Desty: You can find out what happens next now:3
Chapter 9- A Narrow Escape
'Please be okay, kids! Please!' Koda thought worriedly as he searched the forest for his nieces and nephews.
As the cub walked on, he suddenly caught a whiff of something familiar. It was Cherokee's scent. The cubs had been through here!
Koda raised his head to the sky and called out. "Cherokee! Dania! Aquene! Can you hear me? Hello!"
When nobody answered, the brown bear cub decided to go deeper into the forest, but this time he'd be following the cubs's trail.
So it would only be a matter of time before Koda found them.
He just hoped they weren't getting into too much trouble..
---
"What can we do? What can we do? Sissy needs our help!" Aquene was saying as she paced back and forth.
Every few minutes, the white and brown cub would stop pacing and glanced back down at the river, where two of her sisters were holding onto a rock to avoid being carried away.
Then she would start to worry, 'What if we don't save them in time? This current is awful fast!', and she'd start pacing yet again.
Dania watched her sister pace, trying to think of a plan. What could they do? How could they get their sisters up to safety? The white and grey cub sighed. Things didn't look too good...
Then she was suddenly aware that Deni was tugging at her paw. The little cub was grunting and roaring a bit, trying to talk.
'Almost like she wants my attention..' Dania thought.
She turned to Deni. "Okay...What is it? Show me the way."
Deni nodded and raced over to a tree, where a long vine was coiled up, almost looking like a long, skinny snake. The cub climbed up the tree and pushed the vine down to Dania, shrieking excitedly.
After a moment, Dania finally got it. "Oh! We can use that to pull Cherokee and Catori to safety!" she realized.
Deni nodded happily, proud that she could help her big sister.
Dania wasted no time in grabbing the vine in her mouth. She dragged her end over to Aquene, and the younger cubs.
"Okay everybody. We're going to use this to pull Cherokee and Catori out of the river. Alright?"
Aquene agreed and the younger cubs just shook their heads.
All except for Dichali, who was saying, "Okay! Good!" over and over.
Dania walked over to the edge and called out to her sister. "Cherokee! Hold on! We're gonna throw you down a vine!"
"Okay, just hurry!" Cherokee cried, coughing as cold water washed over her head. "Please.."
Dania gave a swing of her head and throw the vine down.
Cherokee watched as the vine landed in the water nearby and floated, close within her reach.
"Hang on to me, Catori!" she cried, and the chocolate furred cub crawled onto her back, numb from the cold water.
Cherokee waited until the vine was a little closer, then she dunked her head underwater. After a few seconds, she re-emerged, the vine in her mouth.
Dania saw this and looked back at her brothers and sisters. "Okay..1..2..3...Pull!" she commanded, and all of them picked up the vine in their mouths and began to pull.
Cherokee let go of the rock as she and Catori were pulled closer to the shore. Just then, a wave of water washed over Cherokee and Catori, sweeping them further away again.
"Pull!" Dania cried, through gritted teeth as she and the others struggled to bring their sisters closer to them.
Aquene and the younger cubs grunted and growled as they pulled with all their might, but it seemed like they were fighting a losing battle. They just weren't strong enough!
---
Koda walked through the forest, still on the trail of his nephews and nieces. "Kids! Are you out there?" he called.
The cub's ears pricked up as he heard a sudden voice nearby.
"Pull harder!" That was Dania's voice!
Then he heard a scream and a cry for help. That sounded like... "Cherokee!" Koda cried.
The cub ran off in the direction the scream had come from. He cried out as he tripped over a long, sturdy branch, which had broken off a tree, undoubtedly because too much weight had been put on it.
"Stupid branch!" the cub muttered, getting back up and resuming running.
He soon found Dania, Aquene, and four of the younger cubs, each of them pulling a vine.
"Guys! Where are Cherokee and Catori?" Koda asked, noticing that the chocolate colored cub was missing.
"They're..in..the river!" Dania struggled to say as she held onto the vine.
"What?!" Koda looked down and saw his two nieces in the river, just as Dania had said. Catori was on Cherokee's back as she held onto the other end of the vine.
Koda glanced back and saw the other cubs pulling as hard as they could, but it didn't seem like it was doing much.
"Move over!" Koda cried, getting in front of Dania.
The white cub quickly stepped back, to give her uncle some room.
Koda grasped the vine in his mouth as he looked at all the cubs. "Okay..when I say pull, pull as hard as you can, okay?"
The six younger cubs nodded. "Pull!"
All the bear cubs held on tight to the vine as they pulled, backing up as Cherokee and Catori began to drift closer to the shore.
"Don't worry, Cherokee! We've got you guys!" Koda called out to the two cubs in the river.
Cherokee glanced up to see who had spoken and smiled. It was her Uncle Koda! He'd come to save her and Catori! But..how'd he known where to find them?
Cherokee did a slight double take. Who cared about that right now? What mattered right now was getting her and her sister Catori to safety!
A smile spread across Koda's muzzle as he realized how much closer his nieces had come now. Soon they'd be back on shore, safe.
"Oh no!" Aquene suddenly shouted.
Koda looked back. "What?" he asked through the vine in his mouth.
"It's the vine! Look!"
Koda looked up ahead and saw that the vine was beginning to break. Soon it would snap in half, letting the river take Cherokee and Catori with it again.
"No!" Koda cried. He looked at Dania.
"You, Aquene and the cubs stay here..I'll be right back!"
"Uncle Koda, no! We're not strong enough without you!" Aquene protested, but it was too late.
Koda had let go of the vine and run into the forest.
The six cubs' eyes grew wide as they were dragged to the edge of the shore, not as strong without their uncle.
'Uncle Koda, please hurry!' Dania thought desperately as she held tightly onto the vine..
---
"Now, where was it again?" Koda asked himself outloud.
He was back in the forest, looking for the tree branch that had tripped him before. The cub walked along, trying to hurry.
He knew that his nephews and nieces couldn't go too long without his help, and that vine wasn't gonna last much longer.
'I've got to hurry!' the cub thought as he still looked for the tree branch.
A few minutes later, Koda found it, laying where he'd left it before, when it had tripped him.
Koda picked it up in his mouth. It was long and somewhat skinny, but also very sturdy. Surely he could use this to pull in Cherokee and Catori!
Koda made sure he had a good grip on the branch, then he turned and started back to the cubs.
A few moments later, he arrived back at the river, stick still in his mouth.
Dichali looked up and saw Koda coming to them with the stick, and he groaned. "Uncle Koda..this not time play fetch!" he scolded in his broken English.
Dania looked back and also saw the stick. "Uhh..Uncle Koda, what's that stick for?"
"You'll see." Koda said. He went over to the edge of the shore and pushed the stick out as far as he could, while holding the other end in his jaws.
"Cherokee! Let go of the vine!" he said through his teeth.
"What? Uncle Koda, I can't do that! The current will get us again!" Cherokee cried.
"Let go and grab this stick!" Koda urged. "I'm gonna pull you back to safety."
Cherokee spotted the stick and nervously lunged for it. Thankfully, she caught it, and Koda began to pull her and Catori back to safety.
"Oh, and..You can drop the vine now." Koda said, seeing the other cubs still holding onto the vine.
His nephews and nieces let go and sighed with relief as they watched their sisters arrive back to shore.
"Am I ever glad that you're alright!" Koda cried, hugging both Cherokee and Catori, who was still on her big sister's back.
"Thanks for saving us, Uncle Koda." Cherokee said breathlessly.
She had barely the time to let Catori off her back, before she was tackled by Aquene.
"Sissy, you were so brave!" She complimented her older sister, covering the light furred cub with licks all over her face.
"Please don't do that again...I thought I'd never see you again, Sissy!" the white and brown cub added, choking back a sob.
Cherokee hugged her sister and smiled. "There, there..it's alright. I'm here, and I'm safe. So is Catori. Everything's going to be fine now." she said softly.
After a few minutes more of her sister's consoling, Aquene let Cherokee up.
No sooner had she gotten up then she was pounced by another cub. This time it was Catori.
"Cherokee!" she cried happily, kissing her bigger sister.
Cherokee laughed and nose kissed her little sister. "Are you okay, Catori?" she asked.
The chocolate colored cub nodded happily. "Cherokee..save..me!" she said, grinning delightedly and hugging Cherokee.
The light colored cub smiled and nuzzled Catori's cheek. "I'm glad you're okay...but please don't do anything like that again. You really scared me!"
Catori paused. Then she suddenly backed away and went back to her brothers and sisters, looking sad.
Cherokee got to her paws and looked on in confusion.
"What's wrong, you guys?" Dania asked, voicing the question that was on everybody's minds.
Dichali stepped forward. "You not want us..." he said sadly. "You try to get ridded of." he added.
Cherokee looked stunned for a moment. Then her expression softened and she smiled gently at Dichali.
"No...you have it all wrong. I want you. All of us do. Even Kodi, though he won't admit it." She pushed the cub back with her nose, knocking him on his back.
Dichali giggled, then got up and stopped laughing. "Big brother Kodi mad at us?" he asked sadly.
Cherokee glanced back at Aquene and Dania, then sighed. "Sorta...a little." she said.
Dichali and the rest of the younger cubs hung their heads sadly.
"Hey..don't be sad." Dania said. "We'll settle things with your big brother later. For now, it's time to head home."
The five younger cubs nodded in agreement, looking a little sleepy. This had been quite a day for them. They'd been on their first adventure, and had experienced the threat of real danger. They would be glad to return home, where it was safe, and there weren't fast moving currents that wanted to keep them separated.
"Let's go home." Koda said. He scooped up Dichali and Nitis on his back. Dania got Deni, and Aquene got Kitchi.
"Me Cherokee?" Catori asked hopefully.
Cherokee smiled down at her sister. "Of course. Hope on, little sister." she said, crouching down so Catori could get on her back.
Catori scrambled onto her sister's back and smiled at her yawning sleepily.
"Cherokee..me love." she said, then lay her head down and fell asleep as they started their journey home.
Cherokee smiled back at the brown cub on her back.
"I love you too, Catori."
