[Myrth]

Myrth laughed a bit at Aithe's playful joke. She continued sprinting up the stairs at a good pace, enjoying the race. The top was in sight, tall and grand, and she knew that the view from there would be spectacular. A smile reached her lips and she couldn't think of a better night that she'd had, with the exception of the day Aithe, Zephyr, Daoine, and herself had seen the Eiffel from the boat on the Seine.

Drawing in a fresh breath of cool air, Myrth looked ahead. Zephyr, Daoine, and Aithe were soon going to go neck in neck. It would definitely be a close ending, since they were all strong and fast dragons. She attempted to run even faster to at least finish somewhere close behind them.

[Aithe]

Aithe saw Zephyr gaining speed, and dropped all feelings towards Daoine to focus on winning. The top was so close....she could almost reach it....almost...

And then it was there, right below her....the last step. Like a dolphin breaking the surface in one big leap, she burst foward onto the flat ground, and the scene just...changed.

A cool breeze blew by, tousling her hair as she stared wide-eyed across the city...its glowing lights dotted across the distance like fireflys on a midsummers night. It was so beautiful....and being responsible for a place such as this almost made her choke up. Wouldn't her clan be proud of her now?

[Myrth]

Myrth slowed down and jogged the last steps up. Even though she was feeling a bit weary, she intended to reach the top without stopping, with excitement quickly coursing through her veins. It was like they had reached the heavens or something near to it. She climbed the very last one and almost fell, but she regained her balance and edged forward. Aithe was already there.

Myrth walked up next to her and gazed at the maginificent view. Of course it was too beautiful to describe. This is how it must be like at the top of the Eiffel, she thought, taking in the striking light shimmering across the city, the cool and dark night around them, and the terrific feeling she felt inside of her. "Wow," she breathed with a great smile.

[Ryou]

Ryou took the last few steps casually, falling in behind Myrth. His breath caught in his throat as he looked around him. "Wow... It's... Amazing... Incredibly... Beautiful," he breathed. Immediately his thoughts turned to Mahesa. She would love this... He sighed, thinking about it again; About how she'd age, and he wouldn't seem to.

But that could be dealt with later. It felt inredible to be up there. Aithe must love it, he decided. She always seems to like these types of things more than she lets on, or more than anyone could guess. I mean, what happened with the deer... Lint, I believe. I heard about that, and wow...

[Daoine]

Daoine had done her best to catch up with Aithe but hadn't been able to overtake her before reaching the top. So she took her last step right after Aithe's. Zephyr had closed in on them aswell, and Daoine had the feeling he could have easily beaten both of them but she had sensed some hesitation..she wondered why...

Daoine took a deep breath and then took in the surrounding. It was simply astonishing. Standing here on top of the Arc, together with a group of befriended Dragons made her feel very happy. A content feeling overcame her, and she felt similar emotions coming from her friends.

[Aithe]

It was in places like these where Aithe thought most, if that was possible. There never was a moment where she wasn't thinking, but perhaps here she thought the most in-depth, and personal things. Here, where beauty melted the insides of her hard-shelled body to a point where tears almost breached her eyes.

She loved Paris, but almost longed for her old life in the wild, where trifle things like electronics never mattered. But it wasn't just the setting that she wanted, it was her parents. She wanted to apologize for disgracing her clan, and she wanted to assure them that she had done nothing...for she had been framed. But no one knew that...only she did. And Derythe, who was the only dragon ever brave enough to believe her until now....

Oh how she missed Derythe. Where did he go? And why? Aithe asked herself angrily. I should've never let him go! His smiling face flashed before her eyes, his outstretched hand and caring, round face coming to memory that night he saved her from herself. If only she had the chance to repay him...

Would be fun to bungy jump from here... she said aloud in a casual tone, not hinting anything about the battle that raged in her head.

[Daoine]

As Daoine stood next to Aithe and the others at the top she felt mixed emotions, though initially all she had sensed were joyous feeling now she also sensed some grief and pain. Daoine wondered whom they were coming from. Sometimes she thought it would be easier to be a Blue then a Gold Dragon because at least then she would know exactly what was going on in someone's mind. Based on the emotions she -as a Gold Dragon- felt it was often still guessing. Ah well, patience was a virtue because Daoine knew that as she grew older she would be able to deal with this better.

Would be fun to bungy jump from here...
Daoine's thoughts were interrupted by Aithe's sudden proposal. She looked at her friend, trying to determine whether or not she was being serious. Not that Daoine was scared of heigts, but jumping off buildings was a totally different thing...

[Myrth]

Myrth stood perfectly still, heart filled with warmth, deep in thought. It was simply perfect. No other words could describe it. Suddenly, Aithe said,

"Would be fun to bungy jump from here..."

"Sure would," she murmured. It was nearly, if not, impossible to hook up some kind of bungy system on the Arc de Triomphe, but the thought was cool to think about. Reaching up to the night sky at a terrific speed and then back down in a single, swift leap had to be awesome.

[Aithe]

Sometimes I think about other sanctuaries, Aithe wondered aloud, sitting cross-legged on the rough stone, so close to the edge that one false move could send her flying, And I know the grove is...grovey. The vampires obviously have something dark, as well as the demons. The angels probably live on some cloud, and the nymphs live in peace with the shifters in their dwelling. But you know? I don't think any of them are as lucky as we are. I mean sure, grass may beat concrete, and sure, we have buildings instead of trees. But tonight...the river, the park, the tower...this....I don't think any other sanctuary can give you the feeling that this one does... She fell silent, looking down and tracing the folds in her dress.

And then the unspeakable happened...she toddled forward, losing balance as her feet caught each other with a jerk...and over the edge she went, both hands waving desperately to grasp something...anything, so that she didn't plummet to her death. The fingers of her right hand caught and wrapped around a small outcropping about three feet down. Help!! she screamed, utterly terrified as she swung back and forth above the darkness.

[Myrth]

Myrth nodded. It was all too incredible; the entire night was better than all the years she had lived in the forest among the nymphs and shifters. The beauty of the city was absolutely amazing, even better than what she had seen of nature and it made her truly appreciate everything. She sighed and sat down on the ledge, looking below. That was quite a long way down.

The next thing she knew was that Aithe had disappeared and was now hanging onto an outcropping with one hand a yard down. Myrth leaped up in shock and gasped, the blood rushing rapidly into her mind. Attempting to calm her thudding heart, she kneeled and thought quickly. Her arms weren't long enough. And if Aithe reached, she might lose her grip. She turned to Daoine, hoping that she would have some kind of a solution.

[Zephyr]

Zephyr had been lost in his mind since they'd reached the top. But when Aithe suddenly fell, Zephyr put every drop of speed he had in him to use and raced to the edge. Stopping on the end, Zephyr reached for Aithe. "I can't reach!?" He thought frantically.

Then, without thinking of the consequences, Zephyr twisted his body around and climbed down to Aithe. Gripping tightly with his left hand, Zephyr extended his right arm. "Aithe, let me help you." He said, concentrating on his grip.

[Aithe]

Aithe looked up at Myrth, body quaking in fear, her palms sweating so hard that she should feel her grip loosening. Myrth couldn't reach her...now she was doomed. In the next few minutes, she'd be a sopping mess on the sidewalk far below. The sidewalk that looked like a little, grey snake from here....A sob escaped her lips. She couldn't die now. There was so much more she wanted to do, and so many things she wished to see.

And then Zephyr was there, and relief washed over her like an ocean wave. But it was still far too dangerous to reach for him now. If she missed his hand...

I...can't...do it she whispered sadly, fingers moving just a bit closer to death

[Daoine]

Daoine had listened to what Aithe had been saying about the Sanctuary. She absolutely agreed with her, she couldn't imagine the other Sanctuaries being a exciting and diverse as theirs was.

Then all of the sudden Aithe tumbled over the edge, disappearing in the dark. Myrth immediately leaped up and tried to reach over the edge to grab Aithe but as she couldn't reach her alone Daoine noticed how Myrth looked at her for help.
Then just as Daoine knelt down beside Myrth to try and help their friend, Zephyr moved to the front and climbed down to get Aithe. As he extended his right arm to Aithe she still couldn't reach it.

Daoine thought for a moment "Maybe if Zephyr turns around, we can hold on to his legs and make him reach down further then he is now. Besides he would have both hands free to get Aithe." she said out loud.

[Ryou]

He was ripped out of his thoughts, only to see Aithe hanging near death. "Holy Xanth! Umm..." Ryou racked his brain for some idea. Daoine seemed to have the best plan, better than anything he had come up with. "Tell me what to do, and I'll do it." He'd take orders from any of them at the moment, simply to help Aithe.

[Daoine]

As Ryou approached them to help out aswell, Daoine called to Zephyr who was trying to reach Aithe"Zephyr, let us grab hold of your legs so you can stretch further down."

Daoine felt a shiver going down her spine, thinking about what would happen if they couldn't get Aithe back up. The thought of her friend plunging to her death made a sweat break out on Daoine's forehead. No she firmly thought to herself I must concentrate on helping her. while trying to grab hold of Zephyr's feet.

[Zephyr]

Zephyr was dagling on the side of the arc. He heard Daoine's idea and tried to climb up when he looked up to see the ledge. "I can't get back over that. The only way is to climb down." Zephyr said, looking down at the lower platform. It wasn't too much of a climb, but way to far to jump, or fall. "Aithe, can you climb down with me?" Zephyr yell-asked, his figer starting to burn.

[Aithe]

Aithe, can you climb down with me?

I...I...think so, Aithe replied, nervously glancing at her hand. One false move and it's bye-bye me...though I'm sure not everyone would be upset about that, she thought with a grim smile. Maybe I'm being a bit too morbid...Zephyr will save me, and Daoine, and Ryou, and Myrth. They won't let me fall. At least, I hope they won't let me fall.

Tentatively, she stretched her foot down to the nearest foot hold, barely scraping the surface with her toe. She bit her lip as she tried to go even further, but her thigh burned from the stress. Here we go...

Dropping from her dangling spot on the side of the tower, she let out a muffled cry and hit the foothold, grasping the nearest ledge with her hand in one quick motion. Whew...your turn Zephyr

[Daoine]

When Zephyr told them that there was no way he could manage to climb back up and that he wanted Aithe to jump down with him to a lower platform, Daoine felt a strong wave of fear and panic from the others especially Aithe. Daoine blocked all emotions from the rest in an attempt to stay as calm as she could.

"Come on" she said to Myrth and Ryou; "Let's go down the steps to the lower platform to help Aithe and Zephyr." as there was nothing more they could do at the top here.

[Zephyr]

Zephyr climbed down a few more ledges. Edging more to the right Zephyr grew closer to Aithe. Coming right nest to her he spoke again. "Aithe. If you can, loop your arms around my neck." Zephyr hoped Aithe would comply. It would make things much easier for both of them.

Eyeing the small crowd that now gathered on thr platform bellow, Zephyr decided jumping was out of the question. "We'll have to climb all the way down to the platform." Zephyr thought.

[Ryou]

"Alright," Ryou said, already heading towards the stairs. He took them two at a time, but stopped, waiting for Myrth and Daoine.