Chapter Six: The Challenge of Traversing the Ravines to Artemyra

"Hey! Dumbasses, wakey-wakey!" came Tora's voice followed by vigorous knocking on the door.

Tettia groaned as her eyes cracked open. The sight she was met with was an incredibly naked Sinbad. Apparently during the night, her skirt had ridden up, she and Sinbad cuddled up to each other and thus their legs were entwined. Tettia could feel her whole body heat up as her legs brushed against the skin of Sinbad's bare thigh. "S-sinbad…?" she questioned sleepily.

Moaning sleepily, Sinbad slowly opened his eyes. He looked at Tettia with sleepy, gleam-less, just woken up eyes. "Well, good morning, Tet," he said, pulling her closer to him, his hand resting on the small of her back.

Squeaking quietly, Tettia looked up at him. "G-good morning, Sin…" she mumbled.

"HEY! ARE YOU DUMBASSES EVEN AWAKE?!" called Tora.

Sinbad smiled down at Tettia as he replied, "Well, kinda. Something is awake, but only Tet can handle it."

His exclamation had Tettia squealing, "SINBAD!"

He smiled at her before kissing her forehead, "Yes, Tet?"

"D-don't say stuff like that," Tettia exclaimed as she promptly slapped his chest, albeit weakly.

"Oh, but it's true. Only you can handle it~" he cooed.

Tora groaned loudly, "CAN YOU TWO JUST GET OUT OF BED?! GOD FUCK! We're almost there!"

"We are?" asked Tettia as she shot up from laying down.

"Yes! Now get the fuck out here!" yelled Tora. "AND PUT ON SOME CLOTHES THIS TIME CAPTAIN MORON!"

Tettia laughed as she got up from bed; pushing herself off of the bed, she walked towards the door. She did not care if she was leaving Sinbad in the bed, fully naked at that. Sinbad stumbled out of the bed and quickly started to get dressed. "Hey! Tet! Don't just leave me here!" he exclaimed, wriggling into his pants speedily, which almost had him falling over. She did not even pay him any attention as she opened the door and walked out of it, the door quietly clicked shut. Sinbad stood there, with his shirt half undone, looking at the door. "She left me…"

The sun's warm rays cascaded onto Tettia skin and she hummed contently at the immediate warmth. "It feels nice out today," she said, covering her eyes from the glorious, almost blinding sunlight.

Mystras laughed and placed a hand on her shoulder. "It sure does, doesn't it, Tet?" he asked with a goofy smile.

She nodded and smiled back at the scarlet-haired knight. "Mhmm!"

That was when Sinbad walked out of his room and saw Mystras's hand on Tettia's shoulder. The both of them smiling stupidly at one another. Instead of growing jealous, Sinbad walked up to them and wrapped an arm around each of their shoulders and laughed, "It is an amazing day today! Amazing enough to gain trade with another kingdom!"

The half-Fanalis laughed, as did the knight, "Yeah! Exactly!"

The all looked up at the cliffs on either side of their ship. The Artemyra Kingdom, this kingdom is located in the southeastern area of the continent, it is a small but influential nation state similar to Sasan. It is said that they broke away from the Dark Continent, making the world's largest ravine into their country, and living in the cliffs. However, as the people rarely enter or leave Artemyra, the actual conditions are still mostly unknown. That is because it lied within a ravine that rejected visitors. "AMAZING!" gasped Sinbad and Tettia as they looked up at the cliffs.

"According to these scrolls, it looks like there should be a break in the coast up ahead, and past that the only was to continue is on foot. We should make careful preparations…" said Ja'far.

Sinbad pointed at some amazing-looking plants as he exclaimed, "Hey, Tet, Mystras! Look at those plants!"

Tettia gasped as she looked at the plant. "God they're beautiful!"

"Sinbad! Tet! That bird is huge. AWESOME!"

The captain and the half-Fanalis looked up to the huge bird Mystras was pointing to. "Huh? Something about that bird… seems strange, doesn't it?"

A vein in Ja'far's head throbbed in annoyance; his grip on the map in his hands tightened. How dare they ignore him like that. Tora ruffled his hair, smiling down at him. "Calm down, Little Killjoy. Don't take it to heart, Captain Moron is just being himself and you know this," she advised.

"I suppose you have a point, Tora. WAIT! How do you seem to know Sin so well?" asked a now suspicious Ja'far.

"I dunno, I can grasp someone's personality relatively quickly. Don't look at me like I'm suspicious, Little Killjoy; despite you being an assassin, I can end up faster than you can blink," said Tora, rolling her eyes and shrugging.

That statement had Ja'far scoffing and rolling his eyes. "Yeah right, Tora. I have been trained in the ways of an assassin since I was a baby," he retorted.

Laughing, Tora replied, "Oh boo-who. At least you had parents, Killjoy. I grew up fending for myself on the Dark Continent, without the help of any parents or adults. I was ALL by myself, Killjoy. I had to grow strong, both mentally and physically. I killed numerous animals for food with my bare hands!"

"Oh, really? Then, you might be able to end me faster than I ever could end you."

"Damn straight, Little Killjoy."

Tettia gasped loudly, "It looks like the bird is getting closer, little by little!" Sure enough, the bird was slowly lowering itself over the ship. "IT'S HUGE!"

Tora snickered as she replied to her best friend's statement, "Oh is it now?!"

"PISS OFF TOR! YOU KNEW I MEANT THE BIRD!"

"Oh, how rare. Some travelers from outside. YOOHOO! What? Are you coming to visit our country of Artemyra?" the younger-looking blonde asked.

"So there were people riding that bird!" said Sinbad.

Mystras blushed like an idiot as he said, "I heard that the people of Artemyra were good with animals, but they're also super beautiful!"

The blondes atop the bird smiled cutely down at the travelers. "There's a ravine up aheas with steep slopes. It'll be nothing but difficult mountain trails," the younger of the blondes said. "If you make it safely through the ravine and arrive in Artemyra, come have some fun with us." Mystras looked pumped as the flush never faded. The younger blonde continued, "But… if you can't manage this little ravine, then you'll be stiff, sore, and useless at night, won't you? Like before, it look all night and the men were so stiff and sore that they trembled like newborn fawns. There's nothing more pathetic. Kay ha ha ha! Men really aren't good for anything else, so they really need to give it their all." The knight's face promptly fell after that cruel statement. She paused and laughed cruelly, continuing, "So… we have high hopes for you. Do your best…"

Sinbad smiled and said, "Sure. I got it. I'm counting on you to take good care of me tonight, Tet."

Tettia smirked as she replied, "I can do that any time you want, I'll have you know."

The blondes then noticed the two other females. "We… umm, did not see you two lovely ladies. We can take you to Artemyra promptly. The trail is designed for males only," the younger said.

"You're fucking kidding me, right? You aren't just going to be rude to Sin, Jaffy, Hinahoho and Mystri then just offer us a ride to Artemyra? FUCK NO! Tora and I will stay with our captain and friends and go through the mountain pass. Like everyone else," retorted Tettia, crossing her arms and huffing.

Tora opened her mouth, wanting to say, TAKE ME WITH YOU! I DON'T WANNA STAY WITH THESE IDIOTS! but ultimately voted against it and closed her mouth. "Yeah! It's as Tet says! We're staying with these dummies!"

"Very well," the older said as they turned the bird around and flew away.

The ship lowered its anchor and the crew got off. "We'll climb this ravine today!" exclaimed Mystras, running forward. "Let's go, Sinbad and Tet! To the captivating Eden!"

Sinbad and Tettia ran after him. "YEAH!" they called.

Ja'far looked highly annoyed, as did Tora. "If you run that fast from the start…" the young killjoy began.

"This is a gotdamn ravine with extreme ups and downs! I won't be responsible for what happens to you fucking idiots!" yelled Tora.

Hinahoho looked on with a blank expression. "They're energetic, huh?"

"You have no fucking idea, Hina," groaned Tora, looking back at him.

Sinbad had now fallen behind Tettia, Mystras, Ja'far and Tora. He was exhausted and was shaking as he held himself up with a stick. Strange… why? Why do they… look fine…? he thought to himself.

"Sin, this way! Hurry up!" exclaimed Tettia, waving at Sinbad to hurry up.

"This way, this way!" exclaimed Mystras.

Tora and Ja'far huffed, "We told you so. You didn't pace yourself."

The reason they all looked so fine was simple. Ja'far was a former assassin; Mystras was raised in the mountains; Tettia was a half-Fanalis and was used to this grueling treks; Tora hailed from the Dark Continent as well and grew up in the mountains in the remote regions of the Continent. Sinbad stared at them all before he fell to the ground and started to fuss, "AH, NO MORE! Don't wanna. I'm tired! I can't take another step! Ja'far, let's take a break here."

"HUH?!" exclaimed the young Ja'far. Tora rubbed her temple as she shouted, "YOU FUCKING SAID WE WERE CLIMBING THIS TODAY, DIDN'T YOU?!"

Sinbad laid on the ground, pouting as he said, "It must be nice… being young…"

"You're young, too, ya dork," exclaimed Tettia, smiling goofily.

Crawling over to Hinahoho, Sinbad spoke, "Hinahoho! I'm tired, so carry me, please? To you, even two of me would be light.

Much to the young captain's dismay, Hinahoho was also having a hard time: because of the climate. However, despite this, he stumbled forward, saying, "…It's hot… humid… I can't take it… I'm… from a Northern Country… Artemyra's… climate is tough… but… for my wife and child… I'll endure it…"

"Okay then, big guy, let's go!" Tora said, all of them turning and walking away from Sinbad. Sinbad was shocked that everyone, including his possible girlfriend Tettia, had left him behind. Ja'far had used one of his wires to impale a nearby rock-face. "From here on, we'll be climbing the cliff walls. I'll lead the way, so be careful," instructed Ja'far.

"Okay," Mystras said. "Hey…" he started.

"Jaffy? Is that really okay? Treating Sin that way? He is from Parthevia, it's pretty flat there as well. You know he isn't used to mountains," said Tettia, pouting at the little shit.

The young assassin sighed, "He's fine. That guy just wants to take it easy. He's really a person who can do anything he puts his mind to, so he's doing it on purpose. That's why I won't cater to him, anyway, he'll be over here in a minute."

His reply had both Tora and Tettia smiling shit-eating grins as they said, "You have a lot of faith in him, don't'cha?"

Ja'far grew flustered, "I-it's not like that! It's just from my experiences following him."

"Sure, whatever you say, Killjoy," hummed Tora.

Sure enough, Sinbad came up over the hill, clutching his sword. "…Hehe. I just realized something…" he said. Something was off. His hair was blue and not its usual purple color. It dawned on everyone. "If I do Djinn Equip, I can fly. Like this, I can pass through the ravine just like those girls riding that bird. That's how it is, so see ya."

Tettia looked at Ja'far, who was readying his wire. "I got this, Jaffy," she stopped him. Turning to look at Tora, she simply said, "Throw me." Tora did not need to be told twice, cracking her knuckles, the purplenette picked up her best friend and threw her at Sinbad. "If I have to walk, so do you!" she exclaimed as she tackled Sinbad — they both fell to the ground hard.

"Why would you do something so cruel, Tet?! That hurt!" exclaimed the still blue-haired Sinbad as he looked down at Tettia.

Pouting, Tettia looked up at him. "You heard me! We're already in Artemyra's territory. They are a country that manipulates birds in order to control the skies. If, by any fucking chance, they decided that you were an enemy, and we weren't allowed to enter the country, what would you do? Tora would personally kill you," she said seriously, still pouting.

Ja'far nodded and grew irritated. "Djinn Equips and Household Vessels aren't yet recognized by the world, right? If they saw you in that form as something hostile, then the whole point of coming out to this country would be lost. Do you understand that?!" Sinbad looked at the young assassin and at Tettia with a now understanding expression, and one of horror as Ja'far continued, "ALSO, you're not the only one who's tired… everyone else is staying quiet and continuing walking… moreover… even I'm feeling hot… and very irritated!"

"GYAAAH! Ja'far, you're strangling me! It hurts! TETTIA! HELP ME!"

"Killjoy, knock it off," said Tora as she grabbed the young boy.

"FINE! But I'm tying him up."

Tettia snickered as she smirked at Sinbad, "Now that I can get behind. I like my men tied up."

Her statement had everyone, but Hinahoho and Tora, blushing. "TETTIA!" exclaimed a blushing Ja'far, tying up Sinbad in his wires.

"What, don't blame me. He looks good tied up like that, not gonna lie," she spoke, licking her lips teasingly.

Tora groaned, "Let's just get walking."

"Aye!"

"Everyone! The sun has set!" exclaimed Tettia and Mystras.

Tora looked around and then added, in a monotone voice, "Oh yeah, and we're here at Artemyra." Sinbad and Hinahoho looked relieved, silently asking if it was real. "Yeah, it's real. Now Tet can take good care of you, Captain Moron."

"Oh yes~! I will gladly do that," Tettia said with an almost seductive smile directed at Sinbad.

That smile had Sinbad laughing knowingly, walking up to her and wrapping his arm around her waist as he said, "Yay me. I can't wait to get to our hotel room. Can you, gorgeous?"

"Nope, can't wait. So let's go," replied Tettia. Tora laughed and followed after her best friend and Captain Moron. They all followed.