Once again, very many many MUCH thanks to Trev/thelonemongrel for the help on this chapter (since he quite hugely aided me a lot to in this, and he knows what I mean by this!)! :D :) ;) And did anyone notice the nod to LiT: Origins? :P ;)
"Okay, wow," Sid muttered, clasping his hands together with a gesture that resembled fear. "That'th intenthe."
Shelley shrugged. "Doethn't matter to me, it'th a good thtory! I have alwayth theen tigerth as mindlethth killing machineth though – come on, Diego, friend of Thid, imprethth me."
Manny frowned at the sloths.
"Diego did warn us it would be like that though, you two. I suggest that you'd apologise for interrupting him."
Sid and Shelley exchanged a glance before murmuring,
"Thlorry, Diego."
"Don't mention it."
"What happens next?" Axel piped up, his green eyes aflame.
"Well," Diego continued. "After the successful raid on my mother's pack, my father decided to journey deeper into the valley, since his pack had been living on the outskirts, mainly sustaining themselves on Steppe mammoths for so long that their teeth were raw."
He let out a sigh, the memories of his cubhood floating back to him.
"It had not been a good year for my pack, but my father was pleased for one reason: he had abducted my mother, Lucita, from her own pack, and she was very pregnant by the time they reached the innermost valley of the Bredelands on its northern borders, where sabres had free rein to prowl..."
x-x-x-x-x-
The adult male sabre loped silently up onto a rise, his alert bright green eyes darting back and forth as he cast his gaze in a quick circuit over the area, inhaling deeply as he relaxed, scanning his new lands, and then scanning them again out of glee. Everywhere he cast his gaze, he saw signs of life; forests, plains, rivers, streams...
Food won't be a problem anymore, he noted, grinning at the thought. He closed his eyes and took a deep breath, savouring the fresh and scent laden smell of the air. As he breathed out, he felt much of the pressures and stresses that had haunted him for countless months depart him. His grin grew wider, he enjoyed the sensation of worry-free existence that such scents offered him.
Tearing himself out of his reverie, he glanced back at the other sabres in his pack who were slowly making their way over to him, at least twenty in all, accompanied by one yellow-furred tigress, who was trailing along after them, her belly dragging across the ground slightly, as she was expectant with cubs and due to give birth any day now. She raised her head, meeting the sabre's gaze before dipping it away in sorrow, avoiding his glance.
Well, she'll get over it – soon enough, Cortez thought. Once she has our cubs. His thoughts turned to the day when he had captured her away from her own pack, along with a contingent of trusted lieutenants...
"Come on!" Cortez snarled, strategically placing his paws amidst the crackly, dry leaves that dotted the grasses at odd angles as he stopped short, nodding at the small band of sabres flanking him on his right and his left as he crept nearer to the lipped overlook, halting mid-stride as he noticed a tigress saunter past the very grasses he was concealing himself in.
He recalled the commands he had given to his sabres only an hour before to his pack, his eyes glinting anticipation.
My first real raid as Alpha, he noted with anxiety.
Let's make it count.
"Juan, Alvaro and Tito, take the northern cleft. Bernardo, Rogerio and Felipe, the southern. Brutus and I will come from the east. Take out any sentries, but do so quietly. We will trap them against the cliff walls to the north."
He paused, looking every sabre in the eye, giving them his best shot at an authoritative stare. He saw no dissent in their gazes, only eagerness and resolve. When he turned to Brutus, he was greeted with an overly neutral stare, tinted ever so slightly with disappointment.
Good enough, he decided.
"Understood?" he whispered firmly.
A chorus of 'yes, m'lord' staggered back to him. Brutus' voice was the last - and least sincere - of the group to reply. Cortez, incensed though he was at such a lacklustre show of approval from the elder, refused to rise to the bait, turning his gaze eastward instead.
"Very good," he murmured. "To your positions."
x-x-x-x-x-x-x
The alpha caught his breath as she stalked past him, his eye tracing her gracile outline as his face roved over her form, admiring the light golden colour of her fur until he came up to her eyes. He saw to his delight that they were big and brown, with hints of humour mingled with strength glinting in their depths.
Cortez sniggered to himself appreciatively, knowing full well what tigress was his when the hunting party made their attack on this family group consisting of an elderly male and his mate and their band of ten sabres, the golden-furred beauty among them.
"Shh," a voice hissed in the alpha's ear, and he sat back on his haunches, glaring at the older sabre who dared to interrupt his appraisal of the new alpha consort he wished to make for himself.
"Shh," the older male said again, causing Cortez to curl his lip disdainfully as he looked at Brutus, a senior tiger in his pack, and one who had served his own father before Cortez had taken over the role of alpha when his father had died.
"Well, would you have them onto us before we can spring our ambush?" Brutus continued, his amber eyes sharp on Cortez. The young alpha scoffed as gazed at the hardened body of the warrior elder in front of him, noticing the thickly bunched muscles and the myriad scars earned in battle that were scattered across his chest.
Brutus was a fine sabre; a sabre of sabres. Though he would never admit it, he understood why his father chose him to be his second in command.
He hated him for that; now he trapped under Brutus' shadow, his stances and tones as authoritative as his were lacking.
He would sooner die than admit his fear of Brutus.
"To hell with what you say, Brutus," Cortez retorted. "We're doing things my way now, and your 'guidance' is not necessary. I know what I'm doing here."
He scoffed inwardly, remembering, with a burst of exaltation, when he had instigated the excursion to kill off the two males – the brothers of the females in this pack – as a means to get closer to this pack to steal their ladies to mate with.
He had performed admirably, but that had done nothing to convince the elder he was worthy to lead. He raised his head, growling a signal to his sabres to burst out of their places to attack. Instantly, five tigers leapt out of the bushes, two immediately cornering a pair of tigresses licking each other companionably while the other three advanced on the elderly alpha and his equally ancient mate.
Cortez roared,
"In case any of you mangy pieces of fur forget, I get my choice of the ladies!"
As he bounded out from his own hiding place, sending a nod at the sabres who had sectioned off the alpha and his mate, pleased with their work. When he glanced back, he noticed Brutus eying him with resentment, in response Cortez shrugged lightly, paying no heed to the fact that he had just slighted the most respected elder of his father's pack.
He swept his glance around the meadow in a quick survey, gratified to see that his sabres had already herded all the tigresses into a corner, ordering them to line up in a row so that their alpha could inspect them.
Cortez strolled up to the line of tigresses, ignoring the other five in front of him as he stepped up next to the golden-furred tigress he had admired, rubbing his neck against hers. She pushed him away, her eyes muddy pools of anger, making the alpha chuckle at her gall.
"You're mine," he purred, underlying a hint of seductiveness in his tone while he grabbed her by the scuff, dragging her forward, away from her sisters. "Now tell me your name."
She raised her head firmly, refusing to look at him as she gazed off into the distance. Finally, after what seemed like an aeon of silence, she muttered,
"No."
"You will tell me your name," Cortez ordered, his body stiffening with fury as he contemplated the suppleness of her form, "If you desire that the rest of your pack – barring those of your sisters that my sabres take – to remain alive when we leave."
Hearing his ultimatum, the tigress glanced at her sisters and pack-mates and then looked into the alpha's eyes.
Fearless, Cortez thought approvingly. What a beauty she is! And she is perfect to become my second mate … although it is a shame "the Scarlett" - she never gave me any other name to call her - had to be banished for overstepping her place.
The tigress took in a deep breath. She looked him in the eye defiantly.
"My name is Lucita, if it please my lord."
x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x
"All right, everyone!" Cortez shouted, descending from the viewpoint rock. He swept his gaze over the members of his pack gathered before him, pleased to see that everyone was here and accounted for.
His stare fell upon a medium-sized cub with dark green eyes and a tight, heavily built physique – his firstborn cub, Soto - who stood with his hunting party eagerly, however all the while he cast hate-laden glares at Lucita whenever she was present. He was scowling even as Cortez looked at down at him with love, remembering the union that had produced him.
Wait... the alpha realised with horror as he took in that all his males were nearby. Where is Lucita? Where is my alpha consort, my hope that my line will go on? Where is mi bella?
"Cortez!" A voice called out, with the timbres of a musical female tone. It was Lucita. She appeared, loping to the top of the headland, panting with exhaustion as she skidded to a halt beside the alpha, wearily laying her head on his shoulder.
See? I knew she'd come around.
"Cortez!" she exclaimed again, gasping for breath. "I've found a birthplace for our cubs! Come see it."
x-x-x-x-x-
"Wait," Ellie said, holding up her trunk. Diego paused in his narration, glancing at Ellie curiously. "So you mean to tell me that your father just stalked into your mother's camp and made off with her, Diego? That is just simply ... barbaric."
Manny and Sid exchanged amused glances that the female mammoth didn't notice.
Diego sighed,
"Ellie, that's just the way it's always been done within my own species. I warned you it might offend you."
"True," Ellie agreed, snuggling up against Manny. "I'm not angry at you, Diego. It just angers me to see anyone – even if she is a sabre – being treated like that."
Sid let out a barking laugh,
"Hey, Ellie," he asked. "When did you become a feminitht?"
"All right, that's enough," Manny ordered, glaring at Sid and Ellie, who hushed up quickly, looking discomfited as they realised they were interrupting the story.
"I muth thay," Shelley added, "I like how you told your thlory at the beginning, Diego, with the first part and your father – Cortez – having the flashback that continues it."
"Well, it's nice of you to say that we sabres are good at some things, Shelley," Diego retorted, exchanging a glance with the cub.
Not hearing the tiger's comment, Sid scoffed at the lady sloth,
"I could do that ath well, Thelley. Probably even better."
"Oh really, Thid?" Shelley countered with a pointed glint in her eyes.
...
"Diego, as you were saying… ?" Manny interrupted the two squabbling sloths, darting a glance at his friend. He noticed that the sabre was regarding Axel with deep interest, his eyes half-lidded.
Ah, so he's thinking about the cub. Manny thought. I wonder what he's pondering about him.
Diego snapped out of his reverie just as the bull mammoth was about to repeat his question. He inhaled deeply, and then continued,
"My mother Lucita, having got my father's attention with the news of the birthplace, convinced him to come see it with her…"
x-x-x-x-x-
"Of course, my Lucita," Cortez growled, his thick accent caressing the words. He stepped up next to her, laying his head against hers gently as he rubbed against her lovingly. To his surprise, she didn't shy away from him either, and he took it as a sign that she was beginning to actually put her trust in him.
"Come," Lucita whispered, her chest heaving marginally as she moved backward, her eyes seeking out Cortez's. The alpha glanced around at his pack standing anxiously before him as he muttered,
"Soto, for the moment you're in charge."
...
Hearing his father's words, Soto's lips curved upward in a lopsided smile as he turned to face his sabres while Cortez vanished into bracken after Lucita. He loped up onto the headland, scouting the land like he had seen his father do, casting his gaze over to where his stepmother had led his father off to, his eyes darkening with hidden, seething resentment.
...
As Soto stood alone, watching the night shadows blanket the landscape, Lucita led her mate to a small cave, located near a secluded area near the smoking mountain in the territory.
This is made just for her, Cortes mused, noting the interior suggested that some months before that a cave bear had denned in the cavern. He looked around for his golden-furred mate, but she was nowhere to be seen, having vanished into the underground. The alpha loped into the cave, attempting to follow, but he came face to face with a stranger who whirled on him in the darkness.
Lucita snarled at him, baring her teeth menacingly, her hackles raised as if she was about to fling herself into battle.
Cortez realised with a thud that she obviously didn't want him around when she gave birth, so he turned away sharply, his light green eyes glinting with anger mingled with annoyance as he shrugged his shoulders marginally, deciding it was time that he take Soto out on the hunt, since the night was brisk and clear, and the rising full moon would ease their ability to catch prey.
x-x-x-x-x- x-x-x-x-x-
Lucita glanced briefly at the mouth of the cave, checking quickly to confirm that she had been left alone before padding deeper into the cavern, lying down on a pile of dried grasses with a sigh. Turning her head sharply, she nipped at her swollen belly, steadfastly trying to ignore the pain coursing through her as the birth pains assailed her with increasing frequency.
Gritting her teeth, she repressed the groans seeking to flee from her – sabres were taught not to outwardly express their anguish during birthing, preferring by sabre law to suffer in silence – as the first cub slipped into the grasses behind her. Gathering her strength, Lucita gently caught hold of the baby's scruff in her teeth, pulling it up next to her so that it could begin to suckle.
The cub sought eagerly for its mother's teats, beginning to suckle hungrily as the tigress allowed a smile to come into her eyes. Joaquin, she named the cub, her oldest boy.
Another contraction struck her, and she nearly cried out because of the pain as another small, faintly spotted cub emerged. Drawing it over to the first cub, Lucita noticed that this one was a tigress. Estela, she called her second-oldest in her mind as the cub latched onto her, suckling as avidly as her older brother.
She immediately set to work, licking her cubs dry with her rough tongue, glad for a distraction from her contractions, which continued to attack her, causing the tigress to ponder dryly that she felt as if a mammoth had sat on her stomach as the next cub made its appearance, raising her number of young to three.
Once again she reached her head over to grab hold of the cub's scruff, making it mewl in protest over the treatment as Lucita smiled at the pluckiness of her third young one as she placed him next to his brother and sister.
Diego, she thought as she drew her tongue over the cub, drying him off as he snuggled up against the warmth his siblings provided. The tigress allowed herself to rest momentarily, noticing that the pains has ceased for a while, licking her three cubs, who slept beside her. Later, that evening, as the moonrise crept over the land with white light, flooding the cave with illumination, she gave birth to three more cubs, upping her number of cubs to six. Once again she repeated her movements of pulling them over to her, and licking them clean as she named them in her mind.
Hermosa, she decided to call the tiny female with her spots as round as flowers, Marco was the male who pushed himself in between Joaquin and Diego to get to her milk, already a fighter, she thought approvingly, licking him, and last of all, Ramón, who despite being the last born was not a runt, instead he was thickly tubby for such a last-born, an attribute that pleased Lucita.
Once she had given her cubs one last final lick, she laid her head down on her forelegs, drifting off into a restful sleep as her babies ate hungrily, and once full, broke away from her, nestling with their siblings in one huge ball of fur. Opening one eye, the tigress used her foreleg to draw her cubs closer to her protectively before giving in to her weariness.
...
Silent pawsteps padded towards the cavern as the outline of a shadowy, lithe form crept into the cave, the shadow's dark green eyes glowing intensely yellow as it stole deeper into the cave, its eyes brightening with insane delight as the footsteps moved in closer on the sleeping tigress and her cubs.
Abruptly, Lucita awoke, blinking her eyes rather blearily at the harsh moonlight filtering into the cave, sensing that ... something ... was not right. The tigress raised her head, angling her ears to pick up any faint noises – and that was when she heard the snap of a twig breaking underneath the intruder's paw.
Her ears laid flat against her skull as her heart began to pound; however, Lucita squared her jaw defiantly, leaning over her babies with her body, using her forelegs to pull them closer to her, every muscle in her frame tensed for action if need be.
Lucita glanced up, her gaze straying towards the moonlight dappling the surface of the cave with a pathway of white light, poking into her eyes so that she blinked against the strength of it. Opening them, she noticed that it was dark – a shadow stood over her, blocking out the light of the moon.
The intruder advanced, the husky physique of its form not belying how it moved with a slender grace for one so heavily built. The sabre halted in front of Lucita, its yellow eyes glimmering furiously at the alpha consort. Silently, Lucita cast her eyes over the sabre in front her. She bit back a gasp of disbelief.
This – this is no sabre. It's a tigress!
The unknown saberess said nothing. She only glared at the alpha consort with dispassionate coldness in her dark green eyes that were slipping into more of that lurid yellow colour as she glanced with clinical appraisal at the small balls of fur snuggled up against Lucita.
Striding toward the alpha consort, she forced Lucita to creep back up against the wall, her foreleg still around her babies. The alpha consort turned her eyes upward, intercepting a deadly vicious glance directed towards her little ones, anger rising within her as realisation struck her like bitterly freezing rain seeping into her fur,
This tigress means harm for my babies.
Immediately as that thought penetrated her mind, Lucita rose to her feet, her little ones mewling in protest as their mother's warmth dissipated from them. Shivering in the frostiness of the night, the cubs snuggled together, seeking each other's body heat.
Hermosa yawned before falling back to sleep again, her head resting on Diego's chest. The alpha consort threw her head back, glowering at the saberess who had the gall to break into her birthing den. Slowly, she paced forward in front of her cubs, matching the intruder's steps paw for paw as the two eyed one another, snarling viciously.
Bunching her muscles together, Lucita jumped forward, landing squarely on the shoulders of the saberess. The saberess tossed her head, placing her own paws on the alpha consort's shoulders as she easily propelled Lucita off of her, slamming her up against the cave wall.
She groaned as her skull made contact with the roughness of the wall, her eyes half-closing as pain overwhelmed her. Darkness engulfed her briefly. Lucita returned to consciousness to find her head throbbing painfully as she forced herself to rise to her feet again.
My babies. Are my babies all right?
She raised her head to the little alcove where she had placed them, her eyes widening. She noticed that the walls were now stained red – deeper than ochre- as she saw, rooted to the ground, unable to move, the saberess swipe her claws viciously across the mewling bodies of her two oldest cubs.
One second later, the mewling stopped as if a light has been turned off, and the saberess looked at Lucita, vengeance flitting in her dark green eyes as she growled at the alpha consort warningly.
Cortez's mate glanced down at their two oldest cubs, sensing immediately that by the still limpness of their bodies that her babies were no more. Rage surged through her slight figure, lending her the strength to strike out at the unknown tigress again, blinking away the tears in her eyes as she snarled,
"Why are you doing this to me? What have I ever done to you?"
In response the saberess coolly swung one of her massive forelegs at the alpha consort, succeeding in easily knocking her down. Lucita watched as if in slow-motion the tigress' paw came down once more at her, but before she could move out of the way, it struck her hard, bruising her on the shoulders.
The alpha consort sank to the ground as the saberess leaned in close to her, a pleased smirk playing around the corners of her mouth as she whispered,
"This is the price you have to pay for taking my place!"
Lucita groaned at the words as she struggled to rise again, but her legs trembled beneath her, not giving her enough impetus to stand. The saberess turned away from her, lifting her paw above the cluster of her middle and youngest cubs.
She brought her paw down hard, raking her claws over them. Little rivulets trickled out from the small forms, staining the ground with the same sickening colour, collecting into a dark red pool.
No! No!
Finding strength she didn't know that she had, Lucita forced herself to rise onto her feet, tottering slightly as she regained her balance. Throwing her head back in defiance, she jumped forward; thwarting the saberess' final blow with her body as she bent protectively over her cubs. The alpha consort winced in pain as she felt the saberess' claws scrape her side.
Ignoring the pain, she lowered her face to the ground, touching her cubs with her nose anxiously as the saberess watched her with cold disdain glowing in her eyes. As she nosed her cubs, hoping against hope that they were still alive, the harsh reality of it struck her. She nuzzled their small, still forms forlornly, getting no response.
Letting out a sigh that reached to her very marrow, Lucita raised her head. She brushed it against the face of one of her little ones. Stirring marginally, the cub lifted its head towards her in response, mewling faintly.
One of my babies is still alive, Lucita thought as a rush of relief flowed over her. Bending down, she nosed at the baby, trying to see who it was.
Diego. My little Diego is alive.
Lucita fully raised her head, staring at the tigress with unshed tears glimmering in her eyes. Expanding her chest, she took in a deep breath before snarling viciously as she stepped in front of her remaining cub, defiance shining in her brown eyes.
The saberess growled in frustration. Her hackles lifting in anger, she attempted to snatch at the tiny cub, although it was to no avail, Lucita whacked her paw away as she gently pushed Diego into a corner so that she had the upper hand over the saberess.
The tigress glared at the alpha consort, bitterness flitting in her dark green eyes. She turned away, reluctantly conceding defeat as she slunk to the mouth of the cave. Pausing at the "door" she looked back, muttering,
"This is the price you have to pay, alpha consort, for taking the place that was properly mine. Oh, and that ... damn cub of yours? Trust me, he won't amount to anything."
Lucita sank down beside her only remaining cub as he crawled up next to her, snuggling into the warmth that she offered as she gazed at him, nuzzling him affectionately as tears darted into her eyes that she refused to wholly shed as she glanced at the still bodies of her cubs.
...
The moon reached its zenith in the sky, clouds beginning to cover its light as brusque winds filtered past the cavern. The alpha consort finished blinking away the stray tears from her eyes defiantly, as sabres females were not supposed to cry, for it was seen as weakness. Inhaling a deep breath, she composed herself, standing to her feet, swaying gently as she tried to get her bearings again.
She stepped forward, moaning slightly as the bruise on her shoulders throbbed with her faltering movements toward the back of the cavern where the soil was moist. Angrily, she scraped her paws along the dirt, opening five little burrows. Lucita gave one last long gaze at the still forms of her beautiful little cubs before she roused herself, grabbing their scuffs one by one and laying them in a respective burrow. Diego crept up next to her, his eyes slowly beginning to open. Lucita glanced at him solemnly, and then looked away. Instantly, she returned her gaze to her only remaining child, struck by the colour of his eyes.
He has Cortez's eyes.
Letting out a sigh, she picked up Diego by his scruff, removing him from the resting place of his siblings. She set him on the ground over by her bed of moss, and then lay down next to him. The alpha consort bent her head down to lick her son thoroughly, praying,
Oh my son, be strong ... be strong so that you may not die like your siblings...
xxxxxxxxxx
The fire crackled loudly in the midst of the silent cave as Diego finished the beginning to his tale. The tiger glanced up, noticing that the eyes of the two females present were wet with tears, and that even Manny and Sid appeared shaken. He glanced over at the cub, determining with a brief glimpse that Axel seemed perturbed.
"That's harsh … that's really, really harsh," was Manny's comment. Manny knew some parts of Diego's story already, but if the sabre remembered correctly, he hadn't known this part. It was a secret of his past that even Diego had tried to forget, concealing it in the dark corners of his brain where his thoughts vanished, knowing that this story in his past had the potential for danger.
"Those poor babies," Ellie added, wiping a tear from her eye. "Your poor mother."
Shelley looked up from her work of plying a few threads together.
"That tigerethth," she asked pointedly, "who wath thhe?"
Diego averted his gaze from the she-sloth, the light of fear and embarrassment shining in his eyes.
"I'd rather not tell any more about it right now," he hedged.
"Yeah," Sid broke in. "That part of your thlory wath too thad. Let Manny tell again now, Diego."
Par for the course for his statement, Sid saw a large brown mammoth trunk heading straight for his head, whacking him.
"It's not Diego's fault his story is harsh," Manny admonished the sloth.
A sigh from the corner that the tiger lay in caused both Manny and Sid to look up.
"It's okay, Manny," Diego mussitated. "We need a change of pace for a while anyway. Just continue telling about your growing up."
"Ah... all right," Manny agreed, meeting the tiger's green eyes briefly. "My story starts again with me spending time with my father, Clovis..."
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