Author's Note: Wow! It has been loooooong since I've worked on this. Sorry for the delay. :-/ Big thanks to yellowraccoon for the review/advice. I greatly appreciated it and I hope the changes made in this chapter were what you were looking for. I've decided that I'm going to finish the story before going back and making any major changes to the three previous chapters. :) Okay, so the dinosaur that will be making an appearance in this chapter is a deinonychus (die-NON-i-kus). 'Kay, I hope you all like this chapter. :) Don't own Ice Age but I do own OCs. On with the show!
Chapter 4
I dreamed of better things that night. Of Kid and myself and we were happy. I couldn't remember the last time I was truly happy. The Dinosaur world looked radiant as it ever was and we were walking through the Jungle of Misery yet again. I began to relive the events of the day, getting caught in the plant. Everything grew dark, instead of a vine gripping my arm, it was a paw. No! I will not think about him! I will not remember that moment! My arm is throbbing in pain! No - No!
"NO!" Maggie sat bolt up right, pressing a paw over her mouth to stop the scream that now echoed throughout the jungle. A paw brushing the fur on her shoulder made her jump. She stared with wide, terrified brown eyes at Buck, who stood next to her.
He retracted his paw, a look of concern on his face. His accented voice asked soothingly, "Are you a'right, Mags?"
Taking several deep, shaking breaths Maggie nodded. "I-it was just a - bad dream."
"'bout the plant?" Buck asked as he settled back down on the ground. She nodded slowly. He's partially right. Glancing up away, she noticed that Kid hadn't woken up. "Wanna talk about it?" Buck asked, bringing her gaze back to him with the softly spoken words.
Shaking her head, the she-weasel wrapped her arms around herself. "No." Her gaze fixated on the fire that still snapped cheerfully in front of her. They sat in mutual silence for a while before Maggie decided that the quiet was too much. "So - why is Kid's mum not living on the plateau?"
Buck picked up a rock and began sharpening his knife. "Rudy stormed through the nestin' grounds. I suppose the dinos decided ta go someplace safa."
Maggie nodded, which made her long hair fall in front of her eyes. She brushed the fur to the side so it wasn't curtaining her vision, but her bandaged paw was now in her line of sight. She stared at the leafy bandage before lowering her arm again. "How did you get here?"
"Wha'?" Buck's lone eye glanced up from his work.
"I asked you how you got here. You asked me when we met. Now it's my turn." Maggie explained, not taking her eyes off the flickering flames.
The weasel watched her for several seconds before returning to his knife. "When I was a lad, I decided I didn't want to stick around my family. I was part of a large manor but bein' a part of it just never interested me. My family focused on avoidin' danger - I went lookin' for it." He chuckled. "I was quite the 'andful. So, when I was old enough, I left 'ome. Found a cave same as you, but this one had a bridge made from a dino's bones! Crossed it and found myself he'ah." He waved his paw, gesturing to the surroundings. "I stayed because of Rudy and because of this paradise." He grinned dreamily as he looked up at the trees.
"What was your family like?" Maggie whispered.
Buck snorted. "Like any other family."
"Oh." She replied, her ears that had been perked up and turned towards his voice, drooped. She turned her head and gave him half a smile. "Why don't you sleep now? I'll take watch for a bit."
Buck blinked in surprise. "Ya sure? You'll need the rest more than me."
Maggie shook her head. "You need to sleep sometime too. What would we do if you were falling asleep on your feet? 'sides," She looked down at her lap as she said, "I don't think I could sleep after that - nightmare."
The male weasel quirked an eyebrow but made no comment. He stood and walked over to the nearest bush. After pulling off a couple of leaves, he spread them out to make a mat for him to sleep on. Laying down, he said, "Wake me when you get tired an' I'll take watch."
She nodded before leaning back against Kid. Glancing over she saw that Buck had stuck his knife in the dirt beside his head. Sighing, she looked up at the ice above her and frowned. I miss the stars.
"Wakey, wakey!" Someone shouted as a very hard object hit Maggie on the head.
"OW!" She exclaimed. Her eyes were wide open, an angry scowl on her muzzle. "What was that for?" She demanded of Buck, who was tossing fruit over his shoulder.
He answered, "We're wastin' daylight Mags! Now come on and feed Kid."
Maggie did as told, yawning widely. She blushed at the smirk that Buck shot her way. "I'm sorry about falling asleep on watch." She muttered as she slid a pile of crushed fruit towards the sleepy-eyed maiasaura.
"No problem Mags! I woke up to check on ya and found ya sound asleep." His smug look softened a little bit. "I told ya you would need the sleep." Maggie ignored him as she stuffed some berries into her mouth. Once they had eaten breakfast, the trio set off again. "We should reach the Chasm of Death sometime early this afternoon." Buck announced over his shoulder.
"Why's it called the Chasm of Death?" Maggie asked, wanting to know exactly what she would need to avoid today.
"Oh, just because of the toxic fumes." Buck answered nonchalantly. "Just don't breath any of it in an' you'll be fine!"
After a long hike, the group stopped for a brief lunch break. While Maggie concerned herself about getting Kid some food, she noticed Buck was wandering off. "Buck? Where are you going?" She tried not to show her nerves. Without him we'd be so lost! She thought to herself.
"Just gonna talk to some friends!" He answered her with his crooked grin. "I'll be back in a jiff." The weasel disappeared into the foliage. Looking around, Maggie gulped, hoping that a dinosaur would not ambush them while Buck was gone. She stiffened; What am I worried about? I can take care of myself and Kid without his help! She nodded her head determinedly. I've done it before. Her ears drooped. Not very well though.
"What do you think Kid?" I turned to look at the maiasaura, who looked up at her expectantly. "Do you think I get us into trouble?" Kid's attention latched onto a bug flying up and down. The dino's head moved up and down. Taking this as an affirmative to her question, Maggie folded her arms across her chest. "Well who asked you anyway." She mumbled. Kid nudged her arm. Maggie smiled a little bit. "Can't stay mad at you can I?" Her ears perked up a bit at the sound of Buck's voice. Standing, she decided to find out what he was up to.
As she pushed her way through the bushes to where she heard his voice coming from, Maggie parted the leaves to find him leaning against a tree with a rock held up in front of his face and he was - talking to it. "Yeah right!" He exclaimed with a gleeful look on his face. "So ya have seen the dinos migrate through he'ah?" He paused and his smile turned into a grin. "I know, right mate? She's as nutty as I am! Talkin' to the dinos and stuff." Maggie bristled, a frown crinkling her brow. Buck looked up just then and waved to her. He whispered to the rock, "Listen I gotta go! Need ta take Crazy and her pet dino across the Chasm of Death. Okay. G'bye!" He tossed the rock over his shoulder as he walked over to where Maggie and Kid stood. "This way mates!"
"I'm crazy?" Maggie glared at him. "Who was the one talking to a rock?"
"Keep up now!" Buck hollered over his shoulder, even though he hadn't walked very far ahead of them. Maggie rolled her eyes as she followed after him. They hadn't walked very far when they trio came to the mouth of a cave where green fumes rose from what looked like a glowing pit.
Maggie peered warily over the edge while Buck began tugging on a vine that stretched across the chasm. "Are you sure this is safe?"
"No!" He answered cheerfully. "It was much safah before ya came. I had a dinos ribcage hooked up ta this so we could just swing across. Unfortunately there was a - ah - mishap." He grinned, "So now we hafta climb across using this he'ah vine!"
Standing up, the she-weasel placed her fisted paws on her sides. "How are we going to get Kid across?" She watched with horror and anger growing inside of her as the male weasel glanced over at the maiasaura that stood cowering as far away from the cave entrance as he could get.
"Hmmmm. That does put a damper on mah plan." He mumbled as he tossed his knife into the air. "Well! One of us'll just hafta carry him over!"
"How?" Maggie pressed.
Buck walked over to where a coil of vines rested and held it up for her to see. "I'll just tie him onta my back!"
She glanced down at the fumes he had said were toxic. "What about breathing in the gas? You said it would kill us if we breathed it in. Kid won't be able to understand to hold his breath."
The weasel looked down at the fumes with a frown. "I hadn't thought of that -"
Maggie was reaching her limits for patience. "Well how do the dinosaurs get across without dying?"
"They take a shortcut." Buck answered, not looking up at her since he was still contemplating how to get Kid across. "I haven't found it yet so I just keep using this way." He shrugged, "I'll just hafta tie his mouth shut and hope he doesn't breath in to much air through his nose. Come on! Help me tie him up."
The pair approached the dino slowly. Maggie smiled and tried to sound reassuring. "Come on Kid. We're going for a quick ride." Kid took one look at the coil of vine in Buck's paw and appeared to not like whatever the weasels were planning. With a bleat of panic, Kid darted out of the reach of the well meaning mammals and ran off into the brush. "Kid!" Maggie shouted as she ran after him.
"Rule numbah two Mags!" Buck shouted as he too ran after the pair. Maggie ignored him as she ran, slapping branches out of her way as she searched for the baby maiasaura.
She spotted him climbing up an incline of rocks not to far ahead. "Kid come back!" Maggie came to a halt at the base of the rocky hill and stared up at the dino that was making a hasty climb. "You'll get hurt!" She shouted up at the green stripped dino.
A strong grip on her arm caused Maggie to gasp and whirl around to look up into Buck's face. "No more hurt than you will be if ya go after him." The weasel warned.
Growling, Maggie tore her arm from his grip. Partly because she didn't care for his warning and partly because his grip reminded her too much of her nightmare. "I'm going after him Buck! I promised him I'd take him to his mum and I can't do that if he gets hurt!" Without another thought or wasted moment listening to cautions, Maggie scrambled up the rocks after Kid. She ignored Buck's orders to come back. She felt such a strong urge to protect Kid that she just shut out Buck's voice. She lost sight of the dinosaur when he reached the top of the rocky hill, but his panicked bleating spurred her on.
She scrambled up the last stretch of sharp rocks and looked around. In the distance she saw where the chasm was for there was a cliff that had a green glow rising with the wisps of gas. The whole plateau of rocks was covered in a fog, but this fog was not green. An eerie hush surrounded the rocks. Maggie rubbed her arms, panting heavily from her climb. She lifted her bandaged paw to her mouth and called out, "Kid?" She took a few cautious steps forwards into the thick, gray fog. "Kid!" Maggie's light brown ears perked up at the sound of the maiasaura's familiar bleat. "Wait right where you are, Kid! I'm coming!" She ran forwards, calling every once in a while, hoping that the dino would reply. He did, but now he sounded panicky.
Something clicking against the rock brought Maggie to an abrupt halt. Her eyes darted back and forth looking for the source of the sound. "Kid?" She called again. Nothing. "Buck?" The hair on the back of Maggie's neck began to rise. A breeze behind her ruffled the fur on her tail. Maggie spun around, her heart pounding in her chest. She sniffed the air, but all she smelled was the damp fog. She hated knowing something was there and not knowing what it was. Her ear twisted back as something clicked quickly against the rocks. Out of instinct, Maggie dove to the right just as something sharp sliced through the air, right where she had been standing only moments before.
Maggie looked up in horror at a deinonychus. The menacing dinosaur hissed as its one long, curved claw scraped against the rocks. The weasel's mouth opened and shut, too dry to scream in terror. Another carnivorous came to join the first, then another, and another. They were trying to surround her. Kid's terrified bleats snapped Maggie out of her stupor. Rolling out of the way of one claw and jumping away from the jaws of the others, Maggie ran faster towards the sounds of the baby dino. She dared not to look back at the pursuing monsters, trying to shut out the scrapping and clicking of the razor sharp claws. Just ahead of her, she saw a group had already surrounded Kid and were attempting to pin him down. A growl of rage tore from Maggie's throat. She sped up and did the unthinkable - she jumped like Buck had onto the tail of one of the deinonychus and ran up its spine. She clawed at the scaly hide of the dinosaur, screaming all the while. The herd chasing after her charged the one being attacked by the weasel. Maggie jumped away just as one of her pursuers bit into her victim.
While those two battled it out, Maggie dodged out of reach of the others only to get them to attack each other on accident. One bit another's tail. A dino clawed at another dino's face. All the while, Maggie was jumping, tumbling, diving, scratching, and just acting generally insanely mad. Backing away from the carnage for a second, Maggie took several deep breaths before attempting to charge back into the fray. She was jerked back by a restraining grip on her upper arm. Twisting to face her new attacker, Maggie lifted a clawed paw - ready to strike. Another paw grabbed her own before it made contact with a leaf covered eye. "MAGS!"
Her brown eyes blinked away the enraged red. The snarl that had once covered her muzzle melted away to an open mouthed gape. "B-Buck?"
Buck let go of her wrist and picked up his knife. "Come on. While they're distracted." He kept hold of her upper arm and dragged her along towards where Kid was disappearing down another slope of sharp rocks.
The trio reached the bottom of the rocks and kept running into the forest until Buck was satisfied that the deinonychus herd wasn't following them. He let go of Maggie's arm and turned to look at her, concern in his blue eye. "What was that all about?"
"I - I don't know." Maggie mumbled as she sank to the ground. Kid came up to her and nuzzled her back. She shook her head in disbelief. "I've never fought anything in my life!" She shuddered as the memories that had once been blurred in her rage washed over her. She had acted like - him. Maggie knew. She had seen him fight to protect her enough times to recognize the style of fighting.
"Well that was something!" Buck laughed, causing the shocked female to look up at him. "You fought an entire HERD! Single-handedly! That was very - impressive, Mags." His words died suddenly as he looked away, rubbing the back of his neck.
Wanting desperately to change the topic, Maggie looked around where they were. "Where are we now?"
"I'll just - go scout out where we are." Buck declared before turning back to look at her. "Stay put. Don't go anywhe'ah!" He ran off into the bushes, leaving Maggie and Kid alone.
"I can't believe I did that." Maggie mumbled as she buried her face into Kid's neck. "I can't believe I fought like Nick!" She squeezed her eyes tightly. "I hate him!" Kid licked her in an attempt to comfort her. They waited in silence until Buck returned.
"Good news!" He announced, slinging his knife over his shoulder. "We crossed the Chasm of Death wi'out having to cross it!" Maggie just stared up at him in confusion. Buck pointed at Kid. "The little dino showed us the shortcut!"
Maggie glanced back the way they had come. "Oh. Is that what it was?"
"Yup!" Buck declared cheerfully. "Now - what to name it?" He tapped his chin thoughtfully. "How 'bout... Razor Mountain!"
"Not much of a mountain." Maggie mumbled as she stood to her feet. "Well. I guess we should keep moving?"
Buck's good eye widened in shock. "And give Rudy a late night snack? No. We'll camp he'ah for the night then get back on the path in the mornin'!" The weasels set about gathering wood for a fire and berries for food.
"What I wouldn't do for some fish." Maggie sighed as she slid a leaf of crushed berries over to Kid.
"No rivers near he'ah." Buck stated as he rolled onto his back to stare up at the ice covered ceiling. From where Maggie sat, she had a perfect view of Buck's leaf patch.
"So - uh - how'd you get that patch anyway?" She asked cautiously.
Buck sprung into a sitting position, a grin on his face. "Well, if ya really want ta hear the story -" He told his tale, recounting the fight with Rudy. Maggie found herself on the edge of her seat the whole time. Buck was an excellent story teller. "THAT!" He declared, "Was how I got this!" He flipped his knife and caught it by its handle.
"Rudy's tooth." Maggie whispered in awe as she stared at the white curved bone.
"It's like the saying goes." Buck smiled. "An eye for a tooth, a nose for a chin, a butt for a - uh -" He looked away flustered. "I forget the rest. It's an old saying." Maggie giggled. The male's head turned back to look at her. "How 'bout you?"
Cocking her head, she asked, "What about me?"
Buck pointed his knife in her direction. "How'dja get that bandage of yours?"
Maggie looked down at her left arm. Her right paw rubbed the smooth, green surface as her lips pursed together. "I'd rather not talk about it." she answered tersely.
"Come on." He pressed. "I told ya how I lost my eye."
"It's not nearly as exciting as your story and I just don't want to talk about it! Okay?" Maggie glared at him. Standing, she began to walk away.
"Oiy! Whe'ah do ya think you're going?" Buck jumped up and ran after her, Kid with him.
"For a walk." Maggie answered, not turning around. She didn't want him to see the haunted look in her eyes. "I won't go far."
Buck pushed his way in front of her. She lowered her gaze to the ground. "You're not going to wander far cause ya not goin'." He waited for her to object. When she didn't, he continued. "What kinda guide would I be if I let ya wander off and get hurt?" Satisfied that he had made his point, he turned her back towards the fire pit. "I won't ask ya again. Promise. Now go get some sleep."
Maggie walked back to where she had been sitting and nestled up against Kid. She turned in towards the dino's warmth. She listened as Buck sat down on the ground, squirming as he adjusted his position against the rock he had been leaning against. The chirping of nocturnal bugs echoed throughout the jungle. Sighing, Maggie said, "Goodnight Kid." After a long pause she said, "Goodnight Buck."
After a long time and once both Kid and Maggie had drifted off to sleep, Buck remained awake and staring at Maggie's light brown back. "G'night, Mags." He whispered, "Have good dreams t'night."
One more thing, I realized a short while ago that I had Private Messaging disabled. My apologies to anyone who was trying to send me a message back concerning something I sent to you. I have now enabled Private Message so you can reply back (at least I think that's what it does). I'm such a newbie sometimes. :-/ Please review! If I've said it once, I'll say it again. I like hearing from my readers. :)