100 Moods: A Tale of Opposites Attract
Chibi-Sorrow
Chapter One: Determined
(Part One of Two)
She had to make it.
She was positively, absolutely determined to make it to the top.
Clenching bleeding fingers to jagged holdings, she gritted her teeth while trying to keep her one damaged, chocolate-colored eye closed as she pulled herself up to another level of rock. Her work-boots hugged the side of the crag, nearly slipping multiple times before regaining footing.
She hoped she could make it to the top.
She prayed he would accept it.
She was determined to succeed.
Breathing in deeply, she hefted herself up again while trying to avoid any and/or all of the falling boulders that slid down the side of the mountain. She had already gotten hit multiple times – hence her damaged eye – and she was getting low on energy. Her entire body ached. Her left eye was swollen shut. One of her legs was bleeding rather severely from one of the larger boulders that had nicked her. Her normal pigtails had come undone, leaving auburn tresses blowing haphazardly in the wind.
But she did it for him.
Finally, her destination came into view. She let out a sobbing laugh in relief, now almost scrambling up the rocks in more haste than previous. She was there. She was right there. She could see the top of the mountain; she could see the edge.
Four more steps.
Two more.
One.
She was there. Pulling herself over the side, she rolled onto her back in exhaustion; she stared up at the pale, baby blue sky while sucking in deep gasps of oxygen.
"I did it," she panted, a wide smile crossing over chapped lips. Tears streaked down the sides of her face, hitting the dirty granite beneath her. "I did it!"
She wanted to laugh.
She wanted to cry.
She wanted to kiss him.
But first – she now turned on her side, looking at the object of her desire – she had to finish her task.
Rolling over completely onto her stomach, she pushed herself up onto her hands and knees before using more force to push herself up to full standing position, letting out a hiss as she grasped her aching side. 'I'm going to feel that one in the morning,' she thought to herself before limping towards her goal. She smiled faintly as the stared at the single, azure feather. This little, tiny thing was the cause of all her ache, her worry, and her emotional pain.
But it was well worth it.
Picking up the delicate trinket, she carefully place it inside her shirt, directly next to her heart. She would protect it with everything she had. It was the one thing that would guarantee her the future she knew she wanted. She only hoped that he wanted it as well.
Sighing heavily, she pulled the rope that was tied precariously around her waist off, undoing the knot carefully. This was her way down. She may not have had a up, but she had certainly planned ahead for her way to get home. Bending down with a wince, she tied the rope to an up drawn part of crag tightly, securing the intricate fixing over and over. There was no way in hell she would survive a fall down this mountain if the rope came undone.
Many minutes later, she pulled on the shorter end of the rope to make sure it was tight enough to hold her slight weight. Smiling in self-satisfaction, she grabbed onto the longer end of rope and gently lowered herself to the floor of the mountain top before edging her way over the side. Hopefully going down would be far easier that going up was. She gulped before kicking herself from the side and going down slowly, holding tightly to the rope while keeping her feet flat against the wall.
It was all downhill from here.
"Okay, now is a bad time for puns, Sakura," she mumbled to herself, normally-gloved-but-now-naked-and-raw-hands clenched tightly to the twined thread that kept her from falling. She continued down the side for another half hour – still attempting to avoid falling rocks at all points – when the feeling of joy spread throughout her entire body. No, not joy. Elation. She was almost to the bottom. Another fifteen or twenty feet and she would be almost home free.
"Almost home... Can you hear me, everyone? I did it!" Her cry rang through the air, echoing loudly between and around every crevice.
It wasn't until it was too late that she realized that that was probably not the best idea in the world.
Something crumbled from above before tearing off the side of the rough stone,sliding mercilessly down the side before coming in contact with it's target.
Sakura.
Getting struck in the right shoulder blade, and hard at that, she was caught completely off guard and lost her grip on the one thing keeping her suspended in a certain safe-zone.
And with that, she fell. She shrieked loudly as she dropped, her vision fading out as she began to lose conscious. The pain of everything had become to much. She was a goner.
One last thought reverberated through her mind. And then she knew no more.
'I'm sorry, Jamie...'