Chapter 3 - Ivory

Morning over Highest Mountain was quiet and still, not even a single breeze skimmed over the flawless white mounds. Shadows of the ice-clad trees were painted over the snow, as the light of the rising sun seeped through the wintry forest.

The campfire built by the trio had long died out, and Beast and Hamilton were still slumbering. But when the latter barely blinked his eyes while turning over, he noticed that there was someone missing. The orange pomf of Maggie's hair in the sleeping bag next to his wasn't there like Hamilton expected, which easily woke him up as he jolted into a sitting position.

The pig worriedly scanned his surroundings, but there was no sign of Maggie. Quickly but quietly, as to not wake the Beast, he slipped on his winter clothes and followed Maggie's faint footprints in the snow. Luckily, it didn't take long to find her, as her tracks led Hamilton around a large tree not too far from their campsite, but far enough for it to disappear through the snow.

"Maggie, what're you doing out here?" Hamilton asked, his voice barely louder than a whisper, but he soon realized Maggie's reason for being here when she finally lifted her head from her bent knees, revealing her tear-stained face.

"Beast's right. I'm just a stupid girl who won't stay out of anyone's business," Maggie sniffled before burying her head back into her elbows and knees.

"That's not what he meant at all," Hamilton quickly corrected while taking a seat next to her and reassuringly patting her shoulder, "He just doesn't want you to get hurt."

"He's still right about one thing, though. I don't know why I thought it would be a good idea to look for another beast with no evidence that there ever was another one in the first place." The little girl lifted her head once more, propping her chin on her forearms while staring out into the woods. "He never really was alone, was he, Hamilton?"

The said pig shook his head, "Of course not. He always had us, and vice versa."

Maggie sighed, "If only that were enough to convince me."

"Well, convinced or not, we better head back before Beast realizes we're gone. Wouldn't want him to worry about us like yesterday, would we?"

The frightening memories of Beast nearly ending a polar bear's life to defend them replayed in their minds, definitely making them think twice about ever irritating their ferocious friend again. So, slightly reluctant, Maggie took Hamilton's hand when he offered to help her up, and led her back to their camp silently.

But amidst their silence, the sound of the cracking of a large tree falling echoed throughout the woods, alerting the two and sparking terror in their hearts.

"Oh, no! It's the bear again! Run!"

"Wait! Look!" Hamitlon's arm was locked in Maggie's vice grip before he could sprint away, as she pointed toward a ridge where a tree had fallen, as it was still sliding down the snowy slope. But what really caught their attention was the light-colored mass that slid down with the tree, rolling helplessly through the frigid powder. When it came to a stop at the bottom, it huffed and groaned in pain while trying to stand.

Something was obviously wrong with its front left leg, for it constantly trembled with each attempt to stand, but that didn't stop the large creature from shaking some of the snow from its head and back. And there, gleaming atop the creature's head in the morning light, was a pair of horns; the two vibrant purple stripes on its lower back complimented its pearly scales; resting on its shoulders were three pairs of spikes, each pair larger than the last, and each with their own purple stripes protruding from them to run down its shoulders.

Finally, it lifted its wounded leg, revealing two more vibrant purple stripes on it, but they were covered in crimson and tightly clamped between the steel bars of a large bear trap. It was a beast, that much was certain, but the concern of getting it free flooded Maggie and Hamilton's minds.

"C'mon, we've gotta help it!"

"Maggie, don't!"

Before Hamilton could stop her, Maggie had already bolted towards the struggling beast, accidentally stepping on a dead branch and causing it to snap under her weight. The mere second the snap hit the beast's ears, it froze and glanced up, instantly spotting the little girl and the pig; its nostrils flared as it snarled, revealing its sharp fangs as it hobbled quickly towards them, painfully dragging the bear trap with it.

Maggie and Hamilton just stood there, frozen due to the events of yesterday replaying in their heads once more, but they feared Beast wouldn't come to their rescue this time. And they were almost certain it was the end for them, for the alabaster beast had jumped up and lunged forward, opening its mouth to let out a bone-chilling roar.

But, as if by yet another miracle, something large and yellow leapt out from behind the two, and intercepted the other beast in mid-air. Of course, it was the Ferocious Beast himself again, as he and the other beast were sent into a violent tumble across the snow; their rolling abruptly stopped when the other beast was trapped beneath Ferocious. But the back of its head smacked against an icy boulder, knocking it unconscious and allowing Ferocious to win the fight.

But even after the other beast had fainted, it took a few moments to realize what Maggie and Hamilton's Beast had done; his curled lips slowly relaxed and his scowl faded into surprise, as he eventually noticed the familiar shape of the creature below him.

"She's…a beast," he finally uttered, his voice meek from shock and loss of energy after the tussle; true to Beast's word, upon closer inspection, the beast he had finally backed away from was indeed female, for her beautiful eyelashes and smaller shape gave it away.

"Yes, but she's hurt," Maggie pointed out as she carefully lifted the female's injured leg to get a closer look.

"Then let's hurry up and get it off," Beast demanded, just about to grab the bear trap between his teeth when-.

"Don't do that! If we remove it now, it'll get infected and we'll never be able to stop the bleeding," Hamilton sharply protested.

Beast rolled his eyes, "Ok, then what do we do?"

"We need to get her back to the Oasis. I have a first-aid kit in my box that has everything we need."

"Beast, do you think you could carry her? She's obviously not making it all the way back home, even if she was awake," Maggie explained pleadingly.

"Why would I help her? She tried to attack y-." Beast was about to protest when his eyes squinted in realization. "Wait a minute—what were you guys doing out here, anyway?"

Maggie and Hamilton exchanged nervous glances, which easily told Beast their exact reason. Knowing he was once again disobeyed, and that his best friends had yet again endangered themselves for him as well, he sighed heavily and closed his eyes.

"Fine. But only because this will make you two stop putting yourselves in danger."

And so, with Maggie and Hamilton's help, the ivory female was carefully lifted and draped over Beast's back; they then made a quick stop back at their campsite to collect their stuff, and then began their journey back to the Oasis.

The other beast felt a stinging pain in her front left leg, as she meekly blinked her eyes open due to the harsh afternoon sunlight piecing her gaze. She realized she was not only laying on warmer grounds, but on a field of soft, green grass as well; she would be quite contempt right now if it weren't for the fact that she had no idea where she was—or how she went from wandering around that God-forsaken mountain, to relaxing in this peaceful, lush area.

She then remembered the pain from the bear trap on his foot, and grunted in aggravation when she looked down to find that it was still there, drawing new blood from the already dried and torn wound.

"Damnit," she growled, carefully grabbing the chain with her teeth to fiddle with it, only to cause more pain.

"You really shouldn't do that," a voice gently warned, startling the female beast until she saw the owner of the voice approaching from over a hill; it was an anthropomorphic pig, wearing a fancy sweater with a capital H.

"Hey, I know you. You and that little girl were on that snowy mountain," the female huffed.

"Yes, where you tried to attack us," the pig informed dryly, setting down the first aid kit next to the beast.

"I can't help that I'm starving, so you'd better find something else for me ta eat, or else I'm havin' pork chops for lunch." The pig quivered under the white beast's fierce glare.

"Um…how about a patch job instead?" the pig offered while holding up some bandages and hydrogen peroxide.

The beast scoffed, "You've gotta remove it first, Pig. If I can't get it off, neither can you."

"You're right. I can't get it off, but I know someone who can."

Right on cue, two more strangers walked over the same hill and made themselves known; it was the little redhead girl, as well as-.

"You!" the female snapped when she saw the red-spotted beast, "I oughta rip everyone one of your spots off for attacking me! How dare you attack me while I'm injured?!"

"You were going to eat my friends!" the yellow beast snapped back, baring his own teeth threateningly.

"I was hungry!"

"GUYS!" the little girl shrieked at the top of her lungs, immediately getting everyone's attention, "We've all got a personal vendetta here, but arguing won't get that bear trap off or that wound cleaned. So, please, stop fighting so we can help you."

The female rolled her eyes and grumbled, especially when the little girl looked up at her kindly.

"Fine," the two beasts reluctantly agreed, refusing to make eye contact with each other.

"Thank you. My name is Maggie, and these are my friends, Hamilton Hocks and the Ferocious Beast," Maggie finally explained.

"Hi," Hamilton nervously greeted with a meek wave of his hand.

"Not very ferocious, if ya ask me, but at least you're hard-headed like a real beast," the white beast snorted, making Ferocious growl in disapproval.

"At least I have friends," he retorted confidently.

"I don't need friends."

"That's not what your foot says."

The female looked down at her pained paw, which was indeed still trapped within a rusty bear trap.

"And if you want it to get better," the Beast continued, "You're going to have to be quiet and let us help."

"Do whatever you want, but just know that this won't make us friends, I won't owe you anything, and I'm outta here as soon as it's cleaned up," the female demanded firmly.

The Beast shared an equal expression of hatred with her, "I wouldn't have it any other way."

Maggie and Hamilton exchanged awkward glances before shrugging, and the latter then approached with even more bandages than before while kneeling down next to the female's injured foot.

"Now, listen carefully. Beast is going to remove the trap as quick as he can, and then I'm going to clot the wound with these bandages to stop the bleeding, so you're going to have to stay very still. Think you can do that?" Hamilton explained as Beast rose and placed his front paws firmly on the steel jaws, ready to pry it open.

"Whatever. But I'm warning you. If you make it too painful, I'm gonna-AAAGGHH!"

The female couldn't even finish her sentence when Beast hastily and effortlessly pried the bear trap open, making her scream in pain when blood poured from the large gash; he then tossed it away while Hamilton acted quickly to cover the wound with as many bandages as he could.

The white beast cursed under her breath in agony, which angered Ferocious even more, "Watch your language! There's a child present!"

"You're not the one in a ridiculous amount of pain, Smart Ass!" she snapped, despite Beast's warning. She pounded her other front paw when Hamilton started pouring hydrogen peroxide over the wound to clean it, hissing through clenched teeth and eyes shut tightly as it was being cleaned.

"That should do it. The bone isn't broken, but I'll have to stitch it up if you rip it back open. You'll have to stay off that foot for a little while for it to heal properly," Hamilton informed firmly, continuing to carefully wrap the injury in thick bandages.

"Oh, great. You mean I have ta stay in this pathetic land with you weirdoes?" the female beast rambled on with a deadpanned look, shifting her weight to rest her head on her good foot.

"Actually, I wouldn't mind if you left right now," Beast hastily pointed out with a pout.

"Beast!" Hamilton gasped at his friend's rude remark.

"Don't listen to him. You can stay here as long as you like, Miss…?" Maggie quickly reassured before noticing that no one had gotten her name.

"Ivory," the new beast snarled, "And I'm not staying long. Now, leave me alone."

Ivory then turned away to try and rest, leaving the others in offended silence. Beast didn't hesitate to leave in hopes of getting away from Ivory's bad attitude, but Maggie and Hamilton were far more reluctant to leave her in such a state. Eventually, Hamilton thought it best to leave Ivory for now, and gently grabbed Maggie's hand to lead her away.

"I hope we can reason with her," Maggie whispered hopefully.

"You're not planning on talking her into staying here, are you? She seems pretty set on leaving once she's healed," Hamilton whispered back worriedly.

Maggie sighed in defeat, "I know, I know—I just don't want her to get hurt again."

That night, Maggie had left to go home before her family would worry, but made sure to tell Hamilton to keep an eye on Ivory; she knew he would be too scared to approach her on his own, so she made Beast promise to help him if he needed it.

Unfortunately, by the time Hamilton had prepared a plate of food for Ivory, the moon had risen and Beast had fallen into a deep slumber. But Hamilton knew he couldn't let Maggie down, so he gulped down a lump of fear as he shakily made his way over the hill to Ivory. The said pale beast was lying uncomfortably on her side with her injured foot splayed out, and she seemed partially asleep, judging by her subtle twitching and scrunched up face.

Hamilton stood in place and wondered if he should just try to feed her again in the morning, but Ivory subconsciously sniffed the air and blinked one eye open.

"What's that?" she grumbled.

"Oh, um! H-Hello! I thought you might still be hungry, so I brought you some cucumber sandwiches," Hamilton sheepishly explained while approaching Ivory.

Ivory gave him a deadpanned look when he set the plate next to her, "Cucumber? Don't you have any meat?"

"Not at the moment. Sorry. I-I just assumed that since cucumber sandwiches are Beast's favorite, you might like them, too."

"Yeah, well, assuming can sometimes make an ass out of you and me. So, next time you think about comparing me to your dumb friend, leave me out of it."

Ivory pushed the plate away and tried once more to go to sleep, but still found it difficult from the pain in her foot. Hamilton quickly noticed this, and snapped his fingers with an idea.

"Hold on, I'll be right back," the pig informed before running over the hill, and soon returned moments later with a large pillow, "Lift your foot up for a second."

Ivory cocked a brow in confusion but complied, and waited for Hamilton to place the pillow underneath her foot and adjust it. He then nodded and she lowered her foot, to which she found the pillow rather fluffy and comforting, and it even eased some of the pain.

"How's that?" Hamilton asked out of curiosity.

"It's…a little better. Thanks," Ivory begrudgingly admitted.

"No problem. I'll leave the sandwiches here in case you change your mind. Goodnight, Ivory."

Hamilton then walked back over the hill and didn't return, leaving Ivory alone with a better likelihood of a good night's sleep. She still rejected the sandwiches, but greatly appreciated the pillow. Ivory rested her head on the ground and curled her other paw around her face to keep warm; this new land was nice, but it was slightly chillier than her homeland. But she ignored the gentle breezes, and eventually drifted off to sleep.

I won't lie, this is kinda inspired by the new How to Train Your Dragon movie coming out soon, especially with Toothless and the Light Fury being so friggin' cute togetherX3

Until the next chapter, I'm TRikiD, bye-bye!