Alright, part two of THE AFTERMATH is up. I'm actually glad I didn't junk this idea, it seems like once I expanded on things it got a little easier to write. It takes a bit, but I get it done :p. Alright, ENJOY!
Chapter 1: "The Aftermath"
Part II
III
"You said it's being hunted?" Manny asked quietly, slightly hunched beside Diego in an attempt to remain hidden. Diego chuckled inwardly as he realized the awkwardness of an herbivore trying to spy on another herbivore, with a meat eater.
"Yes. I don't know by what though." The saber's eyes scanned the surrounding area, but found nothing. Then, he realized it was because they didn't want to be found.
They're hunting you idiot, stealth is key. A low growl rang through the trees, and the Megaloceros bellowed. It stamped it feet into the ground, threatening any who dare come towards him. He lowered his horns till they in line with his body and swung them around lightly.
Scare tactics. Still, that's one big mammal. It was true. Twice his size, it was. For a moment Diego contemplated the idea of a lone predator bent on taking down an animal that size. "It would make for a nice meal.."
"What?" Manny asked, slightly baffled at the random comment.
"I said there are wolves hunting this thing." Diego responded coolly. Nice save…
"Wolves? Where?" Sid squinted his eyes, trying to see what the saber had spotted. After seconds of trying in his usual lazy manner. The sloth spoke up. "I see nothing!"
Diego was surprised by the mammoths swiftness. He'd never seen reflexes so fast in his friend. With a quick turn the mammoth swung his trunk, striking the sloth across the head. A quiet but stern "Sssshhhh!" followed, and the sloth didn't speak another word.
"How do you know, Diego?" Ellie asked in a light toned whisper, unsure of what was going on entirely. She stood behind Manny, keeping her eyes behind them in case anything tried to ambush the group. Crash and Eddie stood on the tigers back, despite his disapproval.
How do you know, tough guy? He shook his head. He was sure. His intuition told him. Years of stalking, tracking and tailing have tightened his skills. He wasn't the best, this he was sure of. But if you were to ask him?
"I'm damn good." he said as he watched two wolves tread though the grass. They looked at each other, only about fifty feet, give or take from the animal, still undetected. With a quick nod, one of the wolves, a brown furred one with a good scar running down it's flank howled. The wolf to it's side was colored black, slimmer and longer than it's companion. Megaloceros flinched, startled from the sounds. As it turned to see the incoming predators, two more emerged from the left side, hopping over one of the rocks that was supposed to be guarding the newly deemed victim.
"We wait for them to leave. No doubt they've set it up to lead him away from this area." Diego murmured to himself. The chase had begun, with the buck making a quick and, to Diego's surprise wise decision to charge the two leading the hunt. His rear legs kicked out, jetting his powerful body several feet ahead before all legs were moving at full speed. He lowered his head as he got close and attempted to literally impale the wolves. The brown wolf, a bit stunned by the action, stumbled back and leaped to the side, barely missing the dangerous spear-like horns.
"Chase after him!" He heard the black one speak. It was clear by the sound of the voice that it was female. The two wolves in the rear kicked up their speed, with the other two right behind it. They turned right, then a sharp left, attempting to confuse the animal. The brown wolf made his way up to the prey's right side, and snapped his jaws at it. The buck, not frightened by the movement, swung its horns to the right. It was there that Diego saw the wolf make a fatal mistake. They scaled the hill and went over it, and as the buck swung the wolf attempted to bite into it's neck, but instead made a misstep and tripped, sending his body rolling into the ground. With a loud snap Diego heard the horn make contact with it's body, and a loud cry rang out into the plains as the wolf was sent reeling into a tree.
He saw no more. The wolves were gone, and whether they continued the chase or stopped was no longer his concern.
IV
Dax smelled the air as he walked. With his ability to scent anything for miles, Dax was confident that his nose was better use than his eyes in this situation. This world was alive, and he realized rather quickly that he preferred the company of the living.
Desmond stood on his back, allowing his companion to do his thing. His feet swayed slightly as Dax's back muscles shifted along with his pace. Everything seemed calm, with the only sounds being the wind moaning softly against their ears. A slight chill ran down his spinefur, and he stepped forward until he was right below his ride's neck.
Dax perked his ears with interest. "What's wrong Desmond?"
"Nothing," the weasel spoke low, "It's just quiet out here." It was eerie, the silence. It had no voice, yet it spoke volumes. Desmond smiled, having come up with a thought in his head. He laid down so he was staring up to the sky, his body aligned with Dax"s neck. He placed his paws behind his head for a bit more cushion. Then he spoke.
"Do you know what I said to myself when I first saw you?"
Dax smirked, eager to know. "I'm guessing it wasn't how cute I looked."
"Hm, well.. no, not really. When I first saw you come into the clearing, I was telling myself how many ways I could kill you at the moment."
Dax frowned, "Because I was a predator?" His voice told Des that the comment upset him.
"No."
"Because I was a threat?"
"No."
Dax shook his head, tired of the guessing game. "Are you going to tell me why?"
"It was because I didn't think I could raise you. When my mate died she was pregnant, and actually having the baby. It was unexpected, but I did what I could to help her." Dax heard Desmond sigh, but didn't speak a word.
"There was a complication during the delivery. She started to bleed profusely, the baby had come out, but she didn't stop bleeding." Another pause, and Dax was considering at this point trying to change the subject.
"It was stillborn. She ended up bleeding out, asking if it was okay. I didn't tell her."
"Why not?" asked Dax.
"I don't know, better for her to die not knowing, I suppose. She kept her eyes on me, too afraid to look at the mess, or maybe she just wanted her last second memory to be of me. Either way, I didn't leave her side, and when she passed I buried her." Dax pushed the image out of his head, focusing instead on the road ahead of him.
"I didn't think I would ever have the heart to even look at a child. For days I stayed awake thinking about how I could've helped her more. I know there wasn't anything I could do, but I guess that's just survivor's guilt. Then you came along. I thought you were going to die, so I ignored you, but you just wouldn't let up. You were too innocent. So I took you in."
"And now you're stuck with me." Dax spoke up, pulling Desmond out of the memory. He had talked briefly about his wife before, but never with this much detail. Desmond chuckled lightly at the comment, appreciative of the scimitars empathy.
"Yeah, now I'm stuck with you. I suppose it could be worse."
Dax raised an eyebrow, "Oh yeah, how's that?"
"I could be stuck alone." Dax's smile once again faded. The two once again traveled in silence. Dax sniffed the air again, and stopped abruptly.
"What is it?" Desmond asked as he got back on his feet.
Dax shook his head. The pack of wolves.. They're nearby. I smell them." He sniffed again, turning his head to the left. "This way." He bounded along the grass towards a bush, and lowered himself down. In the clearing were two wolves, one of them was a brown furred male. His body was thickly built with green eyes. He was accompanied by a black wolf, slimmer and sporting a scar on her rear leg.
"Let's hope Katia does her job. You always put those two together, you know all they do is goof off. If you ask me they should just mate and get it over with." The black one said.
"And I s'pose you'll be the one to set that up, mate? Admit it, you wish you 'ad Sin. 'e's a good huntah with an excahllent personality." The brown wolf spoke sarcastically, sending a devious smirk towards his companion.
"Nah, I couldn't deal with his smell." The brown one let out a suppressed laugh.
"C'mon, let's do this." he raised his head and howled, signaling others to begin the chase. Within seconds the two were watching the pack of wolves attempt to take down the buck. As they left, Dax emerged from the bush with Desmond beside them, and the two decided to leave. Dax set a quick pace towards the hill, watching the wolves head towards it as well. They would go east while the wolves traveled west.
"Well that was interesting, I-"
The two were cut off, surprised by a loud cry tearing through the silence. Within seconds Dax had made the decision to follow it. Des grabbed his mane, using it to steady himself as Dax ran full speed towards the sounds.
In seconds they reached the source, finding the brown wolf sprawled out on the ground and crying out in pain. Desmond jumped off of his friend and assessed the situation. Here, in front of them was an injured predator. He could help it, give it aid and, should it live have to deal with the thought of it turning around and kill them without second thought.
"Are you going to help him?" Dax inquired.
Desmond took a step forward, "Can you hear me?" he asked the wolf. It lifted it's head and responded with a nod, it's cries now moans. Des knew that the adrenaline rushing through his body would wear down soon enough, and when it did he would be feeling it a whole lot more. He walked towards the beast, placing his paws on the animal, feeling the wound. He ran his paw along the gash on his flank, covering it with blood as it leaked from the wound. It would bleed out in days, yes, but it would be infected before then.
"You're jus' gonna help me?" Asked the wolf. He groaned as Desmond applied a bit of pressure on the wound.
"Do you want to live?" The weasel asked hurriedly.
"I dun see why no'.
Dax walked up to the wounded wolf, "What can I do?" He asked Desmond. Desmond simply grabbed his paw and placed it on the wound.
"Apply pressure, keep your paws where it's bleeding the most." He ordered as he began searching for herbs. He headed for a nearby tree towards the bottom of the hill. It was an apple tree, blooming all by itself. Under a patch of some broken sticks he stepped in a sticky substance, very viscous and pale in color. He looked up, trying to find where the source of this substance was. Up in the tree, a bees nest was nestled in between two branches, overtaking them. Honey dripped on the ground, a couple droplets landing on his face.
"That'll work." he said to himself. Thanking his species for their ability to climb, he swiftly scaled the tree, coming face to face with several large, easy to anger bees guarding the nest. He didn't need very much, just enough to cover the wound after Dax licked it clean, which he was sure he could convince him to do easily enough. Predators love the taste of blood, don't they?
V
Desmond held the small patch of honey in his paws, it was slimy and slightly solid. He broke a piece of it off and tasted it, savoring the sweet smell of the substance.
"Alright, back to work."
VI
"Daxter. Move your paws." Desmond panted as he hurried over to the wound. Blood had started to pool around the leg, the wound was deeper than he thought.
"Alright, lick the wound." He said, pointing towards the leg.
Dax recoiled, disgusted. "I'm not licking that! He's a mangy mutt!"
"'EY, why dontcha watch ya words, mate, I'm not harassing you 'bout ya looks, walk on off insteda insultin' meh!" The wolf snapped back. Desmond smiled, amused by the response.
"He showed you. Do it."
Dax cringed, woeful of whatever untasteful things were stuck in this dog's fur. Placing his paws strategically so that they were straddling the wound, he began to do what he was told. His mouth became overwhelmed by the taste of blood as he cleaned the wound, it was sour and mixed with dirt. Not exactly what he was expecting, but he continued nonetheless.
"Where's your pack?" Desmond knew the answer, but decided to ask anyway just to stay a conversation. He motioned for Dax to step away from the wound, bringing the honey beside him as he kneeled down to inspect it.
"Oh, they arn't too fah away, mate. They're hidin' 'n the grass, waiting to kill ya shouldja decide to hurt meh." It was unsettling to Dax the way he said it. So casual, like it was just another day in his life.
"The black one, is she-"
"Mah mate. Yes, she is."
"Any pups?" Desmond asked.
"Once. Two boys 'n one girl, though she seemed more like a male then the boys." Desmond chuckled with the wolf, thinking of how many reasons that could be in his head. He broke the honeycomb over the wound, causing the substance to spill over it. The wolf sighed in relief, feeling the pain lessen in only a few moments.
"Flood got to 'em. Went overboard moments after it launched into the water. I hope they passed re' quick. Horrible wa' t' go." Desmond frowned, understanding of the sorrow he saw in the wolf's eyes as he spoke.
"I forgot your name." He said.
"Aye, that's cuz I never gave it to ya."
"Are you going to?" He looked at the wolf, and the wolf looked back at him.
"Boone. Call me Boone, mate. Mah real name's Miles."
Desmond nodded, "Well Boone, have you ever heard of safety first? Did you just let whatever you were hunting skewer you or did you lose a bet with it?"
Boone snarled at him, offended by the comment. "Aye was huntin', mate but I wouldn't do this on purpose!"
"I was kidding." Des spoke as he finished rubbing honey along the wound. "Your leg will be fine. Just try not to do anything risky for a while."
"He's right, Boone." Another voice spoke up. Emerging from the tall grass at their right flank was the black wolf. She padded up to Boone and nuzzled him affectionately before turning her attention to the two. "My name is Alice, and this is my bumbling husband."
"Someone is in fo' a rough night." Boone growled. Alice smirked at the bold comment, however inappropriate it was.
"I'm Dax, and this is-"
"Desmond. I know. He was on the boat with me." Alice let a small smile sweep through before it quickly faded.
"Wait.. ya two survived the flood?" Boone asked, groaning as he posted himself back onto all fours delicately. Alice assisted using her flank as a hoist for his own body.
"Yeah, we were towards the front, where were you?" Dax responded, taking his place by Desmond's side. The weasel placed a paw on his shoulder, softly gripping the fur as he always did.
"I was towd's the bahk, mate. Alice 'n I were separated, after some o' my pack members went overboard. I still remember.." Boone lowered his ears sorrowfully, the memory flooding through him. "We ah the only fo' remaining members, which.." he turned his head behind him.
"Leon!"
"Katia!"
Two other wolves emerged from the grass one was a male, taller and slightly slimmer than Boone, with blue eyes beaming from his sockets. The other wolf was female, also a brown and grey coat. She smiled as they approached.
"Whatevah unspeakable thing you were doin' in those bushes-"
"Not now, Boone." Alice interjected rather harshly towards him. It was clear her intensity was what earned her place beside him. She glared over at the two wolves, then promptly returned her attention to Dax.
"You're traveling with him?" She asked softly, the change of tone coming as a surprise to the scimitar.
"Yes. We left the valley trying to find my sister, Una." At this, Alice perked her ears up, interested in the name. Her reaction sparked hope in Dax. Desmond, noticing the exchange of body language, took a step forward, meeting the wolf's eyes.
"You know where she is, don't you." It wasn't a question, it was a statement of acknowledgement.
Alice stood there, contemplating her next move.
"Where is she, Alice?" Desmond repeated, a more stern tone had ushered itself out of his voice, realizing the heaviness of the newfound information just released to them. Daxter stood behind him, frozen out of anticipation of the response.
"To the west." She breathed out with a sigh, "They hold territory before those mountains. I've met her once before while we were out hunting. It's not too far from here, but it's quite the walk." She sat on her haunches, receiving a loving lick from Boone as she spoke.
Dax didn't waste his time asking the question that was digging around his head. "Who's leading the pack?"
Desmond gave the scimitar a passing glare. Now he wants to go find the entire pack? They'll both be made lunch for sure! If they don't recognize him, we're dead.
"We couldn't tell ya, mate. None o' us were really concern'd 'bout it after they chased us out.."
"If you weren't there long, how did you know it was Una that you saw?"
Katia made her advance on the trio, quietly padding up to Alice's flank. "Slender body, blue eyes and silver pelt?"
That's her." Dax said.
"We know now," Alice spoke softly. "They're ruthless, they chased us outside of their territory zone. We had no clue it was theirs, but now we can't catch a break from them. They've expanded towards Black Tooth Falls, fifty miles from here."
"Give a' take." Said Boone.
Leon was the one who spoke up this time, "If they don't kill you when you wander into their territory, can you tell the large one that I still caught that Bambi he was chasing?" He chuckled, "Stupid cats.."
"Leon, bettah shut ya yap befo' I do it fo' ya."
Leon, growled low at the threat, "Good luck, kid."
"The falls are straight ahead. Follow your bearing for fifty miles-"
"Give or take." Leon repeated.
"Thank you...Leon.." she murmured harshly through gritted teeth. Rolling her eyes, she cleared her throat and spoke again. "Fifty miles- GIVE OR TAKE…" She paused, seeing Leon start to open his mouth. He shrugged, putting his paws up in defense.
"Don't worry, mate. Once ya find the tree mahkings you'll get an idea of where ta go." Boone smiled at the cub, reassuring him.
"Thank you, Boone. We owe you one." Dax said as Desmond climbed on his back. He started to leave, a new spark in his step. He knows where to look now, and his hope of her being alive was all the more reinforced by the new discovery. Assuming of course that the wolves told him the truth..
"Nah, mate.. I owe you one. Shouldja need meh, look fo' our territory ten miles north o' 'ere. If ya see a very large black rock then yer in the right spot."
VIII
"Diego, we should leave." Manny spoke hurriedly as he watched the wolves draw away the animal from the rocks. They chased it up over the hill and disappeared, no longer visible to them. That was the sign the saber was looking for apparently as he grinned at Manny.
"Ladies first."
Manny snickered, "You're the Uber Tracker. You get in front." Diego began to make his way down the ledge, occasionally sniffing the air. Eddie and Crash scurried onto their sister's tusks.
"Hey Ellie, I've been thinking.."
"Don't listen to him when he says that, bad things happen." Manny piped up.
"Shut up, Manny." Ellie retorted. She turned back to Sid "Yes, Sid. I know what you're going to say. I'll give you a ride."
Sid let out an excited "YES!" before climbing onto Ellie's back. She hurried up and started pacing behind Diego, beside Manny. Diego glanced over at the hill, half expecting the wolves to come back.
"Hey, you alright?" Manny asked.
Diego shook his head slightly, returning his gaze to the west. The heavy forestry would make for good cover. In truth he was very worried, the plains served as killing grounds for ill placed mammals. Despite Diego having the ability to detect things better than anybody else in the herd, it wouldn't do much good would they run into a pack like the one he just saw.
"That looked pretty bad, do you think he's okay?" Ellie spoke up.
Diego shook his head, "I don't care. It's not our problem, Ellie." He said with unintended harshness, and gave a clear message he wasn't in the mood to talk.
Manny knew why. "It's been awhile, hasn't it, since you've seen another pack." Diego's ears folded, giving Manny all that he needed to know. Diego wasn't one to outwardly display his emotions, being the kind of tough guy he's always expected to be in his pack it was still the monkey on his back.
Diego flicked his ear, tentative to the mammoths attempt at reaching out to him. It was both a curse and a blessing. Manny always knew when Diego was stewing, or just generally moody.
"I don't really enjoy thinking about it, but the thought just kind of brings itself up." Diego shrugged as he spoke, disconnected from his surroundings it seemed. He was wrapped up in this.
"We forgive you, Diego. What happened before doesn't matter anymore." Manny's tone gave him hints of underlying comfort. It was as if he just knew where the tigers thoughts were heading. It was plain to see to the mammoth that Diego had this grudge he held against himself. His internal struggle with his decisions ate at him silently despite their unrelenting exoneration.
That's what you do in a herd.
"What matters is now, Diego. You're here with us, and we're glad to have you."
A small smile formed itself along the corner of Diego's mouth, taking in the words spoken to him. In his own mind, the tiger had questioned before his place in the herd, whether or not the two actually trusted him. It was a matter of need in reality. To him, the idea of being needed was more important than anything else. It was something he questioned in his pack, and still questions within the herd at times.
"Don't worry," Manny whispered as he walked beside the musing tiger, giving him a small nudge with his trunk. "I won't tell Sid that you actually know how to smile."
"Thanks, Manny." Diego said with a chuckle that he tried to hide under his breath.
Above, clouds began to sweep in, warning all of their presence with a threatening cold chill running through the land. The light faded, swallowed by the grey shadow draining some of the vividness out of the trees as it advanced.
"So where are we gonna go, Manny?" Sid asked.
"We're going wherever we want to, unless you have a specific spot." Manny called back to him sarcastically. Sid scrunched his face, none of them have ever taken him seriously..
"Well we could just do that… But you did just see those scary wolves, right? I mean there's bound to be more of them." He added.
"Sid if we run into anything I'm very certain that we can use your stench to our advantage."
"I don't stink!"
"Yes you do!" Both Manny and Diego exclaimed in unison.
"Dude, you smell worse than I do!" Eddie exclaimed with pride. Crash was suddenly fuming with competitive impulse, and challenged him.
"You wanna bet?"
"The one that smells the worst gets dibs on the first mud hole!"
"I'll have you know that sloths are attracted to the smell of a male! The stronger the better." Sid retorted as he crossed his arms, confident in his point of view on the subject.
"That is literally the most insane thing you've said so far, Sid." Manny scratched the top of his head. "This can't even be a real conversation we're having."
"I beg to differ." Ellie butted in, deciding that playing devil's advocate would be better suited in her position.
"Yeah, you do remember the conversation we had about him starting a camp for those children.."
Manny shook his head. This was going to be a long trip..
IX
"They were a pretty odd bunch, don't you think?"
Daxter shrugged, smiling. The wolves had departed, heading back towards their own land. Only a few days after the flood and they had already settled in, an impressive feat considering their numbers were very few. Boone had expressed much gratitude for Desmond's actions, granting them access to their hunting grounds and befriending the wolves. And if the prey were anything like that megaloceros… he'd surely be back.
"So I guess we're just gonna be heading straight the entire way then?" Dax wondered that very same thing. They were heading into the forest, and his senses were heightened to alert them of anything coming within range.
After a few moments, Dax decided that things had become too silent. He ran through his head several ideas to pass the time. He was one to isolate himself to his thoughts, allowing his worries and insecurities to roll over him. Desmond always told him it was just part of the process, his path to becoming an adult, and would bring into the topic a light hearted joke or two just to bring his spirits up.
With a smirk, Dax found the perfect idea.
"Oh… We're going on an adventure.. Don't know where we'll go." He started to sing.
Already realizing where this was going, Desmond brought his own lyrics into play.
"And yet it seems we're going pretty slow.."
"With a quiet step-"
"My palms wet with sweat"
"We may just make it to Una-"
"NOT YET!" Desmond yelled as he jumped off of Daxter and dashed towards a nearby bush. The sounds of him sighing in relief caused the tiger to chuckle lightly. Then, with a breath he continued the jocose melody.
"So he dove into the bushes-"
"Either the bush or you"
"He marked the bush as his own"
"It got all over too"
"And then he dove out of the bushes!"
"Slaying everything in his path!"
"Mounted his trusty steed-"
"Wouldn't call you a steed-"
"And with a *WHIP* they made their way!" Dax shouted as he sprinted towards the trees. After a while he had slowed himself down to a trot to catch his breath, panting with rapid, sharp inhalations that caused his chest and shoulders to expand with explosive force.
Desmond was always impressed with the endurance of the tiger. His ability to run for several miles gave the two an upper hand against predators. His memory had noted a certain case in particular where Daxter had frightened a saber during mating season. While out looking for females he had failed to notice the two, obviously overtaken by the pheromones. They were hiding in some dense foliage when Daxter sneezed with unnecessary loudness, causing the male to leap into fight mode (not before letting loose a stream of urine, of course.) THATwas a close call, and ended with the two outrunning the very moody saber. Desmond wasn't sure if after the little scare he had actually found a mate that season.
A large gap between the trees marked their entrance into the forest. Dax slowed his pace to a walk now, slight breaths now the only thing they could hear. The trees bent and swayed, oddly formed and neatly placed in a natural row that clearly lined their path. A slight chill ran down Dax's spine, accompanied by a shiver which Desmond had caught immediately. He hopped off of the back of his disconcerted companion, walking up to his shoulder and placing a paw on the scar that traveled down to his forearm.
"Come on, big guy. Let's go."
A feeling came over Daxter as he stared into the depths of the forest. It made it's way from his head to his paws, causing a slight electric numbness to take away their feeling. The feeling swept past his chest and through his spine. Whatever lies beyond would surely change his life.
This he was sure of.
Part three is on the way! I know where I want to go with this, which is good because this story is going to have a lot more structure to it than my other ones. To those who are reading it, thank you for checking this out! Alright, Peace out!