The air was hitting my face aggressively. There was a whooshing sound as I was descending towards the ground. As I made air time I was praying to myself that I wouldnt crash and splatter onto a hard surface.
To my suprise I didn't.
I made an impact into the warm water causing a massive splash as I made my way down.
I swam back up to the surface drenched completely but somewhat safe. The water was surprisingly very blue and clean. I assume it's because humans don't show up often here and put their trash everywhere.
The blue water stopped around some flat land which was quite far from where I was currently. With my curiosity I noticed that the wild Creature was standing on the cliff edge and staring at me.
I kept my gaze on the creature until it decided to walk away bored with not catching me. Relief flooded my whole body as I was floating on the water. My breath within my lungs relaxed as if a massive weight had been removed.
The sound of fishes swimming around caught my attention.
'So beautiful, what are these?' I thought to myself.
The fishes were all sorts of colours that were very reflective with strange shapes that made them all unique to one another. I couldn't help but say wow at the discovery.
I then shook myself out of my daze and decided to do the long stretch of swimming till I made it to land.
After a while of swimming I eventually made it to a rocky area of land where it was partially empty. Most of the rocks were black like coal but weren't the material. I climbed my way further and turned to look in the direction of where the grassy landscape would have been.
In that moment I could feel a heavy sense of frustration. My hands then wrapped my hair and I closed my eyes not believing what happened.
I had swam way too far from the field that had the bed of flowers. And another problem was that there wasn't a way to get there since it was blocked by stone walls protecting the land itself from water creatures.
Meaning I would have to walk from here around through the forest and towards the opening of the field that I would have the plants.
I looked in the far distance and I could see the creature sitting on top waiting on the cliff.
I pulled out my communicator and called August about the situation.
August spoke, "Well that's no good. Damn. I think we might need to find a new way to get those flowers."
"No, no, I can still get them through the fields, it'll just take some time. And some sort of manoeuvring around. Hopefully while I'm doing that I don't get killed by something else."
"Hah, yeah. Them stonewalkers can be a hassle. You don't want to turn into fresh meat for them to chew."
"Stonewalkers? You've encountered them before?"
"Encountered is putting it lightly Marie. I've been able to ride one before! Isn't that freaking cool?" August exclaimed.
"Wow. Since you have experience with these guys, can you tell me how to avoid them?"
"I mean yeah, it can be hassle with them. You just gotta figure out how to make them like you."
"How?"
"It's pretty easy, all you gotta do is get fruits for them. And-"
"What if I try and kill them?"
"Marie?! What, there is no way you can kill the stonewalkers?!" August exclaimed.
"What did she say?!" Arlo added in the back.
"She wants to kill a stonewalker," August replied in a tone that sounded like he found the revelation bizarre and crazy. "You know how strong they are?
–
"Not really… how strong are they?" I asked nervously.
"Fuck, I mean it would be instant suicide if you even attempted to try and fight one of these guys. You will never be able to kill one by yourself. They could crush you without even a fight, that's how strong they are Marie. And I am not letting you fight one of them. No fucking way."
"Alright, so how will I be able to get the medicine for your bunny rabbit and heal your father? Because this stonewalker is blocking my way and by the looks of it, i dont think hes moving away anytime soon."
"Hmm, just try and make him like you by gathering some fruits or vegetables. Although there is a lack of vegetation here and you probably won't find much due to increasing bliptic activity."
"Well, there goes my plan out the window I guess" I sighed. I then felt a very painful itchy sensation underneath my gear. I couldn't stop scratching myself over and over. If i didnt stop im sure i could break some of my skin and eventually start bleeding. I spat a patch of blood on the rocks in front of me. Time was running out, I had to get to the border before this viral infection killed me first. "Oh god-" I coughed more and more.
"Marie? You alright?" August sounded worried. I swallowed a gulp of blood before anymore could come out. I should have made my way faster to the border. I looked behind me where there was just fog and a faint red light in the very far distance. That was the watch tower entering the bliptic city.
"Yeah, I'm doing well. Just a little down with sickness I suppose?" I tried as hard as possible to sound relaxed to not and unnerve them.
"Dear me. Marie…im going to be really honest, you don't have to go through all of this trouble to get the plants– im sure me and my father could get some."
"No…no its fi–" I threw up in an instant. Black ropey liquid poured out my mouth and onto the floor in front of me. "Oh my fucking god" I struggled to breath as more and more came out of my mouth like it was endless. My hands started to cramp and my vision was distorted making the world look strange and unwell.
"MARIE?" August shouted over the comms unit. Once I had stopped throwing up, relief washed over me. It was over I thought for a brief moment. The world around me stilled as if it was paused. I couldn't quite figure out what had happened, but all the signs led to the virus. It was growing. "Marie are you okay? SPEAK PLEASE! Fuck, i knew i shouldn't have done this to you. Man."
Everything went back to how it was. I could breathe again. I felt lighter, more relaxed and more agile than ever before. I looked at my arms and wrists and noticed that there were black veins replacing my green ones as if someone injected me with ink. It stood out against my pale white skin and it was becoming more and more paler as the days went on. These veins were not new. And I'm sure, it won't be over just yet. "I- im fine August. I'm fine."