The man returned to her side, and encouraged her to hold onto his shirt so that she could follow him. She preferred to hold on to the wall, since it was rather steady, but she didn’t complain. He could have just left her in the dark sewer, if he had wanted to. She followed him silently, trying not to be sick as they moved through the sewage from the town. When they finally saw the light, she fought the urge to pull away from him and run towards it. For all she knew, there were more guards out there already. The stranger was much more cautious, approaching the opening and clearly searching for any potential threats.

She stopped as the man held out his arm, looking down at the water below. “A bit.” She answered. “I flail mostly…but I can keep myself above the water.” She had to be honest. She and her sisters used to play occasionally in the water in town and near the town. Being the youngest, she had been picked up and thrown into the water against her will. She had learned the sorts of things that kept her above the water because she had already experienced those moments of panic, as her elder sisters looked on and laughed. 

Rhys checked her bag, making sure it was secure. Some of her things, like her journal, shouldn’t get wet. The inside of the bag was lined to keep away water, but it wasn’t going to last forever. She needed to get the bag dry quickly if she had any hope of saving her things. Again, the gown would make it a bit harder to swim, but she would have to do her best. “After me?” She questioned, glancing over at the man. She imagined that she looked rather disgusting, and she was grateful at least that she had the chance to clean herself off, and maybe eventually she could find some cleaner water to use to fill up her waterskin.

Jumping into the water, Rhys was glad that it didn’t look or smell as bad as the sewer. She wiped her face with the water, trying to rid herself of the smell and grime from the sewer. As she had promised, she was able to kick her way to the surface, and paddle over to one of the sides, lifting her bag out of the water first. Rhys climbed out of the water on her own, and sat on the shore, her layered gown stuck to her and still dripping. She took the cloth and bunched it up a bit, twisting it to wring out some of the cloth. 

Fortunately, it wasn’t cold outside, so she wasn’t terribly uncomfortable. With the immediate concerns out of the way, at least in her mind, Rhys opened her bag and pulled out her journal, breathing a huge sigh of relief when she found that it was still dry. She lay in on the grass beside her, and took a few other items out of the bag to ensure that they were still dry as well. In her mind, they didn’t need to keep running, not right now. She needed to get her bearings, and with all of the added weight from the wet gown, she would be even slower to move.