Three days had passed since Anima and his family left Garaat. Soon after the sun began to peek over the horizon, the group set out from their camp at the foot of the mountain. Marie had wanted to sleep for a bit longer, but Anima had told her that it would be more fun if they started climbing early in the morning, so they had set off for a small settlement on the other side of the mountain that Shaer had told them about.
According to her, the place wasn’t anything grand, but they could restock their supplies there. Given that they had already eaten half the food they’d brought with them, it was the perfect stopping point for the night.
“Is everyone doing okay?” Anima asked his family. “Just say the word and I’ll give you a piggyback ride or carry you in my arms all the way to the top of the mountain.”
“I keep cimb!”
Despite having acted like a little sleepyhead when she’d woken up, the excitement of her first climb filled Marie with energy.
“Good girl! You’re doing a very good job! How about you, Myuke?”
“All good! I’ve climbed some hellish mountains for work, so this puny hill is nothing to me!”
“Such a strong girl,” Anima said while gently petting her head. “And you, Luina?”
“I’m fine. My legwork is one of my strongest points,” she chuckled, continuing to climb the mountain with ease.
Things wouldn’t have been going so smoothly if they had been on a steep animal trail, but the beaten mountain path they walked had a gentle, comfortable slope. Even with the occasional patch of weeds and sudden dip or rise in the road, it was a pretty safe climb overall.
No matter how safe it was, however, it was still a climb. The girls’ stamina drained much faster than it had when they’d been walking the flat plains on the first day, and before long, wiping the sweat off their foreheads became a common occurrence. The trees blocked some of the relentless sunlight, but they didn’t provide a perfect cover. The patches of sunlight shining through rapidly raised their body temperature.
“I’ve found a perfect little spot for a break!” Just after the sun had reached its apex and continued to move west, Shaer landed near the group and informed them of her findings. “Let’s have lunch there.”
“Good idea. We’ll have lunch soon, girls. Just a little longer.”
The girls nodded excitedly to Luina and continued their brisk climb until something came into view.
“Wooow!” Marie exclaimed.
Before them was a rope bridge around a hundred feet long, suspended over a rocky, sparkling-clean mountain stream. Falling from that bridge would spell certain death for anyone except Anima. Being faced with the first challenge since their departure, Anima tensed up. He needed to escort his family to the opposite side safely.
“Marie, hold my hand and don’t let go while we’re on the bridge.”
“’Kaaay!”
Anima took Marie’s hand, and faced the dangerous crossing. They carefully set foot on the bridge, which immediately started swaying.
“Wooow! It’s goin’ shaky shaky!” Finding it amusing, Marie started shaking the rope. The more the bridge swayed and creaked, the more excited she got. “Aaand done!”
Marie was ecstatic when they safely arrived at the other side. Anima had initially been hell-bent on protecting her at all costs, but as they had neared the end of the bridge, he had realized that it was pretty well built and that he had nothing to worry about.
“Did you have fun?” he asked once they’d made it across.
“Uh-huh! It goed shaky shaky! I wanna go ’gain!”
“Then do you want to go back to the others with me?”
“Yes peeease!”
They once again held hands and crossed the swaying bridge, only to be greeted by a deathly pale Myuke. Anima had a hunch as to the reason for her lack of color.
“Are you afraid?”
“N-Not at all...” she said, visibly shaking. She couldn’t admit to being scared in front of Marie, and Anima completely understood that. He flashed a warm smile before opening his mouth.
“You know, I’m afraid too,” he told her.
“Huh?” she replied, dumbfounded. “Afraid? You?”
“Yes. I was scared stiff when I crossed the bridge with Marie. My heart wouldn’t stop racing.”
“R-Really? W-Well, to be honest, I’m also a little, super tiny bit scared...”
“I see. Then could you hold my hand? I feel like I can conquer my fear if you’re there with me.”
“Okay! I’ll keep you safe!” Myuke exclaimed proudly with an enthusiastic nod, then squeezed Anima’s hand. Her palms were sweaty from the stress.
“Luina, you should hold Marie’s hand.”
“Of course. The bridge would sway too much if we all crossed at once, so we’ll go first, okay?”
Once Luina and Marie had crossed the bridge and waved back at them, Myuke whispered “I can do this” and took a step forward. With a painful creak, the bridge started swaying. Her shaking legs carried her one step after another until she and Anima safely reached the other side.
“That was pretty fun!” Myuke said with a big smile.
Overcoming such an obstacle seemed to have really helped her grow; the look in her eyes was much more mature than it had been before. Realizing—and being astonished at—how quickly children grow up, Anima petted her head.
“I only managed to cross that bridge because you were there for me. Thank you, Myuke.”
“You’re welcome! I’ll help you cross again whenever you want. Just say the word!”
“I can always count on you.” Anima smiled.
“Ah, look, there! What’s that?!”
The area Marie was excitedly pointing toward had been completely hidden by trees from the other side of the bridge, but now, the family had a clear view of a beautiful waterfall. It wasn’t too elevated, so the feeling of grandeur was mostly absent, but its breadth was quite impressive. The curtain of water streamed down without pause, its coldness reaching all the way to the group to banish the beads of sweat from their foreheads.