The Radiant Rangers

Chapter 17

The bushes and trees of low growth had disappeared, to make room for gigantic mahogany trees. They were century old cork trees whose somber branches formed a vaulted roof of green eighty feet above their heads. The various paths within the forest had grown wider and stretched, in a gentle incline, towards a hillock of moderate height, entirely free from trees.

"Aw shit man." said Juliet. She stopped walking and froze on the pathway. Danielle stopped and mimicked her actions. The birds above them were chirping loudly and flying high in large circular motions.

"What?" asked Danielle quietly.

"I forgot to get my phone from Cynthia." Juliet crested her face within her palms. "It's too late to go back now though, and I don't really care... We'll be just fine. As long as I'm with you we'll be okay." she smiled. "We need to find Crimson."

Juliet and Danielle had both forgotten about waiting for Cynthia to return with Juliet's phone. Juliet was so exited for the adventure to find Crimson, that she left as soon as Gwendy and Cynthia had left with Haisley that morning. Danielle didn't question anything and followed Juliet without a second thought. Juliet felt bad for not waiting, but it didn't seem to be much of a concern right now.

"Well...Where do you think he could have gone...?" asked Danielle.

"No idea man," said Juliet. "He just kind of dipped after blowing up his secret base."

"Maybe we should look there..." said Danielle. "Or places around that area."

"Dude," said Juliet. She stared at Danielle. "His base was in the middle of the ocean. Do you really think he could have just..." Juliet's eyes widened and her lips stopped moving.

"What?" asked Danielle. "What is it Juliet?"

"Dude..." started Juliet. Her muddy converse dug deeper into the pathway. "I think he's in New Zealand. It's the closest area from where his base was... at least I think so."

"I could try sniffing him out." said Danielle. Her eyes glowed yellow and her body transformed from a human into a wolf.

"Okay awesome Dani." said Juliet. "You do that and imma keep an eye out for anything suspicious."

Danielle sniffed the ground. Her paws were no match for the gravel on the dirt path. She dug her way around until she eventually caught onto a strange smell. Juliet followed her carefully. The smell smelled like... men's cologne.

Juliet sighed and followed Danielle. Since Danielle was a wolf, there was no way that she could communicate with her through speaking. Juliet was upset that the others hadn't followed through on their matching outfits plan. She kept her eyes focused on the wolf that trotted ahead of her, wagging its tail back and forth. She was glad though that Danielle was matching with her, and that she got paired with her by Cynthia. Something about Danielle just made her happy. She valued Danielle highly and the matching outfits did make them appear to be more of a team.

Danielle continued to sniff around at the ground, she was onto something. She wasn't sure who or what the smell was coming from, but was almost certain that it was definitely a man of good taste. Juliet eyed the area that they were in, she wasn't sure where Danielle was leading her. She enjoyed Danielle's company but wished that she would speak more often. It was easy for Juliet to catch onto the fact that Danielle much rather preferred to be an animal than a human. Danielle had been in an animal form more than she'd ever been in her human form.