ASRAN SERIES- ACROSS THE BORDER

Chapter - 25

David never understood why Sussan treated everyone equally. Whether it may be the stupid water pouch or the most powerful Asran's dust, everything had the same importance to her.

When Sussan noticed his unfamiliar gaze, she asked David, "What happened? Am I missing something or is there anything wrong with the water pouch?"

"Do you really have to treat everything like it's something precious?" He asked her but then before she could answer him, he continued to say, " I am just hoping that you would also think that I am also as precious to you and I wish that you would not push me away so easily."

"Push you away? When did I do that?" Sussan asked innocently.

"You do not know?" David took a deep breath and asked her.

At that moment, Brenda got up from where she was sitting and came to the arguing couple. She looked fine and there was no trace of tears or crying visibly on her face.

“You guys cannot live a day without arguing, am I right? Come on, let us go and not waste our time hanging around this boring place. Ahh! I am so thirsty too... Let's drink some water from that stream over there before we fill the infinite pouch. I am just hoping that this water would be as tasty as the one we get in the city,” Brenda said and then moved towards the running stream.

From where they stood the stream looked close to them but once they started moving, it felt like the stream was moving further away from them. Sussan and Brenda blinked at each other. Brenda asked,

"Is it only me or for everyone? Why does it feel like the water stream is moving away from us?"

"Even, I think so..." Sussan said and stared at the stream with a scrutinizing gaze.

"Whatever, it may be... Today, I am getting water from the stream!" David declared and ran towards the stream.

They kept on going towards the stream for more than half an hour but the place where the stream ran did not get any closer to them. So, they all sat tiredly on a huge rock to get some rest before they could start walking to the stream once again. But the moment they sat down, the rock started moving and suddenly lifted off the ground. 

It flapped its wings and they were all pushed into the center before being carried away in the air. David tried to hold a thin stony structure that resembled a huge neck of the huge rock but then he was pushed backward before he could lay his hand onto it. 

So, Sussan gripped one of the big rocks on top of its body with one hand and on the other hand, she held David's hand before he rolled down. Brenda held another big rock for support so that she would not be thrown out while flying on top of the giant rock.

When they were sky high in the air they noticed the stream below them was also flying along with them. They then realized that it was not any normal stream and it's actually a flying stream that doesn't stay in one place. The stream splashed water at the flying giant rock bird. Brenda extended her neck to check the end of the stream but then she couldn’t find where the water flow stops. 

The giant rock bird flew above the stream and kept on circling that area. They now understood that the only option to get away from the giant rock bird was for everyone to jump into the flying stream. 

"Let us jump on the count of three into the stream," Sussan suggested.

"Alright," Brenda and David agreed to her.

"Ok! Now... 1... 2... 3... Jump..." Sussan shouted and jumped along with David while Brenda followed behind.

But what they did not recognize was that the stream was super hot and not a cold stream. Luckily, the stream suddenly moved away once again as if it realized their presence and so they fell on top of a giant leaf. 

In the end, what they did not expect was that the giant leaf rolled itself and closed all the sides. It then tried to pull them along with it towards the ground. As they braced themselves for a major drop, instead they felt like they were going down a giant slide. 

It took them forever and ever but there was no end to the slide. They even started doubting if they would ever reach any ground or surface. In the meantime, the plant jumped back up and the whole place seemed very peaceful as if there were no calamities around.

That area looked like it came out of a perfect picture with no error and became very attractive once again. Except for Sussan's and Brenda’s scream that echoed around them and even David tried his best to hold the leaf walls around him.

But every time he tried to hold on to it, the solid leaf wall suddenly turned into jelly. He only held the mud jelly in his hand which he then threw it hard in front of him.

At that time, Sussan felt like she got hit with a small stone on her head. So she turned and saw what David was trying to do and couldn’t stop laughing after looking at his actions.

“Ha Ha Ha… what are you doing, David?” Sussan asked him after noticing his distressed face.

“Can’t you see? I am trying to hold onto something to stop me from sliding on this ever going slide?” David replied coldly

He was frustrated at his inability to stop all these from happening without using his magical powers.

“It is ok, cool down. It is not like we can do anything when we are surrounded by ‘Necticsand’. You cannot control them even with magic. They will show us our ways to the right land where we need to go. Let us just allow the ‘Necticsand’ to guide us. Just enjoy the slide and relax,” Sussan informed David which finally made him relax.

Later David grasped that this was the first time after so long that Sussan had laughed wholeheartedly without any worries. After the rules were established by the military and they started to flee the city, there was not even a single day that went by without tears in her eyes. 

Brenda tried to look at the couple but then she suddenly noticed a bright light which was brighter than the ‘Asran’ star blind her eyes.

“Everyone, cover your eyes and ears at once,” Brenda shouted loudly and closed her eyes and then her ears with her hands.

Sussan and David immediately took a cloth and tied it on top of their eyes and even blocked their ears without questioning Brenda. 

“It seems like the ‘Necticsand’ is falling apart. Something huge might be happening outside and we need to be very careful as we don't know where we will end up falling,” After saying that Brenda took a whiteboard from inside her bag while ignoring the sand entering her ears and hurriedly drew a few lines which in turn created a Dinghy.

Brenda held on to the dinghy and then shouted, “Come on you two! You have to jump on the Dinghy right now...”

Sussan and David jumped one after another and landed exactly into the Dinghy. Brenda then gave them the paddles and then opened her eyes. The sand entered her eyes as well by the time she jumped into the Dinghy.

Once the ‘Necticsand’ ended, they entered the flying stream which they had missed out on before so many times. Sussan by then had removed the cloth covering her eyes and noticed the steam rising from below them. So, she instantly made the Dinghy magical, so that it would be able to take the heat radiated by the hot stream. 

Sussan and David paddled the boat and reached the shore while Brenda still tried to get rid of the Necticsand from her eyes and ears.

"Ahh! It's burning... How foolish of me to open my eyes just before the sand disappeared?" Brenda said as she regretted letting the sand fill her eyes too.

"I would love to get you the water from the stream but then it would only burn your eyes rather than helping the irritation go away," Sussan regrettably said and hoped that the stream would turn into cold water.

Just as she wished, when they were traveling across the stream, in a few seconds she noticed that the water was suddenly turning cold. She could not believe her eyes as the steam stopped raising from above the water and slowly cooled down.

 'It's a miracle,' She mumbled and filled the pouch with some water hurridely.