The fact that terror had spread through her veins was certainly a new feeling for the cornered girl. Edie prided herself on her quick thinking. After all, her intelligence had gotten her out of many sore spots in the past, and it was that fact that had led the girl to insure Kato that she would be fine tonight. She hadn't told Frost where she was going â€" consider it a surprise â€" and his own insurance for the safety of Calliel and Claire had kept her from informing them of what she was about to do. In fact, she'd only told Kato in the rambling fashion she sometimes did when they were curled naked together. The man had insisted it was a terrible idea and that he was coming with her. She, however, had insured him that she would be absolutely fine and that if he wanted to come, he could wait outside. She didn't want to have to worry about the rhino while she was inside.

Now, however, she'd be the first to admit that he was right â€" though whether or not she'd tell him that would remain to be seen. This had been a terrible idea, and her odds of surviving it seemed to get lower by the second as Nadya worked to pin her against the railing of the cargo ship's upper deck. It was those thoughts that had Kato's name slipping from her lips as though she was a damsel that needed saving. In the moment, Edie hardly cared how she sounded, her thoughts merely switching to how would she possibly survive this? What she hadn't realized, however, was the way that that name would scare the panther in front of her. Edie worked to grip onto the impossibly slick railing, casting that small glance over the side.

The ship was large, and the fall was several stories into water that Edie couldn't fathom how deep it might be. Though, to the petite girl, anything over five and a half feet would be enough to drown her. Considering the size of the ship, that was certain to be the case. And she was about to plunge into those waters unless by some miracle, Kato heard her. Over the sounds of the explosions, she sincerely doubted that had been the case. Was he really there, even? Had he really stayed to look out after her, or had he wandered off towards the forest or even inside to look around at the fighting inside? And even if he was watching out for her, in the darkness would he be able to see her fall? Would he even care enough to save her? None of these were questions the girl could answer, and she was spared from trying by the explosion that happened a little too close to her.

Even if she could have held to the railing, it would have done no good. The girl was helpless as the explosion rattled the floor, sending her flying in the air and over the railing. Everything seemed to happen in slow motion then. The way she scrambled to find something to hold onto, the way that there was absolutely nothing she could grab to prevent her body from falling. The fox should have taken the five story fall as an opportunity to suck in a breath, but instead she used the moment to shriek out Kato's name once again. The silence from the lack of explosions made her voice piercingly loud, though whether or not he'd hear it was another story.

The impact of hitting the water was enough to knock the breath out of the injured woman. She opened her mouth to scream in the split second before she was forced underwater by the intensity of her fall. Water seemed to fill her lungs quickly as the girl's feet kicked to find something, anything, to stand on. Anything to get her head above water. There wasn't anything, of course, the girl's earlier assessment that the water was deep certainly true. Her arms flailed and her legs kicked, but she couldn't seem to get herself above water. If anything, she felt as though she was sinking further and further. Seconds seemed to be minutes without oxygen, and Edie was so, so certain that this would be the end. She couldn't count on Kato, could she?