Authoress Here. FINALLY!
Sorry, finals have drained me for awhile, so I've been absent from Fanfiction. But Now I'm BACK! (Wohoo!) Thanks to the band L'ArcEnCiel for the inspiration and the chapter title.
No Mountain High Enough
Chapter Six: Misstep
Mizuki's small egg-shaped alarm clock started beeping mutely, and she opened her eyes groggily. It was five forty-five, only fifteen minutes before Sano's alarm clock woke the others.
She slipped stealthily from her sleeping bag, and dressed as speedily as she could while staying silent. Running fingers through her hair to straighten it, Mizuki searched the area surrounding their campsite for firewood. The meadow had a few trees dotting the otherwise smooth grass, and Mizuki trekked to one and hunted around its base for twigs and fallen branches. Gathering what she found, Mizuki made her way back to the others.
She had just started arranging the few branches she had gathered over the remains of last night's fire when the shrill beeping of Sano's alarm sounded. She jumped at the sound of it.
"Morning." Nakatsu grunted, rubbing his eyes sleepily. Kayashima sat up, and Sekime gave a huge yawn. Noe groaned, pulling his sleeping bag over his head. Sano crawled out of his sleeping bag, squinting at Mizuki sleepily.
"What are you doing up?"
His voice had the soft, scratchy quality of being not-quite-awake, and Mizuki loved it.
"Oh, just excited. Woke up about fifteen minutes ago, and thought it was pointless to go back to sleep just to get woken up again."
Sano nodded knowingly. Fifteen minutes, and she could get dressed in privacy. Smart girl. "Here, let me help you with the fire."
"No!" Nakatsu sprang to his feet. "I'll help you, Ashiya."
In another twenty minutes, the group had a small fire going and was sterilizing the water they had taken from the stream yesterday. Then, they poured a little of it on the fire, used dirt to smother the embers, and were off again, all munching on cereal bars. They paused briefly to make the mandatory call to the next checkpoint, and then Sekime tucked the walkie-talkie into his backpack.
"Oh, good, another wooded bit." Sekime cheered as they neared a line of trees. "All this meadow was making me nervous."
"Nervous?" Noe looked quizzically at his roommate.
Sekime grinned. "You never know when Kagurazaka is going to appear from across the meadow and rip us apart!"
The group dissolved in laughter, walking quickly into the forest. The light had barely begun to filter through the ceiling of foliage.
"You make Kagurazaka sound like an oni!" (1) Kayashima snickered.
"He's ugly enough to be one," Nakatsu agreed.
"And what about that Tsubasa character?" Mizuki asked, grinning. "He looked ready to sprout horns at any second."
"I know!" Sekime announced. "They're a couple, and they're oni together."
More laughter greeted this, and Sekime, encouraged by the success of his ridiculous statement, capered forewords, singing a child's verse about oni at the top of his lungs. Kayashima knew the words and sang along, and Noe was so caught up in giggles he could hardly keep standing. Mizuki was doing an impression of Kagurazaka sprouting horns, and Nakatsu was laughing heartily at her silliness. Sano was trying hard not to smile, and to stay focused on the race. So, when Sekime suddenly disappeared, only Sano reacted first.
"SEKIME!" Sano shoved past Kayashima and Noe, only to stop short at a deep fissure, hidden by trees and deep underbrush. He nearly overbalanced, but Kayashima caught his arm before he fell.
"Sekime, can you hear me?"
There was no answer, and the silence was deafening.
Mizuki stared down, trying to spot their teammate, but the not-yet-risen sun cast shadows over the fissure, making it impossible to see the bottom. Mizuki dropped her backpack, sat down with her legs over the edge, and found a foothold. Before she could lower herself down, Nakatsu caught her arm.
"Whaddyou think you're doing?" Nakatsu demanded. He was answered by Noe, Kayashima, and even Sano copying her, finding footholds and starting the descent.
"We gotta go and make sure Sekime is okay," Mizuki began to climb down once more, and reluctantly Nakatsu let her. He moved over to find room for himself, and started.
"Hey guys, look at this!" He dropped to his knees, and gingerly fished out a thick piece of rope, connected to several sturdy-looking planks, which rattled and clanked on the rock walls of the sink. "There was a bridge here… hang on…"
He drew out the rest of it, staring in confusion at the cleanly-cut rope ends. "It was cut!"
The others stopped climbing briefly. "What?"
"There was a bridge, and somebody cut it." Nakatsu held up one sawed-off end as evidence. "Some sons of bitc-"
"Nakatsu, forget it right now," Sano interrupted. "And let the bridge back down. We can use it as a ladder."
Nakatsu lowered the severed bridge back down, and started descending first, the others following quickly.
"Sekime!" Mizuki's voice sounded unnaturally high with fright. "Sekime, can you hear me?-!"
There was no reply. The pressed on and soon a huddled shape in the middle of the wide gorge-floor was apparent, even in the dim light.
"Sekime!"
He appeared unconscious, and a tiny cut on his forehead, surrounded by a quickly-coloring bruise, told of his fall. His leg was bent strangely beneath him, and his hiking backpack was ripped and torn, cut by the rocks.
"His neck looks okay," Nakatsu reported, having knelt to check Sekime out. He's breathing, and his pulse is okay. I think we can move him, if we're careful with his leg."
Sano and Nakatsu deposited Sekime gently on the ground, flat on his back. He groaned, but didn't come around, when they had to move his leg. Nakatsu and Noe inspected it, Noe's face as white as a sheet.
"Okay," Nakatsu heaved a breath, looking slightly sick. "We've got to immobilize the leg, and elevate it. We need a splint."
"We could use one of the planks closer to the ground." Kayashima said immediately. "I'll get it."
""Good." Nakatsu bent his face downwards as if inspecting the leg. Mizuki suspected he needed the time to compose himself, having heard the shake in his voice. Noe was far from calm, tears falling silently down his face and hands clenched up to his lips. Mizuki could hear him whispering hoarsely. "Oh my gawd, oh my gawd, oh my gawd…"
Kayashima returned quickly with the plank, and Nakatsu quickly bound it onto Sekime's leg with strips of one of Sekime's already-ruined tee shirts. As Mizuki was positioning his ruined backpack to serve as a footrest, she stopped cold. Digging inside, she held up a very battered, and an obviously broken walkie-talkie.
Everyone stared at it. And then, as if by not acknowledging the problem it would go away, everyone busied themselves with different tasks. Kayashima volunteered to get firewood, to keep Sekime warm and to protect him from falling into shock, Sano used one of the water bottles to drench another ruined tee shirt to use as a makeshift icepack, and Nakatsu started fiddling with Sekime's splint, making it tighter. Noe borrowed Sano's water bottle and cleaned the cut on Sekime's forehead. Miraculously, his glasses were only slightly bent by the fall, and Mizuki worked at the wire frame to straighten it.
Mizuki blinked hard against the tears of panic that threatened to pour down her face. They made the call that morning, less than an hour ago. The race officials wouldn't get suspicious about their silence until the next morning!
"Ashiya," Sano's voice made her jump, and she looked at him quickly.
"Yeah?"
"The radio- we're going to need to go on for help or Sekime could die." Sano's face was blank as he said it, making Mizuki shiver. "So- I thought it'd be you and me."
"W-Why us?" Mizuki tried her best to keep the quaver out of her voice.
Sano smiled gently, worry still deep in his eyes. "Nakatsu's the only one of us who has taken health class this year, so he's got to stay in case Sekime needs him. Noe is in no shape to go, and we're both faster than Kayashima. I think we're the best bet."
Mizuki nodded abruptly, scrubbing at her face quickly and as surreptitiously as possible. "Yeah, you're right. We need to start right away, then."
Sano nodded gravely. "We'll leave as soon as the others are comfortable with Sekime."
Kayashima tossed an armful of firewood down a little way from Sekime, and then came down the makeshift ladder. Noe was sitting white-faced by Sekime's head, and Nakatsu was rummaging through his backpack, looking for anything useful. Sano went over and grimly told them of his and Mizuki's plan.
"We'll take one water bottle to share between us, and a little food," he told the others. "If we don't stop, we should get to the next check-in in a couple of hours. We'll go as fast as we can."
Nakatsu nodded, looking a little pale himself. "Okay. We'll stay here."
Sano nodded, and Mizuki looked at the opposite wall. There were plenty of footholds; the climb would not be too hard. She shouldered her pack, and without looking back she began to climb, Sano at her side.
End Chapter
Authoress hur. Not thur, but hur.
1. An oni is a Japanese devil-like demon, portrayed with two horns on their foreheads, usually dressed in tiger-skins, and they have the ability to fly. They eat the souls of those who have done evil in their lifetimes. Pretty much just a child's fear factor used by their parents, i.e. "Go to sleep or an Oni will come and eat you!"
My brain is mush. Hope the chapter was good.