Chapter 57: You Call This a Practice Run!?
Ducky entered the fast-flowing water, which mercifully was not as cold as she had expected so that at least meant that she didn’t need to make freezing a high priority. Ducky dived down until she was on the river bed, she dug into the sediment with her hands and legs and began to crawl around in search of the plant Night Light. She didn’t need to look far since she was right on the boundary of a Night Light bed, the light blue-green sea grass like plant grew on stretched all the way to the entrance of the caves. Ducky picked up as many of the largest pieces she could find until both her hands were full. When she was done, Ducky looked back, the water was not murky so she could still see the lower portion of her mother’s massive body, still standing in the same place as before. Ducky looked up into her mother’s eyes which were right on her, they could see each other though the sight they each saw was a distorted shimmering image. In that moment, they felt so close yet so far, being separated by only a small amount of water but with Sura viewing from above and Ducky from below in two different mediums. It was the last time they saw each other for Ducky slowly broke her gaze and allowed the current to take her towards the entrance to the caves while her mother wearily pulled herself from the water.
Ducky did not swim hard she only made swimming movements to keep herself on course as she was already being pushed along by the current. Her heart beat was loud in her ears and grew even louder and faster as the blackness approached ever nearer until that was all she could hear. Finally, the darkness swallowed her whole and she entered the haunted caves.
On the bank Cyrest started leading everyone to the exit of the caves, all of their steps were slow and hardly anyone could take their eyes off of the caves, every footstep seemed to be a measure of how far Ducky would have to go before she could be greeted by the warming sunshine. No one said anything when they arrived and Cyrest got onto the water and attached a vine on both ends of the river to create the finishing line and got back out from the water. Everyone stopped on the bank, some sitting, others standing, the atmosphere was restless as the slow torturous wait began.
The blackness was complete inside the caves, no light within once the entrance was out of sight for Ducky. Here she was in a dark, airless environment that she could not linger in, however with the current moving with her for now she could made reasonable progress and she did. As soon as she got into the caves she had crushed one plant in her hand and held it in her hand, the light illuminated the things she needed to see in order to make her passage safe and it was probably a life saver as the cave was spiked and uneven, collision with any surface would be very nasty and possibly fatal if she was going fast with the current.
So far, the tunnel was only one way which Ducky was grateful for, having seen no possible twists or turns that could get her lost in this inhospitable underwater labyrinth. However, her strand of Night Light was dimming, making it even harder to see. Ducky reached her hand out to an outcrop on her left and grabbed hold of it with all her might. The current did nothing to help, it was so strong it nearly pulled her off but she just managed to get a hold just as all light faded.
Ducky realised it was now time to use her other senses, smell would be useless here since the current was not in her favour but her hearing was and her sense of touch. What Ducky proceeded to do next would have looked silly to other Swimmers in normal circumstances. She started to slowly make her way backwards. It was like climbing on a cliff sideways, to Ducky it was almost as if her entire sense of gravity had been tipped on its side and she was climbing backwards down a cliff, a horizontal cliff. She took time to use her hands to touch and feel the surrounding rock around her until she found a suitable hold which was relatively easy considering that the rock was weathered and had plenty of crevices to hold on too.
Ducky’s sense of gravity was further confused by the sharp, pointing rocks coming out from the side of the wall, almost like how stone teeth pointed down or up in caves but if Ducky could see the cave at that moment then she would have been glad she had stopped because the whole tunnel was now a tangled gauntlet of pointed rocks, long enough to be near the centre of the cave in some cases. They came out of any part on the tunnel and were easily capable of skewering a Swimmer. Ducky used these rocks as handholds and while keeping ever mindful about the sounds travelling through the cave she continued her horizontal underwater climb.
Ducky continued on her way for what felt like ages for her limbs were rapidly being exhausted by the effort of holding her body against the fierce current. As she settled her feet on another of the pointed rocks she skipped and lost her footing and her arms were too slow to regain a hold on the wall. It happened terrifyingly fast that she was shot down the passage, her small body being slammed into the sides of the stone teeth hard as the merciless current pulled her along. Ducky vainly tried to regain control but every time she got close to regaining her bearings she would be knocked about again by the stone teeth to her utter dismay.
Finally, she was thrown into a wall with tremendous force. Ducky was pinned but she managed to get a hand onto the right side of her chest and felt the fierce pain that would have brought tears to her eyes had she not been underwater. She guessed that she might have broken a rib or two during her pounding along the tunnel. Already she found that her chest was hurting with every movement. Thankfully it wasn’t as bad as it would have been if she was breathing, though she was covered with multiple bruises.
Crumble!
The wall Ducky was pinned against suddenly gave way, being rather thin it collapsed inward into a different, vertical passage where Ducky suddenly found herself swept downwards by another current, she was at its complete and utter mercy as she was rushed downwards until she was slammed on her back against the cave floor. However, before Ducky could even move a large rock from the wall that had collapsed landed none to gently on her chest, pinning her to the ground and resisting her efforts to remove it.
*
Sura was pacing restlessly while all the children were huddled closely together anxiously. For a group of friends that helped each other at every turn it was torture to not be there for Ducky and aid her in her time of need, as it was they did not even know if they would ever see her again, for all they knew she might already be dead but since they had seen no blood which The Trial was infamous for doing when it claimed another victim. Bluey settled herself beside Diver, Spike, Jane and Trough. The latter of which went up into her hands, she held him in a tight embrace. “She’ll be okay, won’t she?” whispered Trough.
Bluey nodded without hesitation for her sake as much as Trough’s “She’ll come out soon Trough, I know she will, just have faith in her” she said nuzzling her friend as she tried to keep her fear from drowning her in a bottomless bog. She looked at Sura who was now standing like a statue at the water’s edge, she might have been mistaken for one had she not been trembling all over. Bluey put a hand around Spike and held him close along with Diver. They were both grateful for her comforting presence as they both exchanged nuzzles. The same thought echoing in each of their minds.
“Please be okay Ducky”
Littlefoot, stood in between Ali and Shorty, Ali was leaning heavily on him as if he was the only thing keeping her up. They had tried to reassure each other but that could not keep the icy cold chill of fear out of their system so the three longnecks just stayed close to each other in the hopes of finding some comfort.
Cera was pacing restlessly, she kicked up gravel with her feet every now and then but she absolutely hated this feeling of helplessness. Ducky could be going through all hell just a few metres away and she would be powerless to do anything to help her. “Curse this infernal Trial!” shouted Cera internally, though she did feel like screaming, she knew that would not help her current situation nor would it comfort her friends. Petrie, Ruby and Chomper were all sitting together, Chomper in Ruby’s embrace, she was the only stable thing he had to latch on and Ruby in turn held on tightly to him.
“You can do it Ducky” whispered Chomper.
Petrie was staring transfixed at the cave exit, trembling all over. He did not know what he would do if Ducky fell, least of all what her family including Spike would do, they would be heartbroken. Cyrest stood next to Grandma Swimmer, she was surprisingly calm under the circumstances, however Cyrest knew that was just on the outside, he could almost feel the fear she was harbouring inside. He placed an arm around her, he knew how she felt. She gave him a soft smile and went back to her attentive watching. Cyrest had been through this before and hated it. The last time this happened he lost the person that meant the most to him. He wished he could be in there and keep Ducky out of danger but he knew it was foolish to wish that as he could not do anything now.
Looking up to the sky he closed his eyes and made a silent plea. “Ancestors, please keep Ducky safe”
He opened his eyes and saw something in the distance that made his stomach drop like a rock. Rain clouds were approaching rapidly bringing with it a downpour that would do nothing good for Ducky.
*
Despite the pain in her chest Ducky struggled again and again to get free of the rock upon her chest that was slowly crushing her but no matter what she did she could not get free and even worse was that she was running out of air, each second, she felt her need for air grow greater and greater. Desperately, she reached her hands out to anything that might be around that could help get the rock off and suddenly she felt her hands close around what felt like a stick. She slotted it into the space between her body and the rock and using this new leverage and all her strength she pushed the rock off her chest. She took a second to crush another one of the luminescent plants, she needed to find air but what she did find startled her out of her mind.
She was now sitting right next to the skeleton of what used to be a young Swimmer, one of the countless victims of The Trial and the stick in her hand was actually one of the rib bones from the skeleton. Ducky dropped it immediately when she realised what it was and desperately tried to calm the panic that had almost swept through her, she looked around for any air bubble as a sudden urge to hit the surface gripped her. The cavern she was in was rather circular but it had no air bubbles and there were three possible passages in the wall that could lead to her salvation or her doom. Ducky listened at the left tunnel and performed a underwater call using her crest and waited, it didn’t take long for her to hear an echo which meant that the left path was a dead end, she repeated her call at the other tunnels and found them both clear but which one?
She felt the current. It swirled around her but there was a current coming out of the right tunnel which did not suit Ducky so she went down the central tunnel with the current. Ducky was looking frantically all over the place for any sign of an air bubble but could see none suddenly she heard a subtle sound of water displacing right ahead, she was heading for a junction. Ducky turned around and began to kick her legs as she grabbed hold of the walls and not a moment too soon. The current changed direction and went to the left passage only Ducky’s tail was in that area and she could feel the force of the current on her body. Ducky was surprised that even though she had light she found that she was using her other senses more than sight even though the plant in her hand was lighting the way.
It was then that she noticed an unusual sound, it sounded like water lapping on rocks but how could that be in a cave? Unless……
Ducky looked up and saw to her joy and relief a large air bubble that she could easily fit her whole beak into. Ducky quickly and carefully climbed her way up to the air bubble and poked her beak out of the water and took a breath of sweet life giving air, it may have been stale but Ducky couldn’t care less about that she took in several deep breaths, her heart rate slowed and her mind became clear but her chest protested with a terrible burst of pain when she took any breath, Ducky closed her eyes and did her best to ignore the pain as she used up the last of the air. Taking her last painful deep breath, she closed her mouth and was once again completely submerged. Ducky followed the current, figuring that it would eventually lead her to the exit and while that was reasonable thinking, Ducky had forgotten that there was more than one river running into the caves.
While Ducky was sure she was on the right track she was actually getting turned around, unbeknownst to her she was actually completing a full circle by following the current through the twists and turns of the haunted caves. After a considerable time and no air bubble stops, she realised this mistake when she crushed her sixth plant and saw the skeleton of the same Swimmer who’s rib she had used to get the rock off of her chest and the tunnel where the crevice with the air bubble had been and realised with despair and horror that… “I just went in a circle I did, I did” Ducky was looking around frantically for any way out “Where do I go? I am lost, I do not know what to do no, no, no” she thought in dismay, not realising her mistake.
*
Trough hit his leg hard with his hand in frustration, he ignored the sting of the hit on his leg. “Damn it!” he exclaimed loudly, finally breaking the silence that had lasted ever since Ducky begun The Trial. Everyone looked at him. Understanding what he was feeling as they all felt it too.
“This is taking too long” thought Trough since he didn’t want to increase the tension as there was too much of that at the moment and then of course there were those huge dark rain clouds that were now over them, it was actually spitting now but it was just preliminary to the downpour that would come down at any time.
“I have a bad feeling about this” said Cera looking up at the clouds. Her stomach dropping, she had a feeling that Ducky was now in mortal danger and she didn’t know whether she would make it. If only they could help her but that was quite impossible now suddenly the rain started pouring down drenching everyone in an instant.
“Come everyone” called Cyrest, gesturing to some nearby trees a short distance away which he took shelter under some trees, everyone hurried to get under cover with him. Well, almost everyone.
“Sura! What are you doing? Come on under here, it’s dryer!” called Cyrest when he saw Sura standing unmoving from her position but she turned her head and gave him a firm look, making it abundantly clear that she was not going to be moving. Cyrest sighed. “This is pointless” he thought as he watched the sky water pour all over Sura until she was totally drenched, however Sura stayed there, stoic and as unmoving as a rock under the cold beat of the sky water, waiting for her daughter to come out.
Grandma Swimmer walked out into the rain and stood vigilantly next to Sura and put a hand on her daughter’s shoulder. Sura gave a small smile, grateful for this small showing of support. However, this smile was promptly wiped from Sura’s face when a sudden rumble caught their attention. Everyone looked upstream and saw to their dread a thundering torrent of water, a flash flood that was travelling down the river and headed straight towards the caves.
“Oh no!” cried Sura in horror, a feeling felt by everyone as the deafening sound of water splashing against rock reached their ears as the torrent of water entered the caves and headed straight for Ducky. Everyone’s hearts were in their mouths at the thought of Ducky tackling that, Sura felt faint. Only her mother’s hold was keeping her from keeling over. Would Ducky be able to survive this?
They all pleaded for the answer to be good.
*
It took several moments for Ducky’s panic to subside and the calm reason to return to her mind, looking at the only available exits, she swam slowly back to the three passages and instead took the right one. Now the current was against her, meaning she had to push her legs hard to gain any headway, it was bad enough that her arms were almost drained and that she probably had broken a rib or two earlier but she knew that she had to get out to survive so she continued to push on in an attempt to find the way out. It was a struggle and soon her legs wear burning with the exertion of fighting this constant current but on the plus side was that Ducky was sure she had made reasonable progress through the caves, she was probably near the heart of the caves by her guess and holding onto this idea made everything no matter how bad, slightly more bearable to her.
Crushing another plant in her hand, leaving only three left in her left hand she took a look at the tunnel she was currently swimming through, the current was moving against her and she could see more spikey rocks ahead but with the current against her it would be easier to deal with as long as she did not lose her strength. It was at that moment however that Ducky felt a loud rumble throughout the caves, it came from behind, she turned her head and felt her stomach drop and her heart rate blast off. It was a huge rush of fast flowing water coming straight towards her, obliterating everything in its path, Ducky looked desperately around but there was nowhere to swim and nowhere to hide, all she could do was brace her body for impact as she got into position to ride it.
The seconds to impact past extremely slowly for Ducky, all she knew was that she was in the most dangerous situation she had ever been in and was more terrified then she had ever been before, she didn’t know if her skills would be enough to get her out of this one alive or if she would see her beloved friends and family again but thinking of them set her will in stone, her mother’s words “Never give Ducky, I love you” ran through her head, it was time to try her absolute best if she ever wanted to see her again.
All these thought passed through Ducky’s mind a second before the jarring impact of the water which initially sent Ducky spiralling out of control into a few stone teeth which really hurt but as the initial shock passed she found navigating the current more manageably and with the Night Light in her hands illuminating the way, she began a deadly and dangerous dance, weaving in and out of the stone teeth, hitting one at such speeds the wrong way could be fatal but avoiding these obstacles was a huge challenge as the current shifted and Ducky had no choice but to go with it and when it held her she could not break out till the very last second.
All motion was a blur of adrenaline and fear as the rocky spikes came within millimetres away from her face or body and there was simply so many. She was going all over the place, left, right, up, down, spiralling around and all at a ridiculously fast speed. Every time she cleared an obstacle, another took it's place with only a second to react. Thankfully the night light allowed her to see where she was going and through twists and turns she rode the current. It actually almost felt like fun had the situation not been a life or death one. Heart rate working overtime, Ducky finally emerged into a long straight passage and out of the needle work of stone teeth and she felt the current start to dies down, she looked back and saw that it was but as she turned her head….
Shluck!
Ducky let out a scream of pain as the pointed tip of one last stone tooth slashed across her spine of her back, all the way from near the base of her neck, down to the tip of her tail, the pain was terrible but the cut was shallow but seeing all the blood in the water did not help Ducky’s current mental state she trembled in pain and fear, letting only the current take her.
“It is hurting so much” whimpered Ducky internally, holding a hand out to touch the long cut and flinched as pain coursed through her body, she withdrew her hand.
Although Ducky was even more terrified she knew that she still had to get out of this place and that the cut wasn’t life threatening although it caused her much pain, she was also aware that she was now probably more than three quarters of the way through the caves…..at least that is what she guessed so she continued on slowly and carefully due to her sore body, she was also now getting desperate for air and started looking around for any sign of air bubbles.
“I cannot use anymore plants unless I need to” thought Ducky as she was aware she only had two plants left. She swam on and begged that the exit would come soon and that no more trouble would befall her.
She swam slowly along the tunnel, her strength drained from all that hard work and from a lack of air but thankfully she could see and hear an air bubble directly overhead which she quickly exploited by breathing in deeply from the small pocket of air until the crevice was underwater again. As if getting air was not good enough, her back and tail were no longer bleeding out, the bleeding having clotted but it was still fragile. Ducky swam on but that was when she saw a very peculiar anomaly at the end of the tunnel.
It looked like orange water or an orange mist in the water. Ducky did not have a clue what it was but it was heading on a path that was her only way out so for better or for worse she would have to go through it. Little did Ducky know of the mortal danger she was swimming into as she approached the strange mist which was actually sulphuric acid.
Since Ducky didn’t know what she was going into she thought that it would be best to get through it as quickly as possible, so she gathered all the speed she could and entered the acidic underwater cloud. As soon as she entered she felt a strange tingling sensation over her body but that instantly changed as her wounds became amerced in the acid. Ducky let out an agonised scream, never had she felt so much pain in her life as her wounds were not only opened up and bleeding again from the acid but the stuff had also poured right into her body as well, causing her extreme pain. Ducky convulsed and felt herself ram into the wall ahead. Trembling in pain, she suddenly realised that the pain was no longer as bad, since she had made it through the cloud but looking back she immediately knew what would happen the next time she had to go into one of those pain-inducing mists.
A whimper could be heard from Ducky as she tried to calm her frantic nerves and heart. “Somebody help me please!” she screamed in her mind. “I want my mooommmmyyyyyyy!” she thought desperately but all she could see was darkness now as her plant’s light died and taking with it most of the hope she had and replaced it with fear.
Ducky sank to the bottom of the tunnel and curled herself up, in a trembling ball but as she shifted, she felt the hard structure of bone and holding her hands out next to her she realised that she was right next to another one of The Trials countless victims. Ducky shivered unnerved. Was this how it would all end? Is that what she would soon become? An unrecognisable skeleton locked away deep within the darkest and scariest caves? Never to be found again? Never to see her precious mother, her family, her friends?
Ducky suddenly felt like her heartbeat made an extra loud thump when she started thinking of her loved ones, of how she missed them and of how they were probably missing her. She closed her eyes and made a wish “I wish to see them all again to be with my mom and my sister and my brother and all my bestest friends, yes I do, I really do” she thought loudly, as if her thought could actually be heard by an outside listener.
Ducky slowly moved out of her ball and swam slowly onwards, keeping an ear out for air. The current was not against her so she moved swiftly but she was tired, her back bled and her chest hurt and she was starting to become cold but move on she did then suddenly as she turned a corner she saw it: Daylight at the end of the tunnel. Ducky’s heart soured and she swam as fast as she could towards the light. “I am going to do it, I am, I am!” she thought joyously, however her thoughts were short lived when she discovered that it was not the exit but an air pocket, leading all the way out of the caves but it was too steep to climb.
Ducky surfaced in this small air bubble and took a huge gulp of air and revelled in the sunlight, shining down upon her and bringing hope and warmth into all her soul. Ducky took this time to take a well needed respite from her exertions. And thankfully there was some Night Light growing around that she could use but at the moment Ducky was more interested in satisfying her hunger and replenishing her strength so she grabbed a handful of the luminescent plants and began to eat.
*
Littlefoot let out a long sigh as he continued to sit, watch and wait with his friends for Ducky to come out. If she ever… “No! I can’t think like that, Ducky will do it” thought Littlefoot in an attempt to keep positive. However, he just couldn’t sit here any longer, he had to move about and calm his on-edge nerves. “I’m going for a walk” he said suddenly to the surprise of everyone present.
“I won’t go far just down in the direction of the caves and back” he said to assure his father that he would not be in any big danger.
“Okay Littlefoot, just don’t go too far and keep your eyes and ears open” said Bron reciting a wisdom that Littlefoot was all too familiar with. He rolled his eyes and was about to walk off when another voice spoke out.
“I’ll join you” Littlefoot looked back to see Trough getting to his feet.
“Me too” said Ruby a second later and as one all the other kids got to their feet and walked over to him. Only Jane remained behind in her Uncle's arms. Littlefoot smiled at the show of support from his friends even now it made a huge difference to his mind set and already the world seemed less gloomy.
The friends walked silently up the bank. As they passed the large rock that housed the caves beneath Trough stopped and looked solemnly at the massive hunk of rock. He gave a sad sigh and didn’t know why but he spoke seemingly to the rock. “I know you probably can’t hear me Ducky but I know that I am always with you even if it is in spirit, you’re my best friend and I love you like a brother” he said sadly.
“Trough! What are you talking to a rock for?” came Cera’s voice from afar. Trough saw the Gang returning. He hoped they hadn’t heard what he said. “That Cera would never let me hear the end of it” thought Trough.
“I was trying tell Ducky that I’m here for her” said Trough, slumping his shoulders.
“Well, we are all here for her” said Ali as she stopped next to Trough.
“But we're not!” said Cera angrily.
Petrie nodded his head in agreement “She should not have to go through this alone” he said.
Spike looked distastefully at the rock and wished he had some way to tell his sister that he was here and standing tall for her. But how? He couldn’t talk and even than it was unlikely his sister would hear him from where she was. That was when the idea popped into his head. He smiled and started to softly to hum, it was soft enough to be touching but it was also loud enough to be heard. The tune he hummed was something that only the original Gang would know.
While Trough, Ruby, Shorty, Ali, Chomper and Diver all eyed Spike curiously it held a different meaning for Littlefoot, Cera and Petrie who all smiled at the sound of the familiar tune. It brought back old find memories of their first night on Chomper's Island and as Spike hummed the concluding verse they added they’re voices to the song.
“Always there, someone you can count on to comfort you”
“Always there, like a green, green Valley you can come home too”
They concluded their song with smiles in their faces.
“We will always be there for you Ducky, you are never alone” said Littlefoot to the rock.
“Never!” The children yelled out as one. Littlefoot then gestured with his head to the others to follow him back to the adults.
*
Ducky wiped a happy tear from her eye after she heard those words, she took them all straight to heart, bringing warmth to the dark, even though they didn’t think Ducky had heard them, she really was touched by them all. “I can do this” said Ducky closing her eyes and imagined how each of her friends had looked when they had sung that song the first time and what they might have looked like when they were singing just before. Each one of their faces burned brighter than The Bright Circle. She let those warm feelings of love fill her body. “There is always hope, I am not alone, I can do this yep, yep, yep” said Ducky, feeling her confidence and strength return to her tired body. She took her final breath and dived under once again. She had a Trial to complete.
Ducky swam with a greater determination as the song and her friend’s voices ran through her head keeping her hope and strength alive. They believed in her and with that thought in mind Ducky felt that nothing would stop her from reuniting with the ones she loved and Trough he actually said he loved her. Ducky felt like she had been catapulted high into space when she heard those words and her feelings of love flew through the wall and inspired her to new heights, it was these thoughts that filled her exhausted body with a strength she never would have believed she had.
However, her journey suddenly took a turn when she heard a thundering noise of water on rock like before but it was nothing like that in volume, it sounded as loud as thunder itself and something else, something she had faced once before that was that loud, Ducky stomach dropped, she had a very bad feeling about what was coming up, she braced herself against the wall and began her horizontal climb again, albeit much faster than before but as she got to the next junction the current was pulling hard to the left.
“I am glad that I got some more Night Light I am, I am” thought Ducky who was aware of the handful of Night Light in her hands, she also noted the feeling of fullness in her belly, she had the energy she needed now. Ducky crushed a plant in her hands and looked in the direction that the current was moving and noting its strength but she also felt a strange tingling around her head. It was a terrible realisation, she realised what water she was about to swim into and not just the pain inducing water from before but when she looked at where the water was going she felt sick. It was heading for a huge circular chamber with four large passages around the sides but the whirlpool that was created in the middle was almost completely orange. She was going to swim into an acid whirlpool!
Ducky of course didn’t know about the acid but she knew what would happen when her wounds touched the water and felt sick, would she be able to handle that much pain? She knew she couldn’t go back or she would run out of air or get lost. Thankfully she saw the water moving through a passage on the far end of the chamber which was where the water was exiting the chamber which meant that would lead her out. The other passages just brought in huge amounts of water from the other connecting rivers and because of weathering in the rock sulphide minerals had intermingled with the water, creating the clouds of orange which was sulphuric acid.
Ducky knew she had to make it through fast or the pain would consume her, it was a mercy that she didn’t know that she would be dissolved by the acids if she stayed in there for too long. Ducky silently thanked Noon and Mo for teaching her how to get through a whirlpool but how to get around the pain. Looking at the plants in her hands. Ducky got the longest ones she could find and stuffed them into the cut on her back. She grimaced with pain throughout the procedure but hopefully it would help slow the pain.
Summoning all her courage and strength and fortitude Ducky took the plunge into hell’s pool.
The pain was immediate but it wasn’t crippling like it was before, it seems that the plants had helped slow the acids progress into the wounds. Ducky followed the current into the whirlpool and right before she closed her eyes to stop the burning pain she felt on them but just before she closed them she saw that the floor of the cavern was littered with innumerable skeletons of Swimmers who had fallen during the Trial. It seemed that this hell pool had claimed many lives but Ducky was determined to see her friends and family again. She held onto all their voices and the last song they sung to her as she moved into the down current.
Her speed doubled, then tripled, the further she went down and so far, the pain was bearable thanks to the plants. The cavern wasn’t too deep so she was able to make it down pretty quickly but then she had to blindly dodge the skeletons, just by feeling the water and the current. She swerved left and right in her tight circle but no matter how hard she tried she could not avoid hitting the crest bone of one of the fallen skeletons and while it didn’t knock her off course, it did tear some of the plant from her tail and the acid entered her body through her open wounds causing another wave of intense pain. Ducky screamed and struggled to remain in the same position as an unbelievable burning sensation shot up her spine from her tail, as if her tail was on fire.
Ducky swam on concentrating every ounce of effort into ignoring her pain and thinking of her friends, their words, their faces, the song, her love for them all. She kept her eyes closed continued another circle however as she finally found the up current she suddenly felt weaker, she felt frail as if strength was being drained from her limbs. She didn’t realise it but the acid was starting to have a dangerous effect on her small body, she couldn’t see but a part of her tail looked very red, as the skin slowly started to melt away.
Ducky felt her legs fault as she battled her way through the up current, towards the tunnel out, she was relying solely on her sense of hearing and touch to guide her as everything else was useless in this environment. Ducky felt the current starting to win. “I cannot do this no, no-“ She halted herself and thought back to her brief respite before. “My friends believe in me and Trough loves me I can do this, I must do this, I will see them again yes, yes, yes!” Her mental voice which had previously been small and full of despair suddenly became strong, powerful and determined and most importantly it reminded Ducky of who was waiting for at the end of this dark tunnel. Ducky kicked her legs and stroked her arms harder than ever and shot forward like a torpedo despite the intense pain in her body and limbs, right out of the whirlpool and into the tunnel that headed towards her friends and family.
She could hear the raging sound of water behind her but she strained her ears to hear what she thought was more thundering water ahead. “Could that be the way out?” questioned Ducky, her hope rising. She knew she could do it and continued onwards but she made sure to crush another plant and saw she was now making her way through another tunnel with dozens of connecting tunnels and crevices with powerful currents shooting out of them like geezers.
Ducky sped up and as she passed the first connecting passage she was buffered to her left by an unseen current but she had hardly any exposure and as the current joined the main stream Ducky’s speed increased. The currents buffered Ducky from all ends but Ducky got through each of them until Ducky saw a T-intersection ahead but there were a few stone teeth sticking out of the middle of the rock wall. Ducky slowed herself, but suddenly an unseen current of orange mist hit her from the rear left and tore off the plants blocking her wounds from penetration from the deadly acid.
Ducky screamed and convulsed, going completely out of control. The pain was blinding but almost as quick as it started it was over but then as Ducky turned her head to the direction she had been heading in....
SHLUCK!
Ducky gasped as a cold numbness went over her entire body, which was followed by a small burning feeling that was slowly increasing in her leg. Her light was nearly gone but when she opened her eyes she was blinded by red, by blood, her blood.
Her heart was racing faster than a rocket at that moment as she slowly looked down to see….
Her leg, had been impaled on a stone tooth, which was more like a stone sword. It had gone straight through her left leg when she crashed into the wall. Ducky’s light disappeared just as she pulled her leg free of the sword like stone and she sank to the ground, her body going into shock and with hardly any air left due to her screams. However, Ducky couldn’t scream now, all her mind was telling her now was that she was going to die as her mind started to cloud and her conscious started to fade.
*
The small herd had moved back to the bank of the river as the rain had now stopped but all had seen the huge deluge of water rush out of the caves, but so far there was no sign of Ducky and while no one admitted it, they all thought she had been in there way too long. Was she alive? Sura was struggling to keep her composure, she felt like she would faint at any moment even though she had seen no obvious sign that Ducky was dead but she could still have drowned, that didn’t exactly leave any signs.
“Oh Ducky, please come out” she whispered to herself and looked down at the ground solemnly.
It was a collective gasp that drew her attention back to her companions, however their faces conveyed only horror, Sura’s heart skipped a beat and she turned her head to the river and saw the river running red, red with blood, her daughter’s blood. Could that mean that she was……..?
The question hung in the air for everyone as they tried to absorb what they were seeing.
Sura shook her head in horror “No” she whimpered and fell to onto her knees, tears now flowing freely down her face from her wide eyes, had she looked next to her she would have seen similar reactions from her companions.
“She can’t be” she said in rebellion watching as all of a sudden the blood suddenly stopped flowing out of the caves, it wasn’t such a large amount of blood that passed, maybe that meant that Ducky was still alive but…. “She’s hurt” said Sura.
Everyone turned to her, looking hard at her face, begging that Ducky was not dead. “There is not enough blood, she must be alive” said Sura, her voice suddenly becoming firm as she got back onto her feet and held her gaze on the caves. “Come on Ducky, YOU CAN DO IT!” she yelled to the caves as if her daughter could hear her, she was not willing to give up hope that easily and everyone was inclined to believe her words and remain vigilant but if they only knew of Ducky’s situation then their hope would certainly fade.
*
“I am so sorry mommy, I am so, so sorry everyone” thought Ducky as the black veil of unconsciousness finally started to overwhelm her, this was it, she was doomed, she would never see her family and friends again. Ducky cried internally as she lay coiled in a foetal position on the cave floor, blood steadily leaking from her leg. Her eyes closed, they felt so heavy and she didn’t feel like opening them, she just felt so tired, some part of her wondered if this is what dying felt like, it wasn’t as bad as she expected. She opened her eyes again through sheer force of will and instead was confronted by something she never expected.
She was looking at a sight she had only seen in her dreams, it was the rainforest waterhole, of pure crystal clear water that sparkled in the gorgeous sunshine and she also noticed that the waterhole was filled with hundreds of young Swimmers, they were all looking at her and yelling at her.
“Don’t Give Up!”
“There Is Always Hope!”
“You’re So Close!”
“Keep pushing, you’ll make it!”
They were shouting encouragement to her but she didn’t recognise any of them, she was probably seeing things but that was until she spotted a familiar dark green Swimmer walking up onto a rock in front of her field of vision. He smiled at her.
“There is always light in the darkness Ducky, you can do it if you try, you’re so close, just don’t forget your loved ones and never give up” said Swayer.
Ducky felt her eyes water. “I do not know if I can do it no, no, no” she whispered softly.
“You have made me proud Ducky and I consider you my best friend, I am will always be with you” he said walking right up to her and nuzzled her cheek before pulling her into a long kiss, Ducky closed her eyes contently and returned the kiss.
However, Ducky opened her eyes to see the blackness of the cave again but she heard in her head “You are never alone Ducky, you have many friends, now go and beat the tail off of this stupid Trial!” Swayer’s voice was loud and so warm and powerful. Ducky felt her eyes narrow. She had to do this! “I will see every one again yep, yep, yep!” Ducky yelled in her mind, she narrowed her eyes and despite the burning pain in her body she righted herself and began swimming slowly, but surely forward. Every kick of her legs, ever stroke of her arms seemed to take an eternity and the pain and dizziness were still present but they were dulled by the feelings of love that she allowed to flow through her body and give her the strength to complete this blasted Trial.
Finally, as she turned around a corner and looked down towards the left she saw a T intersection and down the left path was dim light. “The way out!” thought Ducky, her eyes widening and she pushed her legs harder but just as she rounded the bend to see the exit to the caves just 10 metres away to her right she was assaulted by another wave of excruciating pain. Ducky realised what she was travelling through but her salvation was right there!
Closing her eyes tightly she fought against the pain she felt, she convulsed and shook but through her willpower she forced herself onwards. “I am going to do this!” said Ducky to herself over and over again, the images of her loved ones and Swayer keeping her determination alive. She made it to the last turn and with one mighty stroke of her arms she entered the current and rode it straight towards the blinding light at the end of the tunnel, as she neared and crossed the threshold everything turned white.
*
“DUCKY!” screamed Sura at the top of her lung, her voice boomed with joy when she saw her little one come out of the caves. She was aware of the cheers of the children as they all ran to the bank. Ducky crossed the finished line and completed The Trial. “She did it, she completed The Trial of Destiny!” cried Sura happily however that feeling changed to concern as Ducky finally hit the shore but she didn’t get out and there was blood in the water. She was hurt.
Sura wasted no time in lifting Ducky out of the water and saw to her horror a long cut along her spine from neck to tail tip and another stab wound that had gone clean through her left leg and her chest was very badly bruised. the blood was already flowing over her hands. She felt the bruised area and felt two broken ribs. Sura gasped at the trauma her little one had been through but she was at least alive. Everyone else gasped as they saw Ducky’s injuries.
It was at that moment that Ducky opened her eyes and looked to see her mother and her friends, surrounding her. “Mommy, I did it, yes I did, I am so happy to see you all” she said, smiling contently and suddenly fell back unconscious. Sura nuzzled her little one while Cyrest and Grandma Swimmer looked at her wounds.
“Looks like she was lucky, none of the muscles are severed in the leg and the bone is not broken” said Cyrest, allowing everyone to sigh in relief, she was going to be alright, though she did look very frail for some reason.
“Oh no!” said Grandma Swimmer suddenly.
“Huh?” everyone turned to her, the elderly Swimmer was examining the wounds and Ducky’s tail which had patches of red and the wounds had bubbles around them.
“She’s been in burning water” she said urgently.
The adults gasped and paled at her exclamation. Sura looked horrified as she noticed what her mother was talking about and quickly placed Ducky back into the river and rinsed and scrubbed her wounds. Ducky convulsed violently and Spike whimpered.
“Burning water?” asked Diver looking frightened. It was Bluey who answered her.
“Burning water is not hot water, it’s what we call water that is the same kind as the water that is in our stomach, it breaks down the food we eat and if you ever throw up, then you notice how your throat burns but Ducky has been completely submerged in this water if she stayed in their long enough then she would have been dissolved into nothing but bones” explained Bluey to the shock of the children who all gasped and looked back at Ducky who Sura had finished bathing.
“Is that why she looks so….?”
“Frail?” said Bluey, finishing off Shorty’s sentence. “Yes” she confirmed.
“But she’ll be okay?” asked Trough looking desperate. “Won’t she?” His bottem lip was trembling as was his hands.
Bluey nodded and put a reassuring hand on her small friend “I’m sure she will, she’s in good hands” she looked back at her mother and sister along with Cyrest who were already applying healing herbs and bandaging her wounds.
“Ducky did it” said Ali, everyone looked at her, Ali was smiling widely. “Ducky completed the true Trial of Destiny” she announced happily.
“Which means she can do The Trial in The Valley!” said Cera boldly. Everyone joined together in the happy celebration until Sura moved among them and settled down with a content smile on her face.
“Well, I think we shall be staying here for the night, after all Ducky needs rest and we all need to recover from that dreadful wait” she said as she wrapped Ducky within her tail. Diver, Trough and Spike all came over to settle down next to Ducky and keep her company.
Sura nuzzled her little ones and as she nuzzled Ducky very gently, she whispered “I am so proud of you my little Ducky, I know you can beat Sculra’s Trial, I am so happy for you” she broke off and finally laid her head on the ground and gave a relaxed sigh. Ducky had completed The Trial, the true one and she was now safe and on the road to recovery. She could rest much easier now, that she had a real hope that her daughter would survive The Trial in The Great Valley.
*
Elsewhere in The Mysterious Beyond, The Barren Lands a day’s walk from The Great Valley
“I’m starving” growled Red Claw angrily, he, Screech and Thud had not had any food for days, not to mention they were all still covered with the markings of their last encounter with The Gang which left them all bitter and Red Claw rather short tempered. Screech and Thud were currently searching for any signs of food while Red Claw sat back in an awful temper at the moment, which meant that Screech and Thud were glad to get going so they would not get caught on the end of a red claw from the bigger dinosaur.
Red Claw had been waiting for several hours but so far, the two insufferable fast biters had not returned from their little scouting expedition however he didn’t have to wait much longer as he saw the two Fast Biters approaching at top speed.
That had been a few hours ago, now the three carnivores were feasting on the carrion of a dead Longneck that Screech and Thud had found, each one was eating their fill and enjoying the feeling of fullness that replaced the emptiness in their bellies. Red Claw’s temper had calmed down but he was nearly always in a bad mood now, ever since the last incident with The Gang.
He promised that he would get them soon for this outrage, he was also pissed off that they had managed to escape his teeth again. “One day their luck will run out, one day I will have the feast I deserve” swore Red Claw.
The trio of carnivores were so locked in their meal that they didn’t notice a fourth figure approach from behind.
“Well, took me long enough to find you” said cold feminine voice in the Sharptooth language.
The huge Sharptooth and two small Fast Biters turned their heads sharply around but what they saw caught them completely off guard. Standing a short distance away was what appeared to be an elderly brown female Swimmer.
“Don’t look so surprised I’ve known about you and how to speak your tongue for quite a while now” said the Swimmer coldly.
Red Claw scrutinised her closely, it wasn’t every leaf eater that could speak Sharptooth and even fewer of those would willingly get this close to him. “Who are you and what do you want Swimmer?” stated Red Claw suspiciously. The fact that a leaf eater could speak his kinds tongue alone was clearly a sign of untrustworthiness and trouble.
“My name is not your business Red Claw but what I want is the same thing that you will soon want” said the Swimmer, her initial retort stinging in the Sharpteeths ears.
“What do you mean?” asked Screech, pointing a finger at her.
“I mean that in a day or two there will be a small herd of Swimmers passing through here. About four adults and those children that you’ve been hunting” said the Swimmer.
The Sharpteeth looked at her in surprise and interest, this was certainly news to them. “How do you know this?” asked Thud.
“That’s not for you to know youngling!” snapped the Swimmer firmly. Thud had to admit that she had a very cold and cruel temperament, he was wondering if this so called ëSwimmer’ was actually a Sharptooth in disguise.
“You can kill them and have a great feast but you must keep the Brown adult female alive and the small light green Swimmer youngling that is her daughter” continued the Swimmer.
Thud narrowed his eyes. He believed he knew which child that this Swimmer was referring, the one that once got trapped on the ledge with Chomper and himself. Why keep her alive though?
“Why should we spare them?” demanded Red Claw.
“The feast you’ll have will be more than enough and I’ve got something very ëspecial’ planned for those two Swimmers but if it counsels you, that little child will soon be dead anyway and if you show me that you've killed some of them then I might just tell you a secret way into The Great Valley that only I know about” said the Swimmer coldly.
“You would betray and kill your own kind?” asked Screech, looking rather uneasy.
“Your one to talk!” shot back the Swimmer “Sharpteeth betray and kill members of their own kind all the time, so why not me? Besides you’ll all get a feast out of it if you catch them by surprise”
“We accept your offer,” said Red Claw with a toothy smile on his bloody face, both Fast Biters looked at him in surprise “in exchange for your life and those two Swimmer’s if you really mean that you will kill that youngling and tell us the secret entrance into that cursed Valley after we are done with them”
The Swimmer smiled coldly. There was an evil glint in her eyes. “Well, since it appears that we have a deal I will bid you all farewell” said the Swimmer coldly with a dismissive wave of her hand and turned tail leaving two very unnerved Fast Biters and a very eager Sharptooth behind her.
“Yes,” thought Sculra “This will demoralize those two pathetic weaklings, everything is going perfectly to plan” She gave a malicious smirk as she headed back towards The Great Valley, it was time to really set her plans and power into stone.
Well, here's the chapter you've all been waiting for, hope you enjoyed it and be sure to let me know what you think. Also thanks for the feedback in your previous reviews both in this thread and the GoF FF awards.
