Can it rain any harder?

[Deleted]

The rain was coming in torrents and any attempt at seeing anything beyond a foot away was useless. On the Great River, less then a mile out from Ronduin proper, on a little island by an outlet river which would lead to the ocean, stood what appeared to be a large damn made of many branches and random wooden debris.

Water ran over it, shaking it hard, the wind even harder, giving the three occupants inside no rest.

Hikari, who was naturally pale against her sisters natural darkness, was even more pale now. None of them had considered the idea that a storm might attempt to blow their little shelter away. She shivered and moved once more, trying to get away from the places where water was slowly leaking in. "Yugure..." she muttered, "What do we do?" she also glanced at the one she was almost pressing up against.

Another slave boy, name Eugen, who had come with them to escape, also glanced at Yugure.

The darker fox girl prowled the area, ears and tail jerking wildly about. She ignored her sisters question, and both of their looks. Yes, it was a storm, but, if they stayed put, surely they would be fine. She was not dumb, aggressive but not dumb. "We stay here," she finally answered, coming over to crouch next to the two of them.

The other two swallowed hard, nodding.

And so time passed, but there was not a let up in the storm. Now, not only was there rain and wind, but thunder and lighting were now added to the mix. All three now were jumpy, anxious, wishing and hoping for a break, a chance to get to higher ground. The river had risen, leaving no purchasable ground for them to walk on. Yugure's ears were pressed flat as she realized her mistake. "Maybe...we can swim..." she voiced quietly, knowing that there was no way they really could.

However, before Hikari could say anything there was a large crack and the beavers dam shuddered violently, causing the two girls to scream, as well as Eugen. Twice more it was hit, and Hikari covered her head, crying out, "Why does it keep hitting us?!"

Yugure could not answer for she saw what she thought could not happen. "F-fire....it's on fire!" Back peddling, she scrabbled at the twigs and sticks that blocked the opening, trying to get them out of the way before the fire could reach them. Getting it open, she shoved Eugen out. "Go, go!"

Hikari too found herself pushed out and into the water. Swimming desperately, and shouting for Yugure to hurry and join them. Gasping, she tried also to grab hold of Eugen. A large wave and a strong current swept the two of them appart, and, screaming, Hikari found herself tossed up onto a shore where she stuck in the mud.

Scrambling about, she shouted again and again, hoping someone would hear her and come to help....

...Yugure, however, was stuck. A rather large branch had her leg pinned and she couldn't jerk free. "Help! Help!" she screamed, eyes wide, movements frantic as she saw the fire coming and the water rising from the hole. Death by fire and drowning. "Nooo!" she wailed, the wind taking it far away before it could even be heard.

***
At the harbor of Ronduin, a boy washed up gasping and gagging on the sheer amount of water he had swallowed. Tiredly, he pulled himself up and hoarsely called out for someone, anyone.

[Darastrix]

Thoth was hurrying home with Iah, the Beast wishing--as he often did in such situations--that his divinations could foretell such things. His companion didn't mind the pelting rain much, and nor would Thoth, if he didn't wear glasses. Sputtering slightly, he paused under a shop's overhang to wipe the lenses, peering out at the rain as he put his glasses back on.

"Maybe we should just wait it out here," he mused, running a hand back through his odd, two-toned hair. Iah chattered a noncommittal reply. He was a waterfowl; it made him little difference. "I'll wait for it to slack up some," Thoth decided. "If you want to brave the rain, you can go catch some fish. I don't want to get any more wet if I don't have to."

"It wouldn't matter so much if you humans would stop this nonsense with clothing," Iah remarked to Thoth as he made is way to the shore. The whole concept of modesty was lost on the bird. His human had tried to explain the reasoning, that mating was a private affair and they kept the parts for that covered in public, but really. If those bits are that important, they should be displayed so people could choose their mate more easily, not covered up. Humans were silly creatures, Iah had long decided. It was a shame that not all of them could speak with animals and gain a companion like Thoth had. Even with his understanding of beasts, Thoth still had those silly human notions. The people without Beast signs must be nearly hopeless.

The ibis suddenly tilted his head this way and that, having heard the cries of the boy. It sounded like a chick in trouble, maybe lost from its nest--its house. Iah walked in the boy's direction until he caught sight of the child. He flew back toward Thoth, yelling for the man to come, making an awful racket to anyone who couldn't understand him.

The mystic hurried out into the rain, hearing his friend, and Iah quickly led him to the area of the harbor where the boy was laying. Thoth rushed to his side, moving to pull him completely from the water. "What happened? Are you all right?"

[Deleted]

((Because I asked, and got permission, I have momentary control of Eugen.))

He gasped and shuddered, clinging to the man as though he felt like he were going to slip away at any moment. "P-please..." he choked out, fingers even tighter about Thoth's clothes. "M-my...friends...our place got flooded, destroyed. I...I don't know where they are at."

With a trembling hand, he pointed out in the direction - as best as he could recall - where the beaver dam had sat, the rain and wind obscuring any chance of seeing even a small portion of it.

****

Meanwhile, back at the dam, or rather, on the shore, Hikari made several attempts to get to her sister, to help her, but each time, the strong waters pushed her back and tossed her aside. Finally, just standing there, feet sunk into the mud, drenched and dirty.

Yugure, however, was at this point fully in the water, struggling just to get any air at the top of the small structure.

[Darastrix]

Thoth squinted out across the water, shielding his eyes with one hand, but could only see rain and white caps as the wind whipped up the surface of the river.

'With this storm, nobody may be able to get to them until it's over,' he thought, heart sinking. He could hold his breath underwater long enough, no doubt, but unless the others were Waters, too....

"How many people are out there?" he asked.

[Deleted]

"T-two..." he said, sitting up now, breathing now easier. "Two girls, both fox beasts. When I got swept away, one of the girls was out in the water with me, the other trapped..." his stomach twisted and he gripped his own shirt.

"We gotta look for them, please?"

[Darastrix]

"Iah, start looking along the shore," Thoth said to the ibis, who bobbed his head and started moving along the shoreline. The bird's sharp eyes would hopefully be able to catch sight of another person washed up on the shore or flailing out in the water.

"Trapped where?" he asked Eugen, worry making his tone sharp. "In this weather, it's going to be near impossible to find anyone unless we know exactly where she is." There were small islands here and there, he knew, most too small for anyone to actually live on, though they made good places to rest for Waters helping other elements cross the river to either shore.

[Deleted]

Eugen grimaced and tried to think of exactly where the dam had been built, which island it was sitting on. He scrunched his eyes shut, rain still pelting him. "Ah...she is trapped in an old beaver dam, not even a mile that'a'way," he said, pointing once more. "It was built on a slightly larger island at the mouth of one of the smaller rivers leading away."

Hikari, about to give up hope, spotted the bird beast and gaped. Not sure he or she had seen her, she waved her hands in a panicked, jerking motion, shouting out. "H-hey!! Down here! Please!"

[Darastrix]

'A the mouth of a river?' Thoth decided to take the child's words with a grain of salt. He didn't sound like a native, and a river's actual mouth would surely be on the opposite shore along the coast of Mentis or--Forces forbid--New Morilanta. Well over a mile away. Not that he really expected the boy to have any sense of distance, especially given the situation.

"Come with me," he said, pulling the boy away from the shore, toward a patrol house. "Unless the storm lets up, a stronger Water than I will have to try to get to them."

Iah walked his way carefully toward Hikari, calling back in bird-speak, "Come away from the water, fox-kit! Your human friend is back down the shore with my companion."

[Kender Bard]

Three guards were currently idling at the entrance of the patrol house, not wanting to stray into the rain either. They glanced at Thoth curiously at his approach; he and the boy looked drenched to the core and they wondered what they were doing out in the pouring rain.

[Deleted]

Hikari, shivering, clutched her arms and looked at Iah with a desperate look in her eyes. "Mister, my sister...she's still in..." she cut off as what remained of the damn broke off and became rushed down river.

"No! No! Yugure!" she screamed, struggling through the mud and muck, trying to get back to the water and failing.

****

Eugen went with Thoth, shivering from the cold and worry, looking about him, concern written across his face.

[Darastrix]

"Fox-kit!" Iah said sharply. "You cannot reach anyone in this weather. Leave that to the stronger Wind and Water-folk," he told her, flapping his wings for emphasis. He knew his companion would have gone to find help, even if the man hadn't told him so. "Come away before you do yourself harm."
______________________

"There's a girl, maybe two, stranded out on one of the nearer islands," Thoth told them, panting. He ran a hand across his face in a futile attempt to get some of the water out of his eyes and off of his glasses; water still ran down his face from his hair, now plastered wetly to his scalp.

"My companion is searching the shore, but I can't go out on the water with it like this."

[Kender Bard]

The guards nodded; two were out the door in a moment as the third hurried back to another room. Quintin hurried out. The third guard went off and Quintin seemed eager to follow. "Do you know where along the shore we should be looking?"

[Deleted]

Hikari, mud coated, let out a ragged sob and, with a little bit of struggle, worked her way back to Iah. "My sister...she...I don't think she lived....through that..." her entire body seemed to slump at that point.

****

Eugen, at that point, repeated what he had told Thoth.

****

Spitting up water, the other fox child clung desperately to a rather large branch. She was further downstream then she had been moment before and was having a great deal of difficulty staying above the water.

"Help," she cried weakly, not believing that she would be heard or seen.

[Kender Bard]

Raina had been out by the shore's edge trying to catch a renegade chicken. The rain didn't bother her, truly, so she hadn't minded. She did spot a flash of something in the River. Curious. She picked up her skirts and went to inspect. When she saw it was a person, she hurried. "Oh!" Stopping by the water's edge she considered how best to retrieve the girl. Raina was a plant affinity, not soil, so it would be a bit trickier. Touching her signs together, she coaxed out some of the long weeds by the River's edge to grow a little taller and stretch towards Yugure. "Grab them!" she called out.

[Deleted]

Yugure splashed and swallowed some of the dark murky waters. Trying, she made a few swipes for the weeds that the woman tried to get to her.

She managed to grab one and hold on, but fear made her grip too hard and went she yanked on the plant, it tore in her hands. She screamed again as the waved pulled her under and further away.