Voyage Of The Villainess

The ropes were all tied to them on their waist now. They also tied it to each other so that it would be safer when one accidentally slip. Both Rein and Kayden were carrying the supplies on their backs. 

"It is time to make our climb now," Malaya said and looked at everyone. "Just what we plan, Iris was the one who will go up first. Then Hyun Jae will follow her. Then me, Lila, Kayden and Rein. And guys remember this, even if you fall, there is water where we can just drop off."

"That sounds reassuring," Iris said, a little bit sarcastic. "Then what about him, he doesn't know how to swim right?" He pointed out towards Kayden.

"Then I will just save him when that happened or Rhyme and Dorris are on standby below us for emergencies," Malaya said.

"Yes, you can count on us about that!" Both Dorris and Rhyme said.

"Then we have no problems now. Let's begin to climb." Malaya said. "Please lead us now, Iris."

"Alright, please follow me, guys!" Iris said with little enthusiasm. She touched the wall of the cliff then glanced upward. 'How tall, I can't even see where it ends.'

Iris then started choosing the rocks she could climb to. And began climbing. Hyun Jae followed after her as well. Then everyone followed as per the order given to them.

"Be careful everyone!" Dorris screamed when all of them finally started climbing. She waved at them and received the same thing.

Iris was careful to choose the path that they could climb, from the rocks that she needed to grab both her hands and her feet. 'This would be easy with magic.' She retorted inside her mind. 'But there is nothing we can do but to climb manually. 

More time passed, and Iris could feel the numbness of her hands. When she looked down the ship was already like a doll. 'We already reach this much.' Iris could feel that she was going to vomit from the height but held it in.

"What's the problem, Iris?! Why did you stop?!" Malaya screamed for her to hear. 

"Just checking some things!" Iris said. "Let's continue!" She chose what rock to climb more.

"Hey Hyun Jae, are you alright?" Malaya asked when she saw that Hyun Jae was already panting really hard. Malaya chose to be below her to see her condition from time to time.

"I'm alright, Malaya." Hyun Jae said without looking back then continued the climb. 

"That's good," Malaya said. "If you are feeling any discomfort, tell us right away." She said. "The same for everyone! Now that we are connected with ropes, our lives are more connected than before." 

More hours passed now and they stopped from climbing to rest for a brief moment. Iris tied the rope, to a huge rock that was sticking out so that they could rest more properly. She just let herself be hung for a while and ate the food supplies that they brought. While Hyun Jae and Lila held with one hand in the rope, they were still a little afraid that they might fall if they let go of the rope completely. 

"Iris! How long do you think before we reach the top?" Malaya asked as she drank water. 

"If we keep on this speed, I think that we will reach before the night became deep."

"I see, then after five more minutes, we will continue the climb," Malaya said. Then she looked below. 

'They say that it is completely scary to look down. But what is this calm feeling? I guess I have got too much used in climbing.'

Malaya couldn't see the ship anymore, and there were some white clouds hovering in their area. The sight of the Red Current came to her view and just couldn't help but smile. 'To think that we have already at this point now. So many things have already happened.' She let her hands out, strangely the wind was only mild for now. But I hope it stays like that until we reached the top.'

"Alright, let's proceed," Malaya said. Iris started removing the rope that was tied on the rock and started climbing once again. As they went further and upper, to Malaya's dismay, the wind was now getting stronger.

"Everyone! Hold firmer to the rocks and watch carefully where you step!" Malaya screamed.

"Yes!" Both Hyun Jae and Lila answered. However, a sudden strong gust of wind blew. Hyun Jae who was just going to grab a rock to climb got swayed by the wind. Both her hands got retracted from the rope.

But someone held her back and pushed her so that she would be able to hold onto the rope. "That is almost close," Malaya said. "Be more careful." 

"Yes!" Hyun Jae was still flustered. She could still the loud beats of her heart when she almost fell. "Thank you, Malaya."

Everyone also felt relieved and continued their climb. Though there was among them who slipped from time to time, everyone looked at each other's backs. More hours passed, and the sun was already setting. The group have a brief rest, as they watched the clouds painted with the colors from red to orange and the setting sun.

Three more hours passed...

"I can finally see the top!" Iris screamed with joy giving more determination to the rest of the group. 

'If it is this distance, I can finally use this.' Iris brought the Tyr of Malaya and pressed the button. The grappling rope fired up and stuck at the top of the cliff. 'She really has a cool weapon of her own.' Iris grinned as she checked the strength of the rope. When she made sure that it was gripping strong, she used it now to climb upwards instead of grabbing rocks.

The others followed after her. And held to the grappling rope. And after more than an hour, they finally reached the top of the cliff.

'This!' Iris was surprised by what she saw when she reached the top, but she shook her head right away. 'I can look at it later..' She helped the others to climb at the top for now until all of them finally made it.