Fira had no idea what Destiny was saying at this point. She was too focused on trying to live. Why was swimming so damn hard? A little growl of frustration arose in her throat as she felt herself being dragged farther and farther downstream at a faster rate. She’d finally gotten the rhythm of the swimming motion down, scooping at the water with her paws instead of kicking at it spastically. But at this point, it was too late. The current was far too strong for her to swim against. She was at the mercy of the water.

She didn’t have eyes in the back of her head, so she had no idea what was behind her. So when her body slammed into a rock that was jutting up out of the river, she gave a loud grunt of surprise and pain. The wind was knocked out of her, and she was lucky she was just managing to keep her maw above the water, though at this point her eyes were underwater, and she was squeezing them shut against the current, so now she couldn’t see anything at all. This unquestionably sucked. Luckily the rock was now holding in her place. Maybe she could climb up onto it and get out of the water…

Words: 214 @Destiny -- omfg Fira... Don't die please.

Destiny could tell that Fira's kicks were weakening, and the little one was beginning to panic, her own limbs starting to tire. But then they juddered to a jarring halt and Destiny felt herself jerked away from Fira by the current. Panicking, flailing, she struggled to get her bearings and push against the current, push by push, wiggle by wiggle.

And then she was back at the rock, she dragged herself onto it and found Fira at the other side. Without concern for her safety she was back in the water in an instant. This time she swam underneath her body and pushed, pushed, kept pushing.

And this time, she felt Fira move.

If she was above water she'd have cried out in joy, but all she could do was keep pushing with all her remaining strength.

@Fira

Fira felt herself being pushed up onto the rock, to her great surprise. In the back of her mind, the part that wasn’t ridiculously concerned for her life right now, she realized she had perhaps underestimated the strength of her platypus friend. She was shoved with perhaps a bit too much force out of the water and onto the big grey boulder jutting up out of the river. The moment she was free of the current, she let every single part of her body go limp and relax into the rock. She was exhausted now, and panted heavily. Briefly, she wondered if she should dip her head down to get some water, and then she shook that thought from her head. Not a good idea right now. Definitely not a good idea.

She glanced over the side of her safe haven, wondering if Destiny was gonna be okay. If need be, she’d slip right back into the water to rescue the platypus that had just saved her life. “Destiny…” she called out weakly.

Words: 173 @Destiny

Destiny was right after Fira, making careful sure that her friend was safe as she panted heavily, struggling to keep herself in place with both her flippers and her claws on the rough surface of the rock. She wasn't doing a great job at it, so tired from both the strain and the stress. But with a deep breath she heaved, struggling to drag herself onto the rock.

She wasn't that far from just slipping back and into the water, but she managed to hold herself up, her tail and flippers trailing in the water whilst her front claws struggled to grip. She heard the cat say her name, and looked around so quickly that she almost lost her grip again. "I'm here Fira! I'm okay! We're doing good!" she gave a hasty nod, looking around them. It was a precarious position on this tiny rock, surrounded by these raging waters, but Destiny gave a weak smile. "The lights in here are nice, d-d-dontcha think? And ah, they light the way. Make me feel safe, and c-calm, even when times like this. Th-that's better'n just being p-pretty, right?" she rambled a little, her claws slipping slightly on the rock as the current tugged at her. But all she wanted was to let Fira know that she was okay. To be that little glimmer of light in a time like this.

@Fira

Fira could tell, despite Destiny’s assurances, that the platypus was struggling to pull herself up. She ignored her friend’s words about the lights or whatever else she was saying, and picked herself up weakly. She was afraid her friend would be dragged away by the current again if she didn’t get up on the rock all the way, so the leopard took it upon herself to try and haul her up. She dragged herself forward and grabbed Destiny by the scruff of the neck. But platypus fur was different than cat fur, and there wasn’t much loose skin to hold onto. Besides, Fira was still very weak from her attempt at swimming, and trying to fight against the current. For all her pulling, she wasn’t strong enough to drag her friend all the way onto the rock with her.

She let go with an exhausted huff of air. “I’m sorry,” she said. “I’m too weak to help you. Did I hurt you? And what do we do now?”

Words: 168 @Destiny -- sorry for the short post. And if you want me to change it cos of the PowerPlaying, I will.

Destiny tried her hardest, but she couldn't quite make it. Her breaths were quick and sharp by this point and her lungs aching, but still she replied, with Fira's help making her grateful, if a little achy. Sighing deeply, she decided just to rest there for a while, even if clinging wasn't quite the rest she wanted or needed. "I still think you're strong. Maybe you just need a lil' help right now," Destiny said weakly, resting her bill on the rock so she could wait for her harsh breaths to return to normal.

As much as she tried, it was becoming difficult to make the best of this. She thought deeply but in the end, ended up saying nothing. She just wanted to sleep, and sharp pains growing on the back of her head weren't making this any easier. Maybe it was the stress or maybe she'd hit it, she didn't know. But she kind of just wanted it to go away...

@Fira

Fira forced herself to her paws, and looked around. They were somewhere near the middle of the river, and they needed to get back to the bank, the shallows. She glanced down at Destiny, and felt bad for dragging the platypus into this. She hadn’t meant this whole thing to be so difficult. “Listen,” she said. “We have to get back to the shallows, okay? We can’t sit on this rock forever. And there’s nothing else for it except to just… swim as hard as we can. It’s gonna suck, but there’s nothing else we can do. Okay?” She hoped her friend would agree to this plan, because Fira had no idea what else they could do, and she was pretty tired of this river in general. It would be a while before she tried swimming again.

Words: 137 @Destiny

Destiny knew that they had to try, or they'd be stuck on this tiny little rock forever, as Fira had said "If we go, we'll go together. I'm not leaving you, I'll save you," Destiny said, an edge of determination in her voice although by this point she knew that there was little they could do. She breathed deeply, in and out of her bill. Her hide trembled slightly. "Let's do it. Sooner we go, sooner it's done! Just d-d-d-don't worry, don't think, just k-kick. We'll be okay."

Destiny smiled weakly, allowing her tail and hind legs to slide back into the water.

"I'm ready when you are,"

@Fira

Fira listened to her friend’s words, and without anymore words of her own, she gave the platypus a nod and jumped back into the water. She tried to jump as far as she could, aiming for the bank, but the river was pretty big, and she didn’t get all that close. Still, her energy seemed to be returning to her, and she was also swimming better than she had before. Scoop, scoop, scoop! She concentrated on pushing herself forward, as if running, and keeping her maw above the water for air. It was very difficult. Her limbs were heavy and tired. She was exhausted.

She looked behind her briefly to check on Destiny, but couldn’t focus on her friend too much because she had to look out for herself right now. It wasn’t that she wouldn’t save the platypus if need be, only that self-preservation was a natural thing for a Gembound to have. Still, she tried to stick close, just in case something happened. The river bank was coming closer and closer…

Words: 176 @Destiny

Destiny leaped into the water as soon as Fira did, her heart pounding dramatically after only a couple of seconds of swimming. One flipper, then the next, one, two, one, two... She wriggled her way frantically through the water, keeping an even pace with Fira, making sure that her friend was alright. Like Fira, she didn't talk, but kept swimming. They were almost there, so close to the bank... Destiny was on the surface, but surely Fira would soon feel stone beneath her paws.

The thought kept her going, the platypus turned to make sure that she was alright. If anything happened, Destiny would go back. She'd save her. She'd do anything for Fira. Besides, the cat wasn't made for swimming, but she was...

@Fira