Arranged Allegiances - 1x1 (Don't delete!)

[Cloudsong]

Giovanna followed Ean's gaze.  His eyes lingered on the hole up in the roof - the place he had almost died trying to climb - and at first she didn't make the connection that it might be their only option of escape.  The howls were louder, and perhaps even more eerie was the way the sound bounced around the echoing cave.  It gave the haunting sensation that they wee coming at them from all directions.

She turned slightly, mouth opened slightly, eyes narrowed.  Was it possible that they...were coming from more than one tunnel?  Giovanna felt her blood run cold.  Maybe it was the heat - the fear - of the moment that made her unable to think straight.  But she grabbed Ean's hand, and pulled him towards the wall.  "It's our only option," she said, voice urgent as she looked up at. The wall.  There were small crevices that she believed would be good for holding on to.  "I'll go first, and you can follow in my lead.". She didn't want to say it, but she didn't think Ean would be capable to lead, since he seemed almost frozen.  With fear, or just by memories, she wasn't sure.  But the tie they had now was precious, and a wrong move could mean their life.

(Britt, I'm fostering two 3 week-old kittens! Wanna see pics? )

[FoldєdPapєrHєarts]

(( Aweh! <3 C: Yes, please. :'D ))

Ean began to shake his head desperately when she said it was their only alternative, to climb up the wall. There just had to be another way, another exit, any other alternative but the one that Giovanna was presenting him with. He wouldn't, he couldn't climb up that wall. It was an impossibility in his mind, it had been proven long ago. Yes, he was stronger, wiser, and much more skilled than he had been all of those years ago. And yes he had faced much more formidable things than this, as well.And yet, he still found himself feeling the same way he had back then - that there was no possible way for him to get up that wall.

Ean knew it was a silly fear; after all, it was only a cavern wall. Nothing more than that. It wasn't a charging enemy with a sword, or an irrate Queen Truen. No, it was only a rock wall. And yet he still found him frozen to the spot in which he stood, up until the moment Giovanna took his hand and led him over. "I don't know, Giovanna," he said, his voice both shakey and skeptical. Even if he were able to climb up it, would she be able to? Would Giovanna have the strength to hold herself up? And, even if the both of them could manage to keep themselves up, perhaps the rock was just an unpredictable as it was all those years ago. It could break at any moment.

Facing the wall, Ean swallowed the lump that had formed in his throat. The sound behind them was deafening, and was growing louder and louder as the creatures approached. When Giovanna said she would go first, Ean merely nodded, his expression wary and his eyes filled with fear. "Go for it, but hurry up," was all he said. He clearly wanted to just go up and out, as quickly as they could. In the back of his mind, he wondered if staying and getting mauled by animals was a better option than the one he was facing now..

[Cloudsong]

Giovanna hesitated, hearing the uncertainty and fear in his voice.  For a moment she wondered if she should say something - perhaps something encouraging, or assure him that everything was going to be all right.  But something in the back of her mind stopped her from saying anything.   Ean wasn't stupid; he had proven that much in the few days they had known each other.  And although she didn't truly understand the reason behind his strong fear for the place, she wasn't about to push him or pressure him into sharing; it wasn't like her, and it certainly wasn't the appropriate time or place, what with a pack of rabid wolves hot on their heals.  

She knew - and Ean did as well - that there was a big chance that they wouldn't get out of this alive.  That was a good possibility.  Giovanna turned her gaE up to the hole that seemed like miles above her.  The wall provided many places to hang on to.  She wondered faintly what her father would say to the news of her death.  Certainly, the person who had poisoned her brother would be pleased.  After all, their goal was to abolish, or take over the monarchy, and she knew that she would be their next target, whoever they were.  

Reachin high up, she hoisted herself up onto the wall, climbing swiftly, but carefully.  She slipped - twice, but she easily regained her balance.  Being from Anima, the city that was famous for its athletes, and having done many sports as a little girl, this was not a hard task.  According to Ean, he and the boy from Anima had nearly died scaling the wall.  How was that possible?  Nearly everyone from her city was nimble and easily athletic.  Perhaps in Mortifer this was not the case; after all , their people did vary quite exceptionally.

When she reached the ceiling, she felt a cold sweat break on her skin.  The wall was much more slippery up high, and much harder to move quicker.  As the sound of howling became even louder, she felt her stomach tie in a knot.  This was not good. She needed to get out, and pull Ean up before they reached the wall.  And judging by the time it took her to get up, their chances were not seeming very optimistic.  With a final heave, she pulled herself up, trying not to think about the spiderwebs that she was penetrating that he been spun across the sky-light. 

"Ean, hurry!  They're almost here!" her voice was urgent, and her eyes brimming with fear.

(sorry for a sucky post; out of practice xD I'll send you a pm with pics!)

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( Psh, it's not sucky! And sorry for the late reply; I went to prom with my boyfriend this weekend, and then I was exhausted the day after, and then I had to do homework. ;-; I only have 7 days left of school, though, on the bright side! And yay, can't wait to see them! C: )

Ean watched anxiously as Giovanna began to hurriedly - and more skillyfully than he could have ever done - make her way up the side of the cave wall. He was actually rather surprised; he distinctly remembered having a great amount of difficulty in attempting to climb up the wall. Ean had heard rumors that the people of Anima exercised regularly, and kept in top shape and health. It was not as if the people of his city were known for being lazy, because they were far from that. But it was not very common to see a person from Mortifer jogging for fun. His people would normally do just enough exercising to keep mostly healthy, and would do no more than that. They did not seem to care if they were the strongest, or the healthiest. As long as they did not become overweight, they didn't seem to care about much else. Ean and his family, however, had always done more than the rest of the commoners, of course. They made sure to keep in top shape, and Ean had been forced to do mulitple activities, such as fencing, or sword fighting, since a certain age. The royal families always made sure to be healthier than the rest of the people in the city, due to the fact that they wanted to live as long as they could to remain in the throne.

Ean told himself that it must have been because he had been nothing but a child that he could not climb up the cave. Now, he was much more muscular, and strong, and had a great deal of upper body strength. This time, he should have absolutely no trouble in climbing up it, right?

Swallowing quickly, and glancing behind himself only once, Ean realized that the sound of the wolves was only right behind him now. It was now or never. Looking up and meeting the gaze of Giovanna, he told himself that if she could climb up it easily, and with hardly any trouble at all, then he could do just the same. So, he quickly began to scale the rocks, placing his feet in only too familiar spots. Flashes of memories of doing the same thing kept popping back into his mind, but he ignored them and kept his mind set on the task he was performing. Perhaps, if he concentrated enough, he would be able to pull this off without falling and getting himself killed.

He found himself slipping and nearly falling multiple times, but he kept himself up, even if it was only by his fingertips. And it seemed as if he were not even half way up the wall when he heard the tell-tale sounds from above, and he could tell that Giovanna had made it up. He continued to climb, and continued to find his foot slipping through the cracks. He probably should have wore better shoes, come to think of it. Although, he had had no idea that he would ever be presented with a situation such as the one he was in when he'd chosen them that morning.

All of a sudden, however, his heard froze. He heard their growling and slobbering and panting below, and he dared himself only one look over his shoulder. The wolves had arrived.
Their eyes rolled around in their heads, and an excess amount of saliva dribbled from their open, snarling jaws. Their bright, sharp white teeth were bared, and the sight of them only pushed Ean to move. He looked up, meeting the gaze of Giovanna once more. Her gaze was clouded with fear, and he found himself doubting once again whether or not he would be able to make it up the rest of the way or not.

[Cloudsong]

Giovanna leaned over the side of the crevice, her eyes wide as she watched. She opened her mouth to encourage Ean, when all of a sudden she felt as if the world had come to a stop. The water that was dripping into the celestial pool suddenly seemed to freeze, and the sound of her heartbeat was all she could hear - that, and her fast breathing. Why was he stopping? Why aren't you trying to get up?! She wanted to demand an answer, when all of a sudden she could see; the enormous rabid creatures had finally made their appearance. Her earlier suspicions were true; they were wolves. She didn't feel at all smug, however; the only thing she could feel at the moment was fear.

"Ean, come on!" Her own voice surprised her, as it had a note of terror that even scared her. She reached out around her and grabbed a large rock that was askew from the top, and threw it with all of her might onto one of the wolves that was gaining on Ean. It hit him in the face, but only delayed him for a moment; a dumb-founded, confused look passed its un-intelligent face, and she allowed herself a small smirk. But the smirk quickly vanished as it let out an ear-splitting howl, and took off towards him at an even faster pace.

She realized that Ean was not going to move; he seemed frozen in fear, and before when he had climbed up, had nearly fell. He wasn't exactly out of shape, but he wasn't as used to climbing as she and probably anyone in Anima would be. He'll die if.. if I don't help. It was a risk she was willing to take however, and she didn't even consider the alternative. Even though they weren't exactly in love, as they were expected to be, she knew that just watching him become devoured by the wolves would be an image that would never leave her. Even if it meant risking her own life.

It was hard getting down again, and she cut herself on a particularly jagged rock. But she was only a foot above him, and the hurt didn't seem to register in her mind. She reached out a hand to him. "Here - let me help you up." Her voice was urgent, and it was obvious that she wasn't going to accept his refusal. His pride was not even something she had considered.

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Ean felt himself closing his eyes for only a moment as he flinched when he heard the sound of howling behind him. He didn't dare glance over his shoulder again, for he knew it wouldn't help quench his fear, and that it would only make it worse. He just knew, without looking, and just using his ears, that the wolves were closing in on him. He didn't have much farther to go, and yet Giovanna seemed like an eternity of a distance away now.

Ean could see a reflection of his own fears in her eyes, and he said nothing in return when she urged him forward. Now that he could see she was just as fearful as he was, his own fears heightened. After all, she could see behind him and what he could not see was evidently terrifying to her. That was not a good sign. Suddenly, she was scrambling to pick up a large rock. He flinched when she hurled it in his direction, but he knew it was not him she was aiming for. Another howl pierced Ean's ears, and he knew she had hit her target. He finally opened his eyes once more, but what he saw above him completely threw his mind through loops.

What on earth is she doing? he wondered incredously as he watched Giovanna begin to ease her way right back over the edge of the opening in which she'd just crawled through moments before. He would have questioned her actions out loud, but his vocal chords seemed to be as frozen as every other part of his immobile body. He merely swallowed and watched her, and did his best to keep ahold of the small rocks in which he was precariously perched on.

When she offered Ean her hand, trying to get him to follow her up, he remained motionless for only a moment before his senses seemed to kick back in, and every nerve in his body sprang back to life. It was if he'd been dead to the world for those moments he'd stood there, but now he was coming back to life. He could feel the aching in his back from crouching in such an awkward position against the rocks for so long, and every cut and scrape the rocks had caused. He could feel his fear bubbling up beneath his skins, causing his blood to boil and his eyes to widen with fear. It was only then that he slowly, carefully, extended his hand upward to meet Giovanna's. He clasped her hand firmly in his, and waited for her to start climbing. "Hurry," he whispered, his voice raked with terror.

[Cloudsong]

Seconds seemed to be minutes, and Giovanna almost felt as if they were in free-fall in some sort of limbo, where everything was frozen. She watched as Ean hesitated, and her eyes widened as she imagined him rejecting her hand to help. But then he reached out, and she felt his cold hand embracing hers. His word of warning was already something she realized; they were running out of time. She reached up and silently began to pull herself up, but it was more challenging than she had imagined it would be; holding on to his hand, and trying to get a firm grasp on another rock was another challenge altogether.

She slipped a few times, and even cut her hand on another jagged rock. But the pain didn't seem to even register in her brain, and silently she kept on climbing. Letting go of his hand was not even an option right now. It occurred to her to wonder why exactly she was so dead-set on saving him; after all, she owed him nothing, and they weren't even friends. But something inside of her just couldn't conceive of a life where the prince of Mortifer had died at her hands.

They reached the hole right before the wolves were beginning to leap for them, and she was pulling herself up when they had all formed a circle around their prey, and were howling angrily that their dinner was getting away. Once Giovanna was safely up, she began to pull on his arm, trying to get him up.

[FoldєdPapєrHєarts]

Now that his brain was working in overdrive once again, Ean felt as if everything was happening so quickly, rather than extremely slowly, as it had felt a few moments prior. When Giovanna began to climb back up herself, pulling Ean along with her, he found himself struggling to both keep up, be as little of a burden as possible for her, and to not slip and fall. He knew that if he were to do so, it would be disasterous for not only him, but for Giovanna as well.

Ean knew that he was only making things more difficult for the both of them, but he had no power in the situation. He was not a good climber, not anywhere close to what Giovanna was. She was their only chance out of here, for he knew he was not getting out alone.

All of a sudden, he felt Giovanna beginning to climb up through the round opening at the top of the cave. Ean was surprised, for only a few moments before, when he had been paralyzed with fear, it had seemed miles away. And now, they were there. The wolves weren't happy, though, that their supposedly easy meal was escaping right in front of their eyes. They were getting angrier, wilder, and were trying anything to get to them.
Ean did not let go, though, for he knew his life depended on it. When he felt Giovanna tugging on his arm, he gratefully began to go forward, trying his best to maneuver his feet around the jagged rocks. More than once, he felt them scratch up along his legs and arms, and he could feel blood dripping down one of his legs. Despite the pain, which was only in the back of his mind for now, he began to pull himself through the opening. Once out, he moved as far away from it as possible, still holding on to Giovanna's hand, and pulling her with him. His breathing was ragged, and it felt as if his mind was having trouble comprehending the fact that they had just escaped death.

[Cloudsong]

Once they were both safely through the hole, Giovanna collapsed onto the hard, jagged rock surface. She felt her breathing ragged, and the pain from the rock-cuts she had received were only beginning to register in her mind. Blood poured out of a particularly deep one in the palm of her hand, and she quickly applied pressure to it, in an attempt to stop the bleeding. Although they looked nasty, the cuts would heal; they would be fine.

Ean pulled her away from the hole, and she felt some relief as she got away from the entrance to the rabid wolves' cave. She didn't release his hand, in an irrational fear that letting go of it would be endangering them both. Silently she breathed in an out deeply, trying to calm the adrenalin that was pulsing through her body.

When she finally had regained her voice, she turned to him, her eyes wide. "We're alive," she breathed, not caring if she was stating the obvious. Although she half wanted to demand why he had frozen, the look of fear that was still in his eyes kept the words in.

[FoldєdPapєrHєarts]

Ean shook his head, trying to clear it of the buzzing thoughts that were swarming around his mind. At the time, everything had seemed to go very slowly. But now that he thought back on it, he realized that it had all happened fairly fast. Swallowing, he merely nodded in reply to Giovanna's words. "Yeah, we're alive." He sounded as if he coul hardly believe the words, even as he was speaking them himself.

Slowly, he turned his head to look over at Giovanna. "Thanks to you, though; if it wasn't for you, I'd be dead," he whispered. He couldn't believe he was saying it, but it was the truth. If it hadn't been for Giovanna, he was have surely gotten killed. He was in her debt, now, and would have to make it up to her somehow, one day. Hopefully she would never pick up on that, however, and would just let it slide.

When he noted the blood on her palm, he reached over, taking her other hand in his other free one. "You're hurt," he murmured, shaking his head. "And I thought you were supposed to be the careful one here," he said, trying to make her smile, even just a little bit. He reached down, ripping off a part of his already slightly ripped shirt. Taking her bleeding palm, he began to wrap the dark fabric around it before tying it tightly, trying his best not to hurt her while doing so. "That should work for now," he said, glancing back up at her. He didn't seem at all concerned by his own wounds, and he merely stood up without another word, pulling Giovanna up along with him.