distressedude | 016 ~ [Action]

[After being flung into countless numbers of trees from the third party's traps during the last draft, Ion swore to himself he'd never climb another tree for as long as he lived. Obviously, he didn't count on finding a baby bird having fallen out of its nest when he made that declaration. And with the mother bird calling for her child overhead, Ion couldn't just leave the poor thing there to die.]

[Thankfully, getting to the top of the tree where the nest was had been surprisingly easy! Getting down... not so much. He didn't notice the lower branch breaking until after he stepped off of it, and now that he was on his way down, he found himself stuck. He wasn't too high up, but this particular tree had quite a few thorn bushes around it. He'd been able to avoid them going up for the most part, but if he were to try jumping, the chance of him falling into one of these bushes was rather high. He wasn't too far off the path, just a ways north of the village, so hopefully someone will spot him.]

[Though, in restrospect, today was probably a bad day to wear green.]

~

[Assuming the princess is eventually rescued, Ion will be spending the remainder of the day at the library in search of a few new books to read before eventually returning home, his clothes still looking a bit worse for wear.]

[[ooc: Feel free to break time and space for the first part, or run into him walking towards the library looking... well, like he fell out of a tree.]]

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

[Luke hadn't been in the village very much thanks to spending nearly all of his time with Xion in the clinic. He's here now, though, though not for long. He was planning on going back to the apartment and visit with Asch, just to talk...

And that's when he spots the slightly different shade of green from a tree. Curious, Luke looks up - ]

... Ion?

Luke! [He brightens up a bit.] Thank goodness you saw me. I was afraid you were going to just walk by...

What're you doing up there? [He moves a little closer, though he keeps his distance from the thorn bushes.]

A baby bird fell out of its nest. I heard the mother calling for help, and I couldn't just leave the poor thing to fend for itself. I climbed up here to bring it back, but the lower branches snapped while I was climbing. I don't know how else to get down now...

Oh...

[Well, Luke can relate to that. He'd probably do the same thing, though by now he would've jumped out of the tree, even with the thorns. He is just that manly.

However, something else comes to mind first.]

Is the baby bird okay?

[A nod and a smile.] Yes. The nest extended outward on one of the further branches, so it must have missed all of the thorn bushes when it fell. I couldn't find any injuries, so the bush it landed in must have been rather soft.

[A light laugh.] It took awhile for me to find a way to carry it up here. I had to let it ride in my hair.

[Luke lets out a soft sigh, and he hides a faint smile.] Good...

[Now that that's confirmed, he edges towards the bushes and looks up at Ion.] So why can't you get down? Can't you just jump?

I'm not sure if I can do so without landing in those thorn bushes. I had to walk through them to climb up the tree, and even that was a bit painful...

[And there was another reason, which Luke may very well be able to guess. Ion can smile when he's looking at Luke, but when his eyes look to the ground directly below him, he grips the branches of the trees just a bit tighter. Luke should know what happened last time Ion fell out of a tree... the situation may be different, but that doesn't stop him from feeling a little uneasy.]

[... Yeah, Luke can see the hesitation - the fear in Ion's eyes. It's kind of sad, how climbing trees might be something Ion might not be able to do without fear anymore... Luke loves climbing them and just hanging out in the branches.

He won't bring it up, though the solemn, even somewhat suspicious look in his eyes suggests that he knows the other reason. Instead, he looks down at the thorn bushes.]

I guess they would cause a problem, huh?

[Then let's get rid of it! Luke lifts his leg high and brings it down on the bushes, pushing them down and letting the thorns press into his pants. It's a little painful, but it's better than Ion landing on them, and it's not like he hasn't had much worse. With another couple of steps, Luke's right below the spot where Ion is, and he holds out his arms.]

Do you think you could jump now? I'll catch you, I promise.

[Ion winces sympathetically when Luke starts trampling down the thorn bushes, knowing well how much they hurt to touch. Luke was wearing pants, so he was better off than Ion had been... but still.]

Are you sure, Luke? I should be able to jump down on my own now... [He's not afraid Luke won't be able to catch him. He just doesn't want to trouble him more than he already has... even if it meant doing something that scared him.]