The Wolf and The Dragon (Book 1)

Kim vs Cole

[Cole]

I finished the sunrise exercise, today was only me, Misako, Wu and Jay. Lloyd and Kai were nowhere to be seen, and Nya was not very well. Zane and Pix went to the Market.

(AN: In case you wonder what is wrong with Nya, read the second chapter of my JAYA book.)

As soon as we finished, I run to the kitchen quickly and make myself a big bowl of oatmeal with fruits and yoghurt, Jay sits by my side, sipping to his coffee.

-"Why are you in a hurry, where are you going this early in the morning?" - He looks at the wall clock, and point out it is only 7 am.

-"Nowhere special I just want to climb the south face of the mountain before the sun gets too strong."

-"Cole, it is almost winter, the sun will not going to get any warmer, and it is looking like it will be a cloudy day anyway..."

-"Good, so I don't break into a sweat. By the way, what's happened to Nya?" - I change the subject before Jay gets any extra information from me.

-"Ah! Nothing to worry about, she just needs some extra sleep".

-"Luck for you, Kai is not here, he would be giving you a hard time"

-"Tell me about?!"

-"Talking about Kai, where is he?"

-"Where do you think?"

We both laugh... we know exactly where Kai is, he spends more time at the noodles shopping than home nowadays.

-"What about Lloyd?"

-"No idea!! Last I heard he was chasing The Lupa again, somewhere on the coast.

-"Well, I hope he finds what he is looking for!"

I finish my breakfast, clean up my dishes, get a quick shower and change to my climbing gear, run out of the monastery gate and jump in a free fall of a couple of seconds before I summoned my dragon to catch me.

By 7:35 I was at the bottom of the Unclimbable Mountain, to my surprise there were already a few people there getting their equipment ready. I got even more surprised when I saw this girl, she looks quite different from when I last saw her 3 weeks ago, her hair is pinkish and it is pulled up in a bun, her face is clean, she is wearing a black oversized tracksuit hoodie, orange 3/4 bouldering pants and climbing shoes. She was adjusting her harness belt when I approach her, as she looks up to me, I was sure it was her.

-" You are late" - she told me looking into her watch.

-"No, you are earlier." - I reply

-"you said 7"

-"but you said 8"

-"no, I said 6"

-"ok Kimberly, whenever you are ready, I don't mind waiting"

-"where is your equipment?"

-"I don't need it."

-"What? Are you kidding me?"

-"Nope! I do free climbing "

-"Free climbing in the Unclimbable Mountain, is THAT even allowed?"

-"no one ever said anything."

-"have you done that before?"

-"many times"

She stares at me, a bit suspicious as if I am telling her lies.

-"I am telling you the truth, I came here every so often, and I always do free climbing"

-"All right, so in that case, I am already in a disadvantage over you, I will need more time with the equipment than if I was doing free climbing. It doesn't sound fair!"