Chapter 4- Trust

Buck and Vanessa trailed off behind Suka as they slowly approached a dim light, and smoke reaching up towards the sky. Suka leads them, leaving footprints in the snow, intentionally taking small steps suitable for them to shadow. Off in the distance, farther than the light, was a black rigid mountain. Half-creek 's Sabers had migrated to a different area, knowing they're numbers would slowly diwindle, having no leader against the humans. They had became the tribe's main source of food and warmth from their fur. Now that the sabers had moved off, the tribe was starving.

"I don't know how you guys stand it up here..." Buck was shivering violently, not used to the cold climate, unlike the confined warmth that the dinosaur world had built up, being closer to the core. Vanessa walked casually next to him, and Suka a few feet or so infront. Vanessa looked over at Buck, his fur on its end, and shaking. Vanessa walks up, throwing her arms around him, hoping to warm him up, oblivious to Buck's becomes completely distracted, forgetting he is or was cold at all. His icey blue eye grow wide, but after, settle, and turn back to his regular warm, navy blue. He awkwardly wraps his arms around her waist, his paws not trembling due to the weather, but uncertainty and nervousness. Vanessa smiles, with her eyes closed, not noticing Buck's small panick attack. They start to syncronize their walking, tracking through the snow, focusing on staying warm. At least, Vanessa is. The only thing they heard was the sound of snow crunching underneath their's and Suka's feet. Buck begins to stop shivering, and becomes perfectly content in his position.

"Warm now?" Vanessa asks, opening her eyes, looking up. He flinches to the abrupt noise, and checks his expression, hoping its not too radical.

"Its better, but I'm sure it'll come back."

"Ok then, I can handle that." Vanessa returns to her position, her head resting on his shoulder.

"Ahem." Buck and Vanessa look up, with Suka staring at them, a little amused. They quickly depart, embarassed.

"We're here...at least...close. Don't talk when we get there, ok? I don't want the tribe to kill you, thinking your cursed...or something."

Buck clears his throat,"Ok..I don't see why, but ok." Vanessa nods her head for Suka.

"Now..I'm gunna have to make this look convincing...I can't just walk in with two weasels walking behind me, they'd kill you...If we could find a stick..."

"A stick?"

"Your gunna have to play dead."

"Nuh uh, no way. I'm not being someones dinner. In that position I'm completely vulnerable. Theres absolutely, no way Vanessa or I am doing that!"

Suka casually walks into the village, with eyes following him. On his shoulders, two weasels dangled from a long stick, tied with Buck's lasso. Suka discreetly glanced at the eyes from underneath his mid-length black hair. He heard whispering, every now and then. Mostly of, "He better share" and, "Where'd he find that?". He walked into his teepee, carefully angling Buck and Vanessa through without hitting anything.

"Come in, son. Close the door, its very chilly out there." Suka's father was sitting by the small fire that smoltered in the middle of the teepee, his hands rubbing together, then back over the fire again.

"Where did you find these?" He looked up, suprised.

"Dad, this is really important.I need to talk to you."

"Talk then son, but after we eat!" His father eased away from the fire, picked up a small knife, and skinning tools. Buck peeked up, trying to look beyond his blind spot.

"No, wait, dad!" Suka sets the weasels on the ground, quickly untying the ropes. They get up, and Buck brushes himself off.

"This brown one...it knows about the...mammoth you always talk about."

" I think the weathers getting to your head, son. How would you know that?"

"They talk!" Suka signals Buck and Vanessa to speak.

"Good afternoon...erm...sir. We need your help. Do you know where we could possibly find the mammoth Suka is talking about? Its kind of important." Vanessa took a step forward, using her hands as she spoke.

"I don't hear anything, Suka."

"What?"

"All I hear is squeaking...sorry."

"Wait..Buck, draw in the ground with your...knife-thing. talk like that."

"You've named him? Now your gunna get attached Suka, you shouldn't have done that, expecially in these times."

"I don't know how to write?" Buck looks up, confused.

"Ugh, ok, tell me what you want to say then.

Buck repeats Vanessa's words, and Suka begins to write them in the ground

"Son, you really expect me to think these guys are intelligent? I mean, really."

Buck shots a look up, takes his knife out of Suka's hand, and begins to copy underneath what Suka had wrote. It was hardly legible, but convincing.

"Ok, you've got me there. What do you guys need?" His father starts to scratch his head. Suka begins to translate through the ground, erasing what was wrote previously.

"Vanessa needs to get home. Manny, the mammoth that had saved your son, along with the saber, and the sloth, may be able to point us in the right direction. But I do not know where they are. I was hoping you would know."

"Well, I don't really know where they were headed, but they went southwest from here...I think, the last time I saw them. Anima-er, you guys seem to move around a lot. I could be way off. Its way too far of a trip for our tribe to go."

"Hmm...I can get transportation covered. Do you know anything else?" Buck smiles, then translated the last sentence.

"No, sorry. But something I don't get...how can Suka understand you, and I can't?"

"I don't know, sorry." Buck shrugs.

"Dad, do you think its ..somehow..because I was with the herd when I was little, possibly?" Suka looks up.

"I'm still questioning your sanity, son...I don't know. That seems hardly likely...but it may be a possibility."

"How're we going to get there, Buck?" Vanessa whispers.

"I have a plan."

"Well, good luck you two...Suka I'm kind of disappointed in you, but I'm happy you've gotten such a great gift."

"Disappointed...why?"

"I sent you out to hunt. The tribes starving. And you bring me back two talking weasels...at least to you. I'm starting to wonder if your getting dillusional."

"Oh."

The tribe.

"But if you find...the mammoth, tell him I am completely in his debt, and I thank him from all my heart for saving my son."

"Farwell. Human." Buck waves, gathering his knife, and lasso, walking out the door.

"Buck! wait!" Suka runs out, seeing a group of spears pointed directly at Buck, Vanessa, and now Suka,and his father. Buck raises his arms up,surrendering, with a stern face, attempting to protect Vanessa from every angle.

"Blimey." Buck mutters with his arms still up.

"I'm assuming your sharing, Atenaq , if you want to keep your position as the wiseman of the tribe, I advise you to hand over the weasels."

"Kaskae, we're all..friends here...um..." Kesuk, Suka's father, says to the chief of the tribe.

Buck quickly descends a paw to his mouth, and whistles.

"What are you doing? You want to get us killed?"

"No, saved." Buck smiles, not breaking his view on Vanessa. They hear a loud roar off in the distance. The crowd turn their attention to a little grey blur off in the distance.

"Tell them if they don't back away from us, they're all going to be eaten." Buck says, smoothly.

"What?"

"Do it!"

"Back away...if you don't want to be eaten." The blur was much larger now, grey. The roar was growing in volume rapidly. the spears fell to all their sides, and backed off, still leery of the grey figure advancing toward their village. Buck smiled,

"Hello, Rudy."

"Rudy?" Vanessa looked at Buck. The beast advanced onto the village in record time. They decided to create an alliance, after their little fight. It worked both on Buck's advantage, and his. He wasn't to fond of the idea of losing another tooth. Buck unwrapped his lasso, caught it on one of Rudy's scales on his back, and grabbed Vanessa. Arrows flew at Rudy, bouncing off. Rudy flicked up his tail, throwing Buck and Vanessa onto his back. Buck landed on his feet, but he gently and protectively rested Vanessa in place. Buck stood mid-way on Rudy's back while during the whole time, Rudy walking away. Buck found his balance

"Let this be the day, that you remember of a 3 foot tall weasel, being able to tame a 20 foot tall dinosaur!" Buck bows, and takes hold of Rudy's "Reins", as they disappear into the distance.

"Amen.." Suka manages to squeak out.

"We have to follow them. Where ever they are going, I'm sure, what ever you guys were planning, they're headed towards some sort of group of animals. And if its able to maintain that thing it will nurish us." Kaskae yells out ot the tribe. They yell back, in agreement.

"No, wait!You don't want to go that way, that thing will kill you!" Suka yells out, hoping they'd understand.

"You've caused enough trouble here Suka. And for that, you are to stay behind, along with your pitiful retired father!"

"Suka, what are you doing?" Kesuk whispers as the tribe retreat to their teepees, gathering every little essential they would need. They would need to take off quick, while the tracks of the monster were still fresh.

"If Buck and Vanessa get to where they are headed, and the tribe follows, theres a good chance they will hunt the mammoth-Manny...and...Sid, I think he called him, down. Dad, Manny saved my life. I can't let the tribe kill him no matter how desperate they are...no desperate how I am, for food."

"...Your right. We'll wait for the tribe to leave. I have a safer and faster route, and only we know where the are headed."

Suka and his father retreat into their home, as they heard the last faded roar in the distance.