Peekaboo

Brad and Andrew continued to tussle, rolling around the maze part where they were. Suddenly Brad shoved Andrew away from him and he leapt to his feet, facing toward where he’d flung the dog. He gasped and lost his fierce-fighting ability, as he saw Andrew caked in ropes and snapping his jaws at three Shark people, who held the ropes.

“Hey!! Get away from him! Let him go!” Brad snapped and unsheathed his sword from his holster. He flicked it about before him and launched into action. He cut the ropes and then stood on Andrew’s back, daring the Shark people to continue their attack.

The two worked together finally to fend off the newcomers. They drove them back and made it to the end of the maze, bursting from the greenery. Instantly they deflated. Brad slumped on Andrew’s back and the dog dropped to his paws, panting with the exhaustion.

“Hey buddy, that was some teamwork back there we had,” Brad laughed.

“Yeah, why were we fighting?”

Brad shoved his sword back into the holster and sighed. “I don’t know, but I have a feeling it might be due to Nemo and his maze.”

“Do you think the others will find us and be safe?” Andrew asked, cocking his head and giving Brad a sad doggie look, closing his muzzle and whimpered.

“I’m sure they will, we can rest and wait for them.”

“We can catch up and talk as friends!”

“Yeah!” Brad agreed.

And so they did.

****

Meanwhile, Torey Krug and Reilly Smith carried on in their section of the maze. Torey continued to hug the small bear close to him. They continued on their path, picking their way through the confusing puzzle. They slowed to a nice walk or stroll and catch their breath, but they weren’t sure where they were or where the others were.

“Torey,” Reilly began, lifting his head up finally from where he had buried it into his defenseman’s arm. “Will we find Patrick and the others again?”

“I’m sure we will, Reilly, we just got separated a little bit, but I’m here to protect you and keep you safe. We’ll find the end of the maze and hopefully the others will too.”

“Okay. One more thing though, can you not squeeze me so tightly, I feel like I’m going to explode and I can’t breathe!”

“Sure, Smitty, sorry man. Do you want me to put you down?”

“No!” Reilly screamed, as he quickly jerked his head and buried it back into Torey’s arm.

Torey looked up and spun around, spotting a pair of Shark people barrelling down the maze path toward them. He didn’t hesitate, the young Bruin prince took off running once more, clutching onto Reilly. They raced onward, heading for hopefully the end of the maze or something.

Finally, Torey glimpsed the end of the maze and headed for it. About ten feet from the end, he got so worked up with energy, he dropped Reilly. He skidded to a halt at once and spun around.

“REILLY!!”

Reilly scrambled to his paws and attempted to run toward Torey, but he was grabbed by one of the Shark people, who caught up to them and lifted into the air. He was screaming for Torey, who started to come back, but then a flash of gray whizzed past him and a snarling growl noise followed.

Andrew Shaw!

The dog leapt at the Shark person and snapped his jaws at him, snarling. The dude dropped Reilly, who scampered over to Torey in terror. The Bruin defenseman scooped him back into his arms and watched Andrew fight off the two men.

They eventually fled back into the maze. Andrew scraped his paw against the grass as though he were preparing to charge after them or something. But then he calmed down and turned to give Torey and Reilly a rather terrifying smile.

“Thanks Andrew,” Torey gasped.

Andrew dipped his head.

“Took you both long enough to reach the end,” a sarcastic voice playfully chirped.

“Don’t pester us right now, Marchy!” Torey snapped. “Not in the mood. Help me to comfort your teammate and linemate.”

“He’s a big boy, he can calm himself.” The black and white animal stood at the exit end of the maze, with his hands on his hips.

“Marchy!”

“Fine.” The honey badger rolled his eyes and trudged over.

Now the four of them sat to wait the others.

****

Sharp, Adam and Brandon continued down their path. They didn’t run into any Shark people luckily and surprisingly. And Brandon was an excellent and skilled navigator. They quickly neared the end.

Before they could reach it, just rounding the corner, where another path broke off, a red haired woman darted out. “JAMIE!! JAMIE BENN!!” she screamed, bumping into Brandon and sending them both to the ground.

It was Ariel.

“Ariel?” Sharp questioned, while Brandon helped her to her feet like a gentleman. “What are you doing here? Where’s Patrick and Jamie?”

“I don’t know. The Shark people, they found us. Patrick, he continued on, but Jamie and I stayed back to fight. I don’t know where either of them are. I lost Jamie in the chase...oh man!” She was losing it and panicking. “I think they got Jamie!”

“Ariel, it’s okay, we’ve found the end, lets see if the others are there, maybe Jamie is too, if not, we’ll go from there, okay?” Brandon spoke, wizically.

She slowly calmed down and followed them out of the maze and to where Torey, Reilly, Andrew and Brad were. They all gathered together, waiting for Patrick and Jamie to appear. But they didn’t. Time ticked by.

****

A little earlier (with Patrick, Ariel and Jamie) in the maze,

The trio continued on in their part of the maze. It had been quite a long time now since the group had been split up. They had continued to journey on and were getting absolutely nowhere. They felt as though they were going in circles…or maybe more like zigzags.

“Where is Jonny?” Patrick finally spoke up. “It’s been hours, I think…it’s been a long time! Where is he?” He halted in place and leaned against the brush. He looked up to the cloudy sky, hanging overhead like a thick blanket of his misery.

“Kaner, we’re going to find him. You have to believe that. You have to be patient,” Ariel remarked.

Patrick shook his head, sniffling and trying to hold back his emotions. He honestly wasn’t sure. It was getting to him too. He buried his head into his hands and began to sob. He sat down on the grassy ground and cried. “We’re never going to find Jonny. He’s gone. Nemo’s won. Whatever I did to him or whatever Jonny did to him, it’s over now.”

“You can’t think that way Patrick, you are the savior of the Kingdom of Avondale! You will find Jonathan and save the Kingdom! You will! It is your destiny!”

“Then where is he? Where is my best friend? We’ve been wandering for hours and Nemo’s got control over us. He’s split us up on purpose and we’ll never find him!”

Jamie stomped his hooves and acted nervously. “Guys, we got trouble!”

Patrick and Ariel spun to him and saw that racing toward them were four Shark people led by their leader, Brent Burns. He shouted to his men and they launched into attack mode.

“Kaner, Jamie and I will hold them off, you must continue on without us. Have faith and patience. You will find Jonathan and you will save him!” Ariel stated, facing him and giving him a stern look. Then she spun on her feet and headed toward Jamie, who had his head down and his antlers bared. “Go!”

Patrick gazed in horror, as he slowly rose to his feet. He bolted off once more. He darted through the maze, running for his life and hoping that he would come across his Blackhawk captain. He turned around and began to walk backward. He was looking for and making sure that none of the Shark people had followed him or given chase. He used the wall to know which way to go. He continued, backing around a corner and then spun around and skidded to a halt. He found himself in a square patch of open area and…in the center of the square area patch was…

Jonathan Toews!

Notes

YAY KANER FOUND JONNY!!!! Or did he...????
Sorry, I like picking on Reilly and Jamie...it's fun...poor Jamie though. How about Shawzy saving Reilly and Torey???? Woooo!!!! Teamwork!!
But what happened to Jamie????


Next up: Kaner and Jonny, The answer to "Where's Jamie?" and more... :)