Old World Remnants

[Zach Kaiser]

While he hadn't intended to outright blind her or anything, Eld had hoped that Etsu would at least flinch at the water and sand. But he supposed that given she'd played this game often, he was probably not the first person to come with the tactic.

This left him at a severe disadvantage, as he couldn't do anything to prevent Etsu from grabbing his foot and from there it was child's play to ensure he ended up going down. He had only one idea, a risky gambit to give him a chance.

When Etsu attempted to hit his stomach, he grabbed her arm and twisted his body, with the goal of pulling Etsu off balance. If he was successful be tossed into the water with Eld close behind--his victory, technically. Of course, it was equally possible it would backfire and he'd only succeed in bringing Etsu down on top of him as he fell.

[Nayt]

"Oh, lookit that," Sarah whistled, "Eld's pullin' a gambit."

"Suicide tactic," Emily replied.

"S-suicide?!" Akizets cried meekly.

"I-in game suicide. Not, uh, real life . . ." Sarah cleared her throat.

"O-oh . . ."

Etsu wasn't expecting this from Eld. It was a last second gambit, one that required some significant degree of mental training to pull off. Not for this game in particular, of course. No one would train like that for a game. But other techniques applied to it. Martial arts, for instance . . .

There wasn't anything she could do. She was going down with him, and that was that. Etsu instinctively grabbed at him, clutched him by the hip, and held on as if she were falling from a cliffside and he was her only support. Terrible support. Eld was the worst support ever. She let out a small cry, one barely audible even to Eld next to her, as she hit the water. She hit shoulder first and submerged instantly. Problem was, Eld hit at about the same time as her and fully submerged, himself. Etsu released him from her grip as soon as she was underwater, but would not emerge instantly.

[Zach Kaiser]

Things happened a bit too fast for Eld to keep track of; he knew he brought Etsu down, but he had no idea which one of them hit first. It would be up to the others to say who won--though he wasn't sure he could trust any of them to give an unbiased answer, one way or the other.

He floundered a bit at first, but surfaced once Etsu released her grip on him. He coughed, but as he was prepared to fall this time he'd managed to avoid swallowing any of the lake.

Rubbing the water from his eyes, he watched the spot next to him, expecting Etsu to surface any second now.

[Nayt]

When Eld burst out of the water, Akizetsumei had to use all of her willpower available to avoid rushing over there and tackle-hugging him right back into the water.

"Nice one, Old Best Friend," Sarah congratulated as Eld got up and out of the water.

"Yeah. Good going. I didn't think you had it in you," Emily added.

They weren't even going to pick on him for beating up on a girl. How could they? Etsu was a tough girl. If Sarah was the toughest person in their company right now, Etsu had to be the second toughest. Or maybe she and Eld were equal in toughness. Either way . . .

"Uh-- is she going to be okay?" Emily pointed Etsu out, who still hadn't quite surfaced . . .

[Zach Kaiser]

Oh...did I win? It didn't occur to him that they might be congratulating him on simply keeping up with Etsu rather than beating her.

He didn't have time to dwell on it, though, as Emily shortly pointed out a problem: Etsu still hadn't come up. If it were Sarah he would just say she was probably trying to scare everybody, but Etsu didn't seem like the type to joke around.

Eld didn't bother answering; instead he submerged himself in the water again. And sure enough there she was, floating limply near the bottom. Instantly he kicked himself into overdrive, scooping her out of the water (not difficult in the shallow area they were in) and rushed her to shore.

There, he lay her on her back and checked her breath and pulse...

[Nayt]

Emily, Sarah, and Akizetsumei followed Eld out of the water closely, and crowded around he and Etsu when he lay her upon the sand. Etsu wasn't breathing. She had a pulse, yes, but she wasn't breathing and she wasn't responding. Chances were, when she let out a cry as she hit water, she must have sucked in gasp of water . . .

"Shit, she's really outta it," Sarah stated the obvious.

She was a bit panicked-- understandably so. So was everyone else around them. Maya had stood up next to them and looked on worriedly, too. She may have just recently met Etsu, but she wished no harm upon her-- and this was supposed to be a fun day for them. This wasn't a day to go to the hospital, or worse . . .

"Wh-what're we gonna do?" Akizets whimpered.

Akizets didn't know CPR. She couldn't even spell CPR! Could anyone else? She didn't know, but if there was a way to help Etsu out right now, then it was worth it! Didn't matter what it was!

[Zach Kaiser]

"Give us some space," Eld commanded, and that was all he had to say on the matter. He didn't have time to explain what he was doing, so he could only hope that if Akizetsumei had further questions one of the others could fill him in; most of his friends would know what he was doing, and more importantly that he knew what he was doing.

Etsu wasn't breathing, but her heart was still beating; this was good. This was well within his ability to fix. He placed both hands, one on top of the other, on the center of her chest and gave several quick, firm presses. And then, holding her mouth open, he took a large gulp of air before putting his mouth over hers and breathing out.

It was a process he was well trained in, one he had practiced no small number of times. It was also a process he would repeat until it was no longer necessary...for one reason or another.

[Nayt]

Space was given as needed. Eld was the doctors' child. He knew best.

Akizetsumei didn't realize it, but her face was burning red. She was a bit too panicked to feel it right now-- but if this weren't a life or death matter, if Etsu wasn't depending on Eld to survive right now, Akizetsumei would have felt utterly devastated to see Eld putting his lips on another girl's. In truth, she felt that way, anyways-- she just couldn't recognize it. And what she didn't recognize (or even acknowledge) right now was simply subverted. Unimportant. Pettiness was always tossed away in the face of panic.

"It's CPR," Emily explained without needing further prompt. She could see Akizetsumei's face and the way she averted her eyes from Eld and Etsu.

"C . . . PR?" she asked meekly.

"The only way to make her breath again," Emily confirmed.

This conversation would have been vaguely morbid had Etsu not sputtered and spat out a gulp of water after the third depression against the center of her chest. She tightened up, coughed again, spat up more water, and slowly rolled onto her side, still wrapped up in a fit of coughing . . .

[Zach Kaiser]

Eld waited a few seconds after Etsu started spitting up water to make sure she wouldn't need any more help before he allowed himself to give her some space. He didn't move far, though; just a few feet away, where he sat and rested his head between his knees, which he was holding against his chest. On the off chance anyone was still paying attention, they'd see he was trying to keep from shaking.

Etsu was alright; while that came with great relief, now that he was allowing his mind to wander again he realized that she could have died. And it would have been his fault. Doubly his fault--not only would he have failed to save her, he was the one who'd put her under and caused her to drown in the first place.

That was not a thought he could bear easily. As rude as Etsu could be to him, she was not a person he wanted to see hurt. Did he take things too far? Had he just jumped at a chance to pay her back, even a little, for being mean to him?

[Nayt]

It wasn't long after Eld settled to the ground that Akizets edged closer and closer to him. Everything was fine, now. Everyone was okay.

Except that Eld was visibly shaking, and no one else seemed to notice. Akizetsumei plopped down next to him, and without letting herself so much as think about it (as she knew she'd have overthought it if she did), the girl reached over to take his hand. She might not have liked how it looked at first, but Eld saved someone's life just now . . .

Naturally, this was a great relief to everyone. It was like they'd all released a sigh at once. Sarah's sigh broke into a nervous-- then confident, yet light --laughter, however. Man that was a rush. Etsu was all but resuscitated by that point, though. All that was left was discomfort and pain for a short while and she'd be back on her feet, good as new, and probably as feisty as ever. Sarah knelt down by Etsu and patted her on the shoulder with a grin. She wasn't rough about it, though. Etsu was probably in enough discomfort as it was.

"Welcome back to the world of the livin'," she said with a smirk.

Following another cough, Etsu whispered meekly, "What . . . happened?"

Really, she hadn't the slightest. All she knew was that she hit the water face first and . . . well, now she was on the ground, uncomfortable all over, and in a slight bit of pain, at least in the area of her chest and throat.

"You almost bit it out there in the water when Eld kicked your ass," Sarah replied casually, not at all conscious (or caring) of the politically correct way of explaining this whole mess. "So he dragged you out here and saved you. Awful sweet of him, wasn't it?"

Etsu partly sat up, just enough so that she could see Eld and level a stare at him that was curious, at best. She didn't know what to say to him. He . . . rescued her? After almost killing her, of course. What did you say to someone after that? Thanks? Etsu looked away from him.

"Arigatou gozaimasu," she whispered under her breath.

It was the only thing she could say right now.

[Zach Kaiser]

Feeling a hand take his, Eld glanced over and was mildly surprised to see Akizetsumei. While part of him had rather hoped everyone else would forget about him until he got himself together again, he nevertheless appreciated the gesture more than he could articulate with the weak smile he gave her or the way he let her fingers entwine with his.

Just because he wanted to be able to save lives didn't mean he enjoyed actually getting the chance to do it.

"Iie," he whispered in response, probably too quietly for anyone but Etsu and Akizetsumei to hear. He could have been just being humble...or he could have believed that he didn't deserve thanks.

[Nayt]

At Eld's response, Etsu furrowed her brow and looked off towards the water. Akizets, on the other hand, gave Eld's hand a little squeeze and returned a weak smile to him. To some extent, she understood. How, what, or why she understood, she may never know-- but she still understood . . .

But in the end, it didn't matter how ambiguous Eld's reply was. Whether she knew it or not, Etsu already had a favorable opinion, here.

"I wir-rr definiter-y beat you next time," Etsu declared outright, not out of stubbornness or (perceived) rudeness, but merely a statement of a fact.

After all, Eld had officially become her aquatic rival. No amount of saving her life was going to take that title away from him. He was stuck with it until the end of his days, probably. No matter what, she was going to seek to defeat him in aquatic sports and hobbies and that was that. Besides, it wasn't like he was ever going to try to hurt her, just like she would (probably) never seriously try to hurt him. Accidents could happen, though. Speaking of . . .

"And I wir-rr not breath as I hit water next time, too," she added as an afterthought, "That was . . . bad idea."

[Zach Kaiser]

At her first words Eld lifted his head, staring at her in surprise. After all that she still wanted to play this game? With him? If the situation was reversed he was fairly certain he wouldn't want to try it ever again.

When she spoke again, he was again surprised...but this time, it surfaced in the form of laughter. It was a small, short burst, but it was enough to lift his mood--even if, chances were, Etsu hadn't actually meant to be funny.

"Yeah. Just a little," he responded, smiling again. He pulled himself to his feet, and though he was still a little wobbly and light-headed he was no longer shaking.

[Nayt]

Eld wasn't the only person to find that amusing. Sarah and Emily had snickered, too. Maya, too, smiled a bit. Akizetsumei, on the other hand, didn't get what was so funny. Etsu didn't really get it either. It seemed she and Akizets were on the same wave-length in terms of deeming that a serious conclusion.

"I suppose, then, you won't mind if I challenge him before you can . . ." a voice crept up from behind them.

Etsu (followed shortly by everyone else) tilted her head a bit to see behind Eld, where Toushikyo stood, arms folded over his chest and glasses long since discarded. He no longer wore the heavy articles he brought with him. It seemed he'd undressed down to his long, hazy blue swimming trunks. This actually marked the first time anyone (other than Akizetsumei, of course) had seen Toushikyo shirtless for at least two and a half years. He always seemed scrawny, a lot like Eld-- but there was a constant air of mystery about him, and with the revelation awhile back that he'd been practicing some brand of martial arts in secret . . .

Toushikyo was actually well built for his age. He was still a thinly built teenager, but he had muscle definition that rivaled Eld's. In actuality, they were very similar in musculature. They both had strong arms and shoulders, powerful control over their individual joints, and muscle build fit for an agile competitor.

This being the first time she'd seen Toushikyo shirtless (and without his glasses, which actually made him look downright villainous right now), Maya was partially stricken. Her cheeks flared red and she averted her eyes from him, all with a sheepish smile across her lips. The others-- Emily and Sarah, that is --were impressed, but not too noticeably. It wasn't like Toushikyo would have cared if they said anything, after all.

"One who beats up on girls deserves vengeance of some degree, after all," he concluded with a roll of his shoulders.

[Zach Kaiser]

Eld jumped a little at the voice suddenly behind him; he was normally a bit more attentive than that, but with the whole Etsu nearly drowning thing he'd been rather distracted. He'd noticed that he was missing earlier, but hadn't had the chance to put much thought into where he went.

Come to think of it, hadn't he been wearing his trunks already? Why had he left to change? Toushikyo could be kind of weird sometimes.

"B-Beat up on her?" Eld responded incredulously. "Were you watching? I'm pretty sure we tied." While he would have accepted criticism of being careless and nearly letting her drown, he couldn't see how anyone could think that he was beating up on a girl. Especially given the way the first round went.

But then he smiled, deciding to follow a hunch. "Or are you just looking for an excuse to challenge me? It's been awhile since we've had grades to compete over."