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.
"Girls! Rainbow! Are you all okay?!" Dude shouted over to them. They looked just as horrified as he was when they realised the situation.
"We're fine!" Pip shouted back after she and the others checked over to make sure they were just that. It brought relief to the air, but only a little. There was still much to worry about. "What happened? An earthquake?"
"Impossible! We're not located on any fault lines or tectonic plates!" Bud interjected, after having manoeuvred Sprout into the recovery position.
"What?" Candi asked after hearing that.
"Never mind!" Bud waved off. He explains the science behind earthquakes, they'll be here all day. He examined the landscape around him. That's quite odd. The crack doesn't split the land completely. There was a small chance it seemed. "It doesn't look like the crack runs all the way through! Continue that way until we each find a point to meet up! But be careful! We don't know what's in this jungle!"
"You stay safe too! Good luck you guys!" Mimi called back over. Neither party liked this idea but there wasn't much of a choice. It was the only way that they can work to be reunited and focus on the main point of the mission.
"Rainbow will keep us safe!" Candi hurriedly reassured. Rainbow let out an echoing bark. That was all that was needed. When the echo died away, the girls started to trek into the tree line, safe from the precipice. Rainbow took up the rear, hurriedly moving himself to the front. Mimi was the last to disappear as she looked back at the other half of the Gang one more time. Her stance was determined, but worry painted her face. Hesitantly, she quickly followed the three. She didn't want to stay in one spot if no one else was going to watch her back. Everyone felt the same amount of worry that she had. At the start, everything felt fine. They all thought that it was going to be quite easy. Now that they're all separated, it could cause some problems. The only silver lining is that no one was on their own. Safety in numbers and all that.
"Are we dead?" Sprout moaned as he sat up. Good, Dude won't have to give him a piggyback ride while he was unconscious.
"Man up, Sprout!" Misty chided, tapping her foot.
"We're alive Sprout." Dude spoke up, preventing another potential fight. He offered a hand to Sprout. "Come on. Let's get you back on your feet."
As Sprout was effortlessly pulled to his feet, Bud brought the map up onto his smartwatch. He had marked out a path to the temple. Like any normal GPS, it can direct them through the jungle without much of a worry. Now that this abnormal earthquake happened, it'll be a lot more difficult. Hopefully this will only cause a minor delay and not waste too much time. However, there was still a lot that didn't make any sense.
"According to the map, we're further from the temple compared to the girls." Bud explained after examining where they were. His face looked grim as he faced the three behind him. "I'm not usually a superstitious person, but I do believe that something doesn't want us to return the Sceptre."
"Well, whether it wants us to or not, we're still going." Dude sighed, just wanting to move on. The faster they move, the sooner they can get back together with the others. They just need to go, now! However, just as Dude started to move to the tree line, he got dizzy. He stumbled a little as he felt cold. His colour drained a little, his vision darkened a little. No, no, no! Not now! Why can't this Sceptre stop affecting him already?! He was honestly surprised that it took this long.
"Are you okay?" Sprout asked, noticing how dull Dude suddenly looked.
"Suddenly I don't feel so good." Dude confessed, his form shaking.
"The Sceptre is probably affecting you again." Bud concluded, puzzled. He was certain that the container would be enough to stop something like this from happening. Then again, this was dark magic that they were dealing with. Anything that Bud might not have thought of could happen.
"You did touch it back in the market when Misty took it. Maybe that's the reason." Sprout brought up, giving Misty a side glare. That would explain it, but why was there a delay? The fact that it was contained in something would make sense, just as Bud had thought in the first place. But nothing can slow them down right now. Either they think of something, or Dude might have to be supported in walking. And that would only slow them down even more.
"Maybe I should hold onto the Sceptre, Dude." Misty suggested, reaching for the case. Dude picked up on her movements fast and jumped back from her. Nope, not happening.
"Misty has a point." Bud suddenly said.
"She does?!" Dude and Sprout exclaimed.
"I do?" Misty smirked. This was going to be easier than she thought.
"If we rotate around the Sceptre between us, we should theoretically keep up with the others at a steady pace." Bud explained, carefully unlatching the case from Dude's rucksack.
"So we're basically playing past the parcel with that thing?!" Sprout asked, feeling a chill run through him.
"Thank you for volunteering, Sprout." Bud said nonchalantly. Before Sprout could protest, the Sceptre of Shadows was thrusted into his possession. He felt his rucksack being tugged a little from Bud securing the case to it.
"What?! I volunteered first!" Misty exclaimed angrily, stamping her foot hard enough to almost break the ground under her.
"Considering you have a habit of taking the Sceptre out of the case, there's a reason why we can't trust you to be responsible with it." Bud sighed, fighting to keep a migraine coming to him. Misty pouted as she crossed her arms. Guess she has to plan something else instead. Or she's going to have to be patient and give these idiots a reason to allow her to carry the relic.
"I don't know whether to feel boastful or worried that I'm carrying this thing." Sprout whimpered a little. He hadn't been affected by the Sceptre like Dude had, but seeing how his blue friend was drained of colour, it was enough to make him dread it. However, he couldn't resist in trying to crack a smile at the situation. "Certainly casting a SHADOW here! Get it?! Because it's the Sceptre of Shadows!"
"You're going to get it, Sprout!" Misty growled, ready to pounce on Sprout at that moment. At the same time, Dude got his colour back, along with most of his strength.
"Knock it off you two." He ordered, getting between the quarrelling pair. Aside from brief glares, the two didn't continue their argument. For now. Time was marching on and so were the others. It was time to hurry and keep up with them. Before something worse happens. "Let's just get moving."