They started sprinting back down the sewer tunnel as a giant wave of water crashed around a corner behind them. Edge stayed behind the group to encourage them onward, but he knew it was too late. They weren’t going to be able to outrun the tsunami chasing after them.

The wave hit with tremendous force, lifting them off the ground and pressing them forward, encompassing them and surpassing them in it’s flow. The water rebounded as it hit the far wall, and the concussion of waves ricocheted them down a perpendicular tunnel.

Popup windows were appearing in front of the entire party, as each desperately learned their early ranks in the swimming skill. Edge pushed himself to the surface, counting his comrades and watching their health bars. All were accounted for, although he could see only Belladonna ahead of him. She was much farther ahead than he would have imagined, the water was pulling them apart, which made little sense to him.

The flow rebounded off the next dead end. The backlash washed over him sucking him downward, smashing him shield first against the next tunnel. A sharp pain radiated down his arm and into his stomach. When he again surfaced, even Belladonna was nowhere to be seen. [Observation: You see . . .] He didn’t bother reading the popup, he saw her dark hand protruding from the water ahead, clawing desperately into the air. And then it disappeared.

“Bella-” he called, before the water seemed to disappear underneath him. He was falling. Edge tucked his arms into his sides and pointed his feet together. He held his breath, plunging down into the unknown depths below. The pressure from the waterfall above pushed him downward, even as he struggled against it, frantic for next breath of air. He couldn’t move his shield arm, the pressure and pain were too much even for him to bare. The light grew dimmer as he was pressed down farther under.

Hands grabbed his shirt and abruptly he was being yanked through the water at speed. Edge and Belladonna skidded across a beach, as her [Dash] expired over the sand. She was pressed up against his chest, and they were both drenched and exhausted. Edge’s round shield had been dragging him to the bottom even as he panicked under the powerful waterfall.

Belladonna had gone back for him, and used her dash to drag him out from its grasp. She was just glad it worked. Despite the chill water, she could feel his warmth through their wet clothing. “I guess I get to be the hero today,” she said to him.

Edge laughed, chuckling water from his mouth in a disgusting cough.

Maybe part of why she liked him, was because of how imperfect he was, for a hero. She touched the back of her hand to his cheek. It had been easy to steal a kiss from him on their first meeting, but now it became harder. ‘Because I care?’ she asked herself. Did she?

“Do you two need a minute?” asked Sakura. “I’m fine with watching,” she teased, water dripping from her clothes.

“What’s going on over there?” Daphne yelled. “Did you find them?”

“They’re over here, being lovey dovey.”

“WHAT?” screamed Daphne with a [Dash] of her own.

Belladonna was already standing up when Daphne arrived. Edge was content to gargle more water onto the underground beach. Daphne gave them both an evil suspicious glare.

“Where’s Claire?” Edge asked.

“I’m right here,” replied Claire, who’d been standing nearby the whole time. “I . . . I wasn’t watching lewd things!” she erupted.

“You’re all okay,” Edge smiled, resting his cheek on the sand.

“Edge . . . Edge,” Daphne called. Edge was lying too still. She brought up the party window, and Edge’s health was slipping below [10%], and falling. “Edge!” she yelled, running to his side and falling to her knees. The others rushed to the rescue as well.

Belladonna flipped Edge onto his back. His shield was broken in half, and a large splinter of wood had pierced his stomach, blood had soaked into the front of his green tunic.

Sakura took charge, as the others still processed what they were seeing. “Daphne, sing,” she ordered. Daphne returned the order with a stunned expression.

“Right,” she recovered. Her voice crackled as she sung itsy bitsy spider, her recovery song, in its newest version, which was much slower and therefore had a longer duration and more healing time.

“Oh,” startled Claire, who began her healing chant.

“Stop Claire!” commanded Sakura.

Claire paused part way through her chant. “But-”

“No, save it for after we pull out the shield fragment. If removing it damages him, we don’t want to wait for a cooldown.”

Daphne’s song was only slowing the bleeding. Edge’s health was still decreasing, if by fractions.

“What should I do?” asked a truly concerned Belladonna. “Do you want me to pull it out?”

“No, not yet. Can you . . .” Sakura organized her thoughts, quickly putting pressure on Edge’s wound. “ . . . make a fire, Bell. And lay down some furs for blankets, Claire. Both of you, move fast. Daphne . . . we’re going to need your skinning knife.”

Belladonna nodded and used her camping skill and pieces of Edge’s broken shield to start a small fire on the beach. Her own stomach was covered in Edge’s blood. That idiot only cared about saving the rest of them, and as it turned out, he couldn’t even save himself.

Sakura plunged the skinning knife into the tiny fire. Everyone gaped at the process. They all knew what was going to happen. It sent a shudder down her back. Would this even work? This was a game where a healing potion or a spell or . . .

“I’ll do it,” said Belladonna. “It should be me. He was trying to save me.”

“Okay then, let us proceed,” said Sakura. “We pull it out when Claire is halfway through her chant. And then . . .” She could barely look at the hot knife, let alone say it aloud. Sakura grabbed the end of the shield fragment, offering a final consolatory glance at each of her friends. “Hold him down.”

Edge screamed in agony. No one was prepared for that scream. His life points dipped down to near zero even with Claire’s [Light Heal]. Daphne’s song ended, and all they could do was watch and hold their breath. And hope that his life points didn’t drop even one more tick, while they awaited their cooldowns, kneeling in the sand around their hero.

Daphne cried, and Claire joined her in silent sputtering. Sakura and Belladonna were both too shocked for tears. “There has to be something else we can do,” said Belladonna, pleadingly.

Sakura wished that there were. ‘If only,’ was becoming a repetitive theme in her mind’s eye.

An eternity passed until the cooldowns reset. Amongst the girls one thing became perfectly clear while they sat together, awaiting his fate. They loved Edge, in their own ways perhaps, but Edge meant something more, to each and every one of them. Whether they were rivals, or new friends, or old friends, the dying man lying between them was a bridge over their differences, and a precious bond they all shared.

Claire chanted her spell as soon as she was able, and Daphne struggled to keep her tune while distress streamed down her face.

Edge gasped into wakefulness as Claire’s heal spell took effect. The cauterized wound closed as her light passed over it. Edge’s skin which had turned a morbid pale white, ripened to its usual gentle tan. He panted heavily, sitting up and leaning back on his hands.

The girls were staring at him. Daphne had been crying again, and even Claire had the puffy eyed symptoms. “You four look terrible.”

“Pfft,” replied Belladonna with a hint of a sly grin.

Sakura smiled. “How do you feel-”

Daphne latched herself onto his chest. “He feels good,” she said through another stream of tears.

Claire silently wrapped herself around the pair.

A giant useless flab of meat pressed against the back of Daphne’s head. Her eyes secretly quirked from genuine relief to suppressed anger. How dare she wreck her and Edge’s perfect moment with those giant cheating melons. Edge had a soft smile on his lips when she looked up at him. Was he smiling at her, or was he peeking at the cow behind her?

Sakura and Belladonna joined in the hug, pressing themselves all around Daphne’s head.

‘Was it just her, or was Edge smiling a little more now,’ Daphne wondered. Every time she was getting a little closer to Edge, all of these dairy cows had to show up and spoil it. Daphne attempted a strategic retreat to end this melon patch, but they squeezed her in place like moist airbags. A mischievous grin erupted on Belladonna’s face, and Daphne could feel a warm hand playing with her tail. The situation was dire. Daphne activated secret special ability number two, her anti-pervert defense system.

“Pervert!” followed by double punching Edge in the stomach. The blast wave from her epic move knocked everyone backwards.

“What are you doing?” asked a stunned Claire. “We just got him back, are you trying to kill him?” she asked seriously.

‘Why are they all looking at me like that,’ Daphne asked herself. He’d be okay. He was Edge.

Edge was knocked down, and now he lay with his head in Sakura’s lap. She ran her fingers through his hair, and a hand across his chest. Was that blood dripping from her nose? It was probably Edge’s.

‘Nooo!’ Daphne screamed, internally. How did her eternal feminine rival Sakura make things turn out like this every time. Belladonna and Claire were disentangling themselves from some perverted panty revealing position too. Daphne’s head moved mechanically to stare directly at Edge. “Bakka,” she stated absolutely.