amellsinferno | In Another World | locked to apostate

"Me neither," she offers with a smile, swimming closer to him. "It might be smarter if we conserve mana, yes? Let's take turns. I can heat things up better than you can anyway."

"Smart. All the supplies are on the boat, anyway."

He turns down his heating and just lets her do her work.

"Just tell me when you need a break."

And with that, the two of them are off.

Cullen watches the two of them go off into the water. It was quite bold of them both to brave the waters like they did. He stops the boat right by the base of the bridge and notices they left their robes. They're swimming in their smalls? Makers' breath! They were bold!

He sets the robes inside the boat and looks at Nellie who looked quite snug despite the awkward position. "Are you alright in there?" he asks as he climbs into the boat. Thankfully, it was big enough for the both of them.

Nellie pokes her head out from under her covering, smiling and nodding.

"All things considered, this is actually pretty comfortable. How are they doing?"

Cullen looks out at the two of them swimming. They were making good time, considering all the factors against them.

"They're swimming naked. In the cold." He answers simply, taking the oars and taking the boat out into the lake. He's pretty strong too. He and Nellie make good time as well.

"They must be doing something to keep the water from freezing them..."

Nellie just sighs and rolls her eyes. They would go swimming naked.

"We should probably hurry up, then...do you need help?"

"Can they do that?" Cullen raises his eyebrow. Despite being around mages for so long, he never really paid attention to what they could do outside healing and offensive spells.

"It's alright, Nel," he smiles at her. "I can handle this. Besides, I think I quite like this angle of you." Because Maker, did she look adorable all snuggled up like that.

"It just a release and manipulation of mana, it's not too difficult...Solona's especially good at it."

She giggles and blushes at him, smiling.

"Aw, thank you! If you change your mind, though, I'm here."

"Sometimes I forget how powerful you three are," he smirks, shaking his head. He's flattered by the offer but he'd much rather she not exert herself too much. Cullen smiles at Nellie as he rows. "Don't worry about it, love. I'm doing fine."

Solona, however, is not. She hasn't stepped into water in a very long time and concentrating on her mana and at the same time her stamina was beginning to take a toll on her strength.

"A-anders..." she pants, slowing down and choosing to stay afloat on her back for a while. She looks out into the lake and they've only just made it past half-way. "A-anders," she calls out again weakly, "I think you're going to have to take over for a while..."

Anders is worried about Solona, and he nods, taking over on maintaining the mana. He's a stronger swimmer than she is too, which probably helps.

"It's okay, Sol, I'm here, I got it..."

He's worried. She's not doing so well...

"Here, do you need help?"

She grimaces. Solona has a few pride issues but she knows when she needs the help.

"Please?"

Anders nods, swimming over to her, letting the warm water surround her, before he gives her an arm.

"Here, just hold on to me."

Solona looks at him worriedly and hesitates taking his arm. "I'm just going to slow you down." And Anders pulling the weight for the both of them? He'd be drained as well in no time.

"I'll be okay, Sol. This should give you time to get your strength back, at the very least."

He nods.

"You just have to help by kicking, okay?"

And they're back off.

Solona hesitates again but gives in, clinging to Anders but kicking her legs as best as she could. She also kisses him on the cheek as they move. Because he's sweet. And she appreciates the help.

Cullen looks off into the distance. "They stopped for a while, but they're off again but a bit slower." The boat wasn't too far away from the two swimming mages so Cullen tries picking up the pace to catch up with them both.

With Solona kicking, they're able to move a bit faster, and Anders is a stronger swimmer than Solona is, so while they're going slower, they're still going.

Nellie frowns from her hiding spot.

"I hope they're okay..."

Cullen rows faster until he manages to eventually catch up with them. He throws Anders a rope and ties it to the boat.

"I'll handle it," Cullen says. He could see that the both of them were having a hard time.

Nellie waves down at them, coming out of her hiding spot to help them get out of the water.

Anders gratefully catches the rope, handing it to Solona.

"You go first."

Solona nods and tugs on the rope to help herself get up. She grips the sides of the boat but it rocks. Cullen stands and tries to balance the boat as best as he can but--

"Anders, as much as I would like to that we are skinny bitches," Solona says, teeth chattering, "I don't think we can fit on the boat." She lets go of the rope and splashes back into the water.

Cullen looks down at them with a worried expression. He wishes there were something else he could do.

"You could hold onto the rope and I can steer us to shore."

Nellie peers over the boat, looking concerned. They look exhausted...

"Do you think we'll be okay pulling them to shore?"

Anders nods, looking across the lake.

"We don't have too much farther to go...Solona, you should be able to fit. Get in. I'll be okay."

Solona pouts at Anders. "Do you expect me to just leave you in the water like this?" She was worried about him. She was sure his mana supply was running low too. "I'm not going to leave you, Anders." She says it with absolutely no hesitation and grabs the rope. She swims to him and ties the rope around both their waists.

"Solona, I don't think this is a very good--," Cullen starts, obviously seeing how drained she looked.

"Cullen," she replies, "I'm staying in the water."

"I do expect you to leave me in the water." Anders frowns at her, but before he can protest further, she's got them both tied to the rope.

Nellie looks very worried.

"Sol..."

She turns to Cullen.

"We'd better hurry up. The stubborn pair isn't going to be able to hold out much longer...And you're letting me help with the boat."

Cullen frowns. Must Solona have to be so stubborn? But what could he do at this point? He sighs and looks at Nellie with a somewhat pained expression.

"I hate the idea but yes, I might need your help here, love." He hands her the other set of oars and helps her adjust them in place. "Just follow my rhythm," he instructs her.

"Don't, Cullen. I want to help. We'll get to shore faster this way."

She nods and takes the oars, following his instructions. It's not exactly easy, but she can do it.

In the water, Anders gives Solona a look.

"You're insanely stubborn, you know that?"

Solona smiles weakly. "I'm aware of that. One of my unappealing traits, it seems." She wraps her arms around him, letting the mana flow into the water now that she had more to spare, slightly kicking her legs as they're pulled along with the boat.

Cullen still takes charge of most of the rowing. He was after all, probably the strongest of the four of them-- and he couldn't let Nellie strain herself. It was a bit of a challenge, having to carry along the extra weight but he manages, watching Nellie's back carefully, making sure that her form wouldn't hurt her too much when it was all over. They're about three fourths of the way. Cullen looks over his shoulder and sees the approaching shoreline.

"Almost there," he says.

In Another World | locked to apostate_amell

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