Rescue Riders: The Intruder.

17. The Morning After.

(The Pic is Slash. It's my work so tell me what you think. Is she what you expected?)

Winger's p.o.v.

I wake up and just lay there, enjoying the calm around me. Then I notice that I'm not where I fell asleep. I look around and see Cloud laying asleep beside me. 'I'm in her nest! How did I get here? Last I remember Cloud was singing and we were over there, she must have moved me here afterwards. And... are the rocks warm?' Cloud groans and lifts her head up, blinking. When she sees me, she jumps up and backs away, her tail twitching. "Morning. How'd you sleep?" I ask as I slowly stand and stretch out my limbs. 'She's really tense.' "Fine, you?" Cloud replies, "Good..." We stare at each other for an awkward moment. 'I want answers but don't want to seem rude, and by the way she answered my first question I doubt she'd tell me anything.'

Potitin and Summer emerge from the Sleep Cave, saving us from the silence. "You two are up early. Did you sleep well?" Summer asks. Potitin looks at me weird, like he's searching for something. "Good. You off to go fishing?" Cloud replies, turning her attention to them. "Ya. You ate all the fish." Summer smiles. Cloud looks at her paws. "Sorry about that." 'Why is she sorry? Summer was just teasing.' "How's Slash? I haven't heard from her in a while." Cloud turns to Potitin. 'She's worried about Slash?! Last time they were together Slash hurt her! And Slash never tried to check on her either.' "She's good. She would've come to see you but... that would mean she would have to apologize... and you know Slash." "'I never apologize!'" Cloud finishes for Potitin in a silly impression of Slash, leaving us all laughing. "Pretty much. She is sorry though. She'll never admit it, but she is." Potitin and Summer then head off to fish.

(I'm sorry but this next part sucks and I couldn't figure out how to redo it 🥲)

Cloud walks over to the bridge that connects us to the island. As she starts to cross it, it groans loudly. When she's about halfway across it, the bridge snaps! I run over and see her hanging onto the broken bridge. "Hold on!" I yell down to her. "Oh, great Idea. Never would have come up with that myself!" Cloud yells back. 'Ok so she's either in shock or being sarcastic is how Cloud handles danger.' I quickly fly down to her. "Let go! I'll catch you!" Cloud looks at me like I'm crazy. She tries to pull herself up, but the strain snaps the board she was holding on to and she starts falling. I swoop down and catch her. "I'm not going to panic. I'm not going to panic." She mutters to herself as I fly back up to the Roost. When I set her down, she walks straight over to where the bridge was and inspects it. "This makes no sense. It was fine when I left last night, why did it break now?" 'Really? After all that she's-Wait.' "What do you mean 'When I left last night'?" I ask, narrowing my eyes at her. 'What if the bridge had collapsed last night and I wasn't there to help her?! I can't let Cloud out of my sight, who knows what could happen!' "I left last night after you fell asleep to go to me special cave. I go there when I." Cloud freezes and her body gets really tense. Something tells me she hadn't wanted to say that much. 

Dak, Layla, and the rest of the Rescue Riders emerge from the Roost. "Whoa! What happened to the bridge?" Dak asks as he runs over to look at where the bridge had been. "What does it look like? The bridge broke." Cloud answers flatly. "Which means I'm stuck here." "Oh, right. I keep forgetting that you can't fly." Layla says. "We can get Hannarh to fix it, but it will probably take a while. Cloud groans loudly.

Oh man! I wonder how the bridge broke. And what this mysterious cave is. Hey everyone! Happy New Year! I hope you liked this chapter. The second half was really cringy, sorry. Do you think Cloud will go stir crazy? And what of Winger's sudden protectiveness? Comment and tell me what you think! Next time! 🐾🦥