An hour passed and Oliver seemed to be getting a decent rest from his slumber, at this point he seemed to constantly be on the verge of passing out.
Even then, the team needed to move. To gain more ground.
Colton hoped they could reach the place or at least some form of a point to stay in so he could rest fully. From the story he heard from him earlier, he only hoped they could find another area to take a longer rest in. Or at least reach a far enough distance to warrant an actual rest instead of a break.
While he rested, an arrow suddenly flew above his head, slamming into a book cover a few rows up. As he looked in surprise and shock, a voice called to him.
"Colton, will it be alright if you get that? Sorry." Quill sat on the other side, resting her bow on her lap while staring straight at Colton.
Given something to do to keep him weary, Colton nodded his head.
The arrow was sitting higher up, only reachable by climbing. After a few seconds of thinking, Colton grabbed onto the bookshelf and began climbing, hoping the shelf won't give in to his weight and trying to avoid as many books as possible to not cause a possible fight.
Similar to the cathedral tower, he climbed it with less issues and in a shorter time than he expected.
With the arrow just next to him, he plucked it off. It only took a minute for him to reach the arrow and climb back down.
Once he returned to the ground, he saw Quill standing just below him, prepared to take the arrow.
"I must say, you climb rather well. Expected of a forest child. Even with the help of those page things." She chuckled. After getting the arrow, she quickly placed it back on her quiver.
"Say, you came from a mining town. I reckon you had to climb a lot in the mines, hm?" She questioned. Her eyes looked straight at Colton's while crossing her arms, waiting for a response.
"Not really, just lifting rocks and carts out of the cave." She nodded at the response.
"That does make sense, normally miners would be lifting stuff. How dumb of me." After talking, she looked up at the top of the bookshelf they stood next to.
"Say, as a forest dweller, ever climbed the trees near your house?"
"Only a few. I did some climbing as well in the army." She turned her head back to Colton.
"Care to have a little competition? Some climbing never hurt anyone." Colton thought for a short while. But with nothing else to do, his answer was obvious.
"Sure."
"Alrighty then. Celestine preferred to sit it out so it's just the two of us. And Miss Leader seems alright with it." After speaking, she turned her body to the bookshelf, Colton shortly followed suit.
"Ready?" The two looked at the bookshelf for a few seconds, and with a signal from Quill, the two immediately began climbing.
Colton grabbed at any sturdy part he could, trying to gain the upper hand on Quill. But no matter how fast he tried, Quill effortlessly climbed up like a lizard.
She didn't tell him when to stop climbing, thus Colton continued going upwards, feeling a hint of joy as he got closer and closer to the top. The wind felt colder from where he was.
While Quill was already resting at the top, Colt9n just arrived, taking far longer to reach the top.
"Nice. You're pretty good. Probably because of the page." Quill congratulated him, giving a pat on the back.
Colton quickly joined in sitting on the bookshelf. It was thicker than he thought, allowing him to take a few steps before reaching the other edge.
But while looking around, he was focused on one thing. The view.
Even though the view was just shelves for miles, Colton felt happy, nostalgic even as he looked at the bookshelves.
But like what Quill said, he could see a noticeable barrier of sorts blocking him from viewing the rest.
"Ever went to higher places like this? The view from em is always nice." Quill spoke.
Soon the two simply dangled their legs from the edge while taking in the oddly comforting view of bookshelves.
"Back then I just climbed the tallest trees I could before just going back down. One of the most calming things I ever did." She continued to talk, wanting to have a conversation with Colton.
"I can see, even from the trees I used to climb on, the view felt good." Quill chuckled at his response.
"We forest dwellers gotta take in the most basic things. That includes places that give us joy. Say, how long did you stay in the forest before leaving?" Quill asked. It took a few seconds for Colton to respond.
"I suppose until I joined the army. Now I visit them weekly to make sure they're safe."
"They're happy with you becoming a soldier?" Colton nodded his head in response.
"In my home they'd prefer to have everyone stay as hunters. Once a forest dweller, always a forest dweller." She continued talking.
"Though it did help with learning some stuff like hunting skills." Once she finished talking, the two sat quietly at the top again.
The silence reminded Colton of his home, on nights when the mines were dark, the forest would be peaceful.
"Feel the calm as well hm?" Quill asked, seemingly also sensing Colton's relaxation.
"How do you know?"
"Eh, just simple details. A skilled forest dweller would know how to spot certain things. That and I assumed so since both of us came from the forest." She laughed.
"You never left the forest? Not even once?" Colton was now curious, surely someone can't just live out their entire lives in the same place without at least leaving it.
"Nope. Knowing every crack and crevice of the forest around the kingdom, it becomes quite easy to go around after a while." She stopped talking for a brief moment.
"This place reminds me a lot of it, sitting on the top of a tall tree at night and taking in everything." She finished talking, returning to looking at the bland but calming view.
While they rested, Calliope's voice could be heard from down below.
"You both, get back down. Were preparing to move out." After what felt like an hour or two, Oliver was awake, capable of walking again.
"Well, there goes the rest. You should practice climbing more. Does wonders in the long run. Trust me on that." Without another word, Quill descended down fast.
Colton followed behind, taking a long time climbing before reaching the ground.
Oliver was awake, fortunately with a less tired expression.
"Once we find a suitable area we better be given allocated rest, especially for him." Clarissa spoke to Calliope.
Even as a subordinate, when her brother is involved she seems to take a more authoritative tone.
Once everyone had gotten up, the team returned to walking onward. Clarissa stayed closer to Oliver, waiting if he would fall back down again.
As a few minutes passed, Colton started thinking of the top. Despite just being bookshelves, the silence and cold wind made him remember his home.
He thought of what village Quill was from specifically, silently cursing himself for not asking.
He pondered on what Quill had said earlier.
'Perhaps I do need to try climbing more.'
"We're nearly at the end of this bookshelf, just a few hundred steps left." Calliope notified the group.
Oliver quietly groaned after she spoke, but continued on walking.
A sudden feeling of vigilance hit Colton as they got farther and farther. He quickly noticed that the bookshelves seemed bigger than usual, taller even.
The books that were stored in them were thicker than the ones before.
As the hour passed, the same feeling of vigilance was now present in everyone, walking closer than normal with their hands close to their weapon's handles.
"By the looks of it, we seem to be nearing the supposed end of this pathway. Ready your weapons." Calliope ordered. Almost instantly, everyone took out their weapons, looking around in case something else was present with them
As the walk went on, Colton could see an end in the distance. A seemingly open area, an end to the long bookshelves.
Everyone else began to see it too. A mix of joy and fear started to fill them as they moved closer.
Colton could see an orange glow at the end of it, like the end of a tunnel.
The bright only became brighter and brighter with each step they took. And the joy or fear they felt only grew.
With a final step, they finally left the pathway, crossing into the new part of the library. As the members looked around, they were only more confused.
Tables and chairs, neatly placed in long rows that extended to the left and right.
Just a hundred or so steps away though was the next line of bookshelves and pathways.
Seeing the tables, Oliver quickly left the group and sat down on one of them.