Brandon and his friends were still looking on, anxiously, when
the ducks pulled Mckayla out of the icy water. Once the ducks brought her to the safety of the shore, Brandon ran over
to her, with his comrades in tow.
"Mckayla!" Brandon shouted as he ran. Soon, everyone
had gathered around the nearly frozen goalie.
"Is she alright?" someone asked.
"Is she going to be okay?" another asked as there were various
whispered concerns for Mckayla.
Finally, after looking up at all the faces and feeling a bit
claustrophobic, William spoke out. "Alright, everyone just back off! Give the poor girl some breathing space,
huh?!" Soon, everyone- humans and ducks, had done as they were told, except for Brandon. Instead, he kneeled down
in the snow, beside his sister.
"Mckayla? Are you okay?" he tried asking her.
"I - I - I'm s - s - so c - c -cold," she replied through chattering
teeth. She shivered violently, almost as if she was going into convulsions, which worried Brandon. He looked up
at William.
"We've gotta get her inside and get her warmed up," Brandon
told the strange duck.
"Right," William agreed with a nod. With that, he gently
scooped up the almost frozen girl and carried her in his arms as he made his way to the main ski lodge. Brandon ran
with him and, after waiting a few moments, everyone else followed as well.
Inside the ski lodge, Wildwing and the rest of the Mighty Ducks
had just finished unpacking and were now relaxing in the lobby, sipping hot chocolate and chatting with each other.
They were catching up on old times and talking about the last time they were there on Earth, when they finally defeated the
Saurian Overlord, Dragaunus.
"It's been a long time," Grin commented.
"You got that right," Nosedive added comically. He had
grown up and was a father now, but he still managed to retain his sarcastic edge. Not to mention, he still acted like
a kid from time to time. "Hey, I wonder what ever happened to those two humans that helped us? What were their
names again?"
"You mean Jess and Karissa?" Mallory asked him.
"Yeah," Duke answered her before Nosedive could. "You
suppose they're still around?"
"Well, I would think so," Tanya chimed in. "I mean uh,
they weren't that much younger than the rest of us, and uh, well, we're still here." The other ducks were looking at
her strangely as she continued on, stuttering and mumbling to herself. "Well, uh, unless the lifespan of a human is
much shorter than, uh-" Duke came up and put a hand on her shoulder, causing her to stop mid-way through her thoughts.
"I think you're thinking about this way too much, Tanya," he
motioned his hand towards a chair. "Why don't you have a seat before you hurt yourself?" Tanya glared at him before
turning around and walking away from him.
Wildwing chuckled slightly. "Don't worry guys.
I'm pretty sure they're still around."
After thinking to herself for a moment, Mallory spoke up.
"Hey, didn't Jess say she used to live in this state?"
"You know what? I think you're right!" Nosedive exclaimed.
Wildwing nodded in agreement. "It's possible she might
have moved back this way," he added. "She was always saying how much she missed living here." He looked around
the room at his teammates. "Perhaps we can check it out and look for her someday this week. Maybe we'll be
able to find her." The others nodded in agreement. They all liked the idea of
seeing an old friend again.
Suddenly, the front door opened and a male duck came rushing
in, carrying a human girl. The girl was dressed in goalie gear and was soaking wet. There was a human boy, younger
in appearance, who entered the room just seconds later. The Mighty Ducks turned their
attention to the trio standing in the doorway. Wildwing was the first to recognize the younger duck.
"William?"
"Dad!" the other duck responded, as he made his way over to
Wildwing.
"What happened?!" the elder duck questioned his son, while
staring at the girl. She was shivering and shaking in William's arms.
"She fell through the ice out on the pond," William explained.
"We pulled her out."
By now, the other Mighty Ducks had all stood up and were ready
to help out. Mallory and Nosedive gave up their seats on the couch so that the girl would have a place to lay down.
"Bring her over here, by the fire," Tanya told William as she
motioned to the couch. William did as he was told and carefully layed the girl down. The human boy followed him
over to the couch, looking concerned.
"And take that wet goalie gear off of her," Wildwing added.
"It's definately not helping any. And besides, we want her to be comfortable."
At that moment, the front door opened again and the second
team of ducks, lead by William's sister, along with a few other humans, ran in. Marina looked around the room and noticed
her brother and the younger human boy tending to a girl on the couch. Marina turned back to the group standing behind
her.
"Everyone, just wait here," she told them. "We shouldn't
crowd around them." Then she started walking towards William. "How is she?" the female duck asked quietly, when
she reached the end of the couch.
William looked up once he finished taking off the girls' hockey
jersey and chest pad. "Look for yourself," he replied softly. "The poor girl's nearly frozen." Marina looked
over at the girl. Her lips were blue and her skin was pale.
"S - s - so c - c - cold," she continued to chatter as
she shivered in her seat. Her eyes were closed now and she looked extremely exhausted.
"Mckayla? Everyone's here to help," Brandon, the human
boy, spoke to her calmly, as he removed her leg pads. However, his older sister did not respond.
Mckayla's friend, Jasmine, took a few steps away from the doorway
and peered over towards the Mighty Ducks and the Flashblade siblings. "Is there anything we can do to help?"
she asked them cautiously. The Ducks all looked in her direction to see who was speaking. By now, the other humans
had stepped up behind Jasmine and she spoke again. "Please, she's our friend. So, if there's anything we can do,
we're willing to helpl"
Wildwing smiled softly. "Of course." He knew what
it was like to feel helpless when a friend was in need, so he didn't want this group of friends to feel the same way.
Tanya looked down at Mckayla, thinking of what her friends
could do to help. "Well, uh, we should probably get her out of those wet clothes. So, she's gonna need some dry
ones."
"Okay," Jasmine nodded. "I know right where to find them
too!" She began running towards her and Mckayla'a room when Brandon stood up.
"Jasmine! Wait!" he called out to her as he ran
over. She stopped and waited for him to catch up. "I'll go with you and I'll call my parents too."
"Good idea," Wildwing praised him. Brandon looked back
at him and half smiled. "Now go, quickly." Both Brandon and Jasmine nodded and started running towards the room
again.
Meanwhile, Mallory had thought of something else. "She
could use some warm blankets too. They would help warm her up quickly."
Tyler looked at her and caught on. "Blankets. Gotcha!"
He took off almost immediately, motioning for Jason to follow. "C'mon Jay! Let's go!"
Tanya ran through a list in her mind, making sure they had
everything, and that they weren't missing anything. "Let's see...do we need anything else?"
While everyone else stood around thinking to themselves, William
grabbed a blanket that was draped over the back of the couch and wrapped it around Mckayla. He put his hand on hers.
They were still ice cold and she was still shaking in convulsions.
"You know," William started, "I bet she'd love to have some
hot chocolate to drink once we get her into some dryer clothes."
Marina smiled slightly as she put a hand on her brother's shoulder.
"I bet you're right. You stay here. I'll go and get some."
William turned around to face her. "Thanks Sis," he smiled
back and Marina took off. William turned back to the human girl and sat next to her, on the edge of the couch.
He looked down at her and brushed away a piece of hair from her face. "Don't worry," he whispered to her, "we're not
giving up on you."
To be continued................
Disclaimer: All original MD characters are owned and copyrighted by Disney. All others
belong to me.
