Chapter 124: Trials

“Haaa…!”

The stranger’s mouth stretched wide as a gallon of air was taken out of the atmosphere, and greedily sucked into his body. Time seemed to have looped, but this time he was emerging from out of the water, not diving into it.

And he would not be diving into any bodies of water anytime soon. He now had a profound fear and trauma of dark-shaded waters.

Just as he surfaced, and right on time, sunlight from above fell gently upon his face. It nourished him with a comforting warmth, cultivating back the heat he lost in his very fun and not at all horrifying misadventures.

Tender warmth and love. The feeling was a direct contrast to the cold, cruel depths that took that warmth away from him, and although he was too busy to notice, the gray clouds above had now dispersed to reveal the bright heavens.

He looked to his left where he was clutching an unconscious girl to his hip.

The light shined on her face too, but her expression had actually transformed from one of neutral fatigue, to that of a tense, scrunched-up expression. It wasn't anger plastered on her face though, but stress and distraught. It was the same face one made when they were undergoing nightmares.

Although the stranger thought differently. There was definitely water in her lungs from all that time underwater!

As the person he was, he tasked upon himself one more thing he had to do. He was going to get them both out of the river, and get her breathing again.

At least the worst had passed though, he thought to himself. He was doubtful it could get worse than what he had just gone through.

While being rocked by the tides, his eyes scanned the waters. The river was fortunately calmer than when he had dived into it, although the current was still sweepingly strong. To escape their predicament, he needed something to latch onto— maybe a vine, or a bent tree that hung low enough for him to grasp onto its branches. Something that afforded a good grip, that he could squirm himself and the girl with him over.

Nevermind trying to latch onto higher ground. He wouldn’t have the proper grasp to use his strength, nor did he simply have the strength to do such a thing. He couldn’t even do one pull-up, much less pull himself up an elevated ledge with one arm, and with the weight of an additional body in tow.

…There was no chance he would not get swept away by the forceful current either, in his attempt.

Pulled by the domineering tide, he looked forward ahead of them, trying to spot anything that could help their plight. There was disappointingly nothing, for the river was clear of any obstruction…but there was another bend in the river soon, so a new avenue of opportunities would be presented to them.

In the meantime, he tightly clutched the girl’s body to his own so her head would stay above water, while he frantically paddled his feet and other arm so they would both stay afloat in the first place.

The spark of light within his heart was still in resonance with the mysterious miracles in the sky, which luckily afforded him a constant source of energy. Although, unlimited energy didn’t mean perpetual motion. Even machines needed maintenance, while humans and animals needed rest and recovery. The kind stranger could feel the wear-and-tear of his body, but at the very least he was confident of not falling apart until after everything was done.

Or so he thought…

The stranger weathered the river tides staunchly, patiently waiting for the opportune time to use one more burst of energy. Forcefully, the tides pushed them every which way, but he endured.

The bend in the river came both swiftly and naturally. Suddenly the pair was thrown to the left, and then violently to the right. A splash of water momentarily submerged them, but the stranger urgently resurfaced them both in no time.

Still paddling with his feet, he rubbed the droplets of water from off of his closed eyelids and eyebrows, then opened his eyes to gaze upon the path that was gifted to them.

Relief washed over his heart as he saw a giant leaning tree, with one of its huge branches bent over the river.

Now he could directly grasp onto its branches, but as if the heavens were shining down on them, there was weathered rope tied to that thick hanging branch. It was not directly above the river, but diagonal in a way that he could slowly inch his way out of the rushing currents.

The rope seemed to be an abandoned swing, to which, the tree was once a location for fun and play. People of all ages, but mainly two red-haired children…would climb the tree and then swing into the waters of the river. Although those times were probably meant for when the river was not flooding.

This content has been misappropriated from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

Whatever the case, the stranger thanked his lucky stars. This way, it would be much easier to carry the girl over with him. He waited patiently once again, trying his best to keep himself in the path of the rope.

The rope danced upon the surface of the waters. It was thick, but not so thick that it would be impossible to miss grasping it.

Moments passed in a haze of roaring water and tense humidity. Time seemed to slow, even when the current of the river was rapidly pushing them down its path.

The opportune time came, and…

‘Got it!’

The kind boy’s small right hand clutched tightly onto the girth of the rope. It bore a rough texture, but that same texture made it easier for him to latch onto.

Still being pulled by the current, he floated for a few moments before his momentum was jerkingly and violently stopped. The slack rope in his hands suddenly snapped taut and tight, holding the weight of both of them from being washed down the river.

A breath passed through the boy’s mouth at the momentary relief, before he breathed in once again in preparation. Truly, he was pushing himself beyond what he was normally capable of…but doing such a thing made many realize that they were made of tougher material than they thought.

In one smooth motion he momentarily let go of the rope, only so he could lunge and latch onto it again. He did this repeatedly, slowly inching his way further up the rope, as well as towards land.

It was an exhausting motion, to be honest. He only had one arm to wrangle himself forward. There was the weight of the girl to keep in mind, and his arm holding her had to be constantly strained, lest she get swept away. Lastly, his movements between letting go and advancing, had to be sudden and limited. The current was constantly pushing him backwards. He had to crawl forward, or risk being washed away by the forceful tide.

No less than ten times had he lunged forward on the rope, but he was only halfway across the river. On his fifteenth lunge, he had no other choice but to take a breather. His chest heaved up and down whilst there was an aching, burning pain all over his arms.

He had gotten even closer though. A few more lunges, and then he’d have to haul both himself and the girl with him over the elevated dirt. Luckily the flooding waters actually gave him an advantage. Sometimes the water would swell, and lift him upwards. He was planning to use it to aid his effort, once he regained his breath.

In the midst of his respite however, he heard the odd creaking of wood.

…Strange. Where did it come from?

Among the sound of his heavy breaths and the gushing river water, the deep groan and buzz of the wood was especially clear. In no time, the kind boy raised his head, easily finding its source.

The sound came from where the rope was situated. It coiled numerous times around the middle of the thick branch, before he traced it towards the rope in his hand.

His eyes traced it back in reverse as the creaking of the wood never once stopped but only grew louder and louder. He could see the branch, three feet in width and as big as a normal log, trembling and shaking intensely.

Then, he noticed it. The wood of the tree— there were odd patches of black and dark brown, where the gray tree bark was seemingly peeling off of it.

SNAP!

In the next moment, the tension from the rope snapped the thick tree branch into splinters. A fog of wood dust exploded out from it, and the stranger watched wide-eyed as the rope in his hands slacked, while the humongous branch descended towards the river.

The rope swing, but primarily the tree, was abandoned for good reason. A fungus had attached to it long ago. The tree was rotting, and the wood was immensely weaker for it.

SPLASH!

The humongous tree branch, and all its following branches, crashed into the river. It was thunderous, shaking the kind stranger out of his blank expression. Sticks and splinters of wood flew off from the crash, pelting the two but mostly him.

He shielded the girl from the scattering pieces of wood at the last second, turning his back towards them. Once he felt no more assaulting him, he turned his head only to see a gigantic log of wood flying towards his face.

In the end it never hit him…since they were now both floating across the river at the same speed.

Well, relatively. Heavier objects floated slower simply because more force was needed to displace them.

Still shaken by the sudden events, the stranger panicked. Although the large piece of wood wouldn't hit him as long as he continued to flow down the river, it also meant that it would definitely hit him once he found another opportunity to escape the current.

He looked ahead of him once again, seeing that there was another bend in the river soon, one that was much more tight and narrow.

‘Should I dive under the water?’

‘But that’ll mean fighting against the current until the log passes us…’

He didn’t have the confidence to move even an inch forward against the forceful tide. Moving left and right was possible, albeit he was actually still flowing down the river…but directly against the current was impossible.

Then, a glimmer appeared in his eyes.

‘If not down, then…’

‘Up.’

‘But wait…’

Although it was subtle, he was actually flowing down the river faster than the log. The few feet in distance that separated them was growing increasingly noticeable.

Still, fortune had not abandoned him yet.

‘The river bend.’

This particular bend was a sharp turn in the flow of the waters. With the way the currents shifted and the area of movable space was compressed…

If he could move diagonally at the right time at the right location, the log would come to him instead.

“Haaa…!”

He filled his body with air once again, preparing it for the coming trials.

Like a cyclone the swift bend in the river pulled them both in…before releasing them both out. In that golden moment they were thrown out of the bend; he used every bit of energy and muscle in his feeble frame to swim diagonally away from the inward side.

Not long after, a barrelling branch as thick as a log, slammed into his back. The impact almost made him let go of Shelly, but once again he endured.

One arm threw itself above the log, followed by a leg that struggled to sprawl over the top surface. He breathed heavily in and out, before struggling to lay her body over the log too.

Her face was set down on the surface of the wet and rotting wood, but it was much better than being underwater.

‘This…’

‘This…is so much!’

Battle after battle, and predicament after predicament, the built up stress made the timid stranger kind of want to cry.

Hardship often made people strong, although it typically broke them first…

Still, he swallowed the lump in his throat, and held back his tears for later.

Well, wiping away his tears was more like it…

After rubbing his eyes a few times, he looked ahead of him once again, scanning for any new opportunities presented to them by the new path of the river.

And what he saw…was that the river ended.