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Laumdae's appearance distracts you, and before you know it your head has sunk back underwater. Now that you might be rescued, however, you redouble your efforts to swim to the western side of the river, aiming for where you think the skiff is. Before you reach there, however, a hand grabs your arm and wrenches you out of the water with surprising strength. You retain your grasp on Phoyaa as you crawl into the boat, though you can't lift her body out of the boat. "Phoyaa's still in there," you tell Laumdae. Then the skiff hits an eddy, and the jerk in its course dislodges your grip. Your friend's body slips into the river. "Phoyaa!" you shout.

Laumdae looks down at you from his precarious standing position. He's biting his lip, an expression you know means he's thinking hard about doing something stupid. "I'll get her," he says. And then before you can stop him, he jumps into the water.

To be clear, Laumdae isn't what you'd call "strong." He's younger than you, but even among his age group he's never been better at climbing or fighting or swimming than anyone else. At least he likes the outdoors more than Phoyaa does. But he's weak.

You push yourself to your knees and look down into the water, but you can only make out faint brown shapes below the stormy gray surface. As you watch, one of them moves faster than the current, and joins another. Then they enlarge, their forms shimmering as they come closer to the surface. You grab Laumdae's oar and paddle towards where they'll arise. When Laumdae's head breaks the water in a spray and he takes a gulp of air, you grab his arm as he grabbed yours. After guiding it to the rim of the boat, you lean down over him and grab the collar of Phoyaa's armor-clothes. The boat wobbles as you haul first her, then Laumdae into the skiff. "Thank you so, so much," you tell Laumdae. He nods. Then you look at Phoyaa.

Phoyaa's swallowed a lot of water. Her skin, like your own, is clammy and pale, but she's also got white froth around her mouth and nose. Her arms and legs are making little twitching movements. You're not sure what that means, so you turn her over and begin pounding her back, trying to force the water out of her. A little bit comes out, but you're sure she swallowed more than that.

Laumdae makes a little noise. "The cottonwood - We're gonna crash!"

He grabs the other oar and shoves it into the water, furiously paddling southwards. Glancing backwards, you see you're about five meters from crashing into the overhanging cottonwood you saw earlier.

> Enter command.

You look up at Phoyaa. "Sorry, I just - I can't lose him, all right?"

Phoyaa points towards the skiff. "It's really Laumdae, huh? Why don't we go back and tell Potila we found it, and they can send a boat down here?" You notice her shivering.

You put a hand on her shoulder. "No, he might leave before they can get back here. We need to bring him home, now. Will you help me?"

Phoyaa grimaces. "We barely even survived the last swim. But okay." She pulls a flask out of a pocket and gives it to you. "Let's warm up first, though."

You take the flask and drink, tasting the bitter, burning juice in your mouth and then your throat as you swallow. The river sounds briefly louder, a cacophony of water, and then your senses seem to dull. You hand Phoyaa the flask back and wade into the water. She drinks, stoppers it, and follows you. With Phoyaa clinging to your back and paddling furiously with her free arm (and yelling, probably in fear), you seem to be doing well. The water should feel colder, but the drink has given you strength. You swim like a canoe, kicking your feet and rowing your arms through the water until you and Phoyaa reach the current. Then, suddenly, you feel something yanking at your legs, and you and Phoyaa are sucked under the surface.

Your foot feels pain, but the drink makes it hard to focus on it. There's something hard, like a bird beak, closed around your ankle. It's too dark to see, but you feel Phoyaa pulling on your shoulder, swinging what feels like a heavy weight. Then, both the clamp on your foot and your friend's grasp are gone. You wheel your arms around, and touch what feels like cloth - you grab this, and kick upwards, pulling the heavy weight of Phoyaa behind you. It seems like an eternity before you make it to the surface again, and your lungs strain, but you do so. You and Phoyaa are moving downstream at a fast pace, and there is something pink in the water. Phoyaa is limp, and you can't lift her head above the water.

You look south. The skiff is in the water, and it's moving towards you. A round, pale-faced boy with a bushy mane of black hair is poling the boat. Laumdae!

> Enter command.

You take a deep, shaky breath and wheel around, plowing your arms through the slate-colored water with renewed power. Just a couple strokes after, your pumping feet strike the rocky clay of the riverbed. You pull yourself onto the beach. Everything you wear - furs, shawl, probably even your sling in its pouch - is soaked. At least before you were only wet on the outside.

As you stand up, you are relieved to see Phoyaa climbing out of the water a few meters downstream. She is similarly wet. Past her, the sandbar meets a green wall of young ash and serviceberry. Far down the river, you notice a cottonwood leaning unevenly to the west and over the water. When you look back to the west, you see the skiff, still there next to some kind of strange lumpy hill.

Phoyaa comes up to you and lays a hand on your shoulder. "Hey, I know you like collecting clay, but could you try not to drown next time?" Her narrow face turns serious. "Be careful, okay? I'm not even sure how I got out of the current, there. It's so fast."

> Enter command.

Water rises cold around you as you wade into the river towards the skiff. In the summer, and up by the village, the river's so shallow that you can usually walk across without even getting your clothes wet, but here the water seems much deeper. Within moments, it's risen around your waist. The river pushes against your legs, against your feet and your midriff, but as you need to get to the skiff and look for Laumdae, you take another step forward.

But there's nothing to step forward onto. You have just enough foresight to take a deep breath before you topple into the current and go under. The world goes dark, and shockingly cold water fills your nostrils. Your eyes sting.

As the river drags you towards its center, you feel something gripping your ankle, pulling you in the opposite direction. Then a hand grabs your arm, and your head comes back into the air. You see the back of Phoyaa's wide head, her black hair plastered over it and her broad shoulders, and the grey-gravel shore only three meters away. She's only keeping you in place, dog-paddling with the limbs that aren't wrapped around you. When you were young, she didn't come down to the river much, and you aren't certain she even knows how to swim. If you don't get out of the water soon, you might both drown.

> Enter command.

You are getting worried. Early this morning your uncle found Laumdae's bed empty and one of the skiffs gone, and, of course, you agreed to help look. But even with the whole family out and nearly a day of searching, you have yet to find any trace of the child. He has always been quick to complain about unfairness, always a bit of a loner, and you suppose he really must have intended to leave. If he is still on the river, even Ampuae's narrow skiff might not be able to find him. In the forest, oxbows and backwaters make a maze to befuddle even the most alert.

So, with your friend Phoyaa, you set out into the woods to look for your cousin. You followed deer trails, mostly, and blazed your own paths when no others seemed apparent. Phoyaa complained about the rain a great deal. Somewhere around noon, you ran into your aunt. She instructed you to go down along the river itself, looking for the skiff Laumdae took. Therefore, after sheltering under a fallen log for a brief lunch of bread and salmonberries, you began that long and stumbling trek. It is very difficult to hike along a forested river's length, and it is even more so in an unfamiliar area. You did play in the forest when you were young, but you never went more than a few kilometers, and now the tortuous waterway is your only guide home. If you do find Laumdae's skiff, will you be able to find Laumdae?

You call his name as you walk, hoping for the slim chance that he will come running up and beg to go home. Hoping he has not drowned or fallen afoul of a forest cat. The rain and the river and the leaves seem to dampen your cries, though, and Phoyaa has stopped calling entirely. The sun is beginning to set.

But just now, as you crunch down a stony beach covered in snail shells, with undergrowth to your right and water to your left, you spot a dark shape 20 meters across the river. It is the skiff!

> Enter command.