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Troy gripped the straps of the enormous backpack that held the group’s supplies and readjusted it. He would never say anything, but his shoulders were really getting sore. He sighed, hoping they were getting close. The top of the mountain still looked far away.
“I’m going to secure another anchor up here!” Runt called down. She was several feet above him; Blink was just below him to his left. They clung to the mountain while the fierce winter wind whipped around their heads.
“You got it, dude,” Troy replied, shifting uncomfortably against the rocks. His hands were numb, even through the gloves he was wearing. He squinted up at Runt, wondering how she could still be climbing. She was a kid, and she was sick. He was a professional steamsledder, and if he was being honest, he was getting pretty tired and sore. Maybe kids who grew up in the hole were just built different or something. She had all those mechanical parts on her body, so that must help.
All around them, there was a deep rumbling sound. The mountain seemed to be moving, vibrating. It grew louder, and louder. Troy looked around and up, trying to pinpoint where the noise came from. The sun reflected off the snow, almost blinding him, but after tilting his head, he spotted the enormous boulder rolling down the slope. Straight towards Runt.
With all the reflexes and athleticism of a steamsledder in his freshman year for the fifth time, he leapt up and started rapidly scaling the mountain. He didn’t have a plan yet, but he couldn’t let the boulder hit Runt. After all, she was the whole reason they were on this journey in the first place–if she died from a fallen rock, it would be all for nothing.
Muscles on fire and fingers numb, Troy climbed higher and higher, above Runt and closer to the boulder.
“Whaddya think you’re doing, cheese stick?” He heard Runt’s voice screech, but he just ignored her.
The huge rock got closer, and Troy began to realize he still didn’t have a plan. He grabbed out his sled to do…something. The mountain wind tore into him and howled in his ears.
“Troy math, Troy math, Troy math….” He whispered under his breath, holding the sled over his head and angling it away from his body, miraculously remembering learning about angles in his trigonometry class recently. He actually often went to his trig class, rather than skipping, because he sometimes could apply that knowledge to steamsledding.
CLUNK. The boulder hit the sled with a thunderous sound that echoed through his body.
“Troy, you IDIOT!” Blink yelled at him.
A blinding pain shot through his right elbow while the rock clashed against the sled and started careening down to his right, away from Runt and Blink. Small pieces of rock that had broken off fell around him like it was the biggest, heaviest snow he’d ever seen. He imagined, for a moment, a snowman made out of rocks before the heat in his elbow brought him back to reality.
Dazed, he slipped off the mountain and started sliding slowly down it. He tried to stop himself, but his body wouldn’t do what he wanted it to; instead, he gazed at the sky, noting a cloud that was shaped like a duck as icy slush slipped under his jacket, freezing his neck and upper back.
Hands grabbed him, pulling him up into a seated position. Melting snow dripped down his back, mixing with sweat.
“Cheeseball, are you okay?” Runt’s face was bright red, eyes shining with fear.
“Yeah, yeah, m’good,” Troy nodded.
Blink flew up next to the two of them. “TROY!” he gasped. “That was both the stupidest thing and most selfless thing I’ve ever seen you do.” His feathers were ruffled every which way.
“Uh, thanks, dude, I guess,” Troy replied. “Runt needed a fall guy, so what else was I going to do?”
“Maybe not put yourself directly below a falling boulder, I don’t know!” Blink spat, fluffing his feathers around anxiously. He began taking deep breaths, probably in some effort to calm himself. He looked like he was going to have a heart attack or something.
“I guess you should probably tell me that next time before I’m under the boulder,” Troy shrugged. “But if you want, I can just let her get crushed next time, if you’d rather me do that.”
Runt looked down, suddenly more interested in kicking the chunks of snow by her feet than the conversation that was happening.
“No, don’t– I–” Blink stuttered, and then sighed. “Just get over here and let me check your injuries.”
“I’m literally fine, dude,” Troy rolled his eyes.
“You’re not, I saw how hard that rock hit you. I can’t believe you’re still conscious! And there’s blood dripping down your arm right now!” Blink reached out to point at Troy’s arm before Troy jerked it away, shifting his jacket so the blood wasn’t visible.
“Cheese stick, just let him help you. I’d probably be dead without you,” Runt piped up quietly, tears pooling in her eyes.
Troy groaned, but stepped closer to Blink, unzipping his jacket.
“Runt, can you grab the first aid kit from the backpack? I think Troy dropped it over by that…yeah, that’s it, thanks.”
Blink poured some drinking water onto a cloth and carefully cleaned the bloody scratches on his arms and hands, furrowing his brow as he focused. Troy didn’t remember the last time someone else had helped him with injuries. It was always something he had to figure out himself, especially in…certain circumstances. And Blink did it with so much care and gentleness, far more than he deserved. It distracted him from the stinging in his arm.
Then Blink put a few bandages on. As he noticed the bruising that was beginning to bloom around Troy’s elbow, he asked if he could wrap something around it that would work like a brace. Troy just shrugged. The pain wasn’t really that bad. He could take it, but his two teammates looked worried, so for the good of the team, he let Runt build a makeshift brace for him.
“Thanks, dude,” he told the girl after she had attached it to him. It did help the pain, actually–only a dull ache, at this point.
“It’s the least I could do…y-you saved my life!” Tears filled her eyes once again, and she fidgeted with the hem of her jacket for a second before leaning over and wrapping her arms around him, squeezing him tightly. He gasped in surprise, not expecting the gesture and unsure how to reciprocate or what to do. He froze and sat stiffly as Runt let go. “What’s wrong, you never had a hug before or somethin’?”
“I…uh…” Troy thought back to his childhood years. The most affectionate gesture he could remember receiving from his father was a few pats on the back or head, every once in a while, only when he actually deserved it. And he hadn’t had any friends or siblings as a child. Now, he would exchange some high fives or handshakes with his team, but they weren’t very touchy-feely.
A pitying expression filled Runt’s face. “You actually haven’t, have you?”
Troy’s face burned. “I…that must be more of a hole thing, up here, we don’t really touch each other that much, just a different culture, really,” he rambled. “So that’s probably why it seems that way when really it’s just a–an above ground thing.” He felt the telltale pinpricks of tears in the corners of his eyes, but he blinked hard and looked away.
Runt tilted her head. “That’s the saddest thing I’ve ever heard. Regardless of where you come from or who you are…you should have people who care about you! I don’t know what I’d do without my cousins and my Uncle Threestrings.”
Troy awkwardly shifted. “I mean, I have people who care about me, dude. Everybody loves me up here, they love rooting for Cloudspire.”
“They love Troy the Steamsledder? Or the actual Troy?”
“Same thing,” Troy said, looking uncomfortable.
“Runt,” Blink said under his breath. “Maybe not the time?”
“No, no, even if he is a cheesehead, I think he needs to hear this. Maybe it’s why he’s like this.”
“Like what?” Troy asked defensively.
Runt ignored him and kept talking to Blink. “I don’t think he really has people who love him, maybe no friends even. That’s so sad.”
“Hey!” Troy said indignantly, crossing his arms, then uncrossing them after he felt a sharp pain in his elbow.
“Well, we’re friends now. And I know you’re not a very good person right now, but I think that maybe once you learn how to be friends, then maybe we can fix you,” Runt said, looking at Troy carefully.
Blink rolled his eyes while he preened his disheveled feathers with his beak.
“Uh, yeah, okay, I’ll be friends with you guys. But not because I don’t have friends. I have plenty of friends,” Troy cleared his throat.
“Right, well, I’m glad we’re all friends now, whatever, it’s great, but we have to keep going,” Blink said. “It’s starting to get dark, and it would be helpful if we can get a little further before we have to set up camp.”
The party continued up the mountain. Troy did his best to push through the pain in his elbow and his sore body, trying to ignore the smile that kept creeping onto his face.