Author's note: Hey everybody! Wow, I wrote this fast. :/ You know the drill. Don't own anything except Maggie and the Cave of Fear. :) Yup, the cave is all my imagination. Dinos are real dinos that have been documented so yeah. :) Ok, enjoy!
Chapter 2
I found him intriguing. Of course I figured I wouldn't see him very often. Buck seemed to enjoy his solitude and I know I enjoyed mine. Life was good in Dino World and I was alive. Alive and safe. There was no turning back now.
Days went by in the underground jungle with no sighting of Buck. Maggie had successfully avoided several dinos who were in search of their next meal. This morning was no exception. She had just gotten herself out of a chase and was now strolling nonchalantly through the forest in search of lunch. Having found a berry bush, Maggie reached up her still bandaged arm to pull a cluster of the red berries off a branch. A mournful bleat startled her from taking a bite from her meal. Poking her head through the bushes, Maggie spotted a small dino with a billed snout wandering to and fro among the bushes.
Stepping through the bushes, Maggie walked slowly towards the maiasaura. "Hey there little fella." The baby dino looked up in terror and ran into the bushes. "Don't go!" The female weasel called out. She sighed and sat down on the jungle floor. Raising a berry to her mouth, her blue eyes noticed the bushes rustling again. She bit into the juicy flesh of the red berry and watched in curiosity as the maiasaura poked its tiny head through the leaves to watch her. Maggie ate the other half of the berry in her hand and tilted her head. "So you've come back have you?" Eating another berry, the she-weasel eyed the dino as it stepped out of the bushes, a hungry look in its eyes. Pausing, she looked from the berry to the baby dino. Maggie raised her hand above her head and watched the dinosaur's head tilt back to follow the berry's path. She lowered her arm, moved it from side to side, and realized that the baby probably hadn't eaten in a while.
"You want some?" She asked, holding the berry out far enough that the dino could stretch its neck out to sniff at the offered fruit. The maiasaura licked the flesh of the berry tentatively before uttering another mournful bleat. Maggie arched her eyebrow. "What? You don't eat berries?" The baby repeated its sad sound, opening its mouth wide to show a lack of teeth. Blue eyes widening, she said, "You can't be more than a couple weeks old if ya haven't got your teeth! Now how am I gonna go about feedin' ya?" Glancing around her surroundings, Maggie came to the conclusion that there wasn't anything nearby that would be helpful. Sighing, she looked at the berries she had left. "Well, I gotta feed ya somehow." Sticking the whole handful into her mouth, Maggie ignored the pleading sounds the baby was making as she chewed. Running over to a bush with large leaves, she spat the mush out onto the round leaf before carrying it over to the baby and lying the 'plate' down. "Here you are! Freshly chewed baby food."
The maiasaura sniffed the mush before licking it. Finding the pre-chewed food to its liking, the baby devoured the pile. Maggie laughed as she patted the baby dino's scaly back. "Hey! Not so fast. You'll give yourself hiccups or something." She repeated the ritual several times till the dino was full and then she ate her own fill of the sweet berries. "So," Maggie asked, "where's your mum?" The dino looked up at Maggie from where it lay curled up. "You get separated or something?" The she-weasel inquired as she sat down and rubbed the dino's chin. Smiling, she declared, "Don't worry. I'll help ya find her. I know what it's like being left alone without a friend there to help ya." Her ears twitched. Had she heard a branch snap? Standing, Maggie looked all around the berry patch. The baby dino stood to and hid itself behind the weasel having sensed the tenseness in the furry mammal.
Maggie relaxed, but only a little bit. "Come on Kid. Let's get you to your mom." She coaxed the dino to follow but stopped when her ears twitched back again. Turning, she saw a familiar enemy. "Not you again!" She yelled at the sight of the dilophosaurus that had chased her that day she met Buck. The scarred dinosaur hissed as it lowered itself for a charge. "Damn it!" Maggie scooped the baby maiasaura in her arms and ran as fast as she could with the monstrous reptile following not too far behind. "Come on, come on, come on!" Maggie muttered under her breath as she ran through bushes and weaved around trees. She ran out from beneath a bush to find herself in a clearing. Turning, she scanned the tree line for her pursuer. Her heart beat rapidly as her chest rose and fell in its attempt to get oxygen. Her arms trembled from carrying the dino, so she set it down gently. "You're heavier than you look Kid." She gasped out. "I think we lost him." No sooner had she spoken when said beastie jumped out of the foliage. "Aw come on!" Maggie shouted as she pushed the baby dino behind her. "Run Kid!" The maiasaura didn't need to be told twice as it dove for cover in a whole at the base of a tree.
The dilophosaurus circled Maggie, hissing its displeasure. Maggie bared her fangs and growled. "You're gonna leave the kid alone. Got that ya big dope?" She wasn't sure, but the dino before her seemed to hiss in anger. "Think you're so tough. Huh big guy?" She taunted, as she turned to keep her eyes on the circling predator. She hadn't realized it, but the menacing creature had been backing her up, ever so slowly to the same tree that the baby dino had disappeared into. When her back hit the trunk, Maggie's eyes widened. "Damn!" She whimpered, realizing that the hole was too small for her to slip into quickly enough and that she was now cornered. Running beneath the dino was out of the question as the green dinosaur with red stripes bent forward, opening its maw and hissing.
Maggie searched the clearing for any hope of survival. Her mind wandered to Buck. The weasel had said if she needed anything to just holler... or at least that was what she hoped he had said. "Buck?" She said a loud slowly. The dino drew back slightly before lashing out and closing its jaw with a snap. Maggie's reflexes kicked in just in time for her to jump and roll away from the snapping dino. "BUCK!" She shouted as she watched the dinosaur turn and charge her. Something slammed into her and pulled her up into the air, laughing insanely as it did so.
"Not today ya hungry beastie!" The rescuer called down the dilophosaurus that was hissing in rage. Maggie looked up at the furry weasel that she was clinging to for dear life as they sailed over the clearing on a vine. Buck's mouth rose in a smug smirk. "Come ta rescue ya again have I? Honestly Mags. How do ya do it?"
A smart reply came to her lips, but a familiar bleating sound caused her eyes to widen in fear. "Go back!" She shouted as she turned to look back the way they had swung.
"What?" Buck asked in disbelief.
Maggie tugged on the fur that she had clutched in her paw. "I said go back! The baby is still back there!"
The look on Buck's face was priceless. His one eye widened and his mouth hung open in shock. The she-weasel had a baby? He shook his head as the vine neared a tree. Shoving his feet against the bark, he shouted. "Look out below!" They swung back into the clearing and Buck let go of his hold on the vine and Maggie. The female rolled a couple of times before sitting up and looking over to the tree where the vengeful creature was now trying to claw its way to the cowering baby dino. Buck hadn't distracted the monster at all until he ran and jumped onto the tail. He whacked the dino's head between the two crests with the flat edge of his knife. The dinosaur twisted its neck trying to see what had hit it. "Woo hoo! Rodeo!" Buck cried out, a gleeful grin on his muzzle. He held onto the dino's crests for all he was worth. "Get... the... ba...by!" He shouted, his words punctuated each time the dino swung its long neck.
Maggie ran over to the tree and tried coaxing the maiasaura out. "Come on Kid. It's safe now. Nothing to be scared of." The baby dino slowly took a step towards the weasel. She smiled and nodded reassuringly, ignoring the whoops and shouts that Buck was making. She even ignored the thump of something landing on the ground.
She did not ignore the sudden, "Look out Mags!" Turning her head, Maggie watched as the angry dino came running towards her and the pitiful creature she was trying to protect. Everything slowed. Maggie had her arms protectively outstretched to shield the baby, her eyes wide open as she saw a flash of red-brown fur skidding towards her from beneath the dino barreling right at her. A grunt and a spurt of red blood shook her out of her momentary daze. She stared in at the Buck's back as he stood in front of her, his knife shoved up to the hilt down the dino's throat. The dilophosaurus' eyes were wide in pain, and its mouth gasped for air. Buck swiftly extracted his arm and knife as the two weasels watched the dying dino back up, gurgling, before falling over dead. Maggie felt her throat clenching from shock as she stared at the creature that had blood dripping out of its mouth.
"You all roight?" Buck's question snapped her, once again, out of her daze. Maggie's head whipped around to look at the weasel that stood watching her as he cleaned the blood off his knife and arm with a leaf.
"I... I... how did..." She stuttered before finishing with a whispered, "Yes. Thank you." They stood staring at each other before Maggie felt a slight nudge at her paw. Looking down, she saw the baby maiasaura staring up at her with round brown eyes. "Hey there Kid." The she-weasel smiled tearfully.
"Can't stay outta trouble can ya?" Buck asked. Maggie looked up again to see him leaning on his knife which he had stuck pointed end into the ground.
She shrugged, taking a shaky breath. "I manage."
"Aye. Manage to get inta trouble." Buck agreed, staring at the claws on his free paw.
Bristling, Maggie turned to walk away. "Who asked you?"
"Where ya think ya're goin'?" He called after her.
"I gotta find this dino's mum." The she-weasel replied over her shoulder. She walked on, not hearing him call to her again. A shriek escaped her lips when he dropped down, upside-down, inches from her face.
"If ya can't even 'andle a beastie like the one back there, how do ya expect to face... Rudy?" Buck's face took on a sinister look and his voice dropped to a menacing tone as he said the creature's name.
"R-Rudy?" Maggie stammered. The name itself wasn't impressive, but the way that Buck had said it... and the look in his eye informed her that this was no joking matter.
Buck's one good eye widened in surprise. "Don't tell me ya haven't heard of the great white beast that roams this he'ah jungle!" How she would have heard of it if he hadn't told her was inconsequential apparently.
Maggie shook her head slowly. "Is it a... as big as a tyrannosaurus?"
"Bigga'!" Rudy informed her solemnly. The she-weasel gulped audibly as she glanced down at the maiasaura that was still huddling close beside her.
Squaring her shoulders and speaking with more gusto than she felt, Maggie said, "Well I'll have to manage! The kid needs to get home." She paused for a minute, looking at Buck with a calculating gaze. "Would you by any chance know where I should go?"
Flipping so he landed on his feet, Buck bent down on the ground. "Ya'd hafta travel through the Jungle of Misery, cross the Chasm of Death, and go through the Cave of Fear!" He traced out a map with a claw before looking up to see a very shaken Maggie.
"Oh. Is that all?" She tried her hardest to look brave and nonplussed, but was failing miserably.
"Yeah pretty much." Buck grinned pleasantly as if speaking of the weather. He stood and slung his knife over his shoulder. "Well! I'm off. Good luck returning the dino to its mummy. Hope you don't run into... Rudy!" He cast the same look over his shoulder that he had used the first time he had mentioned the dinosaur's name. Maggie bit her lip, debating over her options. Ask him to help or go on her own?
"Wait!" She called, reaching out her covered paw. He stopped as his upper body twisted almost completely around to look at her. "Would... would you take us there? Please?" She asked, looking at him hopefully.
A grin spread across Buck's face. "Sure thing mate! But I gots rules!" His grin left and was replaced by one of utmost seriousness. Holding up a claw, he said, "Rule numbah one! Always. Listen. To Buck!" He was met with a slow nod from the female and the dino, who was watching the she-weasel, mimicked the head nodding. Another claw rose to meet the first as he continued. "Rule numbah two! Stay at the centah of the path!" He thought for a moment then shrugged. "Right! Le's move." He walked past Maggie to take the lead.
Sighing in relief, she patted the maiasaura's head. "Come on Kid. Let's go find your mum."
Puleeeeeeez review. :) I like to hear from you people who read my stories. It makes me smile to know if you like it. Or if you hate it you can tell me that too. Well, till the next post!