Once The Flood Has Passed

Chapter 2

FOUR YEARS EARLIER

He didn't even recall how he wound up at Tide, all the way in the Aquarius System, and no matter how hard he'd tried to make that clear, it wasn't enough. Either they didn't want to actually listen to him, or they just didn't understand him at all. No.. that wasn't true. He knew there was at least someone who understood him. That woman who'd been "interrogating" him spoke his own language. She wanted him to confess something, and he had no idea what it was. Whenever he'd say he didn't know how he got there, they'd call him a liar and things would end in him getting beaten. How long had it been since he had eaten? Must have been days... Stinger was weakened, exhausted. Purely going on survival instincts. Even if he could barely keep standing, he refused to go down here like this. He wouldn't break!

"You know, it would be so much easier if you just admitted you're a spy," the woman said coldly. "We all know that's exactly what you are. Here to spy on our warriors."

"I'm not..." Stinger started weakly. He couldn't hold on much longer. He was injured and so tired. One of the other warriors kicked him in the stomach upon a signal from the woman. He gasped for breath and sank to his knees. Purely on instinct he struck the man with his tail. The man yelped, stumbling forward as the poison started to spread. He gave Stinger a dirty look and pulled the tail as hard as he could. Stinger hissed.

"You're going to wish you didn't do that," the woman almost seemed to be amused. She snipped her fingers and barked an order of sorts to the men. They seized him, harshly yanking him back to his feet. He glared at the woman, hatred burning in his eyes. Hatred that soon made place for fear. Stinger was unarmed and unable to defend himself. The woman was approaching with her trident in hand. She raised it high above her head, and brought it down with a heavy slash. Stinger screamed in pain, his world quickly fading to black as the men let go of him and he fell to the street.

Something woke him up, even though he had no idea what exactly it was. The first thing he notices was just how cold he was. Cold and more exhausted than he ever thought a person could possibly feel. He was so tired, and it was so dark, that Stinger wasn't even sure whether he'd opened his eyes or not. He tried to take a breath, but as only water filled his lungs, every bit of exhaustion faded away and made place for a renewed desire to survive. There was no way of distinguishing up from down. He started to wildly flail around under water, trying to grab hold of anything whatsoever. Every movement hurt, but he kept flailing, hoping to struggle his way to the surface. Stinger couldn't swim, and if he didn't manage to breathe soon, he would drown. It could be deemed a small miracle his struggle did get him to the surface. With whatever little bit of strength he had left, Stinger grabbed on to a low hanging branch and took a deep breath. If only he could manage to stand... or pull himself to the shore... He wasn't going to die here, he refused to! The current in this part of the river was much stronger, and the sound of roaring water not too far away betrayed a waterfall. He glanced in the direction of the sound. In the last rays of light the setting sun shone upon the world, he spotted the rocks confirming his suspicions. That probably was a long way down... and if there were more rocks right at the bottom. Stinger shuddered, and this time the cold wasn't the cause. He pulled at the branch, slowly getting closer to the shore. Maybe there was a chance... But the closer he got, the more the branch creaked. He was less than a foot away from being safely on the land again when the branch broke off and the current pulled him under again. Again his chest started to burn. Was it fear? The pain? The lack of air? Once again he was engulfed by the darkness.

Stinger shot up, gasping for breath, only to fall right back with a cry of pain. He breathed quickly, panicked and confused eyes scanning the room. He was laying someplace warm and comfortable, near a fire. Said fire shrouded the largest part of the room in shadows, making Stinger only barely able to distinguish vague silhouettes.