Disclaimer: Disney owns Wildwing, Canard, and Nosedive. End of story.
Author's Note: What are you reading the author's note for? Hurry up and get to the next chapter!
Chapter 6-Finding a Way Out
Wildwing had been so busy running and jumping and trying desperately to stay alive and reach the other side of the lake, he had nearly forgotten about his little brother. But the sound that emitted across the cave just then was enough to make him stop cold-it was his baby brother calling out his name in sheer terror.
Wing whirled around and spotted his brother floating helplessly on a patch of ice as stalactite after stalactite fell into the now visible water all around him. "Nosedive!" Wing yelled, as he raced to help the stranded Dive.
Canard had been around a yard in front of Wing. He heard his friend's brother's yell too, and had managed a slippery turn to see what was going on. Unfortunately, all he could see was his best friend running in the opposite direction of where they were supposed to be going. The fallen icicles obscured his view of Nosedive and his perilous situation. "Ah, Wildwing, what are you doing?! Have you gone insane?! We're supposed to be heading in this direction!" Apparently, his friend hadn't heard him, and with a quick glance to make sure the light from across the lake was still there, Canard hurried off to catch up with Wing, amidst all the falling death traps.
Wing had just about reached Dive, when he suddenly discovered he was rapidly running out of ice to run on. "Whoa, whoa, whoa!!!" he yelled as he tried to slow himself down. He ended up sliding even faster on the ice, flying towards the freezing waters. "Ahhhh!!!" He covered his eyes and prepared for the worst. And then, he stopped. He uncovered his eyes, discovering that he had stopped no more than an inch from the ice's edge. "Oh man." He breathed his second sigh of relief of the day. Then, he heard Canard screaming behind him. Wing turned and now beheld his best friend sliding towards him. "No Canard, no!" shouted Wing, "Stop!" He tried to stand up and get closer to Canard. "Stop!!!"
The two rammed into one another and began to skid once more across the ice. They flew for a few seconds, until they ended up right back at the water's edge. They both cautiously peered in front of them.
"Well, at least nobody fell into the water," said Canard.
The two heard another sliding sound and looked to see the flashlight come sliding towards the water. Wildwing jumped and caught it just before it hit the water's surface. He handed it back to his friend.
"You were saying, Canard?"
"Well, almost nobody."
Nosedive had been watching this entire charade the whole time. He had become so fixated on the two ducks across the water, he had forgotten about his own predicament. The stalactites seemed to have stopped falling for now. For a few split seconds, the cave was completely silent once more.
"Uh, hello?" called the seven-year-old, "Have you guys forgotten something? I'm still floating out here!" He frantically waved his arms in the air.
Wing turned around to face his sibling. "Oh, sorry Dive!"
Nosedive grunted at him and crossed his arms. "Well, it's about time you guys noticed me!"
"We noticed you before," remarked Canard, "Didn't you see us coming to save you?"
"Save me? It looked more like you two were doing a ballerina dance on your butts than trying to come to my rescue!" snapped Dive.
"Yeah, well if you paid more attention to what was going on around you, maybe you wouldn't get stuck in situations like this!"
"Hey, it was your idea to go down that stupid hole in the first place!"
"How was I supposed to know you'd lead us all into this ice cave? Besides, it was you who lost the puck to begin with!"
"Yeah, well-"
"Enough!!!!" screamed Wing. His voice was so loud it nearly shook the entire cave.
"Geez, Wing. You wanna' cause another collapse of the falling ice needles?"
"No, I just want you two to stop shouting at one another. It's not doing anyone any good. Besides, arguing isn't going to get Dive off of that ice patch, and it sure isn't going to get us any closer to home. Now both of you," and he turned to stare at Dive now, "quit it!"
Such an assertive speech from Wing made both ducks shut up. Neither one of them had seen him in such an irritated mood.
"Now Canard, help me try and figure a way to get Dive to our side of the lake safely."
"Well, we could see if he could jump it."
"Are you kidding me? I'm not even sure if we could jump across such a gap, and you're asking my little brother to try? No way."
"It was just a suggestion."
Wildwing looked back at his now whimpering sibling and desperately tried to think of a plan. "Don't worry Dive. We'll get you off of that thing."
"Oh, don't you worry about me. I'm just shakin' my tail feathers off here," replied Dive.
Just then, another slight cracking filled the air. Wildwing looked up to see the last stalactite starting to come loose. It was pointed just above the edge of the ice patch, on the opposite end of where Dive was standing. A plan quickly formed in Wing's head. "Dive! When I yell now, start running towards us as fast as you can!"
"What?! Are you crazy?!" screamed Dive, "I can't jump this!"
"Are you nuts Wildwing? Even I have to admit that the shrimp could never make a jump like that!" yelled Canard.
"Don't worry. Just trust me on this one Dive!"
"All right Wing."
After that, everything began to occur in almost slow motion. The stalactite finally cracked and fell. Wildwing watched as it tumbled down through the icy air. Then, just as it hit the edge of the ice patch, he yelled, "Now!!"
Nosedive, fully trusting his brother, took off at a dead run. The weight of the icicle caused one end of the ice patch to dip drastically in the water, springing the other end up into the air. At that moment, all Wing and Canard could do was watch as Nosedive was slingshot up into the air and sent sailing across the cave. They quickly took off after him.
Once again, Dive was getting to experience the feeling of flight. At first, he was quite scared. Then, he began to enjoy it. "Look, I'm flying! I'm flying! I'm…oh no!!!" He realized that the cave wall was fast approaching. "This is gonna' hurt!" He smacked into the wall and then fell a few feet until he hit the ground again.
"Nosedive! Nosedive!" Wing and Canard came rushing up to him. "Are you ok, lil' bro'?"
"Oh, I think so."
"Nothing's broken right?"
"No, I don't feel anything."
"Good," said Canard, "'Cause now we can start climbing."
"Climbing?" asked the brothers in unison.
"Yeah, because that light we saw in the beginning is right above our heads, up this slope here."
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Author's Note: Only one more chapter to go! I hope you enjoy it and may GOD continue to bless each and every day for you.
