"Not knowing how to think, I scream aloud, begin to sink. My legs and arms are broken down with envy for the solid ground. I'm reaching for the life within me, how can one man stop his ending? I thought of just your face... relaxed, and floated into space" - Blue October "Into the Ocean"

21 Water is No Better

May was in a panic. She hated water; hated it. Yet the water was rushing over her head, crushing her and all her attempts to breathe. She was drowning, and it terrified her.

Desperate, she let go of her hold on the ground and clawed the water to get to the surface. She didn't even realize she was being swept away. The instant she emerged from the abyss of water, she had been dragged too far.

With a bloodcurdling scream, May was carried over the edge, her nails digging uselessly into the rock.

*****************************************************I have to wake up at 5:30************************************************************

The water didn't scare Drew. Neither did the big bad current trying to sweep him away. No sir! Drew Hayden was fearless!

Or so he told himself.

Drew was fearless when there was a way out. An escape route, a rope, someone reaching out for him, etcetera. He didn't have any of these things. It was him, the water, and the slippery mud that wouldn't let him grab hold. There was no chance.

He curled his fingers in the mud, feeling himself slide a little bit more. It was a strain of his strength to keep holding on. His neck was aching from trying to curve up for air. All his efforts were futile. His lungs burned with lack of oxygen. Drew never wanted to give up so badly.

The water gave an extra push, and Drew felt his lower half fall over the edge. He dug his fingers into the mud and took the deadly chance of a breath.

Out of the corner of his eye, Drew saw a flash of white. Something swooped down from the mountain and yanked him up by the collar of his shirt. His hands were ripped out of the mud, and his body snatched out of the water and into the chilling wind.

Drew appeared to be flying. He could hardly see, as everything was a blur. He was still blinking water out of his eyes when whatever it was dropped him on dry ground and vanished.

*************************************************Every weekday this summer for swim team***************************************************

The pain in her broken arm was unbelievable. Dawn could only hold on with her good arm, and there was no way it alone could hold her. She tried digging her feet into the mud, but it did her no good. Frantically, she tried to remember everything she'd learned at summer camp about rivers.

She recalled that when rafting, if you fell out of the boat, you were supposed to fold your arms and lock your legs so the rapids wouldn't drown you. But the camp counselors had never mentioned being dragged over a waterfall from three thousand feet up.

Dawn exhaled calmly, exactly the opposite of her terrified heart. A small stream of bubbles left her mouth. She would be fine if she could just remain calm, and think.

Something was poking her in the side. Agitated, she curled her fingers in the mud for a better hold and sent her broken arm to find what was bothering her.

Dawn's hand curled around the handle of something. With a jolt she remembered what it was.

Lucas smiled at her from where he lay on the ground. Dawn was still on her feet, victorious. "Wow," he said. "You're better than I thought."

Dawn had to grin. She extended a hand and helped her friend up. "Well?" she prompted. "A deal's a deal. Pay up."

With mock depression, Lucas found his bag. He plunged his hand inside and returned with a small, deadly dagger. "Now be careful, Dawn," he warned, his expression extremely serious. "It's very sharp."

She laughed and accepted her winnings. "Not even gonna ask me for a rematch?" she chuckled. She belted the blade around her waist, realizing it would hide nicely under any outfit she could come up with.

Lucas shrugged. "I was going to give you that knife anyways," he said. "But I'll fight you for your kiss next time, and be prepared to lose."

Dawn removed the knife from its sheath almost morbidly. That was the last time she had seen Lucas, before he… before he…

She shook herself. Now was not the time to be sad. Viciously she thrust the dagger into the ground. It sank into the mud, creating something much more stable for her to hold. Dawn latched both her arms to the hilt of the blade, sending a silent prayer that she would survive.

Even though what happened to Lucas was her fault. Even though she deserved a painful death for what happened to him.

The knife shifted a little in the mud, and Dawn forced it deeper into the mountain. She would not die here. Not before she avenged his death.

**************************************************I then swim for 2 1/2 hours, and get out of the pool at nine*************************************

There was no panic in Misty's mind. Water was her element. Her hair was pulled gently out of its usual ponytail by the raving rapids that swarmed around her. She exhaled with a serenity that the others lacked; she would be fine. She always was.

Due to her extreme sense of peace, Misty's air supply lasted much longer than her friends'. It was a trick she learned when she was little, and having contests with her sisters to see who could reach the bottom of the pool first.

Misty observed her surroundings, searching for something she could use in the murky gloom. At the moment she was clinging to the mud, and she knew it wouldn't hold her much longer. Closing her eyes, she thought back to before the flood. What had her surroundings been like?

They had stopped. Why? May said there was a trench in the way. Could she use that to her advantage? Not in any way she could think of. Think, she told herself. There had to be something…

Were there boulders? Boulders were solid and unmoving, and if she could latch onto one, she wouldn't be swept away. She thought back, desperate to remember. There was a slight burn in her lungs, and her air wouldn't last much longer.

Misty remembered the mountain going up so high that it disappeared in a layer of stormy clouds. She remembered looking over the edge and seeing a second blanket, as gray and dreary as the one above. There were pebbles that constantly got under her feet, trying to trip her. Right before they stopped, Misty had seen a flash of white fur disappear behind the rocks on the other side of the trench…

Yes! There were rocks! To her left, farther in, there were rocks. One big boulder surrounded by two smaller ones.

Smiling at her cleverness, she began to kick furiously against the current. When she was sure she had enough speed, Misty lifted her left hand.

Immediately the current seemed to pick up, and she was dangling by one arm. She screwed up her face in concentration and forced herself forward. Slowly, Misty made her way sideways and up, hand by hand. Once or twice she thought she was going to lose her grip, but then she remembered her sisters and everyone she loved and most importantly, she remembered Ash. This was what kept her going.

Misty reached the boulders just as she released the last of her oxygen. She wrapped her arms around the largest one, locking her hands. As spots appeared before her eyes, she slid her way up the rock, and then she broke the surface.

Air flooded into her lungs with each sucking breath she took. Her hair was plastered to her face, and she shivered with the wind that blew around her. She looked around for any other sign of life, and saw none. Abandoned, Misty went back to hugging her rock. It was all she had at the moment.

*****************************************************It's absolutely exhausting*************************************************************

Brock held fast to Max. He felt it was his job to protect the kid, even before himself. They had been lucky: when the flood hit, they had been standing close to the mountain wall. Brock was able to force his fingers into a fissure in the rock, thus allowing him to hold on. Max dangled behind him, one hand attempting to keep the glasses on his face while the other was being clutched by Brock.

At some point, Brock thought they slid to the side. He wasn't sure, though. Perhaps the pain in his fingers was from holding on too long. If they had slid, surely there would have been blood.

They had slid, however, farther down than they could have imagined. They were pulled right over the trench, behind Misty's boulder, past Dawn and her knife, and yanked all the way to the edge of the flood. Drew was sitting on dry land that the water had missed, still dazed from being rescued by a mystery savior.

*******************************************************I didn't go today though************************************************************

I rushed to help Paul get up. For once, the proud Trainer didn't refuse my help. He collapsed on the muddy ground, soaking wet and staring at his hands with wide eyes. The entire first layer of skin seemed to have been ripped off his palms, exposing the tender redness beneath.

"Are you okay?" I asked. I was immensely worried and still frantically looking for the others as I knelt by his side.

"Yeah," Paul breathed. He prodded the fresh skin and winced. It probably stung like mad. "I'll live."

"How did you hold on?" I interrogated. Pikachu was sniffing around for any signs of the others.

He shrugged and got to his feet awkwardly, careful to keep his hands in the air. "I just heard a voice in my head. Said something like 'not till tomorrow' I think."

"I heard voices too!" I cried. "They told me I wasn't going to die, and it… it gave me the strength to hold on."

Paul looked up from his hands to fix me with a quizzical stare. He remained silent, but his look said it all.

I met his gaze and shrugged. "Hey Pikachu!" I called, looking away. "Did you find anything?"

"Pika!" replied my faithful companion. He was nosing around the bend, where my view was blocked by the mountainside. The trench was somewhere further along, which is where I guessed Pikachu was looking.

Paul began twisting his neck around, searching. "Where's Da—I mean, everyone else?"

"I don't know," I admitted sadly. "I'll go this way—," I pointed to where Pikachu was, "and you go the other way. Let's see what we can find."

Paul nodded his agreement and we split up.

***********************************************************I'll go at 3:30 though**********************************************************

I couldn't believe how fast the flood had come. Or how fast it had gone.

Since I was already soaked, I jumped into the trench that was now a pool and swam across. Pikachu awaited me there, sitting promptly on the muddy ground. "Pi," he said, waving his tail. I took that as Pika Speech for "Up there."

I pulled myself shakily out of the water, my clothes dripping. "Up where?" I asked, craning my neck.

What I saw either made my heart stop or made my gut explode with laughter. She sneered at me when I started rolling on the ground, laughing. "Oh yeah, being stuck on top of a rock is freaking hilarious, isn't it, Ash?" Misty snapped, her voice stinging. "I can't wait till you're in the same situation. Then I can roll around in the mud and laugh my head off at you."

"I'm sorry, Mist," I chuckled, wiping a tear away. "But it's not every day you see a girl hugging a rock like that."

She was clutching the top of the boulder, still sopping wet and shaking. Her legs were hitched up higher than her rear, giving her an almost comical appearance. It was like her limbs hung on happily while her body sagged. "Hardee har har," she said sarcastically. "Get me down."

I held out my arms. "Jump, Juliet. I'll catch you."

Misty aimed her fall and dropped into my arms. My legs buckled under her weight, and I almost dropped her when I stumbled. She set herself down almost immediately. "You're hardly Romeo," she scorned.

"You're right," I said, glancing down. "My pants aren't nearly tight enough…"

If her mallet were still in one piece, I probably would have been clocked silly. After being rescued like that, Misty never had a sense of humor. Pity.

Following Pikachu, we trekked along the path, searching for the others. A voice floated over to us, murmuring, "Lucas… Lucas."

Misty and I rushed forward. Dawn was still lying in the mud, her hands wrapped around the hilt of a dagger that had been forced into the ground. She was soaked, but it also looked like she was crying. Drops of water ran down her lovely cheeks; maybe they were tears, maybe not.

I knelt down beside her. "Dawn," I began gently, placing my hand on her shoulder.

She jumped. Evidently she hadn't known I was there. "Ash," she whispered. Slowly, her eyes drifted to the knife in her hands. "Lucas…"

"Are you okay?" I questioned. I was trying to keep my eyes off the knife. Where had she gotten such a deadly weapon?

Dawn nodded shakily. Gingerly, she picked herself off the ground. Her entire front was caked in mud from lying on the ground. She kept the dagger firmly in her hands, though the rest of her was quivering.

I decided now wasn't the time to worry about Dawn. I had found three, and there were still four to go. The others were my priority. (Well, Misty was my priority, but since she was alive and well I decided to rearrange the list.)

Drew was on his feet when we found him, drier than the rest of us, and helping Brock and Max. Brock's fingers were cut, and Max was massaging his shoulder. Drew kept flipping his hair out of his face; wet and straggly, it was even more in the way than usual.

"Okay," I said, feeling good that I had found all but one. "Paul's probably with May. Let's go back and meet them."

We turned around, marching back to the trench. Already we were sharing the terrifying experiences we'd had with the flood. Drew told of a strange creature that saved him. Misty claimed to have seen it as well.

We stopped dead in our tracks when we came to the trench.

********************************************************I love swimming, even though I'm not fast*********************************************

Tenebri paced back and forth angrily. "Why did you save the green headed human?" she hissed.

Absol shrugged. "He was a human. Father would not have wanted him dead."

"You didn't save the others," Tenebri went on. "Just him."

"I don't know why," he admitted. "I suppose I'm rather fond of the boy."

Tenebri was appalled. "Fond? Of a human? They kill our kind, Absol. They make us fight and harm each other for their own pleasure. How can you be fond of those monsters?"

"He's different from the others," Absol insisted. "All of them are." He suddenly looked pained. "What if the flood is my fault? Absol have always been associated with natural disasters. I should have sensed this and warned them."

Tenebri softened. "You could not have sensed it. Yacaeli is not a force of nature. She is the one who caused this, and you know that. She's killing the humans." With this, she pressed her head affectionately into his fur. "Which is why we must kill her."

************************************************Lotsa paragraph breaks in this chapter, eh?***************************************************

Paul was getting out of the water on our side. He shook his head like a dog, purple hair sending a shower of water in all directions. Paul did not look up from the muddy footprints we had left in the ground.

"Paul?" inquired Drew. "Did you find May?"

The silent Trainer shuffled his foot, refusing to meet our eyes.

Worry crossed Max's face. "Did you find her?" He repeated Drew's question.

Morbidly, Paul nodded.

I felt bile rise in my throat. Paul was never this silent. Usually his actions were a way of speaking, most of them loud and rude. Now even his gestures were silent. "Is she okay?" I whispered.

In response, Paul reached into the pocket of his jacket. He pulled out an orange cloth, and rung it out. I didn't realize what it was until he straightened it out and held it over his fist.

May's bright orange bandana had been dampened to a darker color, wrinkled and wet. There was a tear in the fabric.

"From where it snagged on a rock," Paul explained monotonously.

We had survived the flood, but not without a casualty. Tears began to fill the eyes of Dawn and Misty, while Drew's hands clenched into shaking fists. Max began bawling, clutching Brock as if the older boy were his lifeline.

I thought that was the most pain I'd ever felt, but soon I would learn I was wrong.

*AN: Hopefully this won't deter you guys from reading on, because it has a kinda happy ending (I actually haven't decided yet. Ooh I should make a POLL about it! Yeah, that's what I'm gonna do! It'll be on my profile page). May will not be the only one to die, but then, maybe she's not dead after all...

As I said, I'm making Dawn a lot more of an awesome character than the show does. I always watch it and wonder if Dawn has some crazy past that makes her put on a brave and happy face. She's going to seem OOC for a little bit, but it will all be explained, especially after a certain incident. I love Dawn, so that's why I'm doing this.

Anyways, I was on a roll while writing this and practically breezed through three chapters. Expect more soon! Au revior my wonderful readers and reviewers, until next time!*