Ribbontail: Enter Emalia
Chapter 24: The Bridge


Author's Note: Please read my artist's comments before continuing. :3
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The week following Kerberos’ death was a long and tremendously uneventful one. Being so enormous and desolate, the Sandstone desert offered little in the way of happenings. This was a good thing, considering that it took a few nights before Ribbontail’s body began to feel comfortable again.

The three friends traveled long and hard for a total of five days, stopping only during the night to rest. As was to be expected, Ribbontail was sore through the first few nights. But as they pressed on, her pains subsided and the lack of activity became a very welcome relief.

With no encounters from strangers and differing environments, the trio found various ways to ward off boredom. Much of their time was spent sharing stories about their lives prior to this quest. O’liday told Ribbontail of his past, and they exchanged much different experiences with regards to their schooling. The feliulf had never been taught at a public school like Ribbontail, apparently, and found it amusing how she learned alongside hundreds of other kids. “How did one person teach that many kids?” he had asked sometime during that conversation. And considering that he grew up happy and peaceful with his parents and older brother, he obviously grew up quite differently than Ribbontail.

They shared many stories throughout those few days. Ribbontail enjoyed them very much.

And even more oddly enough, O’liday had regained his jovial spirit. Despite his constant moans of hunger (he was happy to eat insects, declaring that Kerberos taught him how), he seemed very content with his godly friend. Not long into their travel he found himself a shriveled piece of small driftwood, and at the end of every day he would scratch a mark into it.

It was a monotonous way to start the day, but it gave the three some means of keeping track of time. And considering the size of the desert, it would provide a calendar of sorts... it would be very easy to lose track of the days.
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“...and that’s why they call it the Neptune Cocktail,” meowed O’liday, after running off a list of surf lingo to Ribbontail.

O’liday lifted his small stick of wood and admired the five cuts in it. After not saying anything for the longest while, Ribbontail turned her head and peeked back to see him staring at the block of wood. From the look on his face, she could almost imagine him carving a mini surfboard out of it.

“Next time we see the ocean we should stop and enjoy it,” she promised, though she knew that her guiding star may never near the sea. “I like the ocean myself. I’ve only been there once or twice on Earth..”

A little “Sweet” came from O’liday and he purred aloud, rolling over in his seat. When at last he said no more, Ribbontail chuckled softly to herself.

After her friend had for once contented himself with a silent dozing, the young wolf glanced up at the afternoon sun and sighed to herself. She took this rare chance to breathe deeply, taking in the beauty of the desert and the peacefulness of being left alone.

“It would be nice if something interesting happened for once...” Ribbontail thought, mulling over the thought of boredom in her head. Boredom. For once in this world she felt it, despite her peacefulness, and all she wanted was for something remotely active to happen.

Ribbontail’s heart sank, as after a few minutes it seemed as though her wish came true. It was then that O’liday finally spoke up, leaning over Ribbontail’s head and thrusting a finger out onto the horizon. “What’s that, dude?” he rebuked suddenly.

Blinking, Ribbontail snapped back to attention and squinted off into the distance. Along length the warping desert horizon she could make out the dark shape of something, like a recess in the earth. It stretched from right to left as far as the eyes could see. Ribbontail’s ears flicked and her mind settled on the word ‘canyon’.

“A canyon?” she breathed, picking up her pace. The three of them raced ahead, not stopping until they’d reached the object ahead of them. Indeed it was a canyon. The trio halted before its cavernous expanse, amazed, as their confidence plummeted.

Before them yawned a canyon like none they had ever seen before. The sight of a canyon  was one Ribbontail remembered clearly; just two weeks ago they had come across a ravine much like this. But the previous canyon- the one once inhabited by the Eclipsian Screech- paled in comparison to the gap that stretched before them. This canyon was easily three times as wide, and even deeper.

It stretched as far as their eyes could see.

The three stood silent and still, with the soft howling of the winds at their back. After a few astonished breaths Ribbontail craned her head and she peered down the canyon. Unlike Screech’s domain, she could not see the ground below. The ground at the bottom was pitch black- not a thing could be seen.

Ribbontail gulped. “Wow...” she began, “that’s quite a lot deeper than the other canyon.”

“That’s the understatement of the century,” O’liday agreed as he dismounted the goddess, “Just look at the size of this thing.” The feliulf stood at the face of the canyon and stared from right to left, before he sighed and flicked a pebble over the edge. When after a minute no sound was heard, O’liday sighed.

“Almost like there’s no bottom at all...” Ribbontail ascertained. She looked to her spirit guardian and waited for that agreeing nod, then she turned and folded her ears back. “How in the world are we going to get across?”

For a second O’liday propped himself up on his hind paws, sitting back as he placed a contemplative paw on his chin. He then paused and sighed. “Dunno, dude. That’s one helluva canyon. It’s too deep to just jump across, and going down it is totally out of the question. And who knows just how long this canyon is? It could take, like, days to go around it.”

Ribbontail swished her tails for a moment, staring out across the black void as she pondered the situation. He was in fact right. To their left and right the canyon stretched into the distance. The canyons of Earth could stretch hundreds and hundreds of miles in length; who knew just how large a Kuutamian canyon could get!

“Like...maybe we could take our chances with a bridge,” O’liday finally concluded after pacing the edge for some time. “People here in the desert normally place bridges all over the place, to make travel easier. Dig?”

With an unsure feeling in her gut, Ribbontail began to follow her friend O’liday as he slowly prowled back and forth. She looked down at him with her golden eyes and blinked. “It’s better than nothing. I don’t really think there’s any other way across... besides going all the way around it. What do you think, Puppet?”

PuppetRibbontail halted alongside her master and nodded silently.

“Then it’s settled...” Ribbontail declared, pondering just how long it could take before they found a bridge- if at all there was one nearby. “And if we don’t find one then we’ll just have to improvise.”

Grunting in compliance, O’liday hurried over and remounted Ribbontail, settling himself down between her shoulders. “Sure wish Kerberos was here, dude, I’m sure that he’d know any nearby bridges.”

“He would make it a lot easier, definitely,” Ribbontail replied stoically. She still felt the little pangs of hurt deep within her chest. The wizened Kerberos seemed to have known very much about the desert and its features; if he were here with them now he’d surely know what to do. “Sometimes I wished he was still here with us.”

At that, Ribbontail’s fur prickled and her ears shot up. A sudden strange sensation ran down her spine as she panned her head to the left and right; it was a feeling in her gut that drove her energy to the left horizon. Off in the distance there was nothing but canyon and desert, yet something inside her said that there was more than it seemed.

Ribbontail flicked her ears curiously, cocking her head to the side as she analyzed this feeling. Vague yet familiar, it dwelled in her mind like a feeling of great relief. It was the same emotion one felt when given help from a stranger- in this case, such a feeling could be given directions from a spirit. Ribbontail smiled. “It has to be Kerberos,” she thought.

“I think we should go this way,” the goddess said, finally broken from her reverie.

Perched now between his friend’s ears, O’liday straightened and raised a paw over his face, staring ahead. “I see nothing over there dude, but whatever you think is right is fine by me.”

O’liday was entirely correct when it came to this matter: the three traveled on for a little under an hour, and in this time they came across not a single break in the canyon. They wound their way alongside the great abyss for the longest while, not saying anything but muttering curses as Ribbontail began to grow bored with the routine.

It was when the sun began to dip below the dancing sunset that finally one of them gained the nerve to intercede. Evening shades flickered down upon the desert as O’liday lifted a paw and scratched the back of his head. “Ribbontail, just what makes you think this is the right way?” he asked, none too politely.

Courteously, Ribbontail ignored his sarcastic tone and answered his question by shrugging her shoulders. “Just a little something in my mind told me-” , the wolf’s answer was cut short as suddenly she halted, her eyes fixed in the distance. “Look! There!” she burst.

A gasp of relief escaped O’liday as he saw just what Ribbontail was talking about. Then with a single digit he pointed out into the distant canyon line. “Wait, I see it now,” he affirmed, “a bridge. Wow, you were right, dude!”

O’liday slid off of Ribbontail and hurried ahead, racing along the edge of the gorge with a hop-skip pace.

Naturally Ribbontail and PuppetRibbontail took off after the feliulf, tagging along as they made their way along the abyss. Ribbontail and her companions stopped, finally, when they reached just what it was they had sighted.

It was a simple wooden bridge suspended by posts set in the hard ground. Stretching out into the distance, the bridge spanned the entire canyon from one side to the next. Ribbontail gulped. Though clearly the bridge was at one point sturdy to cross, it had gone through considerable abuse. Many of the ropes that once held the conduit steady had unraveled themselves, and it was clear to see that the wooden flooring had aged beyond the point of safety.

“I...don’t think that’s safe,” Ribbontail stated, taking two cautious steps back from the bridge, “it doesn’t look safe one bit. Look at the ropes- they look like they could snap any minute.”

O’liday, raising himself onto his hind paws and leaning against one of the nearer poles, shot a carefree smile at his friend. “No worries, kid, I’m totally sure it’s safe. Didn’t your godly intuition lead us this way?”

Gulping down a knot in her throat, Ribbontail hesitated. “Well I...I guess... but now I don’t think this is such a good idea.”

The late afternoon sun glinted off Ribbontail’s eyes as she watched her friend strut to the edge of the mouth of the bridge. In a willful manner he waved a paw across the rickety passageway’s length. “Looks safe to me. Here look, it’s fine.”

Dropping onto all four paws and lifting his tail proudly, O’liday snorted. Then with proud, high steps he swirled about and started across the bridge. Ribbontail stood in amazement as the feline padded across the planks. There was not a single snap, creak, crunch, or quiver that signified the bridge’s danger.

“See?” O’liday called back as he halted halfway across the bridge. “Totally fine. You’ve got to quit being so scared, dude, come on!”

Ribbontail’s ears folded back. An inner voice in her head told her to stay off the bridge. “O’liday, please. I really think we should go find another bridge.”

“There may not be another one. Come on over. It feels totally sturdy!”

To prove his supposed point, O’liday rose back onto his hind legs and hopped up and down. He jumped and stomped and even performed a silly little dance, reveling in himself as he saw Ribbontail’s shocked expression. The bridge, much to Ribbontail’s surprise, held up perfectly against this acrobatic demonstration.

The feliulf chuckled, after calming down, and gestured for his two friends to follow. Ribbontail hesitated still. Maybe she specifically was too heavy for the bridge- or maybe the construction was on the brink of unraveling.

Ribbontail took a deep breath, swallowed her fear, and stepped onto the rackety bridge. Instantly the wood at her paws teetered.  Yet the goading smile on O’liday gave her a bit of assurance to go on. The wolf took a full step onto the bridge, feeling it bend and sway as she did.

“This is no good,” Ribbontail thought as her paws scrabbled on the planks. One step onto the bridge and already she had lost her confidence.

“Come on, dude, get a hold of yourself and hurry up,” continued O’liday, his tone growing impatient, “I tell ya: for a goddess you sure don’t seem very courageous. Come on! ”

Snorting at this remark, Ribbontail’s chest swelled and she straightened her legs. In an intrepid style she took another step towards her friend, then another. Perhaps he was right. She had the will of the Gods behind her. She had the fearless memory of Kerberos kept in her heart. She had the undeniable-

SNAP!

Instantly Ribbontail retreated, rigid with fear as she watched the opposite end of the bridge warp and unfurl. O’liday too noticed the ungodly noise, yet as he turned the opposite end lurched and dropped.

Ribbontail watched in horror as her friend dropped out of sight along with it. Down the bridge arched, and with a cruel crunching sound the buckled construction collided with the side of the canyon.

Her heart thudding painfully, Ribbontail cried out and raced back to the edge of the canyon. Their side of the bridge remained attached, still safely tied to their posts. This meant, however, that the collapsed bridge was draped down into the abyss.

Ribbontail shook as she craned her head down, staring into the darkness below. There was the bridge- yes- and to it was O’liday, curled around a plank and trembling with shock.

“Oh my god, O’liday!” Ribbontail howled, “Are you alright?”

Turning to stare up at her, O’liday did not move the slightest bit. “F-fine, dude. Just g-get me up, please!”

Instantly Ribbontail began to pace the edge of the canyon, glancing hither and thither for a means of helping her beloved friend. Nothing about them would help. A branch of some sort would have helped, as there was no way for her alone to reach him. Yet around them stretched naught but sand and rock. Not even PuppetRibbontail could help in this situation. Being a fearless being, Puppet could be sent down the collapsed ladder to retrieve O’liday. This alone would put both of them in danger.

Ribbontail’s ears folded back as the simple- and expected- answer dawned upon her. Her feliulf friend would have to climb up himself. There was no other way for her to reach him.

Racing to the canyon’s side, Ribbontail poked her head over the edge to peer down at her friend. He remained where he was last, curled up around the plank with his face buried in his paws. “O’liday!” Ribbontail cried down to him, “Can you move? Are you hurt?”

For a second O’liday stopped cursing to himself. “Wha...?” he mumbled, looking up from his trembling paws, “I-I’m alright dude, just get me up. Get m-me up, hurry!”

Ribbontail hurriedly shook her head. “I can’t, O’liday. There’s nothing up here to help me. Can you climb up yourself?”

A look of stark aghast lighted across O’liday’s face. “I don’t think I can...do... that,” he muttered. His voice trembled as he looked all around, still twisted about his safe plank. The bridge wasn’t sturdy one bit, and both of them knew it now.

“O’liday, please,” Ribbontail pleaded as she steadied herself and offered a paw, “I can help you up if you can climb up here. I know you can do it!”

Promptly the confident light was returned to O’liday. He nodded dumbly but had stopped trembling, and Ribbontail watched with baited breath as he uncurled himself. Then, in a most diffident manner, he began to clamber up the buckled bridge.

A smile beamed across Ribbontail’s face as she watched the feliulf struggle towards her. He fumbled his way up the near-vertical wall, stopping every so often to curl about a step and look down.

“Puppet, help stabilize me,” Ribbontail commanded as O’liday began to approach his freedom, “I’m going to reach down and grab him.”

PuppetRibbontail did as her beloved master had commanded. The skeletal creature positioned herself behind the crouching Ribbontail, pinning down the goddess’ legs with her full weight. When at last she felt PuppetRibbontail’s weight securing her, down over the edge Ribbontail eased herself.

“O’liday,” Ribbontail breathed as suddenly vertigo struck her, “come on, grab my paws!”

Straining with her paws grasping empty air, Ribbontail held her forelegs down and offered her help to O’liday. As he saw this aid, O’liday suddenly raced up the fallen construction.

Success and relief flowed through Ribbontail’s veins as O’liday finally reached her; instantly he threw himself around Ribbontail’s paws, trembling and staring down into the black abyss below.

O’liday scrambled at Ribbontail’s paws as she strained to lift him from the canyon. “Hurry up dude,  get me out!”

Ribbontail gestured for PuppetRibbontail to tug in unison, and in one final effort the three all pulled away from the canyon. In unison Ribbontail and PuppetRibbontail toppled over nose-over-paws, and O’liday was sent flying into the air. Overhead the feliulf soared, landing in an exhausted heap not far away.

Instantly Ribbontail was up. She turned and hurried to the distraught O’liday, who sat up to greet her with a grave sigh.

“O’liday!” Ribbontail exclaimed to him, “Thank god you didn’t fall! Are you alright? Did you get hurt?”

Glaringly, the cat rubbed his arms. He said nothing, even as PuppetRibbontail approached to help him up. Yet after sitting there and fluffing his fur clean for a full silent minute, he cursed under his breath, “Shit...”

Ribbontail followed her friend’s eyes, and her joyous heart skipped a beat as she realized just what it was that had captured his attention. It was great that O’liday was safe- it was a blessing, in fact, that they had acted quick enough and kept their cool. Yet before them stretched the same great obstacle that impeded them before. The yawning, expansive abyss extended before the three friends. And now, to their dismay, the bridge no longer offered its help.

Noting the worried looks across O’liday and PuppetRibbontail’s face, the young goddess gulped and scanned the horizon for an option. She sighed, sat back on her haunches, and let out a deep moan of frustration. “Now we have no way to cross...”