Skyline Gang: Trial of Darkness

Chapter 12

Sprout honestly couldn't have been more thankful that all his friends were brightly coloured. Meanwhile, he was so green that he knew that if he were ahead or behind the Gang, they'd probably lose him almost immediately, even if his shirt was white. Being in the middle of the travelling party couldn't have been more comforting for him. Getting lost in a foreign country was one thing. Getting lost in a jungle was another. And one that he didn't want to find out. Better stay close before things go wrong.

When everyone reunited at the market, they each shared what they found. Once Dude shared the map, Bud made a digital copy of it on his smartwatch. It would be more convenient to examine when the time calls for it. There was no time to rest as it was time to leave. The Gang had been delayed long enough. Bud was convinced that if they left now, they would be at the temple in a couple of days. At least they've got enough food and water to last them for that long. Rainbow had almost run on ahead of the Gang but Dude did his best to prevent that. Similar to Sprout, he didn't want to risk anyone getting separated by accident. Candi stuck by Misty, trying to have a conversation with her, but Misty only responded with either very few words or none at all. Originally Pip was listening to music, but then she decided not to in the end. Other than Rainbow and Bud, her hearing was quite sensitive. If there was any danger around, she could probably pick up the noise easily enough.

"Mimi? There's something that you've brought to my attention." Bud brought up as he heard a peculiar sound while examine the map.

"What is it Bud?" Mimi sighed, focusing more on what she was doing.

"First of all, how did you sneak hair spray on the plane?" Bud asked, turning around to face the fashionista disapprovingly. Mimi blinked at him several times in confusion. "And second, I highly recommend not using it."

"I got it at the airport. And it's not hair spray." Mimi smiled patiently before showing Bud what was in her hands. "It's bug repellent. I have bad luck of getting eaten alive by bugs." Bud almost went on a bit on a tangent, but decided to drop the issue. So long as it wasn't anything that would attract insects and possible predators, it wasn't worth fighting about. Just that Mimi needs to be careful and use the spray as sparingly as possible. While this was happening, Pip abruptly stopped walking. So did Rainbow. They both started to look around in concern.

"What's that noise?" Pip asked everyone else, causing them to stop moving. Silence swept through them for a brief second. That's when they heard it. A noise that was persistent in getting louder. It was enough to cause a subtle panic in the Gang. A rumbling shot from their legs to their stomachs, making them feel nauseous. Trees shuddered, birds flew away as they cried. The cry of birds was the only thing that can be heard over this noise. Dude looked down at his feet, dreading what could be there. Right near the Gang were a few small cracks in the earth. The rumbling became more powerful as the cracks startlingly became larger.

"Dude?!" Candi exclaimed, noticing the state of the ground too.

"Run! Get away from the cracks!" Dude ordered, eyes wide. It was like someone had pressed the start button. Stumbling through the nausea, the Gang ran. The cracks joined as one, splitting the earth. It crumbled behind them with every step they took. No one dared to look behind them, not even when Pip picked up Candi back to her feet after she tripped. By time the rumbling stopped, the jungle became silent again.

Dude looked behind him as he stopped running. A few meters from him, the earth was completely spilt into two. A large crack stained it. It was deep and wide. There was no safe way across it. There was a soft thud, causing Dude to whip his head around to the origin. Sprout was splayed out on his back. The poor guy had passed out from the fright. Misty stifled a giggle as Bud knelt down to check on Sprout. That's when Dude finally noticed something quite horrifying. He looked at the other side of the precipice. Just as he feared, Candi, Pip, Mimi and Rainbow were on the other side.