Solo Caught by the River

[Naeya]

Caught by the River Son, What have you done? You're caught by the river, You're coming undone. Doves. Timestamp: 76th Day of Fall, 513 AV It had been sixteen days since the bridges broke. To say that the city had been "chaotic" during those days would have been the king of all understatements. Between the flooding, the looting, and the families separated by the swollen river, Sunberth had fallen into a state of semi-unrest. Moreseo than usual, at least, as far as Naeya was concerned. In spite of Makutsi's wrath, however, the Sunberthians were turning out to be quite the resilient group - if not a little slow to act. Naeya stood near the edge of the receding river, now nearly twice its previous width, and eyed the ragtag group of labourers working to stretch out three new rope bridges across the river. A crowd had gathered on each side, and their impatience was becoming more evident as the day dragged on. Some members of the crowd jostled for a front row position, while others hollered curses at the labourers in a misguided effort to speed up the process. After several bells' toil, the workers had finally managed to tie down two of the bridges and were in the final process of securing the last while fending off the growing throng of citizens. "Nearly there, folks!" One of labourers, a tall man with a strong jaw and the eyes of a leader, was doing his best to contain the city's residents as they pushed closer and closer to the new bridges. "Just gotta check the lines 'n make sure s'all safe." The air was electric with tension as the labourers on each side of the river spent two long chimes checking the hold of all three bridges. "Right, I think we got it-" The crowd surged. Naeya, a konti averse to crowds and gratuitous impatience, had kept her distance and thus had a clear view of the mob that stormed the bridges. Every individual seemed intent on being the first across the river, as if their personal brand of urgency eclipsed that of everyone around them. But Naeya's expression soon shifted from disapproval to horror as the rope of the bridge closest to her began to sag and fray with the weight of too many eager bodies. It was too late to stop it, too late to cry out. The rope snapped. The bridge dropped. The bodies fell. A waterfall of splashes filled the air, followed by a collective cry from the river's bystanders. The water itself was a mess of limbs and panic, with Sunberthians swimming over, under, and around their fellow citizens in their efforts to make it ashore. The strongest swimmers were quick to differentiate themselves as they pushed around the others and hastily clambered to safety, while the weakest were left to fend for themselves. "My baby! My baby!" A curly-haired woman stood next to the river, clutching her chest with one hand while tearing at her hair with the other. Her eyes were fixed on a bobbing red head in the water - a small boy struggling desperately in the river's grip. "He can't swim! Please, someone- someone save my baby!" A lone splash. Only a simple pair of boots and a white cotton cloak remained on the river's edge. Naeya was in the water.

[Naeya]

In spite of her konti heritage, Naeya was not the strongest or most graceful of swimmers. She had intended to execute a swan-like dive - arms reaching high above her head, hands touching, knees bent - but instead hit the water chest-first and spent several precious ticks recovering her breath. She gasped as the cold water submerged her head, filling her nose and forcing itself down her throat. The transition from lungs to gills was always a natural one, but her urgency and awkward landing made her choke and flounder as she tried to catch her bearings. The child! Where’s the child? The river was murky with city dirt and grime, and she could hardly see her own hands in front of her face. The young boy could have been right next to her, but underwater he was nowhere in sight. She would have to surface if she was to be of any help at all. With a strong kick of her feet and a shaky breaststroke, Naeya propelled herself up toward the dim light. Kick and stroke. Kick and stroke. She surfaced to chaos. The weaker swimmers were struggling to push against the river’s current and make it ashore, and several were visibly beginning to panic from fear and overwhelm. Naeya’s chest clenched with pain for those who had fallen into the river, but she wasn’t strong enough or quick enough to help them all. The mother’s cry rang in her ears, and she tore her gaze from a struggling man to search for the young boy. Come on, come on, she worried, treading water. Her hands were cupped beneath the surface and circled around each other repeatedly, while her legs kicked like a runner’s in order to keep her head just above the surface. Come on, child. Where are you? A flash of red hair caught her eye in the middle of the water, just beyond a trio of swimmers. His head bobbed up for three ticks and down for one, caught in a dangerous game of give and take. If she couldn’t make it to him soon, she knew his little arms would give out and he would be lost to the bottom of the river. With strengthened resolve, she swung her arms forward in a messy movement that looked to be a blend of a front crawl and dog paddle. Now is most definitely not the time for perfection, she reminded herself as she splashed through the water with force akin to a small tsunami. Perhaps when she returned to Mura she would aim for the graceful strokes of a water dancer. But here? And now? There was a life to be saved.

[Naeya]

Naeya pressed against the river's current as she swam forward, her movements made slower by her poor form. To offer her body some relief, she began to alternate between her pitiful excuse for the front crawl and an even more pitiful breaststroke. Shifting so that she was face down in the water, she turned her palms outward, bent her elbows, and pushed the water behind her as she swam. Her legs thrusted out like a frog - a clumsy frog, just learning how to hop. Nearly there, just a few more feet. She pushed forward and prayed the boy could hear her thoughts. He was so close, but his little body was tiring and he was beginning to sink longer and longer each time he bobbed up and down. The splashes were slowing and Naeya urged herself to swim faster. The red hair disappeared. She waited for him to resurface, mere ticks from reaching his side. Hold on, child, she urged, throwing herself into each stroke. Nothing. "Shyke!" Naeya kicked her legs, ducked her head beneath the cold water, and dove. She wouldn't lose him. Not after she'd come so far and he'd struggled so long. The kid was a survivor; she could feel it in her bones. As before, she could hardly see anything in the turbid river water. She dove with her eyes wide and her arms outstretched in hopes of catching on to the boy's arm or hand or clothes. There! Movement. A body? She reached out her right hand and kicked forward, grappling for the fabric. Naeya slipped a hand under each of the child's arms as she pulled him closer to her and, without hesitation, propelled herself and the boy toward precious air. "Galen!" The mother's now-familiar scream reached Naeya's ears as she broke the surface and lifted the child's head above the water. He was so light. So limp... "Breathe, dammit," the konti hissed as she treaded water. She wrapped her left arm around the child's stomach, pulling him in close, while she used the other to press gently on his chest. She'd gotten to him just in time. The boy hadn't swallowed enough water to reach the point of unconsciousness, and he coughed and sputtered without any further urging. Oh, thank Avalis. Naeya used her free hand to push the sodden, tangled hair from her eyes before glancing up at the sky in thanks. He was alive. He'd made it.

[Naeya]

First step: rescue the boy. Second step? Get out of the river, stat. Naeya could feel her body beginning to tire from the taxing swim and the weight of the child she held in her hands. Her waterlogged clothes felt heavier by the chime, threatening to drag her down to the riverbed if she didn't start to move. "Almost there," she murmured, half for her own sake and half for Galen's. The konti took a deep breath to calm her mind and steady her pounding heart. She continued to kick her legs, but moved them slower than before in an effort to preserve her energy. As a current pushed against her, slipping the pair further down the river, Naeya took a tick to orient herself to her surroundings and calculate the best way to reach the shore. They were floating in the middle of the river, but nearest to the left-hand side. She'd swim for the left bank, then, and move with the current so she wouldn't drain herself too quickly. Not many people were left the water, most having either escaped or drowned. To her right, another body sank below the surface without coming up for air and her heart hurt for the family that would be without a father that evening. "Ready, champ?" she asked, glancing at the child. The boy had fallen listless, exhausted from the day's catastrophe. She shifted her hold on him so that she had one hand under each of his arms, pushing him up and out in front of her. Only he needed to breathe above water. If she had to swim below, so be it. Naeya kicked her legs to roll herself onto her stomach, splashing water onto herself and Galen in the process. Using the boy's weight like a buoy, though being careful to keep him well above the current, she began to swim toward the left riverbank. But nothing was ever that easy. In all of her planning, the konti had failed to account for the struggling swimmer coming up behind her. Only the woman's desperate splashing alerted her to the newcomer, and by then it was too late. "Hel-help me!" Icy hands gripped Naeya around her neck before clawing their way up to her head and latching on to her hair. "What the petc-" Naeya choked on her words as the dirty river water was driven mercilessly down her throat and both she and the boy were forced underwater.