That was a month ago. Since then, Isaru got really close to her. Ice didn't know if her parents told her to stick close to her but she had a feeling it was more of an innate sense of gratitude.
Ice included all the people on the island in her party-list. The knowledge that the game mechanics still apply gave her strength.
She was resigned to stay with them for the rest of her life but discovering that there is a way to do things differently, she wanted to at least try.
The last time she tried climbing, she got maybe a quarter of the way before she got really scared and stayed on a ledge for a long time.
Until Eladia came and helped her get down.
She looked at the callouses on her hand.she earned those. Although she cried at first, she is proud of them now.
She looked up at the ledge where she stayed immobile the last time.
She remembered the way it felt looking down. It was like the ground was beckoning to her; the world spun so fast that she didn't know which way was up or down.
She had to force herself to stumble backwards because the pull of the ground was winning.
She clenched her teeth and vowed to go higher this time.
She might even be able to go all the way to the top.
"Did you prepare the things I asked for?" she asked Eladia.
The boy nodded. He was just a little younger than him but she felt like the difference was so much bigger. She thought maybe because he hadn't seen much of the world.
She envied him but on the other hand, she accepted that she wouldn't have it any other way.
She took the rope with the make-shift carabiners. She tested the axe on a nearby rock.
It felt durable.
It was a good thing that her game inventory still worked. She didn't have to lift anything heavy.
Never mind that it didn't make sense. Only that it worked.
She double checked her items. It was what John would always make her do.
Her heart ached.
If only the other game features worked.
She found that the teleport function no longer worked. The save function was also greyed out.
As did all her previous party mates.
Climbing the mountain might or might not make a difference but she just wanted to move forward. It was hard to accept that her role was negligible. If there was a next time, she did not want to be an excess baggage.
If this was not the day, she will try again tomorrow.
She started climbing while Isaru and Eladia stood at the foot of the mountain, waiting for her to come back.
___________________________________________________
Zone tried his hardest but he just couldn't outrace Amihan. There was something in her movement that was hard to pinpoint but it nagged at him.
When it appeared like he was going to win, there would be a sudden surge and the girl would be beside him again.
"Again," urged Alasan. He was standing atop a cliff overlooking the dusty plain where he and Amihan raced.
"To the oasis again?"
"Yes."
Zone, with a burst of speed, wanted to surprise Amihan but her peals of laughter dogged him the entire time. She wasn't even panting while his lungs felt like they were on fire.
His heels stamped their electric signature on the ground and the dust behind them was like a mountain.
Amihan, on the other hand, did not exactly run. Her feet were barely touching the ground. It was like she was gliding.
Zone felt a little bit that she was cheating.
They were nearing the oasis and Zone gathered his strength for one more burst but before he could do that, Amihan ran alongside him, matching his speed.
Her hair danced in the wind like waves in a turbulent ocean; chaotic and haphazard but would eventually crash down in one majestic avalanche of silken thread.
Her eyes captured him and for a moment, they matched stride for stride and it was like they weren't moving at all. It was the world that was passing them by and they are in this eternal place between one second to the next.
"Watch out!" she said a little too late.
His foot caught on a dead branch half-buried in the ground and he shot through the air like a rocket.
Luckily, the oasis was there and when he crashed into the cool surface, the only thing broken was his ego.
Her laughter was both delightful and irritating and he twisted his head fast to one side to spray her with the water dripping from his hair.
She laughed harder and tried pushing him away but he stumbled back and they were both outbalanced causing him to pull her as he crashed back into the water.
Both of them were laughing hard as they struggled to get out of the water.
When he finally rolled into the sandy shore he found himself hovering slightly over Amihan who was on her back panting and staring at the sky.
All he could ever think about then was 'how lusciously pink her lips were'.
Her lips were slightly parted and he was transfixed on it, mesmerized even when it broke into a smile.
"Last one to Alasan is a rotten egg!" she suddenly shouted as she sprung back to her feet.
He felt his face redden and his smile turned into a pout. She pretended not to notice and ran back to the starting point.
"Why can't I beat her?" Zone asked Alasan as they rested in the shade of the old Acacia.
"Why can't you?" came the irritating reply.
"It was like she was always effortlessly near me. More like I was carrying her although I can see her running beside me. At least that's what it felt like."
"She was cheating," Alasan concluded.
"Hey!" She looked at both of them petulantly.
"Weren't you?" they both asked.
"Cheating is such a nasty word. Besides, it wasn't as if I was using a shortcut. It was still a skill. You could call it a technique." she said triumphantly.
"Your feet weren't even touching the ground." He said accusingly.
"Why would I want that? It was dusty. I was stepping on the wind generated by your movement. And I was pulling at the tailwinds you gathered behind you. Pretty neat, huh?" she smiled sweetly.
Whatever grievances he had at that point, he promptly forgot.
"I called her here for a very special reason and I made you race to skip all the tedious introduction. Now you know each other better than if I simply told you who the other was." Alasan said seriously.
"Reason? But we are still so young Alasan," Amihan giggled and Zone's eyes widened in surprise at the implied meaning.
"Stop that. You might give the boy a heart attack."
"He wanted to kiss me though," she said suddenly that Zone's checks reddened instantly once again.
"See? He blushed." She drilled her finger into his cheek. He winced and blushed even harder.
"Stop teasing the boy. Now listen carefully," Alasan gave them an errand. One that Zone, for once, did not grumble as he heard it.
______________________________________________
"So this is how you rode the wind," Zone said shakily. He couldn't help himself as he tried to imagine the thousand of miles beneath them as they glided in the air across the blue water of the ocean.
"It would have been easier to use the Sarimbal but it was lost."
Zone nodded absently. He didn't even bother to ask what a Sarimbal was.
If Alasan told him that they would have to travel this way, he would have flat out said 'no'.
He was still traumatized by the way Alasan's hair yanked him over empty spaces in a matter of seconds just to get him away from the explosion when Vince turned the key.
It was the prospect of travelling with Amihan that initially appealed to him but ultimately, it was the possibility that he could be reunited with one of his old travelling companions that did it. He did not think to ask.
He is regretting that oversight now.
They ran atop one of the mountains nearby and he thought that was it. When they reached the summit, Amihan stood quietly as if listening for something.
When she took his hand, he felt ecstatic.
"What are we doing here?" he asked.
"Waiting for the right wind," she said serenely and he was captivated by the way she said it.
"What is the right wind?"
"There," she said and pulled him into the abyss.
Two hours into this flight and he still hasn't forgiven her.
"Oh, lighten up. What good would it have done to tell you beforehand? We absolutely needed to be where Alasan sent us and we have to travel this way. No amount of squirming and twisting would get you out of it."
"You could have at least tried to let me get used to it first."
"It's either you will or you won't. Now accept it because frankly, even if you grumble all the way there, you can't do anything about it. Just enjoy the ride. The scenery is breathtaking. Look!"
The horizon was indeed amazing. It was like a painting he saw on a museum trip when he was a child. These colors are even more incredible because they are alive.
"I'm still not happy with you."
"Would it help if I kissed you?"
"Uh...I guess."
"Oh, come on...do you like to kiss me or not?"
"Yes…?"
"You seem hesitant. Decide, quickly. We haven't got all day."
He stared at her lips. She playfully moistened it with her tongue.
His throat was suddenly dry. Try as he might, he couldn't swallow even as he tried desperately to do so.
"Yes, I very much want to kiss you." His heart thumped loudly. So loud he couldn't hear the wind roaring past them.
She met his gaze. He almost fainted. He was more afraid of her in that instant than the possibility of plummeting to the ground.
He closed his eyes and suddenly they were not gliding in between the clouds above a placid seascape.
They were floating in space, peacefully drifting. Just two souls connected in a simple, primeval way.
He felt her hand slap his cheek lightly and he was violently jerked away from his daydream.
"Are you done imagining?" she asked and his heart sank in dismay.
She kissed him lightly and that kiss was even better than how he imagined it.
The ride was smoother from then on.
"Is this person we are going to see really all that important?" Amihan asked when they were just calmly riding the wind.
"I guess she was important to Alasan...and she was important to Lemmeng who apparently told Alasan where to find her."
"Is she important to you?"
"She's my friend."
"She is important then."
He nodded and took her hand in his.
"Why do we have to meet her at the top and not go directly where she is?"
"From what I gathered from what Lemmeng told Alasan, she is in one of the hidden realms. We could not go inside it but she can get out."
"What if she can't?"
"She will. I have faith in her."
A snow capped mountain came into view. They landed gently on top of it.
All they have to do now is wait for Ice.