Mana Tapu

Chapter 19

Dipping my head lower to the surface I stopped kicking. The blue speckled river flowed onwards. The current slipping past me clung to my clothes, beckoning them to enter farther into the crevice. I didn't resist, momentarily holding my breath as I slipped beneath the stone. Keeping my feet in front of me I traced my finger tips along the ceiling. It was relatively unnerving floating on my back, not knowing how deep the water was nor the grave I willingly swam into. Bracing the crystal Tane had thrown me into my palm, I began dragging it into the surface a good twenty centimeters from my nose. Minuscule shards chipped away, lodging themselves into the soft stone and mossy growths.

"Wow, it's almost as if I'm drawing with light."

My voice softly bounced between the close stone and deep water. Digging deeper with the crystal I drew an arrow, pointing the direction I had come. I kept doodling as the water moved me into the heart of the earth. Just shy of three meters beyond the thin entrance my touch with the ceiling slipped upwards, completely ruining my orca's tail. Sharp chips showered down into my eyes. That was just my luck. I could draw freely for minutes; at the last second almost every infinitesimal speck made a beeline for my eyes. A few of them succeeded—burning when they made contact with my eyes. Diving under the surface I furiously scrubbed at my eyes. Before long the burning sensation had drifted from my eyes to my lungs. I forgot I was in water. I'm a genius. Rushing upwards I kicked off of the nearest surface my toes could find. As disoriented as I was, my launchpad ended up being closer to the water's surface than I had anticipated. My moment pushed me upwards, out of the water. For a moment the gods forgot about gravity and I soared upwards. My skull made contact with what I presume to be the gravity switch. As soon as we hit into each other I fell into darkness.

***

"Ughhhhh."

Why did everything have to hurt. Ever since I became Inmate 3289 fate has only every tried to hurt me. First it was Dr. Evil; then it was my own cell; after that the forest broke my ankle; and now this. There was something warm and sticky at the back of my head. My brain couldn't remember how I'd hit my head. There was a ringing in my ears. How long had I been out?

"Hoo?" Tane rubbed his beak into my ear as carefully as an obese, flightless bird could manage.

"Tane?"

"Hoo?" He seemed to ask me if I was alive. I couldn't tell which answer he was looking for.

"How did you get here? You can't swim!"

The 'can't' must have been swallowed up by the pebbles near my face. Tane boomed delightedly before diving into the water. Barely lifting my head from the lapping water I squinted in the dark expanse. In an attempt to see better I rolled onto my side. Coincidentally that helped drastically as I had landed atop the large crystal. Tane was... walking on water. My muggy thoughts didn't register what he was doing until I felt tension on the rope around my waist. No, he wasn't walking on water, he was walking on the rope. Of course a 5 kg bird couldn't swim. On the other hand, this bird was grappling the rope like a slack line. His scaly, muscular legs muscled him through the current. Tane continued hopping back and forth until I acknowledged him with a wave. For an animal that lives in the forest, he was skilled at surviving underground. Effortlessly prancing along the line the god of the forest leapt into me.

Grunting I glared at him, "that didn't feel good Tane. How would you like it if I jumped on you? Huh?"

He sheepishly slid onto the rocky bank. He glanced around before darting behind a larger stone to pout. Tane was such a petty bird. He'd make James look like a shaman. Laying back down I decided to wait him out. He'd usually give up after a minute or two. His curiosity always gets the best of him. Seeing as how he followed me into this place, he'd come around. Looking at the ceiling was surprisingly difficult: eyes didn't like adjusting to the excess light. My bet would be because I cracked my head open. Closing my eyes I listened in on Tane's pitiful booming. He sounded so betrayed. If Piper were listening she could have sworn I took away Tane's berries.