The parachutes slowed our fall more than I thought they would. It took more than 15 minutes for us to arrive on solid ground. By that time, the plane had already crashed, exploding in a fiery burst of red and yellow. The screams still echoed in my ears and I was shaking all over.
We landed on the ground softly, but I was shaking too much to stand, so I collapsed on the ground, trying to calm myself, check our surroundings for immediate danger. We had landed on an island of rocks, out in the middle of a lush, green field of grass and wildflowers. Meanwhile, Dimitri easily untangled himself from his yellow parachute, and proceeded to help me with mine. I sat there, trembling and rocking back and forth, looking much like a Spirit user suffering from the effects of spirit. Maybe it was the fact that I was so close to Lissa, or maybe just shock from the plane crash. I couldn't focus on anything. It was like someone had put a cloud around the edges of my vision, making it fuzzy. Dimitri held me close, whispering in my ear.
"Shhh, Roza. We're safe. It's alright. We're alive." No matter how much Dimitri reassured me, I would always know the truth.
"They're not safe, Dimitri. They're dead." I cried, remembering the screams of the passengers in the plane, frantically trying to escape. Only Dimitri and I found a way out. Even though I felt lucky to be alive, I felt cold and helpless, knowing I should have done something to help them.
"Rose, you couldn't have done anything to help them. There was nothing we could have done." Dimitri said, Hugging me tighter. I closed my eyes, letting the screams fade away, replaced with the steady sound of Dimitri's heart beating. We sat there for a while until I calmed a little and the trembling stopped. Tears streaming down my face, I fell asleep in Dimitri's arms, wondering where this would take us next.