You're My Ugly Pineapple

Chapter nineteen

I woke up that morning with the early sun shining on my fur, birds chirping in the trees. I stretched out against Manny, yawning softly as my eyes adjusted to the light. It took a moment to process everything around me, and that I was going back down to the lost world in a matter of minutes. I got to my feet and looked up at the tree that Ellie was sleeping in, to see she was already looking down at me. 

"I'm sorry Ellie, I need to-"

"It's ok Sky, I'll let the others know you said goodbye."

I smiled up at her and nodded. "Thank you. I'll see you around, look after the boys and Peaches."

"I will."

Without another word I bounded off in the direction I came from, scanning the ground ahead of me for the crack I'd come through. After about 15 minutes I found it and, taking one last look around the surface, I jumped in. As I followed the tunnel down and into the Lost World, I spotted a little tent by the entrance and inside, bundled up like a little fur pillow, was Buck.

"Buck?"

"Sky!" Buck jumped up and ran over to me, hugging me warmly as a flow of tears ran from his eye. "You're back! I though you'd be gone for longer!"

"No, love, I missed you too much. As amazing as it is up here, my real home is here, in the Lost World, with you," I smiled, my voice slightly muffled by his shoulder. Buck turned his head slightly and kissed my cheek before pulling away, my paw in his. 

"I found us a new den, it's inside a hollow tree. It's not much, but it's pretty close to the Watering Hole so that we can have all the fruity drinks we want."

"Watering Hole? It didn't get destroyed in the quakes?"

"Nope! Some of the mammals were a little shaken and bruised, and our supply of drinks is permanently shaken, not stirred, but everything else it pretty much normal."

I smiled and led Buck through the entrance and we stepped out into the prehistoric glow of the Lost World. Every time I see it, it's like it's the first time all over again, taking my breath away and leaving me speechless. Buck whistled and in rush of wind Ava landed in front of us, cooing happily as she nuzzled me with her beak. I grinned and pet the top of her head, before Buck swung his leg around and mounted her, holding out his hand to me. I took it and he pulled me on, wrapping my arms around his middle as he led us down to our new den in silence. 

"Well, here we are. Buck and Sky's new pad, with built in warm water shower, extra rooms for visitors and the like, a large pantry that can hold all the food we can eat and of course," He led me over to the corner and motioned towards it, "Your chill out area."

The hammock was hanging there, between a wall and a rock bookshelf, surrounded by my various carvings and a cave painting on the wall above it all, of the both of us with the herd, and a moss carpet underneath. I grinned and turned to kiss him, but Buck beat me to it as I felt him push his lips against mine.

"You have no idea how much I missed you," Buck sighed, holding both of my paws in his. 

"I thought you spent most of the time laying in that cave? How long did this take you?"

"Oh, not long. I had some help of course, Barry came over to lend me a hand."

"The groundhog? I thought you guys weren't on speaking terms."

"Well, after everything that happened with the earthquakes and such, we decided that we should at least be civil. So when I went to the watering hole to have a drink and think about what happened, he offered to help." 

"Aw, that's nice," I smiled, and he kissed my forehead before leading me over to the shower area. 

"So, all we have to do here is make sure we stoke the fire and keep them embers nice and hot. The fire will warm up the water and all we have to do is pull the rope to let the water go and it will come through these holes," He pointed up at the ceiling where a bunch of small holes were carved into wood. "If the water is too hot, you can pull this rope here to add a bit of cold water to it. If you just want a cold shower, you can just pull this rope instead of the other one."

"How did you manage this?"

"Groundhogs are surprisingly good woodworkers, so I told Barry what I wanted and he was able to put something together for us."

I smiled and started pulling off my bags and hung them up on the hook, taking off my necklace, before pulling both of the ropes and sending a shower of water cascading from the holes in the roof. The warm water swept the dirt away from my fur as it fell down, before it rushed away through a wooden pipe. I picked a brush up off a little shelf and started brushing my wet fur, and I heard Buck shift behind me as he took the brush out of my hand and started brushing the fur on my back, joining me underneath the water. 

"I take that you like it?"

"Oh Buck, I love it. The last time I got to bathe in warm water was in the hot springs on the surface."

"Well, now you get to bathe in nice warm water any day you want to."

I smiled and turned around, holding my hand out to take the brush and started brushing Buck's fur, his fur being slightly thicker and much more matted than my own.

"Oh Buck, when was the last time you brushed your fur?"

"Oh come on Sky, my last good comb broke just before you came down here, it's hard to find good wood to make a comb."

"I'm just teasing, love."

He turned around and smiled, kissing my nose softly. Hopefully, things will stay peaceful for a while, though something is always happening down here in the Lost World.