Lost Manor Ch.4 Rooftops

“All right, well let’s get a move on then,” Kuro made to move forward.

“Wait!” Rikku grabbed his arm. “Look at the ground.”

Kuro looked down and saw the vines writhing terribly at his feet. There were fragments of crushed bone scraping against each other as the vines moved. Apparently the whole yard was a booby trap.

“Good call, sharp eyes.”

Rikku shrugged. “We’re really in a pickle here. Honestly, it might be best to move as quickly as possible. I have a feeling that taking it slow will be more harmful to us than good.” He pulled a grappling hook out of his bag. It appeared to be attached to a sort of crossbow.

“First…” He picked up a rock and threw it carelessly in front of them. As he suspected, the wildlife moved in quickly to destroy it. Which in a way was odd. He knew that other critters could move freely through the estate. He had seen mice just a few minutes ago. So why was the rock attacked? Did the estate just assume it was some sort of weapon? Could it feel his aura attached to the rock?

Kuro glanced sideways at Rikku, “This is going to be harder than we initially thought. There’s a good chance we’re going to get at least slightly damaged.”

“More than slightly,” Rikku muttered under his breath. “Well, let’s see how the hook does. The house is probably three hundred meters away. So we should aim high to avoid being in reach of the underbrush below. We should also do it in a spot away from trees. Just to be on the safe side.”

He aimed carefully, eyeing a clear spot free of ivy on the roof of the expanded part of the mansion. He pulled the trigger. The hook whistled through the air. The underbrush below tensed. It snagged fiercely into the gutter, but Rikku pulled hard just to make sure it wouldn’t give. It seemed secure, and so far nothing made a move against it.

“Well it appears to be in our favor, attach it to that tree behind us,” Kuro pointed with his thumb.

“Yeah, yeah,” Rikku did as he was told and waved for Kuro to go first. “If something tries anything funny, it’ll be better for me to be in the back, because either one, if you are attacked, I can move to save you, or two, if I am in the back, I am more likely to be attacked, which means you can safely move forward.”

“So it’s a win-win for me?” Kuro eyed him with that strange look he always did. It was clear he was thinking something not quite kosher.

“As it should be sensei.”

“Well if you insist.”

Kuro grabbed the rope tightly and started to climb forward and up.

Rikku waited a few moments before heading after him.