"Explain." I folded my arms and frowned, feeling like an idiot. Coal caught sight of my expression and managed to stop grinning at us.
"We are sorry." He looked abashed but I wasn't convinced. I raised an eyebrow at him, waiting for the explanation
"It's thunder and lighting, when a storm- do you know what a storm is?"
"I understand the principals of weather, we just haven't experienced them," I snapped. "It just took us by surprise. We're fine aren't we Laurie?"
"Sure," Laurie replied but she was still looking at the trees as though they were to blame somehow.
"Let's get going, I'm sure it won't be so funny if the Creepers discover us because you two find us so hilarious," I snarled, pushing past Coal as he tried to reach a hand towards me.
Alicia shook her head and started on through the trees, her machete held ready as she went. I was freezing cold, covered in mud and furious.
I kept up my bad temper for a solid fifteen minutes before the surroundings distracted me enough to forget about it. The thunder and lighting continued but thankfully there was no rain yet. I'd been informed it was going to be wet and cold. I didn't feel that experiencing it for myself would be particularly enlightening beyond that.
The ground was covered in a green moss. It was springy under our feet and squelched with each step I took. I was glad that my boots were so well made and my feet stayed warm and snug inside. Alicia held the GPS in front of her and guided us forward. The land started to slope down, slightly at first but getting steeper and steeper so that it became hard not to slip and slide on the spongy ground.
We found ourselves at the lip of a rock face which jutted out of the hill. Alicia held out the GPS and it clearly showed that our destination was beyond the cliff.
"It's almost vertical, how will we make it down?" Laurie asked.
Alicia stepped forward and leaned out to get a look over the edge.
"There's a drop and then it's just a slope. A ridiculously steep slope. We should be okay if we go carefully," she said before jumping over the edge without another thought. After a glance from Laurie that clearly meant 'these people are crazy,' I followed.
The drop was around six foot. I sat on the edge and turned so that I could lower myself over it. My fingers curled around the cold, damp rock and grit slid beneath them. My boots scraped along the rock face and then I was hanging, suspended above the ground.
I closed my eyes and let go.
The ground was covered with forest debris and I skidded a little before managing to regain my balance. Laurie and Coal dropped down beside me and I gazed out into the valley beneath us. The slope stretched out at a steep decline. Rocks, trees and scrappy bits of undergrowth clung to the unwelcoming landscape and reached up towards the sky. The bottom of the valley was shrouded in mist and it was impossible to tell how far down it went.
A shriek of warning broke out from the treetops and I watched a large bird take flight, heading away from us through the branches.
We grasped at trees and vines as we passed them to help keep us on our feet over the difficult terrain. As I grabbed for my third handhold, Kaloo leapt from the outcrop behind us and landed on the hill with an excited yelp. She tore off into the un
dergrowth and started splashing through puddles and kicking up leaves. I glanced around nervously, worried that her noise might attract the Creepers.
The trees dripped with the wetness of a previous rainfall and everything was saturated. The mist clung to my exposed skin, and covered me with a layer of moisture.
I was concentrating so hard on grabbing my next support and not falling on my ass that I didn't notice I'd moved ahead of the others. It was going surprisingly well and I could just make out the bottom of the valley several hundred feet below us.
Water ran down the slope in little rivulets, carrying dead leaves and debris with them.
The ground was littered with vines and other little shrubs which made it difficult to see where we were stepping. I moved on with a bit less fear and started to use the vines for support.
I glanced back up the ridge and was surprised to see how far we had come already when the vine I was holding onto snapped.
I spun and flailed for another handhold before hitting the ground hard on my back. I started sliding straight away. I dug my fingers into the soaked earth but I couldn't get a grip as I picked up speed.
I kicked at the saturated ground but couldn't gain purchase on anything. Clods of mud flung out in various directions and splattered up into my face. I let out an involuntary scream as a rock loomed up ahead of me.
At the last moment, something hooked a hold of the back of my jacket and I jerked to a stop just inches from the hulking stone. I twisted to see what had caught me.
Alicia grunted with effort as she smirked down from above me. One of her hands was gripping my jacket firmly while the other was looped around a vine with Coal at the other end of it, further up the hill.
"How the hell did you manage that?" I gasped.
"We realised that it was getting too steep and decided to tie ourselves together. Then we saw you fall and I started running." She grinned. "Can you get your feet to that rock?" She jerked her head to point out which one.