I swam up to the surface of the water gasping for air and coughing.
"Fuck!" I yelped, spitting out salty seawater.
I looked around trying to keep my head above water, "Minh? Minh?!" I shouted.
Shit. Where is he?!
I took a deep breath and dove down underwater, I let go of my blanket and searched the water. Then I saw Minh not too far away.
Minh!
I swam towards him and grabbed his arm. Fuck, he's too heavy! I looked down, if I can drop some weight I'll be able to swim up. I stared at the supplies. Fuck it.
I threw away our bags and swam up to the surface with Minh. I gasped for air as I tried to keep his head above water. Man, who knew breathing would feel so great? I shook Minh and pulled his hair but, yeah, he's gonna be out for a while. Why is he so delicate?!
Now, what do I do? I can't just keep swimming forever, plus if I go down, I'll be taking Minh with me.
Having someone die because of me isn't something I'd like to have on my Bucket list no matter how much that person deserved it. Guess the first thing to do is to find land, that's what Minh would do.
But which direction? Eeny meeny miny... moe! West it is! Or was this east? Or north? Damn my sense of direction. Whatever, we're going in this direction and no one can stop me! I'll swim in the direction I chose with my very intelligent decision-making and, hopefully, we won't die before we get anywhere.
Fuck my stamina, I'm getting tired already?!
Fuck, what do I do?
"Hey Minh, it'd be a great time to wake up right now. Kinda don't wanna die here," I shook Minh, but nothing.
Why did I think that would work? Then a wave of water washed over us- fuck I got some water in my mouth. Ew, it's salty. I spit it out and looked around for anything.
Water, water, and more water, Oh, hey, a rock
.... OH MY GOD, A ROCK!
I swam towards a rock sticking out of the water. Let's go, we're not gonna die!
I held on to the rock and pushed Minh on top of it. Then I climbed onto the rock and finally caught my breath. Holy crap, I thought we were gonna die. I crawled over to his unconscious body and flipped him over to lie on his back. I poked his face a few times and put my ear to his chest.
Oh thank fuck, he's breathing- I think. What was that CPR lesson they taught me in middle school? Uh... fuck it. I sucker-punched him in the stomach.
"ARGH WHAT THE FUCK!?" he gasped, coughing up the salt sea water he probably inhaled earlier.
Gross.
He wiped his mouth and glared at me, "The fuck was that for!?" he snapped.
"Why are you yelling at me?!" I shot back.
Fucking asshole, what the hell is he yelling at me for?!
"Oh, I don't know, for punching me in the gut!"
"I punched you to get the water out of your system!"
"Why didn't you do CPR then?!"
"Do you think I know CPR?!"
"Yeah, no, you're too dumb for that," Minh agreed.
Okay, Wow, way to thank me.
"I hate you."
"Same here," he said before looking around, "did you see anything before swimming here?
"Nope," I answered.
"Well shit, we're fucked."
We're stranded on a rock, with no supplies and no chance to find a random boat just floating around in the middle of the ocean for no reason.
Yeah, we're very fucked.
And I thought that I would live longer in this life than in the previous one. Honestly, Truck-Kun was a better death than this.
I turned to Minh, "So what do we do?"
"What can we do?" he asked, watching the sky, "We're stuck on a rock in the middle of the ocean, and last time I checked, only one of us can swim."
"Well, maybe if you weren't a wuss, two of us would be able to swim."
"Maybe if you didn't take the time to traumatize me as a child, I would've learned how to swim!"
"How is that my fault?!"
"You almost drowned me!"
"I said sorry after!"
"More like you gave a half-assed apology to make Mẹ happy."
"True, but it was still a sorry," I huffed, crossing my arms.
"Whatever..." he groaned, leaning his head on my shoulder and I did the same.
"We're gonna die here," Minh muttered.
"Well, at least we'll die somewhere nice."
"Not really, the view here is meh at best."
"Eh, kinda," I shrugged
-------------------------------------------------------
I stared at the moving waves in silence. So this will be our grave? What a pathetic way to die.
I exhaled, looking up at the clear sky. Even the sky is mocking us. Just wonderful. Suddenly, I heard someone shouting in the distance.
Alright, seems I'm hallucinating; that's fine. The shouting got louder until I thought I heard it right above us.
"Uh, Minh," Phuong said, shaking me.
"What?"
"Look up."
"The fuck you mean look u- HOLY SHIT!"
What the hell am I staring at? It somewhat looks like the bottom of a boat but with steampunk engine wings attached to it, although I'll have to fact-check you on that some other time.
"Hey! You down there, need a hand?" a person waving from above shouted.
Phuong stood up and screamed back, "Yeah, can you help us please!"
Not a second later, a ladder dropped down. The gods have answered our prayers! I climbed up the ladder after Phuong, and we stood on the deck of the ship.
"You're lucky I spotted you. You two would've died down there," someone said while pulling up the ladder.
It was a man in a black military uniform looking and short brown hair with glasses. Wait, there are glasses in this world?
Then the guy pulled out a piece of paper and quill, "I reckon you're from one of the northern port towns yes? I'm gonna need your names and where you come from," he explained.
"Oh uh, I'm Aliya and this is my brother."
"Angelo."
"Uh huh, any last names?"
"Nguyen," I answered.
"And where are you from?"
"America?"
"America? Never heard of that place before."
"It's far away from here," I added
"Yup! Really, really far away," Phuong chimed in.
"I see..." he stared at us for a good while before returning to his paper, "Alright you're all good. Go to the registration booth," he explained, handing us two silver plaques.
"Um, mister."
"Yeah?"
"Who are you and what are these for?" Phuong asked, holding up the silver plaque.
"Oh, yeah, I didn't elaborate on much, did I? You can call me Robin, I'm part of the Rescue Division," he explained, "Our job is to rescue stranded refugees escaping from their country, or just random travelers," he added, looking quite of proud of himself.
He then pointed to the silver plaque he gave us, "And that plaque is for registration purposes. We can't just have two unidentified people on the ship."
"Yeah, that makes sense... oh, and-"
"Which way is the registration booth?" I interrupted taking hold of Phuong's arms.
If I let her go on, she'd be talking to this guy for hours, I'd rather not stand around for the rest of the day, thank you.
"Go left around there and head to the lower deck. Should be the first thing you see," he pointed out, and I took Phuong and left.
"Hey, mind letting go now?"
"Why?"
"Because my arm hurts!" she whined as I dragged her to the lower deck entrance.
"Listen, if I let go of you for even a second, you'll get lost, and honestly I don't have the energy to search this place nor talk to people right now."
"Okay, I get it. Can you at least let go of my arm first? I promise I won't get lost."
"Since when did you keep your promises?"
"Never, but I'm starting now," she countered, tugging at her arm.
I tightened my grip and continued dragging her along.
"Seriously?! Let go already!" she yelled.
We went down to the lower deck and stopped by a lady standing in a booth, wearing the same black military uniform as that other guy.
I pushed Phuong in front of me, "You do the talking."
"I got it, I got it. Jerk," she grumbled.
She cleared her throat and went up to the lady at the booth, "Excuse me?"
"Yes? Oh dear!" the lady gasped, "Well, aren't you two a little worse for wear."
Well yes Ma'am, falling into the ocean isn't a very fun thing to do. I can still feel the water in my pants.
"Yeah, we've seen better," Phuong smiled, handing over our plaques for registration.
"Well, hopefully, you'll be able to catch a break here. I'm Amelia. I'm part of the Rescue Division. You'll be in safe hands," the lady assured, taking the silver plaques and swapping them with a wooden slab with a number on it.
Just as I was about to walk away, I was dragged back to Phuong's side.
"Thanks, Amelia. And also, is there a food court here?" She asked.
Damn it, Phuong.
"Uh, I don't know what a food court is, but there is a mess hall on the middle deck."
"Great, also I've been wondering; what is this place?"
"Well, this ship is one of the many airships that the Rescue Division uses."
"So we're on a real airship?"
"Yes. Do you not have them where you're from?"
"Nope, I've only read about them."
"I see. Well, I hope you'll enjoy yourself here."
"Hope so. Also, what are these for?" Phuong held up the wooden slab. Can we leave now?
"Those are your room numbers."
That should've been obvious.
"Can we leave now?" I asked
"In a minute, almost done here."
After god knows how long
I hate it here.
God, if you exist, please end me. I walked down the hall behind Phuong while carrying a bag of food.
"Where should we go next?" Phuong mumbled looking at a map of the ship.
When did she get that? Probably from that woman at the registration booth.
"Phuong."
"Yeah?"
"Can we go to our rooms now?"
"Hold on, we're not done looking around yet," she reasoned, going back to the map in her hands, "Plus without you I might get lost."
"You have a map, I think you'll be just fine on your own."
"Yeah, but I don't want to explore alone, and anyway, you need to get out more."
"What I need is a shower," I retorted.
I feel so grimy.
"You can take a bath when we're done," Phuong said, "It will only be a little while."
You liar. How long have we been here? I've been running on autopilot for the past hour. What time is it? Should I just leave? I may be able to sneak away if I'm fast enough. I eyed the exit as I slowly stepped away from Phuong.
"Minh where are you going?"
Damn it.
"Nowhere."
"Liar, you're trying to sneak away," Phuong pouted, "How hard is it to talk to people?"
"Quite difficult, actually," I shot back. God, my head hurts, I just wanna take a nap. Is that so much to ask for?
"Fine. If you hate people that much, then just go," she huffed
"And I will," I scoffed before leaving.
I walked around the lower deck, strolling passersby. I walked down a hall lined with numbered doors, and while looking at my registration slab, I found my room rather quickly. Turned out that wooden slab also acted as a key. Wonder how that works. Maybe it has something to do with runes. Runes are technically Graphien symbols engraved into stones. Although this slab is made of wood, so I suppose that's not likely. But dwelling on that now would make my head hurt more than it already does.
I entered my room and shut the door behind me. Finally, peace and quiet. The room was small, with only a desk, a bed, and a closet, but that was better than nothing. I fell face-first onto the bed, once again reminded that my clothes were wet.
Ew, now I feel gross again.
Is there a way to take a bath in this place? Well, we're in the sky so I doubt that they have some type of aerial water system on the ship. Or do they?
.... Nah, thinking takes too much energy.
I sat up, took off my shoes, and laid back into bed. My clothes are somewhat dry, it'll be fine. I closed my eyes, finally falling asleep.
I woke up to find that I had cocooned myself in the sheets. I wriggled out of the covers. The room was completely dark. Was it already nighttime? Suddenly I heard a knock at the door.
I got up, wrapped the blanket around my shoulders, and opened the door, "What?" I groaned.
It was Phuong standing at the door dressed in a white nightgown with clean clothes in hand.
"I got you some clothes. There isn't a bath on the ship so I asked for some clean clothes for us," she explained, handing me a shirt and pants.
"Thanks," I said, taking them and closing the door.
When I was just about to change I heard her again.
"Hey."
I leaned against the door, "What?"
"I'm sorry about today, I got too excited and I didn't care about how you felt. I know that you don't like being around people and I should've listened to you. I'm really sorry."
"Don't be, I was being an ass anyway," I assured, "Now go to bed. We'll have plenty of time to venture tomorrow."
"Okay, my room is next to yours so you can come over if you want to. Good night."
"Night," I said before hearing a door close.
I sighed. Seems she's really sorry this time. Perhaps the unthinkable is happening. Phuong, maturing? The sky would fall before that happened. Welp, no use dwelling on it. I need to change.
I threw the blanket aside and changed into some clean clothes. There was no underwear, but going commando never hurt anyone, or at least I think so. I flopped onto the bed and cocooned myself once again.
After a while, I heard another knock at the door. Now it may just be me, but I don't feel like getting up to answer the door to a possible stranger. The audacity to come knocking is a grievance in itself. In other words, I was going back to bed.
"Minh," a voice called from outside.
Oh, it's Phuong
.... I'm still not getting up.
I poked my head out of the covers and asked from the bed, "What do you want?"
"I can't sleep, can I stay in your room?"
"Why?"
"Cause I can't sleep."
"Why can't you sleep?"
"None of your business."
"Then sleep outside," I shot back, burrowing back into my cocoon.
But before I could fall into slumber, another round of horrendous knocking assaulted my ears. I got up, groaning all the way to the door, and swung it open.
"I despise you."
"I love you too," she replied. Sarcasm, I see.
"Get in here," I groaned, letting her in.
I closed the door and laid out my blanket on the floor.
"What are you doing?" Phuong asked while holding a blanket of her own.
"Sleeping on the floor," I answered lying down on the blanketed floor.
"Why? It's not like we haven't slept in the same bed before."
"An experience I never want to be subjected to again."
"It wasn't that bad."
"Your snoring was."
"... Fuck you," she huffed, joining me on the floor.
We lay on the one blanket next to each other. "Well, that was a waste of a perfectly good bed."
"The floor's nicer."
"Lying won't get you anywhere."
"Shut up," she snapped, snatching the covers from me.
Well, there are two options here, I could either sleep in the cold, or I could wrestle the blanket from her
.... Never mind, fighting takes too much energy.
I turn to Phuong curled up in the covers, fast asleep. Well, that was quick, I should get to bed, too. I rolled onto my back and stared at the ceiling like I usually spend my sleepless nights. I closed my eyes and attempted to fall back into slumber to no avail. This is gonna be a long night.
Side Story Dated - 15 yrs
Insomnia
I can't sleep.
I finally got my own room after I begged Mẹ for months and I can't even sleep in my own bed!
I lay in my bed, staring at the ceiling.
It's so dark and lonely... I never thought I'd miss sleeping next to Minh.
And what if something bad happens and I won't be able to sacrifice him?
Suddenly, I heard a creak. What was that? Then another creak, and another, and another. Okay, I'm going to Minh's room. I got up, took my blankets with me, and left for Minh's room.
I knocked on the door, "What?"
"I can't sleep."
"Seriously?"
The door opened with a very tired Minh peeking out, "Get in here," he groaned.
I went in and dropped down on his bed, curling up next to him.
"Night."
"Good night," I closed my eyes and fell asleep.
A/N
This marks the end of volume 1 people! Chapters onward will be for volume 2 of this little story of mine. Hope you enjoyed it ٩( ᐛ )و