10
Gregor feels a sudden rush, then is pulled back into the world. Water is pouring out of his mouth and nose, and he coughs painfully. He is not sure, but he thinks can hear Wynnora calling his name. Yes. It is her. He can see her now.
"Gregor! Oh. I thought I lost you," she says. Howard holds her back, so Gregor can finish coughing and throwing up water. He looks over, and sees that only Luxa and Hipp are fully soaked like him. He is able to cough a weak "What happened?"
"Whiptail changed courses during her watch," Lapblood calls angrily from the other boat. Gregor cannot see her, but he imagines she is cowering from the sight of the angry Lapblood.
"I only did what I thought Luxa wanted," the gnawer explains.
"No one is to change Howard's course," Luxa says firmly. She is beyond angry, and her voice stays low like a storm. Wynnora is simply overjoyed that Gregor is alive after almost drowning, and is now kissing Howard on the cheek repeatedly.
"That is enough," he says, pushing her away (Gregor thinks he is not trying very hard). "It would appear Luxa gets her wish. Passing through the rapids will shorten our journey greatly." This gets a smug smile out of Luxa.
"I thought you said we could not navigate both boats through, Captain."
"Yes, well trying to save both boats almost cost the lives of both you and Gregor." Luxa almost died too? What happened? Wynnora explains.
"After we were lifted in the boat, we thought we were safe. Then Whiptail accidently backed into Luxa, which threw her overboard. The fliers were able to hold up the boat until Aurora got Luxa back. Then we saw you go over. Hipp dove in to get you, then Howard gave you CPR."
"What is a CPR?" he asks.
"What you just did. You know. Chest pumps."
"Oh." Then he gets back to business. "I believe I cracked you ribs, Gregor. You will have some pain."
"That's alright. I'm just happy to be alive. Thanks," Gregor said, finally able to work a smile. Wynnora leans over and hugs him, sending pain through his whole upper body, but he hugs back. Gregor looks around for Kik and Kot, and finds them on the far side of the boat. "Thank you. Howard and I wouldn't have made it without your help." That catches Howard's attention.
"Oh yes. I owe you many thanks, crawlers. We would have been unable to save the boat without your assisstance." Gregor is not sure, but the crawlers seem pleased.
Luxa and Lapblood reprimand Whiptail again. Gregor feels a little bad. She is small for a gnawer, and looks young with light grey fur. She was just trying to help, but ended up messing up and being clumsy instead. Gregor has done the same in the past. Still, this is probably a good time for her to learn.
They journey on for another day and a half with the boats. Whiptail is not given any more watches, and the Underlanders are wary of her. Wynnora tries to talk to her, and they strike up a bit of a friendship, which Gregor is happy to see. Gregor, decides he needs to talk to Hippolyta.
She dove in after him, and he was very grateful. It was not a matter of a flier scooping their bond out of the waves, like Aurora did for Luxa. Hippolyta had to actually dive into the rapids and drag Gregor out. He thanked her, and she brushed it off. He decided to talk to her, learning that Hector was her mate, and got used to flying with her.
When they finally reached the tunnel, which was marked with a carved X, everyone helped to pack supplies. The boats would remain at the entrance to the tunnel until they returned. Kik and Kot could easily carry many of the supplies, and Gregor was again grateful. He was helping Luxa pack spare torches when he thought of something.
"I thought the gnawers controlled this area," he said.
"Oh no. Their territory begins far from here," the queen replied.
"It's just, last time I was on a boat down here, I thought the land all belonged to the gnawers. I didn't know there was more land to find."
"Perhaps the Underland is larger than you think," she said looking at him. "Much of it goes unmapped. It is difficult to explore the Underland with the need of survival to be thought of first." Gregor saw her point. Underlanders cannot very well go exploring when they have to focus on protection or growing enough food. No wonder it took a prophecy to convince people to find new land.
Gregor looked down the tunnel. It was damp from the sea, but Gregor assumed it would dry out farther down. What few records they have from the previous expedition say the cave is just down this tunnel, but that is all they know. Other records of what happened and what was found were lost in war or natural disaster. Gergor sincerely hoped that there was nothing deadly down the tunnel. "But with my luck," he thought, "There probably is."