BXBX NOVEL Chapter 653 - 653 Cross With Kress
Kat was considering what she was going to do with the boys, but 'Ted' took matters into 'his' own hands by shrinking down and jumping up on her shoulders. Kat just shrugged and accepted it as 'Ted's' chosen method of transport. It wasn't uncomfortable and it worked so she flew 'him' across with no troubles as well. Kat assumed there would be an issue with Gareth but he just sighed and said, "Same way as Green I suppose,"
Now it was a bit more difficult than carrying Green. Gareth was a fair bit taller than Green and had much broader shoulders. Still, this wasn't an insurmountable obstacle. No it was the full set of plate mail armour he was wearing. Kat it was awkward to pick Gareth up with all of his armour but Kat managed it with a little finagling. The problem was she could already tell before taking off that it was a bit too much to fly with Gareth AND his armour. "Ok… I can only really glide with you because of how much your amour ways. I'm going to need a run up. Just, hold on tightly."
Gareth grit his teeth and nodded, shifting slightly to try and make himself easier for Kat to hold as best he could. It was… mostly ineffective. Kat sped up to a light jog as she moved back down the tunnel to get a proper run up. She didn't want to increase her speed too quickly while holding someone without regeneration like her. After about a minute of jogging, and a few more turns than Kat was entirely happy with she turned in place and set off. She quickly built speed while making sure not to take any of the turns too sharply. As the gorge came back into view she rapidly increased her speed for the remainder of the runway before kicking off with all her strength right at the edge. The rock under her feet shattered, but it was enough. Kat launched herself over the ravine, flaring her wings when she reached the top of her jump to keep a steady glide all the way over to the other side…
Of course, she was a little too good and was currently on track to slam into part of the rock wall on the other side. The jump was easier than she'd expected with the large runup including. Still, it was no major issue, she folded her wings and braced her legs. As she reached the edge, Kat took the weight of herself, Gareth and another 100kg of armour, much more than what you'd find on an Earth knight. The impact cracked the rock underneath her feet, as Kat deftly danced between what barely stable footing she could find as she slowed them both down, managing to stop just before they both hit the wall.
Kat, and everyone else really, let out a long breath they hadn't realised they were holding. Well, except for Lily who kept her slow steady breathing, not a care in the world. Even 'Ted' looked shocked, but how much of that was an act was unclear. Especially because as a dryad they didn't really use lungs to breathe the same way most other humanoids do. Gareth awkwardly exited Kat's grasp. She'd loosened her hands, but made no move to really let him down, so he stumbled out of her grip and pulled himself up. "That… that wasn't ideal…" said Gareth.
Green shrugged and pointed off to the side where a small hole could be seen if you looked. It looked just barely large enough for someone of Gareth's size… and that was without the armour. "Perhaps not but I think the intended path would have been much worse for you," said Green. She hopped over to Gareth and gave him a quick kiss before patting his shoulders. Kat took this as her cue to head back over to grab Kress.
When she got there he raised an eyebrow and said, "You need to make a crazy jump with me?"
Kat shook her head, "No that was almost entirely because of Gareth's armour. I can't fly with that much weight so it had to be done. How do you want to be carried though?"
Kress' face scrunched up like he'd bitten into a lemon and his eyes held a flash of anger but it was pushed down quickly. Kress study Kat closely, focusing mostly on her shoulder as he debated internally if he could get away with using 'Ted's' method before deciding it wouldn't be the best idea. He didn't want to ride on Kat's shoulders like a little kid… though being carried like a girl wasn't ideal either… but it was the best option he could think of. "Same as Gareth," said Kress through his teeth.
Kat just nodded and picked Kress up. Unlike the others she moved slowly so that it was clear to Kress exactly what she was doing. He didn't look happy about it but he put up no fight as he lay in Kat's arms. Kat, for her part, bit back a number of jabs she could make at the situation. *So many jokes. Like 'I'm really carrying this team' or 'seems you're a bit of a princess' or even 'trusting your life to me? Am I supposed to be flattered?' but… if he's going to act like an angry child I'll treat him like one. Positive reinforcement is a good tool and he's swallowing his pride for this. Then again… I wonder what he'll think if he spots the same hole Green did.*?
Kat would never know because as soon as she landed on the other side Kress flopped out of her hands as fast as he could, no matter how ungraceful it was. Once he was on the ground, 'Ted' popped back to 'his' old height and said, "Good job mates. I thought we were going to have to really work to get around that obstacle. Nice to see you thinking outside the box. Still, we can't rest just yet we aren't at camp. ONWARDS!"
'Ted' took off at what looked like a lot jog down the open cave mouth expecting the rest of the group to follow… which they did. Knowing that 'Ted' needed to be protected they didn't really have much choice. Kress was actually fighting the urge to catch up to 'Ted' and force him to take a break, or give proper directions or something other than just running mindlessly ahead… but he wasn't sure if that would get them penalized and nobody else was making a move, not even Green who certainly had the speed to pass 'Ted' easily… or Kat.
Kat wasn't really paying attention to that at all. She was considering what 'Ted' had said. *Hmm… is flying across the gap really 'thinking outside the box'? I feel like if you can fly, flying across an obstacle is the first place your mind should go. It makes me wonder if he only answered that way because it's always the response for getting across the ravine? Like… is this Thyme actually smart enough for things like that? Or is it just programmed… I bet Thyme could do both and I don't know which is more likely.*?
She didn't voice these thoughts though, she just caught up to Green and had Lily returned to her before sliding to the back of the group again. Everyone was able to keep pace with 'Ted' with no issues at all. It was just a light jog, and the only person with any sort of burden was Gareth and his armour, something the man in question was well used to carrying. Green walked at the front of the formation, just a step behind 'Ted' making sure to watch the surroundings closely, searching for any traps.
Something that Kat hadn't noticed because of her night vision, and the others hadn't yet questioned though… was that the whole cave system was lit up. Nobody was carrying torches, Nixilei wasn't using a spell to help them along. There were no special artifacts.. There was simply light for everyone to see by.