Another quick chapter. Writing Buck is so fun already. I love it. Also, yes, everything in this chapter is necessary. Obviously Diego is going to work through things in this story because he has to "get his edge back" but I also gave Tora something that she will have to conquer as well. It will (hopefully) be developed in the next chapter or so. Either way, enjoy!

Word count: 1771

Tora was awake before her brother, something that rarely happened. The sun was just peaking over the horizon when her eyes opened. She pushed herself to her feet and away from her brother as quietly as possible. She pushed her way out of the small dip and began searching for food. It didn't take long before she found a herd of antelope.

She crouched low in the grass, determined to provide some food for her brother. Before she could get very close, the wind changed, carrying her scent towards them, spooking the herd. Tora snarled in annoyance and took off after the antelope. As she ran, the antelope shot into a small grove of trees, and she turned to follow them. Her paws slipped on ice and she skidded into a tree, her shoulder slamming against it, her paw catching in a root.

Her sides were heaving as she righted herself and watched the animals disappear into the forest. She shook out her fur and winced. Her shoulder has already starting to throb from her weight. She shook her head in annoyance and turned back towards where she and her brother had slept. It took her a few strides before she found a way to walk well on her shoulder without limping. She knew it was no serious injury, merely an annoyance, but she had learned in the pack to show no weakness. If they were still with the herd it would have been different but it was just her and Diego now.

As she returned to where she left her brother sleeping, she was surprised to see he was gone. Her ears flattened in worry before he rounded another tree.

She instantly relaxed and smiled when she saw he was carrying two rabbits.

"There you are." He said as he places them on the ground. "I was beginning to think you got lost."

Tora rolled her eyes. "Nope. Only thing I lost was a few antelope."

Diego frowned but shrugged. "I'll go with you next time. I need to get my edge back."

Tora nodded silently and they ate quickly. Diego chose which direction to travel and they continued along the path quietly. The silence was comfortable as both sabers were lost in thought.

Tora was silently scolding herself for losing the antelope and getting herself hurt. Every once in awhile she had to remind herself to walk normally. She didn't want to add to Diego's problems and make him worry about her.

Unbeknownst to her, Diego was already worried. He knew she was beating herself up for missing the antelope and he didn't blame her. They had both changed since they left the pack. It had been hard for both of them and he couldn't help but wonder if things were different.

Suddenly, a deer ran past them, scrambling in fear. "RUN!" He cried.

Diego rolled his eyes. "Don't you have anything better to do?" He snapped.

Suddenly the ground shook and the sabers glanced up to see a giant foot about to land on them. Tora yelped and Diego gasped as they both scrambled out of the way. The dinosaur continued past them without even a second glance. However, a familiar scream reached the sabers.

"Sid?" Diego asked in confusion.

"Why does a dinosaur have Sid?" Tora asked. Diego shrugged but watched the dinosaur disappear into the trees.

"You know we have to go help him." Tora said, already heading down the trail.

Diego nodded and followed her. They followed the tracks to a hole in the ground. They cautiously made their way down, managing to get across a large dinosaur skeleton with little trouble. They found themselves on a ledge, overlooking an entire world of dinosaurs.

"They aren't extinct." Tora breathed. "They've been here, under the ice, this whole time."

Diego frowned as he sniffed the ground. There were no tracks and the scents were confusing. Tora moved off to the side to search for other tracks. A few small dinosaurs were scrambling in and out of the plants but there were no scents that she could track. Screams reached her ears, screams that were unique to a certain two possums.

She turned to see the herd running from a large dinosaur.

"Diego, what are you doing here?" Manny asked in confusion as they ran.

"Sightseeing!" Diego said sarcastically as he dodged a tree. "We are looking for Sid, same as you."

"We?" Manny asked.

Tora finally managed to catch up enough that she could land beside Diego and kept running. "Hi." She called to the mammoth.

"Well! Aren't you two noble!" Manny snapped.

"This is not the time, guys! We need all the help we can get!" Ellie yelled as they found themselves trapped on yet another ledge.

Diego turned and leapt at the dinosaur, roaring at the top of his lungs. The dino roared back, twice as big as Diego scrambled back to Tora.

"Never mind." He gasped.

"I could've told you that was a bad idea." Tora snorted.

The Dino's tail got caught between two rocks and the herd began searching for an escape. Ellie picked up a plant and began baiting another dino with a long neck closer.

"Here, boy! Here! Come on! Good boy! Come on!" She called. "Climb on."

"Are you nuts? We're not getting on that thing!" Manny yelled.

"It's either this dinosaur or that one!" Ellie pointed to the first Dino which had managed to get its tail free.

"Pregnant lady wants to live! Yabba-dabba-doo!" She called as she and the possums slid down the Dino's neck.

"I'm with her." Tora said as she jumped after Ellie.

She heard the boys follow her with screams. She landed awkwardly, jolting her shoulder even more but she straightened as the boys landed beside them.

"Don't ever yabba-dabba do that again!" Manny gasped.

As Manny straightened, several dinosaurs encircled them. "I feel so puny." He breathed.

"How do you think I feel?" Crash asked.

A strange horn caught the attention of the herd and the dinosaurs. A weasel stood on a branch, lowering the horn. He let out a battle cry and swung on a vine, only to have it snap and send him flying out of sight. The Dino's started to close in around the mammals. Manny pressed himself closer to Ellie worriedly.

Suddenly, the weasel landed in front of them, throwing smoke bombs at the dinosaurs before yelling, "Take cover!"

A large cloud of smoke enclosed them as the weasel pushed the herd into the bushes quickly. When the smoke cleared, the dinosaurs were left in confusion. The herd hid in large groups of plants, Manny and Ellie holding some like trees, Crash and Eddie covering their body in leaves, Diego with the leaves around his head like a mane, and Tora lying on the ground with ferns and flowers on her head and tucked into the necklace. Eventually, Buck emerged from his hiding place and the herd was able to move. Tora and Diego shook the leaves off of them as the possums pranced forward.

"Dude, you're awesome! You're like the brother I never had!"

"Me, too!"

The weasel threw his strange knife in front of the possums, halting them. He began sniffing them and picked them up by their tails, holding them upside down.

"Can we keep him?" Crash begged.

The weasel jumped onto Manny's face, making him scream. "Buck!" The weasel yelled.

"What?"

"The name's Buck. Short for Buckminster. Long for "Buh."" He said, examining Manny's trunk.

He moved onto Diego and Tora, examining Diegos teeth. "A little dull." He noted.

Diego pulled his face away as Buck began examining Tora. He flicked her ear and she shook her head, knocking him off.

"What are you doing here?" He asked, landing on the ground in front of everyone.

"Our friend was taken by a dinosaur." Ellie told him.

"Well!" The weasel smiled. "He's dead." Tora blinked as Buck continued. "Welcome to my world. Now go home." He waved. "Off you pop."

"Not without Sid." Ellie insisted.

"Ellie's right." Tora agreed.

"Ellie, wait. Maybe the deranged hermit has a point." Manny said cautiously.

"Manny, we came this far, we're gonna find him." Ellie frowned.

Tora turned her head to see Diego searching the ground. She moved towards him and saw what he was looking at.

"I got tracks." He called.

"Let's go." Ellie said enthusiastically.

Buck appeared in front of them, hanging from a vine. "If you go in there, you'll find your friend. In the afterlife." He said dramatically.

"How do you know, O Great and Wisely Weasely One?" Eddie asked.

"Yeah." Crash agreed.

Buck dropped onto the track and licked the mud, chewing it before spitting it out, much to Tora's disgust. "Mommy dinosaur carrying her three babies and some floppy green thing." He said.

"Yeah, we're friends with the floppy green thing." Manny informed him.

"You got all that from the tracks?" Diego asked in astonishment.

"No. Not really. I saw them come through here earlier." Buck said. "She's headed for Lava Falls. That's where they care for the newborns. To get there, you've got to go

through the Jungle of Misery, across the Chasm of Death, to the Plates of Woe." He said, drawing a map in the ground.

"Woah." The possums gasped.

"Okay!" Manny said, cutting off the weasel from saying anything else. "Good luck with the slow descent into madness. We're gonna go now."

"I think he's already there." Tora smirked. Diego nodded and they started walking.

Buck landed on Manny's tusks, stopping him. "What, you think this is

some sort of tropical getaway? You can't protect your mate, mate." He warned. "What are you gonna do with those flimsy tusks when you run into the beast?"

"I call him," he paused and the herd waited in anticipation. "Rudy."

Oh, good. Good. I was worried it was something intimidating, like "Sheldon" or "Tim."" Manny joked.

"Wait. You mean there's something bigger than Mommy Dinosaur?" Crash asked worriedly.

"Aye."

"Eye?"

"Aye, aye! He's the one that gave me this!" Buck said, pointing to his eyepatch.

"He gave you that patch?" Eddie gasped.

"For free? That's so cool." Crash laughed.

"Yeah. Maybe he'll give us one, too."

Buck stared at them in confusion and Manny nodded as he walked past. "Welcome to my world."

The herd continued to walk as Buck called after them. "Abandon all hope, he who enters there!"

"All right! We get it!" Manny snapped. "Doom and despair, yada, yada, yada."

The weasel frowned as the strange group disappeared into the forest of misery, obviously ignorant to what was in there.