Bright hazel eyes would watch over the small tribe of humans beneath his perch... It was early in the morning and he'd be lying if he said he didn't want to feast on one of them for lunch... He was not a fan a humans... However he wasn't interested in becoming a coat or a rug, he knew how dangerous humans really were and since he was alone, it was best for him to just observe... He wasn't a big fan of packs either... The charcoal pelted tiger looked to his mangled side and almost grimaced... He knew now there was no room for trust in other tigers... And without others surviving was hard but he made it work.
Oh... This was interesting... He noted a small destruction of sabers beginning their descent onto the settlement, yellow eyes growing a little bit with curiosity... Did they think they were smart..? What were their plans..? He then remembered that curiosity killed the cat... Where did he learn that saying? He hummed before standing and beginning to trudge away from the battle, this was most likely not going to end well and he wasn't sure who he was rooting for.
After the sound of chaos was behind him, he had reached below the falls by this point, and the sounds that he had heard did indeed intrigue him and despite not being the curious sort, after hearing words he hummed softly and padded towards said conversation.
"If you find a mate in life, you should be loyal, in your case grateful. Now get away from me." A male voice groaned.
"Well I think mating for life is stupid, I mead there's plenty of Sid to go around ya know?" Another... More nasally voice replied.
The saber was hunched over some tall grass, listening in on the conversation but upon the words suddenly stopping, he stood and tilted his cranium, they stood by the river and stared at something he couldn't see. He huffed and inched a bit closer... And alas, a human woman... He raised his brows as his heckles stood but as she pushed a small bundle towards what seemed to be a mammoth and a ground sloth he sniffed the air... And the bundle was revealed to be a baby... How interesting... But just like that... She was swept away after dying of exhaustion.
"She's gone..." The sloth murmured but as the mammoth turned he stopped at seeing the saber.
"You should have taken a swing at me when you had the chance." The mammoth said and judgmentally eyed the tiger as the sloth picked up the baby.
"I wasn't planning on it... I may be hungry but I have a will to live..." The black saber replied and frowned at the mammoth.
"Yeah well I'm not here to be your friend, I'm even here to be his friend." The large prehistoric elephant scoffed and began walking away.
"M-Manny aren't you forgetting something?" The sloth said, holding the baby close after seeing the tiger eye the little morsel.
"No." The presumed Manny replied.
"But you just saved him! You're not just going to leave him to the tiger are you?" the sloth asked nervously, and quickly waddling to the mammoths side at seeing the slightly offended look overcome the black sabers expression.
"You know I understand you right? I'm not into eating defenseless babies... I am however into eating insulting walking fat pouches." He growled and the sloth gasped before hiding behind Manny.
"I'm still trying to get rid of the last thing I saved." Manny said stoically.
"Look there's smoke! His herd is up there!"
"Listen to me closely. I'm. Not. Going." Manny said sharply.
"Fine be a jerk, I'll take care of him." The sloth huffed and began walking towards the cliff sides, the black saber even raised his brows in silent amusement as he watched the sloth walk.
"Take care of him? You can't even take care of yourself! This I gotta see." The mammoth said in mock disbelief and the saber couldn't help but follow.
"Mind if I join you? I'm curious to see where this goes..." The tiger chortled.
"As long as you leave me alone after he falls." The mammoth replied.
"Deal... My name is Daemon."
"Manfred."
The show was quite entertaining... The black tiger took a seat next to Manfred quietly, smirking as he watched the sloth royally humiliate himself while Manny shouted taunts along the way. However amusement turned to concern very quickly as the baby began slipping.
"Manny!" The sloth shouted as the baby fell, Daemon quickly stood but seeing Manfred outstretch his trunk he watched helplessly until another tiger jumped to the rescue and caught the baby.
The mammoth was quick to smack the child out of the sabers maw and the tiger responded with a fierce growl and a swipe. Daemon frowned... He was certain this male was apart of the pride he saw attacking the village... However he said nothing. Though this could have ended badly, the orange cat cleared his throat and straightened his threatening posture.
"Uh, that pink thing is mine." He said and pointed to the baby, eyeing Daemon suspiciously, almost threateningly, but before Daemon could say anything, the sloth fell to their level.
"Actually he belongs to us." He stated confidently.
"Us..?" The other male tiger chortled. "You're a bit of an odd threesome." He commented, and almost on cue, both Manny and Daemon replied without a hitch.
"There is no us." They said in unison, briefly eyeing each other before glaring at the sloth.
"Couldn't have one of your own so you decided to adopt... If you're looking for the humans your wasting your time, they left this morning." The suspicious tiger mused. "... Give me the baby... I can track humans much faster then you two can."
"And you're just a good Samaritan looking to do his part." Manny said and looked to the sloth. "Okay I'll help you take it to it's herd, but promise me you'll leave me alone after I do." Manny grumbled to the sloth.
"Okay, okay!" The sloth sighed.
Daemon watched this play out silently and watched both the mammoth and the sloth begin their walk up the hill while the other saber, went the other, quicker way around. Daemon frowned and narrowed hazel eyes before following after the other tiger. He was waiting for the small herd on top of the cliff and Daemon approached.
"... What's your angle?" He asked the other who narrowed his eyes in reply.
"I'm returning it to it's herd." He replied defensively.
"... Uh huh... That'd why you attacked the settlement earlier?" Daemon presumed, watching the other's gaze widen a bit seeing as he had been caught in a lie.
"... This doesn't concern you, friend." The other male growled.
"The name is Daemon and we're not friends..." The black tiger stated seriously.
"... Diego." The other said just as the mammoth and the sloth met them on top of the hill.
"Oh that's perfect." Manny said begrudgingly.
"... He was telling the truth... The humans left." Daemon said, watching as Diego looked at him in slight surprise.
"They couldn't have gotten that far..." The sloth said and Daemon rolled his eyes.
"Everyone knows the humans have a settlement at glacier pass." Manfred said,
"Yeah well unless you know how to track, you'll never make it before the pass closes up with snow in about... Three days? You can give the baby to me r get lost in a blizzard... Your choice." Diego said smoothly.
Manny took a moment to think about this before handing the baby to the sloth to both tigers surprise.
"We'll return the baby." Manny said and the sloth quickly looked to Diego.
"Aw tigey-wigey is getting left behind, poor tigey-wigey." He taunted while condescendingly rubbing Diego's snout.
"Sid... Tigey-wigey is leading the way." Manny replied and watching Diego smirk while Sid the sloth went pale.
"Uh Manny can we talk?"
"No."
Daemon snorted lightly at their back and forth remarks before looking to Diego. "Good luck with that..." He said before beginning to walk in another direction.
"You're not coming along?" Diego said in surprise.
"... I don't do the whole... Herd thing..." Daemon replied before continuing to saunter away from the animal odd couple.
Daemon traveled in peace and quiet for a few hours, relishing the solitude before hearing the profoundly load demand of:
"ENOUGH!"
Daemon could have jumped, were they really not traveling far from each other?
The black tiger trotted towards the shout which lead him to the Dodo colony. From what he could see, Manny, Syd and Diego were trying to get a melon for the baby and as the event unfolded he could see the Dodos beginning to become aggressive. He quickly let out a loud roar, which surprised the birds enough to allow a melon to roll towards Sid. The small herd looked up to him as he did so.
"You might want to go!" He then shouted, but before they could make an escape, chaos unfolded.
Daemon quickly jumped down and went to Manny's side, but seeing Sid actually pull off an impressive retrieval, Daemon almost smiled... And after effectively shattering the melon, the baby downed it almost instantly.
"... I know where you can find more food." Daemon said and nodded, causing Manny to look at him suspiciously but reluctantly follow along with Sid and Diego who also looked over Daemon, pausing as he saw the large and unsightly scar stretching over the tigers right side, almost as if he had been struck by a large fiery stick.
Daemon led the small herd to a blueberry bush, watching the infant stuff his face happily before, managing a small crooked smile.
"Hey why don't you join us?" Sid asked, causing the smile to quickly fade from Daemon's features, Diego didn't hesitate to take note of that.
"... I don't think so..." Daemon replied.
"Oh come on! Personally I prefer you over Diego." Sid scoffed, and Daemon smirked at watching Diego's face contort into a sour expression.
"If you can track, you're welcome..." Manny said to Daemon's surprise and to Diego's dismay.
"... Normally I wouldn't but seeing as we met up again... I suppose for now." Daemon said and shrugged his shoulders.
"Hey we're actually turning into a herd." Sid laughed, causing everyone to turn their heads and slightly glare at him.
"Let's go..." Manny sighed and the group began moving forward.
Perhaps this wasn't the worst idea Daemon had ever had...
Upon settling for the night, Daemon watched everyone beginning to get comfortable... He on the other hand, had work to do.
"Hey, midnight, where are you off to?" Manny asked.
"I work better at night." Daemon replied.
"I've never seen another black tiger." Sid said, causing Diego to look over as well.
"... Yeah, neither have I... I'll be back in the morning... Diego, you interested?" Daemon offered, and despite Diego's surprise, he shook his head.
"I'm alright." He said and watched Daemon walk away.
Daemon sighed and walked forward, skulking around in the empty land, since most mammals had began the migration, the pickings were slim. However, spotting a deer not far off he crouched and circled downwind until the chase began.
Diego on the other hand was happy Daemon left, he didn't trust him yet and he had his own work to do. After two failed attempts at trying to snatch the baby, he realized he was being watched by Zeke and Oscar.
"What're you two doing here?" He growled.
"Tracking helpless infants to tough for you, Diego?" Oscar asked, earning a snarl of disapproval from Diego.
"Yeah, Soto said come back with the baby or don't come back at all." Zeke cackled.
"Tell Soto I'm bringing the baby... And I'm bringing a mammoth." Diego mused, watching shock overcome his pack mates. "Get everyone ready..." He said.
"Alright, be careful there's an unfamiliar male in the area... Want us to take care of him?" Oscar asked, and after brief hesitation, Diego nodded. Now Daemon would be out of the way...
Hey guys, I know right? ANOTHER fanfiction? Well I hope you all enjoy it! I love Diego.~
-Eros