Book 3: Breaking the Ice
Me: Oh, my gosh! I am so freaking embarrassed right now! I was sweeping at the end of sixth period and I ran into a teacher, accidentally elbowed a girl, not too hard, and accidentally stepped on a guy's foot! Sweeping is no job for a clumsy girl like me! I should ask for a different job. I was laughing about it in the van when I left. So embarrassed. Anyway, let's start the chapter. Enjoy!
Chapter 13: The Earthquake
Pregnant. The word sent shivers down Jenna's spine. For the past two hours, she was still trying to deny what Momma had told her. She knew she should be happy as well as lucky that these kits that are growing inside her were Buck's, but in the situation she was in right now, she couldn't help but feel very nervous. With Ben lurking around, who knows what could happen. The female's body tensed. No, she had to stop thinking about him, but she couldn't get him out of her mind, which scared her more.
"M-Momma, I'm scared. With Ben down here, after finding me, he wants me to himself. If he sees me with a small bump on my stomach, he's going to be suspicious and know that I'm pregnant. I'm not letting him anywhere near the kits or me. And, I don't want to leave Buck, Momma. I love him, and he loves me. He's gentle and compassionate to me, and in tense moments like the one I'm in, it makes me feel bad. I feel as if I'm a burden to him, now. Momma, what do I do?" Jenna's glassy, light blue, hopeless eyes met gold ones when the T-Rex turned to look at her.
Momma gave her a sad gaze, her golden eyes piercing in to Jenna's soul. A pang of guilt hit the she-weasel. Great, now I'm doing this to her. Jenna's paws went to her temples as she began to massage them. "Momma, I'm sorry. Forget I said anything. I got Buck worried about me, and now I'm doing it to you. I'm sorry."
She felt the dinosaur's tail coil around her waist, being careful not to hurt her, placed her back on the warm ground, then lowered her head to Jenna's level and gave her a gentle nudge with her snout.
Trying to smile, Jenna patted Momma's maw with a sigh. "Thanks."
A yelp of surprise came from behind Buck. He turned slightly to see Chloe recovering from tripping over a small hole in the ground. "Careful, lass." He waited for the ferret to get done dusting herself off before walking again with the ferret following closely behind.
"So, Buck, how are you handling the family drama Rosalina talked about, if you don't mind my asking?" A smile tugged at the male's lips at the sound of his foster-daughter's name.
He's been thinking about Jenna so much that hearing Rosalina's name brought him back. The memories of bonding with her and her twin when they first met to how they were now flooded through his head. He missed them a lot and couldn't wait to see them again soon for their mates' first impressions. He stayed silent for a while then grinned again.
Chuckling half-heartedly, he replied, "Well, if Rosy didn't tell you that drama is kind of a thing when it comes to us, it happens from time to time. Jennifer, my mate, thought that Ben had Celine, and I told her that she was crazy for thinking that. We got in a brief, ridiculous fight and quickly made up. She's with Momma dinosaur. Don't worry, she's friendly and we know her well. Rosy and Roxanne, I suppose, is trying ta' get you and, whoever else is down here, back up there."
Chloe's sky blue eyes went up to the ice ceiling above them, separating the Ice Age world from this one then came back down to face the one-eyed weasel. "Yes, they are. I kind of ran away and I ended up finding your daughter. My ignorant "friend" constantly insults me for no reason and what she did this time made me really upset." She then realized that she was talking to Buck. An apologetic smile etched across her face.
"So, wot did your "friend" do ta' you, if you don't mind my asking?" Buck mocked her with air quotes around 'friend' and said 'if you don't mind my asking'. Chloe rolled her eyes at him with a smile, causing the male to laugh. She knew he was teasing her and meant not to be rude to her.
The ferret sighed, "She gave Rosalina all the credit after she and I saved her from drowning in the Lake of Death. She did it on purpose. That pompous, ungrateful, parsimonious, atrocious imp has been ruining my life since my sister and I had to move in with her after our parents got killed by humans. She favors certain people but me. I can't blame her. I mean, look at me."
Hearing the last part, reminded Buck of Rosalina when she had the lowest of self-esteem. He remembered her sad, soul-piercing, enchanting, cerulean eyes staring at him. The memory saddened him, but he reminded himself that Rosalina was happy now, as well as her twin, and was doing much better. She was growing up to be a strong, valiant, and beautiful young adult. A smile stretched across his face.
Buck placed a paw on the ferret's shoulder. "Rosy used ta' say the same thing about herself. She didn't think she was beautiful, either. She still doesn't think that. I wish she would stop demeaning herself."
Chloe averted her gaze sadly. Why would Rosalina think she was ugly? She was beautiful! If they ever do reunite, she was going to ask the female what caused her to think that way of herself.
"Hey, Roxie, when are we going to take a break?" Roxanne growled lowly at Lars for using her abridged name. Why did her twin say it was okay for the group to call her that? Well, at least she told them not to overdo it because if she didn't, she would have smashed Lars' face with her fists.
She remembered one day when she, Buck, and her twin were just walking around Dinotopia, admiring their surroundings. Rosalina began saying Roxie repeatedly in a sing-song voice. Once she reached the point where she couldn't take it anymore, she playfully, but roughly, tackled her sister and told her to shut up. Roxanne chuckled to herself at the memory.
Before Roxanne could get out of her train of thought to answer the male, Rosalina told him that they would take a break, but only for ten minutes. Suddenly, they heard heavy panting. Leah's, as well as the twins', ears perked up. They hoped it was Chloe. Instead, it was Maryanne. How did she find them? Must have caught their scents, they supposed.
Leah's face fell with disappointment. Roxanne gave the blonde a dirty look, excluding the others. If there was one mammal that she was hoping not to see again, it was her. Already, she disliked her from her personality to her actions and attitude. With a frustrated sigh, Roxanne asked, "What do you want? Are you going to insult one of us now?"
"No, I was trying to get away from those chicken-headed dinosaurs to get to you all! I look like a mess!" Maryanne had leaves, twigs, and dirt all over her fur and hair. She had a few scratches on her shoulders, but they were minor scratches, so they were bleeding a little.
Rosalina trotted towards the blonde female to examine her. "Let me patch those up for you." She lightly tugged at Maryanne's arm to get her to follow her, but she didn't budge.
Maryanne pushed the blue-eyed she-weasel away and huffed. "Don't touch me!" Roxanne saw her push her twin. Glowering angrily at her, she marched up to the blonde and smacked her so hard that she fell down with a bloody nose and a red cheek.
"If you push my twin again, or hit, punch, kick, slap her, I will tear off you limbs, shove your tongue down your throat, cut you open and feed your heart and limbs to the dinosaurs! No body, and I mean no body, hits my sister!" Roxanne yelled at the blonde.
Everyone cowered at her screeching. Leah hid behind Rico, her paws lightly resting on his shoulders, Jason took a couple paces back, and Lars fell off a stone from scooting back too far with a yelp. Rosalina winced. She didn't expect Roxanne to make such a big deal over one small thing Maryanne did to her. All she did was push her. It's not like she was harmed.
Hesitantly, Rosalina reassured her coolly, "Roxanne, it is okay. I'm fine."
"It is not okay! She does not have the right to lay a paw on you!" Her twin yelled in reply. She turned around to see the group with confused and alarmed faces. Roxanne's eyes scanned everyone's expressions as they felt a light rumbling come from underneath their feet. Tiny pebbles moved around at the rumble. It stopped for a moment, but then the ground cracked in between the twins and Maryanne.
Screams could be heard from a distance, frightening Jenna from her sleep. Surprisingly, she was having a pleasant dream. There was no Ben in sight. It was just her and Buck fencing with sticks. Her laughing and taunting could be heard by no one but her and Buck. After losing a second time, Buck growled playfully at Jenna's harmless taunting. He pulled her into a short kiss. It gave the male just enough time to defeat the she-weasel again while she was in a daze.
Why did that dream have to end? It was one of the best dreams she'd ever had after all the nightmares she's experienced many nights before. She figured she had fainted, for she could feel scaly skin underneath her paws. Jenna began to feel her body slide off of Momma as she took off in to a sprint, without a warning. She was running so fast to even notice the female slipping off her scaly back.
The weasel let out a strangled scream. She didn't have enough time to react when she fell. Luckily, a large leaf broke her fall, relieving the scared Jenna until a pair of arms lifted her off the ground. She thought it was Buck, but she unfortunately thought wrong.
Her rescuer was her pursuer, Ben. With baby blue eyes widened in fear, the female began to thrash in his grasp. "Let go of me!" Ben ignored her plea. He carried her bridal-style, dodging every crack that the earthquake was creating as he weaved his way back to his home, where Celine would be there, waiting for Jenna as planned.
"Jenna, do you even know what's going on?" Ben asked her, inhaling and exhaling violently.
"I wish I did know, but I'm too worried about what you are going to do to me!" Jenna smacked his arms repeatedly, knowing that it was no use. She was scared of him. Obviously. The female didn't trust him like she did in the past. A jolt of fear came to Jenna as she felt Ben's hot breath getting closer to her ear.
"There's an earthquake going on. If you want to live, you'll let me take you to safety." Jenna stared at his determined glare, showing that he was being serious. Not wanting to admit defeat, she continued to argue with him.
"Why would I let you take me somewhere safe when I know that you want to do more than that? Well, listen up, buster, I don't need your help!" As hard as she could, Jenna sent a fist to Ben's face. While the male cursed, the female got out of his grasp and ran, hoping to find Buck or even the twins.
Celine looked around frantically. Everything was shaking, collapsing. The ground beneath her shook almost violently. Her forest green eyes clamped shut, desperately wanting to get away from this hellish reality. Tears of fear slid down her cheek, but she was determined not to cry. If she was lucky, Chloe would come back with Buck and untie her and set her free.
She will come. She will come back with daddy. She will! Celine screamed in her mind. Through the loud rumbling and violent shaking, she could make out a few shouts. The kit's ears went back and forth so she could hear them better. A relieved smile went across her face and her green eyes brightened with happiness. She heard her foster-dad and her new friend calling her name.
With an excited and relieved laugh, Celine screamed, "I'm over here! Here! Daddy, can you hear me?" The shouts stopped all of a sudden. This worried the girl. Did they not hear her? Perhaps, they were crushed by a tree, or one of them fell to their death in a wide crack in the ground. More tears went down her face. That was a horrible thought! The image of Buck getting smashed by a tree like a bug brought the little girl more tears that rolled down her cheek rapidly.
"Celine! Sweetie, we're here! Can you hear us?" Celine heard Chloe scream. The kit got up to run in their direction, but she remembered that she was restrained by a vine tied around her paws and around a tree to keep her from running away. She fell down on her knees, her body quivering once she fell.
"I can hear you! Daddy, you can hear me, right?" The girl choked up a sob as she yelled. The dust that flew around her collected in her mouth, making her cough and spit it out.
Buck pushed one last bush out of the way to find his foster-daughter. Her face was dirty with dust and tears and her leaf dress was tattered on the sides and bottom. He ran towards her, pulling her in a tight, protective embrace, nuzzling his cheek against her dark brown hair.
His heart broke to hear the kit break down in his arms. He held her closer, shushing her and whispering that he was here. "Chloe and I are gonna get you untied. I'm here, now." Three minutes later, the one-eyed weasel heard the satisfying thud of the vine falling to the shaking ground, making him smile for only three seconds. He then heard Chloe and Celine scream. Instinctively, Buck wrapped one arm around both females and jumped out of the way before a tree could fall on them.
"Daddy, what's going on? I'm…I'm…" Celine didn't want to admit that she was scared, but on the look on her face, it showed. Her dark green eyes were wide with fear. As she ran, she could feel her little heart rapidly beating against her chest like an off-beat drum. The kit clutched her side, for they were beginning to cramp from running so fast.
Chloe saw the girl stop running and stopped in her tracks, nearly tripping over her two feet. She could hear Celine panting heavily and saw that she had a paw gripping on her aching side. Thinking swiftly, the ferret carried Celine on her back. She gave the kit some time to wrap her arms around her neck and her legs around her middle.
Buck looked over at the females, seeing Chloe giving his foster-daughter a piggyback ride. He smiled until he realized that Celine was out of breath just by hearing her heavy panting.
"Look out!" Before Buck had the time to react, Chloe pushed him out of the way, threw Celine to him, and suffered the consequence. She tried to reach them. Unfortunately, a heavy, thick, branch fell on Chloe's left leg, keeping her from getting to them. The ferret howled in pain. Suddenly, right after she let out the loud scream in agony, the earthquake stopped.
It seemed, to the female ferret, that the heavens understood her pain and stopped the quake that rampaged through all of Dinotopia.
Chloe could feel her trapped leg bleeding and her bones breaking due to the weight of the branch. She tried to get some air into her lungs, but she was in so much pain at the moment that all she could focus on was getting that tree branch off her leg. She let out a quiet curse to all that she had gone through. The only best thing that's happened to her was meeting Rosalina and Roxanne. That was the only thing she didn't regret.
"Lass, are you all right?" Buck shouted across from her. The ferret swiftly turned her head in his direction.
She snapped, "Do I look all right? My leg just got smashed by a tree branch, and you think that I'm all right? No, I am doing just peachy! Actually, I am in a lot of pain!" Chloe's anger increased. What gave him the idea to ask her that? Did he not see that limb fall on her leg? Nostrils flaring, she gave Buck a menacing glare.
It didn't frighten him at all. Instead, he and Celine came over to her. Buck knelt down to Chloe's level, as did Celine. "It's getting late. I guess where we are now is where we're going ta camp tonight. We can't just leave you here. Don't worry your pretty little red-haired head, lass, I'll be keeping watch. Rest."
"How can I rest when I am hurting badly right now?" The ferret shot back at him. She scowled, for he just ignored her when she was really hurting. She watched him lean back against the branch that trapped her leg and began making different animal calls.
A frustrated huff came escaped her mouth. This is going to be a long afternoon. The ferret tried to lay down, but began to wince. The pain was getting to the female. Groaning softly, Chloe propped herself up with one of her elbows, disappointed that she wasn't going to be able to be comfortable enough to lie on the rough earth. She looked over at Celine, who gave her a small smile and whispered, "Thank you for finding my daddy and saving me."
Trying to smile in return, Chloe whispered that it was no problem, but she wasn't so sure about that. At least, the girl was happy. Who could want more from a child? She then heard Celine gasp in surprise. Buck and Chloe looked up to see what surprised her and saw a baby pterodactyl coming the kit's way.
"Remy! I can't believe we forgot you! How did you find us?" The pterodactyl used his wing to point to an adult pterodactyl that Celine thought was his mother. She must have found Remy, who was probably looking for the kit this entire time, and her boy wanted her to help him find her and now they were here.
Funny, he didn't fly here due to his broken wing. His mommy must have let him ride on her back. Celine mentally noted. She gently wrapped her arms around her scaly friend's neck, happy to see him.
Chloe smiled. "She must have dinosaur friends down here. At least, now, I know that not all the dinosaurs down here are vicious."
Buck heard the ferret's hesitant voice. He felt his ears press against his skull. He thought she didn't have very many friends. Whatever her said "friend" did to her, she was destroying Chloe's confidence and life. Her smile was clearly a sad one, but Celine didn't know that. He didn't know much about females and their situations. However, he does try his best to understand and listen.
"Ay, Chloe, you all right?" The ferret jumped at the male's voice. She calmed down and gave him a small nod. Chloe sighed. I want to go home. No. No, I don't. Not with Maryanne, especially. I want to find a place where I won't have to feel sadness and hear Maryanne's insults. I just want to die. No. I don't want to die. I want to belong somewhere. Who would want me? No one. I guess I'm better off alone, all by myself. To hide her tears, Chloe laid down and pretended to be asleep.
She mentally nodded in approval when Buck and Celine fell for it. What she didn't know was that Celine was curled up next to her, Remy being used as a pillow on his unharmed side. The ferret opened one, watery eye to see the little girl already sleeping with the baby pterodactyl on her side. Now, she let the tears fall down her face and cried herself to sleep, almost like every night back at Maryanne's home.
Me: I apologize that the chapter seemed rushed. I hardly had time to work on it and I had to speed it up. It was going to be longer, but like I said before. Poor Chloe. Broken and bleeding leg, and feeling useless. *hugs Chloe* I'm sorry.
Chloe: It's all right. My life was a living nightmare anyway.
Me: Feel free to leave a review and help Chloe feel a little better. I'm trying my best. Hope you enjoyed the chapter!
Sweethalo90 :)