| Abraxan
Join Date: Sep 2003 Location: Perth, AU (GMT +8)
Posts: 25,070
Hogwarts RPG Name:
Jasper Hart
First Year
  x10  x10
|  #2 ½ EagleBrain ♥ Creeperdoodle ♥ Raven Dor ♥ Berry ♥ ½ Team House Elf
On more than one occasion he was sure that the step beneath his foot would give out, and in one instance... it did. His foot broke clear through the badly damaged plank.
SHHHOOOOOOOOOOOT!
Frowning to himself, Zeke pulled his foot clear, not at all comfortable with the strength of the only step he was standing on at the minute. He needed to distribute his weight better if he was going to have any chance at getting higher up. Lowering himself into a crouching position, Zeke tested the step above the one he just failed to mount with his hand. It held. Slowly, he ascended, on hands and toes. The stairs creaked less in this manner, but he didn't think he would get much further, the condition only seemed to deteriorate the higher up he he climbed and at this point he had enough splinters to last him a lifetime. OUCH.
Though he made it up, a flight? he still hadn't gained much ground, and was still out of reach of the roof. Would it be possible to jump from one roof to the next... without dying? He didn't think now was the time to try. He would wait to test that theory when he was further up the alley, and within reach of the flag. Which roof was it even on? Left side? Right side?
On what appeared to be a sad excuse of a landing, where the staircase turned, there was a small opening in the wall. A window? Maybe, if even that. Righting himself, Zeke leant against the wall so that his weight could be absorbed by something more than just the floor, and peered out of the opening from what he assumed was a glassless window. It didn't open up to anything great, just the brick wall of the next building, a narrow alley he would liken to a crawl space if anything else. But it was when he turned his head to see what was at the end of it that he got an idea. There, up ahead, where the light filtered through... was a balcony. The metal...iron?... bars of it black and distinctive against the light and the red brick of the building backdrop. Could he make it there? Crawl there?
Pulling his head back inside, Zeke glanced up at the rest of the staircase. He didn't trust it to hold him to the top, and as far as he could tell, he wouldn't be able to make it there anyway... there were too many gaps where the steps were broken or simply missing. And going down would be a waste of effort.
Out the window it would be.
Lifting a leg over the windowsill, Zeke straddled the short beam before pulling over his other leg, if he dropped now he was sure he would shatter his ankles, but he didn't need to drop. Arms out in front of him, he positioned them against the opposite wall, though there was nothing to grip onto, he would still be able to support himself with his legs. Feet arching down and planting against the wall beneath the sill on which he sat, Zeke braced himself and pushed off.
.....
.......
..........
Not working. Not working. With some effort, he managed to push himself backward enough to grab hold of the sill with one hand, before pulling himself onto it again. The bricks were hard and rough, moving along them would scrape his skin off, he was sure of it, and considering he was still at the beginning of his journey, he figured he would need the skin on his hands for something further down the track - or up it, as it seemed would be the case.
His pockets were empty of anything that would help, but he did have the rope. Perhaps... if he wrapped it around his hands, he could make it to the front of the building, skin unscathed. Uncoiling a generous section of it, he wrapped it around his left hand first, before extending its length and wrapping the other length around his right hand... the remainder of the rope was left to trail over his back. This was about as good as it was going to get.
Leaning forward once more, wrapped hands outstretched, he landed against the wall, his planted feet keeping him from falling. This was better. This was a good start. He could work with this. Carefully, not rushing the process, he started to shuffle across, back in the direction of the street - more or less where he had come from. Right foot, right hand, left foot, left hand, right foot, right hand, left foot, left hand.... and so he continued to shuffle as he neared the entrance to the crawl space.
He was able to support himself comfortably for the time being, but the challenge would come when he had to climb onto the balcony. Pausing at the edge of the building, he peered out at the street. He was higher up, yes, and so his perspective was different to what his was on the ground. This was doable. Of course it was doable. Abel wouldn't give them a challenge they couldn't accomplish... would he? And... more to the point, what happened if one couldn't accomplish it? Would they be forced to start again? Ridiculed? Excluded from the club? He knew they weren't to touch the cobblestone, but if he did, would he be returned to the start? Banished from the room? How did it all work? While his mind whirled with unanswerable questions, Zeke peered down.
Big mistake.
It wasn't that he was afraid of heights, but by looking down, he became somewhat disoriented. Up wasn't down, and down wasn't up... but down was definitely down, and he could feel a foot slipping. Arms pushing against the wall with all his might, the same with his stable foot, he worked to readjust his incorrect footing, stabilising his position.
Close call? Naaaaahhh.
When he felt confident, Zeke swung out his right arm, grasping hold of a metal rung - part of the balcony, and with determination, and a moderate leap of faith, pushed himself off the wall on an angle to grasp the metal bar with his other hand. The rope was both a blessing and a hindrance. The metal wasn't digging into his palm, but it wasn't making it much easier to grasp.
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