The Adventures of Creech and her Friends Part 1

Chapter 6: The Qualifying Races

    As the days passed, Creech, Dusty, and the others continued to practice without the help of a real trainer. During this time, Chug, Snow White, and Mulan all helped them out as much as they could while Dottie stopped trying to get them or of the race, knowing fully well that one way or another, it wouldn't do any good. Weeks later, they were all on their way to Lincoln, Nebraska, where the Wings Around The Globe qualifiers would take place. "Well, here we are, guys," Creech said as they arrived at the runway itself.

    "Phew, good thing to," said Kovu, breathing a sigh of relief, "because I really need to get my legs stretched. They're really stiff right now as it is."

    The moment Creech landed her sailcraft down to the ground, Kopa, Kovu, and Junior hopped off and started to run around in a chase, happy that the long trip was over. Dottie was still a little skeptical as she joined the others. "Honestly Dusty and Creech, I don't know how you two talked me into coming to this," she said, sounding a little irritated.

    "Oh, come on, Dottie," Dusty replied with a chuckle.

    Creech just rolled her eyes. I'll have to try and get used to Dottie's lectures sooner or later, she thought with an added chuckle. Then, she called out, "Kopa! Kovu! Junior! Come on over here, you three! Don't want you guys getting lost!"

    As if they heard her, the three boys hurried over, looking excited. This was without a doubt one of the most exciting racing events of the year. While looking around, Chug's eyes landed on someone doing stunts in the sky. "Check it out!" he exclaimed as he flew overhead.

    "Whoa!" Dusty exclaimed in wonder.

    Even Creech was impressed. "Wow. He's good," she commented in wonder.

    Just then, they heard someone announcing the arrival of special guests. Glancing to the side, Creech and the others saw 2 boys that looked almost identical to each other, except that their racing uniforms were different colors, one being white while the other was a lime green color. With them were 3 dark gray-spotted hyenas, 2 boys and 1 girl. The boy hyenas looked like they were having fun watching the sky while Creech couldn't help but notice that the girl hyena was trying to hide a pained expression on her face. Just looking at her made Creech feel almost sorry for her. Wonder what happened to her, she thought.

    Then, 2 lion roars and an engine caught her attention. Gathering Kopa in her arms, she watched as two grown up lions and a young man, probably just somewhere in his mid-20s, in a black and green racing suit fly around, making fantastic patterns with green smoke attachments on their backs. Kopa's widen a little one he saw the lioness, but tried to hide his fear, making Creech worried as soon as she saw him.

    Once the 3 racers landed, they were immediately cheered at by fans. While walking toward them, the lioness suddenly glared at Kopa, who shivered even harder. Now Creech was getting more worried for him than ever. "What's wrong, Kopa?" she asked.

    "I can't talk about it right now," Kopa replied with a shudder. "Mind if I talk about it tonight?"

    "I don't mind at all, Kopa," Creech answered, hugging him.

    After setting him down next to Dusty, Creech heard Esmeralda sigh as she made her way over to her. "Poor cub," she said with another sigh. "He usually kept having nightmares about that lioness."

    "Well, if that's true," Creech asked, "then who are they?"

    Esmeralda glanced over at the racers. The lion was a dark-colored brown at the fur with a shaggy black mane. The lioness next to him was the color of almost-dried-out mud. The racer's black and green race suit shone in the sun, and his inky-black hair was dyed green at the tips. The two smaller racers walked alongside them while the 3 hyenas trotted from behind. Looking at a confused and curious Creech, Esmeralda decided to answer the question. "Well, that tall racer over is Ripslinger, a 3-time racing champion who people call-"