Marshall's POV

It's like struggling to stay afloat.

Chase's fever returned, and he required my full attention until he felt better. Also, Rocky couldn't swallow anything but liquids for the past three days. Since Rocky couldn't speak, he wrote down all his thoughts in a journal that Ryder helped him craft to keep his mind busy. He's been pretty into it too, so we just kinda left him be.

Chase weakly lifted his head to address me. "I'm hungry," he said. "Are there any more bananas?"

"One sec," I say. I turn around and go outside, to see Skye standing smack outside the door tent.

"Eep!"

Crap, she scared me. "Why are you standing there?"

Skye let out a long sigh. "I just wanna talk to Chaseee," she said. She striked a melodramatic pose. I rolled my eyes.

"Chase is sick, and he won't be able to talk to you until he's fully healed," I said. "Now, shoo."

Jeez. That came out a bit harsher than I thought. Meh, she's the one that's so obsessive over him. I mean who waits outside of a tent for who knows how long just to see someone? That's like stalking! Who else could be so obsessive over just a pup?

Oh. Never mind.

Moving along, I look around for the tree with the bright yellow fruit at the crown, but a sudden gust catches me off guard and sends me to the ground.

I get up and dust off the sand. That was a bit strange, I tell myself.

While walking around the area, I almost trip again, but this time, it's over a tree trunk right by Rocky's tent. It looks like the banana tree got knocked over by the winds from last night. The roots were ripped directly from the ground, and the trunk is broken in half.

Oh man. I just realized that tree could've fallen on Rocky.

That tree could've killed Rocky.

A bit disturbed, I walk right past Skye, who was still waiting in front of Chase's tent, to Ryder's bright blue tent. I call him out from outside. "Ryder?"

A few seconds later, he comes outside to see me. "What is it, Marshall?"

"Well, we're out of bananas, and Chase's fever isn't getting better. The tree just got knocked down."

Ryder looks at the horizon and notices the waves getting bigger. "Well, it certainly is getting windy, and the sun will set soon. This isn't really looking good." Whenever Ryder gets discouraged, it kinda worries me. It's like he's telling me that there's no hope. But Ryder's face lights up again. "Marshall, are you okay going with Skye and Rubble to get some more bananas from that cliff? I know it's a bit steep, but Chase needs your help."

I try not thinking about what happened a few nights ago. It made me scared of the dark. "O-okay, Ryder. I'll do it for Chase." Ryder pats me on the head and smiles. He then calls Rubble and Skye to come with me for extra protection.

Skye scoffs, and Rubble is reluctant to join, but in the end, Ryder convinces them both to tag along. Skye wanted to give Chase a final kiss before she went, but Ryder told us to go before twilight set on us.

With Skye and Rubble behind me, I struggle to walk towards the cliff. The wind is getting really strong. I climb up the steep cliff, each step more careful than my last, since the risk of my death increases as I do so.

"Oh shi–"

A rock that I grabbed onto just broke off the cliff. I manage to grab onto another rock.

"Are you okay?" I hear Skye call from under me.

"Yeah," I say between breaths. Fuck. My heart is pounding so hard.

I almost died.

I press myself against the wall and take a deep breath, then exhale. That was scary.

"Come on, keep climbing," orders Skye. "My paws are getting sore."

Although my mental endurance is still going strong, my physical strength is giving up on me. I can't reach the enclave above my paws, and i'm starting to lose grip. I take a risk and place my lower paw on the high enclave, then pushing the rest of my body upwards. Thank god that rock didn't give on me.

I reach for the top of the cliff, and pull myself onto the grass, shortly followed by Skye. We both help Rubble up, and bring him up onto the grass.

The view from the cliff is amazing. The moon was slowly rising behind the ocean, there were sounds of crickets chirping, and the trees were swaying violently.

Really violently.

The purple sky started to fog up, and a whirlwind picked up. We got away from the edge of the cliff, and went to find shelter near a cluster of boulders. It wasn't the ideal vacation spot, but it blocked most of the current, so it did the trick.

"This is bad," yelled Skye, whose voice was cut by the wind. She pointed west, and there it was, a tornado heading straight for us.

We held onto each other for dear life as we watched the terror unfold. Tree trunks were flying, grass was being ripped from the floor, and the ferocious wind was deafening our ears. I could only imagine what Ryder and the others could be going through right now.

Suddenly, pieces of the boulder started to violently break loose. It wasn't a good sign. "Guys, we gotta get out of here," I said.

But there was nowhere to run to. All around us, the tornado has torn apart anything we could hold onto.

Rubble spotted a large palm tree at the bottom of the cliff, and it seemed large enough for the three of us with room to spare. But there was a huge problem in our way, and it would kill us if we tried to confront it.

The tornado was getting nearer, but the boulder started dropping chunks large enough to knock us out in one blow, so it was now or never.

Carefully crawling to the edge of the cliff, I look down, and gulp. It's always easier getting up than getting down. And if I miss one step, well, it's gonna be a long fall.

"Hurry up!" yells Skye, frantic. "We're gonna die if you don't!"

With my entire life on the line, I start making my way down. Skye almost stepped on my paws as she made her way down. Rubble followed.

My entire body is trembling with fear. The wind made it nearly impossible to hold on.

"Rubble, stop–"

A bunch of debris from rocks fell down onto Skye, blinding her.

"AHH!! HELP ME!!"

Skye violently shook her face to get rid of the dust. "Skye, please stop–"

She couldn't handle it anymore. The rocks were poking through her eyes, making them bleed out. Skye was crying blood. It was all too much for her.

Skye's kicking made dust go into my eyes. It stung like hell, but I tried to remain calm.

Suddenly, the yelling stopped.

Throughout the sound of tearing wind, I could hear a faint sound of something hitting the ground way down below.

Skye.