Sorry, but it's taken me awhile to get my other story updated. But
now I'm back and chapter six is the beginning of another adventure for our
heroes! I've put a lot of thought into this and am very excited about it,
so I hope that you all enjoy it! Hey if you haven't read my other story,
you should, it's quite heart stopping, but then again this one will be too
once more of it begins to unfold.
Chapter 6,
Avalanche!
Everyone awoke the next day and Sora grabbed the map to see where they had to go.
Sora: Hey guys, you can all climb trees really well can't you?
Kaoru: What's that got to do with anything?
Sora: Oh, well I just wanted to make sure that you all could climb fairly well because we may be doing a lot of it today.
Yahiko: We have to climb trees?
Sora: No, we have to climb a mountain.
Everyone: What!?!?!
Sora: Well, we could always try and fly over it, but I don't think any of us actually have wings.
Kaoru: Ok, enough sarcasm, how big of a mountain are we talking about?
Sora: Well, there's only one-way to find out now isn't there?
So they walked for a while until out of the forest and were quite shocked by what they saw, there in front of them was a mountain. It was big, really big, and snow lay draped about its peak like a cloak of winter.
Megumi: We have to climb that!!!!
Sora: Or like I said, you could always try and fly over it. Just make sure to let us know how it goes if that's what you decide to try and do in the end.
Megumi: Why can't we just go around it?
Sora: Because that will take time and that's the one thing we don't have!
Kenshin: Well, if we're going to get over that thing any time soon we had best start now, that we should.
They started out slow, scaling the sides of the steep mountain. They did have one advantage however. Sora's horses, whose hooves and bodies were made for this kind of work, walked ahead of everyone else, a rope attached to their necks and everyone else's waist. This way anyone who slipped, or fell wouldn't have to worry about getting hurt. The horses moved easily over the icy paths and the going was rather quick, that is, until it started snowing. The cold ripped at the small humans, stinging their faces and burning their lungs. It was cold and hard to see; only the horses were able to lead them now. But the horses new that the humans couldn't take such cold much longer and so lead them to a small cave where they could take shelter. Once inside the cave Sano lit a small fire using some tiny frozen shrubs he had found around the outside of the cave. Sora hadn't counted on the weather getting this bad, and if that fire went out, they might all freeze to death. They were too tired even to eat, but Sora forced them to at least drink something, or else they would only get weaker and be unable to continue their journey.
Megumi: Boy I wish I were as warm as those horses, they're having a field day in this weather!
Sora: We need to stay close together, the more body heat we share the better our chances of lasting out the night.
Yahiko: Whoa, you mean there's a chance we could all die tonight while we're sleeping?
Sora: (smiling bravely) There's also a good chance you could get run over by a carriage while crossing the street, but that doesn't mean you will does it?
Yahiko: I hate it when people answer my questions with more questions!
Sora: But do you take the time to contemplate the answers to the questions?
Yahiko: SEE!! There she goes again!
Sora: Hush little one, you need rest, now sleep!
And before he could yell at her for calling him little she threw a blanket over his head and turned away from him. Everyone simultaneously fell asleep and the horses lay close to them, adding more warmth to the huddled people. Sanakoo playfully nipped Kira's mane as she began to fall asleep and she nuzzled him back. Though cold, they still slept well enough, except for one time during the night when Megumi awoke. Kira stirred and watched her without being noticed. What Kira saw both intrigued her and made her want to snort in laughter, but she did her best to suppress herself. Megumi had awoken and was shivering, and she realized that the fire was almost out. She quietly found a few more scraps of bush and rekindled the small flame. In it's new light she could faintly see Sano's still form, he shivered as he slept and his blanket had begun to slide off of him. Megumi gently walked over to him and replaced it about his shoulders and then sat beside him. She watched the flames dance before her and began to dose off. Slowly but surely her head drooped to the side until it rested peacefully upon Sanosuke's shoulder. He began to shiver less with Megumi sitting next to him and Kira watched to pair sleep peacefully, she smiled inwardly at the sight of them and then inched closer to her own mate before dozing off.
Dawn came bleakly and gray for those in the cave, the storm had stopped, but they were still quite cold. Megumi was the first to awaken and she looked up at Sano and smiled to herself wanting to go back to sleep. But the sound of Sora rising from her own slumber caused Megumi to get to her feet and prepare for more trekking. After everyone was officially awake Sora made an announcement.
Sora: There are many mountain natives around this area, so I'm going to take just Sanakoo and scout around. You can all watch me from here if you like, I shouldn't be gone too long so just make yourselves comfortable.
She unloaded all of the packs from the horses back and since she didn't have a saddle or bridle with her she road him bareback. Using his mane to steer she guided the horse over rocks and through narrow passages. Upon reaching a flattened area she saw smoke in the distance, it was a native settlement. She needed to know how many were there just so she would know how many people she would need to sneak by when she brought her friends this way. As she neared the edge of the camp she began to count the number of men, there were quite a few, and they wouldn't be too happy if they new that foreigners were creeping about their mountain. She was almost done and was ready to go when things began to go astray. One of the stallions in the camp had caught her scent and he began making a great fuss. Sanakoo heard him bay out a challenge and got angry, and in an attempt to show the animal that he was no coward he charged head first into the camp. Complete havoc broke out as men ran for their horses and Sanakoo tried to fight the one that had called out the challenge. As her horse galloped into battle he reared and Sora lost her grip on his mane and fell off, badly bruising her entire backside. She was right in the middle of a fight between two heavy weight stallions, and their hooves stamped around her almost trampling her to death! Lucky for Sora though she was able to role away from them, but just as she did one of the men saw her and recognized that she was not one of his people. He whipped out a small, old-fashioned handgun, and with out thinking he fired off a shot. Everything froze, even the two brawling horses. The man's bullet hadn't mortally injured Sora but the shot had grazed her left shoulder and blood began to seep through her shirt, the problem now was that she couldn't draw her weapons without further injuring herself. The shot rang out all over the mountain, and caused Sora's friends to look up. They all ran out of the cave just in time to see the avalanche start on the mountain connected to theirs. Sora ran and leapt upon Sanakoo's back and he immediately charged away from the oncoming snow. Many other men had mounted their own horses and pursued Sora, but Sanakoo had a fine head start, and was much stronger that the rest of the horses. He looked back, and seeing the oncoming snow and other horses he smiled and neighed proudly, tossing his head towards the sky as he ran, not realizing that his riders condition was worsening with every moment. Sora clung grimly to him, gripping his mane with only one hand as she fought loosing consciousness. Sanakoo didn't view this as anything more than a new game, and he had a mind to win it, which was a good thing because if he stopped running now he and Sora would've been swallowed up into the oncoming white mass. Kenshin and the others, including Kira, watched the small white and red dot of Sanakoo and Sora racing down the side of the mountain, barely staying ahead of the oncoming snow, with open mouths. Like a hoard of white wolves the avalanche raced after the two, so close but never able to catch them. Slowly, one by one, each of the other riders were swallowed up, and now only Sanakoo and Sora were out in front, but what they couldn't see was that the bottom of the mountain lead to a cliff! Their friends looked on in horror as the two headed straight for the ravine. At the last minute they saw it, but only too late, Sanakoo skidded in a half circle as he tried to stop and was barely able to keep them from charging straight over the edge, only to rear up and get blasted by the oncoming avalanche! They were both flung over the cliff and the others were speechless as they watched the snow swallow up their friends! Megumi and Kaoru both let out a small wail, but other than that, they were speechless. What they all felt and feared now could not be put into words. Their new friends were gone and Sora had, had the map with her. That map was the only way for them to save the girls.
Sano: Do you think they're...
Yahiko: No! They can't be! We have to go down there and look for them; they just can't be dead.
Kaoru: We can't go on without that map either, let's get down there as fast as we can! Maybe they aren't dead and they fell on top of the snow!
Everything that had just happened had finally sunken into Kira's head, and she didn't like it. In fact she started pitching a fit and charged down the mountain. The others snapped into action and followed her, not able to keep up with her breakneck pace. Scaling the cliff was much easier than they had expected and it wasn't as steep as they had thought either, but they had a lot of searching to do, and so they all split up. Kira frantically sniffed the air, trying desperately to pick up the scent of Sora's perfume. The snow was making it hard for her though and the others watched sadly as they poked through the snow as the mare madly raced to and fro around the ravine. Darkness had fallen and they were beginning to give up all hope, but Kenshin now had a small torch with which he inspected the last few corners of the ravine.
Sora and Sanakoo had been lucky, they had fallen into a snowdrift and been knocked unconscious, but Sanakoo's warm breath had begun to melt the snow above them. As Kenshin looked about he noticed a small hole in the snow, and every few seconds another puff of cloudy vapor would come up through it. He frantically began to dig down into the snow until Sanakoo's head was visible. The horse began to come around and helped to dig itself and the still unconscious Sora out. Sanakoo was a bit shaken, but otherwise all right, it was Sora who was in critical condition. Kenshin's first reaction was that of pure joy, and he lifted Sora carefully out of the snow. But she was barely breathing and she was so cold that by rights she should've been dead. The only thing that had kept her from bleeding to death was the snow that had frozen around her wound.
Kenshin: (hugging Sora close to him and scooping her up) Hold on miss Sora, everything will be ok, just hold on.
He ran with her back to camp, Sanakoo limping slowly behind. The others were ecstatic as they saw Kenshin come running towards them with the two missing comrades. And everyone immediately set to work trying to rig up some shelters and a fire with which to keep Sora warm. Kira was so pleased to see them that she ran right into Sanakoo, knocking him over and nuzzling his face. The others slept little that night, taking turns to watch Sora and make sure that she was ok. She still had the map on her as well, which was an even better turn of events.
That night, Kenshin took the last watch over Sora, and the fire had started to dim and her body temperature began to drop again. They had nothing more with which to fuel the fire and so Kenshin did his best to keep it going. Finally he resorted to holding Sora in his arms as she slept, and he too began to doze off. She just barely lasted out the night, and Kenshin was half frozen in the morning since the fire had gone out. Just as dawn began to come, Sora awoke for a second, her vision was still fuzzy, but she could recognize Kenshin. Her head rested against his chest, and she looked up at him and smiled, the rhythm of his heart had begun to pull her back into sleep, and she pressed closer to him for warmth as she drifted off again. Everyone took it easy that day, and by mid afternoon Sora was awake, but still very cold. She couldn't bring herself to eat anything, but Megumi had been able to boil some water so at least Sora would have something warm to drink. Sora had wanted to get going as soon as she woke up, but the others told her she was insane.
Sora: Really I feel fine, we should get going, those men won't wait forever for us to come and rescue the girls.
She tried to stand, but even leaning against one of the rocks she only got halfway up before collapsing onto the ground. The rest of the day she was quite moody, she was not one to lie around and be taken care of, she wanted to get better and get better now.
Sano: You would think she would like to have people wait on her all day, but no, she's got to keep on going, I swear she's going to bust an artery or something!
Yahiko: Then you tell her to lie and rest for one more day.
Sano: If I did that I probably would end up getting my head bitten off. Apparently the snow had no effect on her spirit.
Megumi: She definitely is a little spitfire, and amazingly stubborn.
Yahiko: I think she's just thick headed.
Kaoru: Noooo that would be you.
Kenshin: Now calm down everyone we shouldn't pick on each other like this that we shouldn't!
The rest of the day was spent getting ready to leave the very next morning because Sora was healing rapidly and her temper wasn't getting any better. Sora hated taking medicine, and so refused to take anything for the pain in her shoulder, which left her rather grumpy. They did manage to get a few laughs out of her though towards the end of the day as she began to calm down. They had managed to find a few more things to burn in their fire that night, and so they once again slept close together for warmth. As the others began to drift off, Sora went and sat beside Kenshin.
Sora: Thank you for helping to keep me alive last night.
Kenshin: Oh but miss Sora, any of us would've done the same,
Sora: Well this time it was you, and I just wanted to say thanks! You know, I don't think hanging around you guys is such a safe idea anymore. It definitely isn't any good for my health! I mean, so far, I've been poisoned and suffered a knife wound, gotten shot in the shoulder, fallen off of a mountain, and almost fallen into a river!
Kenshin: (chuckling) Well, you do have a point there. But you're very welcome, that you are, and I believe that we're all just glad that you're all right.
Sora: (she yawned as she laughed softly) We're, or you're glad that I'm all right?
Kenshin: (obviously perplexed now that she had said this a few times before) What is that supposed to mean,
But she had already fallen asleep, and her head leaned gently against his shoulder. Kenshin looked at her and smiled, he would have to ask her later.
Hehe, I love writing stuff like this! Things are going to really get dangerous in our next chapter, because now that our friends can't make it back up the cliff, they'll have to go through the ravine! I would say things were really going to get hot in a bit, but since they're on a mountain, I doubt things will warm up too much for our friends (temperature wise).
Chapter 6,
Avalanche!
Everyone awoke the next day and Sora grabbed the map to see where they had to go.
Sora: Hey guys, you can all climb trees really well can't you?
Kaoru: What's that got to do with anything?
Sora: Oh, well I just wanted to make sure that you all could climb fairly well because we may be doing a lot of it today.
Yahiko: We have to climb trees?
Sora: No, we have to climb a mountain.
Everyone: What!?!?!
Sora: Well, we could always try and fly over it, but I don't think any of us actually have wings.
Kaoru: Ok, enough sarcasm, how big of a mountain are we talking about?
Sora: Well, there's only one-way to find out now isn't there?
So they walked for a while until out of the forest and were quite shocked by what they saw, there in front of them was a mountain. It was big, really big, and snow lay draped about its peak like a cloak of winter.
Megumi: We have to climb that!!!!
Sora: Or like I said, you could always try and fly over it. Just make sure to let us know how it goes if that's what you decide to try and do in the end.
Megumi: Why can't we just go around it?
Sora: Because that will take time and that's the one thing we don't have!
Kenshin: Well, if we're going to get over that thing any time soon we had best start now, that we should.
They started out slow, scaling the sides of the steep mountain. They did have one advantage however. Sora's horses, whose hooves and bodies were made for this kind of work, walked ahead of everyone else, a rope attached to their necks and everyone else's waist. This way anyone who slipped, or fell wouldn't have to worry about getting hurt. The horses moved easily over the icy paths and the going was rather quick, that is, until it started snowing. The cold ripped at the small humans, stinging their faces and burning their lungs. It was cold and hard to see; only the horses were able to lead them now. But the horses new that the humans couldn't take such cold much longer and so lead them to a small cave where they could take shelter. Once inside the cave Sano lit a small fire using some tiny frozen shrubs he had found around the outside of the cave. Sora hadn't counted on the weather getting this bad, and if that fire went out, they might all freeze to death. They were too tired even to eat, but Sora forced them to at least drink something, or else they would only get weaker and be unable to continue their journey.
Megumi: Boy I wish I were as warm as those horses, they're having a field day in this weather!
Sora: We need to stay close together, the more body heat we share the better our chances of lasting out the night.
Yahiko: Whoa, you mean there's a chance we could all die tonight while we're sleeping?
Sora: (smiling bravely) There's also a good chance you could get run over by a carriage while crossing the street, but that doesn't mean you will does it?
Yahiko: I hate it when people answer my questions with more questions!
Sora: But do you take the time to contemplate the answers to the questions?
Yahiko: SEE!! There she goes again!
Sora: Hush little one, you need rest, now sleep!
And before he could yell at her for calling him little she threw a blanket over his head and turned away from him. Everyone simultaneously fell asleep and the horses lay close to them, adding more warmth to the huddled people. Sanakoo playfully nipped Kira's mane as she began to fall asleep and she nuzzled him back. Though cold, they still slept well enough, except for one time during the night when Megumi awoke. Kira stirred and watched her without being noticed. What Kira saw both intrigued her and made her want to snort in laughter, but she did her best to suppress herself. Megumi had awoken and was shivering, and she realized that the fire was almost out. She quietly found a few more scraps of bush and rekindled the small flame. In it's new light she could faintly see Sano's still form, he shivered as he slept and his blanket had begun to slide off of him. Megumi gently walked over to him and replaced it about his shoulders and then sat beside him. She watched the flames dance before her and began to dose off. Slowly but surely her head drooped to the side until it rested peacefully upon Sanosuke's shoulder. He began to shiver less with Megumi sitting next to him and Kira watched to pair sleep peacefully, she smiled inwardly at the sight of them and then inched closer to her own mate before dozing off.
Dawn came bleakly and gray for those in the cave, the storm had stopped, but they were still quite cold. Megumi was the first to awaken and she looked up at Sano and smiled to herself wanting to go back to sleep. But the sound of Sora rising from her own slumber caused Megumi to get to her feet and prepare for more trekking. After everyone was officially awake Sora made an announcement.
Sora: There are many mountain natives around this area, so I'm going to take just Sanakoo and scout around. You can all watch me from here if you like, I shouldn't be gone too long so just make yourselves comfortable.
She unloaded all of the packs from the horses back and since she didn't have a saddle or bridle with her she road him bareback. Using his mane to steer she guided the horse over rocks and through narrow passages. Upon reaching a flattened area she saw smoke in the distance, it was a native settlement. She needed to know how many were there just so she would know how many people she would need to sneak by when she brought her friends this way. As she neared the edge of the camp she began to count the number of men, there were quite a few, and they wouldn't be too happy if they new that foreigners were creeping about their mountain. She was almost done and was ready to go when things began to go astray. One of the stallions in the camp had caught her scent and he began making a great fuss. Sanakoo heard him bay out a challenge and got angry, and in an attempt to show the animal that he was no coward he charged head first into the camp. Complete havoc broke out as men ran for their horses and Sanakoo tried to fight the one that had called out the challenge. As her horse galloped into battle he reared and Sora lost her grip on his mane and fell off, badly bruising her entire backside. She was right in the middle of a fight between two heavy weight stallions, and their hooves stamped around her almost trampling her to death! Lucky for Sora though she was able to role away from them, but just as she did one of the men saw her and recognized that she was not one of his people. He whipped out a small, old-fashioned handgun, and with out thinking he fired off a shot. Everything froze, even the two brawling horses. The man's bullet hadn't mortally injured Sora but the shot had grazed her left shoulder and blood began to seep through her shirt, the problem now was that she couldn't draw her weapons without further injuring herself. The shot rang out all over the mountain, and caused Sora's friends to look up. They all ran out of the cave just in time to see the avalanche start on the mountain connected to theirs. Sora ran and leapt upon Sanakoo's back and he immediately charged away from the oncoming snow. Many other men had mounted their own horses and pursued Sora, but Sanakoo had a fine head start, and was much stronger that the rest of the horses. He looked back, and seeing the oncoming snow and other horses he smiled and neighed proudly, tossing his head towards the sky as he ran, not realizing that his riders condition was worsening with every moment. Sora clung grimly to him, gripping his mane with only one hand as she fought loosing consciousness. Sanakoo didn't view this as anything more than a new game, and he had a mind to win it, which was a good thing because if he stopped running now he and Sora would've been swallowed up into the oncoming white mass. Kenshin and the others, including Kira, watched the small white and red dot of Sanakoo and Sora racing down the side of the mountain, barely staying ahead of the oncoming snow, with open mouths. Like a hoard of white wolves the avalanche raced after the two, so close but never able to catch them. Slowly, one by one, each of the other riders were swallowed up, and now only Sanakoo and Sora were out in front, but what they couldn't see was that the bottom of the mountain lead to a cliff! Their friends looked on in horror as the two headed straight for the ravine. At the last minute they saw it, but only too late, Sanakoo skidded in a half circle as he tried to stop and was barely able to keep them from charging straight over the edge, only to rear up and get blasted by the oncoming avalanche! They were both flung over the cliff and the others were speechless as they watched the snow swallow up their friends! Megumi and Kaoru both let out a small wail, but other than that, they were speechless. What they all felt and feared now could not be put into words. Their new friends were gone and Sora had, had the map with her. That map was the only way for them to save the girls.
Sano: Do you think they're...
Yahiko: No! They can't be! We have to go down there and look for them; they just can't be dead.
Kaoru: We can't go on without that map either, let's get down there as fast as we can! Maybe they aren't dead and they fell on top of the snow!
Everything that had just happened had finally sunken into Kira's head, and she didn't like it. In fact she started pitching a fit and charged down the mountain. The others snapped into action and followed her, not able to keep up with her breakneck pace. Scaling the cliff was much easier than they had expected and it wasn't as steep as they had thought either, but they had a lot of searching to do, and so they all split up. Kira frantically sniffed the air, trying desperately to pick up the scent of Sora's perfume. The snow was making it hard for her though and the others watched sadly as they poked through the snow as the mare madly raced to and fro around the ravine. Darkness had fallen and they were beginning to give up all hope, but Kenshin now had a small torch with which he inspected the last few corners of the ravine.
Sora and Sanakoo had been lucky, they had fallen into a snowdrift and been knocked unconscious, but Sanakoo's warm breath had begun to melt the snow above them. As Kenshin looked about he noticed a small hole in the snow, and every few seconds another puff of cloudy vapor would come up through it. He frantically began to dig down into the snow until Sanakoo's head was visible. The horse began to come around and helped to dig itself and the still unconscious Sora out. Sanakoo was a bit shaken, but otherwise all right, it was Sora who was in critical condition. Kenshin's first reaction was that of pure joy, and he lifted Sora carefully out of the snow. But she was barely breathing and she was so cold that by rights she should've been dead. The only thing that had kept her from bleeding to death was the snow that had frozen around her wound.
Kenshin: (hugging Sora close to him and scooping her up) Hold on miss Sora, everything will be ok, just hold on.
He ran with her back to camp, Sanakoo limping slowly behind. The others were ecstatic as they saw Kenshin come running towards them with the two missing comrades. And everyone immediately set to work trying to rig up some shelters and a fire with which to keep Sora warm. Kira was so pleased to see them that she ran right into Sanakoo, knocking him over and nuzzling his face. The others slept little that night, taking turns to watch Sora and make sure that she was ok. She still had the map on her as well, which was an even better turn of events.
That night, Kenshin took the last watch over Sora, and the fire had started to dim and her body temperature began to drop again. They had nothing more with which to fuel the fire and so Kenshin did his best to keep it going. Finally he resorted to holding Sora in his arms as she slept, and he too began to doze off. She just barely lasted out the night, and Kenshin was half frozen in the morning since the fire had gone out. Just as dawn began to come, Sora awoke for a second, her vision was still fuzzy, but she could recognize Kenshin. Her head rested against his chest, and she looked up at him and smiled, the rhythm of his heart had begun to pull her back into sleep, and she pressed closer to him for warmth as she drifted off again. Everyone took it easy that day, and by mid afternoon Sora was awake, but still very cold. She couldn't bring herself to eat anything, but Megumi had been able to boil some water so at least Sora would have something warm to drink. Sora had wanted to get going as soon as she woke up, but the others told her she was insane.
Sora: Really I feel fine, we should get going, those men won't wait forever for us to come and rescue the girls.
She tried to stand, but even leaning against one of the rocks she only got halfway up before collapsing onto the ground. The rest of the day she was quite moody, she was not one to lie around and be taken care of, she wanted to get better and get better now.
Sano: You would think she would like to have people wait on her all day, but no, she's got to keep on going, I swear she's going to bust an artery or something!
Yahiko: Then you tell her to lie and rest for one more day.
Sano: If I did that I probably would end up getting my head bitten off. Apparently the snow had no effect on her spirit.
Megumi: She definitely is a little spitfire, and amazingly stubborn.
Yahiko: I think she's just thick headed.
Kaoru: Noooo that would be you.
Kenshin: Now calm down everyone we shouldn't pick on each other like this that we shouldn't!
The rest of the day was spent getting ready to leave the very next morning because Sora was healing rapidly and her temper wasn't getting any better. Sora hated taking medicine, and so refused to take anything for the pain in her shoulder, which left her rather grumpy. They did manage to get a few laughs out of her though towards the end of the day as she began to calm down. They had managed to find a few more things to burn in their fire that night, and so they once again slept close together for warmth. As the others began to drift off, Sora went and sat beside Kenshin.
Sora: Thank you for helping to keep me alive last night.
Kenshin: Oh but miss Sora, any of us would've done the same,
Sora: Well this time it was you, and I just wanted to say thanks! You know, I don't think hanging around you guys is such a safe idea anymore. It definitely isn't any good for my health! I mean, so far, I've been poisoned and suffered a knife wound, gotten shot in the shoulder, fallen off of a mountain, and almost fallen into a river!
Kenshin: (chuckling) Well, you do have a point there. But you're very welcome, that you are, and I believe that we're all just glad that you're all right.
Sora: (she yawned as she laughed softly) We're, or you're glad that I'm all right?
Kenshin: (obviously perplexed now that she had said this a few times before) What is that supposed to mean,
But she had already fallen asleep, and her head leaned gently against his shoulder. Kenshin looked at her and smiled, he would have to ask her later.
Hehe, I love writing stuff like this! Things are going to really get dangerous in our next chapter, because now that our friends can't make it back up the cliff, they'll have to go through the ravine! I would say things were really going to get hot in a bit, but since they're on a mountain, I doubt things will warm up too much for our friends (temperature wise).