"What?" Mike looked around at the pitch black forest with a tinge of anger in his expression. "Are you serious? How did he lose the path when he was the one with the light? Of all the–" Then he stopped himself and stared wordlessly at the ground for a few minutes. When he spoke again, his voice was calm and businesslike as usual. "Never mind. I got a new compass so we can't get too lost. If the shed works we can get some rest there and start again in the morn–"
A loud crash suddenly drowned out the sound of the storm, followed soon after by a shout of warning from Bernon as the entire shed–now a tangle of splintered boards–was carried downslope towards them on a small tidal wave of water. Bernon had kept his footing by grabbing onto a tree, but the wreckage bearing down on Tanrial and Mike seemed bent on colliding with them.
There was no time to climb a tree or get out of the way quick enough to escape the wave. Tanrial extended her shield around both her and Mike, like a small protective bubble around them both. If her power held out, it should withstand the wave.
(Hmmm…what do you think, should we keep them together, or should we have Mike and Tanrial get separated from Bernon for extra drama? Up to you, I'm good either way ^^)
The wave and remains of the shed slammed into her shield and stayed there for a moment, groaning as more water and debris started to pile up around it.
(Split them up! It also gives Tanrial and Mike extra bonding time)
The shield faltered as a particularly strong wave hit the side but it was soon holding firm once more. The more water and debris, the harder it was becoming to hold under the weight.
(Oh hey! I didn't expect a quick reply, sorry XD)
Then there was a blinding flash of lightning, an enormous boom, and a tree right next to them was split straight in two. One half fell one way, and the other half came hurtling down onto the shield like a battering ram. Mike instinctively reached out and grabbed Tanrial's arm just as the wreckage gave way, washing over their shield in a tsunami wave of crushing water.
(You’re good, it was like midnight and I was supposed to be sleeping, Ooft)
Tanrial’s magic was straining at this point. One would see if they looked closely at the shield that very faint crack lines and where the air thinned out in some places. Three had made a significant dent into it, more of her magic being used to keep that part holding strong. At this rate, she didn’t know if she could hold it.
(Gotcha XD)
"Tanrial!" Mike shouted. "Make your magic into a ball around us and let it go with the current, we'll rise to the surface and find a way back up from there!"
“Alright, get ready to jump!” Tanrial replied. On three, the two of them jumped while the shield extended and closed, sealing them into a bubble that was quickly swept away by the current.
The slope was steep, and soon they were virtually racing along, buffeted on all sides by branches, small trees, and the pieces of the shed. The water crushed everything in its path except the occasional boulder that jutted out of the earth. It was against one of these boulders that they eventually came to rest, jammed snugly in place by a mid-sized log. This kept them from being swept away again–but on the downside, if their bubble vanished they'd be flattened by the log and the other things quickly piling up behind it.
Mike, looking dizzy but unhurt, looked around quickly. "This rock, we need to climb up onto it somehow!"
(Might be on again later tonight like yesterday btw)
“And how,” Tanrial started, swaying a little on her feet, “Exactly are we going to do that? If I drop the shield we’ll die and I don’t have enough strength to extend it enough for us to climb into the rock the drop it.” Another crashing wave hit them, the shield splitting a little more.
(kk ^^)
Mike's eyes narrowed in determination. Quickly reaching into his backpack, he pulled out a length of rope and tied one end around his waist, then gave her the rest. "Here, we need to tie ourselves together. Open the top of the shield, I'll climb out and then pull you up. Okay?"
Tanrial nodded, carefully tying the rope around her waist. She waited until after the water had slowed down just a little before opening the top of the shield for him, “Please hurry, I can’t hold it for long.”
Mike nodded and jumped up onto the side of the boulder, digging his fingertips into any cracks he could find. Luckily the rock wasn't very steep or slippery, and soon he was at the top, holding on tightly to withstand the wind and lashing rain. "Okay," he shouted, his voice barely audible even at this short distance. "I can pull you up now. Try to climb up like I did so I'm not lifting your whole weight."
Tanrial nodded, digging her fingers into a crack in the rock, "Never thought I'd do rock climbing on this trip." She muttered, climbing a little higher before letting the shield drop.
With a loud rumble, the wreckage was allowed to flow again, sending ice-cold water everywhere as it tumbled past. Mike hauled Tanrial up as quickly as he could, then took her hand and pulled her to safety on top of the boulder. After that, there was nowhere else for them to go. They were safe from the rushing floodwater, but completely exposed to the wind and rain, with no way to take shelter from it.
Mike kept one hand on the rope and put the other one down on the rock to steady himself. "Are you okay?" he yelled, trying to see by the lightning whether she had any injuries.
Tanrial nodded, gripping at the stone under them with one hand, "Yeah!" She yelled back, "Drained, yes, but I'm okay. What about you?"
"Fine," he responded. He pulled his coat more tightly around himself and stared at the rushing rapids below them while he caught his breath. "We can't stay out here in the open for long, or we'll start to be in danger of hypothermia. Do you see a good place to cross the water to high ground? The current looks pretty fast, but if we go quick we might be able to make it over a shallow spot."
(when you do nothing in drama rehearsals for three hours….)
Tanrial scanned the surrounding area, pointing to a small patch of dry ground not too far away. It was big enough for both of them fine, and high enough that the water wouldn’t touch them, “Over there. But I don’t know how we’ll cross… the water looks pretty deadly there, though…”
(oof)
Mike peered through the darkness at the spot she indicated. "It's a little too far to jump, I think….maybe if we wait for the right moment, we could cross while the current's a bit weaker. Think it could work?"
(Sorry, literally had rehearsals right after that and for the rest of the day…)
Tanrial tilted her head to the side in thought, watching the current slow for a millisecond then speed up again before she nodded, "I think it could. We just have to be very quick about it."
(np!)
Mike watched until he saw what she'd seen, then nodded shortly and took a breath. "Okay then. Let's get as far down the rock as we can and jump one at a time. I can go first again, if you're still feeling tired."
(Sorry, I had drama performances alllll day)
Tanrial bit her lip in though before nodding, "Yeah, probably for the best. By the time you're over I'll have some more energy back and be able to make it."
(No worries! I had a pretty wild day yesterday so I wasn't on much either ^^; )
Mike nodded and started inching down the side of the rock towards the shallow spot. Once he was as far as he could go, he waited in total concentration for a few minutes before suddenly launching himself across. He just barely managed to reach the patch of dry-ish ground and quickly grabbed onto a small tree that was there. Getting to his feet, he circled the tree a couple times to wrap the rope around it. "Okay," he called to Tanrial. "Your turn!"
(GuEsS wHo’S oN hOlIdAy? Me BiTcH!)
Tanrial nodded, slowly sliding down the rock and using the foot holes in the rock to steady herself as she went. She watched the water intently, waiting u til the right moment before leaping across. She made it, just and quickly scrambled into a better position.
(Oh BoY! hOlIdAyS aRe JuSt ThE bEe'S kNeEs! XDD lol what the heck does that even mean, me? TvT )
Mike helped her up away from the water and glanced around to assess their new position. "Well, this is a bit more sheltered, I think. It might be better if we went uphill a bit further, maybe found some real shelter…." he paused and glanced at her. "But how are you doing? If you're feeling too weak to make the climb, we can stay here and wait for the storm to die down before we move."
(Lol! I dunno how you’d know about holidays as you’re a HoMe sChOoLeD bOi! Can’t you have holidays whenever?)
She waved a hand dismissively, waving off the question though it was obvious she was still recovering, “I’m fine, don’t worry. I can make the climb, I’m sure.”
(Well….it's not so black and white, I guess? The kind of homeschooling we do is technically called "un-schooling" and the mantra of un-schooling is "learning never stops", basically meaning that structured education is pointless because kids are naturally in love with learning and always asking questions, etc. etc. So in a way you could say that we never get holidays! XDD On the other hand we never have homework or exams or extra credit work so in a way, yeah, ours is a lot like a permanent holiday hah ^^; )
He paused for just a second to study her expression, as if analyzing how likely she was to be lying, then nodded. "Let's not untie the rope yet, just in case. And let's go up where there's more trees so we'll have something to hold on to." He unwound himself from his own tree and started forward without another moment's hesitation. "Let's look for a high, dry place that's sheltered from the wind. We've definitely been out here in the elements long enough to get sick from it."
(crickets un-schooling… I don't like it… now I kinda wanna see how'd you'd fair in a public high-school, (it is high-school, right? Or some equivalent?) honestly that shit is craAaAaAzy. And no homework? Damn, lucky. Oh my stars, do you have "Growth mindset"??)
She stumbled slightly at the abrupt take off but recovered quick enough, walking in step with him, "Do you think Bernon's okay?" She asked, ignoring what he had just said, "I hope his tree didn't collapse or anything."
(Spits water Oh hahaha hon, I would probably die in public school. Like, forget the workload, I'm shy as all heck and rarely even interact with my own age group sweats That's the widely accepted downside of homeschooling lol, is that getting a social life going is usually much harder. But, I'll figure it out somehow XD And hmm….growth mindset does sound like a familiar term. I would say it's definitely part of our education experience, yeah. )
"I'm honestly more worried that he tried to go after us," Mike replied, starting to hike slowly up the near-treacherous slope. "That current wasn't messing around. He could easily drown or get crushed by the wreckage if he just jumped in. If he has any sense at all, he's waiting out the storm before he decides what to do."
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