33rd of Ashan, Arc 718
"Come on, climb it," he commanded himself, making a small leap towards the side of the building as he grabbed onto the windowsill with his fingertips. Every time, though, they slid off just as quickly as they grabbed on... and he had to drop himself, letting his feet catch his body on the floor. At least, despite all of his failures, he could land on them.
"Come on, Alistair, you can do it -- you can do it," he repeated, over and again, jumping forward again, grabbing onto the sill and catching the side of the building with his feet, before curling his knees upward to allow himself to make a secondary jump from the side of the wall. He only needed to treat it like a platform, and aim his jump properly... facing the right trajectory, aimed to the next ledge, which just so happened to be the rooftop.
Alistair was a prolific acrobat - a grandmaster, some would call it... but he wasn't much of a climber. Watching Deovan scale trees with ease and crawl along the edges of branches like a Llewnos was ridiculous to him, but also admirable. He wanted to be like that, too. To master the physical body, and all of its nuances. But he was not a proper climber - not a good one, by any means.
Still, he tried. He finally managed to keep his fingers locked into the window sill by pressing them forward and clutching it with the strength of his arms. After doing so, the mage released and flung his arms backward, flipping off of the wall with his hands as he propelled himself into an upward jump with his legs. An acrobat's move, not a climber's, but he quickly learned that the two could go hand-in-hand. As he flung upward, he attempted to reach onto the edge of the roof with his palms, aiming his fingers down to grab the descending slope.
Unfortunately, he'd thrown himself too far back, and his arms could not lunge forward enough to reach. The mage quickly leveraged his weight and flipped his position mid-air, throwing his foot forward like a hook and catching the edge of the roof with his boot. Now, he hung from the roof corner, but rather impressively. At least in the realm of acrobatics, he was still top notch... that was a move that not many would've been able to pull off.
Alistair swung his weight back upward, holding steady onto his feet, a technique he'd mastered along with Gravelmonger. Once Alistair had swung himself back, even-leveled with the edge of the roof and partly mid-air, he twirled his body to look upward before flinging his chest forward like a sit-up. Digging his nails into the edge of the roof, he grabbed and held, despite the uncomfortable aerobic position that followed.
Gods, that had been dramatic... and all because of a single mis-aimed jump. He was only lucky that he'd managed to compensate for it, and proud that he was so good with his legs.
But of course, there was another man waiting right down below that still had to do all... that. Alistair winced at the thought, and instead decided to clutch his fist, opening a portal beside the other mage, the other side opening beside Alistair on the edge of the roof as he secured his balance and stepped into the center. Luckily, Ne'haer had a considerable amount of the indented square rooftops he'd seen in few other places, as they were good for amateur roof hopping and parkour.
The triangular ones, built for places that endured heavier snow, were much more difficult to climb... and irritating.
"Come on, climb it," he commanded himself, making a small leap towards the side of the building as he grabbed onto the windowsill with his fingertips. Every time, though, they slid off just as quickly as they grabbed on... and he had to drop himself, letting his feet catch his body on the floor. At least, despite all of his failures, he could land on them.
"Come on, Alistair, you can do it -- you can do it," he repeated, over and again, jumping forward again, grabbing onto the sill and catching the side of the building with his feet, before curling his knees upward to allow himself to make a secondary jump from the side of the wall. He only needed to treat it like a platform, and aim his jump properly... facing the right trajectory, aimed to the next ledge, which just so happened to be the rooftop.
Alistair was a prolific acrobat - a grandmaster, some would call it... but he wasn't much of a climber. Watching Deovan scale trees with ease and crawl along the edges of branches like a Llewnos was ridiculous to him, but also admirable. He wanted to be like that, too. To master the physical body, and all of its nuances. But he was not a proper climber - not a good one, by any means.
Still, he tried. He finally managed to keep his fingers locked into the window sill by pressing them forward and clutching it with the strength of his arms. After doing so, the mage released and flung his arms backward, flipping off of the wall with his hands as he propelled himself into an upward jump with his legs. An acrobat's move, not a climber's, but he quickly learned that the two could go hand-in-hand. As he flung upward, he attempted to reach onto the edge of the roof with his palms, aiming his fingers down to grab the descending slope.
Unfortunately, he'd thrown himself too far back, and his arms could not lunge forward enough to reach. The mage quickly leveraged his weight and flipped his position mid-air, throwing his foot forward like a hook and catching the edge of the roof with his boot. Now, he hung from the roof corner, but rather impressively. At least in the realm of acrobatics, he was still top notch... that was a move that not many would've been able to pull off.
Alistair swung his weight back upward, holding steady onto his feet, a technique he'd mastered along with Gravelmonger. Once Alistair had swung himself back, even-leveled with the edge of the roof and partly mid-air, he twirled his body to look upward before flinging his chest forward like a sit-up. Digging his nails into the edge of the roof, he grabbed and held, despite the uncomfortable aerobic position that followed.
Gods, that had been dramatic... and all because of a single mis-aimed jump. He was only lucky that he'd managed to compensate for it, and proud that he was so good with his legs.
But of course, there was another man waiting right down below that still had to do all... that. Alistair winced at the thought, and instead decided to clutch his fist, opening a portal beside the other mage, the other side opening beside Alistair on the edge of the roof as he secured his balance and stepped into the center. Luckily, Ne'haer had a considerable amount of the indented square rooftops he'd seen in few other places, as they were good for amateur roof hopping and parkour.
The triangular ones, built for places that endured heavier snow, were much more difficult to climb... and irritating.