Seven days passed in the jungle since that day she'd encountered the Romulan. She washed herself and her clothes, returned to her birdcage, and fashioned herself a new spear. For a day or two, she jumped at every rustling of leaves, but that passed soon enough. She saw no sign of him nor anyone else. A great loneliness fell upon her like a shadow. Her hope of a quick rescue ebbed and faded away to nothing. She still had no way of contacting her people and sometimes the quiet, natural sounds of the jungle - the animals climbing about, the rushing waters of the river, even her own breathing - seemed so loud it was deafening. She sang to herself for a day or two, then talked to herself, but stopped because she feared going mad. Her lowest moment came when she went to eat her last food bar. Efet bit into it, thought of the taste of the food her parents once prepared for her, lovingly, with their own hands, squeezed her eyes shut, and wept. She wept until she couldn't weep anymore.
That night she awoke, feeling cold. Cardassians thrived in the heat, almost the only thing in this jungle that suited her. But the temperature had dropped rapidly at least ten degrees, shocking her from her sleep. Efet put on all her clothes and wrapped her blanket around her shoulders, wondering what was happening. Was it her imagination, or was everything... damp? She swiped a hand over one of the roots of her birdcage, and it came back wet. There was another sudden drop in temperature, and then the first sprinkles of rain. Annoyed, she climbed from her birdcage and cut down some of the wide fronds nearby, laying them atop the tangle of roots to provide a sort of roof. This worked for some time. Efet huddled in her little makeshift shelter, watching anxiously as the rain increased.
With a great rush of water, her fronds gave way, and Efet cried out as she was soaked. Rivulets of water had flooded the underbrush, and was encroaching on her birdcage. She grabbed the biggest frond and held it over her head, trying miserably to decide what to do.
The rainstorm decided for her. A great rush of water came sweeping through her area, and Efet realized that the river must have overflown its banks. Flakk! she cursed inwardly. The water poured in, soaking her feet, then up to her knees. I'll be swept away and drowned, thought Efet, as it became difficult to stand. She managed to grab the length of twine, intending to use it to climb up the tree trunk, but as she attempted to step out and clamber along the outside of her birdcage, the great rush of the water made her slip. She barely caught herself, clinging to a tree root with both hands, the twine (wrapped around a forearm) lashing uselessly in the water. She was now up to her chin, the current too powerful for her to swim against, and showing no signs of abating. I'm going to die here, Efet realized. My grip will weaken, and I'll be pulled under. Flakk! I can't believe this is happening! Her hands felt so cold, she could barely feel her fingers, and the rest of her body, submerged in the water, felt no better. She tried to lift her head and cry for help - to whom? Who would hear her cries, much less come to her rescue? Efet couldn't say, but she cried out anyway, until she was gulping water in her mouth instead of air.
She tried releasing one hand for a moment, intending to reach up and grab a higher section of the root, but the current yanked her arm back with such force that she lost her grip entirely. Efet tried to scream as she went under, but only swallowed more water. It was dark under the water, and she clenched her eyes shut as she was swept along, certain she would shortly be slammed into a tree and dashed to pieces. She could only hope she sustained a head injury that would kill her instantly.
Instead, something - someone - grabbed her by the shoulder, and her head surfaced. Sputtering and gagging, trying to scream, Efet was too confused to understand what was happening. She was dragged up, and someone snarled into her ear, "Hold onto my waist." Still uncomprehending, she flailed out her arm and caught hold of some part of a male body - the hip, she realized dimly, as she could feel his hipbone. Her other arm came around to join it. Efet hung on for dear life.
Looking up, she at first could only see part of his chest and neck, but she knew immediately who it was. The Romulan she'd encountered seven days ago, hanging from one of the thick vines dangling from a treetop, with Efet clasped around his waist. She knew now why he had her hold onto him like this. He needed both hands to climb, one hand over the other, till their entire bodies emerged from the raging waters. Efet pressed her forehead to his lower chest, putting every last reserve of strength into holding on. If she fell into the waters, she doubted he could catch her again - if he would even try.
His body was surprisingly warm, and Efet felt like she was trying to absorb his warmth into her poor, wet, frozen body. They stopped their ascent, but Efet didn't dare open her eyes or look around to see why. She clung on and put her trust in him. The Romulan swung his legs until they were swinging to and fro, and then he stepped from the vine onto a thick tree branch, one hand digging in to hold on, and the other holding onto the back of Efet's shirt so she would not fall off.
She was too afraid to let go of him even after she felt her feet touch the tree branch. She was pressed between him and the trunk, her face still buried in the warmth of his chest, her eyes clenched shut. For a moment, Efet even wondered if she were dying, and this was all a hallucination. Then a hand touched the back of her head, catching a handful of her hair, and gently peeling her back until she was looking up at him.
"We're alive," the Romulan assured her, and Efet could only nod at him, wide-eyed. He released her hair, then reached to the side to grab her elbow - didn't he have a thing about hands? Efet remembered that from their previous encounter - and pulled her hands apart. Now disconnected from him, Efet tried to take a step away, only for her foot to slip on the slippery bark, and she would've plummeted right back into the water had the Romulan not grabbed her by the chest and pushed her against the trunk.
Her breaths came in little wheezes of terror. The Romulan frowned. "Calm down," he said, looking at the desperate grip she had on his forearm. "You have to calm down. We're alive. We're going to live."
"Y-you s-saved me," Efet said between chattering teeth. She wasn't sure if she was trembling from the cold or from terror - probably both.
"Yes, I did," admitted the Romulan. He seemed to regard her for a moment. Boldly, she looked right back at him. He had dark eyes, and the facial ridges she had noticed previously. His clothes stuck to his body. His hair was soaking wet, clinging to his head and neck, and she doubted many people had ever seen a Romulan in such disarray. They had always seemed so... prissy. So well-groomed and arrogant. Cardassians also appreciated refinement and elegance of person, but the Romulans with their severe haircuts and severe facial features just took it to another level.
He turned his face from her. "I don't even know why I saved you," he said. "I don't even know you. You are useless for my mission - worse than useless! Ugh! You have manifested some sort of weakness in me."
Efet drew a deep breath. "I don't know why you saved me either, but I am grateful," she told him. "Without you, I'd be dead by now."
He was so still, it seemed he had not heard her, but then he said, "I don't know if I did you any favors. A quick death in this storm would perhaps be preferable to a lingering death in this place." The Romulan seemed to realize he still had a grip on her shirt, just above her chest, and slackened his grip. He did not quite let go - in case she started to fall again - but he seemed not to want to touch her more than was necessary.
She was so cold she had a mad wish to press closer to him, for more of that sweet body heat, but she had not quite lost her mind. Daring to release one of her own hands from his forearm, Efet brushed the wet tangle of her hair out of her face. "We've not been formally introduced," she said. "Please, allow me. My name is Efet Erem, and I am an engineer. I would like to know your name."
The Romulan was looking at her again, a sideways look that seemed to betray his trepidation. At last he said, "I am called Deleth." The 'L' in the middle of his name was one of those strange swallowed Romulan sounds.
"Deleth," she tried, watching him grimace at her pronunciation. "Are there more like you here?"
"No," he said, lowering his chin. "No, there are no more of my kind here. Not anymore."