Jay's Adventure

Chapter 31: Back to the Water's Edge

Eventually, midnight came around, and he passed guard duty to Aragorn. Jay then went next to Pines, and fell asleep. Nothing disturbed his dreams, but he felt cold either way. When he woke up the next day, Jay saw it was already noon. As he got up, he saw Pines walking over to him, though with a limp in her step. "How'd you sleep?"

Jay looked at her, then said "Peacefully, I guess. Where are the others?"

"They left a while ago to get food for today."

"Why didn't they wake me up?" Jay asked, not sure how to feel about that.

"We can all see you're under some serious stress right now. They left without waking you up to allow you some time to just relax and rest up." Jay was about to speak, when Pines then said "I told them about what you said to me yesterday, and they're being careful. Everyone can see the storm clouds coming back, and they've all taken extra safety precautions."

"Ok," Jay said, finally accepting that he did need the break.

"There's still some left over food from yesterday if you want any."

"No thanks. I think I just need a walk." When he saw the look on Pines face, he said "Don't worry. I won't go far. I just need to clear my head so I can think straight."

Pines stared at him, then said "I don't think it's best if you go off somewhere on your own."

Jay knew what she meant by that, and said "Then you may as well grab your bag." Jay watched her walk off to get her travel bag, smiling, knowing she'd been waiting for some excuse to get out of here for a bit. Finally, Pines met him at the mouth of the cave.

"Where are we going?"

"I was thinking to the water's edge, just to see if it's going down or not. When we're done checking on it, we'll head back."

"Ok." They began walking to the water's edge, which would've taken about ten minutes, but with Pines coming as well, and her limp, it took closer to an hour. "I hope I'm not annoying you, slowing you down," she said eventually, after trying to get over a tricky area of rocks.

"You're not. Just means more time to clear my head. And it gives me a better understanding of how many others are feeling now, being trapped in that cave, not allowed to leave. I've just been too busy to notice it." When he got done saying this, he turned around, and saw what was left of the village, now trapped under the water. Pines saw that as well, and tried quickening her pace as much as possible. They eventually made it to the water's edge.

Pines sat down, and Jay began wading in, just to see how tricky it would be to get in. Eventually, when his curiosity was satisfied, he grabbed the nearest stick he could, that was as tall as possible. He then stuck it in the ground, right at the edge of the water. He then sat down, just to relax. As he layed back to close his eyes for a minute, he heard Pines yell in shock. As he sat up, he asked "What's wrong?"

"Look." She pointed to a tree that barely broke the surface of the water. In it's leaves he could see some red in the leaves.

"Call to it. See if that's-" Jay couldn't finish his sentence when Pines called out, and whatever it was, raised it's head in recognition.

"It's Red!" Pines exclaimed, partially in happiness she found Red, partially in fright of losing Red.

"You stay here. I'll swim out and get her."

Jay had already began walking out to the water's edge when Pines asked "What happens if you get stuck?"

"I'll get unstuck," Jay said, knowing he have better chances of falling into a volcano than getting stuck in debris floating through a lake. He began swimming out to the tree, when a storm broke loose. The lake seemed to become the sea, with waves throwing him back and forth with no issue. Jay kept swimming to the tree no matter what. He'd make sure Red got to Pines safe and sound. Eventually, he made it to the tree, but he saw Red was gone. As he looked around, he saw her on a small branch, no bigger than she was, getting thrown around by the waves. He heard Pines scream in terror as she saw Red like this, and Jay knew he couldn't give up. He began swimming out to where Red was. Eventually, he made it to her, and grabbed hold of her. Knowing she was safe now, Jay began swimming back to shore. As he passed the tree Red had been in before the storm, something held him back. As Jay looked around to see what it was, he saw a tornado had began to come down, and was pulling him in. Jay swam as hard as he could to get away. He eventually got out of the pull, but knew he wasn't safe yet. Waves began to crash over him, pulling him under with Red still holding on. Jay knew he couldn't keep Red with him at this rate so, when he resurfaced again, he said "Fly to Pines. I'll be right behind you to lift you up if you fall." Red looked at him, nodded her head in understanding, and took flight, though still close to the surface. Wave after wave kept crashing on top of him, and Jay was dragged under everytime. Everytime he broke the surface, he saw Red hovering in front of him, and he had to keep telling her to go on. Finally, when he was close enough, Pines reached out for him, and he took her hand, being pulled back to shore.