Author's note: Wow has it been a while. =/ College is... well college. Whatcha gonna do about it? A quick shout out to Jinney for reviewing. :D

There are new dinos in this chapter but unfortunately I did not bring the book with me to college that had the dinos and the pronunciation guide. =( So until I go home for the holidays, you'll just have to make a guesstimation on how to say those bizarre names.

Enjoy the chapter! =D Don't own anybody 'cept Mags.

Chapter 3

The days passed pretty much the same after that. I would either stay at the tree house and entertain Buck's pineapple - and she really was a good listener - or go off on a small adventure with Buck across the Dino Plaza. Days were filled with those activities and nights were spent in the tree house eating fish and fruit. Talking and laughing. Buck would talk about his childhood antics. I was even coaxed out of my shell and open up about my childhood - at least the happier times and I never mentioned him.

As I watched Buck interact with his pineapple over the course of time, I realized that - even though they were an odd pair - they were a cute couple of sorts. Buck was so caring. So - everything! that a girl could want in a mate. It made me wish I had someone like him. Someday. Maybe. Someday.

The days were warm below the ice, comfortably warm. When Maggie woke in the mornings she would either find Buck on the 'main level' - as he called it - making breakfast or she would find that he had gone out early on one of his rounds, leaving Maggie and the pineapple to themselves for the morning. She enjoyed both versions of the morning. When Buck was still around, that meant that they both would go patrolling the Dino Plaza. When he was away, that gave Maggie an excuse to either relax and enjoy the scenery or a day of just talking to the pineapple.

It was one of those days Maggie found as she descended from her 'bedroom' in the branches. "Buck? You here?" She looked around, her ears twitching to catch any sound. Shrugging her shoulders, the she-weasel set about making herself some breakfast. "Hey, Mrs. Pineapple. How did you sleep last night?" Maggie settled down beside the pineapple's raised platform and chuckled. "I hear ya. Though that flock of weigeltisaurus' wouldn't shut up. One almost landed in my room!" She took a bite out of a mango, wiping the juices that escaped away with the back of her paw. Silence descended on the pair for a long time. Maggie glanced up at the pineapple and just stared for several minutes. "He takes great care of you." she said.

Looking back out over the scenery just lying beyond the tree, Maggie sighed. "You're really lucky. I wish - I wish my friend had been the same way." Smiling sadly, her ears drooped. "Don't get me wrong. He took care of me for a long time and we were great friends. Then one day -" Tears sprang up to her eyes. Angrily rubbing them away, Maggie stood. "Well, this stinks. I don't mean to be a downer. Just had another one of those dreams last night." Clearing her throat, she gestured towards the exit. "I'm gonna go wash up. I'm sticky from that mango. Be back in a bit." Maggie hurried away before she saw Buck step out from behind one of the thick branches.

Placing a comforting paw on the pineapple, Buck sighed. "Wish she'd tell me what 'appened." He smiled lovingly at the prickly fruit beside him. "Glad you're coaxing 'er outta that shell of hers."

Maggie returned to the tree and found Buck had come back as well. He grinned at her, waving her over. "Mags! Found somethin' you might like ta see." She walked over and crouched down to peer at the strange - thing.

"What is it?" She asked, cocking her head to the side. It looked like a smooth, flat rock.

"A dino scale!" Buck announced with excitement. "Not just any dino scale, eithah! It's a pachyrhinosaurus! Their herds don't travel this way very often. When they do, it's a lot ah fun to catch a ride on one." His grin stretched even farther. "Waddya say? Wanna go lookin' fer the herd?"

Maggie looked at Buck's good eye and couldn't help but smile along with him. His excitement was contagious. "Sure! What are partners for?"

He jumped up to retrieve his knife from its hidden location. "Right! Let's move."

"Where do we start looking?" She asked, waving her farewell to the pineapple.

Buck grabbed the scale from the floor and gave a quick kiss to the pineapple. "I found this scale down by the rivah. I spotted tracks too. If we're lucky, we can follow them all the way to the herd's camp." The pair hurried all the way to the river and just as Buck had said, there were the tracks in the mud. Maggie followed the insanely eager weasel through the jungle. Eventually, their search slowed and Buck's excitement began fading. Sighing, he sat down on a tree root. "Looks like we'll have ta call it a night."

"Are we going to set up camp here then?" Maggie asked, sitting down across from him.

Stretching, he shook his head. "Nah. We don't want to wake up during a stampede. Pachyrhinosaurus' panic easily and don't stop for anythin'." Buck stood and said, "Let's get back home. We can search some more tomorrow."

Maggie woke up in her hammock and smiled at the sounds of the waking Dinosaur world. Sitting up, she pushed the leaves back. Taking a deep breath of the morning air, she swung herself out of her hammock and landed on her feet on the branch below. It was a move she had practiced over time. The first day she had fallen flat on her face. Running a claw through her long head fur, Maggie freshened up a bit before heading down to the main level.

She climbed down and as usual, looked around for Buck. "Did he leave without me?" Maggie frowned as she sat down in front of the pineapple. "We were going to go look for the dinos together." She folded her arms across her chest and pouted. Brightening up a little, Maggie said, "Well, while Buck's out, why don't we go out for a bit? We could have our own adventure." Maggie stood and picked up the pineapple. "Buck doesn't take you out very often. That's not fair I think. We'll make it a girl's day out." Without wasting another moment, Maggie headed out.

Maggie walked on the trails that Buck had shown her were safe. Cheerfully, she made her way towards a grove of trees that she knew held a bounty of fruit that she had learned to love. It was a peaceful section of the Plateau that Maggie found herself visiting when she was not needed by Buck. "Almost there." She announced to as she leaped over a fallen tree with the pineapple tucked underneath one arm. Maggie's nose twitched in anticipation at the smell of the favored fruits. Whatever Buck was doing, he would be jealous that he had left her behind with this treasured food.

She reached her grove and looked up. "Well, luckily for us there are some low branches." Maggie pointed towards a bush. "Over there is a river. How 'bout we hang out there before collecting some fruit? We might see some dinos in the water too." She eagerly ran towards the river where she sat lazily on the bank with the pineapple beside her. The morning passed slowly while Maggie splashed in the shallow waters and kept an eye out for big dinos that might attack her or the fruit she guarded. Hunger growled from her stomach as she climbed out of the water and shook her fur as dry as she could manage. "I'm going to try for those fruit now! Come on." Maggie picked up the pineapple again and headed back towards the grove.

"What did you think of that camarasaurus? Glad he was interested in the seaweed instead of you." Maggie entered the grove and frowned. "Looks like some of the dinos already came through here and took the low branches." Sighing, she set the pineapple down on the ground underneath a bush. "I'll have to climb up. I'll be back down soon." Looking around, Maggie decided that the bush was the safest place for the pineapple. Scurrying up the tree, she made her way towards the fruit on the higher branches. Plucking some, she dropped them down to the ground for later. Nothing was in the near vicinity, but Maggie had a worrisome feeling. Something just was not right.

Buck swung through the trees. He had woken early and decided to continue the search for the 'rhino-dinos' on his own. If he could find them today, then he could hurry back home and pick up Maggie. Buck came to a stop in a tree and sniffed the air. He knew those dinos were close, but he just couldn't pinpoint their exact location. A scare could flush them out, but he wasn't sure if he wanted to risk that. Buck was about to keep moving when he heard a loud bellow. Grinning insanely, he scrambled through the trees towards the sound. Sure enough, he came upon the herd standing around a river.

He had originally planned to swing home. That had always been the plan. Buck was reaching for a vine and started swingin away over the head of one of the rhino-dinos but the vine snapped. He fell with a yell and hit the jungle floor in front of the dino. As Buck predicted, the dinos panicked. Scurrying up a tree, he watched with one wide blue eye as the herd stampeded through the brush. Buck followed as quickly as he could through the trees, wanting to watch and make sure that nothing - or no one was hurt.

Maggie heard the rumble before she felt the tremors running up the tree trunk. Her eyes widened as her ears twitched, trying to determine from which direction the imminent threat was coming from. The tremors shook the branches, losing the fruit she had been after a few minutes earlier. Gripping onto the tree's limbs, Maggie watched in shock as a herd of dinosaurs charged through the grove. The fruit that had gathered below her were crushed beneath wide, heavy feet. It wasn't until her eyes fell on the bushes nearby that her heart sank.

"No!" Maggie frantically looked around for a way - any way - to get over to the bush. Unfortunately, there was no way visibly to get to the pineapple. Clinging to the tree, her only choice was to wait out the panicking creatures. The sounds died away but Maggie waited for several tense seconds before letting her claws release their grip. Slowly, keeping her every nerve alert for a backtracking herd, she descended from the tree. Her bounty of fruits forgotten, Maggie cautiously stepped towards the bush. Pushing the leaves aside, she gasped. The only thought that ran through her head was that Buck was going to kill her.

"Oiy! Mags! What are you doin' here? Did you see that stampede? It was incredible!" His familiar voice shouted. The thump of his feet on the ground behind her made her jump. Buck was grinning, he was excited.

"I-I - Buck I-!" Tears clogged her throat. Glancing over her shoulder she gasped out, "It was all my fault!"

Buck gave her a quizzical look. "Wha's your fault, Mags?"

Maggie took a shaky breath, her ears were dropping. "I - I wanted to go out - b-but I took your pineapple with me." She watched helplessly as his eye widened and his knife left his paw to fall to the ground. She hastened to add, "I was only up in the tree. I was going to be right back! It's all my fault. I-I never should have brought her with me." Buck brushed past her and stood staring down at a broken and smashed pineapple. Maggie was on the brink of hysterics. "I - Buck I -" He turned then and gave her such a cold, angry look that she had to step back. Buck turned his back on her, ignoring her as she took several more steps back towards the bushes. Ashamed, Maggie turned and ran. She ran as fast and as far as her limbs would take her. She had lost another friend and this time it had been all her fault.

Poor Buck... poor Maggie. ='( Poor Pineapple.

Review please!