Hi, I would just like to say that so far the story is going well. If you have read it and like it please let me know. It will encourage me to keep going. Even if you don't like it, let me know and I will try to improve. Thanks ;)
The sun was high in the sky when the stopped. Manny wanted to keep going just a bit further to the very edges of saber territory but Diego told him no. "Manny, out here is unclaimed turf. If these sabers are anything like where I'm from they'll expand a bit, patrolling beyond their borders, especially if the area is unclaimed." The bull mammoth had reluctantly agreed. Together they had agreed on a spot for the camp. The possum brothers made a beeline for her.
"Hey Donna, wanna look fer food with us?"
"Yeah, we can find the best berries I'll bet!"
Donna laughed, her eyes twinkling. "Sorry, boys. 'm in the mood for a good hunt. Another time, kay? I don't think Diego's able to bring in enough food to feed me!" They cracked up as Diego walked past muttering, "I heard that." Donna hurried after him as she called to the twins, "Bring back some berries and I'll eat them at least."
Diego moved fast, not at all concerned about the weasel that was jogging to keep up with him. The silence between them pounded in Donnas' ears. "Soo… you wanna hunt together, I could help and we could share the kill." Diego felt a warm rush towards the weasel. She sounded just like the member of a pack might as they set of together to stop the rumbling in their bellies. In a pack you shared the kill with the one that helped bring the game down.
Donna half expected him to turn down her offer saying, Yeah, right. What could a little weasel like you do to bring down a saber-sized game? Maybe, however, he realized she could help or maybe he missed the sense of unity that came from working together to get food. Diego grinned at her and said, "Sure, I could use a helper. Now, let's go track down some meat."
Manny lumbered over to Ellie. "Is it a good idea to bring the weasel with us? She's an extra mouth for Diego to feed and everyone knows you can't trust a weasel found on its own." Ellie looked at him in a way that said; this weasel is different. If she ever was a killer like the stories say she's not any more. You didn't trust Diego and look at you guys now. He sighed and nudged her gently. "You know predators make me nervous." Ellie wrapped her truck up in his. "I know they do but don't think about it. Look, this place is nice, why don't we take a walk. Sid is with Crash and Eddie and Donna and Diego went hunting." Manny smiled, the wounds of the past were finally starting to heal.
There, an unsuspecting antelope was grazing peacefully, obviously unaware of the saber at its back and the weasel to its left. Donna held a lush tuft of grass in her paw and waved it alluringly. The antelope wandered over to the tuft, ready to munch down on it. Just as its mouth closed around the plant, Donna released the grass and leapt for the animal's throat. Diego jumped out from behind a rock and landed on the antelopes back. It danced about and tossed its head as it tried to rid itself of the weasel and the tiger.
Donna bit into the soft flesh of the throat until she tasted blood. Then, still biting down, she shook her head from side to side, Diego distracting her prey enough to keep it from throwing her. She clawed at the animal's eyes and, blinded, it tripped. Diego leaned over to deal the killing bite. Blood pumping, adrenaline rushing through them, they stared at the beast they had brought down with relative ease.
"Where I come from," stated Diego, "We drink the blood of the fallen while the kill is fresh. It symbolizes the strength flowing into you. It also creates a bond between hunters, knowing the animals' blood runs through both of their veins. Will you share with me, sister?" his hazel-green eyes were genuine but Donna was unsure and he prompted further.
"You fought like a saber just now; few weasels could take down a buck like that, even with my help." Donna glowed with the praise as she bent near the animal's bloodied throat. Diego bent near her and began to lap up the blood. Donna flicked her tongue on the edge of the wound and lost control over herself. Never had the blood of another tasted so good. Diego was right, she could feel strength flowing into her like water, perhaps though, it was just the feeling that teamwork left behind.
"Ack, oh uh, guysh, wait up! I'm shtuck." Sid was indeed stuck, his foot had sunk into the ground and he couldn't get it out. "Ahh! Quickshand, I'm shinking, help!" Crash and Eddie hurried over. "Dude, don't you look where you step. It's just mud"
"Grab our tails." The possum boys pulled with all their might but Sid would not budge. Then, without warning, six, hungry-looking saber-toothed tigers surrounded them. One of them, presumably the leader barked, "Back away from the sloth!" Crash and Eddie didn't need to be told twice. Winking once at Sid, they scrambled up a tree the sabers would have difficulty climbing; its branches so dense the two possum had to squeeze to get up.
"Diego, Donna, where are you guys, we need help!"
"Com'on guys, please hurry, something big is trying to eat us and Sid."
The big cats circled Sid. One of them, a small female broke off to sniff him, but backed away immediately. "Ick, this one smells like he hasn't taken a bath since the day he was born, and," she took another whiff, "like he rolls in poop every day." Her silky voice was laced with disgust.
"Which is why," said a casual voice in the undergrowth, "you would really eat him, would you?" Donna strolled out into the open with Diego at her side. The other sabers looked genuinely taken aback. The leader stepped forward and spoke to Diego. "What are you doing here, brother, in the company of a weasel?"
"And what are you doing, brother, threatening to eat something like that." Diego gestured to Sid. "I thought sabers out here had some standards, however low." The pack leader growled, "I asked you first." He took a step forward and Diego sighed. "Fine, have it your way. The weasel is my hunting partner."
"Ha, weasels and sabers don't hunt together. Everyone knows that weasels are weak!" The leader was actually making guttural sounds that could have been laughter. Diego ignored that. "Not this weasel," he growled. "Hmnph, well if this weasel is so powerful I say we take her and the green thing with us. We will drink of her blood and grow strong."
Donna stepped out, staff ready, eyes blazing. At the sight of her eyes the sabers did indeed take a step back. "So this," she waved a paw at the mud Sid was stuck in, "Is how you catch food? You can't even hunt in the open like real predators. Instead you lure prey into these to get stuck and you finish them and they can't even fight back. That's just cowardly. I tell you what, if you fight all of us and lose, we keep the green thing. If we lose, you get Sid and me."
The possums scurried from the tree to stand by her and Diego and Sid was pulled out of the mud by the sabers. The head of the pack raised an eyebrow but nodded and took a fighting stance."Fine, it's a deal." Donna feinted to his left and he lunged, saying "behold her eyes, we must have her!" Donna leapt over him and thwacked him hard on his rump, momentarily paralyzing him. "Diego, take the leader!"With that she leapt into the fray, striking out at anything and everything.
They fought hard and well but the sheer mass of the enemy was turning the tables. We're losing; the only way to end it is to stop the leader. Somewhere along the way Donna and the others boarded Diego's train of thought. She jumped on the leader's head and brought her staff down on it. Diego clawed at his side and the possums pulled his toes apart in painful directions. Sid pulled hard on his tail. Finally, he gasped out, "Keep the green thing and your weasel. I don't want the foul creature's blood running inside me. Retreat, we keep our word as a pack."
The silky-voiced female objected. "But Hawthorn…her eyes---"
"I said retreat, Novi!" Hawthorn's eyes regained some spark as he growled. "Back to the den, let's go! Move!" Diego and the others stared at their retreating backs. Finally he turned to the possums and Sid. "Grab what you gathered and go back to camp. Then wash any injuries. Donna, we'd better go and check if our antelope is where we left it."
"It had better be." was all she said.
Ellie stared at the sky. "Manny, it getting dark and everyone's been gone awhile. Do you think their alright?"
"If I know Sid he'll have gotten into some trouble gotten back out, and will be back any second. Diego most likely is brooding over a missed piece of prey and I don't really know the---the weasel." He was confident sounding but he said the word 'weasel' with distaste. Ellie looked at him. "Manny, let's get something straight. Her name is Donna and I expect you to use it. She's part of the herd for as long as she's traveling with us so you had better treat her that way."
They both looked up at the rustling bushes. Sid and the possums emerged, covered in blood. Whether it was their own or not, Ellie couldn't tell. "Oh my gosh, what happened?"Crash and Eddie bounded over to her and sat on her tusks. "Sabers, Ellie. Sid got stuck in a mud hole and they came out of nowhere!"
"Yeah, then we all got into a fight. All of us helped bring down the leader and they left." Eddie's eye's still looked fearful. "Telling the story of out bravery, were you?" Donna sauntered over and leaned on one of Elli's tusks. Diego padded beside her. "This here weasel is a great hunter; we brought down a huge antelope. I wouldn't have been able to do it without her. And a good fighter too, knocked two of the said sabers out cold."
Manny turned on her. "How do we know you're not planning anything funny? Diego says you brought down two sabers on your own and there's only one of him." Donna rolled her eyes. "Please, Manfred, if I had been planning to do anything to any of you I could have and would have done it by now. Besides, I don't even really know you guys, why would I want to hurt you?" Manny had no answer, so he changed the subject. "Sid, will you make the fire, it's getting cold."
They had told Donna about returning Pinky (the little human in the first movie) to his herd and about escaping the flood. The she-weasel had held onto every word with wide eyes. When they finished the play by play accounts, Sid glanced at Donna. "Now it'sh your turn to tell ush a shtory."
"Aw, no. There's nothing to tell."
"Shure there is; you have a life too. And we just told you two stories. You have to tell a leasht one." Sid looked at her pleadingly. Diego looked at her as well and soon all the eyes in the herd were on Donna. She sighed. "Alright…let's see here. Ahh, here's a winner."
Snow covered the ground and the fur of the weasel that dared brave the storm. Abruptly the earth under her paws gave way to ice and she found herself sliding along. Within moments she had mastered skating across the ice. She was delighted, now she could get home even faster.
Suddenly the ice seemed to shake and a roar that seemed to come from far below her rattled her bones. She raced even faster across the ice. Unexpectedly, it gave way beneath her back legs and she clung desperately to the sharp edges around the hole, the bottom half of her body dangling into the bowels of the world. The ice she held on to cracked and she felt it sag a bit under her weight. Desperately she pulled upwards. She hauled herself up and scampered onto thicker ice.
She was so cold she didn't even realize she had cut herself on the ice until she saw blood staining the white surface. She looked around franticly for something to stop the bleeding. The she-weasel packed snow into the belly wound. That done she crept back to the edge of the ice and peered down.
Mist. Thick, heavy clouds, just a few hundred feet down. The sound of splintering ice told her to get off. Then, as fast as her wound would allow her she skated across the cold surface. More than happy to get off the ice, she leapt onto the solid ground, panting with exertion. From there it was but a twenty minute walk to the den. But when she got there…
Blood spattered the cold stone walls and the place was in disrepair. She walked in a bit further and then she saw them. Her family, her big brother and little sister, her mother and father and half blind grandmother. All lying in puddles of thick weasel blood, dead. The weasel knelt beside them, stoking their fur.
An evil chuckle behind her made her turn to face five giant wolves. She cowered for a moment before glimpsing her brother's staff. She grabbed for it and tensed. "What do you want?"
"To see all weasels DEAD!" the wolves leapt at her throat and she ran; ran to the hole in the ice. With a stunning leap she cleared it and sent the pack over the edge. She watched as the last wolf disappeared into the swirling clouds. Her red and purple eyes were cold and she held the baton tight, knowing she would never let it go, it was hers now.
She glanced down at the armband that she wore just above her elbow. She had no family now. With shaking paws she gently removed it. She traveled back to the den and laid it by her brother. "I took something of yours, now you take something of mine." With that she turned and headed out, back into the storm. She would not bury the dead; the storm would do it for her. She looked at the sky and felt the agony, the grief, struggling to get out but the tears would not come. And yet she knew that for the first time, now probably forever, Donna the weasel was alone.
And the storm swallowed her like a hungry beast.
"I still have the scar from cutting myself on the ice." Donna parted her belly fur and they all saw the jagged line marking her skin. "Of course, that was not nearly as painful as losing my family, but like I said, it was a long time ago, it doesn't matter anymore. Besides, now I can live my life with nothing to tie me down. I don't need a family anymore; I've learned to survive on my own. And I have never shed a tear over their deaths."
"You just left? Didn't you have anywhere to go, the den of a mate or---"
"I didn't have a mate, Ellie, and I hope I never do. Love hurts too much. You think it's there forever and then it's ripped away, just like that, and it hurts so damn much you think it'll kill you. The only thing love has ever given me is heartache." Her eyes were cast down and she almost regretted telling the story of that painful night. Almost, but not quite. It felt good to get it out after all that time, besides, she felt like these were animals who, if she ever had a family again, she would want it to be like them.
The stars were bright and they sky was clear. The fire had gone out a long time ago and most of the herd was asleep. Diego looked up at the sky, thinking about what he had heard. Donna is strong, stronger than most and after what I heard tonight, I think I know why. Living alone probably isn't easy, especially if you're a weasel. Have I ever gone through something like that? No, he hadn't. The more he thought about it the more he realized just how hardy Donna must be to have never cried once over the death of her whole family.
He glanced over to her sleeping form. The herd, meaning himself, the mammoths, possums and Sid, slept in a relatively close bunch. The she-weasel, on the other hand was a ways off, snuggled under a leaf. He noticed that she held the baton tightly to her, clutched it like it was made of gold. He noticed that she was shivering slightly. The leaf probably didn't provide much warmth and it could only get colder.
He silently made his way over to her then stopped. Was she awake? Her eyes were just slits buts slits, as far as he was concerned, were open eyes. Reaching out a paw he prodded her gently. She stirred and muttered something that sounded a bit like 'Hailer'. He poked her again and this time she woke. "Hmmn?" Her eyes were large and held the moon in them. Diego looked slightly uncomfortable but said anyway, "Er…well, I thought you looked cold and thought that, uh, you'd like to sleep with the herd?"
Donna looked a bit taken aback but accepted faster than she had with any other offer. "Sure, thanks. It is a bit chilly." She walked over and curled up. In a moment she and Diego, his paw gently slung over her, were fast asleep.
I would like to let any readers know, just to avoid confusion, that there will be NO Diego/Donna.
Reason #1. She's a weasel and he's a saber-toothed tiger.
Reason #2. I would like their feelings towards each other to be completely 'brotherly/sisterly'
Reason #3. I have Donna's future planed out. If you guess, please DO NOT ask me to change my mind.
Thanks 4 Reading!
