Originally written for the DDCC 2008 Challenge
Prompt: Wet
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Flash Flood
It had started off as nothing more than a light drizzle, not long after they had set out towards the mountains, and it had remained that way for several hours. They had tried to stay cheerful, but the constant shower soon dampened their spirits and they had trudged on in silence. They soon lost sight of their destination due to the resulting mist, so it was fortunate that the path they were following was so well used and had steep inclines on both sides to prevent them straying from it.
It was early evening when the weather changed, unfortunately changing for the worst. The previously light rain transformed to become a heavy, thunderous downpour, and the basic waterproofs that Presto had managed to conjure up that morning proved to be completely inadequate against the torrent. There was no hope of shelter and whereas before the water had been draining away, it was now beginning to collate, slowly at first, but then increasing in speed.
He watched helplessly as it reached his knees, willing it to stop, but it continued rising. He was freezing, miserable, and now he was completely soaked. He hated days like this. But then he hated most days stuck in this dumb place. In fact, life before the Realm hadn't been so great either. His parents ignored him, the kids at school despised him, and the only friend he had that hadn't been there for his money had been a lonely science nerd.
A desperate bleating caught his attention and he was just in time to prevent the small unicorn from being swept away, scooping her up instinctively with his free hand. Uni shivered in his arms, probably a combination of fright and cold he surmised, but he stared blankly at her. He had no plan on carrying her and moved towards Bobby, about to make some comment on her being his pet, hence his problem, when he realised how impractical that would be.
The water had now reached his chest, which translated to neck height for the Barbarian. Bobby was clearly finding it difficult to keep his balance and his sister was already wading towards him. Hank was just behind her and he could see that the Ranger was shouting something, but the noise from the storm made it impossible to hear. He began to move closer, perceiving as he did so that Diana and Presto were also heading towards the struggling child.
They all reached him at virtually the same time, Hank and Diana getting to him just ahead of the others, and each grabbing an arm to assist him. At that moment a loud clap of thunder sounded overhead and then, unexpectedly, but mercifully welcome, the rain ceased, the clouds vanished and the suns appeared. The water stopped rising, and after a minute or two it began to fall, leaving a very sodden and bedraggled group in its wake.
Typical he thought as he looked skywards, rolling his eyes. He was on the verge of expressing the sentiment aloud, but upon looking at everyone around him, he changed his mind and remained uncharacteristically silent. Everyone was shivering slightly, but luckily they were now only a very short distance from the edge of the mountains, a fact they could all see now the deluge had stopped. They hurried on without speaking, and he hardly even noticed that he was still cradling Uni in his arms at they walked.
They arrived at the start of the mountain trail and began making their way up a gentle slope when they discovered a small cave. Deciding that this would be a good place to dry off and rest, they quickly set up a makeshift camp and soon had a fire burning.
He sat down near the back of the cave and observed the activity around him. They were all behaving as he would have expected. Hank was gazing at Sheila as she fussed over Bobby, the latter of which was protesting very loudly, insisting that he was OK and that he didn't need another blanket. He also noticed with some amusement that Hank had that far off, wistful look in his eyes that he often had when he watched the Thief when he thought no one else was looking.
He turned his head away, feeling like he was intruding and saw Diana and Presto heading towards him. Neither of them spoke when they reached him. Instead they each grabbed a hand, pulled him to his feet and made him join them next to the fire, sitting down beside him, the Acrobat to his left, the Magician to his right. Uni trotted behind them, having remained close to him since nearly drowning, and then curled up directly in front of him.
He hadn't realised how cold he had been until now and was genuinely glad that his friends had fetched him from where he had first sat. He absent-mindedly stretched out a hand and stroked the unicorn's mane. He reflected on his thoughts from less than an hour ago, miserable, depressing thoughts, and realised how much had changed since they had opted to go on the Dungeons and Dragons ride that fateful day.
He smiled to himself. He loved days like this. So he was cold and a little water logged, but that no longer mattered. He had been reminded of something far more important. He had his friends, friends that he could count on, friends that he trusted, friends that he really cared about for who they were, not for what they could do for him. He smiled again, happy to sit in silence, surrounded by his friends.
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THE END