Chapter 2: The Accident

The next day, Barnacles left the Octopod for his vacation, waving to the Octonauts behind him. He hitched a ride on a dolphin and was carried all the way to United States, Texas.

"This will be a great adventure." Barnacles said to himself as he walked through the desert to the canyons. "Just me, all by myself, jogging around the canyon. What could go wrong?"

In fact, many things could go wrong. The canyon was filled with sharp turns and short edges. The path is loose and slippery. One wrong step, and Barnacles would be tumbling his way all the way down to the canyon floor.

"Guess I've better be careful." Barnacles said to himself, paws on his hips. "Wouldn't want to go tumbling that far."

Barnacles took out his full water bottle, took a sip, and started jogging up the canyon, taking the path. The temperature that day was 30 degrees ferenheit, it would get colder at night. Luckily, Barnacles was used to the cold, being a polar bear and all.

Barnacles was up 60 feet in the canyon, enjoying himself and his run. He turned a sharp corner, stepping on a loose plate.

"WHOA!" He cried as his foot slipped out from under him.

Barnacles grabbed onto the legde and pulled himself back up. He stood up and dusted himself off, looking down the canyon.

"Goodness," He breathed. "That would've been a nasty fall. Good thing I caught myself. I should be more careful. Wouldn't want the same mistake to happen twice."

Barnacles continued running, going farther and farther into uncharted territory. Suddenly, he stepped on another loose plate and his foot slid out from underneath him. This time, he had nothing to grab onto.

"WHOA!" He cried as he went tumbling down the canyon, desperately trying to grab onto something.

Barnacles tumbled 40 feet down the canyon. He gasped when he looked ahead of himself. The next 20 feet, was an overhang.

"No, no, no, no!" Barnacles cried, clawing at the ground to get ahold of it.

Suddenly, Barnacles went over the cliff, falling 20 feet to the ground. All the way down, Barnacles screamed at the top of his lungs, begging for a miracle. Suddenly, Barnacles landed, feet first on the rough ground. He gasped as he heard some bones cracking and laid on the ground, his eyes closed.

Barnacles laid there for two whole minutes, not moving at all. Suddenly, he gasped as he finally woke up.

"I'm alive?" He said to himself, laughing softly. "I'm alive! It's a miracle!"

Barnacles lifted his head and looked around.

"But, where am I?" He asked himself.

Barnacles reached to his side and pulled off his Octocompass. He pressed a button and a map appeared on the screen.

"Looks like I'm at the bottom of the canyon." Barnacles sighed. "Well, I've better head out. The canyons don't seem very safe anymore."

Barnacles put his Octocompass back and tried to stand up, but when the polar bear was on his feet, he fell right back down.

"Ow!" He cried. "What's happened?"

Barnacles took his paws and rubbed them against his legs. He could feel them just fine, so that was a plus. He moved his paws up to his midsection, feeling around there. He gasped when he felt some bones moving around.

"I must've shattered my pelvis." Barnacles gasped. "That's not good. I've better get back to the Octopod, fast!"

Barnacles took a deep breath and used all his strength to roll onto his stomach. If he couldn't walk, then he would crawl, dragging his body across the ground. Barnacles took his Octocompass back out and looked at it.

"Let's see," He hummed. "I was running South, so to get out of the canyon I must go North."

Barnacles nodded and put his Octocompass back. He took a deep breath and started dragging himself across the canyon floor.

"I've got to get to the Octopod," He gasped. "Before the adrenaline running through my body wears off."

Barnacles had no idea how far he actually had to travel to even get out of the canyon. Running had made him faster than he was at crawling, so it carried him at least 100,000 miles into the canyon. Dragging himself across the canyon that far, could take him at least 3 to 4 days without stopping.

"Luckily nobody is expecting me home anytime soon." Barnacles laughed.