Bluey and Bingo held each other tightly as they were tossed and turned by winds and currents. They never stopped screaming as they went whichever way they were taken. There was no way of knowing where they were, their eyes shut tight, the light too bright for them to see anyway. But if they could, they would have seen a wonder like galaxies of stars passing by impossible speeds, lights and currents of rainbow color swirling around them. Winds of starlight dust gusting and whisking in every which way it. They could hear nothing but the celestial singing of the light, and the powerful whooshing of the winds that directed them to their fate.
Suddenly it all came to an end. Bluey hugged Bingo tightly to protect her. Both girls tumbled several times across soft mossy ground and finally came to a stop amongst birdsongs, flying insects, cool; comforting weather, and a mumbling brook. The sun shown brightly through the treetops and down on the two sisters. They had not let go of each other even though they had stopped moving and remained unharmed.
Bluey, finally gathering her courage, opened her eyes and wearily peaked at her surroundings. It was the second most astonishing thing she had seen yet. This was almost beyond the wonder of the cave. It was a meadow of many colors and creatures. Creatures she had never seen before. They were more graceful than the kangaroo, more wondrous than the fruit bat, and much stranger than the platypus.
The land itself was colorful and wonderous, the moss greener than any she'd seen, trees of yellow and green and orange. The barks were grey and brown. The colors of the fauna contrasted the flora as if they wanted to tell the world about the harmony they shared. Bluey could not believe her eyes. Not even the creek had been this beautiful.
She shook Bingo, wanting her to see this. "Bingo. Bingo, wake up! Bingo, look! We're safe!"
Bingo picked her head up and looked at Bluey then at everything around her. While she was in tears at first, she found no more reason to cry as awe took over her. "Woooow!"
Bluey and Bingo stood on their feet together still lost in the wonder as they examined leaf from log, deer from squirl and woods from wildlife.
"What is this place?" Bluey asked. Even if there was no way to get an answer.
Bingo took a few steps forward and placed her hand on a rock, but it suddenly moved. She and Bluey squealed and jumped back. Bluey shielded her and watched the rock hop like a toad. Now that they had a good look at it, they realized it was a toad. But like a rock. A rock toad!
The toad eyed them and let out a deep and loud croak. The girls giggled. It wasn't going to hurt them. The toad continued to find a new home. These rude girls weren't going to give him any peace.
Bingo continued to look around and she saw what looked like a bed of flowers sitting on a mossy root suddenly hop up and spin their petals to fly away. Bingo watched them remembering the walking leaf she had seen a year ago. She wondered if these flours were just like the leaf. Or perhaps the leaf was from this wonderful place. "Look at the flowers."
Bluey watched the flowers fly away and then above them a flight of birds of many colors flying overhead. "Whoa!"
"If only mum and dad could see this," Bingo said subconsciously.
"Mum and dad?" Bluey snapped out of her stupor. "Where's everyone else?" Bluey looked around then cupped her hands near her muzzle. "Mackenzie!"
"Snickers!"
"Rusty! Jack!"
"Honey! Coco!"
"Chloe! Indy, are you there!?" The girls started to trek through the forest, yelling for their friend's names.
"Help! Bluey? Bingo? Is that you?" The girls jumped and found a pair of little legs wiggling on a long body.
"Snickers!" Bluey and Bingo ran to his aid and helped him back on his feet.
"Whew! Thanks! I thought I was gonna be stuck there forever! If not ages…" Snickers shuttered at the thought. "Did you girls go into the portal?"
"We had to. Everyone else was sucked in and… I didn't want to lose any of you," Bluey rubbed her arm and looked at the ground. She shot an apologetic glance Bingo's way as well. But Bingo was proud of Bluey's decision and made sure she knew it by touching her hand and smiling.
"What about everyone else? Did you see them?"
Bluey shook her head. "No. We haven't seen anyone except you."
"We just got here," explained Bingo. "Everyone went in at different times."
"Well, if you found me, they must be nearby." Snickers pondered as he looked around. "I guess we can start that way."
Bluey looked at the direction he pointed and shrugged. "It's as good as any way, I guess."
"Hello? Anyone?" asked a voice.
"Chloe!" Bluey exclaimed than to the ridge where she heard the voice. She peered down it and, surely enough, found a familiar dalmation. "Chloe, here!"
"Bluey!?" Chloe looked around. Bluey, Bingo, and Snickers all go ther attention excitedly. "Bluey! Bingo! Snickers, you're alright! Thank goodness!" Chloe let out a huge sigh of relief. "Hang on, I'll find a way up."
Snickers shook his head and looked around. "No, it'll be easier if we just go down!" He saw a slope that was steep, but safe to descend. "There. We're coming down!"
"Okay!" Chloe ran to the slope to meet them. It was only ten feet at most. Not far to slide.
"I'll jump first to make sure it's safe," Bluey said as she stopped them. She looked for the safest way down.
"Be careful, Bluey!" Chloe crossed her arms nervously and hugged herself. She watched anxiously as Bluey was choosing the best way to get down.
"Okay," Bluey saw a possibly safe route and decided to run with it. "I'm going to go this way in three… two… uh… one…" She reared back ready to jump and everyone waited in anticipation. But she didn't do it.
"Bluey… are you… going to jump?" Snickers asked awkwardly.
"Soos soos soos! Don't rush me…!" Bluey said as she wiggled her hand at him. "Um… You know…? maybe we can find a safer way down?" She smiled and shrugged nervously.
"But we could look around for ages. It doesn't look that bad… does it?" Chloe asked. She didn't want them to leave her alone. She wanted them safe, but safe or not, she hoped they'd just make it down the slope.
"Maybe I should go first," Snickers advised, coming to the edge, his little tail wagging in excitement.
"Maybe… maybe you should," Bluey said as she took a few steps back.
Snickers took a deep breath. "Okay. On three. One…two… three!" Snickers jumped and slid down. "Whoa! Oomf!" He landed on his feet then fell forward on his stomach.
"Snickers!" Chloe came to his side and helped him up. "Are you okay?"
"I'm alright," Snickers smiled and he brushed himself off. "It was kind of fun until I fell over. Okay, Bluey and Bingo! Your turn!"
Bluey looked at the slope and slouched. Her ears drooped back, her tail tucked, and she let out a high pitched, "Oh…" She backed up. "I can't do it!"
"It can't be that hard," Bingo said as she looked at the slope. "It did look fun. I'll try."
"Bingo don't!" But it was too late.
"Wee!" Bingo slid down the slope and laughed then landed into Chloe who caught her. "That was fun!"
Bluey whined then shook her head. Her ears and tail fixed themselves and she readied her nerves. "Okay. I can do this. Okay… I'm trying again… One… two…" she took another deep breath. "Three!" She jumped and slid down the slope then landed into Snickers and Chloe who helped her stand. "I… I did it!"
"Way to go, Bluey!" Snickers cheered.
"That did look fun!" Chloe smiled. Chloe and Bluey hugged tightly as if they hadn't seen each other in year.
"Yeah," Bluey looked over her shoulder at the slope. "It kind of was… I'd even do it again!"
"Maybe they'll be more slopes," Snickers shrugged.
"Well, those can wait. Let's find everyone first."
"Which way should be go?" asked Chloe.
Bluey hummed. "Well… which way did you come from?"
"That way." Chloe pointed. In the opposite direction they planned to go initially.
"Then we'll go that way," Bluey shrugged. "Come on, we'll find everyone, I'm sure!" Bluey skipped along, her friends following behind, then helped Bingo to her back again as they went in search of their friends.
Rusty filled his canteen up and then put two iodine tablets inside of the canteen and closed the canteen partway. He flipped it upside down and let the water look out a bit after a few shakes.
"Water, check."
He then pulled out his compass and attempted to find the north. After a little bit of time, he closed the compass and pointed at the direction the compass seemed to be pointing.
"That's north. Check."
Rusty shook his canteen and fixed the backpack on his back by tightening the straps. "Okay, the best thing we can do is pick a direction and walk in a straight line."
"Shouldn't we call for help? Or try to yell for the others?" Indy asked as she tied a bundle of sticks together with Jack.
"That's no good," Rusty shook his head. "You can attract all kinds of attention. Rasing your voice a little is good so you don't startle bears. As long as you don't invade their territory, they won't go after you. They won't mind you if you don't startle them too."
"Okay… so we can just yell a teensy bit?" Indy asked, bringing her pointer and thumb together.
Rocky nodded and handed her the canteen. "Yeah, only that much though. And we don't know where we are. Nothing looks like the map I've got. I don't even think we're in the park anymore."
"Do you think were in another dimension, Rusty?" Jack asked as he finished tying his side of the stick bundle. Indy handed him the canteen and he took his turn drinking from it and returned it to Rusty.
"You'd know more about that than I would, Jack," Rusty scratched his head. "We should try and find Mackenzie first."
"Why Mackenzie?" Indy asked curiously, "Does it really matter who we find first?"
"Anyone is good," Rusty replied, "But Mackenzie has survival knowledge. He knows how to make a fire with a stick, and I forgot my flint and steal at home."
"Do you think everyone found each other already?" asked Indy.
Rusty wasn't sure what to think. He just knew he had a responsibility to keep Jack and Indy safe for now. "I don't know. We have to take care of ourselves now. Focus on survival, than we can find everyone else. Jack, can you carry the wood? If we can start a fire on our own, we'll try. But we'll need that wood to do it."
"You can count on me," Jack saluted. He picked the wood up by the makeshift strap he and Indy worked on then wrapped it around his body and helped Indy to her feet.
"We'll follow you, Rusty. Just tell us what to do."
"We'll go north," Rusty reasoned, "It'll be the easiest direction to follow. Come on."
He started walking ahead and Jack and Indy followed shortly. Indy gripped her glowing crystal and held it to her heart then prayed a short prayer for good luck enough to find their friends. She felt the stone warm then cool. She wasn't sure if it was her mind, or if what she felt was real, but she did believe the stone heard her. Likewise, Rusty fiddled and rubbed the stone in his pocket in hopes that the luck Indy claimed it had would steer him right. But only time would tell.
Mackenzie shot forward and tumbled a few times. He groaned and slowly tried to pick himself up. He could hear voices, muttering; people's steps going left and right. The sounds of distant music. He looked up and saw a fence in front of him. One that was all too familiar. He looked back where he had sprang out from and saw a familiar colorful slide. He sat up fast. The ground was forest, just dead leaves, sticks and twigs, but the fence and the walls and the faded world around him looked like the mall in Brisbane.
"No no no!" He gripped his head. You don't have to come back here anymore. You don't have to come back to this place anymore! He tried to stop it. It all felt so real, but he knew it was just a nightmare. He hoped it was just a nightmare. You don't! You don't! You don't have to come back anymore!
"Mom? Mom!" Mackenzie looked up and saw himself. A small Collie that had just went down the slide. He watched as the little child kept asking for his mother. "Mom?" He crawled back until he was against the fence and watched the event unfold. "Mom! Mom, where are you!?" the child ran off and started to search for her. He stood up and watched as the child frantically looked everywhere but she wasn't there. Calypso didn't find him this time, his mother didn't call back. He closed his eyes again.
"I don't have to come back to this place anymore. I know what's here. She didn't leave. She didn't leave!"
"Mackenzie!" Mackenzie opened his eyes with a gasp. The little toddler he once was turned around. Mackenzie turned and there… waving at him, was his mother. He took a deep breath. "Mackenzie! Over here!"
Mackenzie watched himself run to her and he sighed in relief. "She was right there… I just got a little mixed up… that's all…"
"Mackenzie! Mackenzie!"
"I was just a little mixed up."
Suddenly, Mackenzie felt a hand pat his cheek, "Mackenzie!" Mackenzie's eyes fluttered open. Coco was resting him on her lap and holding him close, trying to wake him. "Mackenzie, please wake up!"
Honey sighed in relief as Mackenzie shot up and looked around. "What? How long… Where are we?" Mackenzie recognized the forest around him a little from his dream. But there was no fence, no playset, no slide. It was just a forest.
"We don't know," Honey responded and sat next to him. "We heard you drop, and we came to look and it was you!"
"Are you okay?" Coco asked, scooting closer. You didn't wake up when I called you. I was so worried!"
Mackenzie rubbed his head. "I'm fine. Thanks for helping me… Where's everyone else?"
Coco and Honey shook their heads. "We don't know. We got separated."
"Like in our game! Except in real life!" Coco added. "Honey and I accidentally ran into each other."
"Then we heard you! We thought maybe you knew."
Mackenzie didn't say a word. He processed everything. His dream, the world around them, and the strange situation they seemed to have developed.
"Mackenzie, what do we do?"
The words echoed into his head but in another voice. What do I do? Mom! Where are you? Mackenzie sucked sharply and cleared his mind again. When he felt collected, he stood to his feet and dusted himself off. "We'll be okay. First, just calm down. Take deep breaths." Mackenzie took a deep breath then let it out. "Like this, see?" Honey and Coco did as he said, and they all took deep breaths together. "Okay… We're going this way. The moss is pointing this way so that means its north. Rusty and Jack will know to go north too. Hopefully we'll find them then."
What if we don't," asked Honey.
Mackenzie didn't answer. Not right away. He had to think about their next move, but he didn't have a solid plan in place. "I… We'll decide when we get there. For now, let's go this way."
"Okay," the girls replied unanimously.
Mackenzie led the way while the girls followed. He wasn't sure his plan would work. But it was a plan, and it was better than no plan at all.
Bluey and her company had been walking for what seemed like hours. The wonder they had seeing the world around them faded, and it was easily ignored as needs arised. They hadn't eaten since breakfast, they were tired from all their walking, and they weren't even sure how they'd get to sleep without a tent. It wasn't how they hoped their camping trip would go.
Bingo took deep breaths even to say the smallest of sentences, "Do you think…we're getting any closer… to finding… anyone?"
"I don't know," Bluey groveled. "My feet hurt. We should rest."
"Yeah, my feet hurt too," Chloe agreed, sitting on a nearby rock.
"My whole body hurts!" Snickers complained. He sat down and immediately toppled over. He didn't even mind since he was too tired to move again.
The children laid down to rest and catch their breath. Chloe sat up from her stone to lay down with them, but she heard something move behind her. She turned to investigate but didn't see anything.
"We should just stay here for the night. The moss is so soft." Bluey began to settle into the moss and drift off to sleep.
"Yeah, and warm," Snickers added.
Bingo settled into it and sighed in relief. "And very cozy."
Chloe sat down on it and smiled as she felt all those things too. But something else didn't feel right. She looked around and scanned the area. She had a bad feeling she couldn't shake. But when she couldn't find anything to support her concern, she laid down and closed her eyes.
Nearby, a creature lurked. It had its eyes on them for some time. It had watched them slide down the slope. And stalked them until they were too tired, too unaware to see it coming. Now was its time. The small piglet-like creature was just equal in size as them. It snuck on all fours, a sharpened stone knife in its mouth as it moved, careful not to disturb the nature around them and alert the children it stalked.
The children were relaxed and ignorant of the danger sneaking close. Snickers stirred and dug into his back. The creature ducked to hide behind uneven ground, but it realized it had nothing to worry about as he dug a stick out from underneath him and discarded it. The creature approached closer. It was near Chloe now. It took its knife in hand and smacked its lips as it prepared to strike. The knife shaded the sun from Chloe's eyes, making her open instinctively and see the creature winding up to strike her.
"AAAAH!" She screamed at the top of her lungs. The scream was so high pitched that it hurt the sensitive ears of the piglet. She reared her legs back and kicked with both sending the creature flying back into the brush.
Bluey, Snickers, and Bingo shot up and tried to see what she was screaming about only to see the sizable gremlin fly back into the brush.
"Ah! What is that?!" Bluey screamed as she crawled back.
"It's a monster!" Bingo pointed and ran to Bluey.
They all stood up. "It tried to kill me!" Chloe cried.
Snickers heard the thing whimper and saw the brush move. "It's coming back! Run!"
They turned around and ran as fast as they could! The creature hobbled pitifully out of the brush to try and reach them before they could run but they were already so far away. It screeched and chased them down.
Snickers was falling behind again. The girls didn't notice because they were so scared. He looked back and saw the creature gaining then tripped on a stick. "Guys! Help!" Bluey, Bingo, and Chloe turned around.
"Oh, not again!" Chloe cried out and ran to help him.
Bingo looked at the creature and glared with determination. She picked up a rock and threw it. It landed just right. The creature yelped and rolled on the ground then recovered. Just in time, Chloe and Snicker caught up and they began running again.
"Hurry! Down that slope!" Bluey shouted, seeing a drop in front of them. They didn't have time to second guess it. They jumped over and slid down the steep decline. The creature didn't hesitate either. It jumped at magnificent distance and slid down a skinny tree then began sliding down the slope with them. They reached the bottom, rolling around in the leaves and moss. Animals began to run away from them and the commotion they caused. The creature was gaining too quickly. They ran as fast as they could, but it didn't matter much for Snickers. His stubby legs didn't get him far.
"It's gonna get me!" Snickers screamed. "Somebody help!"
They tried throwing rocks at it again, but it was prepared. The creature slowed down but dodged every rock and even managed to catch on and throw it back at Chloe. Chloe ducked and backed away as the rock flew past her at a dangerous speed. She tripped over a log and started to crawl back. The creature was clearly running after her now.
It jumped up from the log, bounced higher from tree to tree and pounced at her. She screamed and covered herself, helpless to stop it.
Bluey cried and ran to her, unsure of what she could do, but she was too scared for her to consider her own helplessness. "CHLOE!"
Suddenly, right before it could touch her, an arrow passed through it and it turned into black dust. The arrow, with red father's and shaft stuck into the log she tripped on and the black dust blew into the wind, some landed on top of Chloe. With the sudden silence, Chloe dared to look and realized it was all clear.
Bluey fell to the ground and hugged her in sobs. "Chloe! Chloe I'm so sorry! I'm so sorry! I couldn't stop it!"
"Bluey?" Chloe hugged her back.
"I'm so glad you're okay," Bluey sobbed and hugged her so tightly she was begging to run out of air.
"Bluey! I'm okay!" She grunted. "What happened?"
"Look," Bingo pointed at red cloaked figure running towards them. It slid next to them on its knees and a feminine voice spoke to them as the hood was thrown off its head.
"Are you alright?" asked the stranger. She was a dog like them. A corgi, but maybe only a few inches taller than them, Equal to Snicker's height. She might have had him by an inch, but it was hard to tell from them sitting down.
"I'm okay," Chloe replied, sniffling and wiping her face clean. "But my ankle hurts."
The stranger checked her foot. "Ah. It looks fine. Just a bit swollen. Here, I have something that'll help." She dug into a satchel and hummed an indiscriminate tune until she found what she wanted. "Here we are! Healing potion. Good for minor wounds like this. Go on, have a swig now."
Chloe took it and eyed it oddly. It was a small red bottle. She sniffed it, but it didn't smell at all like anything she could discern. She drank the small bit of liquid down and winced then coughed.
"Ah, the… first drink is always the worst," The stranger explained, "But it's an acquired taste. Get hurt enough and… you won't mind it so much. Hope that day never comes. But your all better now, see?"
Chloe did feel a slight warm and tingly feeling in her ankle. She looked down and moved her foot left and right then in a circle and smiled. "It feels great! It doesn't hurt anymore!"
"Really?" Snickers asked in disbelief. "Then it was a real healing potion!"
"Of course, is was a real healing potion," Laughed the corgi, "You didn't think I'll give you a fake one did you?" She shook her head and rolled her eyes but her face changed suddenly.
"What wrong?" Bluey asked, confused at her sudden change in demeanor.
Bingo looked at herself and the others. "Do we look funny?"
The Corgi shook her head. "No, not at all… you all look well, I just… why are you in the Cascade Forest? Especially here down south. Monsters like that Greedlin are very common out here the Brown Glades."
"Monsters?" Snickers echoed, "Did she say monsters?"
"Oh yes, monsters," She nodded, "There are lots of different kinds, but Greedlins are among the weakest of the bunch. You're lucky. Had it been anything else, I might not have reached you in time. But you all seem like fast runners. Still makes me wonder how you got here."
"We went through a scary portal," replied Bingo.
"A portal? What portal?" the stranger asked. "There are a lot of different kinds."
"It sucked us up," Snickers explained, "We were exploring a cave with glowing mushrooms and Mackenzie found a stone shrine thing!"
"Stone shrine thing?" Echoed the stranger. She placed a thoughtful hand on her chin. "Go on."
Bluey continued the explanation. "We were supposed to go watch the eclipse together."
"Eclipse?"
"We were playing a game when Bingo found a cave. We found a stone thingy and when the eclipse happened it rose up from the ground and sucked us all into it. Then we appeared here."
"Hmm," The stranger rubbed her chin. "Glowing mushrooms… That dosnt' narrow it down by much. All the caves have those."
"They do?" Asked Chloe.
"Mm hmm," The stranger nodded. "You mentioned a Mackenzie… was he with you when you were running from the Greedlin?"
Bluey shook her head. "No… We got separated."
Bingo brought her hands up and made a gap. "We had this many with us." She then widened them a bit passed the lengs of her waist. "But we had this many before we were sucked in."
"Hmm," The stranger nodded as if she understood what that meant. "That's odd. Portals usually have one entrance and one exit. Sometimes they work both ways but this sounds like a one way poertal. But how did it have so many exits?"
"We're looking for all our friends." Snickers played with his hands nervously. "Can you… help us?"
The stranger hummed and dug into her satchel. "I might have just the thing for that. Oh dear, don't tell me I left it at home." She dug into her satchel then stuck her whole arm inside. The satchel wasn't nearly large enough for her whole arm to fit. Which made the whole scene even more befuddling but impressive to her child audience. "Ah, is that it?" She pulled out a rolled-up piece of paper and read the writing on it. "Fireball? No, that's not it." She pulled another, "Clairvoyance? I thought I sold this one! I don't need this! Oh! Balderdash!" She dug her arm deepr. "Come on, I know I have one somewhere. She pulled out another. Roll of paper out. "See Persons! Finally! Times like these, I wish I were a mage or wizard or something. Then I'd just have to…" She wiggled her hand whimsically, "Cast away and off we go!" She cleared her throat. "Let's see…" She opened the parchment then nodded. "Right!"
She took her hand, slammed it on the paper and wound it back. A green, mystical light followed her hand, she touched the sides of her eyes then stretched the hand forward. The remaining light that didn't soak into her eyes flashed forth like a shockwave and disappeared.
"Whoa!" The children admired the display, but the paper in the stranger's hand burnt to ashes and disappeared.
"Real magic!" Chloe admired, "Can you teach us how to use real magic?"
The stranger giggled. "No, sorry. I don't know how to use real magic. That's why I have to use the scrolls. They let anyone use magic. But only once, though… Okay, I think I see your friends… Three of them. They're faint but… Yes! They're just within distance of the spell's reach!"
"You can see them?" Bluey asked in amazement.
The stranger squinted. "Only barely. We need to go now if we want to catch them. They're going too far for me to see them long. Let's go… this way! I think we can catch up if we hurry."
"Alright!" Snickers cheered. And ran ahead a little before tripping.
Chloe helped him up and skipped along ahead of the stranger. Bluey and Bingo walked behind and held hands.
Realizing she hadn't thanked or learned the name of her rescuer, Chloe turned around and walked backwards. "By the way, thank you for saving me. What's your name."
"Oh, I'm Valerie, Archer by profession and adventurer by trade." was the reply, "Happy to help. I am pleased to meet your acquaintance."
"Adventurer? That sounds fun!" exclaimed Snickers.
"It is sometimes. What about you lot?"
One by one, the children introduced themselves. "I'm Snickers."
"Oh?" Valorie raised her brows.
Chloe pointed at her chest. "I'm Chloe."
Valorie smiled. "That's a nice name."
"And I'm Bluey." Bluey raised Bingo's hand to refer to her. "This is my sister Bingo."
Bingo waved her spare hand. "Hi."
Valerie giggled. "Those are all very nice names. I like them." Valerie didn't know them for long, but she liked these children already. She knew she wouldn't be with them long, but with the little time she had, she was willing to make the most of it. "So, tell me about your friends…"