Book 3: Breaking the Ice
Me: Hey, guys! It's freaking hot outside so now I'm trying to cool off. Well, I'd like to thank A.G. Wicked for sticking with me on this story. You rock! Anyway, even though I have very little reviews, I'm still going to work on this story. Still feeling like my writing hasn't improved at all so just send me some feedback or PM me. Enjoy!
Chapter 4: Celine Runs Away
Jenna was standing at the cave entrance, waiting hopefully and patiently for Buck, Rosalina, and Roxanne's return, when Celine shyly walked over to her. Jenna felt the hem of her leaf dress being pulled and looked down to see Celine with gentle smile on her face. "Hey, Celine." She greeted the kit with a smile of her own.
"Are you waiting for Daddy and Rosy and Roxanne?" She asked softly, her arms wrapping around Jenna's waist and hugging her. "Yes. I hope they are okay?"
"You worry too much, Mommy." Jenna laughed softly at Celine's remark, remembering that Buck told her that after her nightmare this morning. It was true, though. She couldn't help but be that way after losing her parents.
She vowed to herself that she would do everything in her power to keep Buck, Celine, Rosalina, and Roxanne safe and unharmed. Whenever they were hurt or sick, she would do her best to make them feel better. When they were depressed, she would be there to comfort them. When they were in danger, she would go to the extremes to save them. That's how much she cares about her new family.
Jenna looked down at Celine and chuckled, "I know I worry too much. I just love all of you so much that I get anxious for every single one of you." Celine smiled as her foster-mother lifted her up and held her in her arms. Jenna looked down to face the kit. There was a small smile across her face as she stared at her.
"Mommy?"
"Celine, I wanted to tell you once you were old enough, but Buck told me to wait a little longer. It's about your…real parents." Jenna choked up a sob. She couldn't keep the truth bottled up inside much longer. It was killing her to see those innocent green eyes look at her with confusion. Buck's gonna kill me. She thought as she bit at her lower lip to keep herself from crying.
"Mommy, you and Daddy are my real parents." Hearing Celine's protest made Jenna turn her head as she felt sobs were already wracking her body. She was in denial and Jenna knew it.
Taking a shaky breath, Jenna continued. "No, we're not, sweetie. Rosalina and I found you when we heard sobs from a distance. Remember when that sweet saber-tooth, Destiny, told us what happened after that saber attack? No, you were too little to understand back then. Never mind. Well, she….told us about your….parents."
This was getting difficult. How was Jenna going to explain this to Celine without sobbing? Just staring at Celine's precious face was making Jenna feel horrible about telling her at her age. Celine bowed her head to make her short brown hair cover her eyes as tears began to spill over her glassy eyes. "So, you're saying that I'm adopted?" Celine's voice cracked.
More sobs wracked Jenna's body once she said this. Tears began to fill Jenna's baby blue eyes as well as she pulled Celine into a hug, but she pushed her away. "Why did you not tell me earlier?" She yelled. She couldn't hold the tears back anymore. Jenna sobbed and fell onto her knees, making it easier for Celine to escape from her embrace.
"I'm sorry. Buck wanted me to wait for you to be older, but I just couldn't keep it in any longer. Please, just come here and we'll…" Jenna yelped when she felt a burning sensation on her cheek. She saw Celine lower her paw back to her sides. She let out a shaky breath as Celine muttered, "I hate you." Those words tore at Jenna's heart. Those words made her die inside. Those words….made her feel like she was falling into nothing but darkness.
She couldn't do anything but watch as Celine gave her a death glare as she walked out the cave, leaving her to sob softly on the cold cave floor. She didn't cry because Celine smacked her and told her she hate her. She was crying because out of the guilt and sadness she felt in her heart.
This was all her fault. Now Buck was definitely going to kill her. Not only for letting Celine run away, but for telling her the truth at her young age. What was she going to tell Buck? Thinking about it made Jenna feel worse than she already felt.
Rosalina kept a tight grip on Buck's paws as Roxanne tried to pull them back up. Fortunately, Roxanne's plan worked and Buck was holding on tightly to Rosalina's already sweaty paws. "Sis, swing!" Rosalina called up to her twin, who was hanging on to the vine by her legs. Roxanne did as she was asked and tried to swing back and forth.
Once she was close enough to another vine, Buck let go and took Rosalina with him as he grabbed the strong vine. Sighs of relief came from their mouths. The crisis was over. "All right, girls, let's swing out of here and go home." Buck looked up at the sun-setting sky before swinging from vine to vine with Rosalina on his back and Roxanne following them.
They made it back to where they started and were now scaling back down the tree. "Well, that was some first experience." Rosalina said, breaking the silence. Roxanne agreed with her sister. Suddenly, they heard soft panting and whimpers coming from behind them. Buck turned his head to see a brown-furred figure running as fast as its legs could take it.
He looked closer to see that that figure belonged to no other than Celine. "Girls, let's go!" Buck said as he began to quickly climb down the tree. They finally made it to the ground and the twins found themselves running after Buck. "Buck, what is it?"
"It's Celine! She's running from something!" Buck yelled as he continued running. Horrified, Roxanne asked, "What should we do?" That's when Buck stopped running and turned his head to answer her.
"You two follow Celine. I'm going to check on Jennifer." The twins nodded and began to take off into a run again while Buck ran the opposite direction.
Meanwhile, Jenna had stopped crying and was now lying on the cave floor and panting heavily as she tried to catch her breath from sobbing so much. Head began to hurt, her body began to ache in pain and guilt, and her heart broke into tiny millions of pieces. If she could go back in time, she would talk about their day with their dino friends instead of Celine's parents' deaths.
Her ears began to perk up as she began to hear a male call her name in panic, interrupting her thoughts. She felt herself sitting up to see Buck running towards her with his piercing blue eye staring back at her. "Buck!" Jenna called out as loud as she could. The male ran into the cave and pulled Jenna into his arms.
Her head covered Buck's chest as she sobbed into his chest, soaking his fur immediately. Buck stroked her head as she cried. "Jennifer, love, tell me wot happened?" Jenna quickly looked up at him. The feeling of guilt, pain, and sadness struck her hard. She couldn't tell him. He would be furious with her, but she had to pay the price now.
Taking a breath, Jenna looked up at him, "I'm sorry! I couldn't hold the truth in anymore! I had to tell her!" Buck instantly knew what she was talking about. She told Celine about her parents. Buck was debating on what to do. Was he going to comfort her, or yell at her?
He looked into Jenna's teary blue eyes and he saw the regret in them. Sighing calmly, he pulled her into a hug again and shushed her. "Hey, it's okay. I was wrong to tell you to keep her parents' deaths a secret. I'm sorry, Jennifer. Rosalina and Roxanne are going after her right now."
Jenna slowly looked up at him, surprised he wasn't mad at her. Buck leaned in and pressed his lips to hers. Jenna returned the kiss and whispered she was sorry every time they'd pull away. Buck gave Jenna a reassuring and sad smile as she dried her eyes. "The girls will find her. I promise." He sighed as he kissed her one last time before he pulled away.
"I should have known better than to not tell an honest mammal to keep a secret. I'm sorry that that mammal had ta' be you." Buck brushed Jenna's hair out of her face, revealing her other eye. Jenna placed a paw on his shoulder. She let out a soft, depressed chuckle.
"Wot?"
"When I told her that we weren't her real parents, she smacked me and told me she hated me." She heard him gasp. Please don't be angry at her. Please, this was all my fault. I deserved it. Her conscience begged the male that was in front of her.
Within Buck's eye, Jenna could see a deep blue flame flare in his eye. That wasn't good. Yep, he was definitely angry. "B-buck, don't worry a-about it, okay? I deserved it." She spoke hesitantly when Buck walked with a bit of speed towards the exit of the cave.
"I'm no' going ta' let her get away with this. She's go' the wrong idea if she thinks she can just go around and smack you." Buck growled as his paws tightened into fists as he got further out. He then felt a paw quickly land on his shoulder, making him turn around.
"Buck." Jenna's baby blue eyes glared into the depths of the male's lonely sapphire eye. Calmly, she continued, "I know you're mad at Celine, but please calm down. I know that you think that telling the girl about her parents was the right thing, but I told her too early. I understand her being angry at me and possibly you, too. When Rosalina and Roxanne come back with Celine, we'll greet her…"
"We'll greet her with 'why did you run away?' and punish her." Buck interrupted the she-weasel abruptly. Jenna's eyes widened. That wasn't what she going to say. What she going to say was that they should be calm and go easy on Celine then punish her whenever she comes back.
Jenna sighed softly. When it came to Buck being furious, there was almost no way to calm him down. Sighing again, she wrapped her arms around his neck, which was slightly tensed with anger. Buck looked down at the female. She really wants me ta' go easy on the lass, huh? He knew what the female was thinking and was against it. There was no way in this Dino land that he was going to let Celine get away with hitting Jenna across the face.
Jenna could feel Buck's body tense up again. "Buck, please. Just go easy on her then calmly tell her what her punishment will be, but nothing harsh, okay?" She reached up and caressed his face. Buck stared down at her again, seeing the gentle and disheartened look on her face. He sighed. Why did Jenna have to be such a calm and patient female?
He looked into Jenna's intense stare and saw the begging look in them. "All right. I'll be patient with her." He sighed in defeat.
"You promise?"
"Yeah, I promise" He hesitated a bit with his reply. He really wanted to go ahead and punish the kit, but with Jenna being the patient foster-parent, he had to wait a little longer to do that. Why must he surrender to her? He turned his to face Jenna, who was smiling.
Her smile lit up the cave as it stretched across her face. That smile told Buck that she wanted to talk about something else that will keep their minds off Celine's running away incident for a while. He nodded understandingly, feeling the same way.
Jenna was the first to speak. "So, how did Rosalina and Roxanne do with the vine-swinging?"
"It was a little crazy. Rosalina fell twice." Buck chuckled a bit. Another thing he had to teach them was to not look down. He heard Jenna gasp.
"Oh, my gosh! Is she all right?" Buck saw how worried Jenna was for her. He quickly reassured her, "Yes, she's fine. Roxanne and I caught her both times. I caught her when she almost fell off the tree, and Roxanne caught her when she accidentally let go of her vine. Then, Roxanne's vine snapped and sent them both falling."
Buck told Jenna about the adrenaline rush he and the girls had experienced and how the twins have saved Buck from falling. "That's how it ended before I saw Celine running past us."
"Wait! So, you saw her running?"
"At first, I thought she running from some angry dino, or maybe even Rudy, but then when you told me wot really happened that caused her to run away…" Jenna could see disappointment written all over Buck's face. She couldn't blame him. She felt disappointed, too. She was disappointed in herself and Celine. She still wished she never told her the truth.
"Buck," Jenna started. "I am so sorry. I'm a horrible foster-parent. If I had never told Celine the truth, this wouldn't be happening." She looked up and saw Buck laughing. What? After sincerely apologizing, he's laughing? Is this some kind of joke? Jenna angrily glared at Buck as he laughed.
The male was grasping at his stomach and gasping for breath and a tear was threatening to fall from his eye. He laughed, "You sound like me now! Wot eva' happened ta' Miss Optimistic?" Jenna's eyes softened and let her tense shoulders relax. Yeah, what did happen to Miss Optimistic? She thought to herself. She guessed that the stress has gotten to her.
Buck stopped laughing and looked up to see a silent Jenna in front of him. "Jen, are you mad?" Jenna was so lost in thought that she didn't hear him the first time. Before she could snap out of it, she had another vision.
This time, she saw Ben with a sharp, knife-shaped rock in his paw –kind of like Buck's weapon. She could see the male running towards Buck while his back was turned. Then, it happened. She could see him plunge the rock on Buck's side, causing him to fall in pain. As soon as Ben pulled the bloodied knife out of the male's side, he smirked evilly and lustfully, "I'm getting even closer, Jenna."
Jenna let out a loud scream and grasped her head in her paws, breathing heavily and shakily as her blood went cold in horror. Buck panicked. "Jennifer! Jennifer, wot's wrong?" The she-weasel didn't respond. Her body was too tense to make a single move. She couldn't speak, move, or let out a single breath.
"Jennifer, talk ta' me, lass!" Buck gently shook the stiff female's shoulders, but she didn't move a muscle. Finally, she spoke in a whisper, "He's getting closer." Buck raised his eyebrow. What did she mean 'he's getting closer'?
Taking Jenna's paw in his, he asked, "Who's getting closer?" Jenna slowly turned her head, her almost lifeless baby blue eyes staring into Buck's eye. Buck shuddered. She was starting to creep him out a little by the way she was acting. He hoped this wasn't some prank she made up. The horrific look on Jenna's face told him that this wasn't some joking matter whatsoever and that she was serious.
Shuddering, Jenna answered, "Ben." She said his name as if it was poison to her tongue. Buck sighed. Another bloody vision of hers, huh? I should have known. He sighed again. What was he going to do with her? He enveloped her in an embrace, only calming the she-weasel slightly.
He could feel the stiffness of Jenna's body against his front. He felt as if he was hugging a boulder. She was so tense. "Jennifer, dear, you need ta' relax yourself. How about you take a day off tomorrow?"
"What do you mean? I'm not stressed or anything." Jenna said with a reassuring smile and in a saccharine tone.
"You're as stiff as a stone, lass." Buck pointed out. Jenna knew he was right, but she didn't want him to worry about her. She sighed sadly, letting her ears press against her aching head.
"I'm sorry. I've been so paranoid over the last several weeks that I couldn't seem to find any way to calm myself. The visions just keep sneaking up on me, and the nightmares just keep piling up. I'm sorry I got you so concerned about me." A pang of guilt struck her as Buck looked down at her understandingly.
Great, now he's feeling sorry for me. I feel horrible. Jenna averted her gaze in shame, not wanting to see his sympathetic stare anymore. Tears threatened to fall, but she blinked them away. No. No more crying. Her head ached enough as it is, and she wouldn't let herself cry only to make the pain worse. Besides, she had done enough crying for tonight.
"Jennifer, look at me. Please." Jenna kept her gaze to the cave floor. Buck knew she wasn't going to look at him anytime soon. He gently lifted the she-weasel's chin and turned her head to where she was facing him.
He exhaled through his nose before he spoke, "Tell you wot, I'm going ta' do something about these visions and nightmares you keep having. I'll do everything I can ta' help you. How does that sound?"
Jenna nodded. Whatever he had planned, she hoped it would work. To make him feel a little better, she let a smile form on her face. It obviously worked. "There's that smile." Buck happily smiled back.
"The girls have been gone for a long while. Should we go out to find them?" Jenna looked outside to see it was now dark out. Buck stood next to her and thought about it.
He turned to her and replied, "Rosy can take care of herself and Roxanne. I'm sure they're all right. I'm more worried about Celine's safety."
"Me, too. Hey, are you going to watch for them?"
"I might. If they don't return in two days, we'll go out and track them down. Right now, I think you need some rest. You've had an overwhelming evening." Buck smiled as Jenna nodded and walked into their room to do what Buck recommended.
Buck's attention turned back to the exit. He sighed sadly, "Rosy, Roxanne, please bring Celine back home, safe and sound."
Rosalina and Roxanne were still pursuing Celine. Their feet were getting sore from all the running; their sides ached as they still progressed, and their hearts pounded against their chests so fast that it hurt. Still, they ran without stopping to catch their breath and rest. They were determined to catch Celine and bring her home.
Rosalina looked up and saw the night sky above them. She looked back ahead to see Celine already out of their sight. "Oh." She groaned in disappointment. There go their chances of bringing Celine home before dark.
The twins finally stopped running and fell to the ground as their bodies ached and begged for rest. "I guess we'll have to camp somewhere." Rosalina looked up to see a thick tree with a wide hole on it. Roxanne was panting heavily beside her sister. Quickly, Rosalina wrapped her sister's arms around her neck as she began to scale the tree.
Once they made it to the spot, Rosalina laid Roxanne down gently. "Roxanne, are you okay?" Rosalina asked her twin. Roxanne was panting too hard that Rosalina couldn't understand what her sister wanted. "Sis?"
"W-water. Please." She panted. Water? Is that what she said? Oh, whatever. I'll get it. Rosalina knelt next to Roxanne and whispered, "You just catch your breath. I'll get you some water and get some leaves. Maybe even food, too." She turned to leave when she saw a vine dangling in front of her. She took a breath.
She was going to redeem herself and get better at vine-swinging. Rosalina ran and made a leap for the vine, only ending up missing it by a couple of inches. She screamed as she fell to the ground. "Ow!" She yelped in pain.
Roxanne heard a thud then her sister yelp and made her way to the edge of their stay. She looked down to see her twin rubbing her ankle. "Sis, are you okay?" Rosalina looked up to see her twin's hazel eyes looking back at her. She must have heard her fall. Smiling, Rosalina answered, "I'm okay! I'll be back. Get some rest."
While Rosalina went out to find some water, food, and leaves, Celine was resting in a cave, thirty miles away from where the twins were. She panted heavily as she tried to catch her breath. She was exhausted, starving, dehydrated, and slightly homesick. Why did she overreact like she did? Jenna did say that she was sorry for keeping the truth from her, but it didn't change Celine's mind, not even the slightest.
Suddenly, she heard Rudy's roar from a distance, causing her to coward more into the cave, whimpering in fear. Unbeknownst to her, she wasn't the only one in the cave. She then heard a small whimper and chirping. Her eyes widened and she gasped as she whipped around to see a baby pterodactyl curled up at the corner of the cave.
Celine slowly crawled over to it. The pterodactyl reeled back further against the corner, showing fear in its eyes. "Sh. It's all right. I won't hurt you." The kit felt her paw move away from her sides to reach for the helpless dino.
The dactyl was somewhat reassured by her gentle and calm approach. It finally had the courage to wobble over to her slowly. "That's it!" Celine exclaimed softly so she wouldn't frighten the flightless dactyl in her presence. She giggled as it chirped happily once its beak made contact with the kit's paw.
Something caught Celine's eyes. She examined the dactyl's right wing, which was crooked in some areas. She gasped. She figured the poor thing must have fallen out of its nest and broke its wing.
Its mother must be worried about him right now. I've got to find his mommy. Celine's green eyes widened then filled up with tears. Please, no crying. No crying! Her conscience begged her, but was too late. "Mommy!" Her paws covered her eyes as she sobbed.
The baby pterodactyl flinched at her sudden outburst, but stared sadly as the girl began to cry. She must be lost, too. It thought, partly reassured and partly sad. He was reassured because he now knew that he wasn't the only one trying to find his parents; he was sad because he saw how much she missed her mom.
Chirping sadly, the dactyl nuzzled Celine sympathetically. He let the kit wrap her arms around his neck and sob. He tried to be comforting by nuzzling her and wrapping his unharmed wing around her, but it didn't mend Celine's broken heart.
Celine cried for a couple more minutes before she finally let go of her new acquaintance. She stared at the dactyl apologetically. "I'm sorry. I shouldn't act like this. I'm on my own now. Hey, since you don't have a name, I think I'll call you Remy. I can't think of any other good names."
She smiled as her new friend shrugged at the name and accepted it. "Hey, it could be worse –the situation we're in. We could be attacked by a snake that we didn't know was in here." Remy nodded in agreement.
Suddenly, Celine heard hissing coming from behind them. Her fur rose in fear as she slowly turned her head to see a huge snake hovering over them. She let out a scream that erupted out of the cave and awoke almost every dinosaur from their slumber.
Me: I suck at names! This chapter, to me, sucked. Oh, random thing! If anyone watches Higurashi, I don't, Celine's scream would sound like Rena's. I just think that her scream is scary and I thought that this would be interesting to hear a little kit scream like an anime character! Higurashi's an anime, by the way. Reason why I don't watch it is because of the blood and brutal deaths. I get scared easily.
Anyway, Maryanne, Leah, and Chloe will be back in chapter six, I think. If I haven't told you guys this, but I think my character, Jenna, may have an emotional problem. I don't know. Just thought that because I realize that I make her cry almost too much. *shrugs* Well, please, leave a review or PM me because I have low confidence when it comes to writing. See ya'!