release meppa chapter 3

content/writing/meppa-3/index.md

@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
 +++
-date = '2026-05-29T16:00:00-06:00'
-draft = true
+date = '2026-06-17T16:00:00-06:00'
+draft = false
 title = "Those Who are Underfoot, Chapter Three"
 summary = "Meppa and her company are lost, they need to continue their journey."
 tags = ['story', 'meppa the kobold']
@@ -30,15 +30,37 @@ them through fogs. Without their navigator or even a map, their best bet was to
 soon found a river that cut through the mountain range. Following it, they reached a point in the river where it was 
 joined by another creating an impassible obstacle, water.
 
-They put as much ingenuity as they could come up with to solve the problem, one considered a raft, but without proper 
-materials or time this was not an option, another was to follow the river until its beginning. The idea that took the 
-most interest was a catapult. They would simply propel themselves across, and its design was going to be significantly 
-simpler than a raft. **Meppa** found herself as the unwilling test subject for the catapult, not only since she was 
-unskilled at the arts of construction, but also due to the animosity that her traveling party had grown for her and her 
-sister. **Dekkara** reassured her that it would be OK, **Meppa** was uncertain, she was not a strong swimmer, and the 
-river was likely to sweep her away.
+There was plenty of discussion regarding who should cross first and tie the crossing rope. The group eventually singled 
+out **Meppa** as many of the group had a growing animosity towards her. Her sister reassured her that it would be fine,
+but **Meppa** had a sinking feeling in her stomach. She was not the best of swimmers, and the river was likely to sweep 
+her away.
 
-When the contraption was finalized, a rudimentary rope and a couple logs quickly assembled, **Meppa** found herself 
-seated on the device with great uncertainty. The rope used to provide tension creaked and groaned under the stress it 
-found itself in, threatening to explode at any moment. Her group released the catapult arm and **Meppa** found herself 
-flying, she felt her stomach fly into her chest. The world went into slow motion as her heart raced 
+Despite her objections, she found herself with a rope tied around her waist. The river seemed calm enough, perhaps it 
+would be alright, and besides, it didn't look too deep all things considered. **Meppa** slowly waded out into the waters,
+immediately feeling the large drag of the moving water. It was hard for her to keep her footing, her claws dug into the
+mud scraping the rocks buried beneath. Every step forward was a struggle, the river grew deep, and she could feel her
+strength faltering. She pushed off the riverbed and began to swim. It was a struggle, splashing, coughing; the cacophony
+of her struggle muted the world around her.
+
+The rope tied to her waist pulled her down like a ball and chain, giving the river even more grip on her. Her strength
+began to wane, and soon the weight of the rope started to pull her down into the water. Frantically she fought,
+her will to survive propelling her forward she had to survive. She had a small glimmer of hope, she could do it, the
+opposite bank couldn't be much further.
+
+Her muscles gave out, and she suddenly felt herself sucked under. The burning in her lungs slowly grew, and she flapped
+her limbs pointlessly with whatever strength she had left. She felt the rope tugger her back towards shore, her companions
+evidently wouldn't let her drown. For the moment she surrendered to the pull of the rope, letting it carry her back.
+Then it slipped, she felt the tightness around her waist loosen. Looking down in the murky waters, she saw the knot
+was coming undone. Frantically she grabbed at the rope as it let go of her.
+
+Her hands grew weak, she started to slip down the rope; there were only a couple feet left, then a foot, then a few inches.
+In the blink of an eye she felt the rope slip from her fingers. Without the weight of the rope she was finally able to
+swim to the surface. She gasped and frantically splashed quickly looking about, she could see her traveling companions
+chasing after her. She was moving faster than they could keep up, and she watched her sister, frantically sprinting after.
+But to no avail.
+
+**Meppa** frantically swam towards the shore, but it was not enough, soon the water became ferocious. The calm deceitful
+river slowly became a frothing raging beast, pulling **Meppa** further from the river bank, trying to pull her down into
+the swirling cacophony below. She desperately struggled, but soon the futility of her situation became clear. Meppa was
+going to die. No, she wasn't she saw a log that had fallen across the river, she just had to grab it. She prepared 
+herself as the log rapidly approached her. Then her head met the log, and the world went black.