AN: This short story is set a couple years after SDT. It does have spoilers for the end. I am sorry it's short and not in depth, but I was trying to do a word limit for a prompt.
Some silly, but no horrible people in this story at all <3 just a bit of fun.
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'My detector is going crazy! There may be a treasure trove buried below the soil! Five miles from here, 30 silver coins were discovered!'
Chicero watched, bewildered, as Geoffrey and his fellow metal detector enthusiasts scanned the field he shared with his friends. Geoffrey had a straggly beard and glasses. Despite the day's 29-degree warmth, he wore a red raincoat and a dark green jumper.
'So this means what?' Emelina, the manager of Chicero's sanctuary, spoke impatiently to Geoffrey's group in English as the light grey bull stood watching.
'Well, I'd like to get digging and find out what's buried here,' Geoffrey said, gesturing with his metal detector.
'Sir, Chicero here and his friend Pepelito were rescued from bullfighting! Please be careful,' Emelina implored.
Reaching into his red raincoat, Geoffrey pulled out a scrunched up map and jabbed it with his finger. 'No. Antiques were found here, here, here, here and here on previous digs. I'm sure I'll find something. I'm confident.'
'Okay, so ... you just-- I mean...OK.' Emelina rolled her eyes in despair.
'Don't be silly. It'll be fine.' Geoffrey marched into the field with the others, shutting the gate behind him. From time to time, their metal detectors emitted loud beeps as they tried to detect ancient treasures from past civilisations.
Chicero observed nervously as the strange people swung around long poles with large discs at the end. Long sticks made him nervous, so he backed away several metres.
'Be careful of the bull!' Emelina shouted to no avail.
'Don't worry!' Geoffrey snapped. The metal detector gave a piercing beep as he suddenly swung it around. Chicero stood stock still. Once, the man's actions would have terrified him. He clearly meant no harm, but this was still weird.
'I've found something!' Geoffrey yelled, oblivious to the bull behind him. After rummaging around in the soil a few moments he pulled up a random metal object resembling part of a tyre. As he and his group dug further, the hole began to resemble a crater.
'This isn't fair on the animals. They've been through a lot. You can't just create a massive hole here. You are trespassing! I will call the police,' Emelina said. The coin enthusiasts weren't listening to her at all, and simply continued their single minded mission. Muddy mounds lay on either side of the hole.
'You haven't actually found anything, have you?' Emelina shouted over the fence. Chicero didn't like when people shouted, it was scary.
'Not yet, but we can't stop! A whole medieval church could be buried here,' a woman shouted back, whacking into the ground with her spade and ruining Chicero's preferred spot of soft, tasty grass.
'So you - OK. I give up,' Emelina sighed.
Then, there came the sound of a car in the distance. Chicero wandered to the edge of the huge hole and saw Geoffrey in the middle with several others, utterly focused on his task.
'What's that car?' he loudly said, startling Chicero.
'I think that's the police, we should get out,' another digger said in a worried tone from the pit, now several metres deep.
'Get out? There could be a haul of Roman coins here, Derek,' the woman snapped.
'There's obviously nothing here, Janet,' Derek snapped. Geoffrey, Janet and the other coin collectors looked at him as if he had insulted their religion. Derek stood up and gazed, alarmed, at the sky, which was now enclosed by walls of soil on all sides.
'Oh, goodness! And now there is a fierce bull standing guard over the hole!' Derek gasped. The others looked up as Chicero looked down.
'You're right,' Janet said in shock, as Chicero watched disapprovingly.
'Do you know the story of these bulls? I listened to a podcast about how they stopped a serial killer. I think they're quite intelligent,' Derek said.
'Well, then. Can you get us out?' Janet yelled at Chicero. 'Do something!'
Chicero could not help. Disconcerted and confused, he grazed a little bit nearby, then walked down to the small lake at the bottom of the field, to the sound of arguing and shouting. His best friends Pepelito and Maribel were grazing by the lake. He cared for them greatly. Once, Pepelito had saved his life; Chicero would never, ever forget it.
'We're on the brink of a major discovery! We can't give up now!' Geoffrey shouted. Chicero swivelled his ears briefly, then ignored him. He informed Pepelito and Maribel on the situation, then ambled towards the lake. He loved swimming especially on a hot day like today. Slowly, he wandered from the shore into the water.
'What is all this? What were you trying to achieve here?' While immersing himself in the water, Chicero heard a voice carry from the top of the field. The guy was Pepelito's friend Jesus Dominguez. He had never caused Chicero any harm, in fact, the opposite, but being around humans brought back bad memories for the shy, timid bull.
'This could be the site of a major archaeological discovery,' Geoffrey replied. 'I'm not leaving until we've found it!'
'The only archaeological discovery here would be your skeleton if all this soil collapses in on you,' Dominguez said when he had finished laughing.
As Chicero swam out into the lake, he kicked his feet against the gravel, knocking a small, round, silvery object further into the depths.
It was an antique coin.
Word count: 900 words
