The next day, I manage to wake up before Buck can prod me with a stick again. I yawn and stretch as I try to fully wake up. I look around. I see my daughter. She's squirming. I know that she's also waking up. Her eyes open. She begins crying. I go over to her. "Shhh. Hush, now. Are ya hungry? I'll ge' ya something' ta eat," I smile at Rose.
"'ey, is everything alright?" Buck asks from behind me.
"Yeah. I jus' 'ave ta ge' Rose some food," I answer.
"Le' Ellie watch Rose fer a while. I'll 'elp ya find food," Buck offers.
"Alright. Thanks," I smile. I hand Rose over to Ellie. Then, Buck and I head off into the forest.
Not too long after we leave, we find a mango tree. Buck turns to me. "Does she like mangos?" He asks.
"I don' kno'. They don' grow whe-ah we lived. I'll ge' 'er ta try them," I reply. I try to climb up the tree. Unfortunately, my broken wrist makes that impossible. I fall back to the ground with a yelp.
Buck stops me from trying again. "I'll ge' th' mangos," Buck offers. He climbs the tree and quickly collects them. Buck comes back down with the makeshift sack full of mangos.
I sigh. "Really. Wot kind ah weasel am I if I can't even climb a tree?" I scoff at myself.
"Silver, yer injured. Yer gonna heal, though. 't shouldn't take too long," Buck smiles at me.
"Yeah, I s'pose so," I reply. We start heading back to camp.
When we get there, I go over to Rose. She is still crying. I cut the mango up. I try to feed her a small slice. She sniffs it. Rose turns her face away. "Come on, Rose. Jus' try 't," I whisper.
She opens her mouth. I place the slice of mango inside it. She chews it up with a thoughtful look on her face. Rose smiles and giggles, reaching for more mango. I give her more until she is full. I let her snuggle up against me while I wrap my arm around her.
Buck turns to me. "Yer a good fathah," he says, smiling.
"Thanks. I 'ave ta be both, now," I reply. I turn away from Buck when I feel tears begin to prick my eyes. I can feel the stabbing pain in my heart when I think of my mate and two other kits. I miss them…so much. I fully believe that I have failed them. It's my fault they're dead.
I don't realize that I am speaking aloud until Buck interrupts me. "No, I's no' yer fault," Buck lays his paw on my shoulder.
"'t is! I shoulda known 'ow ta pick my friends instead ah bein' friends wi' a traitor!" I growl the word.
"Wot 'appened? Who betrayed ya?" Buck asks.
"I ain't tellin' ya!" I shout. Rose whimpers at the tone of my voice.
Buck puts his paws up in a surrendering way. "Ya don' 'ave ta tell me," he says softly.
"Yer darn right I don'!" I glare. I hand Rose over to Ellie. "Now, if ya will excuse me, I need some time ta myself." With that, I turn and walk away from Buck, the herd, and my precious daughter.
A few minutes later, I find myself by the river. I kneel down at the water's edge. I feel the burning in my eyes, the kind that comes before crying. A few stray tears escape my eyes. They fall into the water, causing ripples to spread over the surface.
I start to think fully about my mate and two lost kits. I remember seeing them being stabbed to death while I was standing helplessly by. I remember feeling the pain of grief and the sting of regret. I should've been able to save them all. I should've done more.
I hear a branch snap behind me. I turn around. I see Buck standing there, a look of worry on his face. I notice the tears that are still falling from my eyes. I turn and quickly wipe them away. "Wot are ya doin' 'ere?" I ask, sniffling slightly.
"I…I wanted ta see if ya were alright," Buck answers. He comes over and sits beside me.
I look away. "'m no' alright. I nevah will be. They're dead," I whisper. My throat closes up. I can feel more tears begin to form. I bite my lip and close my eyes tightly, trying to hold the tears back.
Buck wraps his arms around me. "Go ahead an' cry. I's alright."
Those words cause the dam to break. That, and his embrace. I begin crying, softly at first. My cries soon turn into sobs. I bury my face deep into Buck's chest as I whimper and let out all of my grief. Buck strokes my back, soothing me as I cry.
When, finally, my sobs die down, I pull away from Buck. I sniffle and wipe the tears away from my eyes. I look up at Buck, my face turning red from embarrassment. "Um…maybe we should head back…" I whisper.
"We should. Jus' so ya kno', though, the-ah's nothing wrong wi' cryin'," Buck smiles at me.
I give Buck a simple nod of acknowledgement. Then, we begin to head back towards the herd.
When we return, Ellie approaches me. "Are you alright?" She asks.
"Yeah, 'm fine," I answer.
"You were crying, weren't you?" Ellie asks.
I flinch. "'ow…would ya kno'?" I ask.
"The fur around your eyes is wet," she answers simply.
I glare. "Well, wot ah 't?" I growl.
"Hey, it's okay. I won't pry," Ellie steps backward, showing that she'll leave me alone.
I give her a curt nod before picking Rose up. "Alright, shall we get going?" I suggest.
"'kay. C'mon, mammals, thi' way!" Buck leads us through the dense jungle.
After a few hours of traveling, we come across some evidence of the sloth. That evidence consists of a tuft of fur, half eaten carcass, and…broccoli. Buck's insanity comes to the fore when he goes through all the possible scenarios for what happened to the sloth. None of the scenarios make any sense. Buck would continue his speculations, no doubt, if not for Diego. Diego pulls Buck aside to reveal to him some evidence of Rudy (of course). We decide to pick up the pace to save the sloth before Rudy can get there.
Buck begins to lead us through the Plates of Woe. We begin to travel at almost warp speed. The herd's friend doesn't have much time if Rudy is after him. That's why we're obediently following Buck.
As we walk, Rose starts to get restless. She begins whining and crying. I try to get her to calm down, knowing that dinos will come at the sound of easy prey. "Please, Rose, hush. We'll ge' ta someplace safe an' rest soon, I promise," I whisper.
Rose whimpers. "Daddy. Tired," she yawns.
I stroke her forehead. "I'll carry ya. Jus' sleep," I smile while lifting her up into my arms.
Just before Rose can fall asleep, though, is when chaos unfolds. The Plates begin to collapse in on themselves. I grip Rose tightly, protectively, as we begin our descent. Luckily, when we land, Rose is completely unharmed. As for me, the worse that I sustain are a few scratches.
I place Rose on the ground so that I may dust myself off. I pick Rose back up and look around. The herd and Buck are rising to their feet. Buck dusts himself off. Manny calls to Ellie. Apparently, she was able to get to a more stable ledge and avoid falling with us. We begin to run towards where Ellie is.
A bloodcurdling roar in the distance stops us. "Rudy!" Buck growls. A scream follows. "Hm…I nevah 'eard tha' kind ah dino before…" Buck looks confused.
However, Manny recognizes the scream. "That's Sid!" He exclaims.
"We 'ave ta move fast!" Buck states. He starts to lead us off.
That's when Ellie begins to call out a series of fruit names. Those types of fruit have us all confused. We can't get what Ellie means to say. That is, until she calls out 'peaches'. Manny recognizes that as the code word for 'I'm having the baby!' Needless to say, Manny starts panicking.
The only reason he stops is because I climb onto his head and slap him across the face with my good paw. "Calm down, alright?! 't will be fine. Ya ferget tha' I actually 'ave a daughter! I kno' more 'bout thi' than ya do at th' moment!" I growl, annoyance clear in my tone.
Manny snaps out of his panic. "You're right. I'm sorry," he apologizes.
"I's fine. Buck, take th' possums an' go save Sid. I'll stay 'ere ta 'elp protect Ellie," I state.
"'kay. C'mon, boys! We 'ave a sloth ta save!" Buck and the possums race off.
I pick Rose up (I put her down when I went to give Manny a piece of my mind). I then run towards where Ellie is. Unfortunately, there seems to be some hungry dinos that want to make a meal of her.
That's where Diego steps in. "Hop on! We'll get there faster, going at my pace!" Diego speaks up. I leap onto Diego's back. I hold onto Rose with one paw and Diego's fur with the other as he races off.
When we reach the top, there is a dino positioned to attack Ellie. I grip Rose and jump off of Diego's back. Diego pounces on the dino and knocks it off of the platform. Then…he does a little victory dance.
The dance only lasts until Ellie gets annoyed. I go over to her. I place Rose down nearby on a soft pile of dirt. I turn my attention fully to Ellie. "Jus' breathe through the pain. It'll be fine. Remembah, I 'ad three children. I was the-ah wi' my mate. I kno' 'ow painful 't is an' wot ta do," I speak.
Ellie listens to me. She smiles gratefully. "Thanks, Silver," Ellie says.
"Yer welcome, Ellie. Now, on th' next contraction, I wan' ya ta push. Ready? One…two…three…push!" I shout. Ellie pushes. Within five minutes, out comes the cutest baby mammoth that I have ever seen. It's clear that she's a female.
Manny comes up behind me quite suddenly. I look up at him, seeing his face melt at the sight of his daughter. He picks his baby girl up with his trunk. "She's beautiful. I think we should call her Ellie. Little Ellie," Manny says.
"I have a better name. Peaches," Ellie suggests.
"Peaches?" Manny asks.
"Why not? She's sweet and round and covered in fuzz," Ellie continues.
"Peaches. I love it," Manny agrees.
Diego wipes a tear from his eye. Unfortunately for him, Ellie catches him in the act. Diego tries to come up with lame excuses, none of which we believe. Eventually, Diego gives up.
Just at that moment, Buck and the possums return, bringing Sid with them. They are (of course) riding a pterodactyl. Sid is in its talons. The pterodactyl drops Sid, who then lands face first in front of Peaches.
"It's a boy!" Sid exclaims stupidly.
"That's its tail!" Diego points out the obvious.
"It's a girl!" Sid corrects his earlier exclamation. He goes over and talks to Peaches in baby talk. The two possums come over as well. One tries his hardest not to cry. The other bawls his eyes out, while blowing his nose on his brother's tail.
While everyone else is fawning over Peaches, Buck comes up next to me. "I fergot wot 't was like ta 'ave a family…" He trails off.
I place my paw on his shoulder. "I kno'. Bu' hey, we 'ave each othah, don' we?" I point out.
"Yeah. Yer right. Thanks," Buck smiles at me.
"Yer welcome. Now, le's ge' outta 'ere!" I smirk while picking Rose up.
"Alright, mammals, le's ge' ya'll back up ta th' surface!" Buck shouts, already back to his usual self. Together, we begin to follow Buck in the direction from which we came.