Fable - Ask Extreme Makeover: Forsaken Edition [Rumer}

[Eske]

Vel Anir - Undercity
The Bleak Bar

He saw it coming.

Didn't even have to know the other Forsaken all that well to recognize the body language of someone fixing to kill. Knew it like he knew his own reflection. To his credit, Emryc did not flinch. He barely even blinked. Even waited, hand poised on his fresh mug of ale, for it to happen.

Eyes shut to the fire, brow faintly knit at the ringing in his ear, jaw twitched at the sensation of blood splattering across the side of his face and neck. There came that line of granite again.

"Now, that's much better isn't it?"

He sat there in silence for several long moments, dripping viscera from his face.

"I just ..." Emryc opened his eyes, staring at the wall directly across from him in irritation, "bought this drink."

Galen was an Emryc-didn't-know-what that packed a mighty molten punch enough to make even him reconsider finding him in a bad mood. But despite the firefist straight to the face of what used to be the man sitting next to him, he remained unruffled even as Galen approached him, grinning ear to ear.

"Thought you liked the taste of blood," Galen replied, dropping a massive stone encrusted fist onto the half-orc's shoulder that sent a shudder through Emryc's bones, "isn't that what you do to people? Bleed them dry?"

"Not into my drink," Emryc refuted flatly, stormy eyes following the movement of the barkeep as he made quick work of cleaning up the mess sloshed across the countertop. The Qosta slowly picked up a napkin and began to wipe his face, and his neck, and-

"Leave it," said the barkeep with a grouchy gesture, "I'll getcha a fresh'un."

How very charitable, "Put it on his tab," Emryc nodded his head at Galen, inhaled deeply, and slowly exhaled his frustration. The night wasn't off to a good start and it was about to get a whole lot worse, he just didn't know it yet.

Rumer

 

[Rumer]

The woman who had unceremoniously yanked her mid-slumber from her cot had a face that seemed carved of stone and a heart just as cold and hard. Rumer had earned herself not one but two hard slaps that'd left one side of her face significantly more flushed than the other, and a small swollen cut on her corner of her mouth. She'd learned already not to ask questions, she'd simply forgotten amidst her fear and confusion. 'Where's Nathaira?' and 'Where are we going?' were simply questions that she had no right to ask, she had no right to ask anything at all..she had no right to speak.

The child didn't cry. Another hard lesson learned. She wanted to, and her throat ached with emotion that was namely the same fear and anxiety she felt and had been right to feel every single day since being discovered only months ago, and as the frigid woman led her hurriedly through the streets of the undercity, she doubted this day would be any different.

The child's gaze remained downcast as she shuffled along beside the handler, her legs aching as she struggled to keep up until she was gripped harder than necessary by the shoulder and steered into the Bleak Bar. The woman paused in the doorway and seemed to scan the room for a moment before fixing her attention on the blood spattered orc. She leaned, and spoke the first words Rumer had heard her say. "You will go to that one.." the woman whispered by the child's mangled ear as she pointed to the man, her voice of a characteristic accuracy to her general manner that caused a shudder to dance across the child's back. "Give him this." she added with a sneer, and handed her a scroll.

Rumer looked down at the rolled parchment in her hand for a moment before lifting her face toward the woman anxiously. She'd been about to make the mistake of asking a question which the woman had obviously anticipated, and before a single syllable was uttered she was shoved so hard that she fell flat on the sticky wood floor and skidded another foot closer to the man she'd been charged with approaching.

She could feel eyes on her, a few guffaws here and there and even a grunt from an ogre-like creature about her looking like 'supper'. She looked back over her shoulder, but the woman was gone, and so she pulled herself to her feet and avoided the several gazes that were trained on her and drew in a deep breath before shuffling toward the half orc..

A quiet huff escaped her as she stood by the table, and with her nervous gaze still downcast and face hidden mostly by her hood, she lifted the scroll mutely and held it out in a tremulous hand toward Emryc. She swallowed, lifting her eyes only enough to see the remainder of whomever had made the mistake of sitting next to the man before she'd arrived, dearly hoping that she wouldn't meet the same fate.

 

[Eske]

The sudden appearance of a handler with a small figure at the bar entrance caught Emryc's attention for only a moment. A silent glance back over his shoulder, following the gaze of Galen who was keenly watching the curiosity unfold, before -

"Eya," said the barkeep, setting a fresh drink on the bar infront of him, "don' say I never did a thing for ye."

Emryc turned back, contemplating the likelihood that Maj, the barkeep, had gotten laid prior to his shift. Always in a cheery mood after, he was, if cheery could pass for the fewer less lines of grimace on his face. He took his drink without a word and gulped down a third of it to cleanse the bitter taste of disgust from his palate.

An unusual gaze of fuchsia followed Ru's progress up to the bar. Galen narrowed his eyes at the girl, a cutting sort of mirth flickering about behind his pupils. When Emryc didn't notice her (or more likely ignored her) he gave the half-orc a rough jab to his shoulder, "Didn't know you were into cradle-breaking, Em."

The Forsaken's posture stiffened slightly, jawline taking on a strain of verte granite as he eyed Galen before shifting to look down at Ru. Nat's little pet. He prickled, eyes of a roiling storm tracing her watery gaze down to the outstretched, trembling hand and the scroll it held. Not likely from Nat, not likely from Qosta. Then what...

A large, grass-hued hand reached out to firmly grip the girl around the wrist, stilling the visual quiver to the tranquility of stone. He took the scroll from her with his other hand and unrolled it. It wasn't a long message, and it wasn't from Qosta judging by the handwriting, but another unidentified handler. Odd ... Emryc's orders were nigh strictly relegated from the Qosta patriarch so he had to wonder if the man even knew about this.

"Which Handler gave you this?" his grip around her wrist had not loosened, not even a hair.

 

[Rumer]

Panic immediately dominated the child's expression as her wrist was grabbed, her little heart thundering hard against her ribs as though it were trying to escape and run for it's life.

"I.." Rumer started to answer and realised she didn't know the answer to his question. She glanced over her shoulder toward the door of the tavern in search of the woman who'd brought her here however there was no sign of her. She was hyperventilating now.

"I don't know.. A.. A woman.. She didn't tell me her name, I've never seen her before." she explained feverishly with a feeble attempt at pulling her wrist from his iron grip. Rumer looked between the two with a look of utter terror that was only amplified as once more she set her timid gaze upon the bloody mess of a man. Her stomach turned over at once, her cheeks bulging slightly and she tried her very best to push down the rapidly rising wave of nausea as the contents of her stomach threatened to make a dramatic reappearance.

"Please I don't know.." she pulled again, this time with a whimpered growl in frustration and expelled a puff of air that caused her bangs to flutter around her forehead and settle back into even more of an unruly mess than they had already been.

 

[Eske]

"Be still," Emryc rumbled back to her, a smooth, deep voice that needn't speak loudly to be heard so close. The man ignored her terror and her struggle to be free, allowing her the opportunity to squawk as he stowed away the scroll and downed the rest of his drink.

The note hadn't contained the key trigger words required to command Emryc, but it had those of the other Forsaken. Ones he also knew but didn't feel as innately compelled to follow as, say, Nathaira would. Pa Qosta had trained him specially because he was, for all intents and purposes, different from his fellow Forsaken. Emryc just didn't know why. As highly suspect mission order was, he wasn't one to question the Handlers. None of them were, really.

The flagon hit the bar with a hollow clatter and the Forsaken stood from his seat, tugging the tiny girl along with him, "Come."

Only once they were outside the bar and out of linesight of those inside did he release her arm. The man knew the breadth of his strength and while he held her firmly enough to keep her from skittering off, he'd leave no mark. This was Nat's pet and he respected the woman enough to respect the child.

"Stay with me," he said as he walked, curiously quiet for a man his size, "we have an assignment."

They were off to the stables of the undercity to collect his horse and supplies.

 

[Rumer]

And just like that, she was still. She was too afraid to be anything other than what he commanded her to be. Her little breaths puffed from her nose in short, sharp bursts and her fingers curled into little fists in attempt to stop her hands from shaking. Slowly, oh so slowly, her eyes lifted to look over his face from underneath her hood as he was busy reading..

As the empty flagon was slammed against wood, Rumer visibly jumped and she made a soft, mousy meep of a sound as she was pulled along side the orc, feet scurrying as quickly as she could whilst trying not to trip over herself, or him. With her arm released, she pulled it against her chest protectively out of fear he'd grab it again if she let it hang loose by her side...

An assignment? With him?..

She paled. It'd taken her time to get used to Nathaira, the woman's ways had been cruel at times but she knew there were worse, and she knew now that the woman cared about her enough to try not to hurt her, or at least not to enjoy it when she had to. She wanted to know why. What was the assignment and what was she needed for? Did Nathaira know she was leaving? When would she be back?..

No questions.. She reminded herself with a quick mental jab and uttered a quiet and obedient "Hm yessir.." instead as she followed quickly along side him.

 

[Eske]

Emryc said nothing else for the duration of their short jaunt to the stables, but he did often check to ensure she was still following at his heel. Children were ... a foreign idea to the man. As a Forsaken he held no delusion that he would father any offspring, nor did he have any desire to bring another generation into this hell of his. The very fact that Rumer was here, as his charge and momentary pupil, incensed the half orc into a boiling rage.

One that brewed ominously beneath a stoic surface of carved emerald.

His horse was a rangy steed of dull, dark brown color. One that had clearly seen far too much violence and not nearly enough pasture. Such was the life of an creature of burden in the undercity, though his horse looked better off than most. "Wait here," he indicated a spot in the cobbled hall across from where the beast was stalled. He tacked it up with practiced movements and disappeared into a room down the aisle, returning with saddle bags filled with supplies and rations that he then attached to the saddle rigging.

Leading the horse out into the aisle, Emryc gestured to the girl to follow and lead them both the stable hall, back out into the open expanse of the undercity chasm. They walked on foot a ways from the heart of the undercity, along the road that Rumer would recognize lead to the uppercity outskirts of Vel Anir. When finally the first lancing rays of moonlight could be seen he brought the horse to a stand and turned to the girl.

Emryc didn't bother to ask if she knew how to ride or if she was afraid. Down here you didn't get such luxuries of consideration. His large hands reached for her waist and plucked her off the ground as if she were no more than a sack of potatoes. Perhaps not even that much. He placed her seated cross-wise on the horse's withers infront of the saddle then moved to mount up behind her. His arms looping around her waist, he took up the reins and nudged the horse forward into a clipped walk.

No need to hurry, the night was quite young and they had a day's journey at least ahead of them. It was likely to be boring for the girl - Emryc wasn't much for talking.

 

[Rumer]

He was far more difficult to keep up with than Nathaira was. Her legs were aching already, and she dearly hoped they wouldn't be travelling on foot to wherever their assignment was taking them. Her little feet slapped at the cobbles, and she waited when he told her to wait and followed when he gestured to follow, her lips curling into some semblance of a smile as her glassy gaze studied the horse.

She had been on a horse twice now, and Nathaira had taught her how to ride her own horse, at least a little bit. Rumer gave a slight grumble in protest, like a kitten spitting at a lion as she was lifted unceremoniously. As much as she was growing used to it, she hated being handled and pushed around but she had no choice but to accept it and grumble to herself with a quiet huff.

Rumer didn't mind the quiet for a little while, but after she'd worked several braids through his horse's mane and long enough admired the myriad of stars spread across the inky black sky she finally gathered the courage to look up at his hardened features..

"Can you tell me where we're goin' yet?..." she asked timidly, as though if she asked quietly enough she might be able to take the words back in and deny their existence if they angered him.

 

[Eske]

To his credit and, perhaps, to her relief, Emryc did not look angered at her words. If anything, despite a glance of stormy grey eyes down at her, he simply ignored them. No answer was given in return and they rode on for several hours longer through the dead of night. Any further attempts at conversation were fully quashed by an onerous silence, the same one might find themselves surrounded by in a graveyard.

The horse clopped steadily along a dreary country road, a split-rail fence lining one side of cattle pasture while trees lined the other. Emryc reined the horse off the wagon path to follow a trail further into the woods where he stopped at a lone cabin and dismounted.

"Stay there," the first words he'd spoken since leaving the undercity. Tying the horse to a holding post, the half-orc moved to pound a fist twice on the door. A meek looking woman answered, her eyes wide as she set her gaze upon the visitor. She made a trembling comment about the late hour.

"Burnside," Emryc rumbled once, watching the woman lean a littler further out the door to peer around, her eyes landed on the girl set on the horse.

"Who-"

"She's with me."

The notion that a child of Rumer's age was with someone like Emryc seemed to horrify the woman, but she nodded and closed the door. Several moments passed and the door cracked open again, a hand offering a rolled parchment with a key attached to it before hurridly closing with a snap. Emryc stepped back, untied the key and pocketed it, then unrolled the scroll to glance it over.

He was back to the horse and mounting up again, pushing the scroll into Rumer's hands, "When we near a body of water keep your eyes open for this," and as quickly as they had come they were off again on the trail, deeper into the woods.

The scroll was not a letter or a map, but a drawing of a location.

 

[Rumer]

The sound of the horse's hooves beating lazily along their dimpled path was soothing and after another few wordless hours she found sleep pulling on her eyelids and her head slowly bowing and she jumped out of a brief lull of sleep as she felt the horse come to a stop. She blinked the grittiness from her eyes and looked down at Emryc as he dismounted, her brow furrowed as she nodded and looked around, disorientated having missed some of the path here..

The horse shook it's head irritably as Rumer subconsciously fumbled and fidgeted with it's mane, twisting the locks betwixt her thumbs and forefingers anxiously, her glassy green eyes watching the exchange between the two. The child's gaze fell downcast as the woman peered out at her, and her eyes slowly rose to peek out from under her hood, curiously watching as she returned and passed him something..

Rumer took the scroll and looked down at it as he spoke. It still felt odd, having spent so many hours with him in silence, to hear him speak to her.

"Yessir." she answered timorously and studied the drawing with a quiet sigh in relief that there were no words to read..

By the time there was any water to see, the low sun's rays of coppery hues poured across the forest floor and the stars were slowly melting into the early morning sky, overpowered and weakened as shadows sprung to life around them. She pointed as she spotted the lake through the trees.

The lake was ringed with sloped rocks, and at the ragged shoreline was a tangled mass of gnarled twisted roots writhing down into the water. As they followed it, Rumer's eyes fell to the parchment and rose again several times as she searched for the place they had to find.

At last, she pointed with a wriggle of excitement "I see it! There! See?" she asked, tap tap tapping a fingertip on the drawing as she held it up in front of the orc's face, a look of smug delight fixed on her own.

 

[Eske]

Emryc gave a level blink as the parchment was flapped in front of his eyes, blinking wakefulness back into his gaze. A heavy brow arched down at the young one's excitement, following the line of her pointing to a place where the earth jutted out over the placid surface of the lake. With a jolt he pulled on the reins and turned the horse off the beaten path to make way through the underbrush of a sparsely forested woodland.

Nearing the point, the half-orc slowed them to a stand and dismounted once more, tying his horse off to a low branch and motioning for Ru to follow him on foot.

His bulk cleared the way through the ferns to the shore where his boots sunk into damp earth. The air smelled of water and honeysuckle, raspberry blooms and moss. Letting Ru lead the way then to their destination, he bowed his head as he stooped under the rocky overhang, looking for any clue of what they were to find. There was nothing immediately apparent.

"You are certain this is correct?" he asked gruffly of Rumer.

 

[Rumer]

Ru slipped from the saddle and secured her hood as she followed, eyes darting up and down between the path ahead and the parchment stretched out between her hands. Her smile seemed irrevocable. She enjoyed getting away from the dankness of the undercity, to breathe fresh air and explore the verdant landscapes. She felt at home, having never lived in the forest, and it made her think of the mother she never knew.

"Mhmm.. I think so.." she answered distantly as she studied the drawing through her narrowed gaze and twisted her lips in concentration. As she grew closer to the rocks, she beamed to see an arcane symbol under the tangled roots and she skipped toward it and reached a hand to point at it..

"There! See! Told you! Didn't I tell you?.." she grinned up at him and let her shoulders rise and fall in a dramatic sigh. "This is a fun game." she muttered quietly to herself as she reached a hand hesitantly to the rune..

"What are we supposed to find?.." she asked, though she didn't really expect an answer, she only hoped he wouldn't smack her on the head for daring to ask.

 

[Eske]

The man stared at her, deadpanned in expression, and watched as her dainty little fingers reached out to touch at something unseen on the rock. It was enough for him frown, disgruntled. Of course. Magic sigils.

Reaching to a leather pouch on his belt, Emryc fished about for something, withdrawing a small wooden box that he then opened and procured from within a small, black stick. Charcoal, to be more exact. He held it out to her and indicated with a gesture to the parchment in her hand, "Draw what you see on the stone."

 

[Rumer]

Rumer craned her neck to peer into the box inquisitively, and reached to take the stick from him with a brief frown in confusion at his instruction..

"Alriiight...Can't. Can't you see it?.." she tilted her head as her eyes rose to him, but she was too nervous to hold her gaze and quickly dropped it and turned to press the parchment to the rock next to the sigil and copy it. It was easy enough to copy, a round spiral with a line struck through it.

She chewed on her lip as she turned on her heels to hand it back to him with a quiet huff.

 

[Eske]

"No," he grunted, taking the parchment and charcoal back from her and looking to the sigil she'd drawn. Quickly he rolled the parchment back up, stowed the charcoal back in its box, in the pouch, and moved to pushed himself to a stand. A hand stretched to clasp the girl's shoulder, pressing her back out of the way as his other hand withdrew his sword from its sheath at his hip.

The blade sang through the air, gleaming in the bleary morning sun.

Gripping the pommel with both hands, Emryc lifted the sword, tip pointed toward the ground, high over his head before plunging it down into the dirt.

What followed was a sudden burst of blue light before the ground beneath both of them vanished and they both plummeted down into the darkness of ... yep, a cave.

 

[Rumer]

Ru watched him with shameless curiosity, and she stumbled clumsily as he moved her out of his way. He didn't talk much, and she had so many questions that he'd no doubt ignore. Her shoulders sagged and she gave another quiet huff at the frustration she felt, her arms folding across her chest to make a statement as she thumped her foot down over and over into the dirt, waiting impatiently for him to tell her something.

"Well? What's it meEEEEEEEEEEEAAN?!"

She landed hard on her back with a yelp and coughed as the wind was knocked from her lungs, drawing ragged breaths as she tried to pull the air back into her starving lungs, but it only made her cough more.

"Ow.." she breathed, pushing herself to sit up as she rubbed at her bruising elbow and looked around the cavern and blinked up at the gaping hole that was slowly regrowing, causing the light to dim. The child let out a quiet little growl in panic..

"Bit of warning..." she muttered irritably.

 

[Eske]

Emryc somehow managed to land on his feet and then toppled to his ass the next moment as the girl came crashing down over him. Stupid, he should have known better, but last time that sigil had just marked the burial of a box. He'd have a word with Burnside, damn smuggler must have thought he was being funny.

Standing with a grunt, the half-orc brushed off the blade of his sword and re-sheathed it at his hip. Pale eyes the color of a sea just following a storm peered out into the growing darkness, following Ru's glance upward to the hole that presently closed in over their heads. He could hear running water, the sound of waves gently lapping at rocks and something knocking in a faint current.

He disliked leaving his horse unattended--out of all the things he didn't own the horse was by far the most valuable--but he didn't have much choice. At least it would have a chance to graze in the daylight.

"Come," he gestured to Ru as he stepped away, following the sound of the water through the darkness. Not far into the cave he came to a small underground lagoon with a boat tethered against the edge. Inside the boat was a book ... or more likely a journal of sorts. He stooped, reaching one long arm to pick it of the seat and folded it open. Much as he expected, the pages were blank, so he handed it off to Ru with a grunt, "Get in the boat and look through that."

Because no one left a boat in a trail of clues without expecting you to use it.

Emryc waited until she was seated inside before pulling the tether free and stepping in after her. Using an oar to push off from the edge, they floated out to the middle of the lagoon before getting caught in a faint current and pulled deeper into the cave.

 

[Rumer]

The command was met with instant obedience and the child followed closely behind, her eyes wide and curious as they wandered through the cavernous hallways toward the aqueous sounds. Her lips curled at the sight of the little boat sitting in the water and she bit on her lip. Rumer had never been in a boat before, and she gave a slight wriggle of excitement as she was told to get in.

The book however was met with a less than enthusiastic sigh, and as she settled herself into the little craft she grumbled and flipped open the cover.. "I, uh..don't read so good..." she murmured at him and frowned at the pages for a moment before peering over the edge of the boat into the dark waters below.

"Are there sirens in here? Sea monsters? Water dragons?.." she asked and reached a hand over to dip a fingertip in.

"Where d'you suppose we're goin'?.." she asked without looking up from her blurry reflection upon the water's rippling surface.

 

[Eske]

"I, uh..don't read so good..."

A statement that got an actual response out of the half-orc, even if made in silence. Emryc turned to glance at her over his shoulder, a brow raised, incredulous. Couldn't read? It took him a moment of consideration for this - not all Forsaken were taught to read, though the skill was required on nearly all of his own missions. He groaned in irritation, turning his gaze forward and summarily ignoring all other dribble that fell from her lips.

He didn't believe there to be any creatures down here, but he didn't really know. It didn't matter, what mattered was that he was terribly certain there was a split coming up further down the cavern. Peering into the darkness, grey eyes taking on a faint glow, he scowled.

"Look - look through the book," his voice took on a forceful tone, "there must be some kind of map or instruction."

His scowl directed upwards as something splattered on his forehead. Stalactites dripped from the high ceiling, his voice echoed weirdly through the stone passages.

 

[Rumer]

The unexpected change in his tone caused Rumer's skinny little form to physically jump, the boat rocking somewhat with a slosh of water, the book landing with a dull thud on the floor of the boat as her hands occupied themselves holding on for dear life. She sank back a little and settled a timorous gaze on Emryc, her lips pressing tightly together as she refrained from saying another word.

Ru gave a brief nod and reached to pick the book back up and opened it. It was blank, but she was too afraid to say so and flipped through the pages, frantic and hopeless, searching for something. Anything.

Drip.

She had been about to tell the half orc of her predicament when the large drip of water landed with a tiny splash onto the middle of the page, she glanced upward, but when she looked back at the page it was as though the water had turned to ink, ink that was spreading quickly across the page..

"It's..a map.." she murmured to herself and brought it closer to her face as she peered at it, trying to make sense of it. "Oh!" her finger tap tap tapped on the drawing of the cavern and the little boat where they'd started. "Here! We're here! Uhm.." she dragged a fingertip along the passage they currently seemed to be drifting through, and she folded the page out and turned it this way and that.

"I think, we stay right.." she frowned, a blue glowing line of ink seeming to lead the way to wherever they were supposed to be going.

 

[Eske]

Every second he waited for a result was a another chord of muscle tightened along his spine. How ... how did he get stuck on this mission babysitting Nat's pet? The absurdity of it all was more than enough to bring an offense to the man he was certain would take several nights of drinking to eradicate. As if self-loathing wasn't prevalent enough throughout their numbers...

"It's ... a map .."

He blinked. Finally. He shifted the oar in the water to a neutral position, waiting on direction from the child. When at last it came he had no time to question her and dug the oar into the current to turn their drifting to the right. As he did so the current picked up and became more unsettled. Another split up ahead, coming at them quickly.

"Now where?"

 

[Rumer]

The child eased now that she'd managed to serve some purpose and seemed to have mollified his anger with it. She continued to turn the map, watching the ink spread and even managing a smile as she did so. It was a pretty thing, and she didn't see many pretty things.

"Left." she chirped.. "And..and then right.." she frowned, holding onto the edge of the boat with one hand as she was jostled about atop the growing current.

As she turned the page over and folded it out there was a large cave and a drawing of a skull, and the same blue mark that had been on the tree before. She assumed that to be where they were heading, and she bit on her lip with apprehension.

"Oh! Rocks!" her gaze widened as the drawing of jagged stalagmites suddenly appeared on the page just ahead of where they were now and she looked up "Steer to the right!!" she yelled and held on tightly, eyes squeezing shut.

 

[Eske]

He wasn't easily distracted but the fact that Rumer knew her left from her right was at least enough to earn her back points from being unable to read. Emryc gave a brief glance back at her at the sound of frantically flipping paper, long enough not to see the stalagmites ahead. He jumped, eyes wide, and shoved the oar flat side into the current in an attempt to turn and slow them.

The boat smacked into the columns of stone, hard enough to crunch in the wood on the side, jostle him out of his seat. Their boat shifted sideways against the rocks, then was shoved by the current around the left side so that they were traveling backwards. Emryc pushed himself up, searching around for the oar ... but it wasn't there.

With a grunt he plunged his arm into the waters, attempting to steer them toward the right, but the current sucked them down the left side.

Up ahead the sound of rushing water grew loud, thundering through the cavern walls. Emryc looked to Rumer with wide eyes, "Hold on."

 

[Rumer]

Rumer let out a startled meep of a sound as she felt the boat crash into rock and she stumbled back off of her seat too, legs kicking in the air as she flailed like an upturned beetle trying to right herself. She remained on the floor of the boat and pulled herself against the very back of it, fingers curling around it's edges as she was instructed to hold on.

Hold on she did. Her knuckles were white and her face contorted like she'd bit into something sour. She felt the boat ricochet against another few rocks before the world seemed to fall away. Her eyes opened wide with terror and a scream ripped from her chest as they plummeted in the inky darkness, the sound of rushing water so loud it muffled her screams, her cry of terror cut short as the boat crashed into another body of water and splintered. The frigid, churning water instantly engulfed her, dragging her deep under water as though something invisible gripped her by the ankles and pulled her down.