In the unknown lake, Emmia and Icarth had just hit the surface. Swiftly sinking, the underwater currents dragged them down even further.
Icarth had lost consciousness from the impact and was unconsciously holding his breath. Emmia hugged Icarth as hard as she could and kicked with her small feet. Yet they provided no propulsion against the underwater currents.
Colourful aquatic species swam by, ignoring the twins and using the underwater currents to travel around.
As the light from the surface got dimmer and dimmer, Emmia started to lose consciousness as well. Her lungs were screaming in protest of the lack of air intake.
'Ica.....grandpa...help....' Emmia thought as her mind finally blacked out.
Unfortunately for her, Julian had no idea where they had landed. He had initially coded the spatial lock so that it would teleport them someplace safe in the event of a powerful being breaking into it. But due to the interference of the murky purple polikinnate, the spatial lock's code was corrupted and thus it teleported the twins into the middle of the sky.
As the water slowly pulled the twins downwards, a predator finally noticed them. In this world where every living being had some sort of gift, even the plants, it wasn't easy to obtain your next meal. So it would be a fool if it skipped this free meal that had no possibility of fighting back.
By now, the twins had sunk so low that everything around them was dark. In this dark, the predator swam up to the unresponsive bodies and opened its mouth wide. Activating its gift, a suction effect was created sucking in everything in front of it.
A suction effect was not very powerful on land, but when underwater, it was one of the gifts that allowed the predator to be part of the top brass in the lake.
As the twins got closer, a chill ran through the predator. Closing its mouth and abandoning its meal, it turned tail and swam away as fast as possible. It had just sensed the overlord of the lake set its eyes on it. Its bestial instincts screamed danger as it swam away as fast as possible.
And so, the twins sank even further, finally reaching the bottom where a pink-coloured being was waiting for them.
"My, my, I never thought I'd be entertaining the spirit's children today," It remarked analysing the twins.
"Although it looks like they weren't supposed to come here during this time."
A soft glow covered its pink hands as it passed it over to the twins. Taking universal energy, it guided the glowing twins towards one of the undercurrents that led out of the lake.
"It's not your time yet, young ones. Go, journey out, find your paths. We will surely meet once more." The pink being spoke with a conviction, a surety that it would happen. Maybe it was just saying something to appease its fantasies or maybe it spoke from wisdom that it had gained from living for an immeasurable amount of time. But in the end, only it would know.
The being went back to sleep at the bottom of the lake, waiting for the time it would be awakened next. The twins moved along, uninhibited by the aquatic creatures who gave them a wide breath to avoid messing with the overlord of the lake.
-----
Emmia didn't remember much from the fall. She remembered hitting the water and then struggling to reach the surface. After that, it was a blank for her. The next thing she knew she was traveling down a river with her unresponsive brother in her arms.
She once again tried her best to get them to safety, but couldn't due to her meager strength. In the end, when she was fading out, she remembered a beautiful golden streak jumping out to save them.
Waking up, Emmia found herself laying on the grass next to the river. Beside her was Icarth who was in a deep sleep, exhausted from taking the brunt of the fall.
Emmia panicked slightly before noticing that her brother's chest was rising and falling, indicating that he was alive. Calming down she sat up to find a lion laying behind her. No, a lioness, she corrected in her mind, not realising that she had never seen or heard of a lion before in her life.
The lioness was laying with them, her tail curling over Icarth to give him some warmth. Her beautiful golden fur was unblemished, rippling softly in the breeze. The lioness was also sleeping, chest heaving up and down.
Emmia started in fascination, drawn to her savior. An invisible connection seemed to pull her towards the lioness. Maybe that's why she reached out and stroked her fur.
The lioness awoke slowly, crimson eyes reflecting Emmia within them.
The lioness, Seril was confused. Heavily confused. She had gone to sleep thinking that she would never wake up and yet here she was. Awake and as healthy as ever. There were no more signs of her previous injuries that almost killed her.
'I guess I really am strong physically,' Seril mused, unsure of how to feel. Unbeknownst to her, the fact that she or the twins survived was all because of the overlord of the lake's blessing which had spread to her when she saved the twins.
She turned her head to the curious cub that was stroking her fur in a trance.
"What are you doing?" Seril asked, amused by Emmia's behavior.
"Ahh!" Emmia exclaimed in surprise.
Startled, Emmia jerked back, almost tripping over Icarth's body. Straightening herself, Emmia introduced herself to her savior.
"Ah, thank you for saving us! I'm Mia. Wait no, I mean Emmia. This is my brother Icarth," Emmia fired off nervously, trying to thank her savior the best she could.
Seril chuckled, almost a purr, at the girl's reaction.
"You're welcome. I'm called Seril. Now, what were you and your brother doing all alone out here away from your tribe?" Seril asked warmly.
"Tribe?" Emmia cocked her head confused. "We just appeared above some water when a big giant purple cloud attacked us. We also got separated from our grandpa," Emmia added.
Seril was confused. Giant cloud? Above water? Sorting through what the girl said, Seril asked, "So you've been separated from your grandfather?"
Emmia nodded, "and umm, we don't know where we are either."
Seril fell deep into thought.
'They got separated, they don't know where they are, and they are all alone. Plus that boy's leg hasn't healed yet either.'
Unfortunately for Icarth, before his legs could heal completely, the blessing was transferred to Seril who was dying at that moment.
"Umm Seril, are you going to leave now?" Emmia asked hesitantly. Seril had already saved the twins once. But now she had no reason to stay. Emmia was afraid of what she would do if Seril left her alone out here in the middle of nowhere, where dangers lurked about.
Seril gazed into Emmia's eyes which had become big and pleading. Struggling slightly, Seril sighed, "I guess I can stay until we find your grandfather."
"Really?" Emmia brightened up, melting Seril's heart.
As Emmia hummed an odd tune excitedly, Seril thought, 'I am too nice for my own good.'
'Well, I think this one is worth it,' Seril mused as Emmia hugged her in delight.
In the bushes a little distance away, a rustling sound was heard. Seril went on full alert, ready to fight off any threats to protect this sweet bundle of joy.
The rustling got louder before a brown rabbit emerged. It had thinned out a lot from the last time it was seen. Its body was much leaner now, the brown colour seemed darker. Its ears twitched sensitively as it held a carrot from God knows where in one of its tiny rabbit hands.
Under Seril's scrutinizing gaze, the rabbit froze for a second before shrugging it off and hopped towards Emmia. Delighted, Emmia hugged the rabbit, happy to see that it had survived.
Seril felt like rubbing her eyes. 'I wasn't hallucinating?!?'