I woke up to find the stubborn man gone. My apron was still tied up, and the bamboo flask was as full as I had it when I placed it down. I sighed, dragging a hand down my face before taking to the skies. Thankfully, I remembered the direction he had been walking in. Just as I figured he would be, that man was right on coarse. Only now, instead of walking, he was stopped in a valley by a snake demon.
Amazingly, he was keeping up with it quite well. Hacking away at it every chance it gave him while jumping over its coiling body or rolling away from its lightning fast strikes. I hovered out of range, watching the fight, and found myself quite impressed. He made the snake look clumsy. However, he wasn't doing nearly enough damage to take down the snake before exhausting himself.
"Herculean punch." I whispered, rubbing my hand down my broom handle. The spell manifested and bound itself onto my broom handle. I waited with baited breath for my que. "Now!" I exclaimed, seeing the snake begin to strike as he stumbled. Dropping from the sky, I unsaddled my broom and lifted it high over my head. Just as the snake was mid strike, I brought the broom down onto its head. With a quaking thud, the snake nose dived into the earth. Its skull collapsed onto itself in such a dramatic way that I knew it was dead.
Too close to the ground to be able to saddle my broom or direct it to fly, I braced myself for impact. I aimed to create as much surface area as I could that didn't include my face. The breath was knocked out of me as I basically belly flopped on the ground hard enough to bounce back up an inch. The momentum had me rolling across the grass before stopping just before the tree line.
I gasped, propping myself on my elbows, and looked over towards the man. His hair and clothes clung to him, and he was panting. He put up his sword and spared me a nasty look before continuing to forge ahead. I quickly got to my feet and followed him.
"Hey! Don't leave me behind! You could at least show a little gratitude." I exclaimed, trying to catch up to him. Doing so made my ribs cramp. So here I was hunched over and twisted to the side, trying to walk as quickly as I could towards my broom. "Should've made a summoning spell on the damn thing...oh why am I afraid of needles?" I whined, reaching down as gingerly as I could.
Figuring he wasn't going to drink it, I greedily gulped down the water I had collected the other day. I really should have been drinking more water. I just didn't want to risk losing that man. Sure, he moved in a predictable pattern before, but that doesn't mean this time he won't make an attempt to conceal his tracks this time. Luckily, I didn't have to go without water for too long because he led us right to a river.
"I know you're thirsty, and the water is too dirty to just drink straight out of the river. Just give me a moment and I'll have something to drink for the both of us." I spoke up already, filling the flask. Drying off my hand, I looked up and snorted at what I saw.
He was going into the river like he was just going to casually walk across. With a snap, I ignited my fingers and grasped the same spot at the bottom of the flask like I had done multiple times before. Placing my broom down, I carefully sat down on the bank, letting my feet dip into the water. For a moment, while waiting for the water boil, I relaxed. I fell I to that quiet place inside of us all that can be so hard to reach.
The sun warmed my skin, and the breeze smelled of summer grass and evergreens. I had almost forgotten about my current reluctant burden, almost. Cracking open my eyes, I looked across the rivers surface. 'Where did he go!?!' I gasped jumping up.
Scanning the water downstream, I at first saw nothing. There was no sign of him until a hand shot out of the water. It was quickly dragged down and under again. "FUCKING IDIOT!" I screamed throwing the flask down in frustration. Taking off my cloak, I rushed into the water. The water was fridged, but I didn't dare hesitate to dive in the second I was deep enough to do so.
The current was swift in the middle of the river, and with me paddling as fast as I could with it, I was quickly speeding towards the drowning man. "Oculus dihydrogen oxide!" I casted a spell to allow me to see clearly in the water and took a deep breath. Below the 6 saw a group of fish swimming downstream with me. Further down, I saw a vague figure tumbling against the bottom kicking up all the sand.
I doubled my efforts to get to him. My lungs burned for the need for air, but I was so close. I reached out when I thought I was close enough brushing through his hair and clothing, but he just stayed beyond my reach as if it was a conscious decision of his to do so. Finally, I couldn't hold my breath anymore and had to go up for air.
Greedily, I gulped it down the second my nose breached the surface. I didn't give myself any time to collect myself before diving back in. This time, I would get him because I feared what would happen if he went much longer without air. My calves threatened to cramp with the strain I was putting on them, and my shoulders weren't being any less quiet about their pain either.
I didn't give up, I gritted my teeth, and I reached out for what I had hoped was one last time through the murky waters. I ended up latching onto a foot, which was better than grabbing his clothes or hair. I had just enough time to stabilize my grip on him, basically dragging and hugging his leg to me when I felt the gut reaching the sensation of falling. Suddenly, the roar of a waterfall was present and much too loud for comfort even within the water.
My eyes widened, and my body tensed as I looked up to find that we were already dropping. It was like being in a car crash without the car or seat belts for that matter. We just smashed down, and because of our weight, we hit the jagged rocks at the bottom. One caught me in the small of my back, causing me to bow and scream out. We tumbled along the bottom, rapidly weighed down by his armor. As fast as I could, I tugged him towards me until I was able to reach the ties fastening his armor in place. I gained some traction at the bottom and slid the armor off of him before pushing us up towards the surface.
Once again, I was gasping in that sweet summer air. It was awkward swimming the two of us out of the rivers current, but it paid off the second I realized that I could place my feet on the ground and keep my head above the water. I did my best to drag him onto land just enough so I could lay him down without getting water up his nose or down his throat. His eyes were closed, and his chest wasn't rising or falling, so I quickly placed my hands onto his chest and did what I was taught. I pressed hard and fast to the beat of 'Staying Alive'.
I kept going, not stopping until he sputtered. As soon as he did so I rolled him onto his side and slapped his back to help him expell the water in his lungs. Between coughing up the water, he also puked it up. As soon as I felt he would be okay, I crossed my arms.
"I told you not to drink straight from the river!" I sneered. For a man still recovering from almost dying, he sure did have enough energy to level me with a scathing glare. "Oh! Don't give me that look! I know what you were really trying to do. I just try to alleviate severed anger and fear with humor. It's a coping mechanism!"
"My armor...you..." He began.
"Striped you of it to save your life. Don't you dare get mad at me for it. Is that armor so valuable that you'd give your life for it?" I huffed, standing up. His scathing glare turned into a blank one. Sooner than I thought he should, he stood up and scanned our surroundings. "I left my stuff behind to get you. Will you accompany me back to get them? Or do you insist on recklessly forging ahead?"
I received no answer. Instead, he got up and began climbing up the hill back the way we came. I had an attitude about it, but I followed him. It took us a while to get back to where my stuff was. When we did, I asked if he was going to wait there while I swam across to get my stuff. He grunted, avoiding eye contact with me, but made no move to leave. 'Progress is progress, no matter how miniscule.' I grumbled, wading into the water.
It took me a while to get to the other side of the river. The current was strong, so even swimming out of it at an angle was tricky. However, I made it and was able to collect my things and to the other side on my broom. I made it a point to collect more water as I crossed. Since when I threw the flask down earlier in a fit of rage, it had popped open.
"Look." I addressed as I touched down. "You can lead a horse to water, but you can not make it drink. However, you can drown it...or so I like to say. Ignoring my poor taste in saying them in light of the current happenings, do you understand their meaning?" I asked, beginning the process of boiling the water all over again. He gave me a sideways glance considering my words before ommiting an affirming grunt.
"Then please drink, for I won't drown you, but I can't bare to watch you succum to something as low as thirst and pride." I opened the boiling flask and blew a freezing breath into it. Satisfied that he won't burn himself with it I offered it out to him. There was a moment of hesitation and even distain on his end but he took the flask.
I fought to keep my face blank as I watch him gulp down the water. I knew he wouldn't be able to stop himself from doing so. Throwing up had dehydrated him further than he already was. So when he handed the flask back empty I didn't so much as bat an eye. Instead I crouched down and gathered more water into the flask.
When I straightened up I couldn't help but to slump seeing him already leaving me behind. 'Progress is progress. Progress is progress.' I repeated to myself over and over again. Who knows, maybe by tonight I'll be able to get him to eat.
A/N
ANOTHER CHAPTER DOWN, HOPE YOU ARE ENJOYING IT SO FAR.