Book 3: Breaking the Ice
Me: *sighs* Hey, guys. I had a rather crappy day at school. Why? Well, to start it off, I had a period stain on the back of my jeans and had to wear a different pair. I was trying not to cry, I was so embarrassed. I'm not a crybaby, but I was really mortified, and I still am! Then, I just stayed in a gloomy mood the rest of the day, hardly ate anything at lunch, not going anorexic, don't worry about that.
In this chapter, yes, Leah and Chloe's mom has a Japanese name. I couldn't think of anything!
So, the least you guys can do is just read the chapter and feel free to leave a review. Enjoy!
Chapter 11: Lake of Death
Rosalina let out a soft yawn. Her cerulean eyes opened slowly and looked around. Everyone, except for her and Leah, were still sleeping. Her gaze went up to the sky and saw that it was way early into the next day. She guessed it was two or three in the morning.
Getting up, the female carefully walked over to Leah, who was staring into nothingness. She placed a paw on her shoulder, feeling a slight jolt from the ferret. Her violet eyes met Rosalina's gaze when she turned around.
"Why are you up? Did you have a nightmare?" No response. That's when Rosalina remembered that Chloe said her sister didn't talk much. To her surprise, Leah opened her mouth to speak, but then closed it. Rosalina's face fell.
"You can talk to me, Leah." She said to her. Leah saw that Rosalina really wanted to know what was going through her head. She trusted her enough to tell her. As much as she didn't like to talk about it, she thought maybe she should know.
"I was just thinking about our parents. Since you've already told of your past, I guess it's my turn." Leah looked up at the weasel. Rosalina sat down beside her, waiting to hear her story.
Leah's Flashback
Playing in the deep, glittery, powdery, white snow, were two ferret kits. They were running through the snow, laughing happily, as well as their parents. The father picked up a little red-headed kit and began to tickle her. Their mother lifted the other kit from the ground and began giving her feathery, motherly kisses all over her face, causing her to laugh.
"Mother, it's snowing again!" The maroon-haired ferret kit pointed up to the sky. Sure enough, there were tiny snowflakes falling from the gray sky. Their mother's sky blue eyes brightened at her daughter's excitement.
"It sure is, Leah, dear." She said in the same accent as Leah's. Leah's younger sister came over to them and stared up at the snowy sky, hugging her mother and older sister close to her.
Suddenly, the girls' father sniffed the air and gave them a look that said there was danger approaching. "Michiko, run! Take the girls with you."
"What's going on, honey?" Leah and Chloe exchanged worried glances then looked up at their parents. There was pure fear in both kits' eyes. When they heard a battle cry, they turned to see a band of human hunters with their bows and arrows.
"Michiko, go!" Their father screamed at their mom. Quickly, Leah and Chloe were on their mother's back as she ran on all fours. They held on to her tightly, tears stinging at their eyes. They didn't know what was going on.
Leah turned her head just in time to see their father fighting the men with bows and arrows. She gasped in horror when one of the men shot their father directly in the heart. A river of tears flowed down her face as she watched him fall to the ground, dead.
"Father!" She screamed. Michiko heard her daughter's call and knew that her mate was dead. Tears blurred her vision, but she blinked them away so she could see where she was going.
Chloe heard the men let out more battle cries and buried her face into her mother's back, trying to hide from all the horror. She felt her mom pick her and Leah up from her back and placing them inside a half-snowed-in den. Chloe held on to her older sister, shaking violently from the cold.
"Girls, my time is running out! Whatever you do, don't abandon each other! Leah, take care of your sister. Chloe, I want you to be a brave girl for mommy. Will you do that for me?" Michiko saw her young daughter nodded with a whimper. "I love you!" That was last thing she said before running off, leaving the two girls behind.
They heard her scream of agony and men speaking in their language. "Mother!" Leah yelled. She began to sob and hold Chloe closer to her. Chloe cried loudly into her sister's ivory fur. Leah sobbed softly with her. Both of their parents were gone, and there was nothing they could do about it.
End of Flashback
"And that's how it happened. To this day, Maryanne still uses my past against me to get her way." Leah looked over at her guide sadly. Rosalina was tearing up. Her dark lavender eyes turned into a light lilac when the she-weasel threw her arms around her in a hug. Leah calmed down and accepted her embrace.
"Hey, is it morning already?" The girls turned around. Jason was staring back at them. He let out a yawn before walking towards them. Leah and Rosalina gave him small smiles as he approached.
"Yeah, but it's too early to get moving. I just woke up not too long ago when I saw Leah already awake. Now, you're awake." Rosalina answered, blinking back the tears.
"Uh-huh." Jason replied. There was a long silence among them until Rosalina got up to get some breakfast.
"Where are you going?" The she-weasel turned her head and told them that she was going to get some fruit. Hearing this, Roxanne quickly got up and reassured them that she would keep watch like she did last night. Nodding in approval, Rosalina left them.
Jenna's bright blue eyes fluttered open. She heard soft snoring from behind. The female chuckled. Buck was curled up next to her, sleeping hard. Last night was a long one for them, and Jenna couldn't blame the male for being so tired. It shamed her that she had to wake him up, even though she liked it when he was sleeping peacefully. Unless.
Jenna carefully escaped the male's grasp without waking him up. Before she took another step, a groggily voice asked, "And just where do you think you're going?" Buck let his blue eye open. He smiled at the female. "Morning." She smiled back at him, but then her happy expression changed into seriousness. "Buck, before I leave, I want to find Celine."
"I told you, lass, I took her ta' Momma." The male weasel began stretching his arms and legs. Once he was done, he grabbed his knife from the ground, removing the smudge of dirt of the tip of the weapon.
Jenna was skeptical about what he said. She wouldn't have had the vision where Celine was with Ben if she was with Momma. Maybe she sneaked away from the tyrannosaurus while she was tending to her kids and went to find her. That could be an almost accurate theory. She was worried.
Buck's eye softened at her cynical face. "I swear ta' you, I left her with Momma. Come on, let's find 'er." Jenna tried to smile, but was in too much in thought. She knew that her vision was correct. The weasel sighed to herself and followed Buck. Celine, I hope you really are with Momma. Jenna hoped, her stomach lurching from nervousness.
"Wow! This is the best thing I've ever eaten!" Chloe yelled happily as she ate a mango. Rosalina and Roxanne laughed, as well as Jason, Rico, and Lars. Maryanne rolled her honey-colored eyes in annoyance. Leah shot the blonde a glare. She caught the blonde she-weasel's nasty look and she didn't want her to start today.
"I'm glad you like it. The fruit down here tastes amazing! Did you know they come in different sizes? I'm not kidding!" Rosalina grinned, munching on a small peach. "Can I have another mango, is that it?"
"Yeah, you got it right. Here you go!" Roxanne threw the fruit to the ferret and laughed as Chloe took a big bite out of it. Maryanne shook her head. She always had a problem with Chloe always eating, yet she seems to stay the same size she usually is. Maryanne thought it would be amusing to tease Leah's sister a bit.
"No wonder you have medium-large figure, Chloe." The blonde smirked at everyone's shocked faces. Leah gave her another angry glare, only causing the she-weasel to giggle. Roxanne was about to lunge at Maryanne, but Rosalina held her back.
Chloe, who was almost done with her mango, stopped in mid-bite when she heard her say that. Sighing sadly, she put down the fruit and whimpered, "I'm done." She got up from the ground, went over to a stone, and sat on it, her ears pressed against her skull.
Jason chuckled nervously, "Will you excuse me for a moment. My mate-to-be and I need to have a little conversation." He grabbed Maryanne's paw in his and took her into the foliage, leaving a shocked crowd shaking their head and feeling sympathy for Leah's sister.
The male pinned Maryanne against the tree and barked, "What is wrong with you? Do you think it's funny to make fun of Leah's sister right in front of her? You just embarrassed her! I can't believe my parents set me up with you!"
"Well, first off, hotshot, nothing's wrong with me! Second, I do find it amusing to tease Chloe. She's fun to offend. Seeing Leah cheesed off by what I do shows me that I'm doing my thing right! Lastly, I didn't want to have you as a mate anyway! I mean look at you!"
"You're such a hypocrite!" Jason punched the side of the tree, missing Maryanne's face by two inches. Maryanne let out a terrified squeak.
Rosalina, Roxanne, Rico, and Leah turned their attention to the foliage. What was going on back there? It was clear that they were arguing, but it was frightening the females. Rosalina and Leah were about to go back there to see what they were doing, but their sisters restrained them.
"Let them have their first fight." Lars smirked at Rosalina, disturbing the female slightly. She still wasn't used to his sensuous behavior. Roxanne had to smack him across the face a few times during their small trek to find a safe place to camp. He was giving her twin comments about her derriere and curves. That boy wasn't right.
Lars, you dirty rodent. Next time you say something inappropriate about my sister, it's going to be more than a slap in the face. Roxanne wrinkled her nose at the memory. Suddenly, she heard gasps. "What?" Rosalina stood in front of Leah, Roxanne, and the two remaining males, getting into her defense stance.
Two figures came out from behind a shrub. Rosalina went in for attack but stopped herself when she saw it was only Jason and Maryanne, who were returning from their "conversation". Lowering her foot, Rosalina drew back and gave a sheepish smile.
"My bad." Maryanne glared at her angrily before pushing past her, purposely making her lose her balance. With a small scoff, Rosalina snapped, "Excuse me would have been nice!" Jason sighed irritably and explained that she was in a bad mood.
The female took the excuse and went to where Chloe was. She still had her head down, her ears pressed against her head, and a frown was on her face. The ferret's sky blue eyes were clouded with sadness and shame. Who am I kidding, they don't need me.She started to get up, but Rosalina sat her and herself down.
"Chloe, don't listen to Maryanne. She's nothing more than an oblivious witch who doesn't know how awesome you are. Cheer up for us, pretty please?" Rosalina's cerulean eyes began to widen as she gave the ferret the 'puppy dog' face. Chloe was trying to stifle a laugh, but seeing the female giving her that face, she was losing battle.
Leah smiled at the two. She was happy they were getting along well. Rico noticed her smile and asked, "What made you so happy all of a sudden?" He didn't mean for that to come out as if he had a problem with her happy state. Thankfully, she didn't take it seriously. Still smiling, she said, "I'm just glad that my sis has someone to talk to. She's so nice, and so is Roxanne."
Roxanne looked up at the sky. Now, it was the perfect time to get moving. "Hey, everyone, are we ready to go?" Rosalina help Chloe off the stone they were previously sitting on and linked her right arm with hers and left arm with her twin. Leah, Rico, and Jason were smiling behind the trio's backs. As for Maryanne, the blonde was staring at them with annoyed looks.
Maryanne was starting to hate Rosalina. No, she envied and hated her. Rosalina had the bubbly attitude, sincere laughter and smiles, and a great personality. With her living down in this dinosaur-infested universe, for who knows how long, she still kept her ivory and black-speckled fur well-groomed, much to her surprise. Her hair was shiny black strands of silk that lifted from her shoulders whenever she walked. She was so beautiful.
Then, there was Roxanne. Always full of life, so she thought. She seemed energetic and had a little bit of sass in her, like Maryanne. For some reason, the blonde didn't feel as annoyed around her as she was with the other females.
Rosalina turned head and saw that Maryanne was staring. She had a smirk slowly etching across her face. "It's not polite to stare." She used the blonde's advice against her. Rosalina imitated the female's voice almost perfectly, but it was enough to make Roxanne, Lars, Chloe, even Rico to laugh.
Celine groaned; her head was throbbing rapidly. The vision in her forest green eyes failed her for a few minutes then became clear again. A gasp bounced off the walls of the cave. Where was she? Was she home? A lump caught in Celine's throat, but she swallowed. She couldn't cry. At least, not until she finds out if this was her home.
Before she got up from the cold floor to look around, a familiar male came into the cave. The kit turned her head to face Ben, his brown eyes filled with a small amount of guilt and evil. She stared at him, her gaze not wavering. What was he going to do to her? He wasn't keeping her to himself, was he? Since the night he made the deal, Celine didn't remember her being held captive being part of it.
The male's chuckle interrupted her thoughts as he knelt down to her level. "Hope you had a nice sleep, Celine. I apologize you had to wake up with a sore head. Your mother should be here this afternoon." The child glared at him. She didn't know why he was so obsessed with having her foster-mom in his arms, when she was in love with her foster-father.
Finally, the kit spoke, "What am I doing here, when you just want my mother?" Ben smirked at her. In his head, he laughed at the oblivious girl. She didn't know why she was here. He figured he should tell her. It would hurt him to see her cry, but he didn't care at the moment.
"You're being used as a trap, my sweet. When Buck finds you, I'll do something that might possibly kill him. Originally, I was going to use a good-size stone to knock him out and kidnap Jenna, but you came into the picture and ruined last night's plan. Now, you're here and when Jenna comes, she will be shocked to see her precious little girl here with her." Ben explained to Celine, who had the look of disgust and slight fear in her stare.
Celine couldn't believe what she was hearing. He was planning on killing her foster-father just to get to Jenna. Another lump came up on her throat, but she swallowed, as she had done before. Her eyes were getting teary, but she blinked back the burning tears that threatened to fall. She wasn't about to show weakness to that monster. She was stronger than this, and she knew it.
Getting up, the kit brushed off her leaf dress and placed her paws on her waist. "You're not getting away with this." Ben couldn't hold the suppressed laughter and let it out. She thought she was so brave and heroic, but in his eyes, she wasn't. He wasn't intimidated by her at all. She was just a little, stupid weasel kit who didn't know why she was thrown in the middle of this. If only he could say all of that in her face.
"Oh, I beg to differ, girl. I beg to differ." He took the kit outside then pushed her down. Celine yelped, but was muffled when Ben gagged her with a strong leaf. Her muffled screams filled the air as Ben began to tie the kit's paws with a thick vine. She kept struggling to escape his grasp, but he was too strong. Darn his buff physique!
When he was done, he took a couple steps back to admire his handiwork. "You just keep screaming, girl, but no one will rescue you, not even Jenna. If she does, I'll forcefully stop her." He walked away, leaving a screaming Celine behind.
Meanwhile, Buck and Jenna were on a quest to find Momma and her kids. If Celine wasn't with her, Jenna was probably going to have a panic attack. Buck noticed her worried expression and smiled. "Hey, it's all right. I know that Celine's with Momma. I promise." The female nodded absentmindedly.
Suddenly, she began to whimper. Oh, not now. Not now, please! Her mind screamed at her, but alas, it was too late. Quickly, Jenna grabbed Buck's wrist, startling him slightly. He turned his head to see Jenna with one paw on the side of her head. Buck groaned. Once again, she had another vision.
There was Celine waking up from unconsciousness. Thank goodness, she's okay. Jenna sighed in relief, but was cut short when she saw Ben coming into view in her vision. He told her about his devious plan. It didn't faze her foster-daughter at all. However, she did have the look of disgust on her face.
Her baby blue eyes widened when the male took the kit outside then pushed her down. Before Celine's screams could be heard, they were muffled by a leaf gag and she was tied to a tree with a vine. The vision ended when Ben left Celine to sit there and scream, even though no one could hear her.
Jenna growled. How dare he do this to their little adoptive girl. She didn't know Ben anymore. She remembered him being so nice and sweet. What caused him to act the way he was now? The female exhaled before turning to Buck. His look of concern hurt her on the inside, but she was so angry to even care.
"Wot was it this time?" He asked.
"Ben has Celine. He has her held captive." The female replied, resting her paws back to her sides.
"Lass, you're just paranoid." Buck shook his head. Jenna began to feel heat around her face as she was blowing steam. Her baby blue eyes darkened with rage. Did he just say she was paranoid? Sure, she could be that way sometimes, but not all the time. She hated when he said that to her. They began to argue.
"I am not paranoid! I know he has her!"
"Will you relax? Granted, you were right about Ben coming afta' you, but for him to have Celine. You've lost your mind, Jennifer."
"Oh, I've lost my mind, huh? Well, what about you? You were married to a pineapple!" Before Jenna could say more, Buck's lips were pressed against hers, the male's paws gripping her shoulders. The female's body went limp and her closed eyes spilled hot, fresh tears.
That was their first argument after the night they became official. Jenna's heart shattered. Why did she mention his first love? She was afraid she had hurt him. Once they pulled away, the light brown she-weasel locked her gaze to the ground. She couldn't look at him, not after what she just said.
"Jennifer, love, I'm sorry." Jenna cringed. She should be the one apologizing, not him. Now having the courage to face him, she stared into his lonely eye and shook her head. "No, I'm sorry. I shouldn't have said anything about your pineapple wife. That was cruel of me."
Buck chuckled softly, "No, it wasn't. That pineapple incident was just a sign that I have lost my head. I really, truly loved her, though. But then you came, afta' she died, and she wanted me ta' be happy. I granted her wish." Jenna tried to smile at that, but the guilt was eating at her heart.
The male lifted her chin after she averted her gaze. "Hey, we're all right. Come here." Jenna gasped softly when Buck pulled her into a warm, loving embrace. She let her body relax in his arms. She was glad that they had forgiven each other after their brief fight. However, she still felt very bad about overreacting the way she did. Sighing contently, she rested her head on his shoulder, returning his hug.
Rosalina stopped, causing Chloe and Jason to bump into her. They arrived at the River of Death. Down below the surface, were tentacles. If one were to fall into the water, they would be grabbed by a tentacle and be pulled down under to drown, Rosalina told the group.
Maryanne piped up, "There's no way I am going to swim across a tentacle-filled lake!"
"That's why we're going to swing across." Roxanne pointed up at the dangling vines above them. The blonde still refused. Everyone sighed. This was going to be a long day for them. Chloe wasn't going to let her slow them down. Her exhale could be heard before she began to run towards a tree, sink her claws into the smooth bark, and scale the tree.
Following her lead, Jason, Lars, Rico, and Leah made their way up the tree, leaving the three she-weasels on the ground. The twins exchanged their expressions. They were expecting the honey-eyed female to join the rest, but she growled. "I am not going up there."
"Maryanne, stop being so stubborn and get your prissy rump up here!" Rosalina tried not to giggle at Chloe's outburst, for she was right about Maryanne being prissy. She wondered how many times they were going to be slowed down by Maryanne. Their new acquaintances wouldn't make it home at this rate. Thoughts began to flow through the blue-eyed female's head.
"Sis, are you okay?" Rosalina felt a paw on her shoulder, startling her out of her trance. Roxanne's face brightened once she nodded.
"I was just out of it for a moment. Let's go." Exhaling, Rosalina made her way in front of the tree. She let her claws sink into the trunk. Her stomach lurched nervously. She was afraid she was going to fall off again, but she had Roxanne behind her to catch her if she fell.
She shook her head, trying to get rid of the terrifying moment –her and her twin's first time learning how to vine-swing. She remembered that they almost died, or would have been injured, if Roxanne didn't grab that vine. A frustrated growl rumbled in her throat. Rosalina didn't know why they were struggling to not think about the past events, including the ones before they met the insane weasel.
"Sis, what's wrong?" Roxanne was beginning to worry about her twin. Again, Rosalina declared that she was fine. She sighed as Rosalina slowly climbed up the tree. They finally reached the same branch as the others. Not much to their surprise, Maryanne was the only one still standing below them.
Chloe was about to yell at the stubborn female, but Roxanne said, "If she doesn't want to listen to us, let's leave her behind. No reason to constantly tell her to come on if she's not going to do what we say. If she thinks that she knows every location in Dinotopia, let's let her find her own way home. She'll fail in minutes."
A shriek interrupted their conversation. Everyone, except Rosalina, looked down to see Maryanne swimming across the lake against her will. "Maryanne, you idiot, get out of there!" Rosalina, who was distracted by her own thoughts once again, wondered why everyone was yelling. She carefully brushed through the crowd to see a blonde she-weasel swimming in the tentacle-infested lake.
"Ay caramba!" She groaned. She knew what Maryanne was doing was one of the stupidest things she's ever seen anyone do. Part of her wanted to just watch, but she couldn't do that. She wasn't going to let anybody die. With an exhale, she bravely jumped off the branch to swim after her.
"Rosalina!" Roxanne screamed. You idiot! Why are you going after her? You're going to join her in a watery grave! Her conscience seemed to scream in her mind. She felt two of her fingers twist around each other. She was crossing her fingers and praying that Rosalina would be okay.
Me: Wow! Drama, drama, drama. That was mean of Maryanne to say something about Chloe's figure. I'd be all up somebody's face if they said something to me. I have anger issues, but I try to suppress myself from bursting. I do a decent job at it. Well, I'm slowly recovering from my bad day at school. It was picture day. I hate picture days. I always stress out about what I can and can't wear. So, I did what I usually do when that happens: I just wear the old, boring polo shirts. I'm no fun. *chuckles slightly*
I hope you enjoyed this chapter. I did like that I had a Japanese name for the ferrets' mom. I thought it would be a little funny as well as Rosalina saying 'ay caramba'. I guess I'll be updating next Friday, or surprise you again, depends.