Dog Days of Summer
Disclaimer: Don't own Victorious
A/N:
Chapter 16 (Lost in the Woods)
Beck made his way through the woods with Robbie, who had been surprised to find him in Cat's car. Jade managed to hide herself so they wouldn't see her and take her out or drive back to the farm. Fortunately for him it had been Cat's suggestion that a dog might be able to sniff out Ophelia, so they wouldn't have to swing back to the ranch right away.
"These woods are thicker than I thought," Beck muttered while sniffing the air. There was a mixture of scents coming to his nostrils that ranged from pine, to oak, and even animal dung. Robbie had with him his sister's sweater that she wore a few days before, but the scent was very faint and hard to pinpoint without complete concentration.
"Alright boy, I know she's out here somewhere." Robbie had a utility belt with a knife hanging from it, a surprise that Beck hadn't quite understood the reasoning for until he realized how many animals he smelled in these woods. "We have to be careful. There are bears and coyotes out here, and I think I've seen a fox once or twice. God knows what else is out here."
"Other woodland animals," Beck muttered as the scent of beavers and wildcats drifted into his nostrils. "Ophelia's been out here for two days?" He looked back at Robbie, whining as the man held out the sweater.
"Need another sniff?" He took a step forward, smelling of the sleeve. The sweet smell of lilac mixed with sweat returned to his nostrils, reminding him of the faint smell that was coming from the west.
With a loud bark he ran in the direction of the smell. Robbie returned the sweater to his backpack and followed after him, calling for his sister every few seconds.
The sound of rushing water flooded Beck's ears, causing him to stop and look around. If there was a creek or river nearby, there was a possibility the young girl found her way to it. "What is it boy, you hear something?" Robbie stepped up beside him and reached for his belt. "There's a river nearby, but be careful. Where there's water, there are fish, and where there are fish, black bears usually are waiting nearby."
Beck glanced up at Robbie, seeing the concern etched onto the man's face. "Wish my old man didn't bother coming to visit. Something always starts the fuck up and Ophelia runs off or something." He tilted his head and whined, urging him for more information. Robbie smiled faintly at Beck and rubbed his head. "You're doing fine, boy. Let's just get my sister back-I don't need my old man thinking I'm not responsible enough when he's the one that couldn't be responsible enough to begin with."
"What?" Beck turned his head away and felt a strange pulse in his chest. He didn't know a damn thing about Robbie's personal life, but from what the boy talked about, he always thought his family had good graces. "I thought your dad was a good man." Though Jade would laugh at the thought of Robbie being responsible.
He heard a shuffling sound and glanced back to see Robbie moving over to a tree. His eyes were fixated on something poking out of a bush. "Sweet mother of god. Here's the damn thing!" Beck sniffed the air while moving over, smelling what was left of an old, half-eaten ham sandwich.
Robbie reached into the bush and pulled out a long rifle. Beside it was a bag filled with ammo. Beck's eyes widened as Robbie held the gun up and aimed it at a nearby tree before pulling it back. "Winchester repeating rifle. Piece of shit's what started this mess." He picked up the ammo and pushed the bag into his pocket. "Dad's hunting rifle he brought with him. I was out hunting a few days ago, thought I misplaced it. The old fool would not stop cussing me out over it."
Beck did a double take and shook his head. "Robbie hunts?" It would explain living out in the woods, but he never thought Robbie was one to go hunting. "I thought he was Jewish…"
Robbie grabbed a rag from his other pocket and wiped off the barrel of the gun. "Hunting does save cost of going to the supermarket. Mom was Jewish, but dad taught me how to hunt before the old fuck lost his mind." Beck's nose scrunched and he continued to try and sniff out the girl, still disbelieving that Robbie was a hunter. He wanted to see it to believe it. "I don't see that guy out in these woods looking for his daughter."
"We'll find her." He wished that Robbie could actually hear him so he could talk to the man, but these conversations could wait. "I can smell her, but it's faint."
He led Robbie out to where he heard the water and watched as Robbie crouched on one knee and grabbed a patch of dirt beside him. This was the point where the smell was strongest for Beck, but he also had the same scent coming from elsewhere, which could imply Ophelia moved on from this spot.
Robbie rubbed the dirt between his thumb and forefinger and furrowed his brow. His jaw tightened when a small silver chain fell from the dirt clump. "Mom's locket. Ophelia hasn't parted with this since she and Rex passed." Beck's ears perked up and he snapped his gaze towards the man.
"You never told us your mom was dead. Rex? I thought Rex was your puppet, why would-" The possibility of the puppet being named after a brother struck Beck hard, sending a shiver down his spine. It didn't matter now if Robbie had indeed lied about his home life, but it hurt knowing that there was so little they actually knew about the guy. "Do you think we're so heartless that we wouldn't care?"
Robbie slowly stood up and narrowed his eyes at the river. His fist clenched around the locket and his muscles tensed. "On second thought, don't answer that question." He bowed his head and pawed at the dirt, whining under his breath. "Oh wait, you can't even hear me anyway. I guess Jade would make a remark that could offend you…"
"Rover, if a bear has gone after my sister-I'll be stocking up for another couple of weeks of meat." Beck sniffed the chain hanging from Robbie's hand and closed his eyes, focusing his mind on isolating the smell coming off the chain from the other scents he had.
The smell seemed to be going upstream, so he alerted Robbie with another bark and began running in the direction of the scent. Robbie followed after with a grunt.
Eventually another strong scent startled Beck to a halt. Robbie stopped a few paces ahead and looked back at him. "What's up boy?" Beck straightened his tail out and moved his ears back, growling angrily.
"Bear. There's a bear up ahead." He never knew what a bear smelled like before, but the scent of berries and mud seemed too strong and he didn't know what else it could be. "Has to be."
Robbie looked ahead and started moving at a slow pace up the hill in front of them. Once at the top, they saw a big black bear sitting beside the river munching on a pile of flesh. "Shit, the one thing I didn't want to run into out here. I'd prefer deer."
The bear's head shot up and its eyes flickered over to the two. Beck's hair stood on end and he lowered himself, growling out a warning at the creature. The bear leaned its head back and bellowed out a powerful roar.
On some strange instinct, Beck charged forward and lunged at the behemoth. When his mouth latched onto the bear's neck, his eyes grew and his heart stopped. "What the hell am I doing?!" The bear stood on its hind legs, roaring in pain.
"All right," Robbie stood strong and aimed the rifle while narrowing his eyes. "Hold it there, Rover." Tears welled up in Beck's eyes as he felt the bear's claws knick him in the back.
After several more seconds of hanging on, a gunshot ripped through the air and blood splashed out. Beck released his hold as the bear collapsed to the ground with a bullet hole in between its eyes. "What the hell?" He looked over and saw Robbie still aiming his gun on the bear, smoke was pouring from the barrel. His shoulders rose and fell with a heavy breath, then he tore the weapon away.
"Alright. Step back, I need to check his stomach."
"What?!" Part of him was frightened, but another part of him was filled with excitement. Robbie removed his knife from his belt and crouched beside the dead animal. He gripped the handle with both hands and plunged it into the middle of the bear's chest.
Beck was in a state of shock and awe, watching as Robbie cut through the gut with a sawing motion as a seasoned hunter might. When he pulled the knife back, he opened the cut and reached in with his hand. "Oh my god." Beck leaned back, cringing at the overwhelming rush of smells striking his nose.
"Fish. Berries. Deer meat." Robbie threw some organ and food off to the side and stood up. "Alright, no human flesh." He wiped his brow with his shirt sleeve and breathed out in relief. "Let me wash my hands in that creek and we'll continue on. Cat's always nervous about letting Ophelia run off into the woods, this is why. She doesn't even like for me to be out here, girl worries too much, but I understand."
Beck whined and sat down as Robbie went to wash his hands off. He didn't know Cat knew about this lifestyle, but the more he thought about it, the more sense it made that she would. "I can't believe you shot that bear, Robbie. You really do know how to hunt." He wanted to be imagining things, but the dead bear and nauseating smells were a good indicator that this wasn't his imagination.
Robbie returned with the locket and held it out towards him. "Here, take another whiff." He did so and tried to focus once more on the scent. It was more difficult now but he was still able to pinpoint the scent.
He took off once more, barking loudly so as to startle away any nearby creatures if possible. Robbie ran after him, looking off on occasion to make sure they didn't pass the girl up.
Eventually they came to a clearing with a small alcove. The frantic sound of whimpering sparked in his ears. He barked once more and ran for the alcove. When he got there, he saw a small nine year old girl curled up and holding her stomach. She was shivering and whimpering about the hunger she felt.
"Ophelia!"
The girl froze and lifted her head, she blinked at the light and held her hand up. "R-Robbie? Brother?" Robbie slid down beside her and scooped her up into his arms. She hugged him and wept into his shoulder. "I'm so hungry…"
"It's okay, I'm here for you." He rubbed her back and looked over towards Beck, mouthing a thank you to the dog. Beck wagged his tail with pride and puffed his chest out. "Ophelia, what were you thinking? You know I always tell you to stay out of the woods."
"You and daddy were fighting about the gun, an' he leaves in a few days so I wanted to find it so you'd stop yelling." She whimpered and tightened her tiny fingers around his shirt. "I thought it'd be okay if I found it."
"I can't lose my sister, the gun isn't worth it. You know that."
"I'm sorry, brother."
"All that matters is you're safe." He hugged her close and examined her for any wounds. "Are you able to walk? I brought a bag of crackers for you." He pulled the bag a food from his pack and handed it to her. "Munch on these. I'll see if we're good to get out of here."
"Okay."
Beck stayed beside the girl and let her drape her arm around his neck while opening the bag. She hugged him close and he looked up to Robbie. He watched as the man cocked the rifle and cleared his throat. "Rover. Come here, boy." He spoke softly and with sternness, so Beck wasted no time getting up.
"What's going-" He frowned at the sight of five coyotes snarling at them. "Oh shit." Robbie raised the rifle and pulled his lips back into a grimace.
"Ophelia stay there. I get the feeling I'm about to be chided by Cat after I tell her about this."
Ophelia lifted her head quickly and a smile flashed across her face. "Miss Catherine? Where's she, big brother."
"Her place. Shh, be quiet for the moment." Beck heard a gasp and looked back to see Ophelia standing beside them. Robbie didn't budge and slowly glanced back, smiling slightly. "Don't worry, big bro's got this. Just picture yourself at Cat's place for the moment, she'll be happy to see you."
"Okay."
Beck studied the coyotes with intrigue, he had to figure out which one was the leader. It could be possible to scare them away, but they felt threatened. As the closest one moved forward, preparing to lunge, Beck made the first move by charging it.
He snarled his lips and bit down on the animal's neck, tearing through its skin with his teeth. The coyote twisted its head and bit down on his back, causing him to howl out in pain.
One of the other coyotes charged for Robbie, but fell after a gunshot rang out. "Keep it up Rover."
Beck flipped over his back, howling in pain as another coyote leapt on top of him and snapped down on his front leg. He looked out in time to see Robbie shift the gun over and shoot the animal off.
The sudden rush of relief pleased him enough to let him get back up and tackle the first coyote he attacked. "I'll tear you apart!" Howled the coyote. "You're invading our dinner. We've had our eye on the meal for a day now."
"She's not for consumption!" Beck bit down on coyote's throat, gnashing his teeth in the process. The animal howled in pain and attempted to swing him off.
"If you know what's good for you-" Beck lost his grip and rolled off to the side. He looked up as the coyote crouched low and snarled at him. "You will leave now. City mutt."
"I won't let anything happen to them." He pushed himself up, trembling with pain but letting the adrenaline soothe him enough to keep up the fight. The other two circled him, both growling. "I'm won't abandon them!" He lunged forward, surging with determination and chomping down once more on the leader's neck.
The two remaining coyotes tackled him, biting into his back. Beck clenched his eyes, yelping as pain shot through him. "He's my friend. If you think I'm going to give up-you've got another thing coming." He bit harder and pulled his head away, listening as the animal's flesh tore in his teeth.
"Shit!" The coyote jumped back, whimpering painfully. Beck then shook himself, forcing the other two off him. In the corner of his eyes he saw Ophelia holding Robbie's leg as he fervently struggled with his gun. It must have jammed.
The coyotes began walking around him in a circle, each baring their fangs and growling angrily. He spread his legs out and glared into their eyes, moving from one pair of eyes to the next and increasing his snarl.
"I won't back down." Beck took a step forward and the coyotes stopped their movements. "I'll fight you to my last breath if I have to. You're not eating the human."
"You fucking domesticated mutt. Eating your fancy shit dog food. City slickers made you forget what real food is." The alpha turned his gaze onto Robbie and Ophelia, then snorted. "Screw it boys, we'll find our meal elsewhere!" The leader shot a glare back to Beck and narrowed his eyes. "You'd better get out of here by sundown. If we find you in our neck of the woods again, we'll maim you."
The rifle cocked and the alpha turned his head up just as Robbie pointed the gun at the alpha. A shot rang out and the leader fell. The remaining coyotes yelped and ran off.
Beck sighed with relief and moved back to Robbie, lowering his head. Ophelia reached out and pet his neck. "Poor puppy."
"You did good Rover," Robbie replied, "Let's get you back to the house and doctored up. Trina is not going to like hearing about this, though." Beck chuckled nervously and shook his head. He was more concerned about whether or not Jade was going to kill him for nearly getting himself killed.
"Ah hell." His eyes moved to the small girl and his lips curled into a smile as she gazed up at her brother. "It was worth it in the end."
I hope you enjoyed that chapter, and it looks like Beck got a chance to see Robbie in a different light as well.