fandomhigh | Detention, Saturday June 7, 2008

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!]

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"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.

"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."

Edited 2008-06-07 21:22 (UTC)

"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."

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

"Though I'd never heard of detention involving risking one's life before," Ella noted with a sly grin.

Emboldened, she scampered a little further ahead of Ino, coming close to the descent. "How's walking on water?"

Ino blinked a bit at the question, as she confidently headed up the ropes herself.

"How do I do it?" she checked. "Or is it fun?" Or what?

~~Ella's mun can't read~~. "I suppose," Ella said, looking over her shoulder at Ino, "I meant, is it fun, and how does it feel. I figure you do it with some kind of magic."

"Not magic," she said lightly, "not with a spell or anything like that. We use chakra, um, spiritual energy? And we're taught how to focus it to certain parts of our body so we can, like, stick to things, walk on things."

Ella paused distinctly here, before she hauled herself onto the platform between the rope wall and the walkway. "Could anyone learn that?" she asked.

Ino lightly clambered up after her. "It's easier when you're younger, chakra manipulation is one of the reasons we start training so young, but yeah. Every living thing has got spiritual energy, so theoretically anyone can learn it."

They were at the top. This meant she had to go across, and the ropes did not look stable.

Ella was realizing how much she didn't like heights.

"That's amazing, Ino," she said, tentatively stepping onto the first loop. And, again, not looking down. "When did you start training?"

"Honestly? Dad started teaching me things when I was, like, two. But at that age it was more 'play' than 'training', you know? Official training started at about five, when we're old enough to go to the Academy."

Ino was noticing just how much Ella didn't like heights, and edged closer, though being careful not to crowd her.

It was good Ella wasn't being crowded, really. She was thinking about how much she didn't like heights, and, while her boots were practical for cli,bing, her skirt was not.

She missed a loop and twisted backward, arm flying off the loop and pinwheeling as she tried to regain her balance.

Ino, more confident by far on the ropes, was caught somewhat off-guard by Ella's mis-step--they'd been doing so well too--but reached out to try and steady her, taking her hand off the rope and hoping that'd help.

"Hold on," Ino said, quickly.

An order. Of course Ella followed it.

The problem was that her balance was too far gone, and Ino's grip didn't help much. She plummeted into the mud.

And, in plummeting, dragged Ino down with her. There was swearing on Ino's part, though she managed to twist enough that she didn't land right on Ella. But still. They were in the mud.

"Ow," Ino noted dryly. "Bruises do not like being fallen on. Good to know. Are you alright?" A beat. "Why couldn't we have fallen in the pudding instead? Seriously?"

"I could have told you that, about the bruises," Ella noted, hauling herself to her feet through a series of inelegant motions. "I'm fine, just muddy, You?"

"Well, I knew it really. But reminders are always... um. Good?" Ino made a face at the mud. Her poor hair. "I'm peachy."

Ella made a sympathetic motion with her mouth. "I'm sorry!"

"Nah," Ino quirked a smile at her. "I've been worse off, really. It's nothing to worry about." She'd just be showering for hours. "Asuma-sensei used to have us do stuff like this for days."

Detention, Saturday June 7, 2008

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