The Challenge. (Started; accepting w/permission)

Rosette|Woods
I wait, for what seems hours. Finally, Mario's answer comes.
"I guess so, I bet we can do this, whatever it is." He says. I smile.
"Thanks, Mario. You have no idea what this means to me. Thanks." I say, truly grateful for this answer. He kicks the dirt, and mumbles something. I smile again. He then looked at my eyes, and smiled too. We both laugh. "Thanks. Really." I repeat. He nods, then his stomach growls fiercely. He turns red, then, trying to take it lightly, laughs again. "Are ya hungry?" I don't wait for a reply but set my backpack down, and rummage through it until I find the bag with apples. They are all good, except one. I throw the bad one out. Then, I take two out of the bag, and shove it back into my pack. Handing him one, I bite into mine.
"Are you sure, Rose?" he asks. I bet he feels bad eating my food.
"Of course. Anyhow, you helped me with..." I say, then whisper, "...with my leg." I smile again. "So the least I can do is give you one of my apples!"
"Thanks." he says, then bites into the apple. "Mmmm. It's good. Where did ya find these?" he asks.
"Oh, in a tree. I followed a squirrel, and it lead my to a tree." I say. He says thanks again, then continues munching his apple. The better I can make this friendship, the happier I'll be.

Andy|Trail

"Hey Brigid! Want to team up?" I ask as we set out.
"Um..." she hesitates. Not a good sign. "Sure, for right now. Do you know what you're doing for the traverse?"
"A little," I reply. "I did it once across a river but I bet this will be tougher.”
“Do you have a rope?” asks Brigid.
“Yup,” I reply. “But Katherine told me that they will provide the rope to cross the ravine.”
“Yeah but won’t we want to tie ourselves to that rope so that we don’t fall?” she says it a less than friendly tone, but then laughs. “We’ll make it through all right.” She smiles.

Katherine|Tyrolean Traverse

“All right everyone! We’re here!” Ahead of us, the ropes are already set up. They are strung across a deep canyon with a river at the bottom. There are four ropes.
“Since I don’t know exactly who wants to be on each team so I’m setting you guys into groups. Feel free to tell me if you would like to switch. I’m putting you guys in two’s but it will probably be easier if you have three people. It’s up to you guys. Here’s what I was thinking:

Rose with Mario
Andy with Brigid
Rylet with Noah
Zohan with Warren

“Here are your helmets. That’s all we’re giving you though. Be very careful. This is very dangerous! If you don’t have any rope you might try tying yourselves to it in another way. Be ready in twenty minutes! Here's a picture of what a traverse should look like:"

Warren-
I find Zohan in the crowd.
"Ready for the traverse?" I ask him, I mean, her.
"I think so," she says.
"I guess there's not really a way to practice, is there?" I ask.

Noah -

God, Katherine knows. How does she know? - I chuckled silently to myself.

"Rylet!" I see her, she turns to me. She was already wearing her helmet.

"Hey Noah! Are you ready for the traverse?" She hands me a helmet and climbing gear.

I put on the helmet and the gear,

"I am totally ready."

"Do you want me to go first?" I ask.

Rosette|Preparing in the woods for the Tyrolean Traverse
"Rosette, and Mario." Says Katherine. I'm surprised! We had already chosen to go together. I turn and look around, and see Mario staring at me. I smile, and he turns red. I walk over to him.
"Hey, heard we're together. Any idea how to tie the rope well so we don't, well, fall? I've got a bad feeling that this is harder than it sounds..."
"Uh, yeah. We'll have to figure out a tie. It looks like Andy knows what he's doing... We can watch him tie himself, and then we'll copy him." he replies. I nod. Mario is very smart.
"By the way, my leg is much better, thanks to you. I would have been eliminated if you hadn't helped me. Thanks." I say. "Oh, and I wanted to show you something..." I motion for him to follow. I walk for about eight minutes into the woods. Then, I say, "It's so weird to find one of these on a volcanic island, but I guess we're just lucky. Look up." He looks up, and sees a few oranges. He smiles. We pick lots of them and put them in our packs. He then notices some big vines growing.
"These would make really good ropes." he says. I take out my knife, and cut a big long one, wind it up, and attach it to the outside of my pack. We are lucky....

Zohan
Hmmm... This traverse thing sounded pretty dangerous to me. Maybe I had something in my bag that could help me, but I already forgot what was in my bag. Oh well I'll check it later
I look over at w
Warren and wondered if now was a good time to bring up the wolf case, but we were moving on and I didn't want to get left behind.

Warren-
Zohan acts like she's going to say something, but doesn't.
"What?" I ask her, worried.

Brigid|Tyrolean Traverse

"So, are we getting rope, or not?" I asked Andy. "I mean, I have some twine, and it'll work, but I don't think it was originally designed for climbing..." I pulled the roll of twine out of my backpack. The rope was thick enough to hold the two of us--half an inch in radius--but I didn't think a real climber would use it.

"I don't know," Andy replied, strapping his helmet on. "I guess not."

"Okay," I said. "Here, let's use this tree as an anchor." I ran around the thick oak a few times, and then tied a friction knot. That knot wouldn't come undone until I came back over and pried it apart, not even if the rope had to take both Andy's and my weight.

"Here, tie this to your belt," I said, handing Andy the end of the twine. "You know any good knots?"

Andy bumped me, to catch my eye. He pointed behind me. I looked around, trying not to make it obvious. There were Mario and Rose, just standing there, watching us.

"Doesn't matter," I said, turning back to Andy. "This rope is pretty thin. If they're trying to copy knots, they're gonna have some work to do."

Mario
[spoiler]Rose, I had rope in my backpack. [/spoiler

Rosette shows me the ropes, but I just laugh and pull off my backpack. "I brought some, it'll be safer, too. Come on." Rose nods and follows me, but I notice she sticks the vines in her pack anyway. I nod, realizing it's always best to be prepared.
"Here," I hand her some gum. "If anything it'll help to have something to bite if you get nervous." She gives a timid laugh and takes the gum, though I notice she also looks at me as if I'm a little bit weird.

We join the rest of the groups, which are almost ready to start. I start following Andy's example, careful to hide the fact that I have no clue what I'm doing.
"Hey, good luck, Andy! See you on the other side." He waves and flashes a short smile, but he's also extremely focused and doesn't have time to answer.

"Are you sure about this?" Rose mumbles. "Okay, we can do it. Right?"

"Right." I answer with a confidence that even surprises me.

Rosette| Woods
"I have a rope too, but yours looks a bit stronger. I think we should try to find a good type of knot that won't break." I say. We start preparing for TT. I look around, and see everybody else preparing. I put my helmet on, but it's a bit big. It slips over my eyes. Mario sees me, and grins. He tightens the back for me, and I tighten my chin strap. "Okay. I guess we're ready!"
"Yup. Remember, we've got to be VERY careful..." I nod. He's smart, and I hope he knows what he's doing... because I'm not very sure of myself...

Andy|Traverse

The ropes are already strung across the chasm which makes the whole procedure a lot easier. I look at Brigid’s twine and hope that it will hold our weight.
“Here,” I say handing her back the ball. I pull my dagger from my pack and measure three pieces of twine. I had Brigid one end and begin braiding them together. I do know how to braid, because of my sister and all…
“This will hold us better I think.” I hand her the braided cord and begin braiding three more pieces. We don’t have much time so I should explain to Brigid the basics.
“Ok Brigid, I’ll go across first. The easiest way is to create a harness out of the twine then tie it around the rope going across. The you will have to hang on it like sloth with your arms holding the rope and your knees over it too. The you have to slowly crawl across the rope. There are others ways that are faster but this is the safest.” I take one of the braided pieces of twine and wrap in around my waist. In a few minutes I had fashioned a harness that seemed pretty secure. From my tool kit I pull a length of rope. It’s short, just an arms length so it wouldn’t help with holding us up, plus it’s really thick so it doesn’t bend easily. I cut it in half and use my lighter to melt it some. I press it between two curved rocks to form a thick half moon shaped piece of plastic.
“We don’t want our twine to rub on the rope and break.” I put the plastic over the rope and melt the ends to stick it together make a sort of sleeve on the rope. I hang my twine over it and use the strongest knot I know tie myself on. I hand Brigid my lighter and the rope and instruct her to do the same. As she is melting her rope I take a look around me. Rose and Mario seem to be doing well. They have Rose tied up already and Mario is teaching her a few tricks so she won’t get tired. Rylet and Noah look clueless and are making a weak looking rope out of vines. Zohan and Warren seem to be making progress. They have Zohan already tied to the rope and Warren is making some adjustments on their makeshift harness. Katherine calls us to attention and asks us to all look at her. Those already tied up have trouble turning around but in the end we all face Katherine.
“Ok guys, this is it! You guys will go across one at a time. The second person can’t start going across until the first one is fully on the other side. Also,” she pauses for suspense. “It’s a race. The winner will get a ride down into the chasm whereas the rest must repel down. There will be at least one elimination if not a whole team so be fast but careful, it’s a long fall and no one could survive it.” She hands out small leather straps to everyone, instructing us to wrap them around our hands so that we don’t cut them.
“To your places everyone!” she calls. “GO!” I swing my legs over the rope and start making my way across. Brigid is calling directions.
“Don’t look down! No go faster! Careful now!” I make my way painstakingly across. My arms are burning and my legs feel wobbly. My head feels like it’s going to explode and I’m thirsty. My backpack is pulling me down and I think I might have to just drop it into the canyon. I close my eyes and concentrate. Left hand, right hand, left hand, right hand… Then I’m at the other side. I swing my legs down and cut my twine. It appears that Noah arrived before me because Rylet is already starting across. She’s about halfway already. Man they’re fast!
It happens suddenly, Rylet’s vine catches on something and she screams. The vine snaps and she’s hanging by her arms. She struggles to hang on but her hands slip. The next thing I know, she’s falling, twisting and writhing in mid air then we hear a sickening thud and silence. Noah shouts and there chaos. Brigid looks across at me and I nod.
“Concentrate,” I shout at the top of my lungs. Rylet can’t be saved now…
Brigid starts coming across, her hands reach, left hand, right hand, left hand, right hand, left…

Mario

Rosette gets ready to cross, and I notice how scared she looks.
"It'll be fine. Try not to use your injured leg, but don't rely too heavily on your arms. If you need to, rest, I'd rather lose than have anything happen to you."
"I'm so scared, though," she whispers, staring at me with huge eyes. Not sure what I'm doing, I lean forward, pretending to check the harness. Instead I plant a quick kiss on her forehead. It isn't so much romantic, though she is really pretty. It's just, in that one moment she looks so much like my sister, and I can't bear the thought of anything happening to her.
"I'll see you on the other side?"

Rosette| TTraverse
I'm all buckled in now.
"I'm so scared, Mario." I whisper. He leans forward, about to recheck my harness, but instead, he kisses my forehead. I smile.
"I'll see you on the other side?" He asks. I nod.
"Promise me something..." I say, and he nods. "Promise me, that if I don't make it-"
"Hey, Rose! Don't talk like that. You'll make it..." he says.
I continue, "If I don't make it... Or something happens to me... Promise me that you'll try your very best to win..." He nods again, then turns away. I hang like a sloth, and start inching my way forward. I try not to look down, but it's the hardest challenge yet... I continue. I'm half-way now. Just as I reach my hand, I slip. I scream. Hanging just by my legs, I panic.
"Rose! Grab on again." I hear the yell of Mario. He sounds concerned. I reach up, and try to grab the rope again, but I slip. Again, I reach up, and grab the rope. This time, I don't miss. I shakily make progress, and finally reach the end. I quickly untie my harness, and wait for Mario. He's already half way through, and going very fast. Then, I see a danger.
"Watch out Mario!" I scream. There's a sharp part on the rope, and if his harness catches on it, he'll fall. "Mario, it's sharp. Careful!" I yell again. He looks up, and switches his position just in time. He almost could have fallen. I shakily sit down. Just then, I hear a piercing scream. I look around, then, hear a loud thud. My first thought was Mario, I he okay? Then, I look around. Rylet! She's gone. I put my head into my hands and sob. It's horrible. I hope she didn't die... Still wiping tears away, I see Mario reaching the end. We might just win! It's so close. "Go Mario! You can do it... Just a little more." I exclaim. I'll be ready for him. I take out my water, and drink a bit myself, then prepare some for Mario. He's got to make it... He's just so close! I know he's fast... We have to win...

Warren asked me
"What?" was I that transparent? Or was it maybe because I was staring at him for a brief moment . So I shook my head,
"Never mind we should concentrate on this challenge." I said. I took a picture of the place before moving on.
It wasn't so hard to catch on, on what to do. We weren't doing to bad as we moved along but then I heard some one screaming from behind. It was Rylet. I was paralyzed for a second or two as I watched hopelessly as she plumet downwards to her death. There was no sound after wards. I watched and waited to see some signs of life...but there was nothing. I looked over at Warren to see his expression, if he felt the same way I did. We should come up with a plan for case like those...
"Hey Warren. Just incase something like that happens to us, should we just split up what we brought...I mean if you'd like to...thats all." I wait for his reply as he thinks it over, while I silently mourned for Rylet.