The Rainy Day Trip
(Part VI)
By Saphron
Repudiation (ie: Disclaimer: Aren't thesauruses handy?) Anyhow, as a great philosopher once said, "nothing belongs to me, so don't sue!" ::Ahem:: Yes, well, I quite agree, and wish to add that everything except for the geography of the mountain (which I made up out of my own wee little head) belongs to Tamora Pierce.
A/N: The mountain is cool, I drew a little map and everything. Anybody know how I can possibly post my little map? It's entirely possible to navigate through the Tortallian Grimhold Mountains (grr, spellcheck wants me to change 'Tortall' to 'tortilla') without it, but needless to say it could help y'all be less confused. I don't have a scanner though (at least I don't think so) so I dunno. ::shrugs:: Oh well, y'all just have to do without it. Right, onto the story.
Despite the stench of rotting oceanic entrails, Kel still managed to get some sleep, surprisingly. She had convinced herself that if she was going to go fight an unascertained beast then she had better be well rested.
The party woke up, packed up camp, and left it there. They wouldn't need pots and pans to defeat the creature, unless of course they were planning on serving tea for their esteemed guests.
They grabbed their weapons; spears, lances, and javelins, swords, knifes and blades, axes, tomahawks, and hatchets, as well as anything else that could be used for bodily injury.
They marched silently to the salt-lake, single file and alert. The salt-lake was huge, (for a lake, not an ocean) it stretched for a few miles northeast east (that's a cross b/t northeast and east for all you navigator's out there, yes I meant to put two east's) before dipping over the side and being lost onto the horizon. Bordering it to the north were giant cliffs with sheer, vertical drops leading right into the water. I wouldn't want to be up there, that's for sure, Kel thought to herself.
Nothing important lay to the west, just some dry grass and bramble thickets.
To the south (were they had come up from) after the rocks and pine forest and behind some giant boulders, where the water met land was a tiny seashore beach, complete with pink sand and little tiny black pebbles. Behind the sandy seaside shore were giant sand dunes, complete with various creatures like crabs and hares, scuttling and hopping around. On the other side of the lost lake (to the east) lay some more mountains, all just as rocky and foreboding.
To briefly map out the mountain, first village at bottom, then pine forest, then the rocks, then a few boulders, some sand dunes, a sandy beach, the lake. Right, back to story.
Altogether the view was breathtaking, or would have been if the party members could have spared their breath long enough to gasp at the view instead of fighting a village-pillaging monster.
But they weren't there to sightsee so they soon left the boulders they were climbing over to go down and visit the shore. Gentle waves lapped at Kel's feet as she approached the waterline. She couldn't see any fish swimming around, but that was probably because where they were standing was pretty shallow.
Suddenly a giant shadow passed overhead, screeching loud enough to wake the dead. Raoul shouted some orders to back up back to the sand dunes and the rest of the party soon retreated. The shadow had disappeared though, as quickly as it had come, and soon the men (and Kel) stopped peaking over the edge of the sandy hills long enough to realize this.
Raoul immediately took out a short, golden colored tube, and then stretched it out until it was about two feet long. One side was bigger than the other, with a lense of glass attached. He peered through the small end and moved the tube around the entire perimeter of the lake, obviously searching for the shadow-beast.
The rest of the party all grumbled and complained about the sand that had gotten into their pants when they had dived behind the dunes. But they quite whining when Raoul spoke up. "Ok, listen up men," Kel glared at him, "er, people, I'm guessing that 'the beast' or whatever it is, is living in a cave on the side of those northern cliffs. Do you all see that ledge hanging over the water?" He pointed to a little ledge barley hanging a few feet over the side of the cliff, about five stories (fifty something feet or so) above the water. It was almost like a mini-platform, Kel observed. "Well, using my telescope I saw a shadow disappear into the cliff-side, so I'm guessing that's the dwelling of our mystery beast."
Kel groaned along with the rest of the party; how in the King's name were they supposed to get up that cliff? The beast, or beasts, had sure picked a great place for their home. It was high up, secluded, high up, recluse, high up, hard to reach, high up, safe, and most importantly, high up.
Nearly impossible to reach unless by flying, which, unfortunately, none of them could do.
"Damn, I knew I shoulda brought along my extra pair of wings!" Cleon said jokingly as he snapped his fingers in the air, "I accidentally left them in my dresser drawer."
***
~*Saphron*~
A/N Author fights urge to have a helicopter suddenly appear out of nowhere for connivance of her characters. No joke, I have no idea yet how I'm gunna get them up the cliff, any ideas? is this a mini-cliffhanger, hmm?-pun intended, laugh people, laugh.
A/A/N: Well that's it for part VI, I'd make it longer only I still haven't formulated a plan yet…voice in my head #1: that's bad, very bad. Voice #2 (who strangely reminds me of Lord Wyldon): Duh! What kind of author are you anyway? Honestly, you don't even have a plan! Me: Eh-he, sorry, I just couldn't think of one. Voice #2 (AKA: Stump-man): that's no excuse! Hurry up and think of one! And then drop and give me twenty! Me: Er, yes sir… *I drop to the ground and attempt (attempt being the key word) to do twenty pushups, only I can only do seven before I collapse unto the ground and declare that I will never get up again.* He barks at me some more, I log out of Microsoftword, um, go eat a bagel, (to replace all those *lost* calories) and then take a nap after my exhausting workout.
A/A/A/N: Ok peeps, once again thanks for reviewing and that sort of thing. (I've got some nice responses, and in answer to your questions, a) I'm still not sure whether or not this is going to be a kel/cleon fic or not. Originally I wasn't planning on it, but hey, you never know. b) er, yeah, about the bubble bath, um…you know your brother probably is right, but oh well. We can imagine, right? Right! c) There is no c, but you can't possibly have an 'a' and a 'b' without a 'c,' cos 'a,b,c,' sounds ever so much better.
A/A/A/A/N: Sorry, I know, I'm forever adding author notes. But I need to know have I completely destroyed this story line yet? Ever since part IV I've just been babbling away, with no clue where I'm going or what direction I'm heading in. The last three chapters have all been random ideas that suddenly popped up into my head. But now I'm kinda stuck in the mud (again, I know, sorry, this happens.) So if anyone has any ideas other then the chopper from the twenty-first century, pleez add 'em in the reviews. I'll give you full credit. Thanxs.