Chapter 25: A Plan of Action

The group decided that the best thing to do now is head back to the Forest Nation to come up with a plan. Jessica created another tornado so the boys can get over to the Forest safely but Toby volunteered to go for a quick swim instead. When they all arrived at the Forest, things were unusually quiet.

Toby used his strength to pull himself out of the ocean and rolled onto the side. As he began to stand up, he noticed the quiet atmosphere.

"Weird," he said looking around. "Normally there should be some Forest Gormiti by now but…"

Nick jumped out from Jessica's tornado. "You seem to be right Toby," he added. "There's no Gormiti in sight,"

Jessica floated down and landed next to the brothers. "Where do you think they have gone?" she asked the others.

Razzle jumped off Jessica's shoulder and began to scurry around just like a normal lizard would. The group watched as the lizard went up the various of different trees as well as the lanes. They never expected Razzle to go super speedy, if he was a cheetah, he'll come back straight away.

Razzle was upon to go up another tree when Lucas stopped him.

"Hold on Razzle!" he called out, racing after the lizard. "I think I may have found-"

But Razzle had vanished before Lucas could finish his sentence.

Lucas sighed. "Great. Now what?"

Nick placed a stone hand on Lucas' bark shoulder. "We'll go find the rest of the Gormiti together," he suggested with confidence. "Let's also catch up with Razzle in case he gets lost."

"Maybe we should let Razzle go on his own for a bit," added Toby. "He should know his way around-"

"BUT HE'S A LIZARD, Toby!" his younger brother cut him off angrily. "What if he DOES get lost or worse yet, captured by the Fire Gormiti?"

Toby was about to say something until Jessica interrupted him.

"All right enough!" she shouted at both brothers. "There's no need to argue about where Razzle is now!" She stretched her arms out to stop the both of them for going towards each other. But both Toby and Nick were still leaning forwards.

"Alright then…" Lucas quietly said to avoid causing anymore trouble. "We should carry on searching if we want to save Gorm and get home."

'Home?' For a moment, Nick had completely forgotten about home. Since he transformed, his mind was purely focused on saving Gorm but he ultimately realised that it had been a long time since they left Earth. Was it true that time really did past? If it was, then Mum and Dad would be worried sick of them.

Almost in a instant, Nick ran away from the group.

"Nick, wait!" cried out Toby, his voice almost sounding in despair. "I honestly didn't mean to I…" He paused a second before also running away.

"I'm sorry!"

Lucas and Jessica both heard Toby's voice as he raced after his brother. They both looked at each other in both sadness and confusion.

"Did I say something bad?" asked a worried Lucas. He rubbed his bark fists against each other.

Jessica sighed. "No," she simply said. "You didn't say anything but its's just…" She turned towards Lucas facing face to face. "Maybe it's just they needed time to get used to…being a long way from home."

"But it's our home as well Jess!" Lucas pointed out. "Maybe it could be in danger as well!"

Jessica straightened her shoulders. "You're correct," she accepted. "But we can't do it without Nick and Toby,"

Lucas looked around the Forest. He huffed at the current situation that they have but Jessica was right. There was no way that the group can save Gorm without Nick and Toby but what else can they do?

Finally, he had a solution that would solve both problems.

"Tell you what," he assured Jessica. "We'll go look for the Forest Gormiti and Razzle together." Lucas gave her a warm smile. "I'm sure Nick and Toby will come back to us soon afterwards."

Jessica felt her heart suddenly burst by this kindness from Lucas. She was starting to get worried about Nick and Toby but hopefully Lucas' suggestion might be able to serve as a distraction from all the chaos going on. She just hoped that the brother would come back soon…

Nick was standing on the edge of the Forest, looking out into the view of the sea and the sun. He had a mix of emotions running through his mind. First, the fact that he and Toby were STILL stuck in another dimension and there was NO way of getting back home which was the second problem. How would Mum and Dad react to the current situation? Surely, they wouldn't react to their son becoming a rock man as they normally would. In Nick's case, they may freak out and run away until he conceived them it was really him. And then came the third problem.

How are they going to save Gorm and Earth altogether? That was the big question. It was probably the hardest question Nick could answer. It was more harder than the recent test that he did in school which revolved around difficult numeric questions.

Before he could answer anything, his older brother walked up beside him.

"Nick!" called out Toby. "I've been looking for you!"

Nick's eyes faced his brother in surprise. "Toby, I-"

"Don't say anything before you start," Toby interrupted him. "I already know what you're going to say."

Nick sighed in sadness before saying: "It's about home. I forgot how time passes when you're in another dimension." Nick felt tears but he wouldn't cry especially as an Earth Gormiti.

Toby placed his arm around his younger brother. "I know," he replied softly. "But hey! Look at this view, we've both been on an incredible adventure so far, little bro!" He gave Nick a gentle nudge. "You have to admit that, don't you?"

"Well," Nick had to pause for a moment before he finally spoke. "This is normally different than what we usually have but…"

"But what?"

"But you're right." Nick concluded. "It has been an adventure so far but I know for a fact that we have to save both worlds as well so…"

Toby waited a couple of seconds before removing his arm from Nick's shoulder.

"So how about we go find the others before any more trouble comes?" Nick asked Toby with a smile.

Toby suddenly felt himself smiling back. That was the brother that he remember! Smart, wise, a bit of a know-it-all but overall, he was caring.

"Of course!" he exclaimed with glee. "Now let's go find the others before-"

A deafening scream suddenly boomed over the Forest of Gorm before Nick and Toby raced quickly to wherever it came from.