In the end her safety was her responsibility. Not her parents, not her siblings, not Kismet's. Hers. Sooner or later Kismet was going to have to come to terms with that. She was, perhaps, a bit small and impulsive, but to call her reckless would be a grossly inaccurate statement. His desire to keep her safe was a noble one, but to say the responsibility was solely his would be a lie. Should they be threatened, Warja would play as much a part of their defense as Kismet. She didn't need protecting, she needed a partner. If he was unwilling to see her as an equal in this regard then their relationship would need to be reevaluated because she wouldn't allow their friendship to fall into the piteous roles of damsel in distress/knight in shining armor.
"You could have warned me." he admonished. Warja chuckled, the sound echoing off the rocks around her. "It was needed; added to the drama." Much to her surprise, Kismet jumped down without much further ado. With as cautious he had been acting Warja had been gearing up for a fight to get him to follow her. His willingness was a pleasant surprise. She couldn't yet tell if he was excited or freaked out, but how quickly he'd jumped after her spoke volumes. She would take it without question.
Staring into the black, Warja began to weave through the rocky maze in her mind. This part was easy; she had it memorized from all the trips prior to this one. It got a bit tricky later on because she hadn't explored the lower levels as thoroughly, but she was confident in her ability to guide them through safely.
Once she had a firm grasp on where they were going, Warja turned to Kismet with a small smile on her lips. "In the beginning its going to be a lot of climbing, but once we get to the bottom it opens up into a cavern."
The ledge they stood on offered two paths to chose from. Warja chose the left; the way she was most familiar with. The other, while leading to the same place, is far more difficult to travel. The youngling walked slowly, each step tentative and careful. The path was solid, but with every step into the abyss the light above grew dimmer. The climb down was one of the more dangerous parts of the trip. The darkness plays tricks on the eyes and creates steps were there are none. It would be easy to slip over the edge and the bottom appeared unforgiving.
Upon reaching the end of their ledge, Warja jumped with practiced ease to the next ledge that hangs several feet away with a solid five foot drop in between. If Kismet thought they were going to leave the way they'd come this jump should make it obvious that doing so is nearly impossible.
"Speech"
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