A Time of Tigers - From Peasant to Emperor

"We go down," Beam said. It was a shallower ravine than what he was used to, though to compensate for that, the river was a little wider. Still, the crossing seemed as though it would be easy, for there was a considerable amount of debris caught amongst the rocks.

"Down there..?" Nila asked. "Aren't we a bit… a bit high up?" Her red hair clung to her forehead, and she held her woollen hat in her hands, having grown far too warm on the run there.

"Do you want me to hold your hat?" Beam asked. "You're going to need at least one free hand to scramble down."

"I can just put it back on," Nila said. "I don't need you to look after me."

"Okay," Beam said as he walked past her, "let's get going then." Just before he descended over the ledge, he snatched her hat from her loose fingers and went skidding down to the first of his footholds, which just so happened to be a small tree.

"Hey!" Nila called after him. "You better not get my hat dirty."

The hat was pure white, of all things. Not exactly suited to staying clean.

"Besides… How'd you get down there? Are you sure it's safe?" She asked, unable to hide her unease.

"Are you scared of heights?" Beam asked, just guessing.

She didn't deny it, but she didn't look overly happy to admit it. "A bit… But it's not exactly just heights, this is just dangerous, isn't it? If we slip, we'll fall all the way down to the rocks."

"Just follow where I go," Beam said, "and if you slip, I'll be able to catch you."

"But then I'll already be filthy…" Nila complained. "Besides, who's there to catch you when you slip?"

Beam shrugged. "I guess I'll catch myself. C'mon." He skidded down to the next obstacle, making his movements look effortless as he covered a considerable distance on the steep muddy cliff. This was one thing that his injured leg didn't detract much from.

Nila watched in admiration. It seemed like magic to her, for she was unused to scaling such steep surfaces. Confronted with an obstacle like this on one of her hunting trips, she'd tend to avoid it.

It was only with Beam so far in front that she dared to crouch down and attempt to skid to the tree where he'd just been, fearing that he would leave her behind.

She let out a yelp as her legs slipped out in front of her and she went the whole way down on her bottom, until she reached the tree and it stopped her.

"No…." She groaned, feeling her bottom. The dress over her trousers was covered in slick mud. Her eyes sank unhappily. She turned to complain to Beam, only to see the wide grin on his face, as though he'd never seen anything funnier. "Don't laugh," she pouted. "It isn't funny.

I'm going to be muddy the whole way there now."

"Haha, you'll be fine. At least now you don't have to worry about staying clean, since you're already dirty," Beam said. "C'mon down already, I'll stay here to make sure you don't slip again. Watch your hands on the nettles. I stung my fingers on them."

Reluctantly, Nila did as she was told, sliding down to the rocky ledge that Beam was sitting on. This time, she didn't slip.

"Nettles," Beam said again, pulling her hand away from where she'd been about to place it – right in a patch of stinging nettles.

"Ah, thanks," she said awkwardly, taking her hand back.

"See? We're already halfway down. It's not too bad, right?" Beam said, pointing. The rocky shore of the river bank was now much closer than it had been before. It still didn't look like an inviting place to fall, but at least it wasn't quite so scary.

"But aren't we stuck now? There's nowhere to go," Nila said, looking for a way down.

"You've got to get creative," Beam said. Truthfully, ahead, there was indeed nothing solid for them to anchor themselves on to. But that was only if you looked for something solid. There were still rotting tree trunks that would serve the purpose of slowing them down slightly.

Beam jumped onto the slope, letting gravity carry him. By nature, Beam was already good at sensing his balance, as he'd shown Dominus weeks before. But now, it was effortless. He knew exactly where his weight lay and he could push himself to the point of recklessness.

Just before it looked like he'd be sent sliding all the way down to the rocks below, he grabbed on to a large rotting tree trunk to slow himself just enough that he could change his direction. Then he landed on a ledge that Nila hadn't even seen. She couldn't help but be a little impressed.

"Okay…" she said, feeling a little anxious. "Now how exactly am I supposed to do that?"

"Use the trunk I dragged along. It's wedged in place now," Beam said, pointing to the rotten tree trunk that was about the thickness of his upper leg. It was wedged solidly between two trees now, offering a comfortable staircase for anyone that wanted to descend.

Nila hadn't even noticed. It was a smoother manoeuvre than she'd given him credit for. It made her descent much easier, and before long, they were standing on the banks of the river together, looking for a way to cross.

"Now what?" She asked, as the water rushed by in front of them.

"What do you think? We've got quite a few options. There's that little bit of a rocky island in the middle there. There's that shallower section over here too, with those stones that can be used like stepping stones, or there's that log over there," Beam said.

The river was wider here and fast, but not quite as fast as upstream because of the increased width. With that speed, it wouldn't be impossible to swim it, but it would still be a little too dangerous for them to attempt it comfortably.