Funai’s story begins here at Sky’s Fall, the entrance made of both wind and stone. The air swirled around Funai’s rigid frame, running smoothly over his clenched muscles as his sight fixated on the landing below. The stone plateau grew and shrunk in Funai’s perspective as his focus shifted in and out. The boy who was not easily scared was suddenly petrified.
Funai knew this would be the hardest part of his errand, and that had probably been the intention. The academy had a way with giving trials by fire, so to speak. His first assignment had been so simple on the surface. Deliver a letter to the governing offices of Maruishi before noon today. However, it was all just an excuse to get him to this point atop Sky’s Fall without a glider or rope. It wasn’t a test of messenger capabilities, but rather a test of will. If Funai wanted to show that he was strong, or at least that he was willing to take risks, he would have to jump without any aid. That was the test.
Anyone can make the jump and not die provided they knew not to dive headfirst, although only a select few could make a terminal velocity jump and land with all their bones in one piece. Funai was quite certain he would be somewhere in between these extremes. After readying himself for the better part of an hour, Funai solidified his plan. He unwrapped the sparring tape from his wrists and reapplied it to his left ankle. He tightened it securely around, making sure to cover down through the foot and up through the shin as well. He finished off the taping then tested. The ankle stayed completely locked in position. The plan was to favor the left side on landing, then attempt to roll out of what would hopefully be a clean break. Funai wasn’t sure that locking in his ankle would localize the break, but he was optimistic it would help. After a few tense minutes of scanning, Funai took the fall, not wanting to think about the outcome anymore.
For the brief seconds of decent, Funai felt like he was in slow motion. He contorted his body in a way to land primarily on his left leg, but also at good lean forward to promote his combat roll. Before jumping, he was completely overwhelmed with nervousness, but not during the fall itself. He focused his energy into enacting his plan the whole way down. Funai made good on his plan to hit on the left side, and his roll was spectacular if not perfect, but that didn’t stop the impact from making a loud snapping noise as he struck. Normally in a combat roll, the roller springs up afterwards, but not here. Funai rolled over onto his back and sprawled as he slid forward along the smooth stone.
The expected burst of pain shot through Funai’s whole leg, and he took a few moments to writhe mildly. A few people close by stopped what they were doing for a minute to look over, but went back to work after realizing he didn’t make a mess. They were used to the injuries, but no one wanted extra work cleaning the plateau at the end of the day. When Funai’s pain subsided to the local area, he decided it was time to check his injuries. He didn’t want to look at his leg, so he slowly ran his fingers down, applying the least amount of pressure he could to gauge the result. He was mildly delighted to discover that his right leg was completely intact and not in very much pain at all. He suspected a mild bruising in the ankle but nothing more. The left leg was a different story. It was already beginning to swell, and the taping had partially ripped from the impact. The pain was mostly localized around the lower shin and ankle, but anywhere from the knee down responded poorly to pressure. That sucked, but it was the best he could do today. Hopefully he proved himself enough to earn a brief recovery period.
Hopefully
After stumbling to his feet and working out the kinks with his good leg, Funai limped away to the Clinic.
(Topic entered and left
WC: 710
Marked for training)
Funai knew this would be the hardest part of his errand, and that had probably been the intention. The academy had a way with giving trials by fire, so to speak. His first assignment had been so simple on the surface. Deliver a letter to the governing offices of Maruishi before noon today. However, it was all just an excuse to get him to this point atop Sky’s Fall without a glider or rope. It wasn’t a test of messenger capabilities, but rather a test of will. If Funai wanted to show that he was strong, or at least that he was willing to take risks, he would have to jump without any aid. That was the test.
Anyone can make the jump and not die provided they knew not to dive headfirst, although only a select few could make a terminal velocity jump and land with all their bones in one piece. Funai was quite certain he would be somewhere in between these extremes. After readying himself for the better part of an hour, Funai solidified his plan. He unwrapped the sparring tape from his wrists and reapplied it to his left ankle. He tightened it securely around, making sure to cover down through the foot and up through the shin as well. He finished off the taping then tested. The ankle stayed completely locked in position. The plan was to favor the left side on landing, then attempt to roll out of what would hopefully be a clean break. Funai wasn’t sure that locking in his ankle would localize the break, but he was optimistic it would help. After a few tense minutes of scanning, Funai took the fall, not wanting to think about the outcome anymore.
For the brief seconds of decent, Funai felt like he was in slow motion. He contorted his body in a way to land primarily on his left leg, but also at good lean forward to promote his combat roll. Before jumping, he was completely overwhelmed with nervousness, but not during the fall itself. He focused his energy into enacting his plan the whole way down. Funai made good on his plan to hit on the left side, and his roll was spectacular if not perfect, but that didn’t stop the impact from making a loud snapping noise as he struck. Normally in a combat roll, the roller springs up afterwards, but not here. Funai rolled over onto his back and sprawled as he slid forward along the smooth stone.
The expected burst of pain shot through Funai’s whole leg, and he took a few moments to writhe mildly. A few people close by stopped what they were doing for a minute to look over, but went back to work after realizing he didn’t make a mess. They were used to the injuries, but no one wanted extra work cleaning the plateau at the end of the day. When Funai’s pain subsided to the local area, he decided it was time to check his injuries. He didn’t want to look at his leg, so he slowly ran his fingers down, applying the least amount of pressure he could to gauge the result. He was mildly delighted to discover that his right leg was completely intact and not in very much pain at all. He suspected a mild bruising in the ankle but nothing more. The left leg was a different story. It was already beginning to swell, and the taping had partially ripped from the impact. The pain was mostly localized around the lower shin and ankle, but anywhere from the knee down responded poorly to pressure. That sucked, but it was the best he could do today. Hopefully he proved himself enough to earn a brief recovery period.
Hopefully
After stumbling to his feet and working out the kinks with his good leg, Funai limped away to the Clinic.
(Topic entered and left
WC: 710
Marked for training)