Tree Climbing [Open]

[Frida Feldt]

Once again, Frida found herself alone during her free time. This was becoming a very annoying habit. After wandering around the school looking for Haruka, boredom eventually led the girl into the forest. She stood out from the deep shadows and curling greens and browns. Frida was wearing white that day, an atypical change from her usual bright colors. She wore a denim skirt and a feminine white, long sleeved blouse lined in lace. She wore a scarf, too, which she had stylishly wrapped so that it served as a hood to keep the biting wind from attacking her ears and neck.

She wasn’t sure where she was going. This was Frida’s first time exploring the forest outside of orientation and school activities. The place was different without the sounds of students echoing off the trees. It felt darker. More wild. Almost more alive. Frida wasn’t sure if she liked that or if it creeped her out a little. Maybe a little of both. Frida had never been much of a nature person, preferring instead loud company and busy places. All of this peace was bad for her health. But there was nothing else to do, so why not explore a little?

Eventually she found her way to a merrily bubbling stream. An old wooden bridge led the way across, and Frida was struck by how magical it seemed. The place felt old. How was nature able to do that? To feel like a place taken out of time, frozen for all of eternity, when really it was as organic and ever changing as the rest of the world? It was a mystery to her. Curious, Frida crossed the bridge and continued along the trail. She had never gone this way before, so everything she saw was new to her.

At last the trail ended in a little clearing. Frida looked around, wondering if she’d found the Eichenkreis. Nope. The Eichenkreis had those oak trees. This one did not. Instead, there was a willow tree in the center. Well then. This place may not be a ring of magical peace and insight, but it was now hers. Her place. Frida approached the tree and set her backpack down, wondering what she was going to do now that she’d found a stopping point. Her amethyst gaze flitted from one tree to the next until finally landing on a sturdy oak. She was going to climb it!

[Lino Vidal Cartagena]

"Why, why does my head hurt so much? Lino muttered, his fists clenching. His cheeks were completely red, just as well covered in water, tears. By all means he was about to do what he'd set his mind to do, though it took him an endless, sleepless night to finally decide what he knew was best to do.

He walked down the hall, avoiding curious eyes and ignoring whispers if not humorous, sarcastic remarks. Blood trickled down his hand, slowly dropping to the floor with a weak splash. The rest of his arms were covered with the black sleeves of the shirt he was wearing. Quietly, he continued his march towards the exit. His hair was even worse than usual, the small ribbon that had once tied it into a ponytail clinging onto one strand of hair while the majority of the rest of it, rather than being against his back, was covering his bloodshot eyes and oddly perking up as it did so.

Lino usually refrained from becoming emotionally connected to anyone, though this time he'd let his guard, something he hated to regret if anything. He'd been wearing cargo pants, something unusual to see on him, though it had been slightly over-sized and he wasn't one to wear a belt. It fell below his hips and luckily not so obvious due to the length of his shirt.

He needed to do this quickly and just get going. He jumped down the small stairs, landing against the boy he'd been looking for. This shouldn't be hard, the kid was leaving Styrewood in a few weeks anyhow. He gripped the shirt of the boy, Ace, only a year older than Lino."J-just give me back my cigarettes and I won't embarass you..." He threatened, weary as to not let anyone overhear the conversation. Ace chuckled.

Lino let go of him, searching his pockets to find nothing. Fine, Lino would do this the harder way. He crouched, undid the zipper of the boy's pants. Still somewhat in shock, Ace didn't quite react in time. Lino quickly snatched the boy's bag and ran off, towards no location other than the forest. He was crying, it wasn't as easy as it seemed acting that calm while talking to his lover, now ex-boyfriend. Lino wasn't one to make commitments that easily, but he'd been with Ace for quite the while.

Lino continued to run, almost blindly as he nearly fell into a stream. He struggled to push himself back, cursing. He needed a distraction, something to make him forget about what just happened and what had been happening for the last few months. He stood up, silently walking across the bridge, relying on two finger to lift the incredibly heavy bag of Ace. He soon arrived at a clearing.

His eyes had been glued to the ground for a while. There was no helping it. Lino wasn't used to feeling down, or sad. He usually just didn't care. That made life simple. Much simpler and easier compared to this. He stopped and sat down, his hands covering his face. He lifted up his gaze. He'd been so caugh up in himself that he didn't notice the fact that he wasn't alone. He knew who this was. "F-Frida?"

[Frida Feldt]

Methodically, Frida gripped a heavy branch on the oak tree with both hands and then swung her legs off the ground. Up and over. And then she was sitting on the rough bark, a smile on her face. It felt good to do something. Anything. Higher and higher she climbed, getting her exercise and proving that she could. Arm there, foot there, and push! The oak tree wasn’t very tall, but it was tall enough to give her a decent view. She could feel the wind whipping her wavy hair across her face and for once it didn’t bother her.

Then her eyes settled on something moving through the forest. Towards her. Frida looked closer and noticed it was a familiar figure. Lino. And the closer he got, the more concerned Frida became. He didn’t look well. He looked…miserable, really. The girl frowned. What was going on? She began the climb back down, carefully. Going down was a lot harder than going up. Her breath started coming out in ragged breaths and pants as she used all of her strength to lower herself from one branch to the next. Frida was not very strong, but she was determined. She’d make it down okay.

Her feet touched the ground right as Lino said her name. Frida turned to him, a forced smile on her face while her body tried hard to breathe. “Lino!” she said, her voice coming out as a gasp, “Are…are you okay?” As she spoke, Frida walked towards her bag. She rummaged through it for a moment until she found her purple inhaler. The halfling felt much better after administering her asthma medication. Normally she took her time climbing around, but she’d pushed herself a little harder so that she could find out what was up with her schoolmate.

After putting her inhaler away, she approached her…acquaintance? Friend? Well, either. The halfling stopped about a foot away from him. She had to suppress the urge to reach out and touch him. He looked as though he’d been crying. “What happened to you?” Although her words were blunt, there was no mistaking the concern in her expression. Whatever it was, it must have been pretty nasty. She hadn’t pegged Lino to be the type of person who was easily moved to tears. It worried her. “Here, sit down. And we can talk, okay?” Frida felt strangely protective over him.

[Lino Vidal Cartagena]

"Just fine, just fine..." He muttered, almost to himself. He was feeling a terrible urge to look into the bag and light a cigarette, but he suppressed it. Smoking wasn't gonna help the slightest at the moment, but Frida didn't look like she was going to be a good distraction. She was asking him what was wrong. What was wrong?

Lino looked up, rubbing his eyes so that he could see more clearly. This was embarrassing. No, he shouldn't care. The real Lino shouldn't care, so why was it so hard not to? Terrible situation, he couldn't react to this properly. Now she was even closer to him. He was a wreck. She could see he was a wreck and she cared. Did that make her his friend, or just curious?

"The usual high school story. Broke up with someone." Someone. He closed his eyes. One, two, three. There was never enough time, even if he thought about a whole week it wouldn't be solved. Not caring was the only solution. He needed that. Why couldn't he act like that? She wanted to talk to him, details? Talking wasn't gonna make it better, was it?

There was a first for everything, wasn't there? "Yeah...sure."

[Frida Feldt]

He certainly didn’t look ‘just fine’, Frida thought. He looked terrible. She frowned and sat with him at the base of the tree, worried. Ah, a break up. Those were never good. And despite his words, Frida could tell he was really bothered by it. Poor thing. Frida chewed the inside of her lip, thinking. She was pretty good with words but this was not a situation she had a whole lot of experience with. Heartbreak was not something she’d ever felt and that was exactly what it looked like Lino was going through. What could she possibly say to reduce his pain?

“What happened?” she asked sympathetically. Yes, she was curious. Mostly, though, she wanted to understand the situation better so that she would better know how to help him. Going in blindly wouldn’t work. First she needed to unravel the story and do some good ol’ talking. Then she could distract him for a while. Possibly even get him drunk if he was into that kind of thing. Frida figured she owed him one for the cigarettes, so why not use the occasion to crack open the bottle Spider had sent her for Christmas? It was as good a time as any.

[Lino Vidal Cartagena]

"Used, abused, and we weren't even each other's muse" Lino chuckled, cracking a small smile at Frida. He was worried now she was worried. That was no good. He was pondering as to wether he was sad about what his friend did or concerned as to why outta nowhere he'd started t care. Sure, caring wasn't something dangerous, but for Lino, not giving a fuck- crap was much simpler.

He rummaged through the stolen bag, pulling out a full pack of cigarettes and giving it to her. "This. He was stealing my cigarettes and...was in a relanshionship with me to get easier access." Lino sighed. He'd known the kid was a thief but he just pushed away the suspicion and let his guard down. This was his fault, doubtlessly. If he'd just thought a bit more rationally none of this wouldn't have happened.

[Frida Feldt]

Frida took the pack of cigarettes when he offered them and listened while he spoke. “What an ass,” she said bluntly. People were really kind of pathetic sometimes, weren’t they? She rolled her eyes. Most people would probably have offered words of comfort at that point, but Frida hadn’t been raised like that. Spider never gave her a hug or babied her with kind words when things went wrong. Frida learned to show that she cared in other ways. Words of comfort were manipulative and dishonest anyway. And they never really helped. So she spoke her mind instead. “Did you hit him?”

[Lino Vidal Cartagena]

"Not quite." He answered. He had no desire of using an excuse as to why he hadn't. Now that was pathetic. "Just kinda, embarrassed him. Truth was, his arm had been in a cast for quite a while after some idiot broke it. Well, it was his fault just as well, but still. He'd only removed a few days ago, maybe a week, and he had no desire to risk breaking it again. It limited him quite a lot. Along with that, despite how often he got into fights, Lino wasn't strong and Ace was. He didn't need to bother with him either way, at least that was what Lino'd been trying to convince himself.

[Frida Feldt]

“Well that’s something,” Frida replied, “Sometimes embarrassment can be a whole lot worse than a punch in the gut.” She smiled and gave him a curious look. “Hey. If you could do anything right now, what would it be?” There was no point in mourning the asshole he’d been with. The guy didn’t sound like he was worth. So, Frida figured, the best she could do was distract him. Find him something fun to do while he got over the pain. And when the loser guy did come up, she’d be sure to turn his sadness into anger. Because that was the healthy way to deal with things, right?

[Lino Vidal Cartagena]

"Break out" He joked, his usual grin back. Lino wiped his tears, standing up. "Thanks Frida" He smiled, his voice somewhat low. He wasn't one to usually thank or apologize, it just didn't sound right to him. But she'd been nice to him, bothered to try to help.

"But I think he used up a pack of cigarettes, which isn't good, at all," he said, thinking aloud. Ace's father wasn't coming to visit anytime soon, and he was running somewhat low on supply. Just as well, the other suppliers expected him to sell it for a price, which was troublesome; Lino was no business man and preferred giving away things as it was a sign of him not caring, not that he had anything to prove.