EPISODE 45: WASHED UP RIVER
CHARACTERS
Dink
Amber
Scat
Shyler
Flapper
Crusty
Pearl
Avemi (OC)
Dippo
Water Hunters (OCs)
It was raining hard in Green Meadow.  Shyler stood beside Scat underneath a big tree.   “It sure coming down hard Shyler.” Scat said.
“I know.  We can’t play until it stops.” Shyler sighed.
“Hopefully it will end soon.”  said Amber, who was sheltering underneath another tree.   
“It’s been going for eight days now.  Green Meadow is starting to flood.” Dink said.
“Has anyone seen Flapper?” Amber asked.
“He’s out taking advantage of all the flooding trying to perfect his water landing efforts.” Dink sighed.
“Flapper nuts.” Scat said, shaking his head.
At that moment, Flapper arrived, totally dripping wet.  “I am pleased to announce that, after many failed attempts, I was finally able to pull off the perfect landing.” he declared proudly.  “Problem is, there was nobody there to see it as they all wanted to avoid the rain.”
“Well done Flapper.” said Amber.
“Anyone seen Dink?” Scat asked.
“He was with Crusty last I knew.” Amber replied.
At that moment, Crusty came running toward them.  “Dink and Pearl have fallen into the water.  Pearl accidentally fell in and Dink went in after her to try and rescue her but got stuck himself!” the old turtle cried.
“Why didn’t you rescue them, Crusty?” Amber asked.
“They managed to get onto a large rock and are of the way of the water for now.   However, the current is so strong that I can’t get to them at the moment.”
They ran to where Dink and Pearl were struggling, clinging to  a rock.   “Here’s what you kids need to do.  I’ll have these vines tied around me and I’ll go get them.  You help pull me in so that we don’t get swept away by the current.”
Crusty reached Dink and Pearl was headed back.  Each of them pulled onto the vine attached to Crusty, bringing him closer to shore.  However, as they neared shore, Shyler, who was nearest to the water, lost his balance and fell in.  Amber could have grabbed him but she instead grabbed the vine so as not to lose Crusty, Pearl, and Dink.   “Flapper, get Shyler!” she cried.
Flapper flew toward Shyler to grab him.  However, as he neared, a bolt of lightning came near him, forcing Flapper to rapidly change direction.  The Bigwing crashed onto the shore many feet away.   He got up, seeing little honeyfruits spinning around his head.   “Mmmm, honeyfruit!” he said stupidly.
“Honeyfruit?  Where?” Scat asked, looking around.  
Flapper quickly came to his senses.  “Never mind the honeyfruit!  We’ve lost Shyler!”
“Poor Shyler!” Scat said.  
Shyler, meanwhile, was swept downriver by the currents for several hours.  After several minutes of being in the water, he had found a floating log and grabbed onto it to keep himself from drowning.   Soon after grabbing onto the log, he had fallen asleep from exhaustion.  He was eventually carried all the way out to sea.   When he came to, he realized where he was.  “Gosh, I’m all the way out to sea.  How will I ever get back to Green Meadow?”   He saw something move in the water.   Was it a Water Hunter?   As the creature came out of the water, however, he realized with relief that it was not a Water Hunter but his friend Dippo the Land Fish.
“Dippo!” he cried.  
“Shyler, what are you doing out here?”
“I tried to help rescue Dink but was swept away by the current.”
“You need to get back home.”
“The problem is, I don’t know where home is.”
“I can help you find it.”
“Thank you Dippo.”
Dippo leaned against the log and pushed against it, swimming toward shore.   “I normally don’t come out here.  I was swept out here by the flood waters.   Well, that was part of the reason that I came out here.”
“Why else did you come out here?”
At that moment, something moved in the water nearby.   The two stopped talking and turned to stare at it.   A trio of Water Hunters sprang out of the water and toward Shyler.   “Oh no, it’s Water Hunters!  They’re the reason I came out here.  They chased me out here!” Dippo said.    Knowing that his friend was trapped on the log and that he himself would fare better against the Water Hunters in the water, he lunged at the Water Hunter, knocking him away from Shyler.   The Water Hunter snarled and the three of them chased after Dippo, who fled, leaving Shyler, alone.   
“Oh Dippo!” Shyler moaned.  He wondered if his friend would be ok.   Dippo was certainly faster in water than on land, but there were three of those Water Hunters after him.  Though still worried about his friend, he didn’t see what he could do to help Dippo at the moment.   The disappearance of the Water Hunters had given him a chance to paddle to toward shore unbothered.  However, every time he paddled a dozen or so feet, the currents of the ocean would send him right back to where he had been before.   “Oh, it’s no use.  I’ll never get back home now!” he moaned.  
Suddenly, another Water Hunter appeared.   “Oh no!” Shyler cried.  He began to paddle away from shore and from the Water Hunter.  SNAP!   The Water Hunter bit off part of the log.  Sweat poured from Shyler’s face as he paddled as fast as he could, trying to keep himself from ending up inside the creature’s maw.  Up ahead, Shyler spotted land.   Upon reaching the edge of the shore, he leaped off of the log and onto shore, and just in time too, for the Water Hunter bit the part of the log where he had just been.
Shyler was glad to be safe from the Water Hunter, but, at the same time, he was now stranded on an island.  His stomach growled; he hadn’t eaten yet that day.   He began looking for something to eat.  Eventually, he found some melonberries.   While he had food, he still had no idea how he was going to get back to Green Meadow.   He also was concerned about Dippo.  Had he gotten away?  
At that moment, he saw something moving in the water toward him.  He backed away from the shore, thinking it to be a Water Hunter.  However, much to his relief, it turned out to be Dippo.   “Dippo, you made it!” he cried in relief.
“Yes, I’ve lost them.  I hope they don’t find us again.”
They heard thunder rumble nearby.  The two looked around and spotted storm clouds in the distance, which were rapidly heading their direction.   “We’d better get some place safe from this storm.” Dippo said.  The two had been caught in a bad storm before; the Great Hollow Tree had collapsed with Dippo still inside of it.  He had barely survived that.   
The two looked around and the safest place they could find to hide was a crevice between some rocks, barely narrow enough for the two of them to squeeze through one at a time.  They had just barely made it inside when the storm hit.  It soon became apparent that this wasn’t just a mere thunderstorm but a particularly bad one.  “As soon as this storm ends, I need to find a way back to Green Meadow.”
“I’m sure it’ll knock over some big branches.  You can float on one of them back to the mainland.”
Some large branches were indeed knocked out of trees.   However, instead of falling away from Shyler and being able to be used to float away on, they all fell in front of the hole that he and Dippo were sheltering in, trapping the two inside.  The two tried to get the wood out of the way but it was too heavy to remove from inside the hole.  “Oh no, how are we going to get out now?” Shyler cried.
“Maybe there is another way out behind us.”
Shyler and Dippo backed up until they had room enough to turn around.   When they turned around, they found that they were in a large cave.   The only light they had was the little bit that came through the crevice behind them.   “What do we do?  There isn’t a lot of light in here and we could end up falling into a pit.” Shyler asked.
“You hold onto me and if you fall into a pit, then I’ll pull you out and if I fall into a pit then you’ll pull me out.”
“What if we both fall into one?”
“Let’s hope that that doesn’t happen.”
“Maybe we should wait here till someone finds us.”
“But that might never happen.  I think if we’re going to get out of here, we’re going to have to do it ourselves.  Now come on.”
Meanwhile, Flapper, Crusty, Dink, Amber, Scat, Pearl, and Avemi were out looking for Shyler.   They had searched all along the river from Green Meadow to the ocean.   “Shyler nowhere to be seen.  Maybe he drowned.” Scat lamented.
“We can’t give up yet.” Crusty said.
“We can’t go any further though.  If Shyler’s gone out to sea, we can’t get him.” Dink sighed.
“Flapper, Avemi, and I can.”  He headed into the water to see if he could find Shyler, alive or dead, while Flapper and Avemi flew out to sea, looking for their friend on the surface as they soared over the water.
Dippo and Shyler, meanwhile, continued to travel through the cave.   So far, they had managed to avoid falling into any pits.  They had had a few close calls, though.   Dippo had started to fall into and Shyler had grabbed onto him and pulled him to safety.   Just a moment ago, Shyler had begun to fall into a pit and Dippo had pulled him back up.   “Oh, I wish that Flapper was here; he could fly us out of here.” Shyler lamented.
“Well, he’s not, so we’ll have to just do the best we can on our own.”
The two could hear wings flapping, moving toward them.  “Maybe that’s him now!” said Shyler hopefully.
“I don’t think so.”
“Why not?”
“Because there would have to be a lot of Flappers if it were.”
KAW-KAW-RANH!   “Pterodactyls!  Run!” Shyler cried.
Several Bigwing Hunters flew down at them like a speeding missile.  “They sound like they’re coming from many different directions!  We’re done for!” Dippo moaned.  The two of them backed away from the Bigwings, and, since they couldn’t see in the dark, fell into a pit.
“Ahhhhhhhh!” the two yelled as they fell.   Luckily, they didn’t land on hard ground, but instead in water.  Well, luckily for Dippo anyway.
“Dippo, I can’t swim!”
"Hang on Shyler!" Dippo dove under the water and pulled him back to the surface. The pterodactyls appeared to have lost track of them, but he needed to get Shyler to dry land. Luckily, he was able to get him to shore.
“Thanks Dippo.”
“No problem Shyler.”
“Gosh, it looks like we’re safe from those pterodactyls and safe from drowning.   But we’re still stuck in here.” 
Meanwhile, Flapper, Avemi, and Crusty still hadn’t found Shyler.   They were about to head back in despair when Avemi spotted his footprints on the sand on the island.   “I see Shyler’s footprints.  He’s with someone else,” she said.  
“Who could be with him?” Flapper asked.
“Looks like the footprints of a Land Fish,” Crusty remarked.
“Dippo!” Flapper cried.
“It would appear so.  I don’t know of any other Land Fish that Shyler knows,” Crusty replied.
However, after getting near the small crevice that Dippo and Shyler had entered, they found that the footprints had disappeared and the path was covered by several large branches.    
“Oh no, Dippo and Shyler must have been flattened!” Flapper sobbed.
“Not necessarily, Flapper.” Crusty remarked.   “There might be a small cave here,” he said, pointing at the rock walls behind the brush, “that they went to hide in from the storm.  Perhaps they were trapped in there by this brush.”   After the three of them had cleared the brush, they found the entrance to the small cave.  “As I suspected, there is a cave here, and Shyler and Dippo are inside.”
The trio ventured inside and were soon met by the pterodactyls.   “Oh no, pterodactyls!” Avemi cried.
“I’ll distract them.  You two find Dippo and Shyler,” Crusty said.
While Crusty distracted the pterodactyls, getting them to chase him out of the cave, the two Bigwings searched for Shyler and Dippo.  “Shyler!  Dippo!” Flapper called.  
Shyler heard him.  “Down here Flap!” he called.
“Avemi, I found them!” Flapper cried.
The two Bigwings first  rescued Shyler, and then they came back and rescued Dippo as well.   
“Thank you guys.  So glad you found us.  I was worried we’d have ended up stuck down there forever.”  Shyler said.
“No problem.”
“Thanks for rescuing me.  I wish there was a way I could get back to the fresh water rivers without encountering those Water Hunters again.” Dippo sighed.
“Not to worry Dippo.  Crusty can carry you on his shell.” Avemi said.
“Thanks guys.” 
An hour later, Crusty had returned Dippo to the fresh water rivers and Flapper and Avemi had returned Shyler back to the mainland.   
“There you go Dippo.” Crusty said as the Land Fish climbed off of his back.  
“Thanks again Crusty.” 
“No problem Dippo.   It’s the least we could do for a friend.  Plus, you helped Shyler.”
And so Shyler returned safely home to Green Meadow and Dippo returned to his home in the rivers.