[Firefoot]

Sondo knew that every moment in the water had him moving further downstream and away from the rest of the hobbits. He had to get to shore. Blindly he struck off across the current, forcing his stiff limbs to move. He swam with a fevered haste, desperate to reach the shore. He knew that he was of no help to the other hobbits when he had no idea where they were and was half-drowned himself. Even so, his progress could hardly be called good because of both the harsh conditions and his own not-so-strong swimming techniques. His rapid strokes soon slowed, and his mind dulled somewhat. Would he ever reach the bank? After what seemed an eternity, he did. The bank was steep, and it was only by sheer strength of will that he was able to pull himself up at all.

The hard swim left him exhausted, but he could not rest yet. He was the leader, and he would not be responsible if hobbits drowned. He looked up and down the river first, as if unsure of which way he was supposed to go. North... would be that way, he thought. Of course. Without further thought, he began to half-stumble, half-run upstream. Where was everybody? Surely some had made it to shore by now. A horrible thought struck him. What if they were all on the other side? He would never find them - they might even think him drowned and go on without him! This was his adventure. His! The thought of someone else taking over cut him deep. He had to find them. How far upstream? Had he gone too far? Oh, this wretched storm! It was ruining his perfect adventure. There was a lump of dread forming in the pit of his stomach. Assuming he found his friends - what then? They would be without supplies. The raft had crashed, his beautiful raft was in shambles, and all their food and blankets and everything with it. There was nothing left. No, wait, that wasn’t true. He felt mild relief poking into his wall of despair as he assured himself that he still had his knife, and an apple from lunch, and soggy clothes. These things would get him far, he thought bitterly. Oh, why did his grand adventure have to go so wrong?

Just then, he tripped and fell. He didn’t get up, either; just lay there drawing deep, shuddering breaths. He had to calm down. They weren’t dead. They would find each other, and they could go home. They had only been sailing for three days; how far down river could they be? These thoughts, meant to be comforting, sounded sarcastic even to himself. The river current had been stronger than he had ever expected, especially in this last day when they had not stopped at all. Sailing was much faster than walking. For the first time, he wondered if he would ever see his home again. What a fool he had been, thinking they could just take off ‘adventuring.’ He began to doubt himself - always before he had gotten them out of scrapes, but how would he get them home? He was the leader, and he could not let them down. What would they say of him if hobbits died? They would never listen to him again. This was beyond bearing, and grim determination settled down in place of despair.

Sondo picked himself up from the ground and took off northwards again. He would find them, all of them. Especially Sassy, the bratty, troublesome, girl - his sister. He wondered again how far he had gone, and how long he would need to look. What time was it, anyway? Surely it was midnight by now. If only the cursed sun would rise; then he would be able to see. He only ran blindly, now; what was the chance that he would simply happen upon someone? He wished he would hear something, anything: cries, yells, even grumbling. It would be so much easier if he could just build a fire and let them come to him. He couldn’t, though; it was entirely too wet, even if it had mostly stopped raining. He halted abruptly; dared he to hope? He had heard something; he knew it. He switched directions and hurried toward the sound. He soon found what he was looking for: only a little ways ahead, there stood a hobbit, though Sondo did not recognize him in the dark. He grinned.

“Hey, you!” he called out, but not so loudly as to startle the other. His approach accompanied the words, and he continued. “Have you seen any of the others?”