He nodded as he went to the bottom of the rope, bent over and grabbed some dirt and rubbed it into his hands before he tied the end of the rope to the brown leather harness on his body. I turned and looked at Ajax, who had a harness on as well.
I pointed to them. “Am I supposed to have one of those on? How did everyone know to bring one?” I was really not prepared for this.
Rykon called out from the start of his climb, “I knew we were going to the shrieking mountains and I brought mine just in case.”
“I brought mine because I didn’t know what the badlands were going to be like and it was light enough to shove at the bottom of my pack.” Ajax said as he watched Rykon.
Emerald dug into her bag and pulled one out. “And I thought you would fit better in mine.” I let go of the rising panic that I felt. I didn’t think of this as a possibility. I’m glad that Emerald was extra prepared. Then I noticed she didn’t have a second one.
“What about you?” I whispered, not wanting to get Ajax more agitated than he already was. She came over and handed the harness to me, expecting me to put it on myself, but I do not know how to work this thing and I just stared at it like it was a bug with seventeen legs.
She snatched it out of my hands and got down on the floor, prompting me to put my feet into the two holes. She shimmied it up my legs and over my hips. As she was tightening the straps, she whispered, “I’m just going to solo climb like I did when I got the rope up.” I opened my mouth to argue, but she shook her head. “We don’t have time and I already did it once. I know where the proper hand holds are now, so I should go faster. Also, I will head up with you to guide you up.” When she said it like that, she made it sound so easy, but I didn’t think it was that easy.
As soon as the rope came down again, Ajax started his climb. I was starting to get nervous, but Emerald kept telling me I was going to be fine with her by my side and I believed her. When the rope came down again, I figured that if both of them did it, then I could do it too. I tugged on my bag, watching her loop hers across her body before she turned to me.
“Come on. We need to climb up a little and I will tie the rope to the harness.” She took out those vicious looking claws and pointed to the rocks where I needed to start. I picked up some dirt just like Rykon and rubbed my hands together. Was this for luck? Is there a reason I’m making myself dirtier?
I put my hands on the holding spots I saw both of them use and I climbed up a few feet, already feeling how weird this was. I took a deep breath.You can do this, Zay. You need to do this.I could feel my courage depleting as I looked up at the daunting task. I needed motivation.
Emerald came up next to me. “Just a little more and I can tie the rope.”
