Drop [On hold]

Light

She had nothing else to do. She began to wonder what had become of Jacque. He was falling much faster than she was. If there was a bottom to be reached, he would get there first, and with all the speed he had built up with the mast attached to his foot, there was no way he would survive the impact. It was unpleasant to think about. Annavi looked around, hoping to find any sign of him in the dark. Even just his scarf, drifting through the air again would have been enough. There was nothing. She doubted she would see him again before she died. Even if there was something to reach at the bottom, he wouldn't live to see it. Annavi got the image of him being crushed under the mast, or being mutilated on the ground from the fall alone. It wasn't something she really wanted to see.
One thing that baffled her was how she still cared what happened to him. It was his own fault he was going to meet such a fate. He hadn't listened to her. As a matter of fact, it was his fault she was going to meet such a fate. He was basically getting them killed. She sighed, and shut her eyes. She wasn't sure why, or what she expected. Maybe she could fall asleep and just not wake up. It was all out of her control, anyways. She knew now that she would die. All the waiting wasn't helping.
She wondered if she should let go of the sail. Immediately she decided against it. If there was a hope that she would be landing, she wanted to be safe. She didn't want to die, and if it meant holding on longer and waiting without the knowledge of whether it was for nothing or not, she would.
Drifting really wasn't pleasant. The wind seemed to propel her forward as she descended, and she wondered if she would completely miss whatever might be there as she blew around. Then the small light caught her eye. It was tiny, and distant, but still there. It was almost too dim to see as well. Her mind began to race. She desperately wanted to get over there. But how?
Deep in thought, she felt her legs bend as she hit something. It was still dark all around her. She fell forward and hit hard ground. The knees of her pants ripped and her skin was scraped underneath. It felt like she was laying her face and body on top of jagged rocks. The sail gently landed on top of her.
She tried to roll over to get it off, but couldn't even get up. The rocks moved under her and she tried to push herself up, and she took in another face of rocks. The jagged edges cut all over her skin. After what felt like a lifetime of struggling, she got her head out from under the sail. All the could see was the light in the distance. That was where she wanted to go.
She had a goal now. But still, she couldn't get up. The rocks rolled and shifted under her. Eventually she resorted to crawling through the sharp rocks. Her clothes ripped and she could feel herself bleeding warm blood. She kept going, however, rolling and wiggling forward. It felt like she was going uphill, which explained why the ground moved underneath her. Her fingers were getting dirty from grabbing at the hard ground under the rocks. She dug her nails into it. Her breath came in short bursts, and her muscles ached. How long had it been? She wasn't sure. The light didn't appear to be any closer. Annavi convinced herself it was, though.
Her cloak got caught on a particularly large rock, and she was pulled back abruptly. She gagged, and pressed her forehead to her arm. After she had taken the time to breathe and rest for the brief minute she spent in her curled up position, she lunged forward, tearing the part of her cloak that was stuck to the rock. She heard a few arrows spill from her quiver onto the rocks, and was astonished that there were still any in there after the fall. As she fell back onto the hard, incisive ground again, she felt her hand hit something particularly hard.
She gasped a bit at the sudden, unfamiliar pain. She felt around, and grasped what she had hit. Using her slightly numb arm, she pulled, and found it didn't budge. She managed to drag herself towards it, however. She continued feeling, and squinted, trying to see anything. It was long, and felt like a railing. It was cold, like metal, as well. She rolled over it, and felt a much less alien thing beneath her. Wood. Long planks of it too. She got up on her knees without a problem now, and felt around again. The planks were spaced, and attached at the ends to the metal. She was on a railway track, in the middle of the dark.
Now that she was able to remain still, she looked up. The light was still visible, and still extremely far away. She moved on her hands and knees, and realized that the tracks went in that direction. Immediately, she was on her feet, and she was running the next instant. Occasionally, she would stumble and lose her footing on a higher or lower plank. She didn't stay down, though. She was up on her feet again, and again, and again. Running through the dark, with no guidelines but a light.
It seemed like she was getting somewhere. She had to be. Today wasn't the day Annavi Ambrose Valadez died.
It was during this pep talk, that she hit something hard with her shins, and fell forward onto a platform. She pushed herself up immediately, and hit something with her head. At that point, she really didn't feel like getting up. She had to, though. Once again, she felt around, to suss out her surroundings. The shape seemed to be familiar. This was a rail car, with a pump. Careful this time not to hurt herself any further, she climbed on, legs shaking. Her hands gripped the handle, and she pushed it down, waiting to see if it would work. The car moved forward slightly. Soon, she was moving it up and down, going forward at a slightly faster pace than her running. This was easy. Much easier than she expected it to have been on her own, especially with how her muscles strained.
Suddenly, the car lurched forward. The pump started to move on its own. It went up and down at the speed of light, and Annavi had to grab onto the length of the handle to avoid being thrown off. The handles knocked against her knees, and screams started to pierce the air. They weren't hers. She held on for dear life, shutting her eyes tightly to avoid the wind blowing in her eyes and straining them. The screams got louder, and began to mix with a voice. She couldn't hear what was being said, however.
Her body was almost thrown over the front of the car. Her grip saved her, to avoid being run over, and she went downhill with the car. It felt almost like she was going down at a 90 degree angle. The voice was getting clearer, and the screams were dying down. Her name was being repeated.
"Annavi."
The car slammed to a halt, and Annavi opened her eyes to see light. It was indescribably comforting after all the darkness she had been through. The only thing that was more comforting at that moment, was the sight of Jacque, on the other side of the car.