Hello everyone! Yeah, I'm not dead. I apologize for not updating sooner, school has been... crazy, and I have a lot to handle right now, so I can't promise I will keep publishing at a regular pace (does that even make sens?). Anyways, enough with the chit chat and let's go to the chapter!
It was a beautiful day.
The cold, gray days had given way to sunshine and a bluer sky than Cassie had ever seen. She had never seen such a pure color.
She loved this weather. She loved to feel the warmth of the sun's rays on her skin, the gentle breeze on her cheeks.
Anya, who seemed to have been in a good mood thanks to the weather, was at this moment on the training ground, sweating while fighting one of her warriors. Cassie was sitting cross-legged off the field, her back to the forest. With her chin resting on her fist, she gazed thoughtfully at Anya's speeding figure, and her concentrated expression that Cassie found unmistakably hot.
Her shawl on her head, she remained thoughtful, still and silent, as Anya had ordered her. She had discovered that Anya was much nicer when she obeyed her, and she sometimes followed her commands.
A cry made her raise her head. It was a distant, thin sound that she probably would have missed if she hadn't been so used to cries like that. With all the senses on the alert, Cassie stood still, listening.
A second cry rang out and she jumped to her feet, turning on her heels to run, crossing the edge of the forest. She hurtled down the slope, pushed aside branches in her path, ran under the trees at full speed.
It was the cry of a child in distress.
Without looking back, she ran through the woods, listening to where the cries were coming from, which grew louder and louder as she approached.
Finally, she emerged into a clearing and braked in disaster.
A pond filled with murky water stretched out in front of her, she nearly fell into it head first. Startled, Cassie looked up to see a group of children gathered at the other end of the pond, screaming and sobbing. In the water, a child struggled, reaching upwards, trying to regain the surface. He was drowning.
Without thinking, Cassie rushed forward, entering the water and struggling to walk towards the child.
"Swim! Swim, you can do it! Hold on! Uh ... Swim! Ge kom de mounsad gon de podon!"
She stepped into the water, the level rising as she went, her clothes getting more and more soaked. In the water, the child continued to struggle, drinking water, choking, kicking his arms and legs. Disoriented, he didn't know which direction to go.
"Head over to your friends! Yu na du em! Mon!"
Cassie sped up as best she could, water up to her chest, watching the child slowly begin to float to shore. As the water reached her shoulders, the child's hand closed on a reed and his friends dragged him as best they could on the bank.
Cassie, in the middle of the pond, slowed down as the child dropped down on the ground, coughing and spitting. She put on a reassuring smile.
"Oh, you're okay! Yu laik klir. Look at you. You did so good. Don't worry, I'm coming towards you, okay? Ai ste kom op gon yu."
She continued to walk in the water, slowly flapping her arms to help herself. The children watched her arrive, helping their friend to recover.
Abruptly, Cassie's foot met a void, and she fell.
She heard the children scream, felt herself suddenly come into contact with the water which submerged her whole. Cassie coughed, lost her breath and struggled without finding the surface. She saw nothing, her vision blurred by the stirred mud. She flapped her arms and legs as she had seen the child do, but only encountered emptiness, finding neither the bottom nor the surface.
The pond was deeper than she had imagined.
Cassie thought it was stupid to die because you couldn't swim, but that realization made her laugh and her mouths and lungs filled with water. Her breath gasped, she felt her limbs grow heavier and heavier, her vision blurred. Cassie decided that it was it, and that it took a thorn out of her side. After all, she wouldn't have to come up with a suicide plan anymore.
She stopped struggling and let herself float, her vision gradually darkening with black dots.
She heard a shock, as if something had punctured the surface, and vaguely felt movement beside her before it all turned black.
Air blew into her mouth but something in her lungs blocked it and she leaned to the side to spit out all the water that was filling her. Cassie coughed, spat, emptied the contents of her lungs, and her stomach. Disoriented, lost, she fell on her back, inhaling deeply.
A hard slap hit her on the cheek, Cassie cried out in pain as she opened her eyes. Anya stood above her, soaked from head to toe. Furious, she grabbed her by the collar and shook her violently, screaming.
"If you pull any of that shit again, I will kill you, do you hear me ?! I will kill you! I will kill you! "
Coughing, Cassie tried to turn her head to the side, struggling to release Anya's grip.
"I will kill you! I will rip your little heart out of your chest and watch Death take you away, do you hear me?!"
"The kid," Cassie croaked. "The kid ... Is ..."
"What?!"
"The kid. He drown— No, he almost drowned, where is he?"
She coughed before calling in a hoarse voice:
"Gouffa! Laik yu klir?!"
She finally saw the small group of children, huddled together and surrounded by adults. The little boy looked at her with wide eyes as his friends explained what had happened.
Anya frowned.
"You jumped in to save him?"
"What, you thought I wanted to see the fishes? I don't know how to swim, Anya!"
She coughed again, spat on the grass.
"I hear a kid screaming for help, I run! So yeah, you can kill me if you want, but you can't stop me from helping a kid in need."
And Cassie let her head fall back on the grass, taking heart-breaking breaths. After a long time, Anya pulled away from her and sat down next to her, watching her breathe in silence.
"You did a good thing today, Skaigada."
Cassie laughed harshly.
"Awesome, you think you can write that down? I don't wanna forget the beautiful day where Anya kom Trikru paid me a compliment."
Anya gave her a push as Cassie giggled painfully.
Ge kom de mounsad gon de podon: get to the other side of the pond
Yu na du em! Mon!: You can do it! Come on!
Yu laik klir: You're okay
Ai ste kom op gon yu: I'm coming towards you
Gouffa! Laik yu klir: Kid! Are you okay?