Hatter's Revenge (rewriting - read at own risk)

Ch. 13: Maybe Friends

Everything was upside down. The force of the impact into the water had jarred Mad loose from the Jabberwock's grip and he was trying to figure out which way was up.

Suddenly, something grabbed his foot, pulling him farther into the water. Mad reacted instinctively, kicking hard at whatever had a hold of him. His lungs were starting to burn.

The grip loosened and Mad looked down. His eyes widened, burned by the salt, when he saw the Viso being pulled down. The Jabberwock's talons were still wrapped tightly around him.

Mad could see sunlight glittering just above his head and kicked up. Breaking the surface, he gasped in a great breath, just to dive back into the water. He swam down to where the Jabberwock's corpse was resting on the sandy bed of the ocean, trying to avoid the ribbons of bright pink blood curling up through the water.

He swam around to the Viso, who looked at him with astonishment. His dark eyes were wide, and he was jolted back to action when Mad started tugging at the Jabberwock's talons, trying to unpin the Viso.

Together, they managed to relax its grip just enough for him to slip free. Mad looked up at him through the water, grinning. The grin slipped as he watched the Viso inhale, no longer able to hold his breath.

His body spasmed and Mad hooked an arm around the Viso's chest, pulling him to the surface. His hat dripped water into his eyes and he swam, blessing the current that helped him toward the beach instead of trying to pull him farther out to sea.

He dragged the Viso out of the shallow water. He wasn't breathing and Mad—thinking of something he had seen a medic do on a beach landing during the war—slammed his fist into the Viso's chest, just above his sternum.

That didn't work immediately and Mad, panicking slightly, started pressing the Viso's chest hard, trying to get him to breathe. His eyes flew open and Mad scrambled backwards, startled when the Viso rolled to his side, water spewing from his mouth.

Mad sighed with relief and moved forward, patting the Viso on the back as he choked and retched, his body ridding itself of the salt water he'd inhaled.

Still coughing, he looked over at Mad and gasped, "I thought you'd left me to drown."

Mad shook his head, trying to get water out of his ears. "Now what would make you think that?"

"Well, you have threatened to shoot me more than once." The Viso lay on his back and laughed weakly.

"Only when you've pissed me off. Besides," Mad said with a grin, "what's a few bullets between friends?"

The Viso sat up and Mad realized that in the struggle, or maybe in the water, the Viso had lost the cloth that had covered his head and face. The collar of his shirt still hid his rank mark though.

"So we're friends now?" he asked wryly. He was much younger than Mad had expected. Maybe eighteen or nineteen at the most.

Mad shrugged in response and the Viso raised a black eyebrow before standing gingerly. His midnight eyes scanned the cliffs that surrounded the small, white-sand beach they were on.

"Damn. That thing brought us farther east than I'd thought." The Viso scowled, pushing shaggy black hair back from his eyes.

"How far are we from the others?" Mad tried to stand but wobbled. The Viso caught him, and he muttered, "Told you we were friends."

"Don't make me drop you," the Viso threatened, but Mad was already sliding toward the ground anyway. 

When the Viso pulled his hand away from Mad's back, it came away red, and he remembered the Jabberwock's talons slicing into him when he'd been getting Alice and the others to the tunnel. Apparently, the talons had cut more than his coat.