Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs

Chapter Six: Bedtime Stories

"They'll never survive! It's dangerous by day!"
"But it's even worse at night!"
"Plus, their guide is a lunatic!"
"Wot?"
"Oh you mean Buck? Oh he's wacko!"
"I am not!"
"Totally bonkers."
"And his feet smell!"
"Shut up!"
"No you shut up!"
"Why ya litl'....!"
"He's strangling his own foot." Manny commented. Sassy shook her head, trying to figure out what exactly she had just seen. The weasel had been using three skulls as different people, including the one on his foot which he was currently trying to decapitate. "Shouldn't we keep moving?"
"What!? And give Rudy a midnight snack!? Not likely!"
"Th' skull's right. Take a load off mammals, we'll camp 'ere for th' night. Now, who's hungry?"
"I am!" The skull piped up.
"You don' need th' calories!" Buck yelled, making the skull tremble. Sassy rolled her eyes and sniffed out her surroundings. There was probably fruit nearby for the others. "'Ey wolf! Aren't ya gonna eat anything?" Buck asked her, offering a mango. Sassy shook her head.
"No thanks, I just ate a few days ago." Buck looked confused for a moment before realization dawned in his eye.
"Ah that's right! I've bin down 'ere so long I forgot you wolves usually only eat every five days or so." Sassy nodded in confirmation and brushed past the weasel to clamor onto a rock that was able to overlook the valley. She sat there for a while, keeping watch until she heard Diego and Buck talking not far away. Her sharp ears turned toward the voices.
"So wot's her deal tiger? Th' wolf doesn't seem ta be very fond of me does she?" She heard Diego sigh.
"Sassy is....difficult to explain. Before this herd was formed she was the alpha of her pack, and she had been since she was just a pup."
"Ah I think I'm gettin it. She's a leader an' protecter. An' I sort of took over her job huh?"
"More or less. She's put up with you because Sassy doesn't let her pride get in the way of keeping the herd safe. She's smart enough for that, which is one of the differences between her and me. I have too much pride for my own good."
"Don't we all tiger. Don't we all. Well, she certainly has my respect, an' I'd like ta say I won' step on her toes no more but that's not goin ta happen."
"Sassy knows that, believe me. She'll let you do your job. The herd's safety is what means the most to her." Sassy didn't know what to think about that. What Diego said was true, but she didn't know what to think about the two of them talking about her, or Buck's said respect for her. Later that night the herd sat in front of a camp fire, listening to Buck tell the nail bitting story of how he lost his eye.
"There I was, wi' my back against th' wall, righ' on th' edge of oblivion, staring into the eye of th' great, white beast!" Sassy had to admit, he was an excellent story teller. He had her attention right from the start. Buck clamped his hands together, to mimic Rudy's mouth chomping around him.
"Were you killed?" Eddie asked fearfully.
"Sadly yes. But I lived!" Buck replied. The opossums sighed in relief.
"Ugh." Manny grunted, rolling his eyes.
"Shh." Ellie shushed him, her attention focused on Buck.
"Never had I felt more alive, than when I was so close to death! Just before Rudy could suck me down his gullet, I grabbed at that gross, pink, fleshy thing that hangs at the back of the throat."
"Yuck!" The opossums said and grimaced.
"I held onto that sucker and I swung back and forth and back and forth and back and forth and back and forth and back....." everyone gasped. ".....and forth and back and forth until I let go an' shot right out of 'is mouth! I may have lost an eye tha' day, bu' I got this." Buck dramatized, holding his knife up for view.
"Rudy's tooth!" Eddie exclaimed excitedly.
"Dang." Crash said, amazed.
"It's like tha' old sayin'. An eye fo' a tooth, a nose for a chin, a butt for a.....well it's an old sayin, bu' it's not a very good one."
"Wow Buck! You are super weasel!"
"Ultra weasel!"
"Deasel weasel!" Diego threw in. Buck did a break dance and the two highfived. Manny glared at the saber. "What? He is."
"Now lemme tell ya abou' th' time I used a sharpened clam shell ta turn a T-Rex....into a T-Rachel." The weasel said in a seductive voice. Sassy held back a giggle.
"Yes master." The twins said.
"Alright that's enough fairy tails for one night." Manny interjected. "Come on Ellie, you should get some rest now."
"Life of the party." Ellie said, following her husband to go lay down.
"Alrigh' you guys get som' shut eye. I'll keep watch." Buck said.
"Don't worry Buck, we got this! Night time is opossum time!" Eddie exclaimed, the brothers wielding sticks like swords.
"Yeah, we own the night baby!" Crash agreed. Within fifteen minutes the opossums were out cold. Sassy curled up against a tree and kept her head up and her eyes open. She heard Rudy's roar and turned her head towards Buck. He was carving a Dinosaur with his knife that she could only assume was supposed to be the fabled beast. A few hours later, the female started to feel restless and stood to head back to her rock. She could see the moon shinning through the ice although it wasn't nearly as bright. She smelled Buck above her and sighed.
"Come on out weasel I know you're up there." She said. He dropped down a second later on a vine.
"Ya don' eat, ya don' sleep. Wot ar' ya made of wolf, ironwood?" Sassy chuckled.
"I only eat when I'm hungry. And I haven't been able to sleep at night since I was a little pup." Buck looked at her expectantly and the former alpha sighed. "One night I was curled up next to my mother with my only two siblings that survive birth, my brothers." She hesitated and glanced back at Diego. "A saber pack attacked mine. They had snuck up on us from downwind and there was no moon that night. The alpha came into our cave, looking for my father who was alpha at that time. Instead he found my mother with three pups asleep in her chest. By the time I woke up he and my mother were at a neck and neck fight, her trying to protect me and my brothers. He finally got the upper paw and killed her. My brothers and I tried to run and they got backed into a corner and he killed them in front of me. He started to move on me but then my father ran in and they fought until my father won. I haven't been able to sleep at night since." Buck looked unsure of what to do.
"Do...do ya sleep during the day at least?" He asked hesitantly. Sassy shrugged.
"I nap on and off. Never for very long though. Best time to close my eyes is at dawn when Diego is most active although here lately he's been getting lazy and sleeping in." Buck chuckled.
"Your father did a good job makin' ya alpha. You're a tough one wolf." Sassy gave a small, sad smile.
"Thanks. You're a good guide Buck, and a good mammal." Buck puffed his chest out a little bit and looked proud and the compliment. Suddenly they heard a yelp from Manny and Sassy jerked her head back toward the herd. Buck lept into the trees and Sassy ran back to them. Manny was standing over Ellie, looking sorrowful and Ellie was trying to console her mate.
"Hey this isn't your fault. It's bigger than both of us. We have to get Sid."
"Yeah but....if I was a better friend to him, we wouldn't be here."
"Bette' friend? Are you pluckin' my whiskers?" Buck asked the male from the trees. "You risked your life, your mate an' your baby ta save your buddy!" He swung down and landed next to the twins. "Not th' best husband or father but a darn good friend." The weasel said. Sassy sighed heavily and looked over at Diego. His eyes were open and he looked deep in thought, until two scrats ran across his nose. Sassy rolled her eyes. Twitterpaded.