The fall was real, but instead of plunging again into deep waters, I woke up with a jolt. It was already dark, but that's only because I was somewhere enclosed. I immediately stood up, but that caused me so much pain. My stomach felt like it was no longer there. I looked down at my body. My stomach was wrapped in cloth and leaves.
"You awake."
I gasped at the source of that voice. "Karu! You're here!"
He nodded at me, smiling. "I alive."
I almost cried at the sight of him. He was shaggy and his hair was disheveled, but he still looked the same. "Thank goodness, you are okay! I thought that you already dead!"
He shook his head. "I am Midayas. I do not die easily."
"I have to believe that now," I said and looked around. We were in a tree, where he probably made this hut he made from p
