Detention, Saturday June 7, 2008

[idontlooktired.livejournal.com]

When the students came through the door into the Danger Shop, they'd find themselves standing on a grassy knoll. Stretching out before them was an expanse of warm, thick bubbling mud over which a simple ropes course had been built. On the other side of that was a stretch of solid ground, and on the other side of that was a lake.

Harriet was waiting for them, hands behind her back. "Good morning." She favoured them all with a brief smile. "All you have to do is get to the other side." She waved behind them, where the door they'd come through had disappeared, then pointed into the distance, where it could just be seen. "As you can see, that's where the door is now. You will work in pairs to go over the course and across the rope bridge, after which you will build a raft and paddle across the lake. You'll find everything you could possibly imagine you'd need to build one waiting for you."

She announced the pairs -- Ella and Ino, Lois and Gwen, Gavin and John -- and then added, somewhat sharply, "Gavin and John, you're going to have an extra special challenge." Harriet threw a belt with metal loops to each of them, and a length of climbing rope with a carabineer on each end. "You will put those on, and you will stay clipped together until you leave, or we're going to be spending every Saturday from now until the end of time together." She gave them a look. "And I will not be happy about it. Now, off you go!" She smiled again. "I'll be keeping an eye on you from outside."

And she turned away towards the door, walking about two feet above the mud, the ground, and the water, and left.

[ooc: plz to be

waiting for OCD

playing now!]

Comments

The ropes course

[idontlooktired.livejournal.com]

You go up the rope wall (http://i253.photobucket.com/albums/hh68/fhcollective/detention%20june07/ropes_course.jpg), across the walkway (http://i253.photobucket.com/albums/hh68/fhcollective/detention%20june07/ropes.jpg), and climb down (http://i253.photobucket.com/albums/hh68/fhcollective/detention%20june07/climbing_blog.jpg). If you fall, the safety protocols will catch you, and set you mostly gently on the ground. Which in this case means into the warm, oozy, gloopy mud (http://i253.photobucket.com/albums/hh68/fhcollective/detention%20june07/mud-bath_16814.jpg). There's also the option to simply walk through the mud, it's only four feet deep.

Re: The ropes course

[sixstandingby.livejournal.com]

Gavin dragged John towards the rope wall and looked up at it. "This is all your fault."

Re: The ropes course

[missed-the-gate.livejournal.com]

"How is it my fault?" John said, grabbing hold of the ropes and starting to climb. "Come on!" He tugged on their tether as he couldn't get very far without Gavin.

Re: The ropes course

[sixstandingby.livejournal.com]

"You put the damn sand in my bed," Gavin said, reaching up to grip the rope wall. "You started it."

Re: The ropes course

[missed-the-gate.livejournal.com]

"You threw a rock at me and you're an ass," John retorted, climbing higher. Let's just hope he was stepping on the ladder and not Gavin's hand in his annoyance.

Re: The ropes course

[sixstandingby.livejournal.com]

"I threw a rock at you?" Gavin asked, careful to not wiggle the wall too much. "Wimp."

Re: The ropes course

[missed-the-gate.livejournal.com]

Suppressing the temptation to kick Gavin while he could, John didn't try to stop the wall from wiggling. "Did you say something? Because I know I didn't just hear you call me a wimp."

Re: The ropes course

[sixstandingby.livejournal.com]

"Then you need a hearing check because that's what I said," Gavin grumbled, nearly reaching for the rope to tug John down.

Re: The ropes course

[missed-the-gate.livejournal.com]

Nearing the top, John stopped and turned around, holding the rope wall with one hand to look at Gavin. "You want to do this now?"

Re: The ropes course

[sixstandingby.livejournal.com]

"I'm just talking," Gavin said, trying to pull himself up. "You're the one getting all pissed."

Re: The ropes course

[missed-the-gate.livejournal.com]

"Just talking, huh?" John said, not budging from where he hung on the rope wall.

Re: The ropes course

[armybrat-lois.livejournal.com]

Lois looked over the ropes course with a look of anticipation on her face. She had been doing stuff like this for as long as she could remember.

"This should be nothing," Lois informed Gwen.

Re: The ropes course

[ihaveniceteeth.livejournal.com]

"Nothing, right," Gwen repeated. "That's what they always say right before something tries to eat your head."

Re: The ropes course

[armybrat-lois.livejournal.com]

"Unless the ropes can magically turn into man-eating snakes then I don't think we have to worry about anything eating our heads," Lois said. She looked at the ropes warily then and really hoped they couldn't turn into snakes.

Re: The ropes course

[ihaveniceteeth.livejournal.com]

"The dean wouldn't have done that," Gwen said, trying to remember any incidences of snakes in Whitehall. "I think."

Re: The ropes course

[ella-obeys.livejournal.com]

Ella stood, just staring at the wall as she got her courage up. "It looks steeper when I get close."

Re: The ropes course

[intraspective]

Ino, for her part, was barely paying attention to the ropes. What? They were standard Academy-fare, really. She was more concerned about her partner.

"You going to be okay?" she asked.

Re: The ropes course

[ella-obeys.livejournal.com]

"I'm not sure I have a choice, unless I want to spoil my clothes wading through the mud," Ella said practically, closing her eyes to center herself. "Did you even do anything to be here? I didn't."

Re: The ropes course

[intraspective]

"I didn't," she said, "but that doesn't matter much with this school. Look on the bright side! This detention is less dangerous than my last one. And I'll do my best to make sure you don't fall. It'll be okay."

Easy for the ninja to say.

Re: The ropes course

[ella-obeys.livejournal.com]

"What was your last one?" Ella wondered aloud. "Though this doesn't seem dangerous. Just messy. And chocolate pudding is just strange."

She looked at Ino, an I'm-counting-on-you kind of look, and started clambering up the ropes -- a little awkwardly, but not badly. She thought she could keep going as long as she didn't look down.

Re: The ropes course

[intraspective]

"Killer aliens," Ino said helpfully, as she kept an eye on Ella's progress and carefully started up behind her. If Ella fell Ino was fairly sure she could stop them both from landing on the ground. Hopefully. "That chased us, and tried to kill us, and all we had was a great bit of desert and an unfamiliar weapon to deal with them."

Re: The ropes course

[ella-obeys.livejournal.com]

"I'd rather climb," Ella said readily, her motions becoming more sure as she got used to the ropes. "I would have thought I would be surprised they'd unleash aliens on students, but after the werewolf in class this week, nothing can phase me."

She may have been wrong about that.

Re: The ropes course

[intraspective]

"A werewolf in class?" Ino asked, still keeping an eye out. "What class was that?"

A beat.

"And? Seriously? Don't say stuff like that, okay? Fandom loves to prove people wrong."

Re: The ropes course

[ella-obeys.livejournal.com]

"Galactic Vacationing," Ella answered easily, then teetered a little on the ropes and caught herself before talking again. "We were in this creepy old house in England. I hid in a coat closet."

She glanced down through the ropes. "Oh well, if I've doomed myself at least it won't be dull."

Re: The ropes course

[intraspective]

That got a real grin. "See? That's the right way to go about thinking of it! I mean, it's only detention, right?"