Sins Loom: The Unwilling Weaver

He found himself in a state of freefall. All his worries washed away. Replaced by the worry of not knowing what was awaiting him. The light from the cop’s flashlight could no longer reach him, so he was surrounded by darkness. Only the sound of rushing water and the feeling of falling to accompany him.

He didn’t know how long had passed, but he could see the light of the flashlight cresting over the hole. The cop would find the hole soon. What would he do? Would he jump in after Ed? Or would he call it a day and leave?

Ed hoped for the second one, but he knew it wasn’t likely. The fall was long, but the cop most likely had a way to handle that safely. If he didn’t land soon, then he would have to deal with the cop while in the air, and he wouldn’t have it easy dodging this time.

Ed had never fallen for this long before. It felt strange. The darkness and the constant sound of rushing water made it difficult to gauge what was going on. At least if he had jumped off a building he would be able to see the ground coming towards him. But right now, he saw nothing.

The cop was standing at the edge of the hole now, his flashlight pointed down to try and find Ed. He could just barely make out Ed who was so far down, but he couldn’t line up a clear shot on him. He was assessing his options, wondering if it was worth it. He had already chased Ed through the sewers, did he really have to jump down this hole?

Ed had been falling for who knows how long now. Could have been twenty seconds, could have been a minute. But it felt like an eternity had passed when he finally noticed something different. A light was growing in his vision. But it wasn’t coming from above, it was coming from below.

Ed was reaching the end of the drop, and he was fast approaching it. Whatever was waiting for him down there wouldn’t treat him nicely when he was falling at this speed. The cop became the least of his worries, as he tried to slow himself down so that his body wouldn’t be pulverised on impact.

Shifting his body and activating his thrusters, Ed tried to counteract the force of gravity. And for a while, it worked. He felt himself slowing down, but not by much. He had to put all that his thrusters had into slowing himself down, but he would probably still shatter his legs on impact.

He heard a sputtering noise, causing him to panic. No. No no no. Not now. Come on! His thrusters began to peter out. The force coming from his thrusters fizzled out of existence, leaving him to fall and pick up speed just like before.

The end was getting closer. He could almost see what was waiting for him. The cop had long been erased from his mind. In fact, everything that had happened before now seemed so unimportant. All that mattered to him were the next few seconds.

He clutched onto the briefcase for dear life. He would be damned if he lost it after all he just went through. He slapped his legs with his other hand, causing a burst of fire that singed his fingertips. Ignoring the pain, he kept hitting it.

The end was getting closer now, he could see what was waiting for him. Is that... the sky? It wasn’t a body of water, or even a bit of concrete waiting for him at the end. Instead it was the bright blue sky. Clearer and more beautiful than he had ever seen it. It was fast approaching, and he had no clue what was going on.

The thrusters roared to life as Ed ripped his hand back, narrowly avoiding having it get burnt off. He started slowing down once again, but the sky was still fast approaching. Countless thoughts flashed through his mind. Where was he? Where would this hole spit him out? Why is the sky so clear? Would somebody see him? But one thought prevailed over the rest.

Shit!

Flailing around as he reached the edge, his arm managed to catch onto a rung. The sudden force slammed into his body like a runaway train, as he came to a sudden halt. His arm screamed out in pain, but he managed to hold on.

Unfortunately for him, the rung he had latched onto didn’t. Bolts snapped, and the ladder fell, plunging Ed further into the sky below.

Ed hung precariously by the tip of his fingers. His body flailing wildly as his other hand desperately clutched onto the briefcase, saving it from falling into the abyss. Looking up, he found himself holding onto a ladder that was running along the ceiling and ending at the hole. Water was cascading down past him, thankfully missing him and the ladder.

The ladder itself was old, having worn down after years of inactivity and no maintenance. Its purpose having long been forgotten. And thanks to the force from Ed’s landing, it finally couldn’t hold on.

Several rungs had been pulled out of the ceiling, now swinging precariously above him. And more were coming undone with each passing second. Ed didn’t know how long he had until the entire thing fell off and he found himself plunging into the sky.

Using his thrusters to boost himself, he swung until he could reach the rung with his other hand. Grabbing onto it while still holding the briefcase was difficult, but he would manage. Securing his grip on the swinging ladder with his other hand, he slowly started climbing.

Each and every rung he climbed was scary, as he didn’t know whether he would pull down the entire thing. Luckily, he didn’t run into any problems. The rungs had stopped coming undone, and he managed to climb to the top. Now he just had to swing himself around to the other side and start swinging from rung to rung until he found a safe place to stand.

Sounds easy enough.