“You want us to go jump running?”
Yoshi shrugs in response, desperate not to show that he’s equally frightened. The art of crossing urban environments by rooftop no longer leaves him in a cold sweat. As a parkour, or jump runner, he possessed a head for heights and a sense of balance that allowed him to jog along parapets and spring between buildings as if some guardian angel was there to protect him. Yoshi knows that a successful run depends on careful judgment and complete concentration. At this present moment, however, under siege from three bears up on a synthetic mountain top, his next move could only be a leap of faith. What troubles him all the more is whether Mikhail will find the courage to follow in his footsteps.
“I do realise this isn’t the easiest place to begin your first lesson,” he tells the young Russian. “There’s a long semi-circle of traffic bollards just outside the main gates that are brilliant for beginners to hop and skip between. I’d been hoping we could start there, but now we’re up here let’s be positive, huh? We might have further to fall, but at least we don’t have to do any more climbing.”
For once, Mikhail dares to take his eyes off the bears, and stares at his friend in amazement. “You really are serious! Yoshi, there’s no way out from here. We’re finished!”
Yoshi flattens his lips, clearly under pressure. “Listen to me,” he says, desperate now to convince his young friend. “You’re a street magician, right?”
“Yes, but a card trick isn’t going to stop these bears from mauling us to death. They don’t have the patience for a start!”
“When I first dropped in on you,” continues Yoshi, anxious to make his point, “I couldn’t believe it when you appeared to float on air, or find my name inside a fortune cookie I’d picked at random. Now, thanks to coaching from you and the rest of the crew, I can do the same tricks. I even earn my keep from it, same as you!”
“That’s because street magic is a skill. It might look like a gift, but anyone can learn how to do it.”
“And the same goes for jump running!” Yoshi faces Mikhail directly now, and grips him firmly by the shoulders. “You have to trust me when I say that I can get you out of here. Just have faith, and follow every move I make.”
“Hold on!” Mikhail seems as panicked by Yoshi’s proposal as he does by the presence of the grizzly bears. “I may have coached you to become a street magician, but it didn’t happen overnight. You made mistakes, and learned from them.” Briefly, the young Russian looks around. “But spilling your cards all over the floor is not quite the same as spilling your brains all over these rocks.”
“On my count,” breathes Yoshi insistently, as the largest grizzly tests them by scooping up grit and hurling it at their feet, “we’re going to sprint for the edge just as fast as we can. No more questions, Mikhail. We have no choice any more.”
“But there’s nothing beyond but fresh air!”
“Trust me. We have height and trajectory on our side.”
“Yeah, but not gravity,” Mikhail states plainly. “We’ll smash ourselves to smithereens!”
“Not if you put a spring in your final step and push out with your head high and your arms spread wide. It’s very important that you adopt that shape if you want to clear the rockfall and reach the mesh fence.”
Mikhail blinks back at him, looking slightly stunned. He responds in a strained whisper, as if fearing somehow that the bears will understand them. “Are you suggesting we swallow dive from this mountain? Good grief. That’s the craziest thing I ever heard!” An agitated growl from the grizzly behind Yoshi appears to help the young Russian accept that staying put might be a crazier move. He breathes out hard, and shakes the tension from his arms. “After you, then,” he says, and steps aside to clear the way. “I insist.”
Yoshi smiles weakly, more concerned by the massive hunks of muscle, sinew and fur that continue to glare and bellow at them. “Follow me to the letter, and we’ll be back in the bunker in no time. I’ll make a parkour of you before daybreak, and that’s a promise!”
“One thing,” adds the boy with the red spiky hair, just as Yoshi prepares to make the break.
“What’s that?”
“You’re not playing tricks with me here, are you?”
Frowning, Yoshi takes a moment to compose himself once more. “When it comes to illusions, you taught me everything I know,” he assures him finally. “Now it’s my turn to teach you what I do best.”