Survivor

Written by Zelda

 

 

                "Could ya ask for more beautiful weather?" Duke put his feet up on the console of the Duck Foil and leaned back in his chair, folding his arms behind his head and basking in the sunshine.

                "We picked a pretty good day, I'll give ya that." Tanya nodded from the driver's seat. "Now get your feet off the console, before you break something!"

                Grinning, Duke simply closed his eyes and shook his head. "Don't worry sweetheart, relax, huh?"

                "Incorrigible duck." Tanya retorted, but couldn't help smiling back.

                "Now isn't this a nicer way to travel than the Aerowing on a day like this?" Wildwing looked over at them. "Especially since we're so close to home."

                "Yeah, well I guess since I nearly ODed on Dramamine, I can't complain." Tanya joked back to him. "It was great of us to just take a day off, from practice and everything."

                The entire team had decided to blow off the morning practice, instead taking out the Foil for a day trip to Baja California. The rugged cliffs of shoreline broke down at times to gravelly beaches, letting the team have a glance at the wide, dusty landscape beyond.

                "It's beautiful down here, it really is." Mallory looked out over the ocean. "It'd sound a lot nicer though, if Nosedive would turn down the volume on his Game Boy!!"

                At this, Nosedive paused his game, sneered over at her, stuck out his tongue, and then resumed playing with the volume cranked up even higher.

                Mallory covered her ears to block out the plinking little machine. "You better watch it, or I'll throw that thing overboard!"

                "I'll just get Zel to fetch it for me!" Dive grinned.

                As if on cue, the water stirred next to the idle Foil, and Zelda popped her head from the waves, her mouth full of kelp.

                "Mmm mm!" she celebrated. "Best kelp beds north of Peru's coast. Snacktime for me!"

                Pausing his game again, Nosedive stood and reached down into the water. "Lemme see some of that stuff girl." Pulling out a handful of the broad, slimy bands of kelp, Nosedive stood and proceeded to drape them over himself. "Muuahahaha! I'm the duck-eating swamp creature of Anaheim!!!" he boomed, and then proceeded to stalk Mallory.

                "Eeeew! You keep those disgusting plants away from me!" she warned, standing to retreat.

                "Actually." Zelda munched from the water. "All kelp's a kind of algae."

                "Even worse!" Mallory backed off, bumping into Wildwing.

                "Hey, the Foil isn't big enough for duck-eating swamp creatures." the leader tisked with a grin. "We're going to have to throw you overboard, with your Game Boy."

                Pouting, Dive pulled off the kelp and tossed it back into Zelda's waiting jaws. "You guys are no fun!" he whined, and went back to his game.

                "I owe ya one." Mallory patted Wildwing's shoulder, and went back to watching the ocean. There was a light crackling noise behind her, coming from the console, and Mallory looked over. "What's that?"

                "Just trying to get a radio station down here...." Tanya muttered, tuning a dial.

A station with Spanish music came over the air, and Nosedive instantly grinned and tried to strum an air guitar in time.

Zelda popped her head above the surface again, just as Tanya changed the station.

                "Awww...." they both said in unison.

                "Hey, pipe down you two." Tanya smiled a little. "I'm trying to get a weather forecast... " Some man's voice did come in, but it was all in Spanish.

                "Uck, this isn't going to help." Duke sighed.

                "'Cause you just don't know the language!" Zelda leapt up onto the side of the Foil, shaking herself off at a convenient distance from the others before she came up and reared by the console, listening. "He's giving a news report, hang on a sec... there we go!"

                The team listened in for a moment, not understanding a thing.

                "We're in luck." Zelda smiled. "Fine weather for today, a little breezy too."

                "Toldya she'd come in handy." Duke elbowed Grin, who was sitting behind him.

                Zelda scrambled up onto the big Duck's shoulder, using him as a diving board back into the ocean.

                Grin gave her a light smile, then noticed a reflection in the relatively calm seas. “Tanya…” he started, looking up. “If today’s weather is supposed to be sunny, when did those clouds show up?”

                Tanya turned from the console, glancing over some light gray clouds in the distance with little attention.  “Well hey Grin, it can’t be perfectly sunny everywhere, ya know, there’s gonna be clouds around.” She shrugged him off and went back to toying with the radio, while Grin went back to watching the sky pensively.

                Off in the distance, Zelda sheared through the water after a school of fish, rippling through the clear water like silvery little knives. No doubt she was after lunch, and Duke took that as a good cue to pull out a sandwich he’d packed from the on-board cooler. A cloud passed overhead as he munched away, providing a rather refreshing break from the sunlight. Maybe the clouds would be a handy thing to have around, he thought, watching as they trailed towards the horizon, back towards the north. They did actually seem to get a little darker as they faded into the distance, but that was of no concern to him now. He just wanted to enjoy being out here in the light and the warmth. Even living in a place like Anaheim, there was so little time to get out and enjoy the scenery, with their schedule and all. This was a welcome little break indeed. He leaned back against the hull of the Foil, spreading his arms along the boat’s rim, watching the water form little whitecaps around him.

Zelda popped up nearby, picking a few scales out of her teeth.

“Good sushi?” Duke smirked.

Zelda had to smile, and shrugged a little. “What I could catch, they’re fast little buggers here in the open water. But for some reason they all managed to just up and leave, broke school and everything.” She shrugged again. “They don’t usually do that.”

                “Ehh, good thing kelp doesn’t swim away, right?” Duke grinned. “Besides, we’ve got all day just to hang around and do nothing.”

As he spoke, the Foil was rocked gently by a wave, catching Tanya by surprise at the console. Although there was no need to, she gripped the side of the ship and wiped her brow. “I really hope this medication doesn’t wear off before we get back to shore.” She sighed and looked up at the sky, to see some of the darker clouds moving in their direction. “Maybe we should put up the canopy on this thing, just in case.”

“Awww, it can’t rain!” Nosedive protested. “We practically just got here! My sunscreen hasn’t even worn off yet!”

                “Relax little bro.” Wildwing waved him off, another little wave rocking the ship. “I’m sure this’ll all pass over.” Another little wave sent the ship rocking gently as it passed, the Foil dipping slightly in its wake. There were more forming visibly on the horizon, and yet they were nowhere near shore. The next wave that upset the Foil made it rock a little more violently before.

                “Wheee!” Mallory smirked, making the best of the little ride. “What do you say Dive, is this better than the teacups at Disneyland?”

                “Hey, don’t you DARE dis my favorite ride!!” he interjected, fighting off a light blush. It was quickly lost, though, as the ship pitched again. “Although this could be a good substitute…”

                “You know, maybe we should head a little closer to shore…” Wildwing began slowly.

                “That’s as good as an order in my book!” Tanya reached over and pressed a button on the console. “Should just take a second to reel the anchor in…”

                Even Grin was knocked slightly off of his footing by the next wave. He crouched in the Foil and frowned deeply. “This isn’t natural.” He grumbled. “Something bad is coming.”
                Zelda hopped up next to him as a bolt of lighting suddenly streaked from sky to sea in the far distance, as the clouds that had been white and gray started to darken at an alarming pace.

                Not wanting to wait for the anchor to reel in, Wildwing stood and took hold of the wheel, ready to go when the Foil was.

                There was suddenly a surge, much higher than the others, that hit the Foil and made it pitch violently to the side.

                Zelda howled as the Ducks spun off balance.

                "Hang on!" Wing yelled, grabbing the wheel back and trying to turn into the coming waves.

                "Where did this storm come from?!" Tanya asked, struggling back as the craft righted itself. "The weather was supposed to be fine!"

                "This is no storm." Grin said ominously, grabbing a handle on the side of the ship.

                Another wave hit the Duck Foil diagonally, spraying them all with saltwater. As soon as Wildwing had wrenched the craft to face the surges, they started coming from another direction! Seawater crashed into the team, throwing them across the narrow deck, flooding the ship. The Ducks grabbed onto anything they could find.

                Ripping winds started to form smaller whitecaps, juggling the Foil, blowing Zelda away. She struggled back, low over the water, clinging like a wet rat to the ship's windshield and fighting off the thrashing waves that hit her.

                Another huge surge broke right over the starboard side, the wave splashing into the boat and nearly washing everyone out.

                "Can we get outta here!?!?!" Mallory yelled out, climbing back on board.

                "The surge is all around us!" Wildwing shook out his hair. "I can't get the Foil anywhere!"

                "Hang on!" Duke pointed out to sea. "Here comes another!"

                Quicker than anyone could react, the ship tilted nearly vertical, a huge wave rolling over the side. In an instant, there was a flash of teal and white as the spray pulled back into the ocean.

                Mallory looked around in panic to find Dive missing from his place at her side before! "Duck overboard!" she cried out.

                Dive struggled to resurface and gasp for air, already a dozen feet away in the churning water.

                "Dive!" Tanya called out. "Here! Grab on!" Trying to keep her hold to the ship with one hand, she flung out a life ring, tied to a rope.

                The styrafoam ring fell only a few feet short, and Dive plowed for it, but he was suddenly swallowed beneath a rising wave. Seconds later, it hit the ship, sending it spinning away. When the others recovered, Dive was nowhere to be seen.

                The team panicked.             

                Zelda cried out and flapped up into the air, but Wildwing caught her by the tail.

                "Are you sure you can go after him?" he yelled.

                She roared an affirmative, desperate to be let go, and pulled herself from his grasp. The winds blasted against her as she struggled forwards, to where he had last surfaced. There was another surge, pushing the Foil even further away. The winds blasted her from every direction, pushing her forward and then seconds later snapping her back. She looked over her shoulder and was terrified by the fact that she couldn't see the Foil over the waves. It had been pushed too far! But she had to find Nosedive, he'd drown for sure! Lighting clawed out over the horizon, and thunder made the air vibrate seconds later. Zelda gasped as two waves collided beneath her, spraying up around her flanks, washing over her wings. She couldn't handle the added weight of the water, and was pulled down into the surge. In an instant, she was swallowed by the water, opening her eyes to see only swirling foam and angry sea green around her. Plowing back up, Zelda resurfaced, but there was no room to get herself airborne again! She was lucky to get a breath in as the waves sprawled over her. Thunder boomed out again. Riding the crest of a wave, Zelda gasped as she thought she saw something white, a long way over from her. As lighting raced through the sky again, the white disappeared behind a wave. Was it Dive's armor? She took a deep breath and dove underneath the crashing waves, using her wings to fly through the water. It was as if she was fighting to get through a wall, as the water only pushed her back! Exhausted, Zelda suddenly tensed as electricity frazzled her scales. The lightning! Zelda bobbed weakly back to the surface, gasping for breath and choking on seafoam. A brilliant flash struck the water only a few dozen feet away! The electricity raced through Zelda's body, there was nothing she could do as the water swallowed her under again. Through the swirling of the waves, she looked up to see a flash nearly overhead, and the following shock made the sea around her turn black.

 

                It was hot. That was all he bothered to think about now. It was damn hot, like he'd been on the beach way too long, and had forgotten to turn over. His eyelids were lit up in red. This was terribly uncomfortable. Then, almost as a reply to the protest he'd never made, there was a whispering around him. It sounded like a gentle shuffling, Nosedive could have sworn he'd heard it somewhere before, it was so familiar. But he couldn't remember, he was burning up out here... It was so damn hot... Too hot to think. He couldn't even remember what the heck happened, why he was lying here, or even where here was. When Nosedive tried to open his eyes, he found them almost sealed, like something had crusted over them. But it wasn't too thick, and he was suddenly blinded by the midday sun as he looked straight up at it. Yet when he tried to raise his hand to block the light, he could barely move it! A dry squeak rising from his throat, Nosedive flopped his head to the side, feeling it roll in something soft, waiting patiently for his vision to clear. Slowly, so slowly underneath the beating sun, he began to see again, and recognize where he was. He was lying on his back, on a beach. And he was alone.

 

                And she was alone! Zelda was struck by the basal knowledge that she shouldn't be alone, and started violently, shuffling off of her belly. She didn't get much further though, struck by a wave of dizziness and weakness at the same time. Seeing the tan surface swim in front of her, Zelda nearly collapsed, snorting hot sand out of the way of her nostrils as her snout dug into the beach. Even though she closed her eyes, the world wouldn't stop spinning. The sea murmured to her from somewhere, the sun was overheating her, to the point where she felt as though her scales would crack. Trying to keep her focus, Zelda snorted out a breath, throat aching. How on earth did she get here? The last thing she could remember was the cold sea swallowing her. Licking her cracked lips, the salt on Zelda's tongue told her she had definitely been in the water, and for too long. She must have washed up somewhere, but where, and how? Struggling to think clearly through the radiating heat, Zelda suddenly remembered what she'd been doing out in the water. Nosedive. He was... he had to be... somewhere around here too... unless he'd had drowned. Shoving herself up again, Zelda flopped in the sand, unable to lock her joints or hold her balance. The sun was unbearable, she feared that she'd pass out if she couldn't get herself to shelter. And she couldn't pass out, she had to find Nosedive! Managing to focus her eyes and look up the sloping beach, she saw darker forms, and snorted into the sand again.

 

                "Anything on radar?" Dragaunus asked, leaning in over the console where Siege was working.

                "Not a blip." he snorted happily. "If those Ducks are anywhere, it's with their ship at the bottom of the sea."

                "Let's see how they like a taste of their own medicine, hm, M'Lord?" Wraith let a sneer cross his face.

                The Overlord leaned back with a calm, brooding grin. "Now now Wraith, what kind of revenge would we have if we simply left them like that?" he asked. "After all, they thought we were done for. This time, we take no chances."

                "Whadda ya mean?" Chameleon twisted his head around like an owl from the console to see Dragaunus better.

                "I mean that we go out and finish the job." he growled. "You and Seige take the scout ship and fly out there. I don't care if you have to haul them out from the seafloor, I don't want you back here until you've got their waterlogged carcasses on board with you."

                "Bleh, man, do you have any idea how BAD those guys gonna taste after all this?" Chameleon sighed, shouldering a blaster.

                "Ehh, they're salt cured." Siege smirked. "Nothing that Wraith's cooking can make worse."

                Wraith gave Siege a death glare as the two Saurians stalked out of the Raptor's cockpit.

 

                The last of his lunch faded as it drifted down into the water, spreading in puce-colored little swirls. Duke watched quietly, dazedly, as at least a dozen tiny fish came up to nip at the remainders of whatever he had eaten last. At this point, he didn’t care to remember, or try to figure out, what it was.

                “That.” Mallory determined quietly. “Is disgusting.”

                “Shaddup.” Duke gave a halfhearted snort back, wiping his beak.

                “Maybe… maybe we shouldn’t be doing that…” Tanya started nervously. “It’s like chum, I’m sure there are sharks on this coast…”

                “We shouldn’t be worried about sharks around here.” Wildwing’s voice bit in authoritatively. He wrenched the stick to the Foil’s engine with an obvious degree of frustration, trying to gun the unresponsive motor. “Tanya, can’t you fix this thing?”

                “I toldja Wing.” she sniffed. “Engine’s flooded with all of that pitching and rolling—“

                “You gotta remind me?” Duke sighed, holding his stomach.

                “I can’t drain it unless the whole Foil’s put on a lift or something.”

                Wildwing let out a grunt and pounded the wheel with a fist, his energy quickly giving out as he leaned against it, kneading his forehead.

                “They are not lost to us.” Grin spoke softly, sitting Indian style in the back corner of the Foil, his eyes closed. “The waste of energy accomplishes nothing, leader.”

                Wildwing turned to glare at the bigger Duck, but he realized that of course Grin was right. With a sigh, he sank to the floor, his back against the console of the boat. “What do you mean Grin? How can you be sure?”

                As Mallory absently began to hum to a Radiohead b-side of the same name, Grin opened his eyes and looked up at Wildwing. “I’m sure of it. They are out here somewhere, their current auras are strong enough to not be of too much concern.”

                “Grin, we’re out in the Pacific, I don’t know about you, but I’m worried about them both. Who knows how far that storm blew us?” Wildwing threw up a hand. “We’re certainly not in sight of land.”

                “That is what I think we should be worrying more about.” Grin spoke.

                “The storm?” Tanya looked over.

                “That was no naturally created storm. Several things would contribute to that. First of all, the vibes simply weren’t in the air for bad weather.”

                “There’s a great indicator.” Duke muttered, his stomach letting up an uneasy rumble as the Foil rocked a little.

                “Well, then there was the weather report.” Tanya nodded. “Unless Zelda’s a poorer translator than we think she is.”
                “And that is the third thing.” Grin added. “If the weather were to turn, I think Zelda would have been able to sense it.”

                “Wouldn’t surprise me…” Mallory broke off her humming for a moment. “So what are you saying Grin? This storm was a fake?”
                “Genuine enough…” he muttered, closing his eyes again, thinking.

                “Wait a minute, I think I’m getting Grin’s drift here.” Tanya interrupted.

                “Whoa, now there’s something that don’t happen too often.” Duke managed a faint smirk.

                “Very funny Duke.” she grumbled. “Look, what I’m saying is that there’s no way this storm was a natural occurrence, so it was created.”

                “Created?” the doubt in Wildwing’s voice was obvious.

                “Umm, well, yeah, it’s certainly possible…” Tanya too fell to thinking.

                “How short is your memory Wing?” Duke looked over at him. “We’ve dealt with weather machines before, you know.”

                “Yeah, weather machines that now reside in another galaxy, you mean.” Wildwing sighed. “This is getting us nowhere.”

                “Listen Wildwing.” Tanya rubbed her beak. “The Saurians did have the weather machine from Xenon and Xyloid in their possession for a while, you know, they may have just been able to analyze the mechanics of it and copy it!”

                “Why do they have to be so darn smart sometimes?” Mallory lamented.

                “They’re just smart enough to know when we make good targets.” Wildwing huffed. “And if they have built a weather machine, we’re in for a lot more that just a random storm.”

 

                There was no water here, she couldn’t pick any up in the air. The inland area was large, she could smell all kinds of trees and birds. There was fresh water somewhere, but not here. Still, at least there was shade. Her mind was clearing slowly in the darkness as she collapsed underneath the fronds of some large, rough-barked tree, stretching over the roots, trying to cool her quickly overheating body. Panting dryly, she recalled exactly how she had arrived here, from the ship. She hoped to the stars that nobody else had gone overboard in that storm. Obviously the weather was fine again now, and she had the feeling that she hadn’t been out for too long, overnight at most. But right now her concern was in finding Nosedive. She could smell little and sense less. For all she knew, he could be dead. But she was praying that he wasn’t, that he was nearby, and that she could find him without having something to drink first. Forcing herself to her feet again, Zelda decided to follow the shade, her sluggish feet sinking in the sand as she stepped between the tangled roots of trees. From the shadows, gazing out onto the white beach was like looking into a spotlight, and she could see little beyond the stretch of white and where it met the rippling ocean. She was quickly blinded by the silvery water as it reflected the hot sun, and her field of vision started to turn as grainy as static on TV, as faintness caught up with her again. But out of the corner of her eye, something different got her attention. Something on the shoreline was disrupting the flow of the water, up the beach as the tide came in. It was gray and white, and there was something bluish attached to it... Zelda was shocked back into reality as she realized it was Nosedive, lying on the beach with his boots rippling the coming waves. Letting out a dry, keening noise, she abandoned her shade and galloped down into the sand, hefting herself to his side. “Dive?...” she asked, surprised at how raspy her voice was. “Wake up kiddo...” With her ruined vision, she was also surprised that she could make out him opening his eyes.

                “Whoa.... hey girl...” he blinked, his voice just as dry.

                “You hurt?”

                “.... Don’t think so... damn it’s hot.”

                “Easy...” the dragon lowered her head to shield her eyes from the blinding water, and pulled herself down to it, panting. She was overheating too quickly, she had to get Dive off of this beach before either of them passed out. The cool ocean would help. “Dive, try to get up...” As he responded with a weak shuffling of his arms, she flopped down in front of his feet, the waves lapping gently up around her. Shutting out the rest of the world for just a moment, Zelda was lost in the relief of the cool water. She opened her jaws to let it run over her tongue, and the salty taste made her stomach wrench.

                “Can’t girl...” Nosedive interrupted her moment’s peace. “Too tired...”

                Finding some new energy, Zelda regained her feet, paws sinking in the sand. “You have to Dive. Try again.” Dipping a wing into the water, she loped back up to his side and lay it over his face.

                “Wow...” he mumbled. “That’s nice...”

                “You have to get up.” she panted. “Can’t stay here...”

                Reluctantly obeying, he brought up one arm, shaking weakly as he tried to roll over onto his hands and knees.

                With whatever strength she had left, Zelda braced herself in the sand and tried to help push his weight over.

                Finally, Nosedive locked his elbows into the sand, head bowed from a new wave of dizziness. “Oww...”
                Zelda held a wing over his head to try and give him some shade. The membrane was already painfully sunburned. The sand was pulling them both in, she and Dive struggling up the beach as he crawled on his hands and knees. By the time any shade entered within their range of vision, they were leaning heavily on each other, trying not to fall. Collapse at this point couldn’t be an option.

                Sight swimming, Nosedive was met with the encompassing cool of darkness as he slowly pawed his way into the shade of a broad-leafed, low palm tree. He managed to turn himself belly up before he fell back against the trunk, gasping for the cooler air.

                Just paces behind him, Zelda fell into the sand, dragging herself up onto the tree’s roots.

                Both of them hung there in dizzy, sickening heat exhaustion for what seemed like forever. In reality, it was only a few minutes before Dive regained his ability to speak.

                “What... the hell... happened to us?..”

                “Storm.” Zelda answered weakly. “Blew us off the Foil...”

                “Oh yeah...” he spoke, not making any effort to open his eyes or to move.

                Zelda was interrupted by a violent sneeze, a gooey liquid oozing out of her nostrils. She knew what it was without bothering to look. Reptiles like her didn’t sweat, so they panted instead, and removed excess salt in their bodies by sneezing it out. And by the amount of seawater it felt like she had swallowed, she’d be sneezing well into next week. She had to get something to balance out the salt content in both of their bodies. Fresh water would do it, but there was none around.... Forcing her eyes open, Zelda tried to concentrate on the sand around her, distinguishing the beach from the tree roots she lay on. A few feet away, she spotted just what she wanted to see. With her tail shaking, she raised it and pushed a greenish, round object up beside her.

                Hearing the sand shift, Nosedive also opened his eyes. “What’s that?...” he panted.

                “Coconut.” she replied shortly, hefting her head up and locking her jaws around the prize. The juice in the middle would breathe life into them both, but getting at it was the tough part. She could already feel unconsciousness tugging at her as she tried to chew into the tough outer hull of the nut.

                Nosedive just resigned to falling back against the tree, too exhausted to do much at the moment.

                Impatient and weakening, Zelda resorted to merely chomping down on the nut, trying to puncture some holes in it. A few hollow snaps signaled her final success, and she pulled her teeth out with relief. “Drink this....” Zelda strained her muscles as she pushed the coconut up to Dive, as far as she could reach.

                He had to lean down to take it, nearly fumbling the nut as he straightened himself. It was all he could do to hold the fruit in place as he tipped it against his beak, feeling a rush of sugar as the juice ran over his tongue. He gulped selfishly for a moment or two, before he remembered that Zelda hadn’t had any.

                “Here girl...” his voice had improved as he put the coconut back in the sand, and pushed it for her.

                Struggling up to meet it, Zelda gripped the nut in her claws and bit into it again, this time a piece of the shell popping away. Licking the insides and scraping at the meat, Zelda lay panting for some time.

                “Wow... that helps.” Nosedive nodded quietly.

                “It’s the sugar.” Zelda panted. “Gives you energy... We have to find water on that..”

                “We can’t stay here?” Nosedive sighed, daunted by the prospect of moving in a state like this. “We’re in the shade, at least...”

                “Can’t stay...” she shook her head. “Not long. Will run out of strength.”

                Nosedive lay silent for a moment, eyes closed. “This sucks…”

 

                “So all we can do out here is wait?”

                “Unless you feel like getting out and pushing, sweetheart.”

                “I’m taking you overboard with me, if that’s the case!”

                “Both of you pipe down!” Wildwing loudly overruled the arguing Mallory and Duke, and the two Ducks retreated to opposite sides of the Foil, grumbling to each other. Mentally exhausted, the leader reached over the side of the ship, gathering a cool handful of seawater and rubbing it into his hair. “I don’t like it any more than the rest of you, but the engine’s been completely shot. Even if we could tap into our reserve power sources, we’ve got nothing to do with it.” He turned around and went back up to the console, sitting in the driver’s seat beside Tanya. “What about the communications? Don’t tell me Phil’s turned his cell phone off…”

                “No such luck.” she sighed. “There’s interference of some kind interfering with our efforts. I don’t think we can reach anyone on the mainland.”

                “Interference?” Wildwing raised an eyebrow. “But we’re in the middle of the Pacific, there’s nothing out here.”

                “Could be another storm.” Tanya shook her head.

                “One heading our way?!” Mallory looked up.

                “No way to tell.” she sighed. “At least, not until it hits us.”

                “Beautiful.” Duke muttered.

                Wildwing rubbed his beak in thought. “We’ve sat out here long enough. If another storm hits us, we could lose more of the team, and that’s one thing I don’t want. So I guess we’ll have to go with our last ditch option. It’s gonna take all of our strength, so in this heat I want everyone under the canopy for now.”

                “What do you have in mind?” Grin asked him, as Wildwing knelt down to open a storage hatch.

                The leader pulled out a set of five wooden paddles, and threw them down on the deck of the Foil. “Start rowing.”

 

                “No.” His cold voice interrupted Chameleon’s panicked speech.

                “No?” Chameleon asked. “But--- but I was just about ta say boss, we could get ‘em, we know where they are---“

                “I said no.” Dragaunus stated again. “They aren’t going anywhere, we will leave them as they are.”

                “Are you kiddin’?” Siege frowned. “After all that lookin’ we did, you’re just gonna leave those two?”

                Dragaunus nodded, a sick grin spreading across his leathery face. “Think of it as a game.” he explained. “Those two are stuck on an island with no way to get off. They’re close enough to death as it is… let’s just see who comes out the survivor, if any.”

 

To be Continued…..

 

Mighty Ducks-The Animated Series, including all logos and characters (except mine) are copyright and property of Disney. You may copy, print, or whatever with this document, so long as it is not altered and I (Zelda) am credited. Thanks!