Hope's Ruin

28 | On Stranger Tides

Pepper's skin turned to ice.

Fear straddled her bones.

Dark, icy water swamped her senses.

She dug her hands into the recess beneath the hull, searching for the masks and snorkels that Gnit and Gnat had loaded into the kayak in Silver Hollow. Pepper's knuckles mashed against floating lunch canteens and sodden blankets before brushing against soft, moulded plastic. She snapped the mask over her eyes and stuffed the snorkel into her mouth. Both items were almost useless at this point—both mask and snorkel already loaded with water—but Pepper felt a little braver for having them on.

Despite increasing water pressure, the humpback dragged both kayaks effortlessly, submerged beneath a ceiling of undulating rock. Pepper bit into the rubber snorkel. Her lungs felt like they were going to burst. She tried to release her breath slowly but, with no end in sight, spikes of panic arrowed through her.

Air bubbles escaped.

Fire burnt in her chest.

The overwhelming desire to open her mouth and allow the oceans in was almost too much to resist.

Pepper pressed her forehead to the glass. Below, the world tumbled in great waves, carrying cars and hotdog trucks and garbage bins and desperate waving arms along Main Street. Fisk sat with his back to the glass. He couldn't dare look. His tears fell to the hardwood floor, his Starscream transformer gripped in both hands. 'Where are they?' he asked. 'Where are Pop and Ma?' But Pepper didn't know. 'Lost,' she replied after a time, and Fisk wailed. 'We'll find them,' she told him. 'How?' Pepper turned from the window and cuddled up beside her brother. 'With courage, bravery, and unflinching optimism.' Fisk frowned. 'Whatever it takes,' she explained. 'Whatever it takes.'

Pepper felt the world shift. The whale and the kayaks were ascending at a phenomenal rate. They appeared to be inside a giant stone column. Above, she could make out a slither of light. Dazzling stars flickered on dark tides. The edges of her vision darkened. The air in her lungs dwindled to nothing. Sharp, stabbing pains bloomed in her lungs. Pepper's lips quivered again, fighting the urge to part.

The light grew. The water became thick and warm. The walls of the cavernous well zipped by as the humpback pulled them up and up, closer and closer to the surface.

The pressure on her skin evaporated.

The sun on her skin felt amazing.

The air in her lungs: a golden nectar.

She choked violently, spewed out lungfuls of water, and collapsed against the hull.

Erin's kayak crashed against hers.

The Viking Twins released the rope from the humpback fin, who swished his tail happily and sent huge plumes of moisture into the air.

"Pepper?" Erin said, grasping the side of her kayak. "Are you okay?"

"I'm dead this time," Pepper choked. "Definitely dead."

"No," Erin said, removing her snorkel and mask and adjusting her glasses. "Still alive and kicking."

Raven cleared his throat theatrically and shook his drenched feathers. "I presume you haven't taken the time to observe our surroundings."

Pepper struggled to lift her head.

What was he talking about? How could he be pessimistic about their surroundings? There was air and sunlight. They were alive. All of them.

"How bad can it be?" Pepper said, pushing sodden hair off her face. "Can't you be upbeat for one minute? It could always be worse. We could be dead."