Fic: The Summer Intern (cont.)

[jeriendhal]

Nan followed the First One back around to his treehouse, Freya behind them. With a nimble leap that belied his great age, the First One hopped up to the porch, his tail giving the white haired (formerly green haired -ed) doe a casual swat on the bum with his tail.

"Get lost, I've got to show Miss College Vix around my place," he told her. The doe took no offense at this it seemed, for she just gave him a brief bow and hopped away, disappearing into the trees.

"How am I supposed to get up there?" Nan demanded.

"Yer supposed to be smart. Figure it out," he said, and disappeared inside the treehouse.

Nan turned to Freya, who was trying without much success to hide a smile behind her paw. "Is he always like this?" she demanded.

The ranger just shrugged. "Hey, this is a good day for him. He hasn't even growled at you yet."

"So how am I supposed to get up there anyway?"

"Ah, I can't give you any hints," she said, waving her paws. "Just try not to lose you temper with him, okay? He is in charge of this whole place, technically. And anyway, I've got to get back to my duties.” And with that Freya took her leave, leaving Nan alone with her problem.

"Thanks," Nan said glumly. She took a slow turn around the trunk of the tree. No handy lifts revealed themselves, nor tractor beams. There wasn't even a rope ladder. After another turn she finally got the bright idea to look directly underneath the porch, and spotted the trapdoor hidden in the shadows near the front of the treehouse. There wasn't any obvious way to open it however.

"Can you open the trapdoor for me, please!" she called up.

The First One's head peered out from the edge of the porch. "Sure," he said. The trapdoor flopped open, leaving an open square above her head.

Nan sighed. "Is there a ladder to go with it?" she asked, trying not to sound desperate.

"You figure it out, College Vix." he replied, and disappeared back into his house.

I've got an undergraduate degree for the Goddess' sake, she thought to herself. It can't be that hard. She took a look at the trunk of the tree. The bark was scarred with many claw marks, none fresh, leading up the side to the trapdoor. Of course it would be, if the First One and other ferin frequently use it. No wait, that didn't make any sense. Only the littlest joey would use their claws to climb up the tree, when they could just make the leap in one jump.

Oh he can't be serious. I'll break my neck! Tentatively she pressed her paw against the bark, spreading her fingers against the claw pattern at the bottom. As she feared, it matched her five fingered grip, not the four fingered, three toed ferin pattern that she was praying for.

“I'm not a good climber!” she called up. “I had to take the rope climbing test when I did my Service tour twice over!”

“Then come back tomorrow with a ladder,” he called back without sympathy.

It was a test, obviously. Of which, my determination or my sanity? The temptation to run back to the lodge, grab her backpack and catch the next tour bus back to the spaceport tugged at her briefly. She put it aside. Cold and Dark, she hadn't sat through two years of Professor Curlear's stupefyingly dull lectures to fail just as she was starting this.

“Dear Madam and Mister Clawstroke, your daughter died because she was too cheap to buy a stepladder,” she muttered, double-checking her fanny pack to make sure it was zipped tight. Then she dug her finger and toe claws into the bark of the village tree and pulled herself upward.

The first five meters weren't all that bad. The bark of the tree was soft and her blunt claws found purchase easily in the deep cracks of the trunk. Then she paused to flex out of the fingers of her right paw and made the mistake looking down, realizing that she was hanging in space over three times her own height off the ground. Nan yipped softly in dismay and closed her eyes. No, that made things worse. She opened them again and stared at the dark brown surface of the tree, trying to ignore the growing strain in her muscles as she hung frozen in place.

Nan forced herself to look upward. Less than ten meters away, only two thirds of the distance she'd already climbed, was the trap door. She could make it easily. She'd climbed higher than this during cliff climbing training in the Service. Yes, with a proper climbing harness, not to mention pitons and safety ropes.

She decided to take it one meter at a time. Testing each foot and handhold carefully, determined not to look down again, she continued her climb. One up. Two up. Three up. She kept the pattern up, trying not to think about how far she was from her goal, or what would happen to her lost her grip

Nan was just two meters from the trapdoor when she felt a cramp wrench the muscles of her left thigh into a tight knot. She bit down hard on her lower lip, trying not to cry out. She tried to pull upward, but her left foot claws were dug tight into the bark and she couldn't move, certainly couldn't pull herself up on just two hands and one good foot.

“Sir!” she called up to the trapdoor. “First One, I can't climb any higher!”

“So climb back down,” came the answer.

“I can't, I'm stuck! My leg is cramping!” She gritted her teeth as her thigh muscles spasmed in pain.

The First One didn't answer her, but a moment later his tail dropped done through the trapdoor. “Grab hold,” he said. She wrapped her arms around it in a death grip as he yanked up and through the space in the porch, dropping her onto the age stained wooden board.

She flopped down onto her belly, panting for breath, feeling her heart race. “Th-thank you,” she gasped.

The First One squatted down in front her briefly, tugging his tail out from her arms where she still clutched it. “Most of the time you guys just get a ladder,” he noted dryly, then stood up and went back inside.

TBC

Comments

[drakemagi.livejournal.com]

*cackles*

I Love! his last comment!

[mjkj.livejournal.com]

Yeah, they must have hidden it somewhere near there :)

[chaypeta.livejournal.com]

*snort* I love it!!!!

Freya's attitude...'I sympathise but you're on your on kid.' Speaks volumes.

Absolutely love the way you've portrayed Teri here, exactly how I imagine him, not nasty, he's matured beyond that, but amusing himself at his new intern's expense regardless. That last line is a kicker.