Maybe This is Enough 𓇚 The Onceler x Jon Arbuckle 𓇚

Two

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𓋇ONCE'S POV 𓋇

I woke up to the sound of a light drizzle upon fabric. It was a familiar noise, as I was used to traveling in the rain. Though I knew that this drizzle was merely the aftermath of a devastating storm.

I sat up with a grunt and rubbed the back of my neck. I hadn't realized that I had dozed off while hunkering down from the storm. I looked around, horrified to find several small holes littering the off-white fabric of my wagon.

"Aw, no!" I complained to myself, pulling myself onto my feet.

I walked over to the fabric walls of the wagon, running my fingers around the little holes. It appeared that they had been ripped by the hail. I spluttered to myself, stepping back to try and see how I could fix it. I imagined it would take quite a bit of spare fabric; spare fabric that I didn't have. I gave a frustrated sigh, realizing that I would have to take yet another detour on my quest to buy more fabric. However, I had to remain optimistic. Perhaps this detour to the nearest town would lead me to the perfect material for my thneed. It was kind of a long shot, but I had to hold onto it in order to stay positive. Besides, I was so very fortunate that holes in the fabric seemed to be the full extent of the damage to my wagon.

Trying to think happy thoughts, I got dressed and then stepped off of the wagon. I walked alongside my donkey Melvin, running my hand through his damp fur to rustle him awake.

"Come on, Melvin," I coaxed, "we've got a loong day ahead of us."

I tightened his harness, giving him a few pats on the neck before pulling myself into the driver's seat. I grabbed a couple sticks of beef jerky from my food bag, eating them as my breakfast.

Slowly but surely, I guided Melvin and the wagon out of the tree coverage I had guided us into to get out of the storm and onto the road. As we walked, I listened to the sound of hooves and wooden wheels on wet asphalt. Normally I would prefer to stay off of main roads like this one, but right now it was my best bet to find the nearest town.

I hummed a tune to myself as we continued to travel, enjoying listening to myself as well as the sounds of nature. However, my relaxation was soon halted by a new, much more disturbing sound. It was a high pitched whine...the sound of a dog in pain.

I pulled back on Melvin's reins, slowing the donkey and the wagon to a stop. I narrowed my eyes, peering around for the source of the pitiful whining. I drew in a gasp as I caught sight of a red car flipped over onto it's hood in a ditch. Steady streams of black smoke wafted from the engine. Bits of torn rubber and scattered shards of broken glass were spread all over the scene. The whining was louder now, and clearly coming from the wreck.

Slightly panicking, I immediately jumped out of the wagon. My shoes clacked hard on the asphalt. Steading myself from the jump, I quickly rushed over to the car. Falling down onto my hands and knees, I inspected the inside of the vehicle through broken windows. Sure enough, on the roof of the car sat a little yellow and brown dog, whining and curled up in pain.

I placed my hand over my mouth instinctually, staring in horror at the condition of the passengers. The dog had shards of glass protruding from its side, and splatters of blood could be identified. There was a cat in the car as well...or, what at least appeared to be some kind of oddly shaped cat. It appeared to be unconscious, sprawled across the floor with one of its arms bent at an unnatural angle. I saw the driver of the car, also unconscious and hanging upsidedown from his seat. I could see a splotch of blood on his forehead.

The little yellow dog looked at me with pleading black eyes. I sucked in a breath, drawing my nails away from my gnawing teeth.

"H-hold on little guy...I'm gonna get you out of there."

I got to my feet and immediately closed my hand around the metal handle of the door. I pulled and pulled with all my might, yet the door wouldn't open. Of course it was broken, I didn't know why I had thought otherwise. I could hear a hissing noise emerging from the engine. I knew I had to act fast if I wanted to save the passengers of the car.

I rushed over to my wagon, frantically fumbling about in my things. I continued to fumble around until my fingers grazed cold metal. I traced down the metal until I reached to wood hilt, quickly grabbing it and tearing it away from my stuff.

Wielding my ax, I rushed back to the scene of the crash. I crouched down by the window closest to the dog and made a shoving movement with my hands, trying to communicate.

"Back up," I said.

Thankfully, the dog seemed to understand. He slowly backed up until he was standing over the unconscious orange cat. Taking in a deep breath, I readied my ax.

The sound of shattering glass broke through the sound of nature. I hacked away at the window until there was practically nothing left save for the jagged edges of the few pieces of glass that hung on. I dropped the ax reached my arms out trough the hole.

"Come on, boy, come on," I coaxed, holding out my arms for the little dog.

Trembling and still whining in pain, the dog slowly crept towards my arms. I scooped him up gently, being careful to avoid the glass lodged inside his fur. The hissing grew louder.

My heart was threatening to break through my rib cage as I rushed the dog to my wagon. I set him down gently and then rushed back to the car. I crawled through the hole in the window, wincing as the glass pinched my back. The smoke from the engine was wafting into the car now through the vents. I coughed and spluttered, trying to wave it away from my face. I quickly scooped up the orange cat, being careful to not cause any more damage to his broken arm. After getting the cat to safety, I rushed back to save the driver.

I grab my ax and sprinted to the driver's side door. It was impossible to see through the window at this point due to all the smoke. Taking in a deep breath, I prepped my ax.

Crash

I broke through the window, coughing as smoke hit me square in the face. I crawled blindly into the car, fumbling around over the man's body for the seatbelt latch. The temperature in the car was rapidly rising. My hand finally closed around the latch and I quickly undid the seatbelt, wincing in pain as the burning hot metal grazed my fingertips on the way up.

I caught the man in my arms before he could fall and crack his neck against the roof of the car. I coughed and coughed as more smoke entered my lungs. The hissing only grew louder. I knew I didn't have much time. As quickly as I could, I began to back up, dragging the man out through the window. I felt a gnawing guilt as I watched him get stabbed with small glass shards, but I pushed it down. He was better scratched up than dead, right?

Once out of the car, I swooped my hand under his legs and carried him bridal style to the wagon. I heaved him on as the hissing grew louder. I stabbed my ax into the floor of the wagon (probably not the best decision in hindsight) and then collapsed in the drivers seat, staring warily at the smoking wreck.

KABOOM

The engine finally blew. I yelled, scrambling away as I watched flames lap at the red car. I exhaled deeply. If I had taken any longer to act, those three would have been crispier than an overcooked turkey. I swiveled around in my seat to look at their conditions. They were all losing a lot of blood...especially the dog.

I grasped Melvin's reins tightly, a new sense of determination coursing in my veins. This detour was no longer about getting spare fabric to patch up my wagon. I had to get these three to a hospital as soon as possible. I whipped the reins, essentially telling Melvin to step on it. We ran bravely through the danger zone, over thousands of bits of broken glass and burning chunks of metal.

I had but one goal at that moment. Find the nearest town, stat.

.𓇗.