I gave a painful smile as I looked down at that large crack. Perhaps if I don't move, everything will be fine. I can just live out here surviving off of the sun's rays. However, the ice had a different idea. With each breath I took, another crack formed.
Oh f*ck. Breathing is technically moving. I can't even breath or I will die.
I took a deep breath and tried to hold it in. Just as I thought, if I didn't breath then there would be no cracks forming. My body slowly started shaking from the effort and my lungs began to burn.
F*ck. I forgot I'm an organism that needs to breath!!!
I let out a big exhale and took in fresh air greedily. Ahh. That feels much better.
Suddenly, the ice beneath my feet gave away and I crashed underwater before I could even scream for help. The water was so cold it sent shockwaves through my body. I thrashed in the water in a panic.
F*ck! This feels so much worse! Now I'm going to get swept away by an underwater current and no one will ever find my body! God d*mnit! Of all the ways to die, why'd it have to be this way?
In my thrashing, I finally sunk to the bottom. I felt stable ground beneath my feet.
Oh, it's the bottom of the lake. Well this isn't deep at all. I guess this is a shallow lake. Well I guess I am lucky after all! All I need to do is jump, grab onto the ice, and crawl out! Problem solved. Man, I'm a genius.
I kicked off of the ground and splashed above to surface. I gasped for air and grabbed onto the ice.
Perfect! Now all I need to do is crawl out and....
*Craaaack*
God. F*cking. D*mnit.
I splashed once more into the water. The ice I had grabbed onto had cracked and broke under my weight. I'm sure if I just try again, it will work this time.
I jumped up once more and smacked my head against ice. I screamed under water and held my head. A lump had formed on my head where I smacked into the ice.
God damnit! That really hurt! If it wasn't for being under water I would totally be crying right now! Oh wait... I'm still under water. Okay. This time I will look up to make sure I'm jumping up correctly.
I jumped up again and grabbed onto the ice. I breathed in relief as it didn't crack this time. However, almost as if the water missed me, my body slowly sunk back down into the water. I tried to kick my legs to stop it, but my body was so drenched in water, I couldn't stop myself from slipping off.
I continued to jump up, but each time the ice would either break or I would just slip back in. My body began to grow extremely and uncomfortablity cold. Just as I was about to make peace with my god, I saw William rush over to me. I waved at him before sinking back into the water.
I held out my hands and felt his grab onto them. He pulled me out of the water and just as I was about to thank him, the ice broke once more. Luckily, only half of his body slid down with me. He caught a foothold and with all of his strength, he pulled me out once more and dragged me to shore.
I hunched over and started coughing up water. I looked at him with a smile, "Oh, hey William. Wassup?"
He looked at me still panicking, "Why are you so nonchalant?! What were you doing!?!"
I held up the thing I was clutching my hand, "I saved my hat."
William began to shout at me some more when I noticed his arm was bleeding. I grabbed it quickly, "William! You're bleeding!"
His arm had a long gash on it. He pulled his arm away, "Nevermind that! We need to get you to a doctor!"
A sudden breeze chilled me to the bone and I realized I had been shaking relentlessly ever since I got out of the water. I nodded and we both stood up. He supported me with his good arm and we hurriedly walked to where everyone was at.
The teacher rushed over to me and was quickly followed by Dante. The teacher grabbed onto me, "Why are you soaking wet?! We need to get her back quickly-"
Dante didn't wait for him to finish and flung me over his shoulder. In the blink of an eye, he took off with lightning speed. William was usually faster, but he struggled to keep up as he held his injured arm.
The teacher also tried to keep up, but was unable to. These children had superhuman speed and strength after all! Usually I would laugh at such a scene but my teeth were chattering too much. But, more importantly...
Why the hell was Dante carrying me like a sack of potatoes?! He just flung me over his shoulder! In this scenario, shouldn't he be carrying me princess style?!
I whined into his ear, "Danteee. I'm cold."
However, instead of responding he started sprinting even faster. Well, this action wasn't what I had imagined to happen by this statement, but this works too.
I could hear his labored breathing from the effort and I realized perhaps I was lucky to be in this position. However, seeing his backside in full view I couldn't help but get pissed off once more by not being carried princess style. I guess I will just have to reprimand him later.
We made it to the lodge in record time and the workers didn't waste any moment bringing us to the doctors office. One took William to a different area and another brought me to a small building. Dante followed after me.
It was a very tight room with barely any room to stand up in. It was built with a huge fire that made it much warmer than the cabins. Before I realized anything happening, the doctor began to fling off my clothes. Dante noticed this and abruptly turned his back to me to avoid watching.
I screamed in embarrassment, "What are you doing?!"
The doctor ignored me and continued to take my clothes off, "If you stay in them you will catch hypothermia. Don't worry, we have a change of clothes for you that are very warm."
I sobbed at my virtue being destroyed once more, "Alright but some privacy would have been much appreciated."
"You don't have time for privacy. You're lips are turning purple and it's possible you will receive frostbite soon, if not already. Stop complaining."
I wanted to sob once more and glanced at Dante. Although his face was turned away, I noticed the tips of his ears turning red. I chuckled at this, "What Dante? Are you embarrassed to see me naked? Even though you have already seen me naked?"
I instantly wanted to bite off my tongue. Why the hell did I bring this up again?!
The tips of Dante's ears flushed deeper. My face burnt in shame. The doctor didn't seem to pay it any attention and threw furs over me. I was a bit thankful he ignored me, but I wanted to cry seeing the skins of dead animals draped over me. But, it was awfully warm....
The doctor spoke, "Sit here by the fire. I will come back and bring you something warm to drink."
I nodded, "Yes. Thank you."
The doctor turned to Dante, "You-"
He spoke assertively, "I'm staying."
The doctor didn't have time for this and just nodded. He left us both in the confined room. I sat down next to the fire still shivering. Dante sat down next to me without speaking. I grabbed a stick and started poking the fire.
Wow. This is incredibly awkward and uncomfortable.
I felt arms wrap around my chest and pull me backwards. I reached out in a panic. Dante had wrapped his arms around me tightly and pulled me into his embrace. His legs rested against mine, completely trapping me. I tried to wiggle out, but he just held tighter.
His cold voice whispered in my ear, "You could have died."
I paused for a moment and thought about it. Actually, although this thought did cross my mind, I wasn't thinking that it could actually happen. The entire time I knew I would be alright.
I looked into the fire, "Eh. I knew I would be fine."
"Why would you think that?"
"Because this isn't the scene where I die."
That's right, the original Seri dies by Dante in the library scene. So there are two options for me in the future. Option one, I die by Dante for pushing a bookcase onto Mary. Option two, I don't die at all because I'm immortal. I'm pretty sure option two is more likely. (It's really not)
He grew silent for a moment before speaking up, "What does that even mean? No, nevermind. I don't want to know. More importantly, what were you doing to make you fall in?"
"Saving my hat."
His voice came out sharper than usual, "Why."
I clicked my tongue, "I already lost my scarf, I couldn't lose my hat also. Those were handmade by Lona. I can't lose something so precious."
His buried his head into my shoulder making me tense up. He let out a heavy sigh, "Haaah. Why are you such an idiot."
My face twitched, "Oi."
I'm used to William calling me an idiot, but I can't recall a time when Dante called me an idiot. He would always hint at it, but he had never said it out loud.
I felt his arms loosen around me and I thought he was going to let me go. Instead he pulled something out from inside his jacket and wrapped it around my neck.
I looked at it astonished, "My scarf! Where did you find it at?!"
"..."
I instantly recalled that I had left it behind at the hot springs in a hurry. My face flushed from embarrassment. Wait... If he's had this the entire time... Then...
I looked at him, "Dante. Why didn't you give this to me sooner?"
"..."
I spoke in a teasing tone, "Did you perhaps want to keep it for yourself?" He adverted his eyes.
"..."
"..."
"No."
My smile twitched, "You hesitated."
"I didn't."
"Yes you did."
"Are you feeling warm yet?"
Truthfully, Dante couldn't admit that after he had found the scarf, he did in fact want to keep it for himself. Although he couldn't explain why, he just wanted to. On the way back down the mountain, he had wrapped it around his neck and thought it smelled just like her. For some reason he felt comforted by this.
He didn't want to give it up, but seeing her so forlorn and cold, he just couldn't hold onto it any longer. However, he couldn't admit such a thing to her since she was the type that would throw it in his face, so he just decided to change the topic.
I noticed his change of topic and wanted to poke more into it, but finally relented under his glare. He still had his arms around me and I considered ways to get free, but I surprised to notice that his body was actually warmer than the fire in front of me. I decided that staying in this position wasn't all that bad.
However, there was something else I wanted to know. "Dante. Why didn't you carry me princess style?"
He spoke as if it was common sense, "You're not a princess."
My face twitched, "It doesn't matter if I'm not a princess. You shouldn't carry me like a sack of potatoes."
He pondered this for a second before answering, "But that way was easier."
"Easier?! It wasn't easier for me! Do you realize I had to stare at your backside the entire time?!"
"You didn't like it?"
"I didn't."
"Hmm..."
I glared at him. Just as I was about to say something, the door opened and William walked in followed by the doctor holding cups of tea and snacks.