The snails that had pulled me up sighed together in relief as the tension in the air settled if only for a moment.
"Thanks," I said once more as I noticed the familiar faces of 7 and 11 who came to my rescue amongst them. Instantly, my feeling of relief returned to worry.
"Go. I'll be fine." I said calmly.
"But..." 7 seemed to gesture.
"I'll be fine. Don't worry about me." I replied.
"You should really return to the branch with us." 11 suggested.
"No... you know I'll siblings mean the world to me. I know you some of you all don't believe me, but it's true. This is not just for them, but it is also for me to prove myself" I replied. "7, you know what to do if something happens to me." I said as I turned around and looked at the snails that were still huddling in the distance.
"We'll help you." gestured 7. "They are our siblings as well."
I paused briefly and thought about it. Then I shook my head.
"No. The more snails we have, the riskier it would be. The leaf is full of cracks. I don't want to risk us all falling through. I'll go by myself."
"But you're our leader. You need to live above all of us." 7 replied.
"And you're our backup leader. Now stop arguing with me. We are running out of time. Now go back to the branch." I calmly demanded as I looked back towards 7 and the other snails.
7 seemed to shake his head and sigh. With reluctance, he turned around and gestured for the other snails to follow him. After I was sure they wouldn't turn around and stop me, I moved forward once more.
I cleared my head and looked around.
Instead of sliding in headfirst like before, I tried to be calm and collected. The near-death experience of falling off the leaf had reminded me that I had a brain or at least half of a brain. I needed a plan and more information and observation was the key.
I quickly surveyed the top of the leaf.
'The leaf in front of me seems to be in tatters. But... it seems to be more stable and together if I approach from the front.' I thought to myself. This became my dilemma. If I approached from the front, I would get to them sooner. If I approached from the back, it would be safer, but it would take longer and the leaf may break apart during that time.
Just as I was thinking about the situation, I heard another boom. Another cloud of dust rose in the distance from an impact.
As a reminder of the limited time I had, another shockwave hit the leaf because of it.
Seconds later, more cracks had formed.
'Okay, safe route it is.' I thought to myself as I slid forward. The choice became a no-brainer. I mean if I had travelled forward, I would probably make it to them in record time. If I didn't die on the way or get stuck once more. But if I got there in time, I would have to find another route towards the branch because I was certain it would have been impossible to come the way I came. I also had to take into account the lives of the other snails. I was their only hope. Although I was willing to sacrifice myself to save them, I needed to be alive when I got to them.
With a route in mind, I slid around the middle of the leaf as quickly as I could. I looked quickly for solid areas of the leaf as I glided towards the snails that needed rescuing. In the distance, the sounds of a battle grew louder and more intense.
It wasn't just the battle that I heard. No, I heard the entire forest come alive as the creatures that lived within had all begun a mad dash away from the battle. A loud squeal, banging noises, a creak and a tree falling and hitting the floor with a thump - different sounds filled the forest as the forest below me got more and more chaotic.
...
After a few minutes and enduring three more shockwaves, I finally was able to loop around the most unstable parts of the leaf. The leaf became more stable and seemed to be safer from the back.
I slid as close to the group of snails as possible.
"Don't worry I'm here!" I shouted.
...
"I'm coming!"
But then I stopped. I found the obstacle that was blocking my siblings escape from the centre of the leaf. Instead of a clear-cut path forward, the leaf ahead of me had a huge gap and a minefield of holes.
'I can't risk going forward.' I thought as I heard more screeching in the distance. 'Quick think of something.' I said to myself as I thought deeply.
I came up with two quick solutions. I quickly produced as much thick mucus as I could and threw out about over the cracks on the leaf. My plan was to increase the leaf's stability. I couldn't go forward anymore or I would risk destroying what was left of the leaf.
For the gap, I stretched my body over it. Although the gap was too wide for my siblings, my huge stature was able to bridge the gap. You could say I was their bridge to safety quite literally.
"I can't come over there!" I shouted across the leaf. I knew that it was too dangerous for me to go to them so I had to get them to come to me.
"Come. Just go slowly." I gestured to the snails that were huddled together.
The stared at me and shook their heads. They appeared to be too afraid to take the first step forward.
"Come on. I'm here. I have made the leaf safer. It'll hold. Trust me!" I shouted across the leaf.
A snail from the group decided to bite the bullet. "I'm coming!" the first snail shouted back at me as she attempted the treacherous journey towards me.
"Sis. Come slowly," I reminded her as she braved the dangerous and unstable surface of our leaf to get to me. She carefully dodged around the holes and crossed cracked parts of the leaf. She seemed to test the leaf in front of her with a tap before she crossed it. My mucus was holding the leaf together if only a little.
"Come, use my body to bridge the gap. It's okay I can take it." I said as she reached my body a minute later. After she climbed my body and was safely on my shell, I turned my attention back to the snails that were still huddled together in the distance.
"See!" I shouted across the leaf. "Your sister made it. Come. Quickly, but carefully!" I shouted once more.
Seeing that one of their siblings had survived the gauntlet, more of my little brothers and sisters had begun to move. They decided to go the same route as their brave sister as they followed the trail of mucus that she had left.
'Good.' I thought.
But seconds later, just as I was about to think that they were going to be able to make it across, I heard another loud explosion and a roar.
"NO!" I shouted as another gust hit the leaf. Instead of hiding within my shell, I fought against my instinct as I watched my siblings hide into their shells.
The leaf beneath them cracked more and more.
The cracks in the leaf seemed to link together and finally, I saw the first victim. The cracks beneath one of my sister's shells grew so big that the tiny section of leaf that she had clung to had been torn off. Her shell and her body flew into the air briefly before plummeting into the green expanse below.
Then another tragedy. Another snail suddenly dropped downwards. His chunk of leaf seemed to drop downwards and hang for a brief moment. The fragment of the leaf twirled around in the wind. Snap. He and the fragmented leaf also plummeted into the abyss below.
"No!" I shouted in anguish as I saw another of my siblings succumb to the wind. Just as soon as I shouted, another crack had formed. This one was huge and it formed quickly.
I had a bad feeling about this crack.
Before I waited to see what was going to happen, I quickly slapped more of my foot across the crevice that I was using my body to bridge. Luckily, I had reacted in time. The large crack that had formed looped around the sides of the leaf and connected with the one below me. The entire centre of the leaf was on the verge of being blown away by the wind!
Like a thin latch that holds a gate shut, I held the fragmented leaf with my body. I felt the entire force of the wind push against me as I tried to hold the two pieces of leaf that were below me together.
I felt my body begin to stretch with the wind it continued to pummel against the leaf. My body was being ripped into two as the leaf pushed up against my body.
I felt the force that was pushing against me suddenly shift. The wind died down once more.
"Come. Stop hiding! QUICKLY!" I shouted through my teeth. By no means was holding up the leaf fragment an easy task. I went from pushing the leaf down to suddenly carrying the leaf and the weight of my siblings together.
Each snail crawled out of their shells and looked around in a daze.
"COME!" I shouted once more. They seemed to snap out of their momentary confusion and move towards me. Beads of mucus begun to build on my face as I used all my energy to stop the leaf from falling.
'1... 2... 3... seconds.' I began to count in my head to distract myself from the pain and agony of my body as I held the leaf up.
"QUICK! COME OVER!" I shouted.
'10...11...15...'
I heard a voice. "But how?"
"BODY... IS... BRIDGE!" I shouted as I felt my body tearing.
Soon I felt bodies cross the leaf and onto my body. One by one, they slid on top of my outstretched leg and climbed on top of my shell.
'25...26...27..' I counted once more in my head as the snails filed onto my body. The moment I saw the last snail make it on, I let go.
Like dropping a huge weight, the leaf fell down below me and dangled on strands of fibre on the other side of the leaf.
"Phew," I said as I wiped the mucus that had built-up on my head. "That was close."
And it really was, if I didn't react in time, the leaf would have fallen down earlier or it may have been even worse.
...
I quickly glanced around to see if there were any snails left. And there was. There were three left in the distance.
I didn't go save them though. Internally I made choice. I couldn't sacrifice the lives of the snails and myself for those few snails that were stuck in the deeper parts of the leaf.
Reluctantly, I turned around and slid back towards the branch.
'Hopefully they'll find their own way off.' I thought.
...
No hero can save everyone. Neither can a big brother. I came to accept that, that day.
...
*Ding*
[Quest: Evacuate the leaf!] (updated)
[Quest: Defend the colony!] (updated)