Aires

Autumn let out a small cry as the stick hit her leg. Normally, she wouldn't have paid any mind to what the child said. Kids were kids and it wasn't uncommon for them to say insensitive things. This time, however, it struck a nerve. She couldn't see if her leg jiggled through her long skirt, but she sure felt the impact of the words.

She had struggled with her weight for years and had always been a bit chubby. If there was one way to upset her, it was to mention her weight. Even the training hadn't helped. It clung on like a leech, ugly and troublesome. She frowned, almost certain that she would make the biggest splash of all. And then everyone would laugh. Probably say something about a beached whale. It had happened before on Earth, who was to say it wouldn't happen on Aires? Whatever this splash came from, she dreaded it. Folding her arms, she stared down at the path below and tried not to think about it.

Kit seemed to slow his pace, avoiding contact with the pink haired girl as much as he could. He even went out of his way to avoid looking at her. It was bothersome, but giving her too much thought would only upset him. Looking away was the best thing to do.

Her muscles screamed in pure excruciating agony. She had gone through one thing to another with the group. Running up a path, away from a Cyclopean (for which she was certainly going to thank Dae the Scarecrow man for), and now entertaining the notions of the pink haired child. As the stick hit her thighs, Lux let out what sounded like a squawk mixed with a yelp. Embarrassment crept in the moment the sound left her. Hands flew to cover her mouth. Her posture now screamed "Don't look at me!!" instead of "I'm pissed off!!!!". She hung back behind the group, hoping that no one heard her.

Or at the very least did not know that the sound came from her. That was enough to cause the actress to lose her control in trying to calm down her breathing. She didn't do much in the way of running, she preferred the lights and grandeur of the stage than sweating on some hot day underneath the unforgiving bright sun. A hand ran through the rat's nest that was now her once well kept hair. She didn't like this at all; however, her thoughts were, for once, pulled away from herself to the person she had ended up walking next to. At first, it took Lux a while to remember the blonde's name. But the moment she remembered, an uncharacteristically soft smile curled against her lips. With the clear sign's of Autumn's body language, even a person not so well versed in the art of body language could tell that she was insecure about something.

Heavily insecure. Walking just a bit closer to Autumn, the December warrior finally spoke up to one of her teammates in a while. "Don't let what that pink haired brat said get to you," she murmured hoping to keep the little girl from hearing the conversation. "I'll probably make a bigger splash than you, Autumn."

Harper ate quickly, burping loudly when he finished, despite the somewhat meager serving.

He had eaten worse.

He wasn't sure what to think of the supposed outing tonight, but hoped that it wouldn't be much worse than running rocks up the mountain. He stuck around the cafeteria, hoping to hear snippets that would give it away, but didn't have much luck.

He caught up with the group--on time for once!--and followed along, trying to keep his spirits up and praying they wouldn't do anything height related. The pink-haired girl, Karma, ran around hitting everyone's legs with a stick.

The wood stung against his leg, but there was only so much force a small girl could have, and thing stinging didn't last long, and in a minute was forgotten. Some of the others squeaked and squawked, and he rolled his eyes. Babies. It was just a little girl. Albeit, a bratty little girl, but a little girl nonetheless.

Harper had always had a soft spot for children, even if they were snot-nosed little terrors. Kids were simple. They could be sassy, snappy, and stuck-up, but there was always an honesty about them. Like there wasn't a second agenda behind their words. And the world was so easy for them, that they never thought twice.

Karma was, admittedly, harder to get along with than someone like his sister, but in the past two weeks he'd been here, he still smiled at her, laughed at her retorts and offered some of his own in response. Even when she pointed out his vomiting and nausea, those first few days, he'd taken it in stride. After all, it wasn't like the other warriors had any kinder words, if they had anything to say to him at all. At least Karma said what she thought.

"A splash?" he repeated, and his tone brightened up, "Are we going swimming?" he asked the little girl. The thought of it raised his hopes, and his smile grew in anticipation. "If that is the case, than being fat doesn't necessarily mean bigger splashes. It's all about entry. I'm bigger than you are, but I'd make a smaller splash than you if I dove in and you just belly flopped." He moved his hands about in front of him, outlining an invisible square. "All about the surface areaa..." he drew out the A for a while before putting his hands down. Still grinning, he announced in a louder voice, "By the way, I'm a certified lifeguard, so if anyone's worried about drowning, I've got you covered!"

“You heard nothing from me, green man!” she said in a prideful cheer to Harper as she marched forward without paying too much attention to his gestures. She called him green man because he threw up so much.
Tallyho clammed up at the chatter about deep water. She didn’t even know what a lifeguard was. It sounded like some sort of spiritual entity and Tallyho really didn’t like the idea of Harper being a transcendental being that had any form of control over her life. She pressed forward—eager to see what was in store at the end of their walk.
The group stopped in what seemed to be another clearing. But something was different. She heard water and she could hear a lot of it too. She spun around, eager to find the death trap but there was nothing but brush and trees surrounding them. Haru encouraged to group to rendezvous around the clearing.
Tallyho skeptically moved along the edge of the brush until she was standing next to Haru. Once the group formed a semi-neat circle Haru spoke.
“What would you do if we told you that you absolutely had to jump off of a very high cliff?”
The redhead didn’t really expect much of an answer so he continued his question with very little pause.
“Into water?” He figured that addition would alleviate some fears and induce others.
Tallyho swallowed with a dry throat.
Kat seemed indifferent. She crossed her arms and asserted her stance. It was like she had performed such a stunt a dozen times.
Kwasi was probably less nervous than Tallyho but more nervous that Kat. However, one wouldn’t be able to tell by the way he filtered his emotions away from his face.
“Well some of us can’t swim,” Tallyho bargained. A long breath escaped from her lungs as she slid into a seat on the roots of a grand tree. She was short of breath as she spoke, “I-I mean. What about the…the blind kid, huh? He wouldn’t even see where he’s swimming!” The blonde offered a rough gesture towards Falke.
Even though it was so super obvious that she was uncomfortable with the test she had to find some other way to justify why they shouldn’t be required to jump.
“Clam down,” Ji Na said. “He isn’t saying that you will be performing such a stunt tonight.”
“Right,” Haru said.
“It’s just an analogy. The test you will be enduring is very much like jumping from a cliff. When you become a piece of this academy, your dedication should be a downward plunge locked by gravity. But for most of you, this test is about more than the brotherhood of this institution. It is the brother—and sisterhood of your team. Of you month warriors.”
After her soliloquy Ji Na offered a pleasant nod.

Even though he had definitely taken his medicine today, Harper still nearly threw up at Haru's words.

Nausea still overcame him, and his confident self drowned as the fear tsunami'd in. It took every ounce of power to tell himself that he hadn't actually seen the cliff, that it was just a question, that it was just...

The addition of "into water" did help, a little. He closed his eyes hard and forced himself to breathe slowly. He hadn't even realized how shallow and quick his breaths had becoming. He wanted to sit down. He wanted to hurl. He wanted to turn around and run right back, splashes be damned.

Harper was oh so thankful at Tallyho's protests. At least SOMEone had their head on right. He would have added, but talking proved impossible.

"Clam down. He isn't saying that you will be performing such a stunt tonight."

He isn't saying otherwise either... Harper thought. He thought he might faint again as Ji Na continued talking, her words tumbling through and not making sense. He clenched his fists, trying to ram out the images of falling from a cliff, high diving, and the like. The highest he had ever dived from was 6 feet. Hypothetically, he knew how to dive from higher, but had never done it. Six feet was pretty high as it was.

He finally lowered himself, squatting on his haunches, head in his hands, trying to get a grip. Not that he cared if the others thought him strange or attention-grabbing, but he hated this feeling. The helplessness and fear. He hadn't had a panic attack since that first day, and he sure as hell didn't want another one.

Fumbling in his pocket, he pulled out his small knife and the hunk of wood he'd been carving into a fish. Shaking, he started whittling away, hoping it would hold his focus. The knife was clumsy in his trembling fingers, feeling too small and too big all at once, and after only two chips the blade slipped and dug into his thumb. He gave a shout of pain, jumping to his feet and shaking his hand. His thumb throbbed, the cut sharp and stinging much worse than Karma's stick, but he was glad. A distraction, and a welcome one at that.

"Sorry," he said, raising a hand, and he ducked to pick up the knife and wood (he'd dropped it, and now the fish was speckled in blood). Standing back up, he replaced the two in his pocket and sucked at the wound, hoping the topic would change to what they were actually doing. He didn't dare ask for clarification yet, all of his thoughts drawn to his bleeding thumb, the cliff lurking in the background.

Autumn paused for a moment, a bit surprised that someone was speaking to her. The group had always kept to themselves, especially around the other warriors. She looked over at the person next to her, remembering her as the girl who complained about everything. Lux, if she remembered correctly. Not that she blamed her. The blonde would complain as well if she felt a compelling desire.

So it was rather strange that Lux’s words were comforting. Autumn didn’t expect it in the slightest. Her expression softened and she smiled.

“Thanks.” It was all she could think to say. Even though she wanted to say more, to spark a friendship, she wasn’t quite sure where to begin. She was far too tired to think clearly. Still, her warm smile remained. Maybe it wouldn’t be so lonely, after all. Even Harper seemed to be in a better mood, offering help to those who needed it.

She took a deep breath, unfolding her arms and doing her best to look ahead. Whatever was coming couldn’t be that bad, right?
Nope, it was bad. Jumping off cliffs was very bad. Even Tallyho seemed concerned. More than concerned, actually. Autumn frowned. She had always thought of Tallyho as the bravest member of the group. If Tallyho was worried, so was Autumn. After all, the girl was from Aires. She knew better than anyone what was or wasn’t dangerous. Before she could side with the other blonde, however, Ji Na spoke.

It was comforting to know that it was simply an analogy. Autumn let out a small sigh of relief. In fact, teamwork was what she had been hoping for. Brotherhoods, sisterhoods, teamwork, family, whatever it was called it was what she wanted. As long as no cliff jumping was involved, it seemed like a brilliant idea.

Xabier felt tired. He was sure he looked it too.
It was all he ever felt nowadays. He hadn't expected to be so weak after working on Abuela's farm for most of his childhood. Still, his limbs ached and the minor cuts on his arms multiplies as he unknowingly brushed past sharp rock.
He didn't want to admit it but his chest hurt more than the petty injuries from mountain climbing.

He missed home, Bilbao that is, not his father's house in Madrid. He missed his mother and his brothers and his little sister, Amaia. He even missed the ridiculous religious holidays.

Ever since the training started, he found himself more and more contemplating running away. Maybe it was loyalty or maybe it was cowardice -he was sure it was the latter- but every time he was about to take a chance and run for it he ended up pathetically retreating like a puppy with his tail between his legs.

And then the leader woman had mentioned jumping off of a cliff.
Bad idea! Bad idea! His head screamed. He had dived off cliffs into the ocean every summer with his friends ever since he was five.
Still, this was different... He'd have to remove his shirt in front of the others.
He could walk about stark naked in front of his friends with ease. But with these people... He couldn't bear it. They'd stare. Or worse, use it against him. Just the thought of it niggled in the back of his head like a snake.
Xabier hated distrusting people. He'd have to just keep his shirt on and hope no one would notice.

And then- relief!
They wouldn't be jumping in after all. Instead they'd be doing something to do with "brotherhood", whatever that word meant.
He wondered what they were going to do. Since they had arrived at the center Xabier had kept to himself. As much as he enjoyed the hustle and bustle of many people together, he wanted to watch from the sidelines. That and the fact his English kept failing him every time he wished to speak.
It was annoying because he longed for some sort of family. He knew that he'd have to participate wholeheartedly.

He would try his best. As long as it didn't involve going shirtless or dealing with fire of any kind, he'd deal.

"Okay. What are we doing?" He asked the pretty leader woman.

Apparently, this event was a big deal based on the number of witnesses: Ryou and Dae as promised, but also Ji Na and Haru as well as an irritating pink-haired brat. Should he be nervous? Since he made sure Ryou heard him this time, most of the anxiety he held onto during the day already left and he couldn't muster any extra. He only wondered what either Ryou or Haru would do about it, as Haru was the one always pushing respect.

Speaking of Haru, after they went a little further into the forest, he stopped and gathered them all together for another one of his speeches. The cat-guardian's speeches were part of the routine by now, but having Ryou and Dae there were not part of the routine. After talking to Ryou, Kyle found himself drifting back to Dae, but he did carefully avoid the little brat. She surprised him once with that stick and he wasn't going to give her another chance. While Haru and Ji Na were talking, he remained by Dae. He thought he should apologize to the scarecrow person, but he didn't know what to apologize for.

The short blond glanced over to Ryou and then back to Haru and Ji Na talking about cliff-diving and teamwork. He didn't understand why any adult would encourage cliff-diving, and instead of the anxiety many others showed, his grey eyes brightened in curiosity. What did cliff-diving have to do with teamwork?

Ryou, who hadn't been called Mr. Zerrin in longer than he cared to keep track of, listened to Kyle with all of the patience of someone used to short tempers of an even more volatile variety on a daily basis. He never interrupted, never stopped walking, and even refused to slow his pace, but at the end of the stammered out apology, he finally replied.

"Well, first, don't call me Mr. Zerrin, Kyle- it's Ryou. Titles make me itch. Secondly, no harm done and your apology is most certainly accepted and thank you for apologizing. All I ask is that you learn from what you did wrong, and we'll be right as rain," The March Guardian hummed, patting Kyle rather solidly on the shoulder, but the motion wasn't harsh, simply reassuring and very much there. His tone was pleasant, words crafted after many years of experience into casual sentences made to calm and soothe troubled students young and old but never speak down to them. It all came together to give the impression of a man who would make a good father until you looked at his little heathen whacking people with sticks and harassing them with an onslaught of insults and verbal jabs. In his defense, he did eventually step in, scooping Karma into his arms in one fell swoop- stick and all- and placing her rather firmly on his shoulders as he walked ahead. Then again, he most likely did so not because she was being the best little pest she could be, but rather because she was letting secrets slip loose.

Dae, however, lingered behind with the blonde boy for a while, either because he was genuinely enjoying the walk and was taking no notice as to whom his companion was or because he didn't feel like leaving Kyle out to dry. Regardless of his motivation, the raggedy knight didn't speak until shortly before their journey's end.

"Good of you to apologize," He offered with his raspy voice. "Shows you're willing to change. That's more than most people, yeah?" He offered up a crooked smile as well before they arrived and attention was demanded elsewhere and for much better reasons.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

They stopped in a clearing, as ordinary looking as any other that they'd seen in their brief stay at the Academy. Still, the sheer amount of greenery and the realization that, just beyond the trees there were no skyscrapers looming high, no cars racing or, alliteratively, crawling, inching across the asphalt, no cellphones to be found in the hand of every pedestrian, no bicyclists insisting on sharing the road in a city that didn't like sharing much of anything… It still astounded him and reminded him that, if- no, when he returned home, he might need to make it his mission to travel, to see places on Earth mimicked here on Aires, even if the air would never be this clear and, alternatively, the danger on the horizon never quite this present. Still, this piece of natural beauty was something that he could genuinely enjoy on Aires, especially now that he knew where his next meal was coming from, meager thought it might be.

Still, there was something odd- well, apart from the way Ji Na and Haru were speaking(Haru didn't really seem like one for metaphors). No, it was the sound of moving water from some unknown place, which was highly unnerving. He could hear Harper suggesting that he could help with anything swimming related, boasting some skills as a lifeguard and he could see the nerves dancing on various people's faces even before Haru's rather jolting question. Panic was rising in the masses, nervous glances exchanged, panic attacks bubbling to the surface, and already nervous excuses were being proclaimed. Still, as Ji Na assured them, it was just an analogy. Just a simple analogy. Not everyone seemed that comforted, however, Harper already apparently nearing hysteria, and others still antsy from the mere suggestions.

"You're both awful actors," Ryou announced, drawing attention effectively back towards him, the pink-haired terror still perched on his shoulders. "Don't tease them like that. Everyone, please, follow me." With that, he beckoned with the free hand not balancing Karma and stepped through the bushes, making his own path. Dorian, never having been one to simply see what the rest of the Month Warriors were doing, followed behind.

The secret path opened into its own sort of clearing, beautiful green grass mostly undisturbed so that it grew and curled to around his calves, bushes and ferns tangled together until it was hard to tell one from the other, the canopy of trees still providing shade, leafy branches hovering over the group. That was until the happy little meadow abruptly ended at a cliff and Dorian's first thoughts went towards the view. It was absolutely amazing. The cliff jutted out over a large, calm looking lake surrounded by forest as green and as full of life as the Academy's scenery. Poking out from the trees, however, was a rather large island with a sandy shore that slipped back into lush grass and the occasional bush before blending back into the tree-line below. Perhaps even more spectacular was the view immediately across the lake on another cliff; a waterfall cascading water over the edge, the source of the roaring they'd heard from the clearing before.

He was so caught up in the view that he hardly noticed the fact that they weren't alone on the cliff's clearing, but it was well enough since they appeared to be friendly or, well, not actively enemies if the fact that Dae had bypassed the gawking students and gone over to them, looking pleased as could be. One was a young boy, a bit scrawny and small, who looked genuinely unnatural with his stark white hair and wide, scarlet eyes that seemed all too knowing for his age. His lips, as pale as his almost snow white skin, were pulled into a stiff but quite real smile as Dae found his way over. The other was a young man, more akin to Dae's age than any of their own but in all other ways a distinct contrast from the ragged elite. Long blonde hair was kept expertly tamed into a sleek, low ponytail, his skin was pale and smooth but not without a healthy glow adding to his rather effeminate features, and his clothes, although hidden behind a black cloak that covered him from neck to his black boots, were hinted at being just as well-cared for as the rest of his features if the perfect condition of his clothes gave any indication. Perhaps the most remarkable thing about him, however, were his eyes, deep purple in color and looking entirely amused by the situation, here, apparently, to see a show.

Ryou, having placed Karma down to let her run around as she pleased, walked to the edge of the cliff and teetered there, completely unconcerned by the height. He gestured idly towards the assembled small group around Dae.

"Glad to see you've both made it- here, my friends, are two more of our elite students. Everyone, Mori Lavi, our resident scholar and expert on all, well, things. Don't let his age fool you, I'd dare say he knows more than the rest of us put together," The white-haired boy nodded slightly, looking particularly miffed to be here. "And Liam Valentine, magician extraordinaire, specializing in magic of the dark and spooky variety." The blonde gave a pleasant wave, quite ironic when one put him together with his description.


"Onto the initiation! They weren't lying earlier," Ryou admitted with a great, beaming smile. "This is an analogy- well, maybe less of an analogy and more of a trust exercise? Well, regardless, this is something that every Academy Student goes through. You see, everything about working on a team is based around both hard work and trust. If you don't trust your teammates, you'll fall apart, which, as I'm sure you know, is not something that you want to happen. These people around you are your team- your fellow students, your teachers, your eventual friends if all goes well, your allies. And, if you don't trust yourself, you'll never be able to succeed, never be able to keep calm and carry on when life throws obstacles in your path. Later on, when you've found your way outside of my little Academy, you're going to face countless challenges that seem impossible, but if you trust yourself and you trust your team, you can do anything."

"So," He gestured, arms spread out wide and teetering even further over the edge, "This is your first seemingly impossible task. There are no rocks below, the fall isn't high enough to kill anyone, but there is still risk and danger involved. I want you to jump. Below, that island that you see? After you jump, you'll be camping there to bond and, more likely than not, curse my name. I'd suggest building a fire and supplies will be made available to you. Remember, these mountain nights get rather cool. But-" He held up a finger to stop complaints in their tracks.

"I won't ask the impossible. If you need or want help for the jump or the swim below, there are people available to you. Your teammates, for one, but seeing as I'm rather sure a good majority of you will be leery about that, you have your Academy team available as well. That includes all of us standing here with you, particularly myself and Dae who was kind enough to volunteer instead of being put on the spot just now."

"This is, by the way, mandatory. Now." He paused, cocking his head to one side. "Who's first?"

No.

No, no, no, no NO NO NONONONONONONONO

NO!

But as much as his mind screamed it, it was there. The edge of the cliff. The daunting task.

Impossible. It was impossible. He couldn't. How--how--

NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO!!

His brain shut down. Any rational thought completely left him. Fear had seized him entirely, and instinct took over. Without another word, Harper turned around and started running as fast as he could, away from the group, away from the cliff, away from the edge, with no plans of stopping until he was far, far away...

Tallyho eyed the newer new-comers. She still wasn’t that used to seeing Dae around and the new faces only made her more confused. Though, the most pressing inquiry she has was about why Ryou had such… colorful children hanging around. Did no one else notice how strange the Mori boy’s pallet was? And Karma was just mean enough to make people accept the way she looked without much question.
“Nope. Nope. Waaaait a minute. Karma. Goes. First!”
Though nobody was really in front of her, Karma made it her business to push pairs of legs away from the cliff’s edge for the dramatic effect.
“Karma. Always. Goes. First!”
She waved her finger as she proudly marched towards the cliff. Haru shared a glance with Ryou. He hadn’t really gotten the opportunity to sit down and chat with his old friend but he really had been wondering where in the world he dug Karma up from.
The little girl flexed briefly before sprinting over the cliff’s edge. Her screams were more like hoots and hollers as she belly-flopped into the water below. Karma actually made it look fun at least until the person she fooled realized that she was at high risk of growing up to be a psychopath. Haru peered over the cliff’s edge just to see if she made it. Karma was already marching to shore with her head held high. One could hear her chant “losers” from the island below. Charming.
Tallyho couldn’t believe any of it. And it wasn’t that her face conveyed a form of traditional disbelief. It was more like a purée of disbelief, confusion, and the aftertaste of witnessing sheer stupidity. Not only were they going to be forced down this cliff but they would have to be teased because an child was more willing to dive in before they were.
Then came Kat. She hadn’t said much of anything since they began the walk to the cliff. She brushed past Tallyho with a cool breeze before pushing herself into a jog, a sprint, and then a freeform. Despite her brutish demeanor she was actually very graceful, and barely made a peep as she strained jump as far out from the cliff’s edge as possible. Her toned body did not leave limbs out for the air to splay at its will. She kept her hands pointed in prayer towards the water. And like a rock she fell into a stable nosedive, sporting the splash of a pebble skipped across a pond.
Kwasi pressed his lips into a thin line. It was sinful for a monk to feel prideful. But Kat’s comments about him being “watered down” really took a stake to his heart.
“My tribe loves nature… We are the water people, right? Or was it fire?” The pensive monk thought to himself. He felt shame and deiced that he’d pray on it.
After a few minutes of bowing his head in silence he decided to make the leap though his wasn’t nearly as well-crafted as Kat’s. He went down with a crack in his voice—the yelp of a prepubescent boy—before landing in the water with his heels above his head and a huge splash. His robes didn’t make it any easier getting out. They became very heavy and he was winded before he even reached the shore. Karma was still doing a creative victory dance on the shoreline and Kat was leaning against a tree, unamused by just about everything. Kwasi rolled onto the sand like a walrus, offering a meek wave to the dry-folk from below.
“I-It was nothing!” he assured. His voice was still cracking.
Tallyho was pretty much done at that point. Kat’s flawless completion of this test and Kwasi’s eager but embarrassing flawed attempt pretty much assured Tallyho that she wasn’t going down. The blonde stood up from her seat at the tree and turned to leave—her face slightly red and breath short.
Haru pulled her back by the shoulder.
“I’ll push you if you can’t do it yourself,” he said.
That had to be the most uncomforting thing ever.
Ji Na piped in, “Remember, your friends can help too.”
Tallyho chuckled. The earthlings? She still wanted to think that they would laugh at her drowning but because of certain acts of kindness she couldn’t necessarily say that about them. But that didn’t mean she thought they liked her enough to drag her flailing and likely dangerous body out of deep waters.
“Fat chance,” she hummed as she shrugged Haru’s hand off of her shoulder. There was a sudden crash in the brush and Tallyho caught a glimpse of Harper’s feet scampering away. Haru shook his head and glanced at Ryou before going after to boy. And boy was he grateful for being the cat guardian, speed being an asset in this situation. It didn't take long for Haru to catch up. It was grabbing him that was the problem. He didn't hesitate in attempting to physically restrain Harper.
“I might need some help here,” he called through the green. It seemed that the only way to get Harper in was to catch him and toss him like a fish.
Tallyho was starting to think Harper had the right idea though.

Actors? What was that supposed to mean? And where was the sound of water coming from?

Suddenly, things looked grim. They were jumping off a cliff, weren’t they? They were jumping down into deadly waters and were all going to die. That’s exactly what was going to happen. This was all a conspiracy to kill them in the strangest way possible. Then again, it was just an analogy. Just an analogy, right?

Autumn followed nervously, her previously casual pace turning into a shuffle. She certainly wasn’t tired anymore, not with the thought of rushing waters and impending doom forcing its way into her head. Of course there had to be a waterfall. It wasn’t an analogy at all. She didn’t even have the courage to take in the view.

She looked the two newcomers. Mori and Liam? Dark and spooky magic? Now that was interesting. For a fleeting moment, she almost forgot that she was about to plunge into the deep unknown.

What, were they spectating? Was this all some twisted spectacle where people watch teenagers fling themselves into their deaths? Probably not. Autumn had a feeling it wouldn’t kill her. Still, thinking such things at least justified her fear a bit more.
Surprisingly, someone actually went to jump. Unsuprisingly, it was the pink haired girl. She made it out fine, boasting loudly. Then Kat jumped. Even Kwasi made it in. For a moment, Autumn almost felt as if she could make it. Then Harper ran.

Kit gave a quick and quiet chuckle, as if he expected it not to end well for the boy. That only further confirmed that there was no way out of this. She glanced at her guardian briefly, but all he did was give his "do this thing" face as he always did while training her.

Within that split second, Haru was already running after Harper.

Once again, things seemed pretty frightening. She had to jump, but she really didn’t want to. The more she looked at the ledge before her, the more frightened she became. It was painfully obvious she needed someone to jump with her.
She backed away from the cliff, bumping into someone in the process.

“Oh, sorry I-“ Autumn turned around, now aware that the person she bumped into was Liam. She paused for a moment. “I think I might need some help down.”

Well, it was one way to make a friend.

Harper felt like he was running for his life.

He didn't think he'd ever run this fast before. There was so much desperation and carnal fear fueling him. But his flight was short-lived. Something barreled into him from behind, and he hit the ground hard.

Yet still he scrambled to his feet. He had to keep moving. He didn't get far when a larger mass tackled him, sending him to his knees. He bellowed, his attacker clinging to him in a vice-like grip, but Harper was all physicality now. Every muscle tightened, stretched, and bulged as he thrashed about, trying to throw off Haru.

"GET OFF GET OFF GET OFF!" he shouted. He found his footing again, but when he stood up he slammed his back to a tree, pressing as hard as he could, squeezing the man against the hard bark, digging his nails into skin, fingers searching desperately for the pocket knife he still had in his pocket...

It was amazing, Dorian thought, how people reacted in the face of danger. Or perhaps that wasn't the amazing part but rather the very strange people facing said danger at the moment. Karma went first, hooting and hollering like the wild child she so surely was, a terrifying mix between Mowgli from the Jungle Book and a psychotic pixie with enough attitude to put even the sassiest of teenagers to shame. Followed behind was Kat, silent but efficient as she completed a perfect swan dive, barely making a splash as she breached the calm waters and disappeared before quickly popping back up again, swimming to shore with powerful but surprisingly elegant strokes. Following behind her was Kwasi, far less graceful than Kat and far less noisy than Karma, despite his voice cracking screech, but even he struggled to shore with his robes weighing him down as effectively as if he'd jumped in with a bag slung over his shoulder, false bravado or no. Those were the outsiders, those included in the Academy not as a part of the ragtag Month Warrior group, but those unlucky enough to arrive at or around the same time. Well, except Karma- she was a nightmare the Academy had to endure long before their arrival.

The Month Warriors themselves weren't faring very well. Which, of course, was the understatement of the century.

Harper took off into the wilderness, wordlessly letting fear fuel his every step as Haru raced after the rogue Month Warrior. Tallyho, for her part, didn't look much more stationary, apparently eying her own escape, which, honestly did make some sense. They were, after all, asking teenagers to jump off of a cliff and, considering none of them were the most adventurous or trusting sorts, there were bound to be some problems. Running problems. Who knew that the Month Warriors could be a flight risk?

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

If it wasn't Haru's call for help that spurred Ryou into motion, it was probably the furious and terrified shrieking coming from Harper as he did his best to not only escape but also to do as much damage as he could whilst doing so. Certainly something that no immortal was truly in danger by, but damn if it wasn't irritating.

Ryou found them soon enough and did his part by grabbing one of Harper's arms. What followed next was a testimony to just how many times Haru and Ryou had worked together before, moving in tandem as they dragged Harper kicking and screaming from the depths of the forest, back to the clearing and, quite ignoring his frantic protestations, tossed him unceremoniously over the cliff. It was satisfying, really, in a deeply twisted sort of way. Besides, he'd assured them all already that he could swim quite well, so there wasn't really all that much to feel guilty about, now was there?

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Liam, for his part, didn't seem all that upset about being bumped into. Rather, the half smile that had been gracing his face ever since he'd joined the group only moments before. If anything, the smile grew and, despite everything that had been said about him, it looked utterly pleasant.

"Then I think that we can help," He replied quite readily. His voice wasn't incredibly deep, but was rich in a warm, almost heavy way, matching his elegant looks quite perfectly. "You'll have to forgive me for not taking you myself, but I wasn't aware Ryou would be volunteering us for diving duty. But I wouldn't worry- Dae is a most excellent diver, aren't you, pet?"

Dae, who had been quite enraptured by the entire drama that was Harper, turned his head back towards them with a crooked grin.

"Ta, Liam. Don't worry, I'll take good care of you. Mori, would you-? Oh, there's a love." The raggedy knight relinquished his sword and sheath to the younger boy before taking Autumn by the hand, his own rough and calloused from fights, hard living, and far too much training, and led her gently to the edge of the cliff.

"Hang on, then. I've got you," He warned, wrapping his arms securely around her before jumping off of the cliff. For all of the speed and surprising grace of the descent, Dae never once let go. Not even the water's impact separated the two before they were bobbing to the surface like corks in a bucket of water and only then did Dae relinquish his grip, giving Autumn room to paddle in the water.

"Alright?" Dae rasped.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Everyone, it appeared, was going over the edge in one way or another today. That included the unwilling and, honestly, Dorian sympathized with them more than he understood. He, after all, had no fear of heights besides the reasonable instinct not to dance on high ledges(also, he didn't dance), and he was a reasonably strong swimmer, mostly if you considered still bodies of water. No, this challenge made him weary but not terrified. Harper was, apparently, under control, but he wasn't quite sure he wanted everyone to be so unceremoniously tossed off the cliff. After all, he actually liked some of these people. Take Tallyho for example- generally reasonable, worked hard, didn't complain or if she did so she didn't do it loudly… Admittedly they weren't best friends of any sort, but he did like her or at least he liked her enough not to want to see her drown.

"Hey, Tallyho," His voice, while typically stern, was making at least some effort to sound friendly. "I don't think there's any way we're getting out of this. Would you rather just jump together?" He asked, of course, instead of simply dragging her off the cliff with him. He was, after all, socially awkward, not a sociopath or, apparently, a Guardian.

Haru knew what to do in situations like these. The first February was prone to extreme out bursts and after way too many failed attempts at restraining her he learned how to handle his body in a way where he was less likely to get hurt. Like a cat that doesn’t want to be held, he kept his body still but limp, slowly creeping for the best route in which to escape the rough hands of a reckless owner. And that route was Ryou.
When his fellow guardian yanked the armed fool off of his person Haru reassumed his position as the capturer and assisted Ryou in the tossing.
“He called himself trying to cut me,” Haru shrugged, “I anticipate this isn’t the end of his show, however.”
Tallyho caught a gander at Harper’s face as he was dragged to the cliff by the guardians. She wasn’t sure how he did it, but Harper managed to take an already uncomfortable event and make it ten times worse with his sporadic outburst. While she might have tried to run too, she would have never tried to cut a guardian. And he could, at the very least, swim!
Then came some lick of sense. Dorian, in a reasonable fashion, asked Tallyho if she wanted to jump with him. Though she didn’t want to filter all of her emotions through her face, she couldn’t be any more relieved. She was already red-faced from lack of air and wanted to find low ground before she combusted or something.
“Sure… Thanks.” she hummed, not quite sure about any other way to respond. Another score for the earthlings... She nodded. Ready to follow grey-eyed Dorian to the edge but not willing to approach first for fear of suddenly being thrown over by her lonesome.

Harper had fought as hard as he could. He'd kicked and squirmed, hollered and cried, grabbed at dirt and grass, tree roots and branches, but to no avail. The two Guardians together were too strong.

The trees fell behind, and as the cliff edge grew nearer and nearer, Harper grew more and more desperate and hysterical. "No! Stop, please!" he begged, tears streaming freely as he kicked helplessly, as if he could shove the cliff away from him. "Please, I'll do anything! I'll do fucking anything just--just don't--don't make me do this! I can't do this! Stop! STOP! PLEASE!" His voice grew higher and higher with each step. About three feet away from the edge, he saw the drop, the height, the water below, way...way below, and he pissed himself.

"DON'T! DON'T FUCKING DO THIS!" he sobbed, fingers scrabbling for a grip, a hold, anything. The drop loomed below him, and there was only a foot left of grass. "PLEASE! PLEASE, OH MY GOD, STOP! I CAN'T! I CAN'T! I--"

He felt himself being thrown, and he gave a scream: high, thin, and terrified. Then their hands left him, and for half a second, he was weightless...

And then the falling started.

It was like every, worst nightmare over the past 22 years compiled and collected and collided into one, terrible, awful, horrible happening. He couldn't escape it. There was no waking up. Every fiber of him screamed for him to escape, to leave, but he couldn't. The thing he feared the most, and he had been thrown into it, literally.

He couldn't think. Couldn't see. Couldn't hear. Could hardly breathe. Everything was wrong. Everything was awful. He was going to die. He knew it. He was falling off the mountain. His paranoia had come true.

He had to get out. Had to get out. Had to. Get out.

It was like shutting off a switch. Two seconds away from hitting the water, he turned off. Automatic shut down. Power off. Hibernate. Sleep mode. Conserve power. Switch to Safe. Abort. Exit. Eject.

Splashdown.

Harper didn't even feel the impact of the water. He didn't feel anything. His body sank under the surface like a brick, his weight dragging him down. Under different circumstances he would have started swimming, but nothing was working. Nothing was connected. Synapses were in disarray, nerves disorganized, wires tangled and torn, and he continued sinking, down, down, down, never hitting the bottom and with no sign of kicking upwards to the top.

Over the cliff she went, comforted knowing that Dae was there to help her. Comforted, but not beyond screaming on the way down. It was a high pitched shriek, one of those kinds that got neighborhood dogs barking. Aside from that, everything went smoothly. Autumn just felt sorry for Dae’s ears.

She gasped as she surfaced, thankful that she made it out alive. “Yeah. Just fine. Thanks for the help. Sorry about the screaming.” She somehow managed to speak, even though she felt out of breath. That seemed to be happening a lot lately. She paddled towards the shore. Her long dress didn’t make it any easier. It bogged her down and made swimming all the more difficult as time progressed. She was hardly halfway there when Harper was thrown down. Swimming as quickly as she could, she did everything possible to avoid him. She had no idea what to do.

Finally, she reached the shore. Breathing heavily, the blonde looked towards the water to see just what had become of Harper.

"No problem," Dorian replied, shaking his head and, indeed, it wasn't any problem. This was all setting up quite nicely, really. Tallyho had taken him up on his offer, presumably no one else was getting tossed off a cliff, he was helping someone who he could, by extending his own personal definition, be considered a friend, and they'd somehow sneaked teamwork into the entire exercise just to delight the Guardians and still lingering Academy students. Really, it couldn't have gone better, a fact Dorian firmly believed to be true until he stepped towards the edge and saw Harper hit the water.

It was the lack of screaming that attracted his attention, really, which wasn't all that surprising. The first time they'd spoken, Harper had shouted at him, ranted and raved while the March Month Warrior had been drenched in blood and vaguely traumatized. Now Harper was apparently traumatized if the frantic scuffle before being tossed over the edge was any indication and he'd carried on screaming for a little bit, screamed begs turned to a shrill shriek as he plummeted over the cliff. The shriek followed him down, down, down before abruptly stopping. Dorian had assumed it was because he'd finally hit the water, but, gazing over the edge just as the older boy sank beneath the nearly still waters, he realized why exactly he'd stopped.

Still, Dorian assured himself as he stared downwards for a second or two, the shock should be enough to wake him and Harper had boasted about being such a good swimmer anyways. Dorian continued to delude himself for approximately ten more seconds, the longest it had taken anyone so far to surface after their jump, before realizing what he had to do. Well, shit. He was going to drown.

"Well, shit. He's going to drown," Dorian echoed, the swear sounding completely out of place coming from his mouth before he jumped off the cliff. It wasn't elegant and precise like Kat's, nor was it exuberant and excited like Karma, and it wasn't even a bumbled sort of dive like Kwasi's. No, he landed in the only way he'd ever done so, curled into a ball as he sank beneath the water. He surfaced near instantaneously, gasping for breath before swimming back downwards.

His eyes strained to stay open, so unused to being open in water without goggles or a mask, as he continued to swim down, down, down into the lake. The water was getting cooler and darker the further he went, but it wasn't too terribly deep. He hoped. He found Harper just as his lungs began to scream for air and looped his arms around the shorter boy. It was discombobulating being this deep and even more so when you were being oxygen deprived and suddenly he couldn't tell right from left, up from down. He panicked, for a moment, before calming enough to watch the last bubbles of air escape his lips, leading him on an upwards path.

He broke through to the surface, gasping wildly for air, and strained to stay above the water and keep Harper in a similar state. He paddled then, sporadic but powerful strokes until he was over halfway to the island when Dae, who had just finished helping Autumn to shore, swam out to meet him. The two were able to drag the Month Warrior to the beach, laying him out on the sand. Dorian was exhausted now, clinging to his energy stubbornly but surely as he leaned over the other boy's body, checking for breath and a pulse and having no idea what to do if he found neither.

Tallyho was just about done. Harper went down the cliff like a roach being traumatically knocked off of a wall—his hairy legs wriggling with desperation and antennae zooming about in counter rotations as he rolled around on his back desperate to find his footing. Then he went limp. Then he wasn’t coming up.
She and Dorian were perched at the cliff side and between the two of them Dorian was more than likely going to be the one to save him. In fact, he had to be the one to go save him because even if Tallyho could swim, she probably wouldn’t.
Maybe she was overreacting. Maybe she was just selfish. But Tallyho actually got someone to help her with this on their own free will and Harper…. basically stole her ticket down the falls. Not only was the June month warrior drowning, but he had the audacity to drown after countless mornings hogging the central fountain for “swims”.
Then Dorian just jumped. Tallyho understood why, but she couldn’t help but feel more than a little peeved. With the March warrior gone, Tallyho wordlessly stepped away from the cliff and went back to her tree. There was bad news and good news.
If she had to be pushed she’d have to spend the night in the woods with the others regardless. But! If she had to be pushed she’d more than likely just drown and die, which, for her headache’s sake, sounded like a pretty good deal.
“What am I doing?” she hummed. She was disgusted. Disgusted by the churning in her stomach. By Harper. Her newfound reliance on others. Where did it all come from anyway? She didn’t need them. She could do it on her own, right? Right?
The jump was far, but not that far. And Tallyho wasn’t going to let a little girl jump in without being harmed yet come out with her own scars. Emotional or not. Tallyho thought quietly. She dragged her finger in the dirt and drew pictures.
Haru wouldn’t just let her die. Even if she couldn’t swim. She glanced over at the redhead. He didn’t really seem like he was in that big of a rush to throw people overboard. He just stood around silently, waiting for someone else to take the plate.
The blonde stood up, her downcast expression seeming more pensive than depressed, or angry, or whatever. She began a slow pace towards the cliff but she hoped that someone else would opt in to take the dive before her so that she would have a chance to reconsider and change her mind. Alas she was already at the cliff side. Note, not close enough to where her toes were dangling over the edge like Ryou’s but just damn close enough for her not to have a heart attack.
She was unsure of what to do with her body. She began by pinching her nose. She stopped when she remembered that none of the others had gone in that way. Perhaps it was a bad practice? She pivoted back and forth from one foot to the other trying to imagine herself jumping. She concluded that she would never make a jump as long as Kat’s. She wondered if she could keep her body in control so that she wouldn’t be tossed any old way by the incoming wind intensity. She had lean muscle but she wasn’t strong enough to do that. She turned her back to the water and wondered if falling backwards would get her killed. It might but she couldn’t find any other way to successfully jump in without being hyper conscious about how far out she was jumping, etc.
She briefly made eye contact with Haru who popped his brows up for a brief second. He was asking if she was going to go down that way. She pressed her lips thin and adverted her eyes as she relaxed her posture. She was telling him yes.
This wasn’t the place for Haru to instruct her on her form. The fact that she was going in alone was a miracle. But he felt that it would have done her good to know that falling face first would have been better. But it facing the other way was what it took for her to take the leap? Well… that was good enough for him. Before he knew it she was over the edge. Her fall probably seemed the least dramatic. She was stiff and looked like a mannequin who had simply been tipped over by a careless shopper in New York. She was silent too.
But that certainly wasn’t by choice. Tallyho would have preferred to scream just to remind herself that she was still alive. But in the midst of her fall she ended up turning over so that she was face up instead of upside down. Now she was facing the cliff’s wall and the red rocks were plummeting past her. She couldn’t scream because so much air wanted to find its way into her body. It was trying to make up for every breath she missed upstairs on the edge. Then there was water. A sudden burning sensation ran into her nose and by then she learned to stop inhaling. She swung her arms and legs but it wasn’t very coordinated. She wasn’t kicking hard enough or parting her arms fast enough. She thought of failed swimming lessons from her childhood. The white blonde of mother’s hair and the way her underskirt stuck to her white, white thighs and hips as she pulled herself out of the ocean.
Tallyho kicked harder. She didn’t need saving because she was going to save herself. She could feel her body pushing forward in the water! She was teaching herself how to swim. She could not feel her fingers. Her eyes were still closed; she did not dare open them for fear that she might sink like a stone. And she did feel like a stone—like she was being pulled up by a stone. Or maybe down. She did not know. She did not dare open her eyes.
From behind her eyelids she could see that light was approaching. Everything was bright red like her mother’s lips. Swimming was becoming easier. It was nothing really—just lightly waving arms and legs until she felt safe again. Everything became cold and she could feel the sand in her toes, someone’s arm latched to her waist, and fingers laced into her’s. She was still being pulled forward. She thought she was still swimming kept her legs limp, her shins dreamily skidding into seashell encrusted mud. Suddenly she was settled on something dry and hot.
“Open your eyes,” a voice said. And Tallyho did. She knew that she was safe now. It was Kat kneeling next to her with her unchanging expression.
“Did I swim?” Tallyho asked her voice was hoarse and throat sore.
“No.” Kat said.
Tallyho let out a soft defeated grunt and she did not try to get up. Instead she laid there with her head turned, fingers, toes and right cheek stuffed in the sand with her back exposed to the sun.

They were jumping off a cliff after all.

Xabier enjoyed swimming. Obviously not as much as Harper though, since the guy never seemed to leave the water. The others had lept off with varying rates of success.
The monk had stumbled, the kid had yelped with delight while Harper went down screaming. He had screamed so loud that Xabier was surprised when it suddenly got quiet.
Weird.
One by one the others made their journey down.

He'd have to do it. He'd have to jump.
Xabier would just have to pretend that it was back in the good old days, before he got burned so badly that he was unwilling to show his back.

He was almost too caught up in his fears of revealing his back to notice the friendly exchange between Dorian and Tallyho. Almost.

Then his thoughts flitted back to the whole topless issue.
Dorian suddenly broke away and dived off leaving Tallyho alone.
Xabier knew he could dive better.
He braced himself and took off towards the edge.

His feet pushed through the rough grass and hit the smooth warm rocks, still racing to the end of the rocks; his last foot slowly and gracefully leaves the edge of the rock. He was soaring. It was like cliff diving with his siblings and his friends in the summer time.

He missed home. Sometimes when he heard the high voice of that little pink haired girl, he was transported back to a warmer place in a better time. The times they'd dare each to dive off higher ledges into perilous depths of the turquoise water below.
Always holding his brother Aitzan's hand and his best friend Inke's in the other, he'd lose his senses and jump.

Falling, this time he was on his own. No one surrounded him, just air and a view of forever. His shadow on the ground. Its arms wide open mimicking his own, as if they were welcoming him into a sweet embrace. A promise of transporting him back to the past.

His head was pounding.
It's too reckless! Think it through!

His thoughts were pounding.
Stupid! Stupid Idiot! You are going to die!

His heart was pounding.
He never felt so alive.

He peeked down at the water.
Trying to time his last deep, desperate gasp of air, He tried not to think of anything.
His dilemma with his shirt long forgotten.

He felt the butterflies fluttering throughout his body. He took in the last source of air. Suddenly, the touch of the water that had been waiting for patiently, strikes him.

The deep water gently consumed his body and the darkness behind his eyelids was almost comforting.
It was as if the water had transported him home. No, not the water exactly. But the quiet split second when he was truly alone but didn't feel lonely.

Nothing but water surrounded his body.

He swam up through the bitter water to the surface. His eyes opened wide taking in the surroundings.
He rose from the water quietly gasping for air, breathing heavily with adrenaline. He just conquered the cliff. “Again!” He shouted, exhilarated. His hair had slicked off of his face and his mouth was turned up with glee.

And then he noticed that no one seemed to have seen. They were gathered near the shore clustered around something or someone.

He was surrounded with people but felt lonely. For the first time in a long while, he felt numb.

And then horror, he realised that the thing that everyone had focused on was actually a person. Harper to be exact. He must have drowned when he was busy enjoying himself.
Xabier swam as fast as he could towards the shore where Harper lay. The water was dragging his already tired muscles down. Like it was calling him.
"Come back down to the dark, it is safe and warm," it seemed to call.
He pushed on.

He had nearly reached where Harper was on the shore, when a rock snagged his shirt.

He couldn't help anyone without ripping his shirt. Precious seconds ticked by like hours.

They'd all see his scars.
But if he didn't move, Harper could die.

Xabier couldn't stand the thought of either scenario.

He knew he was being selfish, first with showing off and then assuming that everything was about him while Harper drowned.
He couldn't be selfish anymore.

And then it just kind of happened without thinking.

He pulled at his shirt and reached the shore at what felt like a painstakingly slow pace. His clothes dragged down to the sand.

"Is he breathing? Does he have a pulse?" He asked pushing past Dorian to check for himself.
Harper didn't seem to be breathing.

Shit.

He couldn't die. As much as he was annoying and didn't seem to know when to stop talking, Harper HAD to live. Xabier checked for his pulse, it was there but only barely. He turned him over onto his back and began to pump down on his chest rhythmically with the heels of his hands.

It was at times like these that he worried about every move he was making.

Pushing down. 10, 20, 30 times.
And then he tilted Harper's head back and lifted his chin to free the airway.
Pinching his nose, he began CPR. He stopped after two breaths and checked to see if his chest was rising. He heard some exclamations from behind him. Someone else had almost drowned too.

He couldn't focus on anything other than helping the one who was in immediate danger: Harper.

Pumping his heart again, he leaned back down to try CPR again when he saw a flicker of life in Harper's face.
It was working.
Harper would live, and Xabier's shirt was ruined.

"I thought you could swim, idiot." He sighed.

Haru watched the scene from below with a confused expression. Part of him really wanted understand Harper’s effect on other people but the larger (and probably better) part of him genuinely found that not caring was the best protocol. Xabier might as well have just dived into Harper’s person as far as Haru was concerned. Did he even check to see if Harper needed CPR beforehand? Nonetheless, between the gnarly expression on Harper’s face and Dorian’s deed being upstaged by Xabier’s ripped clothes (and don’t act like they didn’t steal the show) the entire exchange was more than a little hilarious.
The redhead turned to the others.
“Welp… Who’s next?”

Tallyho rested in the sand for a few more minutes before deciding to stand. She and Kat were perched farther off on the shoreline, nearer to the forest brush. The blonde glanced at the tribal woman before beginning the chore of dusting white sand off of her face. She licked a piece of her dress to get a sizable amount of grains off of her tongue and ran her palms down her arms.
“Thanks or that,” she said.
Kat only nodded.
“Was I at least sort of swimming?” Tallyho asked. She was hesitant to start a conversation with the quiet character but she was curious.
“I guess… If you meant to swim downwards.”
There was a long pause.
“Did I look stupid?” Tallyho asked.
Kat did not answer. This probably meant yes.

The blonde made her way to the water’s edge and rinsed the sand out of her hair.

Lux stared as everyone who wanted to jump did. More or less, at least. Harper's fiasco was one thing she had wished she hadn't seen; or she wished she had jumped before all of that went down. Brave, brave little Autumn had jumped before she worked the courage to, and that was something Lux would tell her after she made the jump. If she made the jump. It wasn't the heights that was bothering Lux; it was the idea of swimming after the jump. She tried to make a swim team in her town once, but failed miserably. Her entrance into the water was not a rather happy memory. Nearly broke her head open because of the wrong stance.

But she had to jump. If she didn't, things wouldn't do so good for her with the others; including the Academy team. Lux edged closer towards the cliff. She backed up from the cliff edge. Her arms were crossed over her chest, as if she was hugging herself. Lux couldn't do this alone. She had to ask for help in getting off the cliff. Turning her attention away from the water, Lux shuffled over to the person she had seen Autumn with whenever she happened to glance over. Her head was bowed some, her stance utterly pathetic.

This was the stance of a scared child, not the stance of a proud woman. Lux took in a deep breath and let it out roughly through her nose. Now was not the time to mope about that. She had to get down there, and this person looked like they would be able to offer help. She didn't care about the possible stinging pain the bellyflop would gain, she just wanted off that cliff.

"Excuse me...?" She inquired with a tentative tone. "Would you help me in... jumping off the cliff? Please?"

No, he wouldn’t. First, it would ruin his coat. Second, he would be completely soaked and it would take forever to dry his hair. Third, he just plain didn’t want to. There was no way he was going down there. At least, that’s what he wanted to say.

Kit let out a small sigh of discontentment, making it clear enough that he really didn’t want to do this. Ryou was his friend, however. Not that he would ever admit it, but he would do almost anything for the man. That’s what friends were for after all. As long as he got to complain afterwards, that is. And boy, would he complain later. He would complain a lot.

“Alright.” The redhead replied. He took his coat off first, carefully folding it and placing it nearby. He adjusted the sleeveless turtleneck carefully, making sure his neck was completely covered. Then he removed his hair tie, certain that if he didn’t place it with his coat he would simply lose it in the water. Finally, he removed his boots. It would be easier to swim this way, and he would just get them later.

“Are you ready?”

Kit didn’t give her a chance to respond before he grabbed her and dove. He made sure to hold on tight, only releasing his grip when they hit the water. His long hair spread out like paint, getting in his face and obstructing his vision. Swimming away just far enough to let Lux stretch her limbs and swim on her own, he adjusted his turtleneck once more. His hair was the least of his concern. In fact, he was used to it. He casually brushed it out of his face, checking to see if the warrior was alright. “There, you see? That wasn’t too bad.”

They made it to shore safely, much to his relief. Though, he was fairly sure he looked like a drowned rat. His wet hair clung to his body stubbornly. Ryou owed him big time. It was then that he saw the Xabier’s scars. At least he wasn’t alone in that department.

“New rule. No one else is allowed to drown, or even come close to drowning.” He said, wringing his hair out.

Autumn sighed with relief. Harper was safe. She walked over to him, making sure that she would be there when he woke up. If he needed emotional help, she was sure to be there for him. She smiled at Dorian and Xabier, “Nice save you guys.”

Tallyho chuckled softly at the group, just as she expected, they congregated over to Harper who was, in all cases, the star of every hour. She listened to some congratulate his saviors and looked over at Kat again. Though the woman seemed disinterested for the most part, Tallyho was still a little put off by her lack of recognition in almost everything she did in the weeks the warriors knew her.
"I'm sorry to say you chose to save the wrong person. Had you gone to that fool you'd be the hero of the hour."
Not that Kat saving Harper would be any better. Tallyho would bet a lot of liquor that Harper didn't thank a soul after he had his last fainting spell. And she had a feeling that Kat was used to being under-praised. Though admittedly, it didn't seem to bother the woman much.
"You were the best diver you know?"
"Thanks was enough,"Kat said sharply. She pulled herself onto her feet and started towards the forest.
"Where are you going?"
"Fire wood."
Tallyho forgot that they were sleeping outside tonight and figured that she should start preparing for the night too. It wasn't like she had anything better to do.
"Do you need help?" Tallyho asked.
Kat said no and soon she was gone.
The February warrior pressed her lips into a thin line before deciding to find another way to help, anything to get away from the earthlings. She caught sight of Kwasi wringing his robes dry form the corner of the shore line.
"You," Tallyho said. "Come help me find useful things."
"Useful things?"Kwasi asked. He wasn't quite sure what she meant but he was willing to help either way.
He followed Tallyho into the forest.

The last vestiges of anxiety faded away with both Ryou and Dae's assurances. Dae speaking up next to him did startle him a little, though. He hadn't adjusted to that raspy brogue yet. If what he expected came true, he should have plenty of time to get used to it. Kyle's grin widened at the encouraging words. Not only could he enjoy school, but he didn't have to be that troublemaking kid. He could change. He wanted to change! He bounced on his toes and opened his mouth to say so, but closed it again when Ryou explained what he wanted them to do. Haru and Ji Na were totally lying when they said there would be no jumping off cliffs, but he still wasn't scared. To him, it sounded exciting.

A trust exercise? Well, the cliff-divers he saw on TV were never alone, so it probably did make perfect sense. There was also the risk of dying usually with cliff-divers, so they needed to go in groups. Ryou said there weren't any rocks at the bottom to crack their heads on, but if someone didn't know how to swim, like obviously Tallyho, it would be impossible. Kyle's heart beat hard in his chest and his breath caught when she started drifting further down. Kat caught her before he could and he released that breath like a deflating balloon.

Harper, on the other hand, everyone knew he could swim and was practically obsessed with it. Today was most likely the worst day of his life, and for that Kyle did manage to find a touch of pity for him. He could do without the sour smell Harper left behind though. Because of that sour smell, he pitied those left on this side of the cliff.

Kyle wasn't afraid to take the jump alone, but he sought out someone who might be. The only 'month warriors' left were Skylar, Falke, and himself. Skylar didn't seem to be the easily frightened type, and actually neither did Falke. The German boy didn't seem to like people much, so he thought he should approach carefully. "Falke..." he called the other blond boy's name, and paused for a response. If and when he answered by turning in Kyle's direction, he added, "I can help you if you want it." If Falke said he wanted help, Kyle would take his hand and lead the blind boy to the edge. "The water's below us, so stay close. I won't let you get hurt." He reached over to get a better grip on the other boy, but Falke swatted his hands away and he relented. "Okay! On three we can jump together. 1... 2..."Kyle bent his knees in preparation. "Ready?" If he got his answer in the form of a nod or statement, "3!" Then he took the plunge and swam slightly away to give Falke room to follow. When Falke was ready Kyle swam over to catch him.

Carrying Falke, who was taller and possibly heavier than Kyle, would be a hard struggle to shore but the younger blond trusted he was strong enough to do it. After pulling them both safely to shore, he was exhausted. With a spluttering gasp, he announced, "We made it!"