Author's note: Okay! Sorry for the delay but I've been working on my Labyrinth fic and school work so this fic kinda was neglected for a while. But now it is up and I hope to continue with more chapters for this fic for a while! Not that anyone has asked but the pronunciation for dinos mentioned thus far are as follows: camarasaurus (KAM-a-ra-SAWR-us), dilophosaurus (die-LOF-o-SAWR-us), and maiasaura (MAY-ya-SAWR-a). I'd like to thank PrincessPeaches and Jinney for giving me positive reviews. :) I always love to hear from my readers and you both made my day. Okay, don't own Ice Age 3 characters or places but I do own Maggie and Kid. :) Enjoy!
Chapter 3
Buck became our guide. He was very kind and he was very talkative. I was a bit wary of him. After all I had been through with male weasels - I just didn't want to get hurt again. Of course Buck seemed protective and concerned for the well being of me and the dino - but Nick had been protective too. I don't want to think about the past. I have to think about the kid. I have to get the dino home. I think I'll also keep an eye on my guide.
As the small group traveled through the Dino Plataea, Buck kept up a running commentary on the wild and plant life that should be avoided. Maggie listened politely, keeping her eyes on the maiasaura that followed her. When Buck stopped, Maggie bumped into his back again. He turned to give her a crooked smile. She rolled her eyes as she stepped back. "Why'd we stop?" She asked.
"Just thought I'd let ya know we're headin' inta the Jungle of Misery." Buck informed her. Pointing at the dino, he added, "Make sure the kid doesn't eat any of the fruit hangin' around. Could be a trap for a killer plant."
Maggie looked down at the maiasaura and placed a comforting hand on the dino's head. "I don't think the kid will try to eat anything. Doesn't have any teeth." When she looked up again, she noticed that Buck had walked on ahead. "Hey! Wait up." They walked on for a while but it wasn't long before the baby dinosaur started whining for food.
"Can ya get it to be quiet? I don't want to attract - unwanted attention." Buck kept walking, not bothering to look back at them.
"What do you suggest I feed 'im? I didn't bring any of the berries along." Maggie growled irritably as she looked around for something edible. Buck began mumbling about females and dinos but Maggie chose to ignore him when she spotted a fruit hanging on a stem not too far away. Without a second thought about where she was and what her guide's rules had been, the she-weasel bounded towards the fruit. Reaching up her bandaged arm, she grabbed a hold of the ripe looking fruit.
Buck glanced over his shoulder when the dino's moans grew louder. "Wha's all the - racket -" His eye widened. "Mags! Don't!" A green vine shot out of nowhere and wrapped itself around the female weasel's waist with a bone crushing grip.
Maggie struggled to get free, slashing her claws into the vine in an attempt to cut herself free. Leaves rose up out of the ground as more vines coiled themselves around the weasel's limbs. "BUCK!" She shouted as she squirmed. She screamed before being dropped into the flesh eating plant's 'mouth'.
"I'm coming Mags!" Buck shouted. He ran towards the plant and swung himself up using one of the vines. He pushed himself into the plant's insides where Maggie stood chest deep in the digestive fluids. "I'll getcha out in a jiff!" He announced cheerfully before diving into the fluids. He swam down to the base of the plant to where he knew the two main veins of the plant were located. Once there, he found the blue and red vein. His head moved from looking at the blue to the red and then back again to the blue. He could never remember which one he was supposed to cut! Shrugging his shoulders, he cut the blue. With a surge of fluids, Buck's knife was knocked out of his paw and he was whipped back by the vein. He couldn't reach his knife! Just great!
Maggie looked around frantically. Was it just her, or was the fluid rising faster. She took a deep breath before diving down after Buck. He had lost his grip on the knife and was stuck behind a blue looking vine. He noticed her and pointed frantically at the knife and the red vein. She nodded emphatically before diving down for the knife. Maggie winced as she felt a sting on her skin beneath her fur. Glancing down at her arm, she noticed that the leaf that was wrapped around it was starting to disintegrate. Panicking, she swam harder for the knife and smiled in relief when her claws wrapped around the hilt. She placed the sharp edge on the red vein and with a snap, it was cut. She felt a blast and the next thing she knew, she was flying up into the air.
Maggie landed on the ground - hard. She groaned and began to push herself up when Buck's knife came falling down and landed point in the ground inches from her hand. With a yelp she fell to her side away from the blade. The maiasaura rushed to her side and began nuzzling her. "Look out below!" The pair on the ground looked up to see Buck floating down using a giant leaf as a parachute. He landed a little ways away from them but walked over quickly to retrieve his knife. "What a mess!" Looking at Maggie, he scowled. "Wha' did I say was rule numbah two?"
Shaking from shock and the dull pain in her arm and other places under her fur, Maggie whispered pitifully, "To stay on the middle of the path."
"An' yet ya wandered off! Even when I warned ya about the killer plants! Hon'stly Mags! YOU are a HANDFUL!" Buck shook his head before his good eyes noted that she was cradling her bandaged arm. He instantly was hovering over her, trying to see what was wrong. "Didja hurt ya'self?"
"NO!" Maggie nearly shouted as she jumped away from his prying eye and probing claws. She took several steps back. "N-n-no. It's nothing. Just stings. I - I just need to wash it off. That's all."
Buck watched her with a puzzled expression on his face. With a shrug and a disinterested tone, he said, "Ah roight. I'll show ya a waterin' hole where ya can clean up AND where safe food can be found fer the kid." He turned and began walking again. "Le's move!"
Maggie firmly knotted the new leaf bandage. She sighed her contentment now that she was clean of the killer plant's enzymes. Standing, she left the watering hole's bank and made her way back to where Buck waited with the baby dinosaur. When she parted the leaves of a bush, she found Buck had built up a fire and had collected various fruits. "What's all this?" She asked, sweeping a paw to motion at the clearing.
"Camp! It's gettin' late an' it isn't safe to travel at night down he'ah." Buck explained as he dumped another arm load of fruit and leaves. "Come on! Le's eat." He twirled his knife in his paw before cutting a melon in half. Maggie walked over and sat down next to the baby dino. She reached for some berries, a rock, and a large leaf. Buck watch curiously as the female weasel began crushing the berries. "Wha' are ya doin'?"
She looked up at him briefly before returning her attention to the mush she was making. "As I said before, Kid doesn't have teeth yet. He needs either pre-chewed or mashed foods." Once satisfied with the pile of smashed fruit, she pushed the leaf towards the eagerly awaiting maiasaura. She then reached for a mango for herself.
Buck cocked his head as he examined the baby dinosaur. "How'dja know it's a male?"
"I - guessed?" Maggie shrugged as she looked from Buck to the baby dino. "Is it a male?" Buck nodded slowly as he took a bite from his fruit. "Well! Now I can come up with a better name than Kid!"
The dino raised its head and looked questioningly at Maggie. Buck chuckled. "I think it thinks that Kid is his name."
Maggie sighed as she looked at the dinosaur. "Kid? You really want me to call you that?" Kid made a slight growling, purring sound before returning to his meal. Rolling her eyes and shaking her head, Maggie took another bite of her mango.
The male weasel watched her for several minutes before asking a question that had been on his mind for most of the afternoon. "So - why ezactly didja want ta stay he'ah?"
Looking at him over her mango, Maggie answered. "I like it down here. I like it a lot better than living up in the frozen tundra." She tilted her head back to look at the icy ceiling. "It's safer down here." She whispered so softly that Buck barely caught her words.
"Safah? I dunno about that!" He smiled crookedly as he looked around at the foliage surrounding them. "But I undahstand why ya'd like it he'ah more than the'ah. I prefer it meself."
"Why?" Maggie asked, returning her gaze to him. "Why did you stay?"
Buck glanced down at his knife and raised a paw to brush his claws over his leaf patch. "I have ma reasons. I's all Rudy's doin' really."
"What happened?" Maggie asked cautiously.
He perked up a bit, almost happy she asked. However, he gave her a mischievous look. "That! Is a story for another night. Roight naow, you should get some sleep - an' so should Kid." Maggie looked over at the dino and laughed. The weary maiasaura had fallen asleep a top his dinner.
"I'll wash him up before turning in." She lifted Kid's head and slipped the berry stained leaf out from beneath him. Gently, she wiped the juice from the dino's chin with a clean leaf then took another leaf to cover him up like it was a blanket. Curling up beside Kid, she looked up at Buck, who was still watching her. "I forgot - to say - thank you. For rescuing me I mean."
He grinned. "Wha' kinda guide would I be if I let ya get et?"
"I'm also sorry for not listening to you." She glanced away from his persistent stare.
Buck's grin widened. "Apology accepted! Now get some rest. We've still got a long way ta go 'fore we reach the Chasm of Death."
Maggie's eyelids slid shut as she yawned, shuffling closer to Kid's warm side. "Night Buck."
Silence met her statement. Bugs chirped in the jungle and dinosaurs called out nightly sentiments. Maggie's breathing slowed to that of a sleeper's rhythm, so she did not hear it when Buck finally answered. "G'nigh' Mags."
Review please! Or else I'll send an epigaulus after you! (Brownie points to whoever can tell me what kinda 'dino' this is!) ;)