Godzilla Warriors 8: Zenith

Chapter 9: Raging Rapids

Meanwhile, Solomon lead Godzilla and the others to the edge of the river he had mentioned. The water was a deep, dark red, and the rough waves made it appear nearly impossible to traverse. Godzilla was particularly worried.
"I can swim pretty fast, but I dunno if I can survive that." He said, rubbing the back of his neck.
"Oh, don't worry. We won't be swimming." Solomon chuckled. He gestured to his side, where a small boat sat next to the shore. It was nearly completely flat, with two large floating apparatuses on the side, and a sail attached to a mast in the middle. It looked barely big enough to hold all four of them, and it certainly didn't look like it would survive the rapids.
"You built that?" Mothra asked.
"I did." Solomon explained. "I planned to use it to attempt to escape this realm and find another, but getting you back to your realm is more important."
"Is it... safe?" Anguirus asked.
"Of course it is." Solomon said, though he wasn't so sure himself. "Now get on, and I'll shove us off."
The others did as they were told and climbed onto the boat. Solomon pushed the boat into the water, hopping onto it right as it was swept away. As soon as the boat touched the raging waves, it was pulled in and sent on a rapid current. Everyone held on for dear life as the wind smacked their faces. Their launching point was far behind them in a matter of seconds.
"It'll only be like this for a few more minutes!" Solomon shouted over the wind and ocean spray. "We'll be in calm waters soon!" He pulled on a rope attached to the rudder on the back of the boat, steering the boat into every curve and bump. The boat was thrown into the air and dipped into the water as it landed before it was beat mercilessly by the waves around it. Mothra held onto Godzilla tightly after she almost fell into the water. Falling in would most likely mean death. Finally, they approached what seemed like the end. Godzilla breathed a sigh of relief, until he saw what was up ahead. A waterfall. A massive waterfall that lead straight down. And they were heading straight for it.
"We're not going down there are we!?" He asked.
"Of course not!" Solomon said back.
"Then why are we heading straight for it!?" Godzilla shouted, a bit more panicked than he had meant to sound. Solomon didn't reply. Instead, he wrapped the rope around his hand twice, staring determinedly forward.
"Everyone hold on!!!" He called out, pulling on the rope as hard as he could. The boat turned, but the waterfall was still approaching fast. Godzilla and the others couldn't help but scream in fear. But instead of going over, they were suddenly pulled away from the waterfall. They had hit another current. What they hadn't noticed while they were all focussed on the waterfall was that another path lay just to the right of them. The water was much more calm here. And the ride was much better. Solomon released the rope, sighed, and stood up.
"Is everyone alright?" He asked. Looking behind him, he saw Godzilla practically hyperventilating with wide eyes, Mothra clinging with a white-knuckle grip on Godzilla's jacket, and Anguirus violently vomiting over the side into the water.
"...You'll be fine." Solomon muttered. He turned back to the mast and unfurled the sail, using the wind to continue down the calm water. The others slowly regained their composure and stood back up, gazing out at the terrain surrounding them. The river was much more tame than earlier, but the current was still fast. With the sail at full mast, they were making amazing time. They were going almost as fast as Godzilla's boat back on Monster Island.
"So how soon until we reach Red's lair?" Godzilla asked.
"Should be another hour at most, as long as we keep this pace up." Solomon explained.
While the others had recovered by this point, Anguirus had only just finished vomiting over the side of the boat. He tried to pick himself up, but he was still in some pain.
"I think I'm just gonna sit here for a while." He muttered. As he looked down at the murky red water below, he saw something moving in it. Upon closer inspection, they were fish.
"Hey Mothra, check this out." He said, ushering her over to the side.
"I'm not gonna watch you barf, Anguirus." Mothra said, a disgusted look on her face. Anguirus rolled his eyes.
"No, there's cool fish over here." He said. Now Mothra was interested. She made her way over and eyed the fish, kneeling down to get a better look.
"Oh, wow!" She said. "Even the fish here are different."
The fish in question were medium sized, similar to a large koi goldfish. Mothra had a koi pond back on Monster Island, and loved to sit and look at the beautiful fish for hours, so she enjoyed watching these ones as well. These fish were much different. Their scales weren't just one colour. They were silvery and reflective, almost iridescent. They swam in a school, and almost seemed to be one shimmering mass as they moved through the water below. Godzilla couldn't help but watch too, amazed with how fast they were moving.
"They must be moving with the current, like us." He said.
As they continued to watch, all the fish suddenly disappeared, swimming away in all directions. Something had startled them. Godzilla's eyebrows furrowed, and he looked closer at the dark water. He could see something near the bottom, quickly approaching the surface. Before he could react, a crimson tendril shot out. Godzilla barely got a chance to look at it before it wrapped itself around Mothra's wrist and dragged her under. It didn't take long for Godzilla to realize what had happened.
"Mothra!" He shouted. Quickly, he dove in after her. Hearing the commotion, Solomon turned around, only to see Anguirus, who was staring at the water in shock.
"What the hell's going on here?" Solomon asked, rushing to the side. "Did they fall in?"
"No, some tentacle grabbed Mothra, and the Godzilla jumped in after her!" Anguirus explained.
"A tentacle!?" Solomon asked, rushing to the other end of the boat. Staring at the water, he saw a glimpse of crimson pass by his vision. He heard a familiar wicked laugh in his mind, and he immediately knew what had happened.
"Oh no..." He muttered.
"Wait, what do you mean, 'oh no'?" Anguirus asked. "Did some sort of crazy squid thing grab them?"
"No. It wasn't an animal." Solomon said. "It was Red."