Author's Note: I couldn't make you wait any longer. Well - actually, I couldn't wait any longer to write this chapter. This dramatic moment had to be written cause it was driving me insane! (Buck-like. Not Nick-like.) And it's long. To make up for Chapter 8's shortness. =)
This chapter is . . . the reason that this is rated T. =/ Nothing overly violent but I suppose you could say it gets the point across. Oh, and if there seems to be a lot of repetition, that's on purpose. No new dinos. There is a tidbit in this chapter that I got from mwang and our crazy conversations. So, thanks mwang! I'll use the other idea you gave me in an upcoming chapter.
Disclaimer: I only own Maggie, Nick and Luna. I'm beginning to wish I didn't own Nick. o.O
Edit: I realized I'd made a mistake somewhere in here. Two actually. It's fixed now! =)
Chapter 9
I kept a close eye on the foliage around us as we walked. Night was falling and I hoped that Rudy didn't stumble across us or us across him. Or Luna.
I was worried. Something wasn't right. The sky grew dark with rain clouds. Buck stumbled once in a while. And I am not certain, but I think Nick is lagging farther and farther behind us.
Something is very wrong. I'm scared.
~Paradise~
Maggie, Buck, and Nick all looked up at the sky. Thunder had been growling above them but now their ears were twitching to catch a different sound.
Smiling, Maggie recognized the sound first. "It's Dive!" She rushed forward a little and waited for the pterodactyl to land. Throwing her arms around Dive's muzzle she exclaimed, "Oh, I missed you, Dive! Have you found anything?"
The mammals looked on in eager anticipation as Dive nodded and squawked. Buck grinned. "Excellent! Lead the way, Dive."
"I hope Clyde is doing all right." Maggie mumbled as Dive took off and flew low so the herd could still see him.
"We trained him well." Buck reassured her. "Now let's get a move on." He raced on ahead after the dactyl.
Maggie hurried to catch up with him, but stopped when she saw a flash of white out of the corner of her eye. Eyes narrowed, she stared into the darkening jungle to see if she could catch a glimpse of something. Maggie was oblivious to the other mammals rushing past her and one dark-furred weasel that hung back in the shadows watching her.
"Luna?" She called out.
Sid, who was naturally slower than everyone else, stopped and looked back. "Come on, Maggie! We can't stop."
Turning to look at the sloth, Maggie waved her bandaged arm at him. "You go on. I'll catch up later." She watched as Sid shrugged and loped on ahead. The female weasel returned her attention to the foliage and called again. "Luna?"
From somewhere in the gloom, she heard a familiar high-pitched roar. Maggie felt herself smile. The young baryonyx was somewhere nearby. She needed to send Luna home with a message that Buck was here. Rudy wouldn't venture out now.
"Hanging back from the herd, Maggie? Your mate wouldn't like that." She froze and felt her heart sink. Turning, Maggie watched as Nick stepped out of the shadows as if he had once been a part of them.
"Nick." Maggie croaked out from suddenly dry lips. "What - why aren't you with everyone else?"
He smirked at her, his paws hidden behind his back. "I could ask the same of you, Maggie. Is there something you're hiding?"
She shook her head, letting her hazel eyes dart worriedly at the bushes. Luna better not step out right now. "No. Of course not. What could there possibly be for me to hid?"
Nick took a single step forward. "Are you sure? You're not tired? Sick?" His smirk twisted into an ugly, cruel grin. "Pregnant?"
If Maggie thought her heart had sunk at finding Nick, she was positive that it had stopped beating all together. "H-how did you -?"
"Know? Simple. You and Ellie aren't quite as subtle as you think are with your whispered conversations." Nick chuckled darkly.
"Why should you care?" Maggie demanded.
The dark weasel's face took on a hurt expression. "Maggie! We've been friends for years! Since we were kits. And you don't share this information with me? Didn't you think that I may want to congratulate you?" His hurt look turned cold as he said, "And the father too of course."
She shook her head and looked away. "We haven't been friends since - what you tried to do to me."
Nick growled before hiding the shift of his emotions. "That happened a long time ago, Maggie."
"Not long enough for me to forget so easily, Nick." Maggie choked out. "How could you?" she demanded and let herself glare at him. When had he stepped closer? "If you were truly my friend and if you truly loved me as you said you did, you wouldn't have forced me into doing anything that I did not want to do." she said the exact same words that Buck had said to her when he told him about what Nick had tried to do.
Shaking her head, Maggie said, "The difference between Buck and you is like night and day! He never forced himself on me. He waited until I was ready. He's kind and gentle. He loves me!"
"I can see that." Nick growled. "You're carrying his kits." He ground his teeth together in disgust and anger. "I looked for you. Searched and searched for you. All this time. Here you are with some crazy moron and letting him have you. Instead of me. Someone from your own clan. Someone who has protected you for years!"
"But you couldn't protect me from yourself, could you?" Maggie shouted at him. "And Buck is not crazy. Not like you! You are insane!"
Nick's eyes narrowed. He stiffened and his jaw clenched. "And you? Can't you say you're as dangerously insane as I am?"
Maggie clenched her fists and shook her head. "I'm not like you. I fight to protect those that I love. You - you fight for the fun of it. You hurt people on purpose to make yourself feel good." Taking a deep, shaky breath Maggie said, "I hate you."
"Protect those you love?" Nick spat the word out contemptuously. "Well I hope you can protect your brats from Buck. How will that work? He goes bonkers and you have to protect them from the one you love."
She hissed at him. "No. That's what I'd have to do if I ended up with you."
Nick brought one paw out from behind his back; it was clutching something wrapped up in a leaf. "Well you'll never know will you?"
Lifting her chin in defiance, Maggie said, "I do know. I'm with Buck. And nothing will ever change that."
He laughed, dark and maniacally. "Change comes faster than you expect it to. And if you want those kits to live - you'll come with me when this is all over."
Maggie shook her head. "No. I won't."
Nick laughed again as he slowly began unwrapping the leaf in his paw. "Oh, yes you will. Because if you choose not to come with me, if you choose Buck over me, then your kits will die." She watched in growing horror as she realized what Nick held in his paw. It was a thorn from the plant Sid had tried to eat the other day. The thorn gleamed in the twilight with the traces of sticky poison.
"If you say, right now, that you refuse me. Again. Then I will stick you with this faster than you can blink." Nick grinned, showing off his pointed teeth. "I'm sure you will survive - if you don't then so much the better because then, I'll have double the revenge on the weasel that stole you from me. However, your helpless, unborn kits won't stand a chance against the poison. Isn't that how it works?"
With a shrug of his shoulder, Nick added, "Even if they do survive - some of them - they'll be just as damaged as me when they come out." He laughed slowly at the idea. "Yes. Buck's kits but just as cracked as me. What a lovely thought."
Maggie let the horror wash over her in waves, but she stiffened in anger. Hot, burning rage. She prepared herself to run or to attack. "I won't let you hurt my babies."
"Then you'll come with me." Nick stated in a dead-serious tone.
A knowing smirk crossed her lips and she shook her head once more. "No." Before either could react, a small white dino stumbled out of a bush. Both weasels stared at the pink-eyed creature, momentarily stunned. "Luna?" Maggie felt her rage disappearing, but something in the back of her mind screamed at her to start running.
It was too fast. So sudden, that Maggie wasn't sure how it happened. Lightning cracked above them, out of the corner of Maggie's eye she saw something glint in the sudden light, and just as her brain screamed at her Maggie jumped back with her coiled reflexes. Spinning, she gaped in horror at Nick. He had actually tried to stick her with the thorn! It wasn't until she heard a bleat of pain did she register that the thorn was lodged in Luna's side.
Maggie saw red. She lunged at Nick and tackled him to the ground. Her teeth sank into his shoulder as her claws sought to keep his blows and kicks from her midsection. The she-weasel rolled off of him, spitting blood out of her mouth. Nick gripped at his shoulder and hissed in pain.
She wanted to attack again. Wanted to squeeze the last bit of life out of him. But Maggie's attention was diverted to Luna who was bleating pitifully and trying in vain to reach her head around to pull the thorn out with her teeth. They needed to get away from here. Someplace safe.
Maggie looked away from Luna in time to see Nick starting to stand up. She saw the familiar sheen in his eyes. He was getting worked up. He was reaching the breaking point. Maggie knew she couldn't over power him now. Breaking into a run, Maggie scooped up the small, yet heavy, baryonyx and disappeared into the jungle.
"Rule number two and five, Maggie!" Nick roared at the top of his lungs. "Don't think I'm going to get you away that easily!" He dove into the underbrush after them as the rain began to fall and another flash of lightning and crash of thunder tore the sky.
~Paradise~
Meanwhile, Dive had led the group into the large clearing of the nesting grounds. Buck spied Kid by a nest and soon realized that was where Dive was heading. Speeding up, the one-eyed weasel reached the dirt nest before the rest of the herd.
There lying amongst a bed of leaves and grass, was Peaches. Fast asleep and oblivious to the world. Buck sighed in relief. They'd found her. Dive landed next to Buck with a proud expression on the dactyl's face.
Buck patted the flying dino and smiled warmly up at him. "Well done, Dive." Looking up at Kid, Buck nodded. "Same to you, Kid. Maggie would be proud of ya both." He turned to see if Maggie was right behind him. But she wasn't.
He didn't have time to ponder her lack of following the herd's formation regulation. The mammoth parents were charging with wide-eyed hope towards the nest. "Peaches?" The pair shouted.
The furry ball twitched before tired brown eyes began to open. Her head lifted to look in the direction of her parents. Blinking a few times, Peaches finally recognized who was calling to her. A wide smile broke across her face and she jumped up and ran toward the adults. "Mommy! Daddy!"
The family hugged with their trunks, laughing and crying. Little scolding to be heard. Buck stood back with a nostalgic smile on his face as he watched Diego, Crash, and Eddie come up to the small mammoth. To himself he muttered, "I hope Margaret and I have somethin' like that someday."
"And I saw a waterfall! And I got to slide down a waterfall - don't worry, Daddy, it was a small waterfall and the other mommy and daddy dinos were there to watch us." Peaches rambled on. "And I played with all the dino kids! It was fun. Can we stay here forever?"
Sid finally came huffing and puffing toward the group. "H-h-hey! You found - whew - let me catch my breath. You found - found Peaches!"
The small mammoth beamed at the sloth. "Uncle Sid! Momma T-Rex says hi!"
"You saw her?" Sid perked up instantly. "How are the kids? Is Eggbert getting enough sleep? Shelly isn't getting bullied by her brothers, right? Oh! and Yoko? He's playing nice?"
Buck frowned as he stared off at the fields and jungle behind Sid. "Sloth. Where's Maggie?"
"Huh?" Sid looked up and behind him. He shrugged. "She said she'd catch up."
The weasel frowned. Diego paused and looked around as well. "Anybody seen Nick?"
"Nick must have stayed behind to make sure Maggie was okay." Eddie suggested as he tugged playfully on Peaches' ear.
Diego's eyes widened and he turned to look at Buck. Buck had a horror stricken expression on his own face that was illuminated by the sudden flash of lightning. "No." the weasel muttered.
"Buck!" Diego shouted as the weasel set off at a dead sprint back the way they had come.
Manny watched in confusion as Diego ran after the weasel. "Diego, what's wrong?"
"Nick is gonna kill, Maggie! That's what's wrong!" Diego shouted over his shoulder as he tried to catch up with the panicking weasel that had a head start.
"What?" Ellie gasped. She turned to Manny and gripped onto his trunk. "Manny!"
"All right. Everyone. Stay here." Manny ordered. "I'll help Buck and Diego." The male mammoth lumbered as fast as he could after saber and weasel. He hoped that the rain that was starting its downpour wouldn't keep them from finding Maggie in time.
When Manny caught up to Diego he asked, "What do you mean Nick's going to kill Maggie?"
Diego dodged around a tree before answering. "We believed saber's attacked, Maggie."
"Yeah. That's what Nick told us." Manny panted.
Diego let his gaze flick up at his friend. "Manny, I've been thinking about it. How many sabers - other than me - do you know of that live near our herd? With me as protection for our herd?"
The mammoth felt the gears in his head turning as realization dawned on him. "Nick lied to us." A scowl marred Manny's features. "But why would he lie to us? Who attacked them?"
"Isn't it obvious?" Diego demanded irritably. Where was Buck? "Only one person was with Maggie that day down by the lake."
Manny wished he could move faster. "You catch up with Buck! Don't let me slow you down." Diego nodded and ran ahead. Manny hoped he made it in time to help.
Buck was making the same wishes. Faster. He needed to reach Maggie. He had promised that nothing would happen! With each gasp for air he took, Buck chanted Maggie's name over and over again. As if her name alone would make her pop up in front of him. Safe and sound.
~Paradise~
Maggie crashed through the jungle, not caring for subtlety at the moment. First she needed to get as far away from Nick as she could. Then she would go for stealth and make her way back to the Nesting Grounds.
She knew these jungles like the back of her scarred paw. Maggie had the advantage. Not Nick. He was angry - berserk. He wouldn't be able to think rationally. She could outwit him. Maggie glanced down at the moaning baryonyx in her arms. First, she needed to make sure Luna was safe.
Maggie spied the berry patch that Kid had led her too. Slowing down, she crept beneath a bush that had berries growing on it. She set Luna down on the damp earth. With her bandaged paw, Maggie pushed her soaked fur out of her eyes. "Okay. Okay, I need to get that thorn out of you." she said in a hurried gasp.
Luna looked up at Maggie with trust gleaming in her red-pink eyes. Maggie bit her lip. This was her fault. She pushed back the fear and the anger that was raging inside her head and body. Closing her eyes, Maggie concentrated on the instructions Buck had given her on how to remove the poisonous thorn should she ever come across a dino who had been stuck with one.
"Remove it - quickly." Maggie muttered to herself. "If removed slowly, more poison will rub into the skin, blood, or muscle." She made to grip the thorn but snatched her paw back. "Do not touch with bare skin." Maggie hissed at herself before tearing a leaf from the bush.
She wrapped the leaf around the exposed thorn and looked sorrowfully at Luna's face. "On the count of three, I'll pull it out. Ready?" Luna nodded and squeezed her eyes shut. "One." Maggie started counting. "Two." The she-weasel wanted to cry. "Three!"
Luna muffled a whimper but the thorn was out. Maggie quickly dug a hole with her claws and discarded the thorn in it, burying it. Reaching for a berry, she plucked it from the tree. "The berries can heal just about anything." Maggie murmured as she squeezed the juice over the wound. Luna yelped but nodded for Maggie to proceed.
Maggie handed berries to Luna to eat. "All of it. I don't have time to make it into juice for you." She ordered sympathetically. Luna didn't argue in her usual manner but ate whatever Maggie gave her.
With a sigh, Maggie wiped her paws on the ground. "Now, to bandage it against infection." She let her ears twitch, listening for any signs of Nick. What if he was waiting for her to come out of the bush? Tamping down her fears once more, Maggie shook her head. "I'll be right back, Luna. Do not move. Understand?" Luna nodded and whimpered.
Cautiously, Maggie poked her head out from the berry bush. She could barely hear Nick's enraged shouts, calling for her somewhere in the distance. They still had a head start. Maggie had time. She darted out from the bush and ran toward a spot she knew well.
The vines and leaves she gathered – according to Buck - were medicinal. The leaves when rubbed against wounds made bacteria and dirt rise out of the wound. Hopefully it would do the same to the poison. Luna was recently recovered from a serious illness. The tiny baryonyx's immune system may not be ready for another onslaught like this.
Maggie hurried back to Luna. Nick's shouts sounded closer. Without wasting time to whisper out instructions to herself, Maggie rubbed leaves against Luna's side and wrapped other leaves around Luna's stomach, tying the whole bandage tight with the vines.
She gathered the small dino up into her arms again and began running toward the stream. Maggie stumbled ever few steps on the mud. The rain was coming down harder. Her vision was obscured by water and fur. Maggie continued on and trusted her instinct. She knew these jungles. She knew them like the back of her paw.
Maggie felt water splash around her ankles. Looking down, she was relieved to see the rushing water of the stream. Then she frowned. The water was rising because of the rain. Maggie couldn't wade safely across while carrying Luna. Head whipping around, the weasel looked for a fallen tree.
Ears twisted back at the sound of a growl behind her. Maggie didn't turn. Nick was coming. He was catching up. Without hesitation, Maggie lifted Luna as high as her tired arms would allow and the she-weasel began wading across.
"Nick hates water. Nick hates water. Nick hates water." Maggie chanted through chattering teeth. She had to get Luna to safety and this was the only way.
"Get back here, Maggie!" Nick shouted from behind her. Maggie felt her footing slip on a rock. She yelped in fright but righted herself. She didn't turn. Her ears lay flat against her skull but she still listened as she plunged forward. He was growling and pacing. But he made no move to enter the stream.
Maggie let out a relieved and weary laugh as her feet stepped on the bank of the stream. She had made it! She paused for only a moment to look back. Nick was nowhere to be seen. Maggie worried. He was gone. No doubt to find another way across. She pressed onward.
Maggie began jogging in the direction she knew Rudy's cave was. She had a ways to go still and Nick was backtracking. Hopefully. Maggie felt some relief coming. Rudy would keep her safe. There was no way the albino dino would let Nick near her or Luna or the unborn kits. And Buck was looking for her. He must be.
Maggie smiled. "We're going to make it!" she said aloud to Luna.
"I don't think so." Nick dropped down from the trees above her. Maggie screamed and fell backwards. Luna roared in fear and the weight of the dino made Maggie's scream cut off in a whoosh of air.
Maggie kicked her feet against the ground to gain some purchase. She shuffled back from Nick as he stood from all fours, eyeing her with deadly intent.
Her grip released its hold on Luna and Maggie shoved the tiny albino away. "Run! Run, Luna!" The baryonyx complied and ran in a limping gait. Maggie rolled onto her stomach and tried to run, but she felt something sharp dig into her ankle.
Maggie screamed out in pain and turned her head to look back. Nick's claws were buried around her ankle, and blood dropped from his paws. "Where do you think you're going?"
"Away from you!" Maggie shouted as she kicked his face with her other foot. Nick grunted and fell backwards. Maggie scrambled in the mud and wet leaves. Her feet propelled her forward, away from Luna and Rudy.
Stealth. Wit. She needed to trick him. Maggie dodged around trees, ducked beneath vines, and vaulted over rocks. Nick crashed through the foliage behind her. His constant low growl made her heart beat faster than she thought possible.
Maggie snatched at a vine and felt herself swing up and off the ground. The momentum carried her up into a tree. She landed with a painful stumble on a branch. Quieting her gasps, Maggie stared down and waited for Nick.
He stumbled beneath her and stopped. Nick looked around angrily, listening for her. Lightning flashed, illuminating his dark form and glinting claws. He shouted above the thunder, "I know you're here, Maggie!"
Maggie bit back a whimper. She had to keep quiet! Nick stalked the ground beneath her, searching the bushes and trees. His gaze swept past her hiding place without a second glance.
"Trying to run again." He growled loudly. "Always trying to run! It may have worked the first time, but it won't work this time!" Nick shook his head. "If I don't catch you, then I'll just go after Buck."
She gasped. She couldn't help it. Nick's ears twitched and a slow grin spread across his face. "Oh, yes. I'll go after your precious mate. He's tired, Maggie. Haven't you noticed? He's been so concerned in protecting you from me that he's stayed up every night these past two nights." Nick laughed cruelly. "Kept his eye on me this whole time. Tried to keep me away with his stupid rules. Well it was because of his stupid rules that I'm here now!"
Maggie's eyes slid shut in agony. Nick rambled on, walking steadily toward the tree she was hiding in. "Oh yes. Rule number five. Disregard rule number two - stay in the middle of the trail - if there is a female involved." Nick began climbing now. "I'll have to thank him before I kill him."
"I won't let you." Maggie said in a quiet voice. Her eyes opened in time to see Nick step onto the branch. She growled back at his smug grin. "I won't let you touch him!" Pulling a smaller branch back, she released it and watched in silent satisfaction as it smacked Nick in his unsuspecting chest and sent him plummeting back to the ground.
Maggie slid down the tree and set off at a run again. Nick picked himself off the ground, ignoring the pain in his back and shoulder. He chased after her, but at a much slower pace than before. "I'll kill you, Maggie! Kill you! And your mate! And your little brats!"
She pressed on. Not stopping. Not relenting. Maggie listened as Nick's crashing through leaves and shouting curses grew distant. Then all was silent. Maggie didn't slow. Instead - for one brief and foolish moment - she turned her head to look back over her shoulder. She never saw the low hanging branch.
~Paradise~
Nick caught up. He found her sprawled out unconscious on the muddy earth. He smiled and circled her with growing delight. "What to do first?" he voiced aloud.
"Why don't I - pay you back for the lovely scar you gave me?" Nick bent to her exposed face and smiled sickeningly sweet. With a vicious snarl, he swiped his claws across her cheek. Maggie whimpered, but did not wake up.
Nick cackled as he stepped on her bandaged paw. "How about a matching arm? Or I could give you a patch like your one-eyed freak of a mate. So many choices!"
"He'ah's a choice. Get yer filthy self away from my mate!" Nick looked up to see Buck step out from behind a tree. Buck's blue eye flashed savagely at the darker weasel and his paw clenched his knife handle.
Nick snorted as he came to stand over Maggie and faced Buck. "Like anyone would listen to you, Cyclops."
Buck growled. "Better start listenin'. Or else this could get messy."
Baring his teeth, Nick hissed. "That's my kind of fight. Messy." In a flash of lightning, Nick charged Buck. Caught off guard, the knife went spinning from Buck's grip and landed out of reach.
Nick landed on top of Buck. Buck's paws shot up to grasp Nick's wrists - keeping the claws away from his face and neck. The black weasel scratched at Buck's stomach and legs with his hind legs while Buck struggled to roll them and gain the advantage.
Buck maneuvered his legs beneath Nick and flipped his attacker over his head. Scrambling toward the knife, Buck touched the hilt with the tip of his claws before Nick pulled him back. Twisting as if he had no spine, Buck threw a scratch and punch at Nick's face, catching the darker weasel beneath the jaw.
Nick shouted in pain before biting Buck's back. Buck shouted as well but continued punching and scratching until Nick released him. Trying once more, Buck struggled to get the knife.
The next thing Buck knew was that he was hurtling through the air and had hit something hard. His back screamed in pain as his head smacked and bounced off of a rock. Buck screwed his eye shut at the lights flashing before his vision and the nausea that threatened to make him heave.
Nick's low chuckle made Buck raise his head again. Squinting against the rain and his blurry vision, Buck focused on Nick. The black weasel picked the knife up from the mud and tilted it so as to get a better look at it. "You never did tell me the story behind this." Nick chastised in a condescending voice.
"Rudy." Buck coughed, tasting his and Nick's blood on his lips.
Nick rolled his eyes. "Yes. I gathered that from your conversation from Diego." He spoke slowly as if his jaw pained him. "Doesn't matter now though." Nick's gaze rested on the blade and he rubbed a claw down the sharp edge. "I never approached you or Maggie because of this thing. I could have killed you so easily - but not if you had this thing with you."
"Serves it purpose that way." Buck growled as he stumbled toward Nick.
Nick merely stepped back, letting Buck loose his footing. The black weasel brought his elbow down swiftly on Buck's exposed back. Buck's exclamation of pain was overlooked as Nick laughed. "Oh, yes." Nick said as he twirled the knife in his paw. "It certainly did. Now it will serve a different purpose."
Stepping over a gasping Buck, Nick stepped toward Maggie. "You know, after Maggie turned me down. All I ever wanted was to find her. Show her that I was the only one for her."
"But yer not!" Buck growled. "Ya can't force her. Not then an' not now!"
"I am!" Nick retorted madly. "Don't you see? We were the sole survivors of our clan. I've protected her all those years we were on our own. She's beautiful. I'm strong. If we were mates, then we could be so powerful! Our clan would be the strongest!"
Buck shook his head. "She didn't want that!"
"She doesn't know what she wants." Nick snapped. "And you confused her more. I wanted her! But you took her. Now, she's carrying your kits. Those kits should be mine!"
Buck's jaw dropped. "My - my -"
"Yes." Nick's smile returned as he bent down beside Maggie and lifted her head by cupping one paw beneath her chin. "Your kits. But I can fix that. I'll kill her and the kits. Leaving you alone here. You can go insane all by yourself. Like me." Nick laughed.
"Don't you dare touch her." Buck growled, struggling to push himself up. His arms shook as they tried to support him.
"Or," Nick continued in a thoughtful manner, "you could tell her to go with me. Tell her you don't want her or her kits. Tell her to leave and never come back. I'll spare her and her kits. In fact, I'll raise them as my own." Nick grinned. "We'll be a happy family."
Buck froze and stared in anger at Nick. "I told Maggie to leave once. I'll nevah tell her to leave again." Lifting himself shakily to his feet, Buck glared at Nick. "I promised her I'd protect her. An' I'll nevah break that promise." Buck hissed, "I'll kill you for what ya did to her then and what yer threatening to do now."
Nick shifted his hold on the knife and positioned his foot so he could roll Maggie over onto her back. "Go ahead and try." Buck lunged, Nick rolled Maggie over and brought his paw down towards her exposed stomach, and a roar tore across the jungle.
Buck tackled Nick, who had frozen in terror at the roar. Snapped out of his shock, Nick swiped the knife across Buck's chest. Buck rolled away and stumbled backwards to put himself between Maggie and Nick. The black weasel stood, ready to charge again, but his eyes swung upwards to stare in open-mouthed awe at something standing behind Buck.
Buck warily turned his head, reluctant to take his one eye off of Nick. Chancing a glance up, Buck stared in shock at Rudy.
Rudy stood over Buck and Maggie, glaring down at Nick and the knife. With a growl, Rudy bent and sniffed the air. The red eyes of the albino glanced at Buck then at Maggie before narrowing their gaze on Nick again.
Nick glanced from Buck to Rudy. "So, you've got a dino on your side? Fat chance he'll do you any good."
Buck continued to stare at Rudy. They hated each other. What was the albino baryonyx doing here? Protecting them?
Nick's grip tightened on the knife's handle, oblivious to the fact that the grass and leaves that held the knife together were fraying on the splintered wood. "I'm still going to kill you, Buck." Nick hissed. "You and Maggie."
Rudy growled in warning but Nick didn't know or care. He charged, not registering the change in weight in his paw. Not hearing the thunk of the tooth on the ground. Nick raised his arm back, ready to strike Rudy.
Rudy's maw opened and snapped around Nick's down-swinging arm. Nick froze, eyes widening, and mouth gaping. His mouth opened and closed several times as Rudy straightened, lifting Nick into the air by his arm. When the shock cleared from Nick's brain, an ear-splitting scream burst from his lips. The black weasel's eyes rolled back in his head and he passed out from the pain.
Buck crouched low, protecting Maggie and hoping that Rudy would ignore them. The albino baryonyx, with Nick swinging from his mouth, looked down at Buck before letting his gaze shift to Maggie. Sympathy swept across Rudy's features and he stepped back, uncovering the weasels to the rain. Rudy nodded before turning and disappearing into the stormy night.
Buck blinked against the rain before looking down at Maggie. Fearing that there were more injuries than what was visible, Buck gently gathered her into his arms. "Margaret?" he whispered brokenly.
"Buck? Maggie?" Buck lifted his head at the sound of Diego's voice.
"Ovah he'ah, Diego!" The weasel shouted. He hugged Maggie to him and hoped the saber found them soon.
~Paradise~
Manny had caught up to Diego long ago. Both mammals unsure of where Buck had gone or where to even start looking. A familiar roar gave them a clue. Neither one had forgotten the sound of Rudy's roar.
Worried that they may be too late, Diego and Manny hurried through the jungle. The next sound they heard made them stop dead in their tracks and look at each other in fear. Someone, somewhere nearby, was screaming. Shaken and scared, they continued on.
The jungle became eerily silent. Diego ventured to call out for Maggie and Buck. Manny did the same as they walked on.
Manny's head perked up at the far off cry. "Ovah he'ah, Diego!" The mammoth grinned. "This way, Diego!" The pair hurried on and stumbled upon the two injured weasels.
"What happened?" Diego questioned as he searched the clearing for any signs of Nick or Rudy.
"Nick." Buck was monosyllabic answer.
"We heard Rudy." Manny offered cautiously.
Buck nodded. "Rudy ate Nick."
No one laughed. Manny nodded and let his concern shift to Maggie. "Let's get her out of here." Buck nodded and struggled to pick her up. Manny reached out his trunk. "Let me help Buck."
Without a word, Buck let the mammoth pick up the pair and deposit them on Diego's back. The saber clamped his mouth around the rain washed knife. Manny and Diego began the slow journey back toward the Nesting Grounds.
They tried not to eavesdrop on Buck's whispered conversation with his unconscious mate. "It'll be all right, Mags. I'm sorry I didn't protect ya. I didn't keep my promise. I'm so, so sorry, Margaret. Please be all right. You and the kits. Please. Even if the kits don't make it, we can try again. We can always try again. Please, just be all right. Margaret, I love you."
Author's note: ='(
Let us all hope that Maggie, Buck, Luna, and the kits are okay. Until the next chapter, I leave you in even more suspense.
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