Leyocan made good progress with his climb.
The cliff was a maze of handholds all the way to the top.
Although it appeared at first that there were multiple ways to reach the top, many of them lead to dead ends that would force a climber to waste valuable energy backtracking.
Others were traps that had no way to backtrack, and no way to move forward.
By the time people realized that they were trapped, it was already too late.
Fortunately, Leyocan still remembered the path he had taken all those years ago.
Many of the older handholds had eroded so badly that they were almost unusable.
Forcing Leyocan to take costly detours to circumvent them.
Finally, after what felt like hours, Storm reached the first of 3 ledges that were large enough for people to stand one.
He leaned with his back up against the wall, then slid down to his knees.
His fingers were burning with pain from him gripping narrow ledges.
His heart was racing and he was panting like an exhausted dog.
He took the canteen from his belt and took several greedy gulps of fresh spring water, before pouring a small amount over his forehead to help cool himself off.
He admired the vast ocean in front of him, then moon bathed the water in a pure white glow.
The ocean had always fascinated him as a cub. He spent many years daydreaming of exploring it and seeking out new lands.
He knew that other continents existed.
Both the humans and the dwarves had come from other landmasses and he was determined to see them all.
But over time, those dreams faded away. Replaced by a sense of duty and responsibility.
He hadn't seen the ocean in centuries and the sight before him brought all these long forgotten memories back to the forefront of his mind and he longed for the more 'carefree ' times of his youth.
After resting for a few minutes, he fastened the canteen to.his belt again and after dusting off his hands on his trousers, he turned back to the wall and began climbing again.
The ascend got harder and harder the higher Leyocan got.
He had more than a few close shaves when a hand or foot hold broke away as he placed his weight on it.
But despite these hurdles, he continued to make steady progress.
By the time that he reached the second ledge, he was close to collapsing from exhaustion.
He was panting heavily, his tongue hanging limply from his open mouth.
His hands were shaking from exhaustion, and his fingers cramped from supporting his weight the whole night.
Several bruises and scrapes covered his arms, legs and chest from where he struck the cliff surface after a particularly long jump.
His heart was beating non-stop like a war drum.
He pulled out the canteen to drink, but was dismayed to find that it was empty.
After putting it away he turned back and scanned the rockface
He noticed a symbol had been carved into rock not far from where he was standing. He limped over towards it and placed an hand over it.
He remembered it perfectly.
He scratched this symbol into the rockface centuries ago when he first made the climb to the top.
It was meant to act as a warning to future Nogitsune that made the climb.
It marked the point of no return.
If he continued to climb beyond this point, he would be unable to backtrack if things went bad.
One could only keep climbing from here on out.
Leyocan went down on his knees and folded his legs underneath himself.
Placing his hands on his lap, he closed his eyes and began one of the meditative techniques that his clan had taught him as a cub.
As he focused on controling his breathing, his heart rate gradually slowed down and his aches faded away.
He lost track of time as his thoughts slowed and his worries dissappeared.
After an unknown amount of time, he opened his eyes and rose to his feet.
He stood on the edge and stared out at the horizon.
A bright glow was beginning to appear just below the horizon.
In a few hours, the sun would be up and he would lose the element of surprise.
The climb had taken longer than he had anticipated due to the poor condition of many of the handholds.
And the hardest part of the climb had yet to come.
He lingered at the symbol he carved centuries ago.
His father told him about the cliff when he was a cub who hadn't even grown his second tail.
After he heard the stories, he became determined to be the first to succeed and earn his father's approval.
He had several practice runs without his father's knowledge and after several tests, successfully reached this particular point.
He quickly realized that if he continued, there would be no going back.
His courage always failed him at this point and he decided to climb back down every time.
Then one day he had a particularly nasty argument with his father, who accused him of being lazy, of being unwilling to push things he started through to the very end.
That he always caved in at the first sign of resistance.
Leyocan decided that he was going to finish the climb this time, if only to prove his father wrong.
By the time his father realized what he was doing, it was already far too late to stop him.
When Leyocan reached the top, he found his father already waiting for him, red with anger.
Leyocan wasn't sure which of the two was the most grueling experience.
The climb to the top...
Or
The punishment his father gave him afterwards...
After his penace was completed, his father took him aside and lectured him on the taking of risks with little to no gain.
He told him that 'glory' or 'thrills' were a poor choice to risk one's life over.
Then he sent him on his first assassination mission.
Most Nogitsune only got assigned their first mission after growing their second tail, but his father had said that his feat had proven that he was ready to advance.
And it was during this mission that Leyocan's entire outlook changed, and that he met the love of his life.
After returning from his failed mission, he had an massive falling out with his father.
He packed his things and left without saying another word.
Many years later he returned to the place where he encountered his love and finished the mission his father gave him all those years ago.
After he left, he never saw his father again. This was over 4 centuries ago.
Leyocan was determined to finish this task before him now, not for glory, recognition, or to prove a point like before. But for duty this time.
He turned towards the clifface and continued climbing.