Disclaimer: I don't own Human Target and intend no copyright infringement.
In movies they make it appear as if falling off something of great height takes an eternity. They slow down to sometimes minutes what actually takes a split second. You don't really see anything, or maybe you do, but the visual images rain down on you so fast, your brain can't organize them and thus all you perceive is a blur. Unless you fall off something – say a waterfall in the heart of the Bornean rainforest for example – in the middle of the night.
Then all you see is blackness.
The trick to survive landing in water after falling off a huge building/geological formation/machinery is to hit the water's surface as upright as possible, feet first. Of course you should make sure that the area where you're planning to land is sufficiently deep and free from rocks. Should that for some reason – say darkness and high stream velocity for example – be impossible… well, good luck.
Guerrero and Junior both hit the water so hard that the impact knocked them unconscious. The vicious whirls at the foot of the waterfall sucked them deep into the icy-cold forest lake that looked small but underneath the surface actually stretched out for several miles thanks to a labyrinth of underwater caves.
No nosy expedition had so far stumbled upon it and told the world about it, no maps existed. What got lost in there was indeed lost, forever. And a mighty vortex was just carrying both Junior and Guerrero towards the main inlet of the cave system…
… … …
The first thing Junior noticed was the warmth. Soft cotton on his skin. Someone had wrapped him into a blanket.
He opened his eyes. A sunlit room, high ceilings, walls made of massive gray stones. A scent of flowers, rain and incense was in the air.
Incense?
Junior looked around. There was Guerrero lying on a cot right next to him. He was wrapped into a blanket, too, and just like him he was in the process of slowly waking up. His small eyes blinked at him and Junior released a sigh of relief he hadn't realized he had been holding and didn't really think about.
"This the temple?", Guerrero mumbled.
From somewhere outside the walls the muffled sound of a gong answered his question.
"See, the game plan worked out", Junior replied, grinning broadly.
"Dude, if almost getting beaten up and robbed, then chased by a leopard and finally falling down a waterfall were part of your plan from the very beginning, I'm going to kill you."
The appearance of a middle-aged man in long, loose white pants, wiping sweat from his reddened face with a white towel, stopped Junior from giving a flippant reply that would have probably sealed his fate.
"So, how are our guests doing?", the man asked a lanky young boy at the far end of the room neither Junior nor Guerrero had noticed before. The boy answered in a low voice, they couldn't quite get what he was saying, but apparently it found the man's appreciation.
Smiling friendly, he advanced towards them, towel around his neck. He was bare-chested and had probably dropped in after some sort of training session. An intricate dark greenish dragon tattoo adorned his upper arm.
"My name is Master Ryuu", he introduced himself. "Welcome at candi penuh harapan, the Temple of Hope. I'm the master of the temple, which means I first and foremost have to make sure that the continuous supply of homemade anti-itch cream never ceases. The mosquitoes around here… Some people also insist I'm kind of a spiritual leader, but responsibility for anti-itch cream definitely comes first. I know some very powerful recipes." His dark grey eyes twinkled as he spoke.
"We found you caught in one of our water filters down in the caves." Master Ryuu proceeded to check Junior's rather bruised right arm. "We rarely get visitors down here."
"We were looking for this temple…", Junior let the sentence trail off as if weighed down by sudden strong emotions, a very serious expression shadowing his face.
Guerrero couldn't help but admire the Golden Boy's ability to blend into a situation. Not to mention his determination. They had just fallen off a waterfall, had barely survived an extremely dangerous vortex, and he was already on the job again. Professionalism had never struck him as a characteristic of Joubert's favorite. Brains, yes, damn good fighter and marksman, too, but professionalism? Well, maybe he had his moments.
For it did take a professional to come up with their cover story so quickly and believably after everything that had happened and especially right after waking up from being knocked out by a waterfall. Junior really looked lost and desperate as he told Master Ryuu a sad story of personal failure and the deep wish to turn a fresh leaf.
They had spent a whole night making up this bullshit. Half the time Junior had seemed to be dozing off and Guerrero had seriously doubted he'd be able to remember even half of it (and, in the back of his mind, already devised a plan on how to teach him paying attention once and for all). This now was definitely a surprise.
Master Ryuu listened thoughtfully to Junior's report as he slowly examined first Junior's, then Guerrero's injuries. He showed no visible reaction to what he was hearing but at the same time he gave the impression of being all ears.
Finally Junior stopped talking. Ryuu rested his eyes on both of them for a long time. It was impossible to guess what he was thinking, how he would decide. Would he see through their cover? He had a lot of experience with real confessions, had he spotted inconsistencies in Junior's story? They had lost their guns in the river, but maybe the knives attached to their ankles made the Master suspicious?
In the end he slowly nodded.
"This temple was created as a refuge for those who failed and now strive to do better. The road to redemption is long and hard. We're here so you don't have to walk it alone." He first gently touched Junior's forehead, then Guerrero's.
"You've come to the right place."
He got up and headed toward the room's exit. "Sleep now, you need rest. We tend to get up early here."
The moment the Master was gone and they could be sure the boy wouldn't hear them, Junior quickly turned to Guerrero.
"It's him, isn't it?"