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Shiro grunted his disapproval of Kaito and Lin's lack of worry, but he spread his wings and took flight. Kaito followed him, and with his larger wings he rose more quickly in the air.

"Man, this feels good," the angelic neko grinned. He headed straight for the top of the cliff.

Shiro ascended a bit further from the cliff, just in case there was something at the top. He knew he was being a worrier, but he felt it was better safe than sorry, especially in a place like this where they had no idea what to expect.

"Come on, Lin!" Kaito cried gleefully, soaring upwards. "I'll race you!"

Being a neko, Kaito had the ability to turn his ears in any direction, so the wind wasn't bothering him at all and he could hear Lin quite well.

"Live a little," he laughed. "There isn't a feeling in the world better than flying!"

He loved the sensation of the wind whipping past him, and rather than stopping at the top of the cliff, he went higher so that he could glide down. At the top of the cliff, there was a bit of a clear ledge before the forest started up again. A few miles to the east, the forest disappeared, replaced with empty tilled ground - fields that hadn't yet been planted.

Kaito glided down and landed softly beside Lin just as Shiro made it up from below.

"There are fields out that way," Kaito told them, pointing to the east. "Only a few miles. Think we'll be heading that way next?"

"Maybe," Shiro shrugged. "Just tie off."

"Always in a hurry." Kaito chuckled and headed off to the nearest tree to tie off his rope. He had been quite bored on the ship on their way over, and he had learned every knot that Roydon had been willing to teach him. He knew how to tie a good knot that would hold everyone's weight and not come loose.

"Toss the end over the side," he called back to Shiro and Lin. "See if it reaches the bottom."

"Yeah?" Kaito ran over and peered over the edge. "Wow ... long rope!" He laughed. "Kyrie really does come prepared!"

He grinned at Lin. "Want to tie off the second rope?" he asked her. "Now that we know they're long enough."

Shiro's ear twitched, and he looked around. "Did you guys hear that?" he asked them softly.

Meanwhile, down on the ground, Kyrie was starting to climb - not with a rope, but beside it, sticking to the smooth rock as if magnetted to it.

Shiro flicked his ears in a few more directions to double check, and then he half frowned.

"Maybe I was imagining it," he murmured uneasily.

Kaito was also listening for things now, but he also didn't hear anything.

"Worry wart," he accused his brother again, rolling his eyes. After checking to make sure that Lin was still working on the knot, he took to the air again and flew over the edge of the cliff. There, he let out a low whistle.

"I don't know if I should say that woman is talented or insane," he chuckled. "Sixty feet straight up, smooth rock, almost nothing you could consider a hand- or foot hold, and she's climbing without a rope." He shook his head and chuckled again. "Mad woman."

Kaito looked around again and shook his head. "Nothing out of the ordinary."

Seeing that the rope was ready, he cupped his hands around his mouth and hollered down: "They're ready! Come on up!"

Suddenly, a deer burst out from the trees to the east, running at full speed. It didn't even seem to notice Lin, Shiro or Kaito, as it bounded right between Shiro and Lin without even slowing down. Then, as suddenly as it had appeared, it vanished to the west, the forest quickly swallowing up all traces of it.

Shiro shrugged, smiling sheepishly. "Could be," he admitted. "Still, at least I wasn't imagining things."

Then suddenly, without warning, another deer darted out of the forest, this one also running at full speed. Shiro had to duck out of the way again as the deer bounded past him - and then he let out a sharp gasp and fell to the ground, landing on his back. For a moment he was frozen in surprise, and then he realized a number of things: first, that there was an arrow lodged in his chest, near his right shoulder; second, that everything suddenly looked very spotty; and third, that the air was very suddenly very cold. Either that, or he was. And yet, as logical as his mind was, he couldn't think what had happened.

Kaito had been watching the deer bound off, but then he noticed his twin lying on the ground, a red spot growing on his chest. His eyes grew wide and his breath just about stopped.

"SHIRO!" he screamed, and dove down to land next to his brother. "Shiro! What happened?! Shiro! Say something! Shiro!"

He was sore tempted to shake his brother into saying something, but he knew that wouldn't be a good idea. Instead, he pressed his hands to the place where the arrow was sticking out of his brother's chest, trying to hold back the bleeding.

"Kyrie's on her way up, I don't know about anyone else," Kaito replied quickly, his voice cracking. He used the back of one wrist to wipe tears away from his eyes. "Go tell the others what's happened, they can figure out who can best help him!"

Shiro was breathing slowly now, and the pain was starting to set in. "Ungh ... Kai ... to ..."