Chapter 4: Hanging Around

During ideal circumstances, you can be idle, but it’s only during times of desperation that you find out what you are really made of.

Ryan broke through the trees just in time to see Éclair step off the face of a cliff. It was a straight shot down at least a hundred feet. She screamed in fright and started to fall just as Ryan made a very athletic, and quite heroic, dive toward her. Éclair’s hand was only inches from his.

Time seemed to slow down as Ryan focused on his target and reached out as far as his little arm could stretch. He didn’t have time to think about what position he would take if he caught her, he didn’t have time to wonder if he even had the strength to hold on. His mind just focused on what needed to be done and his body seemed to do the rest, almost on its own accord. By the best of luck, he grabbed hold of her hand just in the nick of time.

            As their fingers interlocked, he had to use his left hand to hold himself in place on his precarious perch on the side of the cliff. Éclair looked down to the hundred-foot drop that had almost become her final destination, and then back to Ryan. Tears of gratitude and fear slid down her cheeks.

Despite the fact that Éclair stood at least a head taller than Ryan, she was very light. More than light, Ryan found that he could easily hold her with one arm. Maybe that legendary Saurian strength had come in at last. With not nearly as much strain as he’d imagined, Ryan slowly began to lift Éclair up toward the ledge.

            Just as things started looking up, they took a turn for the worst. The rock under Ryan suddenly gave way, and Ryan found himself plummeting down the cliff with Éclair. As the forces of gravity turned against him, Ryan realized that there was nothing quite as terrifying as freefalling. Of course, he had heard of thrill seekers who jumped thousands of feet from a transport for fun, but they all always carried jetpacks with them.

            Who would want to do this? There’s nothing fun about it!

As Ryan fell still clutching Éclair with his right hand, his left hand seemed to inherit all the brains in his body as it reached out, grabbing madly for anything in range. With a numb sense of weightlessness, Ryan’s left hand caught some vines that hung down the cliff from the trees above.

I’ll never make fun of lefties again!

Despite his left hand’s success, this time without the leverage of the cliff, Ryan felt the full weight of Éclair’s body and his joints made an audible pop! Whatever just popped, it hurt worse than anything Ryan had felt before. He didn’t think his shoulder was broken, but it was probably out of place. If only he’d paid more attention in anatomy. Despite the pain, they were relatively secure in place. Then he heard a snapping noise. The vine that had saved both him and Éclair was slowly becoming undone.

I’ve got to think of something fast! But what? I may not be the sharpest tool in the shed, but even I can tell that things are bad!

From his awkward position of holding Éclair with one hand and holding the vine with the other, he had neither the strength nor the leverage to pull the both of them up to safety. Besides that, he and Éclair were running out of time as every snap from the vine marked another second to their death.

No! Never give in to defeat! Dad taught you better than that! When life gets rough, you get rougher! If I can just think for a minute, there has gotta be something I can-

“Ryan,” squeaked Éclair, cutting into Ryan’s thoughts. “You should be able to pull yourself up if you let me go. You don’t have to feel guilty … you’ve done everything possi-”

Ryan cut her off. “I will not let you fall! I made you a promise, and I intend to keep it!” Éclair went silent and Ryan gripped her tighter in case she tried to let go.

There has to be something from my past that could help our situation.

Ryan raked his memory for a solution, but he just couldn’t think of one. And then, like lightning, it came to him. Ryan remembered seeing this cliff as a baby as he peeked through the window to look down at the colony as his family came down for a landing. He remembered seeing the spot very near where he and Éclair fell from the land markings. He also remembered seeing a ledge with strange grass just beyond this jagged rock that stuck out. For some reason, he got the distinct impression of bounciness from the grass. Ryan didn’t know how or why he suddenly remembered something from when he was a baby, but that didn’t really matter at this point.

Ryan turned to Éclair, and despite the circumstances, she looked up at him with timid hope. “Listen, I’m going to let you go!”

Hope suddenly faded from Éclair’s face. “What?”

“It’s not what you think,” explained Ryan quickly. “I’m not going to let you fall! There’s a ledge just below you with soft, bouncy grass that will cushion you! I just gotta swing you a little to the left so you don’t miss it.”

Éclair scanned the fall below her. “Ryan, I can’t see anything!”

“It’s there! Trust me!”

“Ryan … are you sure?”

“I said I wouldn’t trick you again, or let you die! I promised on my life. Please believe me.”

Éclair searched Ryan’s features for any trace of doubt. Then slowly, she said, “I do believe you.”

Nodding his encouragement, as well as his gratitude for her faith in him, Ryan made the calculations in his head; that is, if he knew what calculations were. “Alright, I’m gonna swing you on the count of three, and then you let go!”

Éclair nodded as she squeezed his hand even tighter than before. They were both sweating now, and Ryan neared the limits of his endurance. The pain became excruciating, and he was sure that his right arm might fall off at any moment. With the last reserves of his stamina, he began to swing Éclair as they counted together.

First swing. “One!”

Second swing. “Two!”

Third swing. “THREE!!”

Ryan let go of Éclair and she soon vanished behind the cliff face. He silently prayed with all his might to whatever God might listen that she’d be safe. For a brief moment, Ryan thought that he had gotten it wrong, that he had just sent Éclair to her death. That is, until he heard a strange noise that wasn’t a thunk, like a body hitting the ground, but more like a boing, like a bouncy ball, or maybe jello.

When he didn’t hear anything else, panic took over as he cried, “Éclair! Please tell me you’re alright!”

When she didn’t respond immediately, despair sunk its fangs into his heart and Ryan thought about letting go of the vine, but then he heard it. “I’m fine, Ryan! You were right! There’s a ledge here just out of view from that rock that’s sticking out! This grass is weird and bouncy too!”

Ryan couldn’t believe his ears. Bouncy grass on a cliff! He might’ve started laughing if the vine didn’t give out with one last snap! Ryan had only a second to register his situation and kick off from the rock in an attempt to reach the ledge with the soft, bouncy grass. Then he saw her sitting on a ledge that seemed to be the entrance to a cave on the side of the cliff.

Ryan instinctively reached toward Éclair, hoping beyond hope that she’d do the same for him. And fortunately, she did. Éclair caught Ryan in a death grip and yanked him within reach of the ledge. Ryan’s weight nearly pulled Éclair over the side, so just as he caught her, he grabbed hold of the ledge with his other hand. Ryan’s ribcage slammed into the side of the cliff, and Éclair teetered, but she still maintained her hold. Pulling himself up, and breathing more rapidly by the minute, Ryan crawled onto the ledge with Éclair’s help and sat next to her. They just stared at each for a few minutes, panting from both exhaustion and fright from their ordeal. 

Then Éclair did the strangest thing in the world. She hugged him tightly and started sobbing uncontrollably into his shoulder. It felt a little uncomfortable for Ryan, to say the least. The only thing he could think to do was put his arms around her and lightly pat her on the back, as if that would help. After what seemed to be hours of endless tears, Éclair finally came to her senses and broke the contact. It couldn’t have happened at a better time since Ryan was on the verge of turning purple again. Éclair put on a professional visage and addressed Ryan in a business-like manner with her hands folded on her knees. She acted as if the whole crying thing had never happened.

            “Thank you, Ryan Uruks. Your valiant effort of coming to my rescue is most appreciated.”

            Ryan shrugged. “Ahh! It was nothing. Besides, you saved me too, so I guess that makes us even.”

            Éclair’s face suddenly dropped slightly in guilt. “If I had only listened to you in the first place, none of this would have happened. It’s all my fault. I’m so sorry.”

            Ryan sighed and said, “No, if I hadn’t tricked you like that, you wouldn’t have run off mad. I’m sorry … it was all my fault. I guess I really am a baboon.” 

Despite everything, Éclair couldn’t help but giggle. “It’s ‘buffoon’, silly.”

This time, there was no stopping it. Ryan’s face started turning purple in a very non-human fashion. 

Éclair’s mouth dropped in surprise. “Are you turning purple?”

Blast! All my efforts to hide it dashed in a single stroke of embarrassment!

“Ah! G-girls are weird,” stuttered Ryan bashfully. 

Éclair then did another strange thing. She started laughing uncontrollably; hysterically even. And for reasons beyond his comprehension, Ryan joined in. Together, the two of them had a good old time, laughing while sitting on a bed of bouncy grass on the edge of a cliff.

Éclair explained that the strange bouncy grass that they had fallen in was actually called Limferes, an exceedingly rare plant according to her. Ryan then remembered his father saying a word like that as he talked about a cliff he almost fell off while hiking in the woods. That must’ve been the reason Ryan had remembered the secret ledge from his childhood. If the grass hadn’t been there, Éclair might’ve hurt herself on the hard rock. Instead, she just kind of bounced lightly in place.

The children followed the cave with bouncy grass to its end, and miraculously it led to a small opening that brought them right back to the top of the cliff. It made them so happy that they started bouncing up and down on the bouncy grass yet again. Though careful not to hop off the cliff, the bouncy grass served as a trampoline as the children gave in to the need for fun.

Night had descended when they finally made it back to the colony. They didn’t say much. The day’s events were just too draining. As they finally caught sight of the colony, a lump formed in Ryan’s throat. Éclair would have to go back to her ship and leave for who knew where. He might never see her again.

Despite the short time they had spent together, Ryan felt connected to Éclair more than any other person he knew. Just the thought of her leaving made him want to cry. What hurt even worse was that she probably didn’t want anything to do with him after what happened. The whole thing was his fault after all. He had almost gotten both of them killed. He wouldn’t have blamed her if she slapped him in the face before she went home. The moon gave a little light that seemed to reflect in her gorgeous silver hair. Despite everything that he’d put her through, he hoped that she’d still think of him as a friend. 

            Éclair turned toward him, but he couldn’t face her. “Well, I guess this is goodbye.”

            Ryan wanted to break down and cry right then, but not wanting to embarrass himself, he simply said, “I guess so.”

            Éclair turned to leave, but then she suddenly stopped and spun around intensely. “You know, I’m probably going to be in more trouble than I’ve ever been in my life.”

Ryan lost all hope of them being friends as he hung his head in utter despair.

“But I think it was worth it,” Éclair said sincerely.

Ryan slowly raised his head. “Really?”

Éclair beamed at him, “Of course! It was my first real adventure. The first of many to come, I hope. Spending time with you has taught me something of myself. You’ve taught me to be more confident and bolder with my dreams. Thanks to you, I’m going to tell my mother something she doesn’t want to hear. I’m going to pursue my dreams as an Elemental. Even if I don’t awaken my powers, I still won’t give up. I won’t stop fighting until there is not a breath left in me. You taught me that, Ryan Uruks, so thank you from the bottom of my heart.”

Ryan grinned sheepishly and said, “It was nothing.”

Éclair surprised Ryan as she took a step closer until they were almost nose to nose. She spoke in a soft voice that was barely above a whisper, “Before I go, there’s something I want to give you as a token for rescuing me.”

“What is it?” asked Ryan excitedly, always eager for presents.

Éclair put her hands behind her back nervously as she leaned even closer and whispered, “It’s something very special, and it must be kept secret. It’s so secret that you have to close your eyes. Quickly now!” 

Ryan obediently closed his eyes and held out his hand. But Éclair didn’t put anything in his hand. Instead, she gently held his hand in her own. And then he felt something soft and wet touch his cheek. It took him a few seconds to realize that she had just kissed him. He opened his eyes in astonishment and started turning the deepest shade of purple of his life.

Éclair beamed proudly at him before saying, “It would be better if you didn’t come with me to see my godfather. He’ll be furious enough as it is, and it would only make things worse if I come back with a boy. He might get the wrong idea if you know what I mean?” 

Ryan shook his head in confusion. “No, I don’t.”

Éclair cocked her head in thought for a moment or two. “Actually, neither do I. None of the grownups will tell me when I ask what they mean when they say things like that, so it must be pretty bad.” They both nodded contemplatively as this deep, philosophical matter was settled, for now.

            And so, Éclair Hamashe gave a graceful curtsy and said, “Fare thee well, noble Ryan Uruks; brave warrior and future Elemental."

Ryan bowed in a mock show of propriety that made Éclair giggle. And then he said in the silliest accent he could manage, “And to you, fair maiden, safe journeys.” Then Ryan’s voice became solemn as he raised his head and said, “May we meet again when we have both achieved our dreams.”

Éclair nodded her agreement and turned to leave once again, but she couldn’t help but get in one last word. “My godfather will be delighted when he hears that I’ve already met the man I’m going to marry when I grow up.”

Ryan quickly turned his head to hide his embarrassment as he waved a dismissive hand. “Ahh! Girls are weird!”