Disclaimer: I do not own the characters of Wings of Fire or the story of Home on the Range, only how the story goes. The characters of Wings of Fire belongs to Tui T. Sutherland and Home on the Range belongs to Disney. I apologize for any errors in grammar and/or if I was not accurate in reference to something.
A/N: And here we get back to our three girls and Spirit. I don't know how long I'll make this chapter, but we'll see. And I'm so happy that we've made it to the halfway mark of the story.
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Chapter Eight: A Nasty Turn of Events
The dark clouds were just starting to roll in over the desert where the three dragonesses were searching. But they didn't take notice as they ran through the dusty terrain. They had spent most of the day following after the trail after the stolen dragon herd. While Tsunami was taking the lead, Kinkajou and Kestrel were following close behind her. Kinkajou seemed to be having fun as she shouted, "Yee-haw!"
"Come on now, girls!" Tsunami shouted from up ahead. Tsunami had her nose to the ground and commented while sniffing, "Either I'm getting really good at this or his scent is getting a lot stronger."
"Go get him, Tsunami." Kinkajou encouraged as she and Kestrel caught up to the Seawing. They continued following after the trail of tracks across the dusty hills. From up ahead, Spirit had slowed down after so much running. But he gasped when he heard a voice shout from behind, "Look out, Slim."
"No. It can't be them." Spirit said when he looked back. He ended up groaning when he could see the three dragonesses making their way down the same trail he was. They had just come over one when Kinkajou shouted, "We're on your trail!"
"Hmm." Spirit started to think. He looked down at the track and got an idea. With a sly grin, he started zooming across the desert in many directions. After doing so much running, the stallion finally stopped and took a quickly look at his handiwork before following the real trail with a laugh, "Hoo hoo!"
From behind, Tsunami, Kinkajou and Kestrel came running up the hill. But when they made it to the top, their jaws dropped from what they were seeing. A multitude of tracks ran all over the place. Kinkajou looked about and said, "Oops."
"This has that Spirit written all over it." Kestrel glared as she guessed the only one capable of doing something like this. Thunder boomed overhead and the wind started to blow as Tsunami looked over the messed-up trail, "We're not gonna let some dumb old trick stop us. Sooner or later, all of these paths will hook up and then we'll-"
She stopped as it started to rain pretty heavily and looked up to the sky with worry. They looked back down at the trail and saw the rain water starting to wipe it away. Kinkajou shook her head, "Oh, no, the tracks!"
"Hurry up, girls. We can't lose the trail now." Tsunami urged and they moved forward. But the trail disappeared and Kestrel looked about as she questioned, "What trail? I can't see anything anymore."
But she moved to keep up with the two younger dragonesses. They came onto a hill with a dead tree just as the water began to rise. Another clap of thunder boomed overhead and bolt of lightning struck the tree. Kinkajou looked up and shouted, "Look out!"
They jumped out of the way when the burnt limb came crashing down. They ran down the hill just as the water really started to rise. Kestrel warned the other two, "Flash flood! Get to higher ground!"
Her and Kinkajou started to move towards another hill as the weather turned much more fouler around them. Kestrel and Kinkajou made it to the top of the hill when they noticed that they were missing someone. Kinkajou saw the Seawing not too far out and shouted, "Tsunami!"
But Tsunami's thought's were on finding the lost trail as she looked about the high water. It ticked Kestrel off and she growled, "Oh!
"Come on!" She gestured to Kinkajou. Both dragonesses went back down to get Tsunami out of there. But when they reached the bottom, a huge wave came right at them and they all started screaming. They started to run but ended up getting knocked over by the wave. Kestrel and Kinkajou were the first two to break through the surface and coughed and spluttered from being under. They looked around and Kinkajou asked, "Where's Tsunami?!"
Kestrel took a deep breath before ducking down under the water again. She looked about before seeing a sunken wagon. The wagon started shaking and she saw a tail thrashing about while a glow came from underneath it. Kestrel rose her head out of the water and said, "She's stuck under a wagon! Come and help me get her out!"
They both took a deep breath before diving down. The two non-sea dragonesses made their way down to the sunken wagon and the struggling Seawing. Tsunami was trying to pull herself out but couldn't because she was stuck. She looked up to see Kestrel and Kinkajou making their way down to her and they moved to both sides of the wagon. With the strength that they could muster, they were able to lift the wagon enough to allow Tsunami to slip out. When they were sure that she was free, all three dragonesses quickly made their way for the surface. When they broke through the surface, they saw a hill top that managed to stand above the flood waters. On top of the hill was a rocky outcrop that could shield them from the rain. But when her talons touched the wet sand, Tsunami turned around and said, "Come on, let's get back to looking girls. We can't give up!"
"Tsunami, stop it!" Kinkajou said as she grabbed the Seawing by the tail and pulled to keep her from going back in. Even Kestrel helped out by moving in front of the Seawing and started pushing her back with her talons. Tsunami glared at the Skywing while Kestrel then said, "That's enough, Tsunami." She walked around the Seawing and glanced up to the gloomy skies, "The minute that this deluge lets up we're heading back straight home to Patch of Heaven."
"But what about catching Slim and collecting the reward?" Tsunami asked, thinking that was the reason that they were all in this together. Kestrel shook her head, "We never had a prayer of catching Slim in the first place.
"This whole ridiculous plan is just so you can get your revenge on those cattle rustlers." Her words made Tsunami glare at her. She marched up to the Skywing and said, "Hey! For your information, queen of the smoke breathers this whole ridiculous plan is about us saving our farm."
"Hmm." Kestrel shrugged as if it were that simple. But she spoke her mind by saying, "Our farm might've had a fighting chance," She got in Tsunami's face when she said, "until you came along."
"And just what is that supposed to mean?" Tsunami asked, feeling insulted from the accusation. Kestrel huffed and complained, "Strutting around with your vulgar show-dragon behavior."
"Hey, I was just having-" Tsunami started to defend herself. But she was cut off when Kestrel kept going, "Wasting our time on your foolish plans.
"Through the years, Patch of Heaven has survived every hardship that nature can dish out at us." The old Skywing glared. Pointing a talon at the Seawing she said, "But you, Tsunami are the biggest catastrophe that has ever hit our farm."
"Well, if that's the way you feel about it maybe we should just go our separate ways from here on out." Tsunami said with a glare and turned away. Kinkajou gasped from the thought while Kestrel seemed to like it. She glanced back to Tsunami and said, "Now, that's the first good idea you've ever had since I met you."
"Fine!" Tsunami shot back.
"Fine!" Kestrel snapped with a growl.
"Fine!" They kept shouting at each other while Kinkajou watched with a mixture of sadness. Kestrel ended it with one more, "Fine."
Then with a huff she laid down facing away from Tsunami. Kinkajou looked from Kestrel to Tsunami to see what she would do. Tsunami did the same, and her face fell in sadness when she added a quieter, "Yeah, fine.
"It's not like your farm was going to feel like home to me anyway." She said and laid her head down. The three dragonesses hunkered down while the rain continued to pour over their heads.
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Over at the Patch of Heaven, the rain was coming down just as hard over the farm. From inside the house, Pearl was busy packing up her things when she had stopped to look at the rain. She was hoping that her three girls were doing all right, but knew she had to get back to work. She walked over to the fireplace and removed a picture. Pearl knelt down next to a bag, looked at the picture and thought of the memory of the family a good while before Tsunami joined up…
Bonnie Raitt: Rain is pourin' down
Like the heavens are hurtin'
But Pear's smile dropped when she thought about how these memories are over and how new ones may never be made again. With a sigh she placed the picture into the bag…
Bonnie Raitt: Seems like it's been dark since the devil knows when
How do you go on never knowing for certain
Pearl grabbed some more pictures and looked to see that it was when Kinkajou was just a baby. She smiled from the memory and looked through more of the memories. There was the time where Kestrel had received her hat and Kinkajou stood next to her and looked so happy and it made Pearl smile even more.
Bonnie Raitt: Feels like it's been years since it started to thunder
Clouds are campin' out in the valley and glen
Pearl walked out to the barn with a lantern in hand. When she made it inside, the placed the lantern on a hook and looked about the building. She was surprised when a good number of her animals came up to her. They were mostly there to keep her company in these dark times. Pearl smiled as she leaned down and patted Porky on the head. When she started to leave, the animals stayed as they looked to the empty stalls and wondered when the girls would be back. With a sigh they all turned to make their way out of the barn. The five chicks that had come to love Kestrel walked up to an old hat and nestled down next to it.
Bonnie Raitt: Will the sun ever shine again
What if the rain keeps fallin'?
Over in town, the three cowboys that had met up with Rico finished telling him what had happened. They also told him that Spirit had run off into the blue. The sheriff thanked them and became very sad about what happened with his favorite horse. He shook his head as he lifted his hat and wiped his brow. From where he was sitting, Buck could only look down at the old games of tic-tac-toe in sadness.
Bonnie Raitt: What if the sky stays gray?
What if the winds keep squallin'
Buck looked up to see the sheriff place a hand on Spirit's old saddle and they both were worried that Spirit was out there by himself. Tears filled Buck's eyes as he thought that he would never see his friend again.
Bonnie Raitt: And never go away
Maybe soon the storm will be tired of blowin'
Speaking of Spirit, the horse was currently traveling through the country side. He too had lost the trail due to the storm. And because of the down pouring whether, he felt lost and cold and wet.
Bonnie Raitt: Maybe soon it all will be over, amen
How do you go on if there's no way of knowin'?
He came upon a tree and it had a wanted poster of Alameda Slim. A flash of lightning and it made it look like the poster was laughing at Spirit. Spirit glared at the poster before rushing past the tree and continuing where he believed the rustler had gone.
Bonnie Raitt:Will the sun ever shine?
Wish I could say
Spirit had to be careful as he started sliding down a muddy slope. When he came to the bottom of the hill, he ran through a river and neighed as he kept going. He didn't know it, but he had actually gone in a bit of a circle when he unknowingly went past the three dragonesses who were still huddled underneath a rock formation.
Bonnie Raitt: Send me a sign
One little ray
From their spot, Tsunami raised her head and looked over to Kinkajou and Kestrel. Then she glanced out into the rain to see if there was anything out there.
Bonnie Raitt: Lord, if you're listenin'
How long until then?
Tsunami sighed as she thought about all that recently happened. And no matter what anyone said, she was actually going to feel bad for Pearl and all those in Patch of Heaven.
Bonnie Raitt: Will the sun ever shine
Again?
She laid her head down and tried to get some sleep as the rain kept pouring. However, the girls were completely unaware of something rowing its way over to their hill.
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Author's Note: And I'll end the chapter here. I wanted to end it on a bit of an ominous note, but don't worry, nothing scary or anything like that. I look forward to reading your reviews. Be sure to leave a comment either about if I've done something wrong or if you want something specifically to happen. See you next time.