⋅⋅⊱༻༺⊰⋅⋅

At the end of the path, the trees come to a sudden stop, letting way to a large clearing.

The first thing they register as they step out of the forest's shadows is the warmth of the sun that finally graces them once more.

The second thing, after their eyes slowly adjust to the light, is the gaping chasm that comes into view, far bigger than the hamlet and village they've been to combined. Just as the woman described it, it looks as though the earth opened up, forming a giant fissure that spreads so far on both ends that they cannot see its edges.

"..Gosh...."

‘It's almost... Terrifying knowing how many people must have fallen there...’ Cyrus thinks. ‘Humans are cruel.’

"you think it'll echo?!"

“…Probably not..?” The walls are too far apart, WAY too far apart. Clematia’s never seen anything like it, the proportions are playing with her mind and the more she stares the more she thinks she’s developing a new phobia.

As they walk closer, they can see multiple bridges that hang over the fissure in a poor attempt at connecting the two sides. Most of them have long lost their wooden walkways, and have become mere ropes swaying with the wind. Some have been completely severed, their halves dangling low on either side. But they soon spot the one that has remained intact, the one the crazed lady is making a beeline towards.

"Yeah, hold on, no one said we have to cross that bridge. Let’s try circling around it for now." Mito says. If they walk along its side long enough, they are bound to reach an area where the chasm gets narrower, or ends altogether.

‘Try’? Why does their guide sound unsure?

“Have you gone around it before? Or did you cross the bridge?” Cyrus questions.

Mito blinks. “…No, I didn’t go around. But. The bridges aren’t as stable as they used to be.”

Cyrus looks out in the distance, his eyes follow along the chasm’s edge, but its right extremity extends into the forest and the trees block the view. The same goes for the left side.

"We... have never... gone… around…” The woman informs.

Considering the width of the chasm, and the way the section of it they can see keeps a rather constant width, it isn’t difficult to imagine that it extends to the horizon. It would take too long.

Cyrus has had a hard enough time on the uninhabited segment of road to Imalnatir, but still, that was a road, and the knowledge that people have used it before gave him the strength to keep pushing forward. Now, to go on uncharted territory, that’s a different story.

“We don't know what might be waiting for us on the sides, and the visibility will be limited.” Cyrus argues. “Not to mention, it's not a used path so we will have to pave our own way through bushes and possibly uneven terrain.”

"..........."

This won't do... if they cross the horridly long bridge, Mito won't even be able to see them after a certain distance, let alone reach them. He doesn’t answer, brows furrowed and hand grabbing at his own face as he racks his brain for any alternative option.

"...Shouldn't we get closer first and check the state of the bridge ourselves?" Clematia suggests.

"oh yeaaaaah let's g—"

Konran's about to run off when Cyrus grabs her by the back of her scarf, then lets her go only when she stops swinging her feet as she now walks to the edge.

Clematia is very tentative as she gets closer, slowly shifting forward and staying a very safe distance from the edge, the acrophobia hit her like a truck anyway.

The fissure is… deep, to put it simply. The sun has risen up halfway to noon by now and yet its angle does not reach enough to light the chasms’ depth, so as her eyes peer down, they are only met with a pitch black abyss. Now crossing the bridge feels a whole lot different.

Yohei doesn't follow them immediately, trotting down slower as he weights the risks of this venture. It is enough to catch up to the woman’s easy pace though.

…To think, this is where her life shattered, along with her sanity… ‘The woman’.. they didn't even bother to ask her name. He puts his pack down, rummages in it for something, then walks up to her.

"Here, butterfly pea flowers, add them to your tea and it’ll turn it a delightful blue, then if you have a— Ah-HEY! Excuse me.” He retires early from the conversation as babysitting duties call. “KONRAN GET OFF THE EDGE!!”

"Ah.. thank you..." The woman says as he runs off. She looks at the beautiful flowers in the tissue he handed her, her expression doesn’t budge, her love for flowers was left behind somewhere in the flower field across the bridge. Her gaze falls back to her daughter's, and innocent eyes stare right back.

“But… you… my darling… you still… have it… in you… don't… you…?”

With a gentle smile, the woman continues to the bridge again, wobbling as she does.

Konran is peeking over the edge with excitement.

"you can't see anything down there!!"

"...No joke.." Yohei is standing right by her side, peering down.

After instructing her not to get any closer to the edge than she already is, he walks to the start of the bridge, where multiple wooden poles, or perhaps entire tree trunks, have been nailed into the ground. Thick braided ropes then come winding around these poles, coiling this way and that in a complex, tight knot. And finally, hanging from that system of rope is the walkway, made of wooden boards with holes through which the ropes secure them in place. It is only wide enough for one person to pass at a time, but it’s easy to go past someone if you both walk sideways. Mito tugs, pulls and pushes at every element, but overall, the craftsmanship is solid, and the materials robust.

The woman, finally reaching the bridge, simply steps on it without further inspection.

Mito watches intently as a slight woody creak emits from the first plank under her feet, yet the next few steps don't make any sound.

Cyrus walks after the woman, stepping on the bridge that doesn't seem to get any heavier under his weight. His advance is halted as a hand grabs his sleeve.

“Have you no self preservation?! We should cross in turns!” Mito instructs. He holds an arm out as well gesturing for Konran, who had run up behind him, not to get on.

"whaaaat nooooo!! thats so boringggg!!" But she really wants to cross right nowww!!

Cyrus calmly turns his head towards him. "Learn to keep your hands to yourself.” His tone is even as he speaks, albeit with a hint of exhaution. “Your paranoia will only burden our journey and slow us down, and if you're that anxious you can wait here until we cross over."

‘...So he legitimately has no problem whatsoever with how dangerous this is?’ Mito didn't expect Cyrus to be so nonchalant about his own life.

“...You didn't go through all that trouble getting a guide just to disregard his advice did you? At least give me your pack to balance things out, you're already heavy enough.” Mito extends his hand expectantly, his other arm still in front of Konran. So Cyrus will go first, if he wants to be the one to do the safety test, so be it.

Cyrus slides his bag off his back, his eye twitching as he holds back a wince, then hangs it on Mito's arm.

"How generous of you."

In his eyes, their guide is a coward. From all the options available to them, crossing the bridge is the safest, most reliable way, and yet he's still hesitant? If you're scared just get this over with quickly?? He turns his back to him and continues on the wooden planks as he wonders if he should've taken Dimitri as guide instead... No, Dimitri isn't familiar with Enthralla...

Feeling the weight of the pack on his arm, Mito only belatedly remembers, Cyrus shouldn't have been carrying his pack in the first place! His back looked terrible yesterday he shouldn't have put more strain on it! Mito completely forgot about that… well, its not like he can guess everyone's needs! Konran asks for food when she's hungry, why can't he be like her? He looks back at the lady in question.

"You can go next if you want, but let’s—"

"YAYAY"

“—wait for him to cross first?! KONRAN WAIT!!"

He makes half an attempt to catch her, but stops, there are already three people on the bridge now, and she's runniiiinng aaagh!! He eyes the bridge’s reaction to all the weight, checking if it’s creaking or swaying.

"Umm shouldn't we go too?" Clematia looks visibly more anxious than the rest of them, hesitantly stepping onto the start of the bridge.

"Not yet, let’s let them cross first... if they cross safely, then I suppose we can cross together as well..."

"oh yeah it's totally safe!!!" Konran yells from up ahead.

"Konran don't you dare run into me." Cyrus turns around and almost scolds her, more comfortable talking to her than with the others.

"don't worryyyyy~~"

"Don't jump!!" Mito shouts at her from his spot, it's ridiculous that he even has to tell her that!

"..... It looks steady, even though she's jumping... come on let's just cross.." Clematia would prefer to be done with this terrible feeling sooner rather than later.

Mito squints. "Looks can be deceiving.."

"Oh but you can save us if things go awry~~" She says, half serious, half trying to lighten her own mood.

"DON'T count on it." He answers sharply.

"I was joking..."

“…..”

"…Siiiigh I think I'll go, it really looks alright, maybe you're being too paranoid like Cyrus said.” It’s easier to cross with people in front of you blocking the view of the endless bridge, she knows she'll chicken out if she stalls and it'll be a lot harder for her to cross then. She walks past Mito and onto the bridge, and calls out to the others.

"Wait for me please!!"

“…”

They really just went ahead.... does he lack an authoritative tone perhaps? Or is he actually too paranoid..? Siiiigh, Mito’s never seen more reckless people in his life.. ah, well, aside from his younger self.

Clematia picks up her pace to catch up to the others, hands on the rope railing on each side and careful not to trip. She focuses her efforts on not looking down.

“come on come on!!” Konran encourages, smile as unbothered as ever.

Clematia laughs nervously, her enthusiasm is helping? Kind of?

"tea makerrrrr are you not comingggggg??? We're gonna abandon yoooouuuuu and we'll forget about yooouuuuu~!!" She peeks behind Briony to look at Mito.

‘Guess that’s what I am now.’ By now he was leaning on one of the poles at the start of the bridge, resting his chin on his hand, watching them get further and smaller, so out of reach.

"I'll join you after! go on first!"

He waves them on. His own weight along with two packs is not nothing, he doesn't want to be the drop that spills the glass.

"Spread out a bit! Don't cluster in one spot!"

⋅⋅⊱༻ THE BRIDGE ༺⊰⋅⋅

The old bridge above the chasm doesn't sway nor move much, only occasional creaks when stepped on certain plates. It's more stable than expected, whoever built this has done a spectacular job, and thankfully there's little wind, which makes their adventure a little less scary.

⋅⋅⊱༻༺⊰⋅⋅

Clematia has pledged to herself not to look down, there's no going back now. Mito told them to spread out but she REALLY doesn't want to, she'd rather stick to everyone, it makes her feel like she has something to hold onto, just an illusion, but still.. she's hopeful though, it really IS a stable bridge, and at the rate they are going they might make it to the other side before they tire out. Mito's just overly cautious, he's travelled a lot, he told her about some things he saw and experienced… it’s no wonder he's a bit paranoid.

Cyrus is finally enjoying a quiet walk without much happening, and the best part is that the fear is somehow distracting from everything else that's going on up there… and seems that's the same for everyone else, including Konran, which is saying something.

Clematia seems to have noticed as well. ".....You're awfully quiet Konran, are you scared of heights?"

"..."

Something's bothering her.

Konran stays quiet as she walks, then comes to a sudden halt.

"Konran?" Clematia reaches out a hand, but before she can touch her Konran leaps out of sight.

“weeeeeeeeeeeeee…”

The bridge is thrown upwards from the force of it.

“…eeeeeeeeeee…”

Clematia feels weightless as her feet leave the solid planks for a few seconds.

“…eeeeeee…”

It happens so fast that by the time a yelp leaves her throat she slams down on the wooden planks again.

“…eeee…”

Her hands, spread out by instinct, catch onto the rope railing and grasp for dear life. Konran's voice is getting impossibly far wayy too fast and its making Clematia feel lightheaded.

“…ee…”

The suspended bridge, now come alive, continues to oscillate as the ripples of the impact travel through it.

“…”

They can no longer hear Konran's voice.

Clematia thinks Yohei is yelling something at them, but she can't tell what. She manages to look up.

Cyrus is still there, holding onto the railing and the woman next to him.

‘Did she- did she just-’

She locks eyes with Cyrus but it doesn’t seem like his brain's formulated anything cohesive either.

Mito has subconsciously dropped down to hold onto the wooden planks on his end of the bridge, although it doesn't really help at all. He's still waiting for a thud, anything! Any sound of impact, she might be crazy but she is not stupid there's no way she jumped into the void….. unless… unless she was aiming at something, but missed…….

Only the threateningly loud creaks of the bridge are heard as it's slowly stabilizing itself.

...

...

...

..The silence is harrowing...

Until a monstrous screech splits the air. It came from down under…

They all hear distant flapping from what sounds like a pair of wings, then its two pairs, then five, then twelve… as the sounds quickly grow in number and volume, a swarm of bat-like creatures, each thrice the size of a man, emerges from the pit of darkness where Konran had dove before.

The creatures ascend at a terrifying speed, their flight is chaotic, disoriented, and they all emit a high-pitched cry as they reach the sunlight.

The cloud of wings reaches the bridge.

Planks are sent flying and ropes snap free as the mass smashes through the bridge in a blurr.

This time, the impact throws everyone off, sending them all flying in different directions.

Time slows down...

"WEEEEEEEEEEEEE HAHAHAAHAAAHAHAHAHAAAAAA"

The girl's scream-like cackles echoe through the entire clearing as she holds onto one of the winged creatures, her sword driven inside its flesh as she hangs from the handle.

Alongside it, Mito can hear Cyrus screaming and Clematia shrieking like a banshee.

He shrugs off his pack and zeroes in on Clematia, easy to pinpoint from her voice. He gets to run along the start of the bridge for three full leaps before the impact finally reaches his planks and he too is thrown upwards.

His hands swiftly unbutton his coat mid-flight, and he's about to take it off when a flying plank connects with his forehead, knocking him out, and he free-falls unconscious down the chasm along with the others.

⋅⋅⊱༻ • Everyone roll ༺⊰⋅⋅

Roll Request: [d20]

Dice results:

• Clematia: “ 13 ”

• Cyrus: “ 15 ”

• Konran: “ 9 ”

• Woman: “ 5 ”

• Yohei: “ 17 ”

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⋅⋅⊱༻To be continued༺⊰⋅⋅