define('WP_CACHE', true); Chapter 45: River Swift – Crossed Paths – Logs

Mar 26

Chapter 45: River Swift

Chapter 45: River Swift

In Which Jozra Should Really Watch Where She’s Going.

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Yazeth: The slope is steep and slick and before she has the chance to cry out again she’s submerged in the racing river.

Arrin Woodgreen: Cursing, he tosses his staff and pack to the ground and dives in after the ferret. He swims downstream quite a bit and calls for the ferret. “Jozra! Joz speak to me!!!”

Yazeth: The ferret splashes and tries to swim towards the bank but is hindered by her pack and clothing. She is dunked again and comes up sputtering and choking.

Arrin Woodgreen: Somehow, above the din of the river, he hears the splashing. He immediately dives and swims for his friend.

Yazeth: Through the chaos and the water, she spies a branch and lunges for it but misses by several arms lengths. The weight of the pack drags her down and she tries to disentangle herself from it but only gets a mouthful of water for her troubles.

Arrin Woodgreen: He surfaces again. “Jozra! Say something!”

Yazeth: Over the sound of the river, the ferret somehow manages to hear Soquan. She struggles to shout, “HERE!” over the current before sinking again.

Arrin Woodgreen: The otter catches the shout and changes direction, swimming as fast as he can for Jozra. After a few minutes of swimming and diving around the area his paw comes in contact with something cold and furry. He found her! Instinctively he grabs on, heaving the ferret above water.

Yazeth: The ferret gasps and sputters at the surface. She clings tightly to the otter, nearly dunking him once or twice.

Arrin Woodgreen: He tries to calm the ferret. “I need you to stay calm, if you struggle you’ll bring us both under. Now I also want you to point me in the right direction towards shore.”

Yazeth: Jozra squeezes her eyes tight for a second as the fresh air burns in her lungs. She peers ahead through the choppy water and drizzle before pointing in a somewhat northerly direction. Shivering, she rasps, “There.”

Arrin Woodgreen: He follows the ferret’s direction and after another few minutes of struggling upriver he heaves them both onto the muddy bank.

Yazeth: The ferret crawls a little way up the slope before collapsing in a shivering heap. “Th-th-thanks.”

Arrin Woodgreen: He heaves himself out of the water after her and helps her to a safer place further up the bank. He settles her down gently and stands. “I’m going to go get our things, I’ll be back!” He makes his way along the bank upstream.

Yazeth: The ferret nods jerkily in affirmation. She manages to finally detach herself from her pack before huddling into a shivering ball.

Arrin Woodgreen: He walks upstream for quite a few moments, but eventually he finds where they cut through. He gathers his things and is about to leave when he steps on Jozra’s dropped blade.

Yazeth: Jozra curls up tightly in a dripping, shivering mass. She tries clenching her jaw to keep her teeth from chattering, concentrating on listening for Soquan’s return.

Arrin Woodgreen: He swears a bit, picks up Jozra’s knife and tucks it in his belt. Ignoring the pain in his foot, he heads back downstream as fast as he can.

Yazeth: The ferret shakes her head a couple of times as confusion fogs her brain.  Listening for… the otter. The otter. Why? Wait, what was she listening for again?

Arrin Woodgreen: He approaches a few minutes later, crouching beside her. “Joz? Feeling better?”

Yazeth: Jozra jerks around to look at Soquan, loosing her balance as she does so. She sprawls in the mud. “Who… Soq…”

Arrin Woodgreen: He frowns. “You were in that river too long. C’mere.” He pulls her against him and stands, pulling her to her feet with him. He then begins helping her further into the bush, away from the river. “We’ll get you warmed up as quick a possible, okay?”

Yazeth: The ferret hears his words and somewhat comprehends, yet she still tries pushing away from him clumsily; a combination of confusion, paranoia and combat training.

Arrin Woodgreen: He frowns in concern. “Jozra, please, let me help.”

Yazeth: Feeling stiff and unable to stop shivering, the ferret finally grasps Soquan’s words and lets him help her into the brush.

Arrin Woodgreen: “Atta girl,” he murmurs to her encouragingly. After quite a while of traveling through the thick brush he finds a clearing. Good enough for him, he gently sets her down and begins to dig out a sleeping pit, not as big as before so it’ll be snug for the both of them, and deeper into the ground. He pulls out the dry blankets and whatnot and puts them in the pit.

Yazeth: The ferret continues shivering, annoyed now with her constant trembling.  Winter in the northlands without so much as frostbite and now that it’s spring she’s in trouble. She feels a sharp pang of homesickness, for the desert.

Arrin Woodgreen: He returns to her and helps her upright. “Here, let’s get you out of these. “ He begins to help her out of her wet clothes.

Yazeth: Jozra tries to help in the process but manages to do very little.

Arrin Woodgreen: After that is finished, he removes his wet clothes as well and assists her back to the ‘nest.’ He then begins to wrap the blankets around them both, holding her close.

Yazeth: The ferret, surprisingly, or perhaps unsurprisingly, is too tired and cold to protest; unless you count shivering as protesting, of course.

Arrin Woodgreen: Soquan tries to rub some warmth into her nearly frozen limbs. “Try to get some rest. I’ll look after you.”

Yazeth: Jozra nods jerkily and continues shivering miserably, feeling rather perturbed that she often can’t remember the name of her companion.

Arrin Woodgreen: He continues to do his best to warm her, muttering comforting phrases and such to her as he does so.

Yazeth: Eventually, the ferret begins to drift in and out of consciousness and though she continues to shiver, it isn’t quite as severe.

Arrin Woodgreen: He relaxes as he feels her shivering ease up. He finds his eyelids drooping, and soon he dozes lightly.

Yazeth: Jozra’s sleep is broken and confused. One moment she’s dreaming of Azrun fletching his arrows, the next she’s aware of shivering in the rain.

Arrin Woodgreen: He wakes slightly to check on her. He moves his paw to appropriate places to check her vitals. He takes note of the constant shivering.

Yazeth: The ferret remains unconscious during this, though her dreams begin to take a rather psychedelic turn; raining sand, blind archer otters, and badgers the size of enormous trees are some of the weirder images running through her head.

Arrin Woodgreen: He frowns at her slow pulse and moves closer to Jozra.

Yazeth: Jozra awakens for a second, thoroughly confused as to where she is and what’s going on before losing consciousness again.

Arrin Woodgreen: He settles down closer to her. “I’ll look after you, don’t worry.”

Yazeth: She hears his words though a haze of semi-consciousness but only shivers in reply.

Arrin Woodgreen: He settles down to go back to sleep. “If things aren’t better by morning, I’ll figure something out, don’t you worry.”

Jozra

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