Buck woke in the grey light of the early morning, his body and mind aching from a rare bad night's sleep. But where other creatures would ignore the dawn, and sleep in, Buck knew he couldn't stay in the branch and doze all day. So after a small moment of contemplating, Buck stood up, did a stretch, then grabbed his knife and slipped down the trunk of the tree.
He decided to save energy and walk in the denser jungle, so he didn't have to worry about too many dinosaurs taking him by surprise. It was a strangely quiet day, but nothing suspicious. Just calm.
Buck lazily strolled towards a nearby river, thankful that it wasn't a particularly dangerous season to be around the water. During mating seasons, trying to get a drink was a dangerous effort. Males of every kind of dinosaur fought over the females, crashing in the shallows, head to head, neck and neck or hide and hide. The air would be shuddering with deep warbles from horned dinosaurs or hisses from the small carnivores.
Buck picked some fruits along the way, small blackberries off the prickly bushes, and ate them while he made his way along. It was a temperate day too. Not to hot or cold, just a still even warmth that relaxed the mind. In his tired state, Buck wasn't too keen on fighting anything on this day. If the wind was up, perhaps, or if the rain was lashing at his face and into his remaining eye. But he found it difficult to raise his energy when the world was so still.
When Buck reached the river, it was flowing almost silently, and the light started to filter through the ice above. He made his way to the water, deciding that at least a swim should wake him up a bit.
He slipped into the water, and let instincts take over. He swam like his cousins the otters, gliding and cutting through the water with his slim body. He passed over rocks and under logs, until the shore ground rose again.
He crawled onto the bank, feeling better. He rolled onto his back and stared at the ice roof above him. He wondered how the herd was doing. Hopefully nothing too exciting, otherwise Buck would be missing out.
Rudy hadn't been around for a few months. He'd been off further to the east then Buck cared to go right now. It was a tender time to leave, with Regal so worked up over Buck's presence. Buck, as usual, was worried about Lucy, and didn't want to leave when Regal was so close to the edge of losing it.
Buck could feel his chest knotting up with the thought of regal, in frustration and anger, so he decided to swim again, to try and think of something, anything, other than regal and Lucy.
Buck slipped into the water again, this time twirling and twisting, smiling to himself underwater as he did so. He wished Dwain was here with him, so they could play some water games or something.
Just as Buck decided he should head back up, and maybe lounge in the warmth, he spotted a dark opening just above the water. Not recognising it, Buck grew curious. There was very few places around here that Buck didn't know, and he felt a knew jolt of energy in his excitement. Maybe it was another jewel cave, and he could bring back some for Lucy.
Buck popped his head out of the water. Before him was a cave entrance, similar to one at the stream further to the west, but this one was smaller. Buck swam back to where he'd left his knife, then returned. He crawled onto the bank, which was moist from the tide.
No dinosaurs would live in a wet cave, Buck thought, the constant water gives 'em foot rot. With that thought, Buck knew it was relatively safe to go in.
It was a dark passage, small, but big enough perhaps for a tiger or wolf to get out. Buck held his knife out in front of him. He could see relatively well, but you could never be sure. It went for ages, dipping up and down slightly, but nothing too drastic. Eventually, it opened up to a small chamber.
It might have been dark before, secluded underground, but there was a hole in the roof that led to the surface, only about three metres off the ground, that let in the outside light. However barely. Twigs, vines and branches were hanging over the edge, and rock fragments lie on the sand all around the opening.
Buck froze.
What he'd originally thought was a particularly large rock fragment turned out to be…furry. The light from above filtered in only a bit, but it reflected off the individual hairs.
It wasn't moving, and only now the scent of blood came to Buck's nose.
Gripping his knife tighter, Buck moved forward. He hadn't wanted a fight today, and this creature was obviously injured. It had patches of brown fur, and the occasional stripe or spot. Buck didn't recognise what scent it was, and this only furthered his curiosity. He reached the giant furry ball, only just realising how big it was. It must have been the back facing him, because a short and bushy tail lay to his right, as still as the rest of it. He made his way around the front, knowing it would be easier to avoid an attack if he could see it coming.
Once he reached the other side, the site was frightening, exciting and strangely beautiful. It looked like a wolf, but was heavier set and had shorter back legs.
It still wasn't moving.
Buck moved closer, still wired to spring away if he needed to. He moved the fringe away from its eyes, finding them to be closed. He lifted the lip, noting the saber-teeth. He then moved down the body, seeing the large gashes and cuts, and wandered as to how it had gotten this, knowing that the fall couldn't have done this kind of surface damage.
He almost jumped out of his fur when the chest moved, and the body shuddered. He moved back to the head quickly, and lifted the eye lid. The iris moved and looked at him, and Buck was startled to find they were the same colour as his own, a rare sapphire blue. Whatever it was, it was still alive, but it might not be if Buck didn't get some help.
"Can you move?" Buck asked it. Its eye closed, and gave a great breath. It had fallen unconscious again.
That was it.
Buck rushed to the passage, went along it carelessly, and almost tripped a few times. Once he reached the outside of the cavern, he left a huge scratch on a tree that sat nearby, and did this on many of the trees until he reached a recognisable path. He wanted to make certain that he could find this place again.
After that, he scaled a tree and grabbed a vine, and swung as fast as he could, almost running into trees in his haste. The village was a saving grace when he spotted it. He landed, and immediately made his way to Lucy's burrow. The day was only just beginning, but he prayed Lucy would be awake. He rushed into her burrow without a second thought, and made his way along to her chamber.
Please, please, PLEASE be awake, he prayed.
He didn't have to go all the way to her chamber, however. He ran into her and Regal half-way.
"Buck," Lucy said, surprised, "What are you doing here?"
"I need your help." Buck panted, ignoring Regal's glares. "I found somethin', like a wolf, an' its hurt real bad. You need to come with me, or it migh' die."
"Hold on," Regal interrupted, "Why would you care? It's just another thing that's fallen in."
"Shut it Regal." Buck snapped, and Regal's ears dropped in anger. Buck prepared for another fight with this red weasel, but Lucy interrupted them loudly.
"Guys!" they both looked at her. "Buck, I'll go with you. I just need to grab some stuff."
She rushed away to her chamber, leaving Buck and Regal alone in the passage.
"If anything happens to her-," Regal started, but Buck stopped him.
"Nothin' will happen to 'er. You forget, Red, I care about 'er too."
They glared at each other for a moment, then looked away.
Buck was seething with impatience and worry, and couldn't deal with Regal right now. So it was a saving sight when Lucy reappeared, a bag slung over her shoulder.
"Let's go," Buck said, shot one last glance at regal, then led Lucy out.
"Do you have any idea how bad it might be?" Lucy asked, as they made their way to the dense jungle.
"I couldn't tell much. There was gashes, huge gashes, bu' no majorly broken limbs t' my eyes. Sorry, eye."
When they reached a spot with decent vines, Buck and Lucy grabbed onto one each, and started their journey, Lucy following behind a cautiously moving Buck.
When Buck spotted the first slash across a tree, he motioned for them to land.
"I thought you didn't like hurting the trees." Lucy said when she landed.
"It's a shallow cut. Besides, it's for a good cause." Buck replied. Hopefully.
He spotted another cut tree, and made his way to it, until they were following the cut trees all the way to the river.
"There's your tracks from earlier." Lucy said almost immediately after they came from the jungle onto the sandy river shore.
Buck smiled at her. "You're learnin'. Now come on, it's this way."
The passage seemed a lot longer when you were anticipating the end of it. Buck could feel his heart beating faster, hoping to all heavens or all hells that whatever it was, it was still alive.
Lucy groaned when they finally reached the open cavern. "It's stinks of blood in here." She said, wiping at her nose as if to rid of the scent. Buck mad made his way over to the creature, and knelt next to its muzzle. Lucy seemed to recognise it was a creature then, and gasped.
"What is it?" She asked, approaching slowly.
"I dunno, but it's hur', an' that's all that matters. Can you help?" Buck instinctively put his paw on the creature's muzzle, strangely not fearing it at all. Lucy walked around the body, inspecting it. She lifted its paws one by one, then Buck helped her to lift the legs. She did it all silently, her persona changing as she concentrated.
The creature didn't move the whole time, just the slight rise and fall of its chest and sides, signalling at least that it was still breathing.
So it was a shock, when Lucy started to say something, then its head shifted. Buck and Lucy jumped back, Buck holding his knife in front of them.
A deep rumble filled the cave, echoing off the walls. The creatures blue eyes opened, and it shifted its head the slightest bit, to look at where Buck and Lucy stood only feet away. If it had the energy, it could have leapt up and bit them both in half, but Buck suspected that it lacked that energy.
The creature huffed, the breath kicking up dust and leaves in front of it. Lucy stepped forward, and grabbed her arm.
"It's not going to hurt me." She said confidently.
Buck looked at her sceptically, unsure, then gave in with a sigh, and released her arm. Lucy walked forward to the side of the head, Buck right next to her. Even though it was potentially dangerous, and looked it too, it didn't have that air about it. Maybe because it was injured, weak, or possibly because it legitimately wasn't interested in hurting them. Buck wasn't sure.
"Hi, I'm Lucy and this is Buck," Said Lucy to the creature, "Can you speak?"
The pause was long, but eventually the creature nodded.
"Do you have a name?"
The creature tried shifting its head in the other direction, but only met ground.
"No?"
Another nod. The hair on the back of Buck's neck stood up. No name? What kind of creature had no name?
"Will you let me heal you? I think you only have some broken ribs, but not majorly. Will you let me stitch your cuts?"
The creature didn't move its head apart from closing its eye again, but shifted its legs, seemingly to make room for Lucy to get at the neck, where one of the largest cuts were, huge and deep, almost as long as Buck's tail and possible as deep as his knife handle.
Lucy looked at it, then moved to the neck. Buck let her get closer, and instead, watched the creature closely. He approached its muzzle again, and placed his paw under the eye gently. It flinched slightly, but then relaxed, and opened its eye.
What are you? Buck wanted to say. Where do you come from? How come you don't have a name? But instead he just stared at it, and it stared right back.
It suddenly raised its head and gave a yelp-like bark.
"Sorry," Lucy said, "But I have to stitch this up."
The creature growled, but then put its head back down.
"Don' hurt her. She's only trying t' help." Buck said. It's a her.
The creature smiled. "What would you do if I did?" it asked, in a husked voice. Buck was surprised at the sounds of its voice, but recognized the joke in her tone. Her.
"I've got a knife an' more energy than you righ' now." Buck said, smiling, and twirled his knife in his paw.
"Speaking of your knife, Buck, I'm going to need it." Lucy said from the neck.
"Why?" Buck asked, looking worriedly at the animal.
"If it is okay with you," Lucy said to her, coming around to the front, "I need to cut away the fur at the edges of the cuts. It going to make it a lot easier to clean, stitch and heal."
The creature shrugged with a flinch and said weakly, "Do it. I'm already freaky looking. What's patches of missing fur to do?"
Lucy nodded, so Buck handed his knife to her, then she asked him to go get some water and something to hold it in. Buck returned with a shabby quick made wooden bowl filled with water, then once he'd given it to Lucy, went back to Beast. He decided that staying with this creature would be a good idea. So he sat down next to her huge cheek.
"So you don' 'ave a name?" he asked.
She shook her head. "But the pack of wolves that lived near me always called me Beast."
"Beast? That's a bit harsh isn' i'?"
"Well I've always thought it had a ring to it." She said with a tired smile. Buck smiled back.
"Is it okay if I call you tha' then?"
"I'm past the point of taking offense to it. Sure."
"Well, Beast," came Lucy's voice back from Beast's side, "Brace yourself, this is going to hurt."
It took until midday to cut away the fur around the cuts, and there was a lot more than Buck had first predicted. After the first two hours, of whining and barking and balking, Beast eventually fell silent, then an hour later fell unconscious again. Buck up to that point had been having amazing conversations with her, (occasionally going to get more water for Lucy), trying to convince Beast that she'd fallen underground into a world full of dinosaurs, and she tried to convince him he was a crazy idiot. Many times Buck had tried getting Lucy in on the fun, (because they were laughing the whole damn time, Beast flinching and yelping occasionally) but she was far too much into her work. Beast challenged Buck to an arm wrestle, and he obviously lost, but it was good fun to her to see Buck struggle.
But when she fell unconscious again, it grew quiet. She occasionally kicked or whined in her sleep from Lucy's needle going in and out of her thick and leathery skin, but then once again would fall silent.
Buck leaned against her thickly muscled shoulder, almost swallowed by the thick coat. It was comfortable, and not just externally. Buck felt a strange calm around Beast. She was a confusing and sophisticated animal, but her humorous attitude towards things said more than she probably knew. Buck found himself liking her the more he talked with her, and even when she slept, he felt he wanted to be around her when she woke once more.
Buck's belly had started to rumble when Lucy wiped blood from her paws and said quietly with a smile,
"Done."
"Will she be alrigh'?" Buck asked.
Lucy looked at him in a strange way, with a strange smile.
"Wha'?" he hissed.
"She'll be fine but… you've grown quite attached, haven't you?" she teased, pinching his arm.
Buck shoved her lightly. "Well haven' you? She migh' be useful you know."
Lucy grinned. "Yeah, I like her. And we'll need to keep her close so I can check on her constantly, until we can cut these stitches out."
"I can wait for 'er t' wake up, bu' you should probably ge' back t' Regal."
"Mm, you're right. He's probably worried about me."
"I can get you back." Buck said, and went to clean his knife, but Lucy put her paw on his arm.
"It's okay. I can get myself back."
Buck gazed at her tenderly. "Okay. An' Lucy, I really appreciate this."
"It's fine. This was fun. Besides, I think Regal was going to take me around to another hunters' gang party." Lucy stuck her tongue out and rolled her eyes. Buck laughed, then led her out the passage. When they reached the moist sand, Buck knew they were near the river.
They both blinked when they came into the bright light, and Buck realised then how gloomy the cavern had been.
"Okay," Lucy said, "So when she wakes up, take her to swim in the river. She needs to wash those wounds properly, and it'll make her feel better. Then come near the village. We'll have to find her a place to sleep and stay until she's healed properly. And make sure she eats-,"
"Lucy," Buck snapped good-heartedly, and gave a chuckle when she stopped, "It's okay, I got i'. I'll let you know when I've got her a place to stay. Now go, or Regal will 'ave my head."
Lucy grinned. "Fine." She kissed Buck on the cheek. "I'll seeya when I seeya."
Buck waved her off, then once he lost sight of her among vegetation, immediately turned and went back to Beast in the cavern. When he returned, she was still asleep, but it wasn't the deep unconscious kind. Instead she was sleeping evenly, and Buck took comfort in that. He didn't want her slipping into a coma.
Buck decided it was safe enough to slip out again and catch himself some fish, then gorge on some fruits.
He had just flicked the pip of a nectarine away, when he heard the grumble in the sky. He looked up, and almost slapped himself when he saw the clouds.
They were to the east, but they must have been moving incredibly fast for Buck not have noticed them before.
"Summer, do ya have t' do this right now?" Buck asked the sky with a groan, but all he got in return was a distant flash of lightning. Cursing, Buck quickly scaled down the tree. He'd been planning to catch and cook some larger and more fish for Beast, but it would have to wait. He had to get her away from that opening and onto higher ground, or she'd catch a flu or something worse while her immune system was already down.
Buck rushed along the passage once more. If he had more time, he could have just covered the hole in the roof of the cavern, for it wasn't that big, but he didn't have that time, so he'd just have to get Beast awake.
She'd rolled onto her belly from her side, meaning she wasn't in a coma or in a very heavy sleep.
"Beast!" Buck called, without hesitating. He'd have to get her awake somehow. He ran to her, and immediately shook her cheek.
"Beast! Beast wake up, please." Buck pleaded.
Beast lifted her head immediately, and yawned, her huge teeth scraping against her bottom teeth.
"Buck? What's going on?"
"Ya need t' move, now. There's a storm comin', an' we have t' ge' you under better cover." Buck started pushing at her uninjured shoulder.
"Okay, jeez, give me a minute." Beast yawned again, then her body started shifting, and she began to rise. She was growling as she did though, her lips pulled back into a snarl as she rose to her feet painfully. Buck searched around the cave for higher ground, and found it on the other side, furthest from the entrance he usually used to get in. The ground rose to a small plateau, just big enough to fit Beast and Buck.
"Hey. Can you get up 'ere?" Buck said, popping his head over the edge of the plateau.
Beast rose her heavy set head and looked at him.
"I should," She groaned. Her eyes widened when some thunder cracked over-head, and Buck wasn't surprised at the fact that it was almost directly overhead. "Okay, that ledge is starting to look like a good idea." Beast said.
She scrambled up the dirt and rocks, grunting and growling, until she pulled herself up. Buck only realised then just how strange she was. Her back sloped downwards and she was a sturdy build.
"No wonder they called ya Beast. You're bloody weird aren' ya?" Buck said with a snort.
"Says the bastard weasel with one eye." Beast growled with humour. She eventually settled down onto the ledge, whining a little as she went, just as a ghastly wind ripped into the roof of the cave, and the rain started pattering onto the rocks and sand below the gap.
Beast shuddered, and curled up tight.
"Sorry about this. Usually the weathers warmer, bu' we're unlucky today. By the sounds of I', it'll last all nigh'. You migh' as well get some more sleep." Buck said. Beast
rumbled a laugh.
"You should to. Just sleep under my neck for the night so you don't freeze your tail off." She said.
"Thanks." Buck said cheerfully. Beast shifted a bit to let him between her thick neck and her thick legs. Buck slid between them and curled up under the cave, and immediately felt the temperature change.
"Night, ya creepy little Beast." Said Buck.
"Little? That missing eye of yours is worse than I thought." Japed Beast.
"Good nigh'!"
"Will it be good though?"
"Shut up an' go to sleep."
"Yes sir."
They fell asleep just as the rain got heavier, the lightning flooded the jungle with white light and the thunder drowned every other sound, but protected, warm and dry, the weasel and beast slept better than any other creature in the Below-ground world.