"Come on, Zarkort!" Bozatrox called up to him and he could feel his arms shaking. "Don't give up now!"
"Go Zarkort!" A group of children who had gathered to watch cheered out. "Don't give up now!"
He had finally decided to try and conquer his fear, but here he was. Shaking like a leaf halfway up the climb. The fact people were calling to him and telling him to keep going didn't exactly help, either. If anything, it made him more nervous! He felt like he was going to fall at any moment.
Machina couldn't sweat but he felt like he was sweating as he gripped the bars with all his might. Why did it feel like his grip was becoming less and less firm? If he fell from here how much would he break? Would he go offline upon impact?
The anxious thoughts continued and he could barely see the Machina still on the ground. Could they at least catch him if he fell or would they be so disappointed they would let him fall? What if he fell on a child and broke their pod? Everyone would kill him if the fall itself didn't!
Finally, he decided he had to get down and started going towards the ground, shakily. He could hear the groans of frustration and disappointment, but hey! Not his fault he just could not do it! There was too much that could go wrong!
Soon enough, he was on the ground and looking at the gathered group of Machina. He didn't look them in the eye, though. No way could he stand the looks all the adults were giving him… Instead he looked at the little frowns of the children. A little less painful.
"Sorry, I just can't do it." He finally spoke, trying to keep his voice from shaking. "Maybe heights just aren't for me."
"Well, we'll just have to try later." Bozatrox crossed her arms. "I want to see how you got me that Tear of the Sky, after all."
Yipes… Zarkort swallowed hard and refused to look her in the eye. "Maybe another day! That really could have been a one-time thing, you know? A shot of bravery I don't have anymore."
She narrowed her eyes but nodded, taking his hand. "Come on, then. Let's find another way to spend our day. Maybe we can go shopping for boot materials. To make up for the lost time today."
That was code for buy me materials to make nice boots, Zarkort. He understood, though. She came all the way out here only for him to have to scurry back down like the coward he was when it came to heights… He was probably lucky this was all she was asking for, too.
So he nodded, ignoring the children whispering about expecting something like this, and let Bozatrox lead him. "I think I have just enough gold to buy you anything you want today."
"Then let's shop until we drop, hm?"
Oh, he didn't like the sound of that.