Watching Fritz peer over the edge out of the corner of his eye, Romeo considered carefully for a while before he replied to the energetic little creature's words. "That... sounds better," he replied perhaps a little too hastily. It made sense to him; after all, Romeo wasn't particularly thrilled at the idea of dragging his most treasured possession (and very possibly breaking it) on the way back down that cramped, tight and... well... spider-y tunnel.

Plus, there was the added fact that his confidence was still bloated by all these compliments. "Of course, of course! What an entrance. Imagine their voices raised in cheering. I wonder how all those voices will sound raised as one?" Romeo was completely sold on this idea now. He wanted to hear all those voices, cheering. What an incredible chorus it would be!

Fritz seemed very... twitchy about the idea, even still. His words made Romeo slightly nervous. But he'd already assigned himself to it now, and he wasn't about to go back on his word. Plus, it seemed that this kind of behavior was normal for the jumpy little thing... he often seemed on edge. That, and he would much rather a bit of climbing than having to get those webs off him again. Eurgh. The very thought sent a shiver down his spine.

The sounds of cheering echoing through his mind, Romeo sucked in his breath and trying not to look down, he placed his paws on a lower ledge. A thrill of fear ran through him as he feared his paw would slip. At that point, he had to look down. He had to find the next ledge. A wave of dizziness hit him all at once and he almost climbed back up, remaining clinging to the edge instead.

In an effort to keep calm, Romeo began to sing quietly to himself in a gentle baritone. A series of sounds, not words, but those sounds nontheless were pleasing to the ear.

Romeo searched with his paw for another ledge, and found one! He put all of his weight on that paw, only for the ledge to crumble beneath it. a brief look of panic crossed his face before he fell, tumbling, crashing off the rocks, with his noise-maker letting out a series of awful clangs and Romeo giving several chittering yelps...

@Fritz
((OOC: I was thinking if you wanted we could end it here, as I could have Romeo be knocked out or something in the next post?))

Everything was a blur to Fritz at that moment in time - so many plans to be made! It all started now...right? Living in the moment was his forte so he just continued ascending down the ledge face. As much as he cared for Romeo, he did not check whether his companion was following closely behind.

Giggling and idealising what a great team the two of them would make, he finally reached the bottom of the ledge and propelled himself off the wall before his paws even hit the floor so that he could cover more distance.
'Imagine their voices raised in cheering.' The marmoset grinned to himself, feeling motivated as he thought about what Romeo had said minutes before - would they really get a chance for something so grand? It has to be true, Fritz reckoned.

He was quite far ahead by now, but despite this Fritz did, in fact, hear the crash of Romeo's fall. He assumed it was nothing, however, as he had heard multiple crashes like it during his stay in Monoceros. In his mind, nothing could ever go wrong, not to him!

He scampered around the rocks in the expanse like an agility course with seemingly unfaltering energy, and shouted unknowingly to thin air, voice echoing, "Hey we gotta' make sure we stick together, right?"

Within a minute, the marmoset found himself greeted with silence, and skidded to a stop, feeling a strange sensation he hadn't felt before. Something like... concern? He looked back and, to his surprise, the stone and fungi environment had a distrubing lack of tanuki.

Romeo couldn't have left him, Fritz thought almost instantly, so he must be playing a game! He grinned and shouted, "Come on, this is important stuff, we can't be foolin' around!" This was quite hypocritical of him, and he huffed jokingly, readied himself with a shake of his furry frame and went to head another direction to try and find his friend. In the wrong direction.

[exit]
@Romeo
(ooc: omg poor Romeo! Hopefully he won't blame Fritz too harshly on whatever happens to him? Maybe when he wakes up he loses his voice for a bit? :o anyway I really enjoyed this thread actually, childhood characters are so interesting to write! Can't wait to see Romeo's development!)

The last thing Romeo heard was Fritz calling out to him, and then he hit the cold stone ground. Covered in bruises and some cuts that caused his fuzzy fur to clump together, the young one didn't stand much of a chance against the fall, and the sheer rock ground that waited at its end.

Ash he hit the ground, his eyelids flickered for a split second, but he didn't move. Sharp pains surged through his head, his vision obscured by a blur of white. he couldn't speak, couldn't move, couldn't figure out anything in the slightest. jumbled thoughts, jumbled sounds- and nothing else. it was too much effort. he couldn't hold it.

Within moments, the tanuki's consciousness had left him all alone in the dark, lying on that cold stone ground.

Battered and nearly broken, the noisemaker at his back had done nothing to help- there were a few stains on it here and there, chips and splinters and scratches galore, but for the most part Romeo had acted as a cushion and the instrument had only served to crush him all the more.

-Exit Romeo-

@Fritz
((OOC: I don't think so! I was planning for Romeo to suffer temporary memory loss and undergo some mild personality changes. :O and same! thank you! <3 ))