Rage

3 - Screaming Tides

TW: None, correct me if I'm wrong please

As Marlin felt the shock of the cold water sweep over her, she nearly forgot about her frantic companion. A few feet away from her, struggling to breathe, and her head bobbing under because of the speed of the water, only to appear again farther upstream as she submerged, was Rain. She was reaching for Marlin, screaming her name before she was dragged down again.

Marlin panicked, and dove under, looking for Rain's figure. As she felt her lungs start to constrict, and her air supply run thin, she once again reached for the light of the surface. As she scanned her surroundings, her head swung towards a quick movement to her left.

Rain was desperately trying to get a hold of a large piece of driftwood, screaming for Marlin, but the rushing waters of the river drowned her desperate screams out. Marlin summoned all her remaining strength, and dove under again, submerging only a few feet away from Rain.

Rain was barely hanging on to the wood she had grabbed before and began to slip as Marlin finally arrived beside her. Marlin quickly grasped Rains arm and tugged her onto her back, while her eyes darted to the edges of the river, a million thoughts racing through her head, trying to fabricate a plan.

Suddenly Marlin could feel all her strength leave her body. She had used every ounce of it when escaping her home and saving Rain. She tried to pull them to another piece of driftwood, but her legs failed her.

Marlins body failed her. She cursed her weakness as the world around her became blurry, and she saw what she knew would be her last sunrise, which at this point was just a large blurry blotch, and she slipped into the sorrowful, cold claws of the river, knowing SHE had failed.

~time skip for the lovely people~

As her eyes batted open, Marlin was shaken, miserable, and barely alive. Wait. She was barely alive? She was alive?! She groggily dragged herself from the mat she had been on, and pushed back the entrance of the tent-like structure she was in.

"And the heroine survives! Do you want some breakfast sport?" a stranger's voice commented.

Marlin bounced back as she saw the owner of the voice. There was a man with a dark skin tone, black hair with slightly overgrown bangs, with a hint of a beard standing in front of Marlin.

As she analyzed the situation, and quickly assumed a "poker-face" as some call it, she noticed Rain sitting by a campfire behind the man. Marlin felt a sudden rush of relief overcome her but was quickly snapped out of her joyous state when the odd man spoke again.

"So are you going to eat or?" the man remarked.

"First of all, who are you?" Marlin questioned stonily.

"Name's Yuliab, 26, and waiting for you to sit down and drink some damn soup. You?" he (annoyingly) kindly remarked.

"...Marlin" Marlin commented, quite suspicious of this person. But then she remembered. She was alive. Marlin was alive, and Rain was alive too! They had lived! But...

How?

"Um..how did we-" Marlin began.

"Survive the river?" Yuliab finished. Marlin nodded after hesitating for a moment. He sighed. He patted the log in between him and Rain, and told Marlin to sit first. Marlin took a seat beside Rain, as she didn't quite trust Yuliab as much as she did her best friend.

~one explanation later~

"So..." Marlin started whilst filling up the bowl Yuliab had supplied to her with radish soup.

"You saw us start to sink in the water, and you used a levitation spell to get us out?" Marlin said, while a hint of skepticism laced into her voice.

Marlin had heard of those who possess magic, but she had never before left the forest, so of course she had never met anyone who had been born with these abilities.

"So you're a witch?" Marlin commented.

"Well technically I'm a 'wizard' but I don't see the difference so yeah." Yuliab shrugged.

"Hmmm" Marlin considered. Rain then suddenly, but quietly piped in.

"Um..thank you for saving us. I'm sorry if we were a nuisance..." She fumbled. Marlin froze. She felt utterly stupid. How could she have been so ignorant? Rain had been so quiet, not speaking until now, and even when she spoke, her voice was quavery, and on the edge of breaking.

"Hey, it's no problem! I actually should be thanking you! I've been wanting some people to talk to!" Yuliab laughed.

I looked towards the smiling girl beside me. She was obviously faking it.

"Rain, it all turned out fine. You're ok, I'm ok, and we got out. Actually, I had no idea how we were even going to get across the river, so hey, you killed that bird." Marlin said with her arm firmly placed on Rains shoulder.

"Yeah.." Rain said dismissively. She looked away from Marlin.

"Rain." Marlin said stubbornly.

"OK, fine, it's good, I'm good, it's whatever! I'm going on a walk." Rain hissed. Marlin was dumbfounded.

"Goodness! What in the world happened before I found you? She's acting foul." Yuliab muttered under his breath.

Marlin turned towards him. She looked him in the eye and sighed.

"You really want to know?"

A/N: This chapter has a lot lower quality than the other chapters, so I apologize, I was stressed to say the least today, with school and all. Uploads will be moving to once every 1-2 weeks depending on my mental health, and my competence when it comes to school work. I hope you enjoyed, even if it wasn't my normal stuff this book has, and I bid you a-dew!

WC: 854