The Hero Should've Known Better

Chapter 20: Tinnel

"Hey, Tila? It's supposedly the Hero and the Healer. They wanna meet you," he said.

"The Hero and the Healer? On this short of a notice?" the Human woman asked. "We would've gotten a message if they were arriving. Hold on, Sollar. something about this makes me suspicious."

"After you," the Snow Spirit replied, gesturing her to take the lead.

"I still need to ensure Sollar can get down, give me a second to set up the flume," the Human woman replied.

"I can do it," Serclow replied. "I know how to operate the logging flume."

Tila gave a nod to Serclow. "Alright. You can handle it."

She then glanced over to the Demonfolk girl they were helping.

"And Sollar?"

"Yeah?" the Demonfolk girl asked, looking at the Human woman with her wide eyes.

"Uh... stay safe down there, alright?"

Tila didn't know what else to say, so she gave a wave to the Demonfolk girl. Sollar waved back, right as the woman disappeared around the corner to greet the newcomers.

Serclow placed his hands on the lever that would release the raft into the flume. He glanced at the Demonfolk girl, and added his own words.

"Yeah, stay safe," Serclow said. "New Frontierland's got plenty of folks down there. Demonfolk, too."

The Demonfolk girl pouted.

"Everyone keeps saying I should stay safe," Sollar said. "But I think I know already!"

Serclow gave a short chuckle. "Well, I'm just making sure. You ready to go?" he asked.

"I am!"

Without a second's hesitation, Serclow pulled the lever, releasing the raft into the flume. The boat splashed into the fast-moving water, as the current picked it up.

Sollar held as the raft slid out of the loading station. She gave a goodbye wave to Serclow before he quickly disappeared from view.

And now, she was headed down the rather steep hill.

The Demonfolk girl could see the lights of New Frontierland in front of her, down at the base of Fort Logger's hill. The raised canal that made the flume was raised, zigzagging down the hill in a manner so that the incline wasn't too steep.

The wind was rushing past her face. Sollar couldn't help but grin at the absolute thrill of going down the world's largest water slide.

Unbeknownst to the Demonfolk girl, the Hero and the Healer were right behind her. They had just arrived right at the water flume as she had left.

They were in their own raft, too, one that they had commandeered quicker than Serclow could stop the two. However, the raft wasn't really made to carry the combined weight of the armor-laden Hero and the Healer.

"I see her," Ronn stated, loud but stern. "Do you, Junil?"

Junil shook her head, as water misted all over her face. "I don't, not yet!"

The raft that the Hero and Healer were on was slowly moving closer to Sollar's raft, due to the extra weight added by Ronn and his armor. Eventually, the Healer managed to spot their target.

"There she is!" Junil exclaimed. She pointed to the raft in front of them, almost hidden by the spray of water it was kicking up. "How do we get to her?"

"I have one plan in mind," Ronn said.

The Hero picked up Junil. It took her precisely five seconds to figure out what Ronn was thinking.