The wind streaked Pockets's hair back as he raced to find his sister. He had found a new watering hole and couldn't wait to show her how awesome it was. Not only did it have lots of yummy plants near by, berries, some mint, and even some honeysuckle to name a few. No, what really made this place great was the view. He had found it while wondering around one day as he aimlessly walked up part of a mountain. It wasn't very tall, but bigger than a hill.
A smile bloomed across Pockets's face as his eyes set upon his sister, Buttons. He had finally found her. And of course it was under the shade of a large tree as she munched on some grass. He giggled to himself as his eyes narrowed mischievously. A twinkle burst into them as he saw her head whip up and her eyes widen in surprise. Too late to react, he pounced on her till they were both rolling and giggling on the ground.
"Pock!!" Buttons tried to yell at him through her squealing. "You could have made me choke and I would have Died!" She lifted one of her hooves to playfully boop his nose. It only made him chuckle more and he shook his head, a smile still plastered on his face. He loved his sister and enjoyed being around her the most. "Nah, my sis is tougher than that. Plus, there's no way I could loose a Button." He told her playfully. When they were young the names their parents had given them had seemed odd, but now as they grew older, they came to enjoy the play on words they could often do.
Buttons shook her head, though unable to hide the small giggle it still released from her. "You're right. What would a Pocket be without a Button." She booped her nose against his once more before standing next to him. It warmed her heart to see the love her big brother had for her in his eyes. It made her smile as she tried to mock chide him as he proceeded to stand in front of her. "Have you come to tell me something? Or are you just here to be a terror?"
Pockets knew the game already and put the customary frown on his face. "You wound me, dear sister!" once again falling to the ground, though this time throwing a front leg over his eyes in a pretend faint. Buttons could only smile and roll her eyes as she said "Uh huh, sure. So what is it?" Pockets peaked out from behind his hoof, not able to hold the frown any longer so he popped back up and excitedly began to tell her. "I found the perfect swimming spot for us! You'll love it!" Buttons eyed his tail and lifted an eyebrow. "I think you forget that swimming is only one of our favorite past times...." She eyed him speculatively.
Her bothers eyes narrowed again as if he had a secret to tell her. "Ahhh, but what if I told you there was good food found around the pond? Would you be interested then?" He knew he hadn't needed to add the second part of his statement, but he loved to poke at her. He knew he had her as her eyes glistened with interest. He knew her too well to miss it before she could toss her head to the side and give a small Hmph. "I guess." She responded. But then her curiosity got the better of her and she had to look back at him. "What kind of food?" He only smiled in triumph as he turned and started walking in the direction of his new favorite swimming hole. "I guess you'll just have to follow me to find out" He called over his shoulder.
Buttons frowned slightly as her hoofs started to ache. They had been walking for a good while now, and already had passed a few smaller bodies of water on their way up the small mountain. Each time her face lighting up dimmer as she asked if this was the place he was leading her to. "Come on, Butt, you'll know it when you see it! You might even know it before you see it with all the fresh snacks around". Buttons' eyebrows crinkled in disapproval at his childhood nickname for her. She hmphed a breath to the side as she mumbled under her breath "You're the stinky one." Ignoring the smile he had for her as he looked over to her. "It won't be much longer now. Only another 4 hours or so."
Buttons stopped in her tracks, mouth open in shock. Then it was her turn to narrow her eyes at him, though mischief was not what he felt coming from her stare as he chuckled. "You're teasing me again" She accused him. "I'm your brother, what else would I be doing?" Was his only response. "Now come on, if you fall behind I get first dibs on the honeysuckle." Buttons' eyes grew wide, a small gasp trapped in her chest. "No fair! You know that's my favorite! And uncle ate all the ones by our meadow before I could get to them too."
Buttons pushed her paws off the ground to leap back to his side only to find the earth beneth them suddenly crumbling away. In her shock she had unknowingly stopped by the edge of a steep cliff and it was now sending her tumbling down its side. The last thing she saw of her brother was the shock and horror in his eyes as she went over the edge. Her fall seemed to last hours, each brush of her hide against the sharp rocks was a new blinding pain. The ache in her hooves now replaced by a searing pain in her back ankle. With a small squeak that pushed all the air from her lungs, she landed in a prickly bush growing on a small ledge. The only sound in her ears was ringing and the continuing shuffling of earth as it continued to fall past her on either side of her small ledge.
Finally she was able to shake the dizziness from her eyes and look up to where she had fallen from. Now she could see her brother had been calling after her as he perched over the side, belly against the still fragile looking soil. "BUTTONS!" His voice pierced through usual calm voice breaking through the ringing. She could hear the terror in it as her mind started to come back to her. "I'm okay!" She lied as she called up to him. If he knew how hurt she was she knew he would fling himself over the edge to try and rescue her. And if that happened, they'd both be done for. "You need" Her voice broke off in a quick sob of pain as her ankle reminded her of its damage. "You need to find someone who can help!" Pockets shook his head as tears fell down and rained against the leaves his sister was now trapped between. "I can't leave you!" The terror in his eyes almost had Buttons believing him, but she knew he didn't have the strength alone to get her off this ledge. "Go find uncle!" She called back up to him, more force in her words this time.
Pockets gave a solemn nod as he finally listened to her. "Just, just try to stay calm! I'll be back as soon as I can. Don't worry." He took what seemed to be the first breath since he saw his baby sister go over the edge. "I won't be losing a Button today." and then he was gone. Button let go of the breath she seemed to have been holding in, glad she had finally convinced her brother that this wasn't a problem he could solve by himself. She took this time to look around her. Trying to shift her weight slowly and find a position that wasn't so hard on her new pains and poked so fiercely by the bush beneath her. The bush was rather large, able to cushion her whole body. But it took over the whole of the ledge she was on, so there was no escaping the stiff leaves that poked into her. She held her breath once more as she peaked over the side to see what was beneath her. To her surprise, it was one of the smaller ponds they had passed on the way up on their journey to Pockets' 'perfect watering hole'. She tried to gauge the depth of it and found the thought of jumping in to be too dangerous at this height. Especially with her injuries. Breath came easier to her again as she leaned back against the cliff face and closed her eyes. Help would come soon and this would all be just a memory. She had to trust in Pockets.
What felt like ages finally ended as she heard pebbles fall down around her again, looking up to see Clover's thick toes curled over the cliff side. Brow furrowed as he accessed the situation. "Buttons, honey, are you okay?" His strong mellow voice seeped into her and a rush of hopeful calmness flowed into her. She nodded, tears gathering at her eyes. "I'm okay for now uncle. Can you help?" Clover smiled warmly down at her as he shoved Pockets away from the ledge. It was clear he didn't have faith it could hold them both. "Of course I can sweety. Uncles here now, everything will be okay. We have a plan. It's just going to take us a few more moments to set it up." Buttons nodded up at him, every faith in the world that her large strong uncle would be able to help her.
It wasn't long after that that she heard her uncle call back down to her. "Buttons, can you still hear me? Are you with me?" She gave him a quick nod and hoped they had had time to set up his plan. "Here's how its going to work. I've woven some vines together and you're going to tie them around you into a harness once they get to you. Clear on that part?" Her head worked into a nod again. "Okay, at that point, I'm going to slowly lower you to the pond below and Pockets is going to be there to help you swim to the edge. Do you think you can do that?" Buttons gulped as her head peered back over the ledge. This time seeing her brother at the edge of the water, his expression a mix of fear and hopeful. Buttons looked back up to Clover and gulped "I.. I think so." Clover nodded and smiled at his brave niece. "Good, then we can both yell at your brother about how irresponsible he was. I'll be lowering the vines down to you now." She smiled up at Clover. He was like her brother in that he always knew how to make her smile.
The vines slid down the rock face as Clover lowered them down with a front paw. He had wrapped them around his strong shoulders and again around his waist. "Okay honey, tie it around your shoulders if you can, and also around your honch's. Once you get to the water I'm going to drop the vine and we'll untie you when you get to the bank of the pond." Buttons did as he instructed. She winced as every jerk of being lowered meant banging slightly against her bruises. She tried putting her hooves against the side of the cliff and walking down it as she was lowered, but it was too painful on her ankles. So she just hung there limply as she was lowered inch by inch. She was a few feet from the water when she saw Pockets rush in and swim toward where she would be landing. The next thing she knew, she was flailing in the water and her brother was quietly shushing her sobs. "Its okay Butt, I've got you. We're almost there." Buttons almost choked on her sob as she tried to keep her head above the water. "You're the smelly one who needed a bath, not me." She retorted as she fought the urge to dunk his head under water playfully. But she didn't think she could handle swimming alone in the second it would take him to come back up.
Pockets merely smiled at her and drug her up onto the bank. He nuzzled his face into her neck as she heaved, hooves finally back on safe ground as she laid on the bank. "I thought I lost you" He whispered, head still tucked against her hide. She nuzzled him back as they waited for their uncle to meet them. He would need to carry her on his back at this point. It would be a few days till she could walk again. So much for honeysuckle. "I'd never let you lose a Button" She whispered back.
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