„This was a bad idea! We should turn around!“
Nono desperately tried to catch up to his sister but her nimble paws traversed the wet ground with ease, seemingly not being slowed down in the slightest. Nono on the other hand was constantly looking down to not step into a hole or stumble over a loose rock or root. The earth had been changing for the last minutes, more and more turning into the swampy waters they had been warned about. It was dark under the big trees and the shadows didn’t help in the slightest. They could just fall down into water any moment now, the dark liquid being hidden among the mud.
“Don’t be so angsty! I just want to finally see the Shaedmoor! Come on, Nono! We have to hurry before our aunt notices how long we have been gone.”
Kiki was running on with cheerful laughs but Nono couldn’t help but worry. His sister always had a strong head and lead the way into whatever adventure they were getting themselves into. Most of the time he didn’t mind that much. Kiki liked to tease him but she was fierce, fair and lovely and always found out secret paths to follow. This time it felt a bit different though.
“It’s dangerous there! We should really stick to the wetlands, they are more predictable and oh yeah, we can see there! Why is it so dark?”
“I dunno, maybe a monster sucked out all of the light?”
“Stop!”, responded Nono with a nervous laugh. There were no monster here. Right? But now that he was looking around a bit he noticed something strange.
“Shouldn’t there be more bugs here? We could hear them buzzing all the way until now but it’s gone quiet now.”
Kiki looked back for a moment and shrugged.
“So? The bugs can stay where they are, I don’t need any mosquito bites.”
Nono nodded uncertain. Something was really off but he just couldn’t figure it out. He was still focused on following his sister without landing face first into the mud. His paws were sinking in further and further. He looked ahead and saw that Kiki was finally slowing down a bit. Before them was a big body of water stretching out.
“Wow, this is so cool!”
Kikis voice was full of wonder and she jumped up and down on the spot in excitement.
“Are there any crocodiles here?”
“Pshhh, don’t be silly! Of course not!”
But Kikis answer came a little bit too fast for Nonos taste. What if there was really something hiding here, waiting for them? Just as he was looking around again to search for any glowing eyes he suddenly heard a loud crack. The siblings both flinched, automatically moving closer to eachother until their sides touched.
“What was that?”
Nono was looking up just as another crack and boom could be heard. Oh no. Oh no no no!
“It’s a storm! That was definitely thunder! Don’t tell me we are stuck here during a thunderstorm, that can’t be happening!”
Kiki looked up as well and chuckled nervously.
“Well… we are already pretty wet so a bit more rain shouldn’t be that bad, right? Nothing we can’t handle.”
A rumbling washed over them, almost like a growling beast being plagued by hunger. It felt like the sound was echoing around in his head, caging him in. Nono pressed closer into Kikis side while lowering his head a bit in fear.
“Rain… Rain is okay. But lightning? While we are in a swamp? Kiki, that is so dangerous! We need to get out of here!”
Nono looked at his sister with big eyes but he still felt frozen. He knew they had to leave as soon as possible but his body just told him to stay closer to Kiki and seek protection from her. It finally seemed to dawn on her that they were in real trouble and she switched into one of her rare serious modes normally reversed to handle bullies.
“Okay. We know where we came from so we can run faster back then we where while trying to find our way. We got this.”
The first raindrops started to fall down on them, pattering on their fur, water and everything else not being covered by the trees.
“Just focus on following our path and we will get back. It just started to rain so we have time! Let’s go baby brother!”
She slightly butted her head against his and then turned around and ran. Nono followed suit but instead of running behind her he took place right next to Kiki. They were running right alongside each other, focusing on the path they made, their steps sometimes still visible in the mud and earth. Those traces got soon washed away by the rain though and they just had to rely on taking a straight path and not swaying too far left or right. The rain got stronger and harder, each drop felt like a little berry falling down on him and bursting on impact. Then the cracking noise came back. A big boom. Nono was breathing hard both from terror and the exhaustion of running so fast. He didn’t know if Kiki was feeling the same dread or if she was secretly thrilled by having found another adventure. But they still stuck together, running away from the dangerous swamp. When the first lightning bolt lit up the sky Nono flinched but kept on. And finally - dry ground! Well it was dry before it began to rain anyway. They could make out the wooden paths and bridges and could see the huts in the distance. Nono sighed in relief and in anticipation of getting into a warm building - at least until he remembered that they would have to explain to their aunt what happened. Oh no.
