"It is not in the stars to hold our destiny, but in ourselves."-William Shakespeare

"Mom!" Adrian yelled, as she darted through the forest. It was getting harder to breath and see. The grass was lit alight as well as the trees, so her feet were literally burning. Skidding to a stop in the river, the only fireproof place there was, she searched around through squinted eyes for her family. Then, she saw Annabeth, stuck under a huge log. The fire hadn't reached this part of the forest yet.

"Cough-cough-Mom! Don't worry, I'm coming!" she yelled, hacking as she sprinted through the water.

"Adrian!" Annabeth said weakly, struggling to get free.

"Hang on, I'll get you out." Adrian pushed at the log, panting and gasping, but it didn't budge.

"We fled as soon as we saw the fire. Hazel and your sisters are safe, thank goodness, they got out in time." Annabeth reassured.

"But why'd you come back?" Adrian questioned.

"I didn't know where you were. I told Hazel to take the young ones and go, I would follow behind them when I found you. And then this fell on me." She tried again to wriggle free, and the flames crept closer.

"It's…not…moving!" Adrian yelled, beginning to cough again as she pushed against the log.

Annabeth's eyes shut. "Adrian-cough-cough-you need to get out of here." she said calmly.

"What? But I can't leave you!" Adrian shouted.

"It's too late for me. You get out of here while you still have a chance." Annabeth insisted, coughing.

"You're not dying on my account." she argued, still pushing against the log

"For beavers, once you turn forty-two, you're practically dead already." She laughed dryly, which turned into a cough as she breathed in the smoke again. "Point is, I don't want you-cough-to burn on behalf of an old widow like me. You're my daughter, no-cough-matter what."

"And that's why I have to stay here. You're my mother. I'm getting you out of this, no matter what."

The family's dam, only a few feet away, had been set alight. Adrian could already feel the scorching heat on her face. Annabeth sighed again. "Forgive me." she begged, with a sense of finality. "I love you."

And with those words, she turned her body quickly to the side, breaking her ribs in the process. The log swatted Adrian into the safety of the deep pool by the waterfall.

"MOM!" she coughed, sticking her head out of the water. Weighted down by her wet fur, she could only watch helplessly as the roaring demon of a fire engulfed her mother, sending her selfless spirit to the world above.

Meanwhile, Diego and the herd had beaten the fire, and were safely outside the forest. The rain had come now, after the lightening, extinguishing the fire quickly.

"How's Peaches?" Manny asked Ellie, who had her daughter scooped up in her trunk.

"She'll be okay." Ellie said, relieved. As Peaches coughed and cried from the ordeal, Ellie comforted "Ssh, Peaches, ssh. Everything's all right now. It's gone, see. Fire's gone. It's all right now."

"But where are we gonna live?" Crash asked.

"We'll travel until we find someplace to stay. The important thing is that we're all alive." Ellie replied. But Diego was still not so relieved yet.

"Diego? Where are you going now?" Sid asked.

"A friend of mine's still back there. I don't know why she hasn't come out yet." he explained.

"A girl? Wait-Diego!" Sid yelled. But he had already raced off into the charred remains of their former home. Exchanging worried looks, the herd followed him.

"Adrian?!" Diego called out, looking around. "Adrian, where are you?" Just as he was about to give up, he heard sobs coming from the riverbend. "Adrian!" He jumped through the bushes, happy that she, at least, had survived the disaster. But his smile faded, as he saw what had happened.

The scorched grass was a dark black, and the oak trees were merely grey stumps on the ground. Adrian sat beside the body of a burned female beaver, tears falling from her eyes.

"Adrian?" he asked, coming closer. She looked up at him briefly, her eyes bloodshot.

"Mom's dead." she confirmed. "It's my fault, all my fault. She-sniff-got Hazel and the others out, but-sniff-came back for me. If I h-hadn't wandered off..."

She was interrupted by the herd, who had just caught up with Diego. They all gasped.

"Peaches, don't look honey." Ellie shielded her daughter's eyes so she wouldn't have to see the dead beaver.

"Who's she?" Sid asked, gesturing to Adrian.

"She got stuck under a log." Adrian continued. "I tried to pull her free, but it wouldn't budge. The fire kept coming closer, so she pushed me out of the way and...and..."

Next thing they knew, she completely broke down, leaning her head on her mothers as more sobs escaped her throat. Manny, Sid, Crash and Eddie looked a little apprehensive at her being a tiger, but Ellie set Peaches down and walked forward bravely.

"I'm so sorry." she sympathized. "Was she a friend of yours?"

"She's my mom." Adrian answered tearfully.

"How does that work, exactly? Ow!" Crash asked, then recieved a thump on the head from Eddie. "What? It's just a question."

"Hazel's all right?" Diego asked.

"I don't know if I'll ever see her and my other sisters again, but yes, they're safe." Adrian nodded. "I don't know what'll happen now, though. Or where I'll live."

"You can come with us." Ellie offered.

"What?" Manny said in shock, then whispered "Ellie, she's a saber."

"A vegetarian saber." Diego defended.

"Again, what?" Manny repeated.

"Manny, she's just lost her entire family. And she's a friend of Diego's. That's a good enough reason for me."

"All right, fine." Manny gave in. "But she can't take all of the food like Sid does."

"That's right." Sid backed up, before he even knew what Manny was saying.

Adrian picked up her mother's body, and draped it over her back. "I won't." she said stiffly. "I can find my own food." Walking to the pool, she dug a small hole by another mound there, and laid the body in it. "So she's by her mate, Amos." Adrian explained, before any of them could say a word. "That's what she would have wanted."

The herd plus Adrian stopped in the cave to camp, where Adrian and Diego had been talking only a few hours ago. Adrian had gone out to find some berries to eat while everyone was asleep. She stared up at the stars. Not with happiness and hope, as she once had, but with hate.

Why did you do this to us? Mother said you looked out for the good of heart, so why did you rip apart my family? Why did you ruin my life? Not once, but twice! she mentally screamed at the Great Saber. Why did you send that storm? Why did you let it kill Annabeth? She was one of the best and most caring creatures in the world besides my own mother, so why did you think she had to die? Did I do something wrong?

She kicked at the ground angrily. Was this all because I stepped out? Renounced the ways of the sabers by refusing to eat meat and living with beavers? Looking at the berries in her claws that she had picked off the bushes, she scowled. "You want me to suffer? Is that what your goal is? WELL, I'M SUFFERING!" she screamed. "BELIEVE ME, I'M HURTING INSIDE! ARE YOU HAPPY NOW 'OH GREAT ONE'?!" She fell down, exhauseted from her anger, and started to cry again. "Mom was wrong about you." she choked out. "You don't protect anyone. Well, I'm going to make sure you don't take me down so easily. I'm not going to have myself burned to a crisp, like my home. Like Annabeth." She wiped a few tears out of her eyes. "You won't protect me, like I thought you would for all these years. I have to protect me." She shook her head, and standing up, walked slowly back to the cave. Unaware, of course, that Diego had heard every word she said from nearby.

Sorry I ended it there, but next chapter is better! Please review anyway!