Heart of a sabertooth

So if you follow my other story 'Rise of the Phoenix' you will see my pitiful excuse for not updating for like an eternity, I do Drama at university so my life is just full of plays, scripts lectures etc. so I've just been super busy anddddd if im honest I lost my passion for all my stories, but im back :D

I just want to say how much I have appreciated the reviews and support I have had for this story it means a lot and I don't really beg for reviews but im just happy to hear how people are finding it….

Also when I do find time I will be rewriting all my older chapters on ALL stories as my writing has improved a lot since then…..

Ice age doesn't belong to me just my OCs

Sleeping on a full belly had finally given Shima a peaceful night's rest, something she hadn't had in a long time. Her cubs had certainly enjoyed the fresh supply of milk, there kneading paws against her stomach woke her up early the following morning.

Bringing her head around, she watched as her greedy cubs suckled noisily. Yawning her heavy sleep away she disturbed Cade from his feed who looked up at her with half lidded eyes.

She chuckled at his messy face, milk dribbling onto his fluffy chin.

"You are one mucky cub Cade" she said beginning to wash his face, he purred softly at his mother's affection once again feeling safe and secure. Sesi made her way to her mother, laying between her forelegs she snuggled into the thick fur of her chest finding warmth from the chilly morning air.

OoOoOoO

She awoke some time later just as the sun broke over the horizon. The male mammoth was already up and about, he looked like he was having trouble controlling his youngster who bounced around, giggling with her possum friends.

Her cubs were not by her side, instead they had taken it upon themselves to wake up the sloth who was still in a deep sleep dribbling onto the dusty ground. Sesi looked on as her brother swiped at his tail amusing themselves as it bounced back when he tapped it.

She smiled at the irony of not playing with ones 'food`, but decided on leaving them both to their amusement, she was just happy they were warm and fed. The heavy footsteps and presence a mammoth had her turning around as she was met with the friendly smile of the female mammoth.

"How are you feeling?" she asked with a genuine look of concern

"A little sore still, tired but…im fine really you don't need to concern yourself" she casually said back.

"oh, I understand you sabers are proud creatures and if I've learnt anything from Diego it's that you would prefer to do things on your own terms, but it's okay to accept help once in a while" she said tenderly.

"How do you know how I feel?" she questioned

"Because im a momma too, and we both know we'd do anything to protect our children"

"I wouldn't hesitate to do anything for them" she observed as her cubs were joined by the baby mammoth and possums who began a tug of war with the poor sloth. The sloth now awake began to scream at the fact he was being mauled and awoken in such a manner.

"You have to realise how odd this is for me, being around others I would consider prey….no offence"

She chuckled and swung her trunk down "odds something you need to get used to around here, why two years ago I still thought I was convinced I was a possum"

Shima stared at her wide eyed, not really sure how to answer her…..her beautiful green eyes full of kindness encouraged her to accept the situation she was in.

"Shima" she said eventually

"Ellie" she greeted back.

Her head bounced as her cubs came over to greet her, she gave both of them a kiss.

"You enjoyed terrorising that poor creature?" she asked them both who were too busy gazing up at the mammoth before them, she wondered what it was like from their perspective at seeing the largest mammal of their time.

Ellie reached out her trunk towards the cubs who before the past couple of days would have shied away from it, but instead allowed Ellie to pat them each on their head.

"And what are your names?" she said in a tone only a mother could do.

"This is Cade and Sesi, say hello to Ellie little ones" Shima encouraged them forwards with her nose.

"Aren't you two the sweetest little things, I could gobble you both up" Ellie practically squealed.

Shima sat up as the male mammoth approached the small group, his attention being drawn to the excitement of his mate Ellie who was interacting with the latest additions of the group.

"Manny, this is Shima, Shima Manny" Ellie said moving her trunk between the two.

"Glad to see you still with us" he said, his deep masculine voice rumbled as his dark eyes gazed down his trunk at her.

"I guess I should thank you for letting me stay the night, I hope I didn't cause too much distress for you and your family" she said as she submissively bowed her head towards the alpha male of the group.

He seemed to be an expert with brooding as she noticed the lack of expression on his face.

"We have a great record of picking up strays…..were…..one, big, happy family" he exaggerated the last four words in a sarcastic manner, which made Ellie frown at him.

"Were headed north for the summer, your welcome to join us" He said, staring down at the two sets of eyes as the cubs hesitantly wandered over to him.

"You don't need to lumber yourself with us, I will only slow you down"

"With Sid's level of concentration and lumbering it isn't possible to travel any slower" he mumbled looking over at the sloth 'Sid` she now knew to be called and watched him as slowly made his way over to the group.

"Consider it a temporary thing, once you're healed and feel it's time to move on, we won't stop you" Manny reassured her.

Sid picked up little Sesi who had taken a likeness to the sloth "Anddddd we can protect you and your babies, oh yes we can" he cooed as he squeezed the cub into his chest.

Shima caught Manny rolling his eyes at Sid, before turning around "oh yeah, Sid's our very own bodyguard, never fear when Sid's around" Shima enjoyed his dry sense of humour already.

Her attention was brought back to Sid who held Sesi outstretched in his hands, her mood darkened in an instance when she saw that the male saber had walked into the camp from his nightly hunt, "Hey Diego, look who's going to be travelling with us". She couldn't help the smirk as Diego glowered at him and her daughter, with a huff he stalked off towards the mammoth family as they prepared to leave the camp.

OoOoOoO

They had been walking a dirt track that had been carved out from past animals walking the same route, the fresh spring air was a welcome to every creature that had endured and survived another harsh winter. For her cubs this was the first time in their lives they had experienced anything but snow, and they were taking full advantage of it as did the little mammoth who moved with her own version of grace and lithe.

The male saber had taken it upon himself to lead the herd, followed by Manny, Ellie, Sid who had assigned himself with babysitter duty which was something Shima and Manny weren't happy with, but amused him nether the less, followed by the playful children and the possum twins and finally Shima taking up the rear who was enjoying the slower pace for her still painful leg, it also gave her a clear view of her cubs at all times.

She couldn't stop the smile on her lips as she watched her cubs playing and enjoying themselves, it broke her heart when she realized they'd never had this sort of freedom before.

OoOoOoO

A few hours went by and Diego looked at the land ahead of them, leaving the forest behind them, a swamp-like area was the next obstacle before grassy plains awaited them.

"We should reach the swamps in a day or two Manny" he said as he calculated the distance and the steady push of the herd.

Looking behind him at the rest of the herd catching up, he noticed how the female and her cubs were lagging behind, the hard push for covering as much distance as possible had taken the strength from the struggling family.

Manny caught him looking back and nodded for him to help "We'll find somewhere away from the path and rest for the night"

OoOoOoO

It was natural that both sabertooths were hesitant and reluctant to want to be in each other's company, Shima was undoubtedly worried about the nature of an unmated male sabertooth, after the traumatic event of losing Conan and the proposal Fang had given her In order to keep her life she would rather die than have her cubs killed, the only reminder of her past life with her beloved mate.

As for Diego, Shima was the only female of his kind he had seen since leaving his own mother to make a life for himself. He understood her uneasiness and with her confession of her dislike for him, he wanted to ensure her that the prospect of killing her cubs was the furthest thing on his mind. He understood the attraction and temptation of doing such a thing if he were another male, she was a young, beautiful female who had no mate, was injured and her chances of protecting herself and her cubs if challenged where limited, he doubted she even realised how lucky she was at the moment for she would of certainly been met with heartache sooner or later.

Shima watched him carefully as he wandered over, standing just in front of her to wait for her to catch up. Her cubs dragged their paws beside her as the distance covered today exhausted their tiny bodies.

Shima slowed to a stop as she reached him. Finally stopping she realised how much her leg was paining her.

"We shall be shortly resting for the night, just a little bit further" he announced. The news was a welcome indeed but Shima couldn't stop feeling useless and weak, the herd had made this decision because of her falling behind.

"C'mon sweethearts just a little bit further" she softly spoke as she pushed them under their rumps to get them moving again. Cade being the lazier of the two pressed his neck into her mouth attempting to get a lift from his mother.

"C'mon Cade you're getting a big boy now" she smiled into his neck. He made a small whimper as she simply stepped over him his sister following after her. He continued after them both but stopped as he walked past the male saber.

The little cub found himself wanting to spend time with the larger male, although he had suspected his mother would disagree as he felt her react to him negatively every time she saw him, he couldn't understand why, he had brought him and his sister back to his mother not that long ago and so couldn't understand why his mother hated him so.

Diego stared down at the little cub, he was reminded of his own cub hood when he looked into his eyes. The male cub didn't look anything like his mother or sibling so he must have looked like his father…Diego was still curious as to where the cub's father was, but he wasn't about to ask the female anytime soon, his mere existence was just about tolerated. He broke eye contact with the cub when he decided to take a step towards him, mewling at him….when it came to cub talk he wasn't completely sure, but by the way the cub reacted to his mother not picking him up he could guess as to where the cub was going.

"No, no,no,no c'mon kid I'll walk with you but your mother would rip my throat out for picking you up" he whispered the last bit at the cub so Shima wouldn't hear "c'mon, let's keep moving". The little cub huffed and plodded after his mother, the male saber walking close by his side matching his gait.

As they both caught up with Shima and Sesi, Shima couldn't help the feeling in her stomach as she watched how her cubs reacted around this male. She felt anger at him for pushing the boundaries of what she felt was a comfortable distance, she felt guilt that Diego was here where it should be Conan enjoying his son and daughter, but at the same time she felt a small amount of happiness at the cubs finally feeling safe after the months of moving around.

After a few moments of silence Diego spoke again "how's the leg" he asked her keeping his eyes ahead at all times. She threw a scowl his way and spoke.

"You know you're partly to blame right" she said matter of factly.

He looked at her intrigued to where she was going with this "really, how so?"

"Well if my cubs hadn't been stolen and you not in my territory I would have had no need moving my family that far, because of you I risked the life of my cubs"

"I was being the good guy and returning them, you would have understood that if you weren't attack first ask questions later" he grumbled at her.

She snarled a warning at him which instantly stopped him walking lest he get another chasing off from her.

"If you're looking for a thank-you you're not getting one" she snapped at him once more, her ears flat against her head and her hackles were slightly raised before she walked off ahead, whilst he stood watching her walk off irritated once more.

Yes what male wouldn't want a young, beautiful, miserable, temperamental female he thought to himself, he wondered if many males were scared off as soon as she opened her mouth. Maybe that's why there was no father on the scene, he scarpered away as quick as he could after the deed was done, with a chuckle at his own joke he followed after them making sure to keep his distance.

OoOoOoO

The herd had settled down for the evening and Shima and the cubs were to witness for the first time the talent Sid had with the man-made technique…fire. He told the story of discovering his skill when they had been tasked with taking a human infant back to his parents…the stories of humans, melting ice and previously thought extinct dinosaurs alive again was very hard to believe, but she couldn't deny that the herd was accustomed to an adventure, something she found herself jealous of having led a solitary life for so long.

Her cubs had been fed and were currently sleeping, Ellie had promised to look after them whilst she hunted, something Shima was itching to do for a long time now. She never wanted to rely on Diego's help again. The male had such an ego, he saw himself as some sort of 'ultimate' predator, the most wanted bachelor of the ice age pfft please. As soon as she gained her strength she would put him in his place if he crossed that line again, she had handled far too many males who over exaggerated themselves.

The familiarity of being on a hunt could be felt down to her very core. This was what made a great hunter, the stealth and patience was critical. Her thigh still gave her grief but the short rest she had earlier made it easier to move in the undergrowth. She was downwind of a small herd of deer, she could scent them in the wind and her ears were picking up the subtle crunching of them eating the vegetation.

She carefully placed her paws on the ground ever inching nearer to her target of a young buck.

Without hesitating she jumped as best as her leg would allow pouncing on the oblivious deer. With a quick struggle and lightning fast reflexes she ended the deer's life with a bite to its windpipe its death quick and painless.

This one kill alone gave her the most satisfaction she had ever felt even beating her first kill when she was just an adolescent. If anything it proved a point, she was well on her way to recovery and a good sign that she could finally begin supporting her family again.

She didn't dare bring the carcass back with her for fret of the herbivores of the group panicking or feeling sick at the eating habits of a carnivore. This was something she noticed Diego doing of a night, so she wolfed as much as her body would allow before making her way back into camp.

Her belly was very bloated and she wouldn't need to eat for the next couple of days.

She noticed Sid was already sleeping, he lay on his back with his head thrown so far back you could see down his throat. She shook her head at his uncomfortable pose yet wondered how he could be so comfortable. The possums were sleeping from a nearby branch, Ellie was having trouble keeping her eyes awake but had stayed awake to watch the cubs, Shima nodded her thanks, Manny had his daughter tucked in his trunk as she drifted into a peaceful sleep. Shima went over to her cubs who were resting on top of each other next to the heat of the fire.

She called gently to them, a deep motherly purr that aroused them from their sleep.

"C'mon my darlings, come and sleep with me" she whispered to them. Laying just a small distance away from the flames she watched as her twins stumbled about tripping over in exhaustion before falling down at their mother's side safe and secure once again.

Stretching her mouth wide in a yawn, she lay her head on her paws her eyes flickered. She hadn't noticed Diego watching her from a distance, she caught his gaze for a few moments before turning her head away and falling into a deep sleep.

So there we are guys a long chapter for me but it's the least I could do after such a long wait, hope you guys enjoyed it, please please review would love to hear from you and thanks again for the support so far, till next time x