'Truthfully,' Dante thought, staring down at the patch of water 150 metres below him, "I will set Rex on fire when I get down there, water be damned.'
"Come on idiot!" Rex called from below, having already taken the plunge minutes before. He gently tread water, neck growing sore as he stared up at the cliff edge, waiting for his friend to join him.
'Fucking secret holiday spot, fucking weekend getaway - if I knew I'd be jumping off a cliff I would've never said yes.'
Wind blew at the cliff side and mussed Dante's black hair. The sun glaring at the young man's eyes made him squint - his feet crunched on gravel as he inched backwards.
"Jump already!"
"Shut up asshole!" Dante yelled, "I don't want to fucking miss!"
The young man breathed deeply, hands clenching. He took a few steps back, dust dancing at his feet. He swallowed, heart pounding.
"Dante!"
"Shut the fuck up Rex!"
Heart pounded louder.
Breaths cycled faster.
Dante could feel steam coming from his skin.
He squeezed his eyes shut and ran.
===
Rex watched as his friend's form dropped off the cliff, screaming as he came down. Rex laughed and lifted an arm - great waves of water crashed together and rose into a column, hooking around Dante's torso and pulled him closer. Rex didn't want his only friend dying so soon from missing a lake right in front of him.
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Dante sputtered as water splashed at his face. And then squawked as he was dumped next to his friend.
He rose up out of the water, gasping for air.
Rex cackled at him, "Your jump was weak."
Dante splashed water at Rex, the wave absorbing into the his body like ripples in a pond.
Rex leaned and floated on his back, drifting gently.
"Fuck you. You know I hate heights," Dante growled, "and you still made me jump off the cliff."
"It's nice now right? You run too hot, need to cool off from all that stress from work." Rex replied.
Dante grit his teeth, steam started to rise from his head as he dried the parts of his body that were above water.
"I thought we were going camping. In the forest." Dante's eyes blazed, embers glowing in his red irises. "Not to shitty Cubita Dessert to jump in some random ass lake." Dante waved his arms, "I would've died!"
Rex grinned, "You're the one who followed me."
Dante sent an small fire ball at him, hitting Rex in the face. The man only laughed as his face became a cloak of steam - reforming quickly to a grimace.
"Ugh, too hot." Rex shut his blue eyes, and dunked underwater to get away from the sun's rays.
Dante swam away from his friend, paddling around.
The lake was small. There was a few weeds and a spattering of trees. There wasn't much to see beyond that. Rocks and dirt made up the majority of the scenery.
Heat waves danced on the earth as the hot sun bore down on the ground, lazy lines rising from cracked clay.
Dante stopped paddling as he saw something in the distance. It looked almost like a tree but it was getting closer.
Someone was walking through the hazy heat.
Dante ducked his head underwater, and opened his mouth "Rex! Someone’s coming!" his calling muffled by the water.
Dante resurfaced, not surprised at Rex appearing next to him shortly after.
"No one's knows about this place." Rex said.
"Yeah, I believe you." Dante put a hand over his eyes to see past the sun's glare. He can see that the figure had a head of black hair.
He watched as the figure reached the other end of the lake, opposite to the two friends. Dante could see that the figure was a young woman, short and skinny, dressed in loose dirty clothing. The woman dropped to her knees and dunked her head into the water, greedily drinking from the lake.
The two men watched as the girl's head snapped up, gasping for air. Her long black hair curtained her face from their view as she breathed heavily. The girl sat on her knees for a moment, before pitching sideways, the impact of her body hitting the ground had sent a plume of dirt into the air.
CHAPTER 1 END