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They were on a tree log that was on a verge of collapsing, holding to it for dear life as the Tumbesour (name coined by Gopal) tried to eat them.
"Heyy, is this really the time for a snack? This bridge isn't gonna hold for long!" Said Duri as he hugged Solar's leg and tried as hard as he can to get away from the Tumbesour's gaping maw.
Just after Duri had said the words, the bridge snapped and they began to free fall.
"Mulut masin--! ¹" Solar yelled at him.
Well, Duri didn't know that his mouth was that masin!!
"Kelajuan slow-mo--! " THWAP!
One down.
"Lompatan...Cahay---! " THWAP!
Another one down.
"Ying! Solar!" He panicked.
Thankfully, he thought fast enough and manifested Daun Payung Terjun to land safely with them safe in his thorny vines on the thorny boat he manifested using his power.
"Kalau tak dah jadi arwah dah tadi ²" He muttered to himself as he lay the both of them on it gently.
He looked at Ying and Solar before deciding that he will treat Ying's first, Solar can tough it out for a bit.
Though when he was about to touch Ying he paused for a bit, hesitation clear on his face.
It's not like he doesn't wants to treat her---oh no---he wants to but...well...
Ying's a girl and Duri's a boy.
They were friends sure, but they still had a certain distance that they put with eachother as a sign of respects and here he was, about to touch his friend without permission when she was still unconscious.
He felt like a bad person right now.
But Duri shook his head, muttering to himself that; "This is an emergency, so this is allowed. Probably" Why was he the one who's still conscious? He's not knowledgeable about these kind of things.
Maybe he really should treat Solar first so that he can helped solve his dilemma. But too late for that now, he already decided to treat Ying's first a few minutes ago.
And so he treated her.
He checked her head for any sign of bleeding---none--- (hopefully there's no internal bleeding), he check her eyes if she'll wake up or not---not yet--- and after he was satisfied with his check-ups (done only on the surface level) he began treating her injuries.
The kind that's visible in his eyes.
Duri's still uncomfortable touching Ying like this (even if it was an emergency) and so he left the one he couldn't see to Ying when she woke up. Hopefully, if there's any injury left that wasn't treated by him, it wasn't anything serious.
He didn't want it to impact on her heavily.
Then, he began treating Solar and just like Ying, he repeated what he did for Ying except for Solar, sharing the same gender as him and him being (literally) a part of Duri, he had done a more thorough check-ups and treatment.
After a long time waiting for them while paddling the thorny boat, one of them began to woke up.
Surprisingly it was Solar.
"Hungry?" He asked.
Solar only nodded, but then he seemed to remember something and his face instantly turned ugly. He's probably thinking about what Duri said earlier (that came true a second later) before he had lose consciousness along with Ying.
Duri shrugged to himself, letting him sulked over it but before that he gave him a fruit so that he can sulk while eating it. Not sure what kind of fruit was that, but he's 95% sure that it was safe for consumption. Probably.
(Eh, he'll survive.)
Then a few minutes after that, Ying woke up.
"Ouchh...my head really hurt. Where are we?" Asked Ying just as soon as she gained awareness.
Duri grinned, time to brag. "Hai! We are at the river, I save both of you with my own power" He said while pointing at himself.
Ying looked around with a smile. "Wahhh~ way to go Thorn!" She praised.
Not far from them, Solar was seen resting his back against the boat, still sulking while his cheek puffed up from eating the fruit.
"Cool right, Solar?" He asked him with a smile, still fully aware that Solar's mode still not okay.
"Hmmph!" He huffed, cheeks still puffed up.
"Ouch! The boat's so spiky" He turned his head from Solar to see Ying hissing from the pain while lifting up her arm to herself.
"Right? You couldn't just build a normal one?" Asked Solar while looking at him with an annoying expression (in his opinion) when Duri looked at him again.
An imaginary tick-mark appeared on his cheek as his smiles twitch. "Eh, my name is Duri after all hihi. What can you do?" He asked back sarcastically.
Solar snapped.
"I CAN SHOOT YOU IF I WANTED!!"
Ah, sometimes Duri forget that Solar's patience was pretty thin.
...That's what made messing with Solar's fun though.
Duri didn't know how long he had been paddling the boat while standing still but what he did know was that; his hand began to cramp and his legs was on the verge of collapsing.
(He also needed to have 'that' conversations with Ying.)
"Let's switch, Duri" Solar offered to him.
Too relieved by the offer, he easily handed him the paddle. Now Solar was the one who paddle while Duri himself joined Ying in eating the strange fruits (its probably safe) he had manifested earlier.
"Ah, Ying..." He called his friend's name.
Ying looked up, mouth still busy munching on the fruits he gave her earlier but still attentive enough for him to continue his words.
"I...." He wanted to say about him treating her, asking for forgiveness for touching her without permission and all but for some reasons he couldn't get the words out.
Though, even without him explaining the words to her, she seemed to understand him judging by her face.
She swallowed her chewed up fruit before she answered him. "You're the one who treated me right? Thank you and sorry for making you uncomfortable" She said before she bowed her head a bit.
Seeing her bowing made Duri panicked. "E-eh, no need to bow! We're friends Ying! And well...I'm sorry too for touching you without premission---it's an emergency---but still, I'm really sorry Ying" He too bowed his head to her.
He really felt bad for it.
When he looked up again, he saw Ying smiling. "It's okay Duri. I know you just wanted to treat me. I trust you" She said to him.
Hearing the word 'trust' warmed Duri's heart. He's honoured to be given the trust by his friend.
But then, Duri scratched his cheek awkwardly when he remembered that he only did it half-way through and told her about it. "...I didn't fully treat you though. So, maybe later when we've arrived on land you can check it yourself for other injuries. Sorry again Ying"
Ying only waved his concerns off. "It's ok, I understand" She answered him, still smiling.
He smiled at her back.
(Duri was thankful for having an understanding friend like Ying as one of his friends.)
And then, Solar ruined their moments.
"Duri, My arm's tired! Let's switch!" Solar hollered from his place, which was not that far from them really, the boat was pretty tiny.
Duri and Ying only deadpanned at him.
It had only been a few minutes, Solar.