Ilan held her breath whilst she embraced Tenzin by the neck with her arms. At that point the otter took the plunge and dived as fast as Ilan’s weight allowed it, which was quite fast. That’s what Ilan thought anyway. She wanted to shout and express how happy she was feeling at that moment to Tenzin, but she couldn’t say anything under the water, so she just trusted her dear friend and went with the flow. She discovered that she was good at holding her breath so she closed her eyes and felt the water on her face. Hot, cold, lukewarm, and cold again. Ilan started feeling a bit dizzy for the lack of air and so she tapped Tenzin softly on her side, and the otter immediately surfaced.
“Wow, that was…that was… I have no words!”
“Why, thank you,” said Tenzin shyly, and added “I knew you’d like it.”
“Are you kidding? I LOVED it! I think I haven’t felt so good for such a long time, except for when I ride Shobogenzo.”
Whilst she pronounced her horse’s name, her face darkened and Tenzin felt sorry for her.
“Hey, don’t worry now, I’m sure it won’t be long till you see him again.”
“You’re so good to me, Tenzin. I can’t imagine myself alone in this adventure, without you.”
While they were talking they felt something moving in the bottom, a sort of whirlpool was forming under their feet and all of a sudden a whole island appeared popping up out of the water like a safety boat and floated with the current, away from them.
“Quick, Ilan! We must reach the shore of this island!” said Tenzin
“May I?” asked Ilan pointing at her furry back.
“Just my thought…” said Tenzin with a cheeky grin on her face
And that’s how they reached the strange island just on time before it slipped away from them forever.