I gasp in a breath before the water pulls me down. 

Down, down, and down, I claw against the current and the wet grip that pulls my clothes. 

Unsuccessfully. 

My lungs are burning.

I can’t see.

I can’t see I can’t see I can’t see-

The water falls suddenly and in the break I take a gasp of air and pain as my legs scrape against a rock, pants barely protecting them. I look around blindly as the storm still rages on and I desperately look for any land. I’m going to die if I can’t find anything and that makes me angry. Something hot sits in my throat and a word pops into my mind that seems perfect. Absolutely perfect.

“>FFuck!<” Oh that feels better, but I don’t want to deal with coughing up cubes right as I’m trying not to choke down water. My impending cube travels up and up and up…and sits there as my small body travels further with the current. Something…settles in my neck and breathing feels muffled and wet like I placed a damp cloth on my face as more water pours on it. I’m choking, coughing, wheezing. But I’m breathing.

Oh, this sucks.

Time rushes past as I adapt to the rushing currents and float alongside the other debris rushing past me. I’m not cold, I’m just wet. And I can breathe.

In and out. In and out. 

My head is submerged.

I give up thinking and go even limper and manage to fall into a half-sleep. It’s not like my little body can do much against the current as-is. So long as I don’t die from drowning, which I seemingly can’t for some reason, I’ll just…take a nap.

Panicking about falling into a rushing river is rather tiring you know!

---------------------------------------------------------------

I wake up by accidentally snorting sand into my nose. It’s a pretty decent way of figuring out if you found land or not, a hundred percent success rate, and is highly recommended by anyone who is not currently sneezing out silt. After sitting up I cough up thick mucus that was the same color as my cubes but rather than sinking into the sand, it sat there. Almost accusingly. I shakily get up on my legs and scoop up the gritty pile of goop, where it sits docilely in my hand. I shake off the majority of grit and it inflates into a cube where it begins to jiggle. I toss it onto a nearby mud pile and watch as it sinks energetically into the dirt. Hm. Whatever.

I push off the ground and grimace as my cloth shoes sink deeply into the soft ground with an unfortunate squelching noise. I consider wrestling my shoes from the mud and continuing that process until I find firmer ground and instead bend down and remove my feet from the shoes entirely. My next step on the bank was a lot firmer than expected and I mentally scorned the cloth shoes for being worse than useless.

Sure, once I get in the forest I’ll have to walk more carefully but better than being stuck in the sand. I look at the deep indents in the ground being gently washed out and decide against digging them out; too much trouble and I might sink further in.

I walk from the bank to the pebbles to the patchy grass and shift my feet as I look back at the river. Would I be found if I stayed in one place? Would I even last long enough to be saved?

Would she even look?

I shake my head roughly and head closer to the woods but stop at a lightly colored tree with thin bark. I stare at it before picking up a nearby rock and carving a rough drawing of a piece of bread into the soft bark. I head further into the woods.

Alright, I need some sort of plan; I need shelter, food, and water. The river has water, now where do I get the other two? Berries might be edible, and if I’m lucky then I might catch a lizard, or maybe bugs. If it’s edible then I should eat it, no point in being picky.

I follow a small path in the woods, thinking that since I see animal footprints that means that this might lead to food. It’s not certain that I’ll find anything suitable for human consumption, but it couldn't hurt, right?

My guess is right and I come across a bramble-covered bush with luscious dark berries hanging off of it. Some strange part of my brain suggests I test it before eating, and first I smash a berry on my arm and wait for burning or itching, then on my face. Repeat. Then I get impatient and shove a handful in my mouth and shiver as the sour juices pop against my tongue. If I die, then I die. Not much I could do as a corpse.

I await my death and when it stands me up, I descend upon the bush with a fervor so intense it could be called feral. Satisfied, I burp a little and stand back up from my hunched seat near the bush. Now onto shelter.

I pick up a straight enough twig and set it upright and let it drop. It falls to the left of my position, so I pick it up as my trusty compass and start leftward. I come to another crossroad and repeat the action. So on and so forth. The woods are full of those bushes so wherever I end up, I will feast. Eventually, I come across a relatively enticing-looking cave, coated with moss on the bottom. Figuring this will be my best chance at a shelter, I pile sticks in the entrance and shuffle my way onto the moss, not caring about the damp since I barely dried to begin with. I’m still not cold for some reason but why nitpick about something good happening?

HelloHound

Yeah don't worry about it, no issues there whatsoever