Forest Sisters

The Wall

Helena's POV

I start climbing, pushing, hand over hand, finding the smallest nooks and crannies in the rock wall. I don't look down or around me, focusing my eyes on where to grab next, but I still know what's going on around me. I hear the other campers, climbing, but I quickly pass them. After about thirty seconds I look down, trying to spot Jack, but he's no where around. I started to wonder if he fell, but just then I feel  couple pebbles hit my head. I look up, and sure enough Jack is pushing on, right above my head. He must have felt my gaze, because just then he looks down. He shoots me a smile and raises an eyebrow, as if to ask really, that all you got? I desperately want to wipe that smug smile off his face.
His ankle is about five feet from my already outstretched hand. I wonder for a second how he got ahead of me, but then I see something behind his shoulder, or more accurately, someone. A camper in a purple t shirt comes barreling out of the sky. Her blond hair flows behind her as she descends, as silent as a raindrop. I don't give Jack any indication that she's behind him, not wanting to blow her cover. He must have seen my glance over his shoulder, because he turns his head back up to follow my gaze, but it's too late.
The girl lands on his back, a knife clenched between between her teeth. On Jacks part, his grip on to the rock never loosens, but the shock and extra weight are too much for the ledge his feet are on. I start to climb faster up towards them. I want to beat Jack, not watch him fall to his death or be stabbed. Quickly, I make it up to them and was about to make my move when I hear a small scream above me. It's not a battle cry, but more of a squeak in terror. I look up and watch a little girl hurtling towards me, in the same outfit as the blond girl. The little girl looks no more then six, and is now free falling towards me.
It looks like she had been aiming for my back, as the other Roman had done, but this one must have jumped at the wrong time. I can see that from the way she is falling, she'll miss the rock completely. I had heard about Romans being able to land a fall from a great height without getting hurt, but this little girl seems to be too scared to try to land right. From the way she's angled her body, she could very well die. I don't waist any more time. I watch her fall, and with one hand grab my moon pin from my hair. it growing into my beloved bow, and I grip into it. I reposition my self on the rock, feet rooted safely and hugging the wall. At will, the quiver appears and latches onto my pants and I can see the arrow I need. It has a blue feather instead of a yellow. I grab it and wait for the right moment, watching the girl and getting ready. Almost there. Right as the little girl falls a little bit closer to me, I jump off the wall. I know, smart. We are about sixty feet from the hard, unforgiving ground and I had just kicked off the only solid thing that was in between me and that ground. But I knew what I was doing.
Because of the momentum and strength of the kick, I go shooting out into the air, no longer able to reach the wall even if I wanted to. I go shooting out, at the last moment hitting the girl who had just been falling. I wrap my arm around her and maneuver my hold on her so I can shoot my bow. It isn't easy, but I manage to tuck her under my arm and hold her to my side. I pull back on the bow string and shoot my arrow as we begin to hurtle towards the ground. The rope connected to the arrow does not go tight right away, leaving us plummeting towards the fast approaching ground. The arrow hits the wall and expands so it now looks like a grappling hook. Sadly, the hook starts to fall with us. Come on, I think, catch, catch already!
We are hurtling towards the ground, too fast to land safely and we are now angled so our backs are to the ground. If we land like this, there is no going back. Campers start to yell and I here Jack's voice above them all and watch him grow smaller and smaller. The little girl in my arm screams and holds onto my side tightly. Come on, catch! At the last second, the hook catches the rock and the rope tightens. This rope was meant to stretch, like a bungee cord, but stronger. It tightens and we slow down, then stop in mid air for a second. That second doesn't last long, and we find our selves shooting in the opposite direction less then a heartbeat later. We shoot up to the sky, the force pulling us above Jack and his attacker who is now staring at us, open mouthed, the blonds face white. Me and the girl shoot up the rock, and I reach out to the wall as we start to slow down. Before we can fall again, my hand raps around a solid stone, and I pull us in. When we make it to the rock, we luckily land on a ledge barley big enough to stand on. The little girl is now sobbing into me, shaking from fear. I don't blame her, we both almost died today.
Adrenaline is still pumping through me, but it starts to subside. I plant my feet on the ledge, trying to make sure we won't inadvertently fall one again to our deaths.
I untie my self from the rope and start to tie it around the little girls waist.
"Now," I say in a gentle voice, speaking to the girl, "I am going to help you down. What I need you to do is to push off the rock. I'm going to try to get you down quickly. When you push off the wall, I will let some of the road go and you will fall, but the rope will never be so loose that you fall. Trust the rope and trust me. I have you, okay?" She is still shaking with fear, but manages a nod. I smile down at her. "Okay, you ready?" She takes a deep breath and nods once again. I slowly loosened my hold on the rope as she starts to climb down the rock. "Now push off." I yell. She did, and I let more of the road go more quickly so she is now falling, but in a controlled way. She holds onto the rope, her grip so tight her Knicks turn white. She looks terrified, but does as I told her. Smart kid. I think to my self.
It takes a little bit, but she finally makes it to the ground. Once safely there, she unties the rope. I compact my bow back into a hair clip. The rope and arrow disappear as well, disappearing to the same place the quiver does. I consider following her down, but I'm so close to the top. Just another couple feet. It's not a hard decision. I start to climb up once again, hand after hand, foot over foot. The lava shoots around me, but I easily dodge it and all the obstacles that magically fall from who knows where. I almost get nailed by a toaster oven, but I moved at just the last second, it continuing it's descent to take out another camper. After about a minute of dodging falling objects and finding the tiniest nooks to hold onto, I finally reach the top. I pull my self up and over the wall, standing up tall. I look around me and have to remember to breath.
The view is gorgeous. A clear view out to the blue waters that seem to never end. I can see the woods around the cap and hear some monsters cry out. On the water are small dots that I guess are canoes.
I stand on top the wall and feel like I accomplished something great, made a mark on my reputation. The sky is blue and the air is crisp. I may be a dizzying height from the ground and sudden death, but I feel safe up here. I feel at home. I look out into the camp, and a future here doesn't look so bleak after all. Maybe everything could go well after all. Maybe, just maybe I could find another place to call home.

Merry Christmas my wonderful readers! I dint comment very often, but it is Christmas, even if it is late. I hope you enjoyed this chapter and felt the intensity. Thanks for reading and please comment and share my story with others. And sorry for it being so short and the messy spelling, I'll come back and try to edit it later. Just think of this as 'Another bet, Part two'. Oh, and also I hope you had a merry Christmas and found every thing you were looking for. Thanks

-Elizabeast