1. I re-wrote the entire first 3 pages (Royce and Isabelle were horribly out of character, though amusing) and changed the title 4 times (they just plain stunk). It's not important, but I thought I'd just explain why it took so long this time. 2. Thanks for all the reviews! Keep 'em coming. Oh, and anybody want to apply for the position of beta reader. Windows Office is not to be trusted anymore.
Survival skills: On the Steps of Gods
Isabelle pushed herself further into the shadow of the rock face and waited. From here she could see out in an almost 180 degree arch and still be comfortable, perfect for her current occupation. The rains that had stared started a week ago had finally hit a lull. The sky however was heavy with gray clouds that could burst at any moment. The bait was set and she knew that it wouldn't take long for a nibble. At least she hoped it wouldn't. This churning mass of water and accompanying waterfall was nothing like cool dark pool she had remembered discovering. She kept one eye on the surrounding trees and another on the homemade bobber floating in the pond and let her mind briefly wonder.
She found this spot the morning after she had the disjointed dreamed of her mother. Royce was gone when she woke up. He wasn't in the generator when she checked and the mask with the broken lower jaw bone attached, as well as a bracer was missing. She concluded that he was off on the planet somewhere going about his business and that she needed to start hers. She grabbed one of the few remaining MRE's, a medium size bag, her rifle and made her way out into the new world determined to find something edible. The hunt for an animal for food was a bust, but she hadn't really expected to be very successful in this foreign jungle. Besides she remembered reading somewhere that in hunter- gather societies most of the food came from the gatherers, not the hunters. So, she spent most of the first part of the day finding the rhythm of this jungle and hoping to find an edible plant. She found a few rabbit looking creatures nibbling on some pinkish berries, but they were off before she could get a shot off. She pulled the berries off and stowed them away in the bag she had tied to her belt and hoped they weren't poisonous, but if the animals thought it was okay to eat she'd give them a try.
She came to a small crick in her wanderings and followed it carefully, knowing if she found it so would other predators. The trees thinned and Isabelle stood in awe for a few moments taking in her surroundings. Below her, the land dropped off abruptly at a 90 degree angle and the stream of water she followed languidly fell down the side. Above her the unfamiliar sky with strange planets loomed ever closer. She wondered, not for the first time, what force kept them from colliding into each other. Before her were the tops of green trees and the slight curve of the horizon. She took a cautious step closer the edge and looked down. The stream fell into a pool of slowly churning water surrounded by trees about 7 to 8 meters below. About another 7 to 8 meters from the edge of the cliff the land dropped off again giving Isabelle the impression of steps. Curious now, she shifted her weapon to her side and squatted down to examine the rock beneath her closer. The angles seemed too perfect to be natural somehow; the rock forming the face of the cliff was perfectly flat with only small cracks marring the surface. She followed the straight line of the rock with her eyes on as it was engulfed by the shadows of trees. Someone or something had cut into this area making these steps. Royce might find this interesting at least. She stood up ready to turn back to the station when she heard a splash below. She pointed her rifle down in time to see a fish swim back below the black surface of water below and the idea to fish occurred to her. She was ashamed she hadn't thought of it earlier, it was a lot easier and safer to sit in one spot then to go trampling through an unknown forest. The pool itself formed a perfect circle that sat in the center of the ledge and touched the edges. Her curiosity got the better of her again and she began to follow the edge looking for a safe route down to the next level.
She gave up hours later. The face of the top step was too smooth and trees that were growing on the next level were either just out of reach or not tall enough to climb down safely. She looked up at the sky and sighed in frustration. The larger of the planets was beginning to block the rays of the star this planet orbited, elongating the shadows. She was tempted to watch how this planet became night, but she knew it wasn't safe. Her shoulder was beginning to ache and her stomach grumbled reminding her that she hadn't eaten since lunch. She tried out a few of the berries in an effort to quite the grumbling, they had a strange taste of orange and strawberries. She decided not to eat anymore just in case they were poisonous, she didn't want to be vomiting out here alone in the bushes, and put them away. She cautiously made her way back to the station, one part of her mind on the forest around her, the other on ways to make rope and a passable fishing kit.
Light spilled into the hallway from the open hatchway when she came to the room they occupied. She remembered closing the hatch and shutting off the lights when she left that morning. Wary and suddenly worried Royce might be hurt or in trouble, she readied her weapon and put her back to the wall. She ducked her head down and back up quickly doing a quick scan of the room. Royce sat with his feet in the pit, his back facing the door.
"You need to work on your stealth. I heard you coming awhile ago." She heard him as she stood in the hallway. She shook her head and smiled a little at herself. Of course he's fine. She ducked under the hole and made her way in.
"I usually have a few kilometers between myself and my target and there's nothing wrong with my stealth." She took the open can of beans he offered up as she passed by him on her way to her bed. "You just have the ears of a dog."
"Are you saying I have ugly ears?"
She put down the can of beans and turned to him. He smirked and took a bite of his own beans and waited for her response.
"You know that's not what I meant." She turned back towards the wall and gently shrugged out of the strap connecting her to her rifle. She smothered a grunt as the movement pulled at the stitches in her shoulder; she didn't remember it being this hard to put on.
"You okay?" She heard Royce asked from behind her. Dog ears, she thought.
"I'm fine, just a little tired." She sat down facing him, picked up her can and took a bite. She wasn't fond of beans and she especially wasn't fond of cold beans. She remembered the steps and told Royce about them and about her fishing idea as they ate.
"I just need to find a way down there. At least I know for sure there is at least one fish in that pond. I could try the lake I suppose, this is closer." She shrugged as she finished her story and her beans. She rolled her neck on her shoulders trying to ease the tension from the day away and winced as the movement again pulled the stitches.
"Okay. That's the third time I've heard you grunt." Royce said as he stood up. It was?
"So, come on let me see."
She didn't argue this time and pulled the shirt away from the wound. He knelt down in front of her, a position that was beginning to get more and more common, and peeled back a corner of the gauze to study her took the opportunity to study his face closer. His nose sat on his face oddly and light scars scattered across his face and neck. He wasn't by any means movie star handsome or pretty boy beautiful. He was rugged and weathered. But his eyes were nice and said things the rest of his face didn't. She struggled to find a word that described him and failed, he was just Royce.
"What?" He said quietly as he looked up at her. She shook her head and looked away.
"Nothing."
"You might wanna take it easy tomorrow. It looks like some of the stitches might rip." He said as he put the gauze back and sat back on his heels in front of her. She looked down at his injured leg and said "How's your leg?"
He stood up and grabbed his empty can of beans. "It's fine."
"Let me have a look." She pulled her shirt back into place and heaved herself up to her feet.
"I said its fine." He said venomously with a flash of fire in his eyes as he looked over at her. Startled at his abrupt shift in mood she froze in place.
He looked down and put the can in the bag that contained all their garbage.
"Sorry." He mumbled out, "Trust me my leg is fine. I've been taking care of myself since I was eight and this was nothing." He waved toward his leg. She eased herself back down.
"What happened to your father?"
"What?" He said, looking over at her sharply.
"Your mother died when you were eight. What about your father? Why didn't he take care of you?" She asked bravely, ignoring his darkening mood. She saw a muscle in his jaw twitch. He took a breath and said "Let's just say he didn't know what to do with me and leave it at that."
He turned his back to her effectively ending the conversation and slid on an alien bracer. "I figured something out about this." Isabelle was tempted to press him further, but decided against it. He was obviously a private man and she felt lucky for any information he was willing to give. Since when did scraps of information become good enough for me? Probably around the time he started quoting Hemmingway, she thought.
He secured the oversized mask with a string on his head and punched in a few buttons on the bracer. He took on a sudden watery appearance with streaks of lightening running through and then disappeared entirely from her view. She had seen this before, albeit in reverse, but the sight was still awe inspiring. A 'wow' escaped her lips and she stood up slowly, mouth open. She reached a hand out to where he was and felt nothing but air. She scanned the area and saw nothing.
"Turn around." She heard a muffled version of Royce's voice and she turned. He shimmered back into existence and took the mask off. Excitement filled her and she smiled a bright full toothed smile at him. He seemed to freeze for a moment and a small answering smile formed. She grabbed the back of his neck and raised herself up on her toes and kissed briefly, full on the mouth. He blinked in surprise. She fell back on her feet and reached for the mask.
"Show me how to do that." She said and he did.
She woke up alone again the next day. They spent half of the nigh with him teaching her how to use the alien technology and the other half was spent trying to figure out how she could wear the necessary gear. Royce was big enough so that the bracer and the mask was just oversized on him, but on her it was like a child wearing adult clothing. The mask fell down over her head and the bracer slipped passed her hand. In the end they managed to rig the bracer to fit snugly over her thigh. The bird like mask she had claimed was secured by a complicated system of cloth and string. If they managed to find a helmet to attach it to the mask would fit much better on her head. The helmet and mask that Nolan had was missing, presumably he had it hid somewhere before he died. She outfitted herself with the alien wear and headed out into the morning light determined to find a suitable fishing pole.
She walked through the jungle cloaked and felt invulnerable in her invisibility. She found a bamboo-like plant near the crick and was in the process of cutting the plant down into a usable portion when she heard the birds above her give an alarm. She quickly slipped into some underbrush, even though she was invisible years of training was hard to ignore. She took her rifle from around her shoulder and brought it to the ready. She watched as the cloaking technology compensated for the length of her rifle and enveloped it in electric water before it vanished. Leaves fell to the ground as the birds overheard, frightened, left their perches. She looked up and saw two creatures silhouetted against the sun, grappling each other in the air and falling. She followed them with her rifle as they hit the ground with a thud and Isabelle immediately recognized the creature on top as the Lilith from days ago. The Lilith was pushed into the air again by the powerful back legs of the creature she was fighting. Unable to unfurl her wings in time she landed on her knees a meter away, one hand on the ground the other pulling out a knife from a sheath on her belt. She looked bloody, battered and pissed. The creature she fought was big, brown and equally as pissed. The creature had bat like wings that started from its thigh and ended at its clawed hands. It stood up on its legs and charged the Lilith with a loud roared. Isabelle took an unconscious step back further into the underbrush at the sound. The Lilith managed to take to the air and get half a meter off the ground before the creature collided with her. The knife was knocked out of her hand as they hit the ground again. They grappled on the forest floor for a moment before the creature wiggled an arm free and slashed across her chest, leaving a ribbon of blood in its wake. The Lilith cried out, pushed away and tried to fly again, but the brown creature tackled her back to the ground. The creature put all its weight down on her and suddenly Isabelle knew she had a choice to make. Let this play out or hopefully make an ally. She lined up her sights and the world slowed. She saw the pain and fright in the Lilith's face. The leaves spun crazily to the ground. The creature open it's razor toothed mouth and slowly bent down towards the exposed neck of the Lilith. Isabelle fired.
Time sped back up as the brown creature fell heavily to its side and hole in neatly placed in its head. The Lilith sat up quickly pushing the remains of the creature off her and looked around startled. She spoke out into the forest in the same musical language Isabelle remembered. Isabelle remained hidden uncertain how the Lilith would react to an uncloaking human. After a minute of the stalemate the Lilith picked up her knife and began to slice the leathery wings off the creature. Isabelle dared to slide closer to watch her work and she stepped on a twig, snapping it. Damn it Royce, why do you always have to be right, she thought.
The Lilith swung around quickly and kicked dirt and leaves up into the area Isabelle stood. For a moment the cloak failed as the debris outlined her shape. It compensated quickly and Isabelle was once again hidden, but she knew she had been spotted. The Lilith snarled at her and raised her knife. Isabelle quickly pulled the mask up over head dropping it to the ground, breaking the cloak and released her rifle to raise her hand up between them.
"WAIT, wait. It's me. We've met before." She felt stupid. The rifle hung heavy and awkward on her shoulder. "I'm Isabelle." She put the raised hand in on her chest and waited, hoping she got her message across. The Lilith cocked her head to the side and lowered her knife. Isabelle sighed in relief, she wasn't entirely sure she would have been the victor if they had fought. The Lilith's lips curled upward in what Isabelle would have called a smile in a human, but as it stood she didn't know anything about alien physiology. It could be precursor to a blood duel, or something. The Lilith stepped back and squatted over the creature on the ground facing Isabelle. She then started talking and pointing at the creature.
"I don't understand." Isabelle said and shook her head. The Lilith looked up and sighed in frustration. At least Isabelle hoped it was just frustration. The Lilith quickly sliced away both wings from the body and raised one up to Isabelle. Isabelle warily stepped forward and took it. The Lilith put the other wing up to her mouth and mimed like she was eating it. Isabelle nodded in understanding and said thank you knowing she wouldn't be understood. The Lilith nodded in return and sheathed her knife. She rolled up her wing and shoved it into her belt. Isabelle cringed as the blood from the wing dripped down the Lilith's leg. The Lilith gathered up the remains of the brown creature and rose into the airand left without looking watched her fly away and looked down at the wing weighing down her arms. I guess this is my thank you gift. She shrugged, it could be worse. She made it back to the station just before the planets cycled into night armed with a wing dinner, a fishing pole and a really good story to tell Royce.
They roasted the wing over a fire down in a well ventilated cavernous portion the drill of the mining station seemed to stop working. The fire warmed and lit the chamber in a welcoming glow that relaxed both of them. Royce wasn't very surprised by her story.
"I've seen her flying around every once in a while. Hunting, I suppose." He shrugged. "It was just a matter of time before one of us met up with her again." His eyes danced in the firelight. "Figures it had to be you." She sent him a rude gesture and he smiled. The meat tasted like beef jerky. Royce told her about the traps he had set and was planning to set around the station. He also pulled out the net that had ensnared her and the bastard Edwin.
He shrugged at her confused look and said "I figure it could be some good rope to get down to that fishing hole you seem so obsessed with." She smiled at him and thanked him. They spent the rest of the night weaving it into a single line of rope.
Later that night she tossed in her bed of rags and hoped to find a position that didn't make her shoulder ache.
"Can't sleep?" Royce said from his side of the room.
"My shoulder is sore, too much activity today I guess." She raised a hand up. "And before you ask the stitches are fine. I just wish I had a comfortable bed." She dropped her hand and repositioned again.
"I wish I had a rare steak and a sour cream and chives potato." He replied.
"I wish I had a hot bath with mounds of bubbles in it." She played along. She heard movement and turned her head. He walked over to her with a ball of cloth in his hands.
"I wish I had a bottle of beer, a Guinness. Sit up." He said and she did. He stuffed the cloth behind her and gently pushed her back down.
"Better?"
"Yeah." She said because it was true. He looked down at her for a moment. He swept some hair away from her face and she thought he might lean down and kiss her again but he walked back to his own bed.
"When we get back I'll make sure you get a room with comfy bed and a huge tub." He said placing his hands behind his head and closing his eyes.
"I'll call down for room service and have a steak sent up for you." She said and saw him smile in the darkness. She fell asleep thinking of baths and Royce.
The next day Royce insisted on accompanying here to the steps. He said it was to help her carry the rope to her fishing hole, but she suspected it might also have something to do with her encounter with the Lilith. He followed quietly behind her as they walked uncloaked through the trees. His mask hung from his belt, while hers dangled like a backpack from her good shoulder. When they arrived, he dropped the heavy rope to the ground as surveyed the steps the same way she had.
"Nice place." He said and tied the rope to a nearby tree before dropping it down the side. She fastened her new fishing pole to her back along with her rifle and sat at the edge of the stairs. She looked up at Royce as placed the mask over her face. He stood beside her looking at the pool below.
"Do you want to come down?" She asked, the mask muffling her voice.
"No," He shook his head "This is your thing. You sure your shoulder can handle it?"
She moved it back and forth testing it, looking for pain.
"It should be alright."
"Okay." He said and turned around down the direction they had come from, activating his cloak.
"Good talk." She mumbled to herself as she activated her own cloak and climbed down.
It had begun to sprinkle as she tiredly made her way back up the rope several hours later. Going down had been a breeze, coming back up was considerably harder. She had caught three fish and had a better understanding of the pool. She had dipped her homemade meter long fishing pole down into it until she held it by just her fingertips under the water and found no bottom. The sides of the circular pool were smooth and plunged straight down, like a tube. This was definitely created by someone, however the purpose of which Isabelle couldn't begin to fathom. She wondered after she caught her first fish if perhaps the fish were put in the tube of water just to be farmed.
She sat on the top of the steps, her feet dangling over the sides and caught her breath. She felt a sharp electrical jolt in her thigh and almost fell off. She looked down and could see her thigh intermittently appear and disappear in the now familiar electrical watery wave. She glanced around to make sure she was alone before turning off the malfunctioning cloak. Water must mess with it somehow. She filed the information away in her head. She pulled the mask off and tilted her head back to let the rain wash the dirt and sweat away from her face. She got up a few seconds later and headed back to the station.
She had found a fair sized skillet and cooked the fish in it over a fire in the cavern. While she cooked, she was wondered why anyone would have a skillet on them when they were dropped here. But she supposed killers were a strange lot and could have just about anything on them. Royce walked into the cavern, just as she finished the last fish.
"There you are. Come outside." He said to her.
"Why?"
"You've got to see this." He said holding out his hand to her. She looked down at it and then back up at his face. He seemed almost...excited? She put the food down and slipped her hand into his grasp.
"Com'on." He said with a tug and led her up through the tunnels to the outside.
The second she stepped out into the night she gasped. The rain had stopped and the air was alive. Warm lights of blue, red, white and green danced in the sky, filling the air. They coalesced into a bright shimmering ball for a moment only to disperse again.
"I think they're like lighting bugs from back home." Royce said in an awed whisper from next to her, his hand large and warm still clinging to hers. She nodded.
"They remind me a little of fireworks." She in equal quiet reverence, as if talking aloud would scatter the lights away.
"My mom would send me out to catch lightning bugs when my dad got too drunk. I became quite good at it." He said without a hint of bitterness.
She looked at his face lit up in fairy lights and saw no shadows in his eyes. This was a part of his past he had made peace with and she squeezed his hand.
"You should see them when you have the mask on." He said looking down at her.
Her mask sat next to the fire and the now cooling fish.
"I left mine inside."
He dropped her hand and pressed some buttons on his bracer. He slipped around behind her and brought his mask down over her face.
"Can you see them?" He whispered into her ear, his arms bracketing her in pseudo embrace.
"Yes." She whispered back. Sharp and vivid, the sparkling insects danced across her plain of vision. Warm in the embrace of the man behind her, with the sky alive in wonder above her, Isabelle could almost hear her mother whisper to her. "Have hope." That night after the fish was eaten and the fire was put out she lay in her bed and looked over to where Royce slept and thought: Today was a good day.
The rains began in earnest the next day. The pound of the water hitting the metal of the station woke them up that morning. Royce attempted to go out in it, but returned shortly after, dripping wet and cursing. "Can't even see two feet in front of me."
The first few days were spent in relative silence, each person tending to their own tasks. Isabelle improved her fishing line, made a few new hooks and shaved her legs. Royce spent most of his time either in the generators or down in the cavern the drill had made, exploring. By the third day both were beginning to go a little stir crazy. Royce's bad mood had shortened his sentences to monosyllabic grunts and he had begun to avoid her. Isabelle refilled the water barrel and then out of pure boredom, had begun to rearrange and clean their living quarters. She found a beaten old deck of cards and almost wept in joy.
She was playing another round of solitaire when he splashed in dripping wet and carrying a large limp rat looking thing by the tail.
"What is that?" She asked trying to disguise her disgust. He raised the animal a little higher and inspected it second before saying "Dinner?" She was afraid he was going to say that.
She swept the cards back up into a pile and stood up. "Well let's go get it cleaned up then."
He followed her through the hatch. "You find some cards?"
"I did."
"Do they play Spades in Brazil?"
It took both of them to figure out how the best way to clean and cook the animal Royce had caught. He told her he was out answering the call of nature and getting some fresh air when he spotted the animal rooting around the rain pounded mud like a hog, it was an easy kill. As they ate she teased him by saying not to bother with these types of animals anymore because they tasted like garbage. He shrugged his broad shoulders and said "It just needs some salt or pepper or sugar or gravy or anything to cover the taste." She smiled over at him.
Royce explained the rules for the game he called spades. She was just beginning to win a few games when he stood up and yawned. "Time for lights out, I think." She looked up from the cards she was gathering into a pile and glimpsed at his lean stomach as his shirt was pulled up by his over the head arm stretch. She pushed away the urge to brush her fingers across the soft patch of skin and looked up at his face.
"You need to shave. You're beginning to look like a wild man." She told him with a grin. He brought his hand to his face and scratched his beard.
"Maybe I'll trim it down. How 'bout a goatee?" He said kicking off his boots. She cringed.
"Go ahead. Just don't be surprised if you see me hovering over you at night with a razor and shaving cream." She slid off her own boots and stood. She watched in mild surprise as he made himself comfortable on her bed. She walked over to him and looked down at his prone form. "You're on my side."
His arm covered his eyes, but she could see the small smile on whiskered face. "I know how terrible you are at sneaking. I'm giving you a chance to get away with shaving me tonight." She rolled her eyes and laid down next to him.
"I might just surprise you one day. Scoot over."
"You surprise me just about every day." He mumbled sleepily and moved over. She went to sleep with the heat of his body centimeters away, but she woke up, as always, alone. When she saw him next day he was clean shaven.
They next four days were spent much in the same way as that day. One of them would venture out into the blistering rain during the day and seek out an easy meal. Sometimes they were successful sometimes they were not. During the evening they would play cards, sometimes she would win, sometimes she wouldn't. She had begun to teach him Hebrew during the games, mostly just to see how fast he could pick up on the language. He did quite quickly, of course. At night he would plop himself down on her bed and she would half halfheartedly complain about it before lying down next to him. She would always wake up alone.
On the seventh night they laid side by side facing the ceiling, when she noticed that the pound of the rain didn't sound as hard.
"I think the rain is slowing." She spoke quietly into the gloom of the room.
"Yeah."
"I think I'll go down to the steps tomorrow if it stops."
"Okay."
He rolled on his side to face her and she turned her head at the movement. He licked his lips and opened his mouth several times as if he was trying to figure out a way to say something.
"Just say what you're thinking." She said encouragingly. He looked up and met her eyes.
"Be careful."
She smiled and crinkled her brow a little. "I will. Why was that hard to say?" She asked. He answered her question by cupping her jaw and kissing her slowly. It had been a week since she last kissed him and now with his lips caressing hers she wondered how she lasted that long. He ended it much sooner than she would have liked and roll on his back, gently taking left her arm with him. She rolled with the movement until she was on her side facing him. He pulled her closer to him placing her snugly against him. He brought her hand up onto his chest, over his heart. "Because I've never said to anyone before." He said with his eyes closed.
Isabelle was startled out of her memories by a screech of a bird in the trees from this level of the steps. She turned and aimed her rifle in the direction she heard the alarm. She still wasn't quite sure what kind of bird it was always warning her of danger but she was grateful for its sharp eyes. She carefully scanned the area. The bushes in front of her shifted and a four legged beast the size and look of a wild boar stepped out from them. The beast walked over the rushing water and drank. She was surprised this morning when she saw the state of her fishing spot. The creek that led to the steps had turned into a small, but rushing river. The gentle cascade of the creek into the pond below had become a full blown water fall. The pond itself churned with energy and rushed over the side into yet another churning mass of water on the next step. The water on that ledge also fell over the edge. She could only guess that the water continued fall from ledge after ledge like a crazy water park ride. She was almost tempted to find an inner tube and go for a ride.
She watched the boar creature, comfortable behind her alien cloak, deciding the best place to hit it so it would go down quickly. An animal of this size would feed Royce and herself for a week. She hoped the overly large mask on her face wouldn't impede the line of sight on the animal. She took a breath and the world slowed just the way it should. The water slid to a crawl. The whoosh from the waterfall became a muffled background noise. The thirsty animal lapped slowly from the muddy water. The animal staggered from the shot and the world came back to speed. She curse under her breath, she must have just missed the kill shot. She watched the wounded creature stumble closer to the edge of the steps.
"No, no, no, NO." She said as she quickly chambered anther round and lined up her sights again.
"Fuck." It fell over the side. She closed her eyes and slumped her head down onto her rifle. Great, now what? She opened her eyes when she felt the jolt in her thigh and watched her rifle shimmered in and out of her view. It had begun to rain again. Double fuck. She switched off the cloaking device on her leg and stood, scanning the area with her rifle. Once she was sure she was alone she eased her way through the mud toward the edge to see where the animal had fallen. It lay just next to the other pool of water, its neck at an awkward angle, now clearly dead. She stood on the edge thinking about what she needed to do next, when she heard Royce yell down to her from the top of the steps.
"Is?"
"Over here. I'm glad you're here." She pushed the mask up like a hat onto her head and smiled up at him. He blinked.
"Really? Why's that?"
"Because down on the next level is enough food to keep us fed for a week and you are going to help me bring it up." She yelled up at him and turned to look down the edge.
Her foot slipped in the mud and for a few terrible seconds she thought she was going to fall. Then for a few terrible seconds she did fall. The sky and its strange satellites rolled past her view. She thought she heard an "Isabelle" from far away before the blinding pain in her arm and cold water engulfed her. She tumbled and spun and fell again with new pain hitting her. She tumbled again and again, before water and blackness surrounded her. Then the world shifted.
Authors note: I know there are a few of you out there that may wish to cause me bodily harm right now. Just take a deep breath and know that I've already started on the next chapter.