Heh, thanks N0, you're in. GenEX, I'll check out your stuff.

Some chars I haven't used in the past.

Dazir closed his eyes and controlled his breathing strictly, concentrating only on the moment. The ice-edged wind rippled through his creamy fur, biting at his face and at fingers that must not go numb.
His sense of focus recovered, Dazir opened his eyes and gazed intently up the sheer rock face that he was spreadeagled against. Cracks spiderwebbed up the granite wall, making his ascent easier. The small, agile climber moved up the cliff with a spider-like ease, using holds that were barely enough to support his weight. The cold wind whipped around him, attempting to pull him from his perch annd failing.
To an observer, Dazir's ascent seemed to be smooth and simple. Not once did he visibly miss a hold or slip. It seemed as effortless as climbing a ladder.
The truth was, this was the thirteenth time Dazir had made this particular climb. The seventeen-year old had been banned from most of the climbs for reckless behaviour. He was quickly becoming bored with this cliff, called the Eyrie, which no longer challenged him.
Having gained the top, Dazir glanced over the edge. From this height the wide-branched leafy trees below looked like moss, and the airborne vehicles like large beetles. He smiled faintly at such whimsy, and turned his gaze to the cloudless, azure sky, breathing deeply but not quickly.
"Nice climb, Daz. You didn't even break a sweat."
Dazir turned to flash a quick grin at his best friend Dare. The taller, silvery-blue rabbit was leaning against his idling neon-orange and matte black speeder, eyeing his younger cream and brown-furred friend, who still stood on the edge of the drop, wind-whipped and exhilarated.
"Now that you're done and have had your fix for the day, can we get off this frozen heap of rock?"
"Done?" Dazir laughed softly, barely louder than the wind. "No, Dare, this climb is only half-done."
Dare cast his gaze at the heavens before sighing in resignation. "I'll meet you at the bottom, then."
Dazir flashed another grin at Dare, then fell backwards off the edge, somersaulting midair and catching himself expertly on the cliff face. Dare sighed.
"You're going to get banned from this climb too, you know," he remarked to the empty air.
Dazir didn't hear him; he was already a quarter of the way down, using precise drops to speed himself. Dare shook his head and urged his speeder forward.

"You know, you're going to get banned from the Eyrie, if you keep doing stunts like that flip off the top," Dare remarked later, as the pair sped towards the space port. Dazir shrugged carelessly.
"The Eyrie just isn't a challenge anymore," he said regretfully. "I need to find a new climb."
"I need to understand why you can't just work out at the gym like everyone else."
"The gym just doesn't have the same impact ..."
"No kidding. You hit a mat if you fall at the gym. You break your neck if you fall off a cliff."
"Well, besides that. Most gyms don't have the setup I like."
"We're going to have to find you one that does. And then make sure you don't get banned from it for dangerous activities. I tell you, Daz, by the time you're eighteen, you're going to be climbing the Castle walls because you're banned from everywhere else."
Dazir laughed. "The Castle walls? That's no challenge."
"You sure you're bored of the Eyrie?"
"Man, I could climb it blindfolded. Plus the other climbers are too stuffy about tricks. A straight climb, that's all you can do - how boring is that?" He thumped a fist on the speeder for emphasis. "Er, Dare, where are we going?"
"Space port. Gotta pick up the Phenomenon."
"You get to fly her back to wherever. I refuse."
"C'mon, Daz ..."
"No way, man. I'm keeping both feet firmly on the ground."
"Oh, really? Since when?" Dare gave Dazir a disbelieving look. The younger of the pair smirked.
"You know what I mean."
"You can't tell me you're afraid of flying ..."
"No, I'm afraid of scratching the paint on your precious Phenomenon."
"As you should be," Dare chuckled, giving up. He deftly spun the speeder sideways to avoid a collision with a large rock, losing only a little speed before righting it and accelerating again.
"Where are we going? I thought we had to get your ship?"
"We are," Dare said, with a sideways look at Dazir. "This, my friend, is the scenic route."
"The scenic route." Dazir was not amused.
"The scenic route," Dare agreed, smirking.
"Forget the scenery, you idjit," Dazir growled, attempting to cuff Dare on the ear. The pilot ducked, and pretended to swerve into a tree. Dazir caught his breath as the tree loomed uncomfortably close, before Dare veered sharply away.
"Aah! I hate it when you do that!"
"Do what?" Dare innocently swiped another tree, and Dazir yelped.
"Holy crickets! Just get us there already!"
"This is the fastest route."
"Yeah, but I'd like to reach the port intact!"
"Ah. In that case, I -" Dare abruptly hit the brakes and swerved sharply. The speeder slewed around, unable to compensate for the abrupt maneuver.
"What the -" Dazir pulled himself upright, ready to blister Dare's ears for that trick, before he realized that Dare had vaulted out of the speeder and was now kneeling on the road beside a half-obscured shape.
Dazir exited more decorously, and trotted over to Dare. His original question of "what is it" never made it as far as speech, mutating instead to "is he alive?"
For Dare knelt beside the tattered body of an unconscious (or dead) rabbit. What fur was not sticky with drying blood was sky-blue. Clearly the rabbit had put up a good fight, judging from the looks of the torn-up road.
"I think so," Dare replied to Dazir's question. "But he's lost a lot of blood."
Someting caught Dazir's eye and, kneeling, he pulled a sword from where it was half-hidden under the fallen rabbit. He rose and glanced around at the scarred track. He found a second blade in the dust, and wordlessly showed the pair to Dare. The taller rabbit shook his head silently.
"Look, I'm going to get a medic. I don't want to move him - it could reopen these wounds and he'd bleed to death. You'll stay with him?"
"Does it look like he's going anywhere?" Dazir protested. Dare shook his head again.
"It's not him I'm worried about. I just wonder where the winner of this little scrap is."
"Oh. Good point," Dazir remarked. "I think I'll stay with him. Why don't you get a medic?"
"Brilliant idea," Dare said caustically. "I'll be back shortly then." He stood and headed for the speeder.

It was not long after Dare had gone when Dazir began to feel vaguely nervous. The normally collected young rabbit paced uncomfortably, unable to shake the feeling that he was being watched.
The injured rabbit never stirred. His wounds were no longer actually bleeding, but the crimson matting his fur and the blood-soaked dust beneath him were testament to the severity of his condition. Dare crouched by his charge, waving away the insects who came to investigate, keeping a wary eye on the forest around him and becoming more and more creeped out.
Dust-laden sunlight poured onto the track, creating a golden haze. Insects droned by. An unseen bird twitted and was answered. Only the copper tang of blood and the motionless body of the collapsed rabbit marred the scene. Indeed, Dazir began to relax despite his irrational fears.
So when what looked like the product of a mating between a monkey, a spider, and a block of titanium dropped down in front of Dazir, it took a moment to register.
Part of it was the complete lack of sound. Had an ear-piercing screech accompanied the thing, Dazir might have reacted faster. As it was, the thing managed to slash his face with a blade-taloned paw before Dazir put a dagger through its photoreceptor and used the other blade to part the silently-snarling head from its body. The thing spasmed, quivered, and collapsed.
Dazir retrieved his dagger from its "eye". The whole being was no longer than his arm. It was, he noticed, fully robotic and not a cyborg. Eight slender legs ended in 'paws' equipped with those blade-talons. The synthetic hide was tattered and bluish-grey.
It was improbable that the small robot, while vicious, could have inflicted the extreme damage on the anonymous rabbit. Dazir scanned the treeline, adrenaline heightening his senses, but saw nothing. Perhaps there had been others, destroyed and cleared away by the survivors? It was possible.
He had never been so glad to see that neon and black speeder when Dare finally returned.