Both girls found themselves a sturdy branch, their shoes off exposing leathery feet. Their hands wrapped themselves on many smaller branches, holding them in bunches. Brook made her way forwards and she sunk with every step.
Brook was near the end of the branch before finally stopping; reaching down and snapped the branch at her feet.
They watched with dread and envy. Low enough to be only a meter over their heads she turned back. She let out a roar and broke into a run, no longer holding anything, instead extending her arms and fingers, gliding like a child.
She jumped, sinking low and blasting off; clearing the gap with a playful ease. She kicked out at the meaty branches threatening to dig into her flesh as she passed. She grabbed a young branch which sank her low before grabbing a younger one which dropped her to ground level before shooting her back up like a missile. Barks of pleasure could be heard from their side as she jumped from branch to branch using her hands and feet to do a full backflip. More barking filled the air.
Winter didn't linger, Brook's feet had cleared a path wide enough to hold both her feet with just her toes coming off the edge. Unlike Brook, Winter gave a genuine headlong sprint, jumping at the very end.
The waters churned and turned to mud, Fury caught sight of it and stared. Alarm hit at her chest like a spear, stopping her heart. The water sunk and swirled before the current brought back its original flow. Winter, who'd clearly seen something the others hadn't, screamed in a rather undignified human manner before catching her a branch and swinging to the ground. There was a splash. Winter had dropped Ferry's bag. Brook jumped down fishing it out.
Ferry let out a roar that would have surprised most lions.To Fury's utter surprise it came from up the tree. Ferry was already manufacturing a path, making the branch look small in comparison, he jumped early, throwing his whole body, swinging his arms for momentum.
Quite a few different things happened at the same time.
Ferry let out a roar of surprise as the waters beneath exploded upwards.
The rest of the group screamed, and Fury pulled back her bow, Reign, a lengthy and thick longbow. As wide a bow could be before it became a log with a string. An arrow like a small harpoon aimed at the massive black and grey lizard that had just emerged.
The creature's head was as large as the rest of its body and almost half as long, it had large flat legs which looked to be webbed instead of its feet. It reminded her of a string ray which had swallowed a shark, taking its jaws for itself.
Fury hesitated; Ferry was reacting. He dropped his fists down, swinging his body enough to punch its upper lip, grabbing enough skin to pull himself up and over its head.
She lost sight of him but took her shot.
The arrow whizzed through the air and sunk into where she could only hope the brain was. There was a piercing screech and it sunk back. Its submergence complete. Fury felt sick just thinking about how deep the waters were. The waters churned, creating a whirlpool in the heart of the river. They watched it spin on and on, then it moved to her side of the riverbank.
She wasn't the first to start running. But a good leader never ignored a good plan.