Ice Age 3: Buck's Story.

Chapter one: Meeting the Herd.

Out running a monsterous white beast with glowing red-yellow eyes, the lone Weasel knew he wasn't running out of fear-well, maybe a bit, he didn't know anymore, because he'd grown so used to living in this ferce, dangerous jungle to the point of being driven crazy-quite literally too, in fact. But no, he was protecting other mammals he helped for the past near two days to rescue a friend and now he was risking his life to keep the monster away from them.

Unfortunately, the monster had other ideas, as the one-eyed Weasel was flipped into the air before descending...right into the monster's mouth as he screamed...

"Whoa!" Jolting up right into sitting position from the branch of a tree he had been sleeping in, the one eye-patched Weasel panted, confused at first on where he was, but then he realised he had just had a nightmare, he sighed in relief, and fiddled with the leaf over his missing right eye that acted as an eye-patch, and then picked up the single knife made out of a stick and a giant sharp tooth that were tied up in vines.

It was rather unusual, even for him for he knew he was completely insane, to have a dream like that. Who were the mammals in his dream? He hasn't even seen them or what kind of animals they were. They certainly were not human, that's for sure, and the Weasel knew how dangerous humans can be. But after living down here for goodness knows how long, Dinosaurs were just as dangerous.

"MUH-CHOO!" A giant sneeze snapped him back to reality, as the Weasel gazed to his right, and then struggled not to laugh, as one of those long-necked giant leaf-eating Dinosaurs(he had no idea what that was called), had sneezed onto a featherly bird who was now covered in mixture of mucus and saliva, and the bird was dismayed for being covered in disgusting slime.

"God bless you!" The Weasel said to the dinosaur. (Tee-hee. This scene is based on the original Jurassic Park movie)

Standing up and stretching his arms up, before twisting his body and doing his daily excersises, the Weasel was up to go for another day of hunting, or rather, having some dangerous thrill and fun with Dinosaurs, for this was the greatest life a single guy can ever have. Sure he had a family, and he was normal, once upon a time, but he since had left home and ended up here. It was still fresh in his memory, but that's what made him into who he is today.

Just then, something caught his attention, from a large hole which leads into a cave tunnels he had ventured a week ago, where the Weasel had seen three dinosaur eggs, which he knew better to leave alone. Curious, the Weasel squinted his eyes to see what was going on, using his hands as a pair of brinoculours, and from his point of view, a T-Rex came stomping out from the cave, and onward. He could tell it was female, and no doubt a new mother, because he could see three, very adorable baby Rexies who were hanging upside down due to being carried by their tails.

But as he was about to leave it as it is, the Weasel then noticed something else and his single eye blinked in confusion as his expression turned blank. Also carried by the mother Rex, was...a furry, floppy green thing, which, if he saw it closer, it was a Sloth named Sid. The Weasel was rather puzzled. Where did that...whatever it was, come from?

The Weasel found himself willing to quickly investigate, and scaned the five as the mother T-Rex passed his tree, and by the direction of the path, he realised that she was heading to Lava Falls-the only place he knew so far where all Dinosaur parents would go to care for their newborns. Oh yes, he knew for certain, those three babies were obviously just born about maybe almost 24 hours ago, maybe less, considering how they looked so young.

"Curious." He said to himself, "Seeing that floppy green thing makes today more unusual than any other day."

He then shrugged and decided to to forget about that. T-Rex are carnivores, and if that floppy green thing was her next meal, it was that poor mammal's funeral. Besides, he had his own carnivore for worry about, the one who costed him his eye, and nearly his life, but he escaped death and never felt more alive.

If only he knew that today was only going to get more strange.

The Weasel rushed and jumped as he crossed the Lake of Maelstrom, avoiding the chomping jaws of prehistoric carnivore water reptiles that were about the size of a T-Rex and from what he found earlier in his early days of being in this Dinotopia, it even eats other dinosaurs, including carnivores who linger too close to the edge of the water. He had felt nausaus after seeing a Velociraptor being grabbed by the tail by the water-monster thing and dragged into the lake, never to be seen again, but by now, he'd gotten used to it, as long as he doesn't meet the same fate.

Coming up to yet another one, the Weasel smirked and jumped into the air and twisted his body as he preformed acrobats, professionally and narrowly escaped from being engulfed and landed safely on the other side of the lake. Proud of his accomplishment, he continued on his way casually, as if what he just went through didn't happen at all.

"Just another day in paradise." the Weasel said to himself. But then suddenly, he heard something else unusual. Perking his right ear up slightly to hear the sound more clearer, he could hear tale signs of two roars, one that sounded like...a Sabortoothed Tiger? And another by those club-tailed Dinosaurs.

Curious, he decided to investigate and ran to follow the direction of the sounds, climbing up trees to get a better view. Once he reached the last branch, he found himself right back to where he started. Well, he has been going around in circles like he normally did every second week. However, he found that he was right about hearing a Sabor, and to his surprise, two Mammoths, one male and one female, who, in retrospect by the size of her belly, he realised that the female was pregnant.

'Bad idea to bring your lovely lady to this god forsaken place, mate.' The Weasel thought to the male Mammoth. He also then realised there were two smaller mammals, about a couple of inches shorter than himself, and he then realised they were Possums-possibly twins at that.

He then saw the female Mammoth feeding the same long-necked Dinosaur that sneezed earlier, and then realised what she was attempting to do. The next thing he saw, she, and the two Possums, who climbed onto their friend, all then slided down the dinosaur like a slippery dip, and she was hollaring, "Yaba yaba doo!" and quickly enough, the Sabor and the male Mammoth, who both didn't enjoy the ride as much as their friends did, were screaming their heads off and with the rise of the Dinosaur's tail, they were flown off and crashed onto the ground next to the female Mammoth and the two Possums, who now all looked worried, and the Weasel then realised why.

The strange herd of mammals just entered a dangerous territory. He suddenly felt that he had to do something to save them. Fortunately, he always came equiped with stink berries he used as ammo, vines as ropes, his trusty knife, and, a shell he just picked up from the lake as a souvineer to use as a horn. All he had to do was distract the Dinosaurs and then lead the mammals to safety.

"I feel so...puny." the male Mammoth said worriedly.

"How do you think I feel?" One of the Possums, the brown eyed one, muttered fearfully.

As many of the vegetarian Dinosaurs were closing in to attack, the Weasel saw his chance and blowed the shell to get everyone's attentions, and while it played a very terrible, off-key and squeaking, sick horn sound, at least it worked. Now that he got his attention, all he had to do was swing in to save the herd. Using a vine attatched to the tree he was in, the Weasel swinged in, a la Tarzan style, without Tarzan's hollar. However, to his luck, the vine broke and he, to his shock, was flown right off course and into the bushes near the herd and the dinosaurs.

Smack! "Ow!" He cried out as he was smacked into another tree, a la George of the Jungle style.

Quickly recovering, the Weasel grumbled, "Not what I had in mind, but, oh well." and quickly leaped and jumped and to the surprised herd, he appeared right in front of them, facing the dinosaurs boldly. Like a ninja, he flinged the stink berries all over the place, hitting the dinosaurs in the faces, as the giant animals cringed in disgust.

With one left, he told the normal mammals, "Take cover!" and threw the last one onto the ground, which the yellow smoke of stentch covered the area. He then quickly led the stunned herd to safety.

The Weasel then made sure the herd took cover in trees, and was quite impressed on how the two Mammoths pulled two large leaves off the bush, crouched low, and then held their trunks up while holding the leaves which made the trunks look like trees. The Sabor and two Possums took cover in the bushes, which they weren't seen anymore.

Sastified, he then found his own hiding spot, and dove into the not so steep like, using a lily pad with a flower on it over his head, while holding the knife with his teeth while holding his breath so that he doesn't drown. The Weasel waited in his crouched position, as a family of Triceritops marched through the lake and onto land. Though one, the child one, stopped at the sight of the lily, and he mentally panicked.

'No, no! Don't you dare, kid!' the Weasel cried out in his mind. To his relief, the baby Triceritops walked away. Mentally sighing in relief, and once he knew that the coast was clear, he slowly resurfaced and was convinced that it was safe for now.

Coming out of the water completely, the Weasel walked out of the lake and onto shore, while the herd all also came out of their hiding spots. The Possums then held large smiles on their faces.

"Dude! You're awesome!" the blue eyed Possum exclaimed, admired, "You're like the brother I never had."

"Me too." The brown-eyed Possum added.

The Weasel was immediately supicious, despite the weird gratitude from these two Possum twins, and threw his knife at them, which missed, landing right in between the twins who stopped and flinched at the close call. The Weasel squeezed himself dry, dumping the lilypad, and then sniffed at them to investigate. He then grabbed them by the tails, hanging them upside down, before turning to face the two Mammoths and the Sabor who all appeared confused.

"Can we keep him?" The blue-eyed Possum asked eagerly.

'What am I? A dog?' The Weasel mentally asked. Though this did convince him that these guys-and girl in the female Mammoth's case-that they were no harm, not even the Sabor, believe it or not. So, after putting the two twins down, he leaped and landed right onto the male Mammoth's face, which caused the latter to scream in fright.

"Buck!" said the Weasel.

"What?" asked the male Mammoth.

The Weasel smirked while climbing up top of the Mammoth's head, introducing himself, "The name's Buck-short for Buckmister!" before landing on the ground and used the Mammoth's trunk as a microphone, adding, "Long for Buh!"

The Weasel, named Buck, then went over to the Sabor, examining the long sabor teeth, and found rather disappointed and confused, "Hmm...a little dull." which probably explained why this guy was with two Mammoths and two Possums. The only problem is, why did they come here?

"What are you doing here?" Buck asked, before walking away.

"Our friend was taken by a Dinosaur." the Female Mammoth answered.

Their friend, taken by a Dinosaur? Buck then remembered seeing the...whatever it was that the Mommy Dinosaur was carrying along with her young. But surely they wouldn't be coming here to rescue the mammal, would they? That was like walking right into death's door, and Buck knew, unlike himself, these guys wouldn't survive even a single day, much less a few minutes since coming here.

"Well...he's dead." Buck deadpanned, then casually said, "Welcome to my world, now uh, go home. Off you pop." he waved, picked up his knife and then walked off.

"Not without Sid!" The female Mammoth declared.

"Ellie, wait." The male Mammoth said to his mate, who is named Ellie, and he held a worried tone in his voice for her safety, "Maybe the deranged hermit has a point."

'At least someone thinks of the right idea.' Buck thought and ignored the fact that he was called a 'deranged hermit'. He already knew that these guys thought he was crazy.

He once again climbed a tree, though he continued to listen the conversation.

"Manny," Ellie began with stubborn determination in her voice, "We came this far. We're gonna find him."

"I've found tracks." the Sabor spoke up, finding the foot prints of the female T-Rex.

Buck rolled his single eye. Oh boy, these guys were too stubborn for their own, even in this place. So, with another vine, he hanged upside down, startling the male Mammoth, who he knew by now was Manny. Buck then cautioned, "You go in there, you'll find your friend...In the afterlife."

"How do you know, O'Great Wisely Weasly one?" The brown-eyed Possum asked.

The Weasel smirked as the two Possums gazed at him like he was their idiol. He liked these guys already! Deciding to help them out a bit, he elevated down with the vine, before landing on the ground and scanned the footprint, as if he was sensing it to the herd.

"Yeah, hm. Mommy Dinosaur, carrying her three babies, and...some floppy green thing." Buck concluded, holding a puzzled look to the herd.

"Yeah, we're friends, with the 'floppy green thing'." Manny stated. Well that explained his suspictions. Though that raised another question-what the heck did the floppy thing do and how on Earth did he come across the Rexes to the point of being taken here? How did the thing get from the surface world in the first place?

"You got all that from the tracks?" The sabor asked in amazement and disbelief.

Buck shook his head as he stood up, explaining, "No, not really. I saw them coming through here earlier." pointing down the path where the prints were leading, "She's heading to Lava Falls."

"Lava Falls?" Ellie asked, quirking an eyebrow.

"That's where they care for the new borns." Buck nodded, then picked up a stick and made a map on the dirt ground, while explaining his jungle world, "To get there, you got to go through the Jungle of Misery, across the Chasm of Death, to the Plates of Woe." and grinned.

"Whoa..." The Possums gapped in awe.

"Okay..." Manny began, uncertainly, not really believing the crazy Weasel, "Good luck with your descend to madness. We're going now."

'What!? They still want to go? You got to be kidding me!' Buck thought, while out loud, he stepped up to the herd, stopping them and going, "Whoa whoa whoa whoa whoa! Whoa!"

He then continued, asking in disbelief, "What, y-you think this is some sort of tropical getaway?" then warned directly to Manny, "You can't protect your mate, mate."

Manny glaced worriedly over Ellie, and memories of his first family's deaths crossed over his mind, and as if humans weren't enough trouble, now he has to deal with dinosaurs while rescuing the idiot of a sloth named Sid.

Buck then continued, "What are you gonna with those flimsy tusks," he gently tucked Manny's tusks, then turned around, voice going low like in a horror movie, "When you run into the beast?"

He heard the Possums gasp in fear, and he grinned, concluding dramatically, "I call him...Rudy."

Manny, unconvinced, sighed in fake relief and said sarcastically, "Oh good! I was worried that it was Seldon...or Tim."

"Wait," the blue-eyed Possum asked, scaredly, "You mean there's something bigger than Mommy Dinosaur?" in disbelief. As if seeing a real life giant Dinosaur wasn't bad enough, the very thought of encountering this Rudy was probably going to give him nightmares.

"Aye." Buck replied with a serious expression.

"Eye?" The brown-eyed Possum asked, puzzled and not understanding another language Buck had just used and instead, assumed that Buck made a comment on his eye.

Also confused, though Buck thought the Possums assumed they just noticed his missing eye, and grinned, answering, "Aye, aye! He's the one who gave me this!" pointing at the eye-patch, and in a tone that sounded like a pirate.

However, he was drawn into dumbfound confusion, because Buck then realised that these two twins were completely clueless, because the brown-eyed Possum was amazed again, asking in misunderstanding, "Whoa...he gave you that patch?"

"For free?" the blue-eyed Possum asked, then said, amazed, "That's so cool."

"Yeah, maybe he'll give us one too!" His brother said, and the two then did a high-five and a weird little dance.

For the first time in his life, Buck couldn't understand this situation. And he thought he was crazy. With a blank and puzzled expression, he glanced up at Manny, mentally asking, 'What's with these two?' as he never met anyone so stupid before.

Understanding the silent question, and, clearly having gotten used to it but still dismayed himself, Manny grumbled, and repeated Buck's earlier words in sarcasm, "Welcome to my world." walking past the Weasel, with Ellie, the Sabor and the two Possums then following, leaving Buck behind.

Now quite annoyed that none of them were even listening to him, Buck then called out in warning, "Abandon all hope, he who enters there!"

"All right, we get it." Manny called back, sarcastically, "'Doom and despire'...yada, yada, yada." as he and the herd then vanished into the jungle.

After a few moments, Buck then facepalmed himself with a groan. Okay, granted, when he first came here, he had no idea himself and had nearly died on his first day, but he did lose his eye, however, he survived and quickly learned to defend himself in this place, becoming who he is now. The herd and their friend on the other hand, none of them, not even the Sabor, held any potential in even surviving in this place.

Other than dinosaurs and water reptiles, Buck knew the further dangers in this underground world, and despite that it wasn't his business to join the herd, for his purpose was to remain here, to battle out the monster he dubbed Rudy. If Rudy encountered these guys...well, that's the end. Period.

Then again, he hasn't seen Rudy in three weeks, and he felt that he knew what was about to happen next, Buck then shrugged and followed down the direction in another path, the short cut he found a month earlier, muttering to himself, "Well, it's not like I have anything else to do."

But as he passed through the familier leaves and ignored the moving plants, Buck then heard an unfamiliar, seemingly frustrated and angered scream(from Scrat who had another encounter with Scratte) which echoed through the area.

"Never heard that kind of Dino before." Buck said to himself, before continuing on his quest.

Author's note: Welcome to my first Ice Age only story. To some of you who are familiar with me, yes, I know, I'm starting on another one, but this was just recently put into an idea as I'm suffering yet another writer's block for all of my current stories that I"m working on(and I seriously want to finish them, but it's difficult) and ever since seeing the new trailer of the upcoming Ice Age 5 film, Buck's reappearence engulfed me to do something with him.

I do have a special surprise at the end of this story, though. Do wait for that, while we wait for Buck's next mission to help the Herd. Please review and tell me what you think so far, and I'll see you in the next chapter.