[Myrth]

"Okay," Myrth said quietly as she followed Daoine and Ryou to the lower platform. Zephyr and Aithe would meet them there, and they'd be perfectly alright, if not a bit tense. She started to think what would happen if they fell off the Arc de Triomphe, and she immediately shook it away. The others had to have considered it for at least a second, but they looked composed at the moment. Deciding that panic and fright wouldn't help the situation, she bit her lip and strode down the stairs behind the male blue dragon.

[Aithe]

Aithe watched, nails digging into the stone below her hand, as Zephyr made his way down.

Aithe. If you can, loop your arms around my neck

Uhm... she said, biting her lip in uncertainty. You know I can carry myself. I'm not that weak... But without knowing exactly why she did it, she moved upward until she was parallel to Zephyr, extending one arm to grasp his neck.

We'll have to climb all the way down to the platform

She nodded, though Zephyr probably didn't know why, seeing as it wasn't said aloud. Her gaze drifted downward, resting on her friends who had already left the top of the Arc.

I have a knack at ruining everything....

[Zephyr]

As Aithe grasped around him, Zephyr was glad he hadn't brought his weapons on this occasion. "OK, I'm heading down now. Hang on." Zephyr said calmly before moving a muscle. When Zephyr was sure Aithe was ready he started to climb downwards extremely slowly.

"foot, hand, hand, foot." Zephyr repeated over and over in his mind to keep his body in a rhythmic motion. Allowing a quick glance downwards Zephyr estimated that they were only 15 feet above the platform now. Returning to his mental-physical patern Zephyr descended slowly, making sure each motion was secured before moving on to the next.

[Daoine]

Daoine made her way down to the platform where Ryou had arrived first and Myrth was just behind her. On the platform a small crowd of people had gathered, looking up to the duo that was now carefully climbing down. Deciding that all these excited people would only distract the concentration of Zephyr and Aithe, Daoine attempted to shoo away the crowd from the platform. "Come on people, nothing to see here. Just move along please." she said while pointing towards the stairs.

(OOC: Can I godmod the crowd? )

Yes ^^

[Ryou]

Ryou watched closely as Aithe wrapped her arms around Zephyr's neck and as the red dragon started climbing down. A small crowd had gathered, but Daoine took care of them quickly, which was good for him; It meant he didn't have to. "How much longer will it take them to get down" he mused out loud, to no one in particular.

[Daoine]

"Hopefully not too much longer as they might be getting tired." Daoine replied to Ryou's remark. Meanwhile she was trying to get the last few people to leave the platform; a group of 4 students seemed to find Zephyr and Aithe's actions pretty amusing as they kept laughing and pointing up towards them while yelling silly and sarcastic remarks.

Daoine walked towards them and made sure that she got their full attention by standing right in front of them. "As I said before, please continue towards the stairs as your presence here only disturbs this rescue-mission. So leave ... like nów." she concluded with a firm tone of voice while gesturing them towards the stairs.

Reluctant the students turned around and made their way to the stairs. It seemed that Daoine's words had taken their effect.

[Aithe]

Aithe clung nervously to Zephyr's body, wondering once or twice if she'd be better off climbing down on her own. At this point, if the dragon slipped and caused them to fall, they'd both get seriously hurt, if they didn't die....

Seeing as Zephyr was busy climbing, she had the rather boring job of looking down at Myrth, Ryou, and Daoine below them on the platform....as well as a large crowd that made her stomach twist and flop all the harder. A sigh of relief escaped her lips as Daoine took charge and shooed them away. Thanks Daoine.... she sent her friend with a small smile that could only be seen by Zephyr, who seemed far to busy to notice.

Almost there.....

[Daoine]

Thanks Daoine
Daoine heard pop into her head as the last people disappeared from the platform. She smiled thinking Thanks Aithe, be carefull up there. knowing that her friend would be able to pick it up if she wanted.

Now the platform was competely empty except for Myrt, Ryou and Daoine. It was not much further that Aithe and Zephyr needed to go and Daoine was optimistic.

[Myrth]

The situation seemed much less frightening now as Myrth watched them climb down the Arc. Daoine had shooed away the crowd of onlookers, and Aithe and Zephyr had almost reached the platform. A small smile crossing her face, she was hopeful and fairly confident that they would make it.

[Zephyr]

Zephyr climbed down carefully "... Hand, foot, foot, hand..." The pattern continued to stream in his mind. His hands had been sweating ever since he'd started climbing, making it hard to hold on to the golden surface. "10 feet" Zephyr thought as he glanced down. Continuing his pattern at about 7 feet his left hand slipped away from the wall. Quickly bringing it back up to the wall, Zephyr pressed his body as close as he could to the golden surface.

"Aithe, I'm losing my grip. I'm gonna jump." Zephyr stated calmly. Letting go of the wall with his hand, Zephyr reached for Aithe's hands before pushing off the wall with his feet.

[Aithe]

Aithe kept her eyes locked on her dragon friends below; they calmed her and helped her mind to stray away from thougts of death. She was jostled several times, each time followed with a nervous glance towards Zephyr's face.

"Aithe, I'm losing my grip. I'm gonna jump."

Whaaaaa....? she stammered, whipping her head around, eyes wide in surprise. They weren't terribly far from the platform, but right now falling from any height seemed frightening.

Though she was filled with uncertainty, when Zephyr's hands came for hers, she complied. Right now trust was the only option

[Zephyr]

As Zephyr's hands clamped around Aithe's wrists Zephyr pulled her close and attempted to hug her to his body. Falling fast, Zephyr loosened his legs. They'd hit before Aithe did, so they would hopefully cushion the blow. A few moments before impact Zephyr had one thought ringing out in his mind. "This is gonna hurt."

[Aithe]

Aithe felt Zephyr's grip lock around her wrist, then pull her closer to him. It was a very awkward thing...after all, there had been a time when the dragons were throwing food at each other.

She closed her eyes tightly, sucking in her breath. Then the blood in her veins seemed to stop, waiting for the jump....and then it came. All sense of stability was snatched from underneath her as gravity did its job. Zephyr...I hope you know what you're doing, she thought as a last-minute attempt to be positive. But it was hard to be positive when she was filled with so much doubt.

[Daoine]

While Daoine was watching Zephyr and Aithe steadily climb down, she suddenly noticed that Zephyr had lost his grip. With her jaw dropped down Daoine realized that he had decided to jump the last few feet to the platform as she saw how he took a tight hold of Aithe.

"They're gonna jump!" she said half out loud, quite distressed whether or not this action by Zephyr was going to have a good ending; "We need to soften their impact somehow, and quick." she said to Ryou and Myrth trying to hide the fear in her voice while looking around for something that could serve as a cushion of some kind.

[Zephyr]

As soon as Aithe was flush against her body, a thought beemed dominantly in his mind. "Trust me." The sincerness of the voice sounded like friends trying to reasure another. Quickly, Zephyr tisted aAithe's arms, causing her body to turn to the side. Seconds after he did that he scooped his left arm under her legs, while his right arm supported her back, pulling Aithe's body close to his own.

Hold on." The reassuring thought stream dominantly streamed from his mind once again. Quickly the two dragons approached the ground, and Zephyr loosened his legs for the coming impact. "5 feet." A slightly more nervous voice said from the very back of Zephyr's mind as the cold winds rushed over his body.

{{Gmod with permission}}

[Daoine]

Daoine frantically looked for a solution as Zephyr and Aithe neared the platform. How on earth would she be able to find a matras of some kind at this platform in these last few seconds before her two friends would hit the floor. Zephyr was strong but certainly not strong enough to take on the impact for both Aithe and himself.
Oh my Xanth, please help us... she silently pleaded.

[Xanth]

The pair halted midair two inches before they should have hit. A second later, they were set gently on the ground as if an invisible hand had caught them. There was no sign of Xanth or anyone else, but the sudden rush of a breeze was tinted purple.

[Aithe]

Trust me

Aithe nodded, eyes still closed. At this point there wasn't anything else she could do. Her cheeks burned as Zephyr adjusted her properly, but she was too distracted by her fear of death to notice.

The cold night air rushed by them, her hair sent flying upwards. What really was going to take a matter of seconds seemed to roll by in slow minutes...the anticipation of pain dragging out the torture. And then...and then...

It was almost as if she could sense the ground a foot below them. Her lungs felt they could take in no air in that last moment. When out of the blue a rather mystical feeling breeze came between them in the ground and stopped the dragons from becoming omelettes. Without knowing what was happening, Aithe opened her eyes slowly and found to her extreme surprise she was standing on solid ground, unharmed.

Was that...? she whispered, staring at the glowing stars against the dark background. The same breeze blew by again, this time glinting purple briefly before dissappearing. She shivered, clutching each arm with a hand.

Thank you, Xanth

[Daoine]

Daoine had watched in horror as her friends neared the ground. Then suddenly as if time stopped they came to a halt in mid air just before they were about to hit. Daoine rubbed her eyes to check if she was dreaming but when she looked again she saw Aithe and Zephyr standing upright with not a scratch on them.

A soft breeze blew over the platform with a soft purple glinstering. Daoine smiled, it seemed that their Goddess had heard her plea. Thank you Xanth for saving my friends. I owe you ... big time ... she thought to herself.

Then she rushed over towards Aithe and Zephyre "Are you okay?" she asked. She noticed Aithe shivering and pulled a sweater out of the backpack that she had been carrying ever since she set out in Paris. "Here you go, this should help you keep warm." she said to her.

[Zephyr]

Zephyr's feet hit the ground gently and it took a moment before he realised what happened. Quickly he allowed Aithe to get to the ground and stand on her own. "Are you OK?" Zephyr asked Aithe quietly. Zephyr was about to offer Aithe his coat when Daoine came over and offered a sweater.

"All's well that ends well." He thought as he calmly and quietly started to edge himself away from Aithe and Daoine.