Fire and Water

Main Character: Danny

Genre: angst/drama

Running through the forest, he could feel the fiery claws reach out toward him. Darkness was illuminated; trees were engulfed in flames, smoke filled the air. He coughed violently but forced himself to keep running though his legs were starting to burn. He had to keep going; he had to escape the flames and warn them.

Branches tore at his already charred, torn and bloody clothing but he ignored them as he ducked under a low hanging branch not slowing down. The wall of flames was steadily getting closer destroying everything that got in its way; he could hear the agonizing screams of dying animals that were unlucky enough to get caught in the blaze.

Tears appeared in his eyes but he didn't know whether it was because of the sounds of dying animals or the smoke that stung his eyes. He wiped his eyes and pushed himself to keep running, he was breathless and hoarse from inhaling too much smoke. His eyes continued to stream. The smoke grew thicker, coiling around him as the flames continued its steady march.

Vision blurred, he nearly hit his forehead against another branch but managed to phase through it at the last possible moment. That was all he could do at the moment; he was so tired, so weak from earlier and from the amount of smoke he had inhaled that he couldn't even try calling forth his ghost half, let alone try to fly. He couldn't risk falling out of the sky and into the inferno.

Warning them was the motivation that kept him from giving up. He had to protect them, he promised that he would keep them safe and he was not going to break his promise. Despite his promise, he knew that he was weakening; he has been running on pure adrenaline for a while and he didn't know how much longer he could keep going.

He pushed aside a tree branch trying to block out the screams of dying animals lest they distract him. He couldn't afford any distractions; if he tripped then he would lose and losing was not something he wanted to do, not when the lives of everyone were on the line.

He had to warn them.

Over the roar of the flames, he suddenly heard the thundering sound of water. He immediately pinpointed its location and was relieved to see that it was directly in front of him. If he kept going, if he could make it to water then it would buy him enough time to rest and recover at least a little of his strength.

With renewed vigor, he continued his mad dash through the burning forest hoping that his adrenaline would not give out on him, at least not until he got to the water he could still hear in the distance.

His lungs felt like they were on fire, his legs burned. He continued to cough violently but he kept moving. He had to keep moving.

More than just his life was on the line.

Struggling to breathe evenly, and attempting to control his coughing fits, he kept moving, leaping over upturned roots. He ran past trees, across clearings, over small dried creeks, following the roar of water that he had heard earlier. He knew that water was his only chance; he had to get there before the flames caught up with him.

It felt like time had slowed and ages had gone by but the thundering water was now so loud that it drowned out the roar of the flames at his back. He nearly tripped on an upturned root when he reached it; a beautiful waterfall with crystalline water glistening in the starlight as it cascaded down the side of the cliff into a wide, gently churning river.

With the crackling flames too close for comfort, he dived into the river. The cool water immediately soothed his burns. Ignoring the exhaustion clawing at him, he swam toward the riverbank.

Even though he hadn't seen the opposite bank when he first reached the river, he kept going, propelling his arms through the water, kicking his aching legs. The current dragged him a few feet away from where he had first entered the river but it wasn't strong enough to pull him under.

Finally, he reached the opposite bank. Grabbing a few reeds poking out of the water at the edge of the river, he dragged himself onto the bank before turning onto his back gasping and coughing as he struggled to get his breath back. He lifted his head enough to see that the flames had been stopped by the river.

He couldn't be sure if there were flames on the side of the river on which he was lying but he was too tired to care. He forced himself to his feet though since he knew he had to keep moving; the longer he rested, the less time he would have to warn them.

Staggering away, he glanced toward the burning forest on the other side of the river before he closed his eyes.

"This was supposed to be a simple competition. What happened and why?" he whispered, his voice lost in the roar of the flames and the waterfall. He opened his eyes. Gazing up at the star-speckled sky above his head, he went over everything that happened hoping he could find something—anything—that could help him understand.

A/n what do you think?

Blaze: this is the very first part of the first chapter of the newly rewritten version of Against All Odds, which I'm working on and am planning on posting again no matter what though I'll probably end up finishing most of it before I post it cause I'm planning on posting it when I get further along in Nightfall maybe

Darth: that's cool

Blaze: yup. As always, reviews are appreciated.