Chapter 14:
Lost In The Storm
Out in the desert, a trail of footprints rests in the sand as the Young 5 followed them and Ocellus yelled " Yee-haw!".
" Come on, guys, Yona's caught the scent," said Gallus, he and Yona were ahead of the others as Yona starts sniffing the trackway like a bloodhound.
" Yona getting stronger scent from tracks," said Yona, still sniffing the tracks.
" Which means we're getting close to their destination," said Gallus following behind her.
" Boy, Yona sure does have a great sense of smell," said Ocellus.
" Are you kidding? Yona can even tell where something was with that nose," said Sandbar.
" Trail leads that way," said Yona pointing to where the trackway is leading them.
" Come on, guys. The sooner we find Slim, the sooner we'll bring him to justice," said Gallus leading the way.
" We're right behind you, Gallus," said Smolder as she and the others followed behind him.
Somewhere ahead of them, Silverstream was also following the trackway until she heard Ocellus's voice behind her.
" Look out, Slim!," yelled Ocellus.
" No, they can't be," said Silverstream in shock as she looked to see the group following behind her.
" The Young 5 are on your trail!" yelled Ocellus.
" Hmmm, on the trail, huh?" said Silverstream as she thought of something and tapped her foot on the sand.
Then Silverstream got an idea and a smirk appeared on her face. She then raced off running through and around the dunes really fast. Soon, Silverstream got to a hilltop and she knew that her idea will keep her competitors off her quest for a while.
" Let's see them follow Slim's trail, now. Hoo-hoo!" said Silverstream as she raced off to continue her mission.
Meanwhile, the Young 5 were still following the trail with Yona still sniffing the tracks until they got to a hilltop, Yona stopped and had an expression of shock on her face as Gallus, followed by Ocellus, Sandbar, and Smolder bumped into her.
" Yona, why'd you stop like that for?" asked Smolder in confusion.
" Uh, guys I think I know why she stopped," said Ocellus, looking ahead since she is a Giraffe-like griffon, then Ocellus pointed at what she and Yona were lookin' at.
Gallus, Smolder, and Sandbar looked ahead and gasped seeing the trackway has now become a maze of footprints.
" I don't remember our herd making that many tracks," said Sandbar recovering from his shock.
" Something tells me that your herd has nothing to do with it," said Smolder getting the feeling that something isn't right.
Yona sniffed the tracks again and then caught a familiar scent and said " Yona smell something. Smells like Hippogriff,".
At the mention of " Hippogriff ", Ocellus gasped with realization and said " Silverstream, of course. This has her name written all over it,".
" But why Silverstream make this many tracks?" asked Yona in confusion.
" She must've already known that we're going to interfere with her quests. So…," said Smolder without a doubt thinking it was her idea.
" ...She decided to mix up her tracks with these tracks to throw us off. Well, too bad Silverstream, we're not gonna let your trick stop us," said Gallus as a few raindrops began to fall down.
" Yeah, sooner or later, all these paths will hook up and then…," said Sandbar as he then noticed the rain is starting to come down.
" Huh, looks like the rains are comin' down," said Smolder seeing the rain coming down.
" Wait!? Isn't rain wet?" asked Yona with concern.
Soon, The Young 5 got a shock of realization and looked back down on the ground to see the tracks are being washed away from the rain.
" Guys, the track! They're disappearing!" said Ocellus.
" Quick! Come on, guys! We can't lose the trail!" said Gallus as they followed the remaining tracks.
" What trail, Gallus? I can't see anything!" said Smolder barely seeing any of the remaining tracks.
They continued on until a sudden lightning bolt struck a dead tree and a branch fell off.
" Look out!" yelled Sandbar.
The branch hits the ground near them as they rushed off. The rains continue pouring down and lightning flashed. Within no time, the Young 5 were up to their knees in water.
Smolder gasped and said " Everyone, it's a Flash Flood! Get to high ground!".
Smolder, Ocellus, Yona, and Sandbar quickly rushed through the water and got to a sand dune above the water.
" Wait, where's Gallus?" asked Sandbar noticing that Gallus isn't with them.
" He's there. Gallus!" yelled Ocellus.
Gallus was still in the water as if he was searching for the trackway. Smolder and the others went back to get him.
But then suddenly, a large wave rushed in washing over everything in its way. The Young 5 saw the wave comin' right towards them. They tried to run from it as the wave quickly washes over them.
The flood continues as Ocellus swims through the water.
At the surface, Smolder quickly breaks to the surface and swam around. Ocellus, Sandbar, and Gallus popped out of the water while they're clinging onto a large chest, and coughed. Smolder reaches them and joined. But then Sandbar noticed that someone else is missing.
" Yona? Yona! Where is she?!" asked Sandbar with worry.
" There she is!" yelled Ocellus as she looked ahead and found Yona.
Nearby, Yona coughed as she barely held on a wagon wheel.
" Hang on, Yona! We're comin'!" yelled Sandbar as they quickly swam over to her.
Barely conscious, Yona then slips underwater and sinks down as Smolder, Sandbar, and Ocellus quickly grabbed her and head back up and helped her up onto the chest as they swam towards a dune with a large rock.