[center][url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=anuAekXi13M][u]U P W A R D[/u][/url]
[@Caits][@Vicier][s][Atrophy][/s]
[i]Days since Departure:[/i] 9   --   [i]Time:[/i] Mid-Morning, Early Afternoon
[url=https://www.roleplayerguild.com/posts/4414682]Previously...[/url][/center]
"Plummet, Luna! Stop trying to be a hero on your own!" Edward stomped on the ground, his voice barely cutting above the rotor blades. "We're in this damned thing together, and I'm not about to leave you in this stupid place by yourself so you can get yourself killed doing some stupid act of bravery!" He glared at Constance, who appeared shocked into silence. Whether from Luna's words, or Constance's offense to Luna's words, the woman wasn't speaking either way.

"We all have two options," Edward continued. "We can either climb up this giant staircase and try to get to the top, or we can leap into open space, casting safety to the wind, and try to grab a rope ladder fluttering out in empty space. I'm going up. And I know Luna is coming as well. Follow if you want, or don't."

"I shan't!" Blustered Constance. She turned to Collin, batting eyes of innocence. "Won't you come with me...ah...Collin? Help me to get to the Endurance?"

Collin glanced at Edward, then at Raymond. "I think I'll stay."

"W-what?" Constance said, before sharply bringing her incredulity under control. "You'll stay on a floating tower with no means of escape, willingly? Am I the only sane person here?" She raised her hands above her head as if calling to some primordial being.

"Go with her," Raymond said suddenly. Collin turned to glance at him sharply. "I will look after Juliette," he said, somewhat defensively. "If this woman leaps and falls to her death, the Holloway matriarch..." he trailed off, but Collin seemed to understand.

"Gods above," he mumbled, but Edward was able to read the words on his lips somehow. He nodded slowly, then inhaled deeply, and took off at a sprint toward the edge. Edward shouted in alarm, but Collin had already launched free of solid ground, soaring toward the rope ladder. His freewheeling arms managed to grab a rung, and for a heartstopping moment he swung by one arm above the abyss.

Then he caught on with his other arm, and began descending the ladder. Why was he going down? Edward tilted his head without realizing it, still stunned by the insane display in front of him. Collin heaved his body weight back and forth, slowly getting the rope ladder to swing like a pendulum. Over and over he swung, until the rope nearly touched the side where they stood. "Jump!" he roared at Constance.

Constance's face turned bone white, but she set her face firm, and turned to Edward. She pointedly ignored Luna. "If we never meet again, just know that I think you're an utter fool." Then she turned and sprinted for the edge, jumping desperately as the ladder swung back her way. Polite to the end, that one. She landed above Collin and immediately began scrambling up to the Endurance, where she slid into the back with a heaving chest. Collin followed soon after.

Edward breathed out in relief, but his calm didn't last long. [i]NINE MINUTES UNTIL IRREVERSIBILITYLY OF GRAVILYFT, PHASE ONE.[/I] The voice surprised him again, and reawakened the urgency inside him. Had it really only been one minute of all that? Perhaps. He patted his back, assuring himself that the cube was still there. Thankfully for them, it was.

He turned to Luna, Raymond, and Juliette with a stern gaze. "We have work to do." Or try to do, but he wasn't about to say that to them. He turned to the staircase. Was it just him, or did it seem like the next step up was a little shorter than the one they had climbed before? "Luna, give me a boost!" he shouted, running up to the step.