"......" they were silent, before sighing quietly.

"I was comfy, too." he said.

"But we both know that whistle means something serious is up." he reminded her.

"So we should see what's going on." he continued, removing his head and sitting up.

"Or should I even go?" he asked.

"You think I should get involved?"

Before Ash could say anything, Luke appeared, having followed her.

"Oh, hey Luke." he greeted him.

"Hello." Luke replied.

It was then that Darrell and Evan showed up.

"What's going on?" Evan asked.

Ash looked around, before looking at Kelly.

"Where's your mother?" he asked.

"She REALLY should be a part of this." he reasoned.

Ash just sighed.

"Nobody's heard from her. She hasn't come home." he said.

"Casey's been out for the past... 8 hours or so, looking for her, and no sign of her." he went on.

"...and this storm is no joke..." Luke mumbled.

"Precisely." Ash commented.

"We need to find her, and we need to do it NOW." he told them.

"Who's available, and ready to help?" he asked.

"...." Darrell was silent for a moment.

"Hang on." he said.

He then made his way to the back door, opened it, and sniffed the air.

...and as soon as he did so, he recoiled a bit.

"Yup." he said.

"It's a mana storm." he confirmed.

"...great." Evan muttered. "That makes things even WORSE." he said.

"I'll help." Darrell then chimed in.

"Just give me something with her mana signature, and I'll try and sniff her out." he offered.

Evan nodded in response.

"Right!" he said.

He then quickly dashed away, and within a minute, was back with what was requested. He handed them to Darrell, and Darrell sighed.

"...I apologise." he said in advance.

Then, before anyone could potentially question it, he brought the wrist bands to his face, took a deep smell, held it for a moment, and then let out a exhale that had undertones of... excitement to it...

He then sniffed it quickly a few more times, before quickly tossing them back to Evan.

"Uh... that was creepy..." Evan commented.

"I'm sorry." Darrell apologised again. "It's just-" he started to say, before Ash spoke up.

"The potency and fire made it extremely alluring." he finished.

"...yeah." Darrell quietly confirmed.

"Yes, but this weather might get in the way." Ash responded.

"Anyway, let's go." he told them.

"Kelly, Ashleigh, you two take to the air." he told the two females.

"The rest of us will take to the ground." he went on.

"...except you." he then told Evan.

"What!?" Evan exclaimed. "Why ME!?" he asked. "My feline hearing would be great!" he reasoned, before there was a loud crash of thunder... and he jumped a little.

"Because that." Ash said. "The thunder will screw you up like that, and it's loud enough to mess with your hearing." he reasoned.

"Besides, I know her hiding places better than anyone else, Darrell can sniff her out, and Luke can commune with nature to try and find her." he went on.

"...besides, we need someone here in case Sammy DOES return, so you can make sure she's okay, and call us to let us know." he added, his tone very sincere now.

".......all right, that's fair." Evan admitted.

Ash was silent for a moment.

"I... don't know." he admitted.

"But I've been gone most of the day." he admitted.

"I haven't seen him in a while." Evan commented.

"Hang on..." Ash then said, sending a text. After a few seconds, there was a response.

"...ah!" Ash exclaimed.

"He's out helping Casey at the moment." he told them.

"I'll tell him we'll be setting out immediately to help them cover more ground."

Ash just sighed.

"Let's go, team." he told them.

"Right." Darrell responded.

"Yup." Luke agreed, as the three of them stepped out the door.

"Good luck!" Evan called to them, as they disappeared into the forest.

They'd gone their own separate ways to cover more ground, and Darrell was sniffing about, trying his best to remain composed and on-target, despite the veritable cornucopia of scents that surrounded him.

And the water was just getting heavier and heavier.

"Geez..." he muttered, before suddenly perking up.

"......what the.....?" he mumbled, following the vaguely familiar scent.

Darrell immediately rushed towards where he'd heard it from, and when he managed to get through the thick brush, he saw someone... a young female... and she was clearly injured.

And cornered by a wild animal.

It looked almost like a wolf... but it was light grey with blue stripes... and if one were to look closely, they'd see that the water was pouring off of its pelt... like it were down.

"...." he was silent, before shaking his head.

He let out a loud whistle, which caused the creature to look over in Darrell's direction.

Darrell adopted a bit of a defensive stance, and extended one of his hands.

"Let's play, puppy." he said.

The animal growled loudly, and charged right towards Darrell... who used its momentum to dodge and throw it against a nearby tree, making a loud cracking sound as it collided.

Darrell looked over towards the teen, and knelt down beside her.

"Hey." he said.

"Are you all right?" he asked.

"...and are you... Sammy?" he then asked her.

As he asked his questions, he looked around some, making sure that no other creatures would attack, or that none were lurking around.