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"His name is Zeus now," Andarien said proudly. "I named him after a guy in a story who throws lightning bolts!"

Kyrie chuckled softly and sat near the fire to get her dinner. "Am I to assume, then, that Zeus - your Zeus - can do something with lightning?" she asked him with a grin.

Andarien grinned back at the half-blooded woman.

"Zeus," he said, opting to show rather than to tell, "use Thunder Shock on that rock over there!"

Immediately, Zeus darted away from his parents and sibling and braced itself against the ground. His fur began to snap and crackle, and then, with a clap of thunder, he launched a lightning bolt at the rock that Andarien had indicated. A scorch mark appeared on the rock, though there was no other effect, and Zeus's fur stopped its crackling as the Jolteon looked up at Andarien for approval.

Andarien grinned and petted the Pokemon.

"Very impressive," Iorlas commented with a smile as she and Daeron also joined the group. She still had the blanket around her shoulder, and she looked very tired, but she wanted to have some dinner before she went to her tent for the night.

Iorlas smiled at Miyuki. "I'm just tired, but thank you for asking," she replied softly. "While it's true your uncle and I did make some trips while we were staying in Caras Galadhon, we never traveled this many days in a row, and I'm not used to it. That's all."

Kyrie eyed the fair-haired woman thoughtfully. "Do you need a day off from traveling?" she asked her.

Iorlas's brow furrowed anxiously. "I don't want to hold everyone back," she protested.

Kyrie smiled softly. "I'm sure you're not the only one who needs a break, Iorlas." She looked around. "For safety, tomorrow we will climb to the top of the cliff ... once we're up there, we can rest for a day."

And so the plan was made.

They passed another uneventful night, and when morning came, Kyrie was already awake and ready, as she always seemed to be.

"Do you ever sleep?" Daeron couldn't help but ask her as he ran his fingers through his hair while Lancaeriel prepared breakfast.

Kyrie smiled enigmatically. "When I need to," she agreed.

"You're going to need to recall them," Kyrie said without hesitation. She gestured towards the cliff, which was now easily visible in the light of day. It was a fairly sheer face, with few handholds or footholds visible. "I'll climb up first and secure some ropes, that will make it easier."

She inhaled deeply, then let it slowly and smiled. "Hopefully we can do this without too much difficulty."

"I wonder if Shiro and Kaito and Lin might fly up," Lancaeriel commented from where she was working by the fire. "I have only seen Kaito fly, but I would imagine the other two would be capable."

She knew of no other reason why they would be equipped with such wings if they couldn't use them.

Andarien didn't bother recalling Ponydash or Eon yet: since they still needed to eat breakfast, it would be a while before they actually started climbing.

Earendil grinned and took a seat next to Lin, their tent already put away for the day.

"When is the last time you actually did any flying?" he asked her curiously. "The last time I recall is the first time we were in Amon Darthir."

"Quite a while ago, then," Earendil commented. "That was before our trip around the Four Lands, even ... when Rhea's children were born. And how old are they now? Six?"

"Six," Wren agreed from where she was still packing up the tent she and Lancaeriel shared.

"Perhaps the three of you could fasten ropes immediately after breakfast, then," Kyrie suggested. "It would make things easiest, especially for those who aren't skilled climbers."

They had a quick breakfast, and immediately afterwards everyone made sure that everything was packed up and that nothing had been left behind before they prepared to tackle the cliff before them.

Kyrie pulled two ropes from her bag before fastening her bag over her shoulder once more.

"Here," she called to the three winged travelers. "If you could find a good solid tree up top and tie off one of the ropes good and tight - just one for now, make sure it reaches all the way down here - that'd be great. If it does reach, we can tie the second and get up twice as fast."

Andarien called Eon and Ponydash over to him and recalled them into their pokeballs in preparation for the climb. Then he looked up at the cliff that they needed to climb. It was the biggest he had seen, save the cliffs of Amon Darthir, but even so they weren't overly huge. They were smooth, but there were cracks here and there that would allow for grips, and they would only have to climb about fifteen meters - about sixty feet.

Kaito took one of the ropes from Kyrie and spread his wings.

"Hope there's not too much wind on top of the cliffs," he quipped, looking upwards.

"Forget the wind," Shiro frowned, "just worry about what we'll find when we're up there. Wild animals, unfriendly people ..."

Kaito rolled his eyes. "Worry wart."