Second Chance

A Glutton For Punishment

When she reach the surface, the deep breath she took gave way to her swallowing some water causing her to choke and cough. Knowing she couldn't leave without getting the Valewort herb, she tried again and again. Knowing full well, that trying to find the herb without the use of light, it was like trying to find a needle in a haystack. Too stubborn to give up quickly she tried and tried again and again until her body tired and the night grew darker and darker. The moonlight gave her enough lighting to hit the surface, but couldn't penetrate to the depths of the lake where she needed to look. Cursing the lack of advanced technology in this new world, she wished for a waterproof flashlight that would come in handy in this situation.

Jewels knew she would only be able to dive two more times before she lost all of her energy to safety swim back to the shore. She took a deep breath and dived again. Jewels was searching blind and she knew it. But knowing that the Valewort herb can help her, it renewed her determination to keep her hope alive that she would be able to find it.

All the submerged plants felt the same when she touched them, they felt smooth and silky. Her hands kept searching the ground floor until her hand touched something hard. Grasping onto the object , Jewels tries to pull it up, however it felt as if it was buried deep into the ground. Her hands starts to dig into the ground, pulling plants and moving rocks away from the object. Deeper and deeper she dug until the object came out. When she was able to pull the object out, she swam towards the surface not knowing what she dug up. Hitting the surface, instead of looking at her the circular item in her hand, she turns around in the lake to see if she could see the light coming from the carriage. Finding the light she swims towards it. Her limbs getting tired the closer she got to safety however she couldn't give up. She wouldn't let herself give up.

In her state of fatigue, she did not notice that on the shore there were seven figures standing in the dark watching her swim towards them. When she reached the shore and walked towards the dense forest to retrieve her clothes, six of the figures lit torches and surrounded her. Stopping suddenly, she saw standing in front of her was Raiden. His cold demeanor made Jewels shiver even though it was the height of a heat wave. His oppressive energy held her down, holding her body still. Her breathing came in fast and short breaths as if the air was running out. She was too tired to say anything so instead they all stood there quietly and waited until Raiden was ready to make his move. When he didn't say or do anything the oppressive atmosphere became too much for her and her tired, shaking legs gave out. Landing on her knees, her hands caught her fall and she rolled her body over and sat down. Her back was to Raiden as she concentrated on her breathing. The hard object in her hand reminded her of her find and with the help of the torches, she could finally see what she brought back with her.

Although still covered in dirt, Jewels could make out a metal bracer. Wiping away the dirt, she could see thin swirling gold designs come through. Standing up quickly she made her way back to the shore to wash the dirt away from the bracer. She took two steps before she felt a heavy hand on her shoulders. Without turning around she knew it was Raiden's hand stopping her.

"It's dirty." Jewels said, showing him the bracer. "I need to clean it."

The hand on her shoulder squeezed tightly before releasing her. Bending down to clean the bracer, Raiden's quiet presence crouched next to her.

"Look," Jewels said as the bracer was clean. "Look at what I found."

The bracer's metal did not rust like usual metals. It looked as if it was something newly made. The gold swirling designed did not look like any writing she could recognize. The design looked like a continuous curling vine through out the bracer. Tracing the gold design she suddenly felt a blanket placed over her shoulders. Looking up at Raiden, she could no longer feel the oppressive atmosphere that he exuded. Raiden swept her in his arms and carried her towards the carriage. Her driver was unharmed but he looked guilty, as if he did something wrong. Too tired to struggle out of his arms, she resigned herself to accept her current predicament.