6. thorn
1770
"I do not understand how you can move through the trees in such a manner." Marceline said from her spot on the ground, her head craned back to look up at Ratonhnhaké:ton who was scaling the tree much faster than Marceline thought was humanly possible.
Ratonhnhaké:ton looked back down at her, "Try it."
Marceline assessed the tree, finding the knots in the bark would be suitable for grabbing and using as leverage. She was a trained member of the Assassin's guild; she could climb any given building, but trees were an entirely different kind of structure. As she started to clamber up the tree, Ratonhnhaké:ton began to instruct her as to where to grab and where to place her feet. Within a minute or two, she made it to the branch where he was perched.
"Well, that was not so bad." She said.
Ratonhnhaké:ton chuckled slightly, "Now try making it to that cliff over there without touching the ground." He ordered, pointing to a cliff that was a little over a hundred yards away.
She stared at him blankly, "You have got to be kidding me." With a heavy sigh, she began shifting from branch to branch, nearly falling several times when she misjudged the distance between the trees.
Ratonhnhaké:ton was watching intently, noting the movement of her body and how unused to the instability of the trees she was, but she would have to get used to it. They were not in Paris with its expansive number of buildings to amble upon. The homestead was much different and it was far quicker and safer to travel through the trees, hidden from the eyes of any potential enemy.
Marceline was nearly to the cliff now and she felt herself swell with a tiny bit of pride at having almost completed Ratonhnhaké:ton's task for her. That minuscule fragment of pride was quickly crushed as the branch beneath her foot snapped. Her first instinct was to grab at something but when she reached her hand out and found nothing there, her next instinct was to close her eyes and brace herself for the impact.
She was almost relieved to have landed on a bush that was conveniently growing beneath the tree she had fallen from which softened her landing, however, not so conveniently were the thorns that were now burying themselves into her skin.
She looked up, seeing Ratonhnhaké:ton standing over her with a worried expression that eased slightly seeing she was not too badly injured.
"Help?" She asked, afraid to move or have the thorns embed themselves deeper into her skin.
Once Ratonhnhaké:ton had pulled Marceline out of the bush, the next few hours were spent picking the sharp spines off of her and Ratonhnhaké:ton telling her she was a child for making such a big fuss as they did so.