STRANGER

A/N: HEY! It's me! I'm back and boy do I got a story! I hope you guys like it; it has nothing to do with my last little…uh…5 story thingy. I know a trilogy is 3 of the same but what's 5 called? Ahhh…pentlogy? I dunno, but anyway, here it is! Yes, Ellie, Crash and Eddie are in this one so don't ask. Kay? Good, enjoy!

Chapter 1- Satoshi

"GET BACK HERE YOU LITTLE VERMIN!!" the angry saber roared.

"Heads up Crash, he's gainin'!" Eddie yelled to his brother.

It was about mid-day and the sun hung high over the desert-like area. This was around the time Diego took his…catnap. (Hey big cat or little cat, ALL cats nap at least once during the day!)

Now they didn't mean anything by it, they just wanted to have a little fun…and it's not like water was poisonous or anything! Ellie, Manny and Sid watched as Diego attempted to catch the mischievous brothers.

"Diego go easy on 'em! They were just playing!" Ellie yelled.

Diego snarled "I'LL RIP THEM APART!!!"

Ellie started to get up.

Manny rolled his eyes "Come on Ellie, you know he's not gonna do it."

"I don't know, he sounded pretty serious this time…" she said slowly.

Sid waved carelessly "Ah Diego always sounds serious! If he was half as serious as he sounds, I know I wouldn't be here right now!"

For a while after the 'flood', they had been living in a little cave that was in the side of a mountain and when it came right down to it, that was really all they needed so they never bothered to leave, food was close, for them and Diego. Yep, it was pretty perfect...er, kinda.

Diego chased the brothers away from the cave.

Crash looked back "Ahhh, he's still chasin' us! I thought he woulda given up by now!"

"Quick, plan B!" Eddie said quickly.

Both nodded and ran off in different directions.

Diego paused for a moment, at first trying to decide who to go after, but then he noticed something. Though they went in different directions they both went underground, which meant…

"They're just going to met up under the dirt and try and sneak out behind me…HA! They think I'll fall for that again?" he thought with a smirk. Diego put his ear to the ground where, sure enough, he heard the scurrying feet meet together and move.

As soon as they popped out Diego pounced.

"AHH! Quick, plan C!"

Eddie nodded "Right! Whack-A-Possum!"

Both ducked in and out of holes as Diego jumped for them.

"Over here!"

"No, over here!"

"I did it!"

"No I did!"

"Well it was MY idea!"

"Was not!"

"Was to!"

"DIEGO! Over here!"

For a moment Diego jumped from hole to hole. But then, he stopped. An annoyed look crossed his face and he sat still. Both Crash and Eddie were confused by this and came out of the same hole.

"GOTTCHA!"

They barely had time to let out a yelp as Diego suddenly grabbed them by the tails. He growled "If you guys EVER put water in my ears while I'm sleeping again I SWEAR I'll…whoa…"

Eddie and Crash stopped cringing in fear to see why he'd stopped yelling at them.

They both gasped at the sight.

Diego had chased them pretty far away from the cave, almost completely out of there sight. The three of them watched in shock at what was in front of them...it was something they didn't see to much out in the middle of nowhere...

Wolves never traveled alone, they were very social animals and always stayed in packs! Yet, in front of them, a lone wolf staggered forward.

He had pure white fur though now it was stained with a red tint and though he was at a distance they could still see plainly that he was pretty badly injured. His back, head and two of his legs were bleeding.

Blood ran from his head over his right eye that was squeezed shut and his mouth was open as he panted heavily. It was hard to tell if it were from heat or because he was injured and dehydrated or what! The eye that was open was an electric blue as he limp forward.

Diego still held the possums and all three stared at the wolf in shock.

How was he still living?

The wolf groaned as he came forth "Uuugh…h-h-hey…d-d-…do you have…w-w-water?" his voice sounded horse and cracked with the heat.

Diego, at a completely loss of words, just shook his head numbly.

The wolf came to a stop though he swayed side to side. A pained smile crossed his face "…Th…thought so…uh." And just like that, he collapsed.

Diego released the possum brothers and walked to the wolf. He moved the wolf's head to one side. This guy wasn't faking, he was seriously hurt. "…Well? Come on! Help me get this guy on my back." He said as he bent down to the wolf.

Eddie and Crash helped as much as they could to get the injured dog-ancestor on his back.

Once Diego had him the two ran ahead to tell the rest what happened.

"ELLLIEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!" they shrieked.

Ellie looked up as her two brothers ran back to the cave, neither bothered to stop and scurried up to her back. Both jumped on her head "Ellie, Ellie, Ellie! You know how we got Diego mad and he started chasing us?" Crash said quickly

"And we outsmarted him and stuff?"

"Nice bro."

"Back at ya."

Ellie blinked "Uh, yeah, and?"

"Well, he was chasing us and then, right there in front of us-"

"There was this injured wolf! The guy was practically dead!"

"He asked us for water but we didn't have any so now Diego's bringin' him back here!"

Manny stood up "Look."

Sure enough, they could see Diego come up to the cave with said wolf on his back.

Manny frowned "…Sid, go get some water…"

He nodded and scurried to the nearest waterhole.

Ellie squinted "Who do you think it is?"

He frowned "I don't know…we don't see to many people come out this far...what could he want?"

Diego walked all the way into the cave before placing the wolf down.

Manny looked down at him "He looks to be in bad shape…and you just found him like this."

"We didn't actually find him. He found us. I was chasing the rodents when he suddenly walked up from nowhere…" Diego said slowly.

Ellie stared down at the wolf with concern "…Guys…I'm not one to be depressin', but…I don't think he's gonna make it…"

Diego sighed, "Well I had to do something! I couldn't just leave the guy out there!"

---

It was dark…very dark…

He was shivering, why was it so cold around him all of a sudden? Though his eyes were closed he felt cool liquid hit his face and burning flesh. It seemed to ease his pain as he relaxed into it.

Slowly, he forced an eye open.

He groaned "Uuuuugh…wh…where am I?" he heard himself murmur, though it sounded as though he'd yelled it.

Around him it was fairly cool and the floor was damp…he was in a cave. But that didn't matter, it was those who surrounded him that shocked him the most. It looked like two mammoths, a sloth, a tiger and two possums.

He closed his eye in pain "Great, now I'm going insane…" he thought.

"Hey buddy, who are you?"

"Diego! Don't ask him stuff now, lets just let him rest."

The two voices that spoke sounded like they were shouting, he winced in pain. Slowly, he forced his eye to open once more. "Ugh…Satoshi." He said softly.

Everyone looked back at him once more "What?"

"My name, is Satoshi…" he repeated.

The saber moved closer "Why are you here, what happened to you?"

'Satoshi' as he's now known groaned. His head felt like it was being pounded with hammers. He struggled to lift his head "Uhh…R…R…Rashiu…" he whispered. Pain started to engulf him once more and he soon found it hard to keep his consciousness.

As suddenly as he'd woken up, he was asleep once more.

---

The group looked at each other.

Ellie looked at Manny "…Have you ever heard of a…Raw-shoe?"

He shook his head "No. How about a…Saw-toe-she?"

Diego frowned "The names are obviously foreign…but from where?"

Sid shook his head "I don't know…I mean, I've never seen any white wolves around here…"

Diego looked at Satoshi once more "…Makes you wonder how far our friend has traveled…more so, why's he here?" No one had an answer for that. All they knew was that if they wanted answers Satoshi would have to live through the night.

End A/N: OK! That's all I can think of right now! So, how's that for a start? Good? I hope I've got your interest 'cuz there's more to come! Stay tuned!