If you ever feel alone
And miles away from your home
Just think of me and I'll be near
To protect you from your fears
A mother's love is pure as snow
Remember this, wherever you go
My heart will always light your way
As you awake to each new day.
After Plucky sang the last line, Djim woke, slightly startling him.
"You can stop singing now. It's my turn to watch. Go to sleep."
Plucky curled up under his cloak. His eyelids grew heavy and he drifted off to sleep.
———
Plucky stood in the Silver Meadow. His mother was in front of him, only a few paces away. He ran up to her and they embraced. Suddenly, Olive's face materialized in the sky so that only Plucky could see it. The ground beneath them opened up. Both Plucky and his mother fell into the darkness of what seemed to be a cave. The witch was there, waiting for them. She waved her staff, and Plucky's mother was pulled away from him by some unseen force.
Then, with a twisted grin on her face, the witch's paw inched ever closer to his ruby. Try as he might, he couldn't move - couldn't resist her magic. At the last possible moment, Djim appeared, seemingly out of nowhere; he covered Plucky's mouth with his paw.
———
"Shhh. You were having a nightmare."
"How did you know?" Plucky asked as he sat up. He never heard Djim's answer to his question. In one fluid motion, Djim spun around and grabbed his staff before landing in a fighting stance in the middle of the canoe.
"Don't make a sound!" Djim sternly whispered to Plucky. The silence was pierced by the howl of a lone wolf, rattling Plucky to his very bones. The howl was answered by a chorus of wolves, all on the western side of the river. Plucky sat and Djim stood as still as they could. All of a sudden, a third noise rang throughout the forest.
"HICCUP!"
Djim spun around.
"Plucky! I didn't mean stop breathing!"
"I'm sorry! I was scared! Hiccup!"
Djim put down his staff and handed Plucky an oar before grabbing his. They began rowing as urgently as they could. The howling wolves were much closer now.
"Hiccup! Hiccup!"
"Stop doing that!" Djim yelled.
"I can't help it!"
The first wolves appeared on the river bank to their left.
"Plucky! Keep rowing! I'll handle the wolves!"
Plucky obediently hiccuped and took the other oar. Much to their dismay, the wolves began leaping from the river bank to the boat. Using his staff, Djim deftly knocked wolf after wolf into the river. More wolves appeared and Djim began somersaulting them into the river before they could do any harm. Plucky was rowing as hard as he could, and he felt the current picking up speed. He focused his energy on keeping the canoe as far away from either shore as possible.
Suddenly, a wolf much larger than the others dropped down from an overhanging branch into the canoe, landing in between Djim and Plucky. Plucky froze as the wolf hungrily eyed him. All of a sudden, the wolf yelled and turned around as quick as he could. As best Plucky could make out, Djim had bit into the wolf's tail. Plucky scooted back as far as he could. Looking around, he was relieved that he didn't see any other wolves chasing them. It was then he realized his hiccups had gone. The wolf growled, salivating in anticipation.
Without warning, the wolf spun back around to face Plucky once more. He instinctively tried to shield himself with one of the oars. Frozen in terror, he saw the wolf's gaping maw, bearing white, acuminate fangs. All of this was in sharp contrast with the wolf's solid black eyes, full of malice and hatred. Plucky had never seen such evil in his life.
Before the wolf could snap its jaws shut around Plucky, Djim grabbed the wolf around his waist and heaved him back towards the other ends of the canoe, placing himself in between the wolf and Plucky. The wolf twisted his body, narrowly avoiding being thrown into the river. He furiously snapped at Djim, missing him by a paw.
"Give me an oar!" Djim shouted as he struggled to pinion the wolf. Plucky quickly tossed the oar he was holding to Djim. The wolf pounced on Djim, knocking him backwards. Djim's head hit the bow of the boat, but he somehow managed to keep the oar in between. The wolf bit down on the oar, snapping it in two. Djim and the wolf continued fighting.
Thinking quickly, Djim rolled them both so that he was on top of the wolf. He punched and clawed him at every opportunity, avoiding its dangerous bite by pure instinct. Plucky struck the wolf with the remaining oar, hoping to aid Djim. It was then he noticed the oar felt heavier than it was before. Looking out towards the paddle, he discovered why. A paw full of piranhas had clamped down on it. They held on, despite Plucky's attempts to shake them off.
Craning his neck, he realized they were surrounded.
"Djim! Piranhas!"
Plucky thought for a second, and broke the oar in half using his knee. The piranhas and the paddle disappeared into the current. To Plucky's benefit, the remaining portion of the oar appeared to be quite sharp. Plucky hoped it was sharp enough. He waited until the wolf was on top of Djim, who was showing signs of fatigue; still he fought the wolf with everything he had. Plucky mustered as much courage as he could in that moment. Then, with his crude spear in paw, he leapt towards the wolf and buried his spear into the wolf's side as far as he could.
Unfortunately for Plucky, this offensive maneuver only angered the wolf even more. He glared at Plucky. Djim took advantage of this momentary distraction and flipped the wolf over the starboard side. The wolf's howls were quickly drowned out by the rapid sloshing and splashing of the piranhas. Then, even they were placated and moved on. With no oars left, Plucky and Djim were completely at the mercy of the river.
"DON'T..." Djim began.
The current carried them downstream at a slowly increasing speed, narrowly dodging boulders along the way.
"EVER..."
Plucky held on to the rim of the boat and his pendant as tight as he could.
"DO..."
Djim steadied himself in the middle of the canoe and grasped the rim on either side of him.
"THAT..."
It was then the pair heard a new noise up ahead, growing louder with every passing moment. Djim looked at Plucky and shouted, "AGAIIINNNNN!"
But it was too late. Plucky, Djim, and the canoe disappeared into the mist of the waterfall.
