[I started writing this a long damn time ago, found it on my flash drive and decided to continue past what I had. I'm posting everything already done as it is, and continuing in a more refined manner later. Not sure how I meant it to be written but I'm fixing it.]
[When things get strange, the herd realizes there's much more to their world and its jumbled up timeline. Weirdness ensues. M for reasons including (eventual) gore, swearing and dark themes. Will contain various pairings of hetero and homosexual nature, fair warning. It's a crossover, beeteedubs.]
"What do you think's holding them up there?"
Louis and Peaches were staring up into the air, where several trees and rocks were simply... floating there, bobbing gently in the breeze as though afloat in an invisible body of water. Upon discovering this oddity, Peaches sent Crash and Eddie back to find her parents. This was something they had to see!
"I have no idea." Peaches replied after a few moments of silence, gently prodding a floating leaf with her trunk. It quivered under her touch, and then fell gently to the ground as though it had been there all along. She and Louis exchanged worried glances before she reached out and touched another, watching the leaf float down towards the ground again.
"This is probably the coolest thing I've ever seen." Louis breathed, shakily reaching out and prodding a small group of rocks, watching them clatter to the floor. "It's incredible but… maybe we should wait around until your folks get here?" The molehog asked, shuffling his feet nervously. Almost on cue, Diego entered the clearing, gazing skyward with the other two.
"What in the world...?" He asked, more to himself than the others. Louis shrugged. "We don't know either. They were just like this when we got here. Look!" He said, poking a floating branch with his tiny fingers, causing it to shudder gently before tumbling into the grass below them.
"We sent the boys to go find my parents, but they probably got distracted by something gross along the way." Peaches explained. Diego chuckled. "Yeah, there's a nice big mud puddle right between us and Manny right now. Chances are, Crash and Eddie are there." Louis shook his head. "What if this starts happening everywhere? What if we all started floating around?" He asked nervously. "I'm getting nauseous just thinking about it!" The molehog clutched his stomach.
Suddenly, Crash and Eddie could be heard talking nearby. However, the third voice among them certainly wasn't Manny or Sid. The three voices entered the clearing.
"We couldn't find your dad, but look who found us!"
The two happily bounded up to Diego, followed by none other than...
"Buck?" The saber asked, almost in disbelief. "How did you...?" The weasel ignored the question, stepped forward and adjusted his eyepatch, loudly introducing himself for the sake of the two who hadn't met him.
"So, we having a party? I do love parties. That's why you're all here, right?" Buck asked, quickly clambering up onto Diego's shoulder. The saber groaned but didn't object. Crash and Eddie pointed up towards the mass of floating vegetation.
The whole group was silent for a moment, watching the floating objects move about. "Well, that's not something you see every day." Buck said, just as much in awe as the others. "Who else knows about this? Anyone?" He asked.
"It's just us." Louis answered. "We should head back, this… it doesn't feel natural." With that, the molehog jumped from his position on Peaches' shoulder and onto the ground, clearly intending to walk home by himself.
Buck leaned down to whisper in Diego's ear. "Who's this weener, again?" Diego chuckled and turned to follow Louis. Peaches followed suit, Crash and Eddie in tow.
Behind them, the trees and rocks slowly lowered back to the ground as the sun began to set.
All the way home, Buck was spinning his usual wild tales. This one in particular included several gender-confused geese leading an attack against a rhinoceros who'd stolen their prized cactus. As much as the story jumped from one bit to another without any warning, Diego couldn't help but smile and laugh along with the others.
Peaches was much too young to have remembered Buck, but they were already getting along very well. The young mammoth couldn't help but snort at a particularly vulgar joke that had even Crash and Eddie at a loss for words. Louis couldn't help but blush at the sheer amount of foul humor that now circulated through the entire conversation.
"You guys, that's terrible!" He said, trying to hold back a laugh.
"It is! Terrible, disgusting and hilarious!" Buck said happily. "I missed you lot. We had a pretty grand little adventure, eh Diego?" The weasel asked, nudging the feline in the side.
"Yeah, it was pretty exciting. It's been pretty quiet around here, lately. Those trees floating around are probably the best thing I've seen this month!" Diego said, going silent as his thoughts wandered back to the clearing before.
It seemed like everybody went silent at the very thought of what had transpired not fifteen minutes before. Though it was amazing, there was something eerie about the whole thing.
The group reached their destination to find Manny standing in the mouth of the cave, blocking entry. "It's after dark. Where were you?" he asked at once.
"Hi daddy, how are you? My day was good, thanks!" Peaches said, then made to walk past her father and into the cave with others. "I was getting worried! I had no idea where you were, and..." Manny began but Diego stepped forward.
"Peaches was with me. There was something happening by the lake, and we all got kinda caught up in it." The saber explained. "Peaches and Louis found something that was honestly amazing, and none of us could look away!"
Manny didn't often hear things like this from Diego. "What kind of 'amazing thing' is going on by the lake?" The mammoth asked, just as Buck made his presence known to the others. "I'll tell you what, Man. The trees were floating!"
Manny was quiet for a moment. "When did you get here? What do you mean, the trees were floating? Like in the water, right?"
Peaches shook her head. "No, daddy they were floating. In the air, above us! It was incredible!" She said, making her way back into the cave. Manny looked back at her, then to Diego. The tiger shrugged and made his way towards the grass he usually slept in.
Manny sat with Diego a few yards away from the mouth of the cave.
"There's something weird going on, Manny. Not just with the trees, I think something really big is gonna happen." Diego began, looking up at Manny. "Whatever it is, none of us are prepared for it."
Manny sighed and stood up. "Get some rest, Diego." He said, before making his way back into the cave and lying down next to Ellie as she slept.
Diego planned to do just that. He was tired, moreso after an exhausting day of exercise with his new companion, Shira, who was nowhere to be found at the moment. However, as Diego rolled over to finally catch a bit of shut-eye, he heard Buck's voice up in the tree overhead.
"Doin' alright, Diego? You look a bit upset, not tired."
The weasel dropped down onto the soft dirt beside his friend, taking a seat before he spoke again. "Got a lady friend now, from what I heard." Buck said, rolling onto his back and looking up into Diego's eyes."Good on ya, how's that going?"
Diego sighed and sat up. It was obvious that Buck wanted to catch up, but in the middle of the night?
"Nah, we aren't a... thing." Diego told him, returning the weasel's friendly nudge. Buck rolled over onto his front to keep eye contact. "Really, now? Got somebody else on yer mind, then?" He asked.
"I'm not interested in her, honestly. Between you and me, she's kind of a bitch!" Diego said with a laugh, and Buck laughed in return. "Nah, not really interested in anybody in particular right now."
Buck grinned up at Diego. "Well, that's a shame. Anybody'd be lucky to catch your eye, mate." With that, the weasel jumped up and stretched out, making his way into the tree again. "Anywho, you really do look pretty tired. Night!"
Diego didn't have time to think over Buck's words before he fell asleep.
"Those birds are flying backwards."
"Yeah."
Eddie pointed them out to Crash, as the two lay in a patch of grass to watch the clouds. This was something they rarely did, being as energetic as they were. However, today felt like a good day to just relax.
It had been four days since the incident involving the floating trees, and others were beginning to notice that something was going on. Crash sat up and tapped on his brother's shoulder, motioning down the hill towards Diego's sleeping form
Eddie wasn't sure at first why Crash was pointing, with that goofy grin spread across his face. Once he realized, Eddie couldn't help but giggle along with his brother.
Diego was curled up in his usual place, feeling lazier than he'd felt all week. The saber was not alone, however.
Over the past few nights, he and Buck had grown closer. They spoke of their various adventures and feats, as though they'd known each other much, much longer. The weasel was currently fast asleep against Diego's back, snoring quietly.
Crash and his brother approached quietly, or as quietly as the two could try. "I'm tellin' ya, Buck's got a thing for him. I mean, he's married and all but I'm just sayin' what it looks like."
Eddie shook his head. "Nah, they're just buddies! Me and you share the same bed, it's like that!" Crash shrugged as the two made their way towards Buck and Diego.
At the same time, Sid decided to roll out of bed at last. He'd seen his fair share of oddities over the week as well, and was just as uncomfortable as anyone else. From the moment they'd started, all sorts of theories about the end of the world sprung forth, sending most other animals into a panic.
However, Sid wasn't worried for some reason. The sloth made his way outside, nearly tripping over a large rock before taking in the eerie calmness of the morning. It was dead silent, save for the quiet sounds of the nearby stream.
Sid yawned and sat up, feeling far more energetic than usual. He stood up and made his way towards the mouth of the cave, hitting his foot against a large rock and almost falling over. As he reached the ledge outside, Sid couldn't help but feel he'd already been standing in the same spot, listening to the stream before.
He shrugged and made his way down the hill, where Crash, Eddie and Diego were talking about something. Whatever it was didn't look too serious from up here.
As Sid got closer, the others changed the subject quickly. The sloth noticed, but said nothing. He glanced over his shoulder, shivering slightly as he swore he could have seen the sky itself flickering in and out.
Buck hummed tunelessly to himself and he made his way through the foliage beside Diego's regular spot. He jabbed his knife into the soft dirt and stopped to piss on an old tree stump.
The weasel sighed as he relieved himself, glancing around out at the eerily quiet sky. There were birds, but no sounds. The clouds were completely still. For the moment, everything was silent. He couldn't even hear himself breathe, nor hot piss splashing on the ground.
With no warning, the clouds began to move again... But backwards. Of all things, this is what began to scare him. Buck's ears folded against his head as he stepped backwards into the clearing, bumping into Diego.
"Buck? Hey, what's wrong?"
The weasel turned around to find Sid, Diego and the twins staring at him, obviously worried. Something managed to scare Buck, of all people, so it must have been serious. Diego reached out and pulled Buck in closer, bending his head down. "What's going on? I've seen you fight dinosaurs without even flinching!" The saber began, but Buck cut him off.
"Whatever's going on here isn't natural. That's something I can't fight." The weasel replied, steadying himself. "I didn't pay much mind to it before, but I think we're in danger. I know we're in danger."
"Everybody else is leaving, Manny. We should go too."
Ellie and Manny stood at the mouth of their cave, watching Peaches lying on the grass, talking casually with Louis. Manny sighed and turned to his mate.
"This is something we can't do anything about here. Something I can't protect you from." He said, leaning against the wall and hanging his head. "I have to keep you and Peaches safe, but with all this going on..."
Ellie leaned against Manny and wrapped her trunk around his.
"We'll be alright. We always make it out okay!"
The world was shifting beneath their very feet.
Diego was struggling to keep his footing, as was his entire herd standing around him. The sky was fading in and out to various colors, as Sid had seen it do before.
Buck was shaking in fear. It was an emotion nearly foreign to him, but it overtook him so easily. The weasel couldn't keep his footing, keeling over onto the ground in terror.
Peaches and her parents stood close to each other, eyes darting around as their very world was twisting and contorting around them, colors fading in and out faster than they could imagine. "Everyone, keep close together!" Manny called out, reaching out and grabbing Sid, who was struggling to stand.
The world was finally fading into nothing.
Buck was curled up on the ground, shaking in fright as everything he knew was vanishing from sight. At the last moment before he thought he just might have been a goner, Buck felt hot breath against his neck for a moment, before being pulled to his feet by the scruff of his neck.
"Get up! We can't give up here!" Diego told Buck, letting him fall from his teeth. At the very last moment, Diego could feel something holding onto his legs as his vision faded, and everything was silent.
Manny was the first to stand up, glancing around him at what was left of his home. What was here wasn't much, but the cave stood. He struggled to his feet, dragging himself along towards the cave. Around him, the others were slowly waking up as well.
Sid was the second on his feet, shuffling about as his legs continued to ache from before. He called out to Manny in a weak, trembling voice. Though he wasn't more than 20 feet away, Manny could barely hear the sloth speaking. Before the mammoth could reply, he saw his daughter standing shakily next to her mother's sleeping form.
Slowly but surely, the others were waking up. Manny could hear them now, groaning and forcing themselves up. Crash and Eddie held on to each other for balance, glancing up at Manny and Peaches. "What was that?" Crash asked, carefully stepping away from his brother, who was swaying in place.
"I dunno, but I'm gonna hurl!"
Eddie dropped onto all fours and threw up, with his brother patting him on his back.
Diego was standing now, helping Buck get on his feet as well. The weasel held onto Diego's neck for support, his legs quivering beneath him. The saber bent down and used his head to lift Buck up onto his feet. To Buck, however, such contact calmed him enough to try and get a grip on his surroundings, Diego felt Buck sighing softly at the contact but payed it no mind.
Once everyone was awake, Manny spoke.
"Alright, everyone, I have absolutely no idea what that just was. It looks like we're all okay though!" He said, trying to lighten the mood a bit. However, it appeared that nobody was having it.
"Manny, I appreciate that you're trying to make the best of this already but I doubt anyone's in the mood." Diego said, leaning back into Buck's hugs without realizing it.
Crash pointed up to the sky… or lack of sky entirely. It was dark, but not so dark as to hide the clouds and fragments of floating rock in the distance. Everybody looked on in amazement at the vast, endless void before them.
"I guess we're floating around, like those other pieces out there." Buck said, stepping away from Diego for a brief moment. "If that's true, we have to find food here if we're gonna live long enough to find a way off of this rock."
Sid pointed out into the void at a rock floating by, covered in trees and plants like their own. "Hey, look! There are animals on that one too!" He shouted, waving at them. Across the space between them, the other animals waved back and jumped up and down, hollering at Sid.
"I can't hear what they're saying, but it sounds like they're happy to see us!" The sloth exclaimed, glancing around at his herd as the gathered at the edge of their 'island'. Manny shouted back at them as their islands slowly drifted past each other.
"What is this place? How do we get home?" He shouted. The animals across the way replied, almost too faint to hear.
"This place is what exists between worlds! If you're here, you're stuck here for good!" One rabbit shouted. Another smaller animal called out next. "Make some friends, and tie your islands together!"
Before they could say anymore, the others were too far away to continue speaking, leaving the herd alone on their rock once more.
(mature-ish content ahead, you was warned :U)
Two days had gone by since their very world had broken apart, leaving the herd stranded on a minuscule chunk of their former home. Food was found on the first day, several bushes covered in edible berries and apple trees lining a small pond to drink from.
With nothing more to do than hope for somebody else to drift by, the herd became increasingly bored and frustrated with one another. Sid and Diego were constantly firing insults at one another; even Crash and Eddie would fight each other over simple things.
Buck, for one, was sick of the bickering and squabbling between the others, and called Crash, Eddie and Diego (the more volatile members of the herd at this moment) away from the cave for what he called a 'mandatory meeting'.
"Alright, gents. You're all really getting on my damn nerves with your constant arguing, and this is how we're going to settle it."
Buck was pacing back and forth in front of them, knife at his side as he thoroughly chewed them out. Even Diego wouldn't open his mouth to retort, such was Buck's ferocity.
"Alright, then. Around the fire." He commanded, and the others did as they were told. After they sat down, Buck took a seat next to Diego.
"Crash!" He shouted, making the possum jump and grab onto his brother. "Y-yeah?" He asked, shaking visibly.
"Truth or dare?"
Everybody was dead silent for a moment.
"Seriously, Buck?" Diego started as he stood to leave, but Buck cut him off. "Sit down there, bud. Don't think I won't tie you down!" The weasel barked. "That's not a bad idea, either way." He added, chuckling at his own joke.
"No questions, just choose. Truth or dare?" He repeated, tapping his foot on the ground. Crash thought for a moment before he made his choice.
"Truth!" He said, after careful consideration. One had to remember who he was playing with! Buck grinned and sat back against Diego's side. The weasel thought for a moment before asking his question.
"What's the most disgusting thing you can say you've eaten?" he asked. An innocent enough question, one which Crash could answer easily.
"That's easy! Eddie said he'd eat a pine cone if I put my tongue in a rhino's nose!"
"Well, did you do it?"
"Yeah!"
Diego snorted. "Did he eat the pine cone?"
Crash glared at his brother for a second. "No, he just laughed."
It took a moment, but everyone started to laugh. It was the first genuinely good time they were having on this rock, so Buck continued. "Alright, Crash, keep it going! Ask somebody!"
Crash considered his options carefully, looking over everyone in the circle before choosing. "Diego, truth or dare?"
Before Diego could think, he chose dare. Almost immediately, the saber regretted his decision. "Alright, Diego, uh..." The possum started, before trailing off in thought.
"Oh, I know! I dare you to keep your nose in your butt for, uh, five more turns!" He shouted, he and his brother cackling with glee as Diego sighed and curled up, putting his nose right where intended. "Eddie, truth or dare?" He asked, nose still pressed against his rump.
"Ha! Dare!" The possum shouted. He was certain Diego couldn't come up with anything too terrible. Buck was smiling and watching everyone starting to get along again. 'Too bad Sid's not around.' he thought, before nudging Diego.
"Well, let him have it!" The weasel said, snuggling back against Diego's outer thigh.
"Eddie, I dare you to kiss your brother! Fifteen seconds, make sure to hug him too." The saber instructed, not really bothered by his current position anymore. Crash and Eddie glanced at each other before standing up with a sigh.
"Well get on with it! What say you, Diego? Tongue and all?" Buck suggested, grinning wickedly. Diego snorted and grinned right back.
"Yeah, why not?"
The twins finally got to it, Eddie taking his brother's waist as the two brought their lips together. Crash followed Eddie's example and placed his arms over his brother's shoulders, unintentionally pushing them further together before he felt Crash's tongue meet his own. They stood there, kissing quietly in front of the others, who were watching in astonishment.
"Time was up about twenty seconds ago!" Buck exclaimed, laughing as the two broke apart immediately. "No fair, you didn't tell us!" Crash shouted, returning to his spot and sitting down, crossing his arms in anger.
Diego snorted. "Hey, you guys looked like you were enjoying yourselves! I didn't wanna interrupt or anything!" Elbowing Buck in the side as the two laughed hysterically.
Eddie scowled at Buck. "Truth or dare, Buck?" He asked, folding his arms and avoiding eye contact with his brother. Buck laughed with the same arrogance that Eddie had shown before. "Dare!"
Eddie jumped right on his chance to get revenge! "I dare you to kiss Diego, but he still can't pull his nose out of his ass!" He shouted, laughing and glancing at his brother, who was still quiet. Buck shrugged and rolled onto his back, wiggling his way under Diego's head. Before the feline could react, Buck kissed him, though it was much more brief than the twins' kiss.
Though it was only a dare given to him during a child's game, Buck couldn't help but enjoy every second of it, despite how close his face was to Diego's ass.
Buck sat up and sighed, not realizing the look on his face told anyone that he'd enjoyed that immensely. However, he didn't dwindle on it for too long.
"Crash, truth or dare?"
"Truth."
Crash had obviously chosen truth to avoid any dare similar to the previous one. Buck smiled and asked his question.
"Did you enjoy it when your brother kissed you?" the weasel asked, causing both brothers to glare at him. Crash sighed and stood up.
"It wasn't bad, alright?" he spat, obviously upset. Buck however, stood up as well.
"Hey, calm down. We're all friends here, and it's just a game. Nothing said or done here will be spoken of after this, alright?"
After that, the game had stopped. Nobody left their circle, but nobody spoke again.
Buck was lying awake, sprawled across Diego's back as he slept. Despite it being a game, something meant to bring the more volatile members of their herd together, Buck couldn't help but want more from it. The weasel was sure by now that it was no secret that he had an interest in Diego, but there wasn't any way he could think to express it without making even himself uncomfortable.
He sighed and stood up, stretching his arms out above his head before wandering off into the foliage near their camp. Night and day looked no different from each other here, floating on this rock in the middle of an endless void. Buck stared out into the abyss, taking note of the faint clouds off in the distance, though he doubted it was a storm.
He was so wrapped up in his own thoughts that Buck didn't hear the sound of somebody else approaching.
"Buck?"
The weasel spun around, to find Crash standing in the grass below the rock where he was sitting. He sighed and jumped down, patting the possum on his shoulder.
"Listen, I didn't mean any harm earlier when I asked about that kiss. It was all in good fun, yeah?" Buck asked, giving his shoulder a gentle shove. Crash couldn't help but crack a small smile before he replied.
"I did kinda like it. It's weird, because it's my brother and all but it really wasn't bad."
The two sat in an awkward silence before Buck spoke up, in an effort to cheer Crash up. "You know, kissing Diego wasn't so bad either. I mean, his whole face smells like an arsehole now, but the kiss itself was grand."
Crash laughed quietly along with Buck. "I doubt he'd be up for that again anytime soon." He said, sitting down on a fallen log next to Buck. "I mean, I dunno if he'd do it again regardless or why i'm thinking about it."
"So ask him."
Crash looked almost shocked by Buck's suggestion. The weasel continued. "The worst he can do is say no, you know? He's your brother. Plus, from what I saw you could both use some practice!" He added, ruffling Crash's headfur.
"What? We don't need practice, what are you talking about?"
"I'm just saying you guys could do better, that's all." Buck said, idly picking at his teeth with the end of his knife. Crash scowled at him and stood up, taking a step forward.
"Yeah, well if you're as good as you say then you should prove it!"
It was Buck's turn to be surprised. He sighed and jabbed his knife into the dirt, standing up and pulling Crash in closer to him. Without any warning, he pulled the possum close and took him in a deep, heated kiss.
This wasn't like kissing his brother. Crash felt himself nearly melting into Buck's grip as he kissed back, wrapping his arms around the weasel's torso. Buck gripped Crash's lower back as the two continued their kiss, the weasel's tongue forcing its way into the young possum's mouth.
When it was over with, Crash had lost any sense of how long they'd been there, or when they stopped. He was amazed at how much he'd enjoyed it, even if Buck seemed more... Forceful.
The weasel kissed Crash on his nose and sent him off to bed, grinning at the sight of the possum's rear end disappearing into the brush.
Food was starting to run low. After five days of traveling through the void without any contact with another island, even Manny was starting to lose hope.
The twins had taken to climbing around on the outside edges of the island, despite warnings from their sister. There were roots and plants hanging from the lower half that could keep them alive. Maybe long enough to meet somebody else out here.
Time had no hold here. Day and night simply weren't. There was no sun, no moon and no stars. The only things they could see among the void were distant islands like their own.
"Are we gonna die out here?"
Peaches shocked her father with this question, and he truly had no idea how to answer it honestly. With a sigh, Manny stood and called out for the others to come sit around the cave.
"We've run out of food. The water's still there, but we need to eat to keep going. I'm honestly not sure if we're going to survive out here." As Manny told them this, Diego was staring into the distance. Something was moving towards them at a high speed.
"Another island!" He shouted, gathering attention from everyone immediately. He gestured out at the mass of rock moving towards them.
It appeared to be a bit larger, with a few wooden structures built in the center. There were others on it, who could see the herd.
Prologue 2
"So, um... Verne, right? How did you all end up out here like us?"
The inhabitants of the other island had plenty of rope, which had helped in tying the floating rocks together. In addition to their own herd, there were now almost a dozen more animals sitting around the fire.
Verne, who seemed to be the head of this other strange herd, stood up and tried to answer.
"Well, we really have no idea." He said, rubbing his head and glancing around at the strangers he was seated with. Verne glanced at RJ, hoping he'd somehow have a better explanation. The raccoon shook his head.
"Well, we noticed that all the humans were acting differently. Weirder than usual! Then one day they all just stopped moving!" He explained, trying to put pieces together as he spoke.
"Were they dead?"
RJ looked up to see that a younger male, one of the twins had spoken.
"They weren't dead; it was more like they were all just stuck in one spot. Frozen in place, but everything else looked normal."
"Was the sky turning different colors? We noticed that, among other things." Diego said, standing up and taking a step forward. Buck sat on the saber's shoulders, idly cleaning his claws with his knife. The weasel nearly shuddered as he pictured the sky moving backwards as it had.
RJ nodded. "The sky flickered in and out like a broken TV!" He said, noting the confusion on the newcomers' faces. Before they could start talking about the various anomalies the preceded their tip into the void, Manny spoke over them.
"Alright, well we're not gonna learn anything by dwelling on the weird... stuff that led up to this." The mammoth explained. "Even if we could, it's not like we understand any of it anyways."
Verne nodded in agreement. "See, this guy knows what he's talking about!" He said, immediately striking a friendship with the mammoth.
RJ leaned back against the same rock he'd been sitting on before.
"Wonderful, it's like two Vernes." He said with a sigh, to nobody in particular. This was going to take some serious getting used to.
Over the next few days(?) the two parties were still attempting to merge together in a peaceful manner. However, this only worked to an extent: The peaceful, quiet moments were wonderful but the times that arguments broke out were made even worse. Whether it was over who slept where, who used what, or other simple things it almost always ended in a fight.
Verne and Manny were now acting in unison, both as worrisome and overbearing as before, each supporting the other. While at times it was better to have more than one voice of reason among the craziness, it was a bit much to handle for the others.
Buck had climbed up into his favorite tree to get a bit of rest away from the others. Since they'd met their new guests, Buck didn't have much time to himself. This also meant he hadn't been around a certain saber as much as he'd have liked.
Just as the weasel closed his eyes, right on the very brink of sleep he felt another climbing into the tree. Buck groaned and sat up, ready to tell whoever off until he came almost face to face with Crash.
This was another thing he'd learned to enjoy. Though the two were almost inseparable, Crash and Eddie often put space between themselves before they could fight. Eddie would normally pass out around the fire with his sister and niece, but Crash found it difficult to sleep with others if his brother wasn't around.
Crash noted the frustration on Buck's face and began moving backwards towards the ground. "Sorry. Thought you were with Diego." He mumbled. Buck rolled his eyes and moved over, shuffling noisily to make room. "There's room up here, if you're after a place to sleep." The weasel said with a wide yawn.
Crash hesitated to take Buck's offer, but after a moment he curled up on the branch next to his friend.
While he was exhausted and Buck wasn't opposed to cuddling, Crash simply couldn't sleep a wink. His mind was racing with thoughts relating to anything from breakfast to the fact that they may never leave this rock alive. The idea of starving to death on this island scared him, even if he said nothing of it.
Crash nearly jumped out of the tree when Buck suddenly spoke to him.
"Can't sleep?"
"No. Am I keeping you up?"
Buck sat up and turned to face Crash. "Nah, I can't sleep either. This shit's almost too much for me." He said, staring down at his toes.
Crash was quiet. Buck hadn't thought to confide in anybody before, but Crash was almost honored he'd been chosen. "Yeah, it's pretty scary." The possum responded, sitting back against the trunk. "Hey, I never asked! How did you manage to get back outside after that cave fell on you?"
Buck raised an eyebrow at the question before shrugging it off entirely. "It's not important. You and your brother fighting again?" He asked, obviously eager to change the subject. Crash nodded.
"Yeah... I think he's just getting pissed off at the others and not really... saying it?" he guessed, shifting closer to Buck and lying his head across his friend's chest.
The weasel sighed and put an arm around Crash, squeezing his shoulder. "He's not the only one. We're all a little fed up on both sides, and this time truth or dare wouldn't fix it!" he said with a quiet laugh.
"Well, not truth or dare... Maybe something else? We don't have a ball, but there has to be something! You're scary, you could definitely get everybody in on it!" Crash replied, not moving his head from Buck's chest.
Buck laughed at that. "I'm scary? How so?" He asked, grinning down at Crash. The two laughed and continued their conversation until they could hear the others stirring below them.
Verne and Ozzie were the first two awake, as usual. Verne had a habit of waking early to make sure everyone was alright, and even when there was no sun to wake him he'd been up before everyone every time. It had been almost twenty days by his count, and he was grateful that RJ had convinced the others to steal even more food than before. Verne wouldn't admit that, though.
Ozzie was up around the same time every morning, not only having heard Verne up and about but his bladder had him awake at this time every day anyways. With a yawn, the old possum stood up and stretched his legs before wandering off to pee.
The two met up at their campground, which they tried to keep separate from that of the others on the island. Verne almost regretted having tied the floating rocks together, but he felt somewhat relieved that there was somebody else out here!
"Morning, Ozzie." The turtle said with a yawn, patting his friend on the shoulder. He looked over all of his family, sleeping soundly around the remains of their campfire. His gaze wandered a bit further off, resting on the strange group of animals they shared the island with.
"Good morning, Verne!" Ozzie replied cheerfully, noticing Verne's gazing towards the other group. The possum sighed and stood beside Verne quietly, considering everything that was happening. Almost a full month without any kind of contact with others who floated around in the endless abyss, and the sudden arrival of others was certainly a jarring experience.
"I don't want to argue with them." Verne said quietly. "We're all stuck in the same situation, and I know they're just as lost as we are..." He trailed off, glancing over towards Hammy as the squirrel sat up.
"We must set aside our differences, for the good of our family and theirs!" Ozzie added, ruffling Hammy's headfur as he approached them. Almost on cue, the others started waking up shortly afterwards. Verne sighed and called them all over to talk.
Sid gave a particularly loud snore that managed to wake Diego up. The saber groaned and rolled onto his front to stand up. He shot a glare at the sleeping sloth before making his way away from the cave. Buck was most likely awake now, so Diego figured he shouldn't be hard to find.
He was right. Within a few moments, Buck and Crash entered the clearing before the cave, laughing about something or other before they greeted Diego.
"Say, Diego, take a look over towards our neighbors' camp!" Buck said, now taking his favorite spot on the saber's shoulders. He gestured over to sad camp, where most of the other animals had gathered around to listen to Verne speak. "What do you think they're doing?" He asked.
Diego didn't answer.
"I hope Louis is alright."
Peaches and her mother sat near the edge of the island, staring out into the endless abyss before them. Ellie wrapped her trunk around her daughter's shoulders with a sigh.
"I'm sure he's fine. He probably got lucky and met some friendly drifters, like we did!" She said, squeezing Peaches' shoulders gently. The young mammoth looked up at her mother.
"I don't think they like us very much." She said, hanging her head. "I mean, they shared their food with us but I think they were just afraid." Ellie shared her daughter's confusion and frustration.
Eddie wandered around the island by himself, trying to find some way to relax. It sure wasn't going to happen in the camp, being as loud as it was now with their neighbors.
The possum picked up a pebble and hurled it as far as he could into the void. At that point, he noticed a few rocks drifting by. They had small amounts of plant life on them, so Eddie assumed they must have belonged to a much larger island at some point.
Scooping up a few more pebbles and stick, Eddie took aim at the drifting rocks, managing to hit one as it floated by. He grinned and raised his arm to throw again before somebody spoke to him.
"Hello!"
The possum jumped and dropped his pebbles onto the ground before curling up on the floor in his standard 'dead' position.
The (obviously female) voice giggle at him. "You're not fooling anyone! You look like a major dork, though!"
Eddie sat up and looked over his unexpected visitor. One of the animals from the other camp, and she looked just as bored as he did!
The girl extended a paw and helped Eddie to his feet. "You're not like any possum i've ever seen." She said. "Not that i've seen many, but still."
Eddie laughed. "You're not like any possum i've seen, either! I've seen a lot of them, too!" The two laughed for a moment before Eddie continued gathering rocks to toss into the void.
"I'm Heather, by the way!" The strange girl added as she helped gather rocks. Eddie introduced himself and the two decided to see who could hit all three floating stones first.
Buck quietly made his way towards the neighboring camp, taking care to remain unseen. Dodging through bushes and foliage, over and under various obstacles until he reached his target: The same raccoon he'd spoken with a few nights(?) prior.
Waiting patiently until the coast was clear, Buck casually strode into the camp and tapped on RJ's shoulder.
The raccoon jumped and turned around to face him, but didn't shout. Buck spoke quickly.
"There's a lot of tension between our groups, I feel it and I know you do to." The weasel began, motioning for RJ to follow. The raccoon nodded and followed Buck into the foliage beyond the camp, glancing over his shoulder to make sure he wasn't seen.
"Neither Manny or Verne are doing anything about it, and I know if we don't think of something soon then all hell's going to break loose."
RJ nodded. "I understand where you're coming from. What are you suggesting?" He asked, leaning against a tree and picking at his fingernails with a yawn.
"You don't happen to have a ball or something, do you?" Buck asked.
"Huh? No, sorry. No balls." RJ said, not taking the time to consider his words. Buck snorted.
RJ rolled his eyes."Any other ideas?"
Buck shook his head. "When it was just us, a simple game of truth or dare seemed to do the trick. There's too many of us for that, now, sooo..." He trailed off, unsure of what to say.
"Well, that could work!"
"There were only four of us, and only because those three were nearly at each others' throats." Buck explained. "It'd be harder with a whole mess of people."
"So, you bring your three, I'll see who might fit around our camp too!"
Buck grinned. "Meet me back here in a few hours, then."
RJ kept an eye on his family for the next hour or so, carefully gauging everyone and deciding who would benefit the most from interacting with their neighbors. After careful decision, he'd decided to invite Hammy, Ozzie and Stella before Verne came back. The turtle met with Manny on a semi-regular basis, as for why RJ had no clue.
"Hey, Hammy!" He whispered, grabbing the squirrel's attention from across the campsite. "Ozzie, Stella! C'mere!"
The three approached him.
"What's up, RJ?" Stella asked, brushing her bangs away from her face.
"Well, I wanted to ask you three something. See, I met with Buck, that weasel from the other camp." He started, immediately noticing the look of concern on their faces. "He and I had an idea to sort of... ease the tension between the camps! So we can all start to get along!" RJ explained.
Hammy raised his paw. "Isn't Buck the scary one? With the eye patch?"'
RJ could see that Hammy was afraid of the other group for some reason. "That's him. He's got a few guys from his family who'll be there, and I was hoping you three would like to come along."
Ozzie placed a paw on RJ's shoulder. "I'm willing to give this a chance. I'm truly sick of the bickering between us!"
Stella looked doubtful, but she nodded in agreement. "This could be a good thing!" She said nervously.
RJ grinned. "Awesome! Buck will be back in a while, we'll follow him once he gets here... And don't tell Verne!"
"Alright, gents... and lady. Follow me, stick close. Nobody on my side knows we're doing this either, so let's be quick about it!"
Buck led RJ, Hammy, Stella and Ozzie towards the same place he'd played with the others before. He could tell they were nervous, but nothing he said could have helped it.
When they finally arrived, Ozzie was shocked to find Heather sitting at the campfire with Buck's friends! The young possum was kneeling by the campfire, rolling marbles around with Crash and Eddie.
"I wondered where I left those!" RJ said, nodding at the bag of marbles.
Before Ozzie could question her, everyone made room for the newcomers. He sighed at sat down next to Heather.
Buck knelt down and added a bit of wood to the fire before he faced the others. He looked from left to right: Diego was here, Sid, Crash and Eddie as well. Among them were RJ and his companions, now making themselves comfortable.
Buck suddenly spoke up, grabbing everyone's attention right away.
"Ozzie! Truth or dare?"
The old possum jumped at the sudden shout.
"What?"
Buck rolled his eyes. "Truth or dare? I assume you know the game, right?"
"Well, yes but i'm not sure that..." Ozzie began, but Buck cut him off again.
"Just pick one, and we can move on!"
The weasel jabbed his knife into the soft dirt and sat beside it, looking at Ozzie expectantly. After a moment, the older possum sighed and made his choice.
"Dare."
Buck grinned and glanced over at RJ. "Alright, your turn."
RJ took a second to choose who would dare Ozzie. He thought that Heather might make a good fit, but he knew the two had a habit of trying to push each other on occasion.
"Hammy! You choose Ozzie's dare." The raccoon said, nodding in the squirrel's direction.
While Hammy tried to come up with a good dare, Eddie and Heather sat a few feet away, laughing quietly at their own discussion. A particularly foul joke made Heather snort loud enough to get her father's attention, after which she cleared her throat and calmed down, facing the others again.
"Okay! Ozzie, I dare you to keep your finger in your nose for ten more turns!"
Ozzie sighed and looked around at everyone, all of whom were waiting for him to follow through. The possum stuck his pointer finger into his nose.
Buck nodded. "There ya go! Alright, choose somebody!" He said, making his way towards Diego before lying back against the saber's side.
Diego was used to it by now, so he adjusted his position to make some room for his friend. Without warning, the saber wrapped a heavy paw around Buck's midsection and tugged him in closer. The weasel wasn't complaining, however, as he wiggled about and made himself comfortable.
The game went on for a while, the truths and dares both getting a bit more interesting. For the most part, everyone was enjoying themselves as they laughed at whatever bizarre dare the next player could come up with, or the aftermath of a revealing truth.
"Alright, Buck! Truth or dare?" Heather asked, now sitting back against the hollow log her friends were sitting on.
Buck had been relaxing against Diego's side when he heard his name. Without thinking, he blurted out "Dare!"
Heather thought for a second, glancing between Buck and Diego before making up her mind.
"Alright, I dare you to kiss Diego!" She said, eliciting a giggle from Stella and a smirk from RJ. Crash and Eddie
Diego rolled his eyes and nudged Buck's shoulder with his nose. Without hesitation, Buck Twisted himself around and pressed his lips against the saber's. Unlike last time, Diego made an effort to kiss back, if a bit clumsy due to his large fangs.
After a few seconds, Buck pulled back and took up his previous position at Diego's side with a cheesy, telltale grin on his face that told everyone how much he'd enjoyed it.
"Man, that doesn't count!" Eddie said. Crash nodded in agreement. "He'd kiss Diego anyways, not fair!" Diego rolled his eyes and rested his head on his paws as was before.
Buck shrugged and sat back. "Crash! Truth or dare?"
Crash gulped when he saw Buck's face, a wicked shit-eating that grin told him he was in serious trouble no matter what he chose. The possum sighed and weighed his options: Choosing truth would probably mean having to spill the beans over his brother, and dare would certainly be just as embarrassing.
After careful consideration, Crash spoke up. "Alright, dare!" he said, nearly shaking. The possum could already tell Buck had something awful in store for him, so he decided to get it over with.
"Right, then!" Buck said, hopping to his feet and grabbing his knife from the dirt. "Crash, take a walk with me. You all keep the game going!"
Crash didn't hesitate to follow the weasel away from the campfire. Not only was he being spared something humiliating in front of everyone, but the tone Buck used said that he didn't have anything unpleasant planned.
The two walked together in silence until they were a good distance from the game.
"I wouldn't have embarrassed you in front of everyone, you know." The weasel said, leaning against a tree and lazily swinging his knife about. "Even if I'm givin' you a hard time, I won't really hurt you."
Crash sat against the tree opposite of Buck, unsure of how to reply.
"You really like Diego, right?" He finally asked.
"Yeah."
Sid stood at the edge of the island, staring out into the endless void. In the distance he could see other floating objects, though not clearly enough to tell what they were.
The sloth yawned and stretched his arms out over his head, unaware that he was no longer alone on the edge.
"It's amazing, isn't it?"
Sid yelped in surprise and nearly fell over the edge and into void. He stopped to catch his breath before turning to see who startled him.
Upon a fallen branch sat a large, four legged animal with spotted fur and a wicked grin. It's shoulders were slouched down as the strange creature stared at Sid.
"You can't see it yet, but the void truly is a beautiful place." He mused, ignoring Sid's confused stare.
"My name is Sal. I'm an envoy of the void." He said, sprawling out over the branch. "You're Sid, right? I've been keeping an eye on you."
"How did you get onto the island? Why are you watching me?" The sloth asked, stepping back in fear.
"Relax. I'm no threat, and I think you and I can help each other!"
"What do you mean?" Sid asked, still not convinced he wasn't in danger.
"Well, I know that you and your friends are hungry, and I can help. There's an anchored island a day away, where food grows plentiful in the shade of a large castle. "
Sal jumped down from his branch, now circling around Sid as he spoke.
"I will turn your island in that direction, in return for a favor that I will call for later. What say you?"
Sid carefully examined Sal, looking over the scarred body and shaggy fur.
"So? Would you like to help your friends? Your herd?" Sal asked, still circling Sid menacingly. "You can stop the fighting, feed the family..."
Sid nodded, less in response and more to the thought of feeding everyone.
"Is that a yes?"
"Yeah."
"So he knows, right? I mean you don't really hide it."
Crash and Buck were sitting in Buck's usual spot, in the tall tree overlooking the pond. Crash shifted around as he rested against the weasel.
"You should just say it to him. If he knows, that is."
Buck simply grunted in response, running his paws over the possum's sides. Crash curled up closer to Buck, burying his muzzle into the weasel's chest fur.
The two lay in silence for a while, enjoying the close contact they'd both come to appreciate. It wasn't often that it was this quiet, either.
"After you tell him, we can't do this anymore can we?" Crash asked, breaking the silence. He lifted his head from Buck's chest.
Buck sighed and pulled the possum in closer. "Well depending on how he takes it, no we won't... but before then I'll never say no to a good cuddle."
With that, Buck pressed his lips to Crash's forehead. "Get some sleep."
[I vaguely remember where I was going with this, and it gets better. I hope x.x]