Sorry it took so long for this, but I've been working on this a little at a time as I've been trying to capture the half-formed plot bunnies for X-men: Evolution and transform them into a full blown story. Needless to say, it has not been successful. Anyway, I hope you enjoy--and review!


"So you risked your own life to save a human?" Ellie questioned with disbelief.

"Why would you do that?" Manny added. Crash and Eddie were oddly silent and Sid was watching Diego.

Jasper shrugged. "The kid basically raised me after the humans caught me and it was either bond with him or end up like Cache; and I wanted to live." Jasper's blue eyes narrowed defiantly at the last part.

Diego took up the story smoothly, as if the two carnivores had rehearsed.


Diego watched helplessly as the boy Jasper had apparently died to save tried desperately to stop the bleeding. Diego knew that if he approached Jasper to try and help, this would be taken as a threat and he would suffer a similar fate. He leaped back into the battle behind him reluctantly. Only half his mind was focused on fighting. He received a few minor injuries and he was lucky that was all he got.


"Is that the fight where you lost half your pack?" Sid suddenly piped up.

"Yeah, Sid, it was. Can I get back to the story?" Diego said impatiently. Sid nodded and sat back.


Luckily for Jasper and Diego, humans were not yet skilled in medicine so when Jasper's breathing and heart beat slowed, the boy gave up trying to save Jasper. This was Diego's chance to make his move. He spotted his opportunity after tossing a human aside. The saber dashed forward and grabbed Jasper by the scruff and began to drag the unconscious wolf toward safety. Unbeknownst to Diego, one of the humans saw the saber drag the injured wolf away. The human knew the wolf the saber was carrying away and knew the boy who owned him would be heartbroken. He decided to follow the long-toothed feline.

As he rounded a large boulder, he saw the saber licking the wolf's wounds, but from his angle, it looked as if the saber were feeding upon the black-furred animal. The hunter raised his spear, but before he could throw it, the saber sensed his presence. The cat froze momentarily, as if assessing the odds, then shot off in the opposite direction. The human could see that the saber was already injured from the fight and guessed it was not willing to fight anymore today.

Diego chastised himself for not standing up to the human and defending his friend, but knew that with his injuries, he would surely tire before the human gave in. That still didn't halt the guilt that stayed with him ever since.


"Yeah, but, thanks to you, the humans realized that I was still alive after that and they saved me. Even though their healing skills could use some serious work. If they had let me, I coulda cleaned my wound better than them and then maybe my scar wouldn't be so bad." Jasper subconsciously ran a tongue over the long scar running parallel to his back.

"How'd you get away, anyways?" Diego asked curiously, cocking his head to the side slightly. The others seemed equally curious and also leaned forward.

Jasper shrugged indifferently, "As much as I'd like to say that I heroically fought off all the humans and made a run for it…"


Jasper groaned loudly and gave a small pleading whimper when his boy hooked his harness up to the sled, which was made of light-weight wood and packed down with four heavy animal skin dens and nearly 200 pounds of frozen deer meat. Jasper had been given the honor of lead dog when he proved—in a contest of strength—that he was the strongest of the tamed wolves. If the others lagged, he was expected to take up their weight as well and drag them in their harnesses if necessary.

He enjoyed a good run on the sled because it was the closest he ever came to running free. He especially enjoyed the times when his boy—now a young man—was the musher because the boy often gave him his head and just let him run.

Eight wolves pulled behind him and eight wolves waited along with him for the musher to give the cue to go. Once the human grunted his command the harnessed wolves pulled with all their might to get the sled moving. Jasper strained against his harness and placed one paw in front of the other until they were moving. They struggled to get the sled's momentum going and once they did…man, did they fly!

They had been running for a little over an hour when Jasper's harness began to loosen. The black wolf chanced a glance down to his chest, where he saw that the leather bonds that had restrained him for so long were beginning to come undone. His heart soared at the idea that he may soon be free. He gathered all his strength and charged forward, eliciting surprised barks from his teammates. When the musher attempted to slow the team by setting his snow hook and calling a halt, the sudden jerk ripped jasper free of his restraints and he raced full speed across the snow, howling in pure joy as he went.

He didn't look back once, knowing that he would see the look of disappointment and loss in his boy's eyes. He knew the sight would tear at his heart and he would be compelled to return with a wagging tail to his boy's side.


"I stayed near them and watched m—the boy grow. As much as I hate to admit, I…didn't have a clue where I was. We traveled so much, following the herds and all that I lost my way. I figured if I followed them they'd lead me back to my pack's territory. I'd eat what they didn't or couldn't. I was actually following them to the stag moose's breeding grounds when I saw Sid."—Jasper sent the sloth an apologetic look—"The humans hadn't made a kill since they started following the deer, but they—unlike me—had stores of dried meat to keep them going."

"And that's when you tried to eat me!" Sid stated.

"And interrupted my hunt." Diego faked a growl and swatted playfully at the wolf.

Jasper shrugged and grinned playfully. "What can I say, a wolf's gotta eat and if that means disrupting the life of an old friend and threatening the life of said friend's other friend, then that's just gravy on the deer." Diego rolled his eyes while Ellie giggled and the possums argued animatedly over some small disagreement or another.


First off, I don't know much about dog sledding, but I tried and I know that Neanderthals (sp?) didn't use the wolves they tamed to pull sleds (that came in the later forms of human ancestry) Second, did you catch my little...I don't actually know what to call it...at the end where Jasper says 'then that's just gravy on the deer.' That was supposed to be like our saying of 'Then that's just icing on the cake.' I thought it was rather clever.

I want to know how you would feel if I didn't type out the rest of the flashbacks and just said something along the lines of 'Manny, Sid, and Diego continued on with the story of their meeting...' and then gone on to say that the rest of the story took several late nights to tell. I would put in some things about how the possums and Ellie laughed at a few things. 'Cause, to be honest, retelling the story is sooo boring because it gives you no room for artistic improvements. I mean, you can't change the dialogue. Anyway, please tell me what you all think. It would be much appreciated.

-Phantom