This is my first installment of the 100 themes challenge! I hope to finish it within 365 days. Wish me luck and happy reading!
Theme: On Top of the World
Main Character(s): Tucker
Rating: K+
Genre(s): adventure
Summary: Tucker decides to show Wash, and himself, that he's tougher than he seems by climbing an extremely high cliff wall
Tucker couldn't believe he was doing this, there was no way he would survive. He had no gear, no gloves and no rope either, he was going to fall to his doom. Tucker gulped and did his best not to look down as he scaled the cliff side. He just had to make it, and he would of course, he wasn't gonna stop now. Tucker took a deep breath and heaved himself up, reaching his right hand up and grabbing a hold onto the rock ledge, lodging his foot into a small hole so he could pull himself up. His hands stung like hellfire but he hadn't had any time to look at them, but once he sat on this ledge he'd take a look. He reached his left hand up and tried to grab a hold, but he just couldn't seem to find one and his muscles were getting tired. Another deep breath and Tucker pushed himself up onto his toes so he could grab on, grinning when he did.
"FUCK!" Tucker exclaimed as his foot lost its resting place in the hole, only his hands supporting him now. "Shitshitshitshit, not good!" Tucker braced his feet against the wall as best he could and resisted the urge his brain gave him to look down and behind him at the height. "Come on, Lev, come on." If you're going to use all your strength at once to do something, make sure it counts. You miss, you're dead. Tucker took Wash's words into account and took a deep breath before pushing up with his feet and using his hands to pull himself up. His feet hopped up once and pushed once more, throwing him up onto the ledge with his legs dangling halfway off the edge. He pulled himself across until he was sitting up against the cliff wall. "Holy shit."
Tucker carefully looked over to the edge at all the climbing he had done, seeing that he was far over halfway done, probably even three quarters. Tucker chuckled and let out a relieved breath. He couldn't celebrate just yet of course, there was still a long way to go, but hey, he made it this far right? Tucker looked down at his hands and hissed at all the blood, that's what he got for not having the proper equipment. He sighed and pulled off his backpack, pulling out a weak excuse for bandages and did a sloppy patch up job like Wash had shown him. Once done he stuffed it back into his backpack and pulled out his water bottle, downing some before putting it back. He then put his backpack back on his shoulders before standing and looking around for a proper ledge to get started on for the rest of the way. With a good grip and a foothold, he was off again.
AΩ
Tucker rested a foot on the old, death tree jutting out of the wall and got a good grip on a root of another, hoisting himself up with ease as he used the tree root as a makeshift rope. It was pretty thick so he had confidence it wouldn't snap on him, but the grip was hurting his hands like hell. But he had to bulldoze through it, just like he had been taught. He pushed up with his feet, his legs screaming out in pain along with his arms as he pulled himself up the rock wall. When the root went into the wall and reached up and grabbed the ledge, taking a deep breath as he wedged his foot into the rocks, reaching his other hand up quickly to latch on next to the other one. With a final push and pull he hoisted himself up to the top of the cliff wall. He laughed a bit before rolling onto his back.
"Oh man, my everything hurts," Tucker muttered under his breath. He let out a soft sigh before getting to his feet and looking over the edge a bit. His jaw almost dropped when he saw the forest and the rivers stretch out before him, the sun shining down and making it all look amazing, the lake in the distance passed Valhalla glistening in the light. He could just barely make out the bases in the far off distance and he wondered if any of them were curious if he made it. Tucker let that thought flee and he looked around him, all the trees were so small but at the same time he could see how big everything was, he could even see all the way over to the ship port that was almost a whole days walk from the canyon! A grin spread across his face and Tucker lept into the air. "WHOO-HOO!" He spun around and the grin never left his face. "I'm on top of the world bitches! How do ya like me now! YES!" Tucker laughed loudly and let himself fall backwards onto the grass as he laughed his heart out. "That was awesome!"
Tucker let his body rest for a bit before picking himself back up and walking off along the cliff wall until he came to the drop off point. He climbed up the tree near the cliff edge, careful not to step on any faulty branches, how dumb would it be if he climbed all the way just to fall from a tree? Tucker chuckled at the very thought. When he reached the top of the tree he fond the zip line that lead all the way down, now he just had to set it up the way he had been shown, which wasn't actually all that hard. He leaned against the tree and pulled out the small latch that would attach to his backpack, which was also a makeshift harness so he wouldn't fall. He took his backpack off and attached the two together, making sure it was secure before attaching it to the line.
"All right, easy does it," Tucker murmured to himself as he went one branch higher, putting the backpack back on and strapping himself in properly. Once sure that it was going to work like he had planned, Tucker took a deep breath. "Well, here goes." He pushed off and yelped as his head hit a branch. "Ouch!" But other than that hiccup it went fine, he hung horizontally as he zoomed down back towards the ground, grinning the whole way as the wind whooshed passed his face and made his eyes water, the landscape zooming under him as it came closer and closer. "Almost, almost." Tucker shifted his weight back so that he stood vertical, his shift causing himself to lose momentum enough to grab onto the platform and stop. "Whoo, easy peasy." He grinned widely as he unhooked himself. He couldn't wait to tell the others!
And that's a wrap!
Thanks for reading, please review and have a bow chicka bow wow day~
Petchricor, QotG, signing off ;)
