Hey there my readers, Stooge Man here! Sorry to have kept you all waiting. It's been a while, yes, but that's because I've been trying to piece together ideas for this next chapter. Also I slacked off a little (so sorry!). Anyway, a new chapter is finally up. So just sit back, relax, and ENJOY!
With the rest of the land mammals being taken hostage and with Manny and his group heading down to the Dinosaur world, the scene zooms off and take us to where our other heroes left off during the meteor shower that occurred last night. About five or six miles from the big hole, the scene appears at a lake. The morning sun's light touched the lake as mists floated above the surface making everything look calm and peaceful. Not a single flaming rock was impaled into the water; nor sticking out of the water even. The lake was completely untouched. It would appear that most of the flaming rocks impaled on land and not on water. But the fruity drink stand, where Manny and his friends used to hang-out, was demolished.
Just a little close to shore, the sound of purring was heard. It was Shira.
The silver sabress was sleeping peacefully on the soft sandy floor but unaware of the destruction that surrounded around her. It was then that the sleepy sabress started waking up. Shira let out a tired yawn and stretched out her body. She slowly blinked her eyes open until she caught the sight of water right in front of her. It was soon that Shira had discovered her throat was swollen with thirst; dry from the inside telling her that she needed fluids right away.
Yawning again, Shira decided to walk over to the water and take a sip from the ice-cold lake. As she started to drink, something caught her eye right next to her. It would appear to be in the shape of a rock, but only, it had steam coming out of it as if it caught on fire from something; or someone even.
This made Shira's head start banging from the inside. Her memory was starting to come back again.
"What happened?" Shira thought to herself, "Why is there…wait, a minute? WAIT A MINUTE?!"
Finally, everything started coming back to her. Her memory refilled her head with the predictions that occurred last night. She remembered there was Manny and Ellie's anniversary party, everyone having a good time, but then a meteor shower hit and everyone was running like CRAZY! The last thing she remembered was running next to her Herd, her husband by her side, and they were trying to find shelter. But she stopped in her tracks when she noticed a small band of humans running in a different direction and she followed after them instead.
Shira's eyes popped wide, her heart started beating fast, and she began breathing very heavy. It was all making sense. She abandoned the group to go after the small band of humans to make sure they were safe.
"Oh my God…Oh my God…Oh my God," Shira said, panting. "Diego…my cubs…I've abandoned them!"
(RAGNAR GROANING)
The sabress's ears perked up, and with the speed of lighting, quickly got into a self-defense position. It was coming from behind the thick tall grass behind her. Shira snarled with ferocity and began creeping up on the mysterious noise.
Shira then slowly poked her head into the tall grass when she discovered a human male lying motionlessly on the ground (or perhaps in a deep slumber). That man…was Ragnar.
"This man…I know him," Shira said, in her thoughts
The silver sabress walked through the tall grass and stood on top of the human male. She then kneeled her head down and took a few sniffs from the man. She recognized him from his scent. She knew exactly who he was.
"Roshan's crazy uncle," Shira said, in her thoughts
(RAGNAR GROANING)
Ragnar slowly twisted his head back and forth while in a deep slumber, smiling. This made Shira curious as she continued staring down at the man with awkwardness on her face. It was then Ragnar placed his thumb in his mouth and began sucking on it.
(SHIRA CLICKS HER TONGUE)
"Pitiful human," Shira said, in her thoughts
Shira gently starts patting Ragnar's face with her paw to try and wake him up. But Ragnar only stifled a small laugh as he continued to drift off in his own sleep.
"Psst…human…wakey-wakey" Shira whispered
(RAGNAR SNORING)
"No brother I'm not snoring!" Ragnar exclaimed, in his sleep as he tossed his body in a different direction
This made the silver sabress irritated and decided to try something else to wake the man up. So, instead of face-tapping, she tried face-slapping.
(SLAP)
"Wakey…"
(SLAP)
"…Wakey…"
(SLAP)
"…Human!"
(SLAP)
After slapping Ragnar dozens of times, it didn't do any good. Ragnar continued sleeping as he was like, as if, he didn't even feel a thing. This made Shira feel more agitated by the sight of this.
"Geez, what's it gonna take to wake this guy?" Shira said, in her thoughts.
Suddenly an idea popped up in her head and nodded to herself in agreement. Shira expressed an evil smile and smacked her lips. She cleared her throat and then without hesitation she took a mighty…
(SHIRA ROARING)
The silver sabress roared as loud as she could, right in front of Ragnar's face. Her roar was so loud, that it caused most of the trees in the forest to fall over with a bang, including most of the birds to flee.
(SHIRA PANTING)
Shira felt proud of herself. However, when she looked back down again she was yet again left very annoyed by the sight of this. Ragnar was STILL asleep. Even her roar wasn't loud and powerful enough to wake him up.
(SHIRA SNARLING)
In anger, Shira pounded her paws to the ground, feeling unaccomplished with herself.
"This human is a stubborn one. If scaring him won't wake him, what will?" Shira said, in her thoughts
After seeing there no was other way, Shira was suddenly able to think of one last option that could work. Except, she didn't like it. Shira tuck out her tongue before looking back down at the old human.
(SHIRA CRINGES IN DISGUST)
"Remind me to wash you after this" Shira said, to her tongue
So with the only option she had left, the silver sabress began licking the man's face. Her sharp tongue soon finally got Ragnar to finally wake up.
(LICKING)
"What the…"
(LICKING)
"Stop that!…"
(LICKING)
"Okay-Okay I'm awake, I'm awake, I'm awake, JUST STOP IT!" Ragnar exclaimed
Shira finally stopped, then she spatted the man's scent from her mouth and quickly rushed herself towards the lake to take another big drink. Ragnar rubbed his eyes and wiped the saliva from his face with his sleeve. He spatted a little as his head started clearing up. Once his vision cleared, he saw the disaster that was standing right in front of him.
Ragnar grunted in annoyance, "Wasn't a nightmare"
Shira then came back having cleaned her tongue from the man's fowl scent she had tasted.
"No, licking your face was a nightmare. And I'll probably be dreaming that tonight" Shira stated
Ragnar blinked in surprise, "You—You're a girl?"
"Well, can you beat that. You can understand our words, too. Must've been the potion you drank from your nephew" Shira said, not surprised
"Yes and it tasted awful," Ragnar stated
"Well, maybe that's what you get. After all, you did almost tried to kill your own nephew" Shira pointed out
"Whoa-whoa-whoa…slow down there, princess. If you're thinking I'm still the same man I was eight months ago, you're wrong. I've changed" Ragnar confirmed
"I don't believe you. How do I know this is not another one of your revenge plots?" Shira questioned
"Excuse me?" Ragnar said, looking accused
"I saw you abandon the group last night. You were going the wrong way. I tried following you but I blacked out after that" Shira explained to him
Ragnar scoffed and brushed his hair back with his fingers, "Uhh, lady, would one man making a whole forest catch on fire?…No, not me. Would one man magically summon giant flaming balls of fire to fall right out of the sky and use animals for targets?…NO! Not me, not ever!"
"Even with that attitude of yours almost makes me want to claw your face off," Shira said, pulling out her claws
"You have to believe me. I don't know what's going on," Ragnar told her
"Neither do I. That's why I'm asking you!" Shira shouted
"This is not my doing. I don't know anything!" Ragnar shouted back, "So back off you b…"
(SHIRA ROARS AND POUNCES ON TOP OF RAGNAR)
(RAGNAR STARTS HEAVY BREATHING)
"If you dare call me that word…I'll rip open your chest, tear out your heart, and watch you bleed out till you're dead" Shira threatened
(RAGNAR GULPS NERVOUSLY)
"Do you understand me?" Shira said, with a snarling glare
Ragnar fearfully nodded, "Yes, ma'am"
Shira then smiled, "Good"
"HELP!"
"WE'RE TRAPPED!"
"SOMEONE HELP US, PLEASE!"
Ragnar and Shira were soon alerted by the sound of, 'call for help,' that got both their attentions. Shira carefully listened with her ears of the sound of the voices calling for help.
"Who else followed you?" Shira questioned
"That'd be the other three people who were with me except I don't remember where they went" Ragnar said, referring to three human teenagers
"HELP, HELP!"
"GET US OUTTA HERE!"
"HELP, SOMEBODY, HELP!"
Shira then took a few sniffs in the air until she recognized three of the humans scents. It was Newt, Minho, and Kodak.
"Boys, can you hear us" Shira called out
"Newt? Kodak? Minho?" Ragnar called out, "Where are you boys?"
"We're over here!" Kodak shouted, as his voice echoed in the distance
The silver sabress heard Kodak's voice and started sniffing the ground for a trail. It didn't take long until she finally found the scent.
"They're close," Shira said, "Follow me"
Shira dashed off running at the speed of light. Ragnar saw his backpack on the ground and he strapped it over his shoulder and began following after the silver sabress in pursuit.
"I can't believe this. I'm taking orders from a cat!" Ragnar said, in his thoughts
It didn't take long to track down the boys once Shira found a cave entrance that was blocked off by a giant boulder blocking the front. Ragnar was behind until he finally caught up to her, panting with exhaustion. Shira soon found three sets of footprints right in front of her. The silver sabress then started making her way over to the giant boulder and began sniffing it. Once her senses started coming together, she figured that this must be where the boys had ended up taking cover during the meteor shower.
Ragnar made his way over to stand next to the silver saber and he pressed his ear against the boulder. He then tried knuckle-tapping on the boulder to see if anyone could hear or reply back to him. Suddenly…someone tapped back.
"Boys? Boys are you in there?" Ragnar called
"Yes!" Minho shouted back
"We're in here!" Kodak shouted
"Get us outta here, mate!" Newt shouted
"Just hang on tight. I'm going to get you out of there" Ragnar assured
Shira aggressively shoves the human in the shoulder, "Don't you mean, 'we'll,' get them out of there"
Ragnar scoffed, gently pushing the sabress to the side, "Stand aside, sister. Let a man show you how its done"
Shira scoffed, "Oh, can you?"
Ragnar snickered as he rolled his sleeves up, "You watch me put these muscles to work"
"Be my guest" Shira replied
Once Ragnar got himself warmed up, he crouched down placing his fingers underneath the boulder. Counting backwards to one, Ragnar took a deep breath and, using all his strength, began lifting the boulder off the ground.
(RAGNAR STRAINING)
(GRUNTING)
However, Ragnar was pretty much struggling to lift the heavy boulder. The fact that the boulder was three sizes than him and Ragnar was a small man there was no possible chance for him to lift the boulder off the ground. This pleased the silver sabress causing her to laugh under her breath while trying to not let the human man hear her. After a few more tries, Ragnar stopped to rest. Ragnar's face was revealed to be completely sweaty, his tongue stuck out while panting of exhaustion, and his heart pounded fast by the second. His head began swirling in circles causing him to fall backwards hitting the ground.
Shira snickered and walked towards him. Ragnar's eyeballs rolled around in circles and by the time his vision started to clear, he saw a furry silver face smiling down at him.
"Didn't work, did it?" Shira asked, smirking
Ragnar glared at the silver sabress and pushed her face away and the man got back on his feet again.
"That was just a warm-up," Ragnar confirmed, "I'm a little out of shape is all"
Shira rolled her eyes, "Sure it was"
Ragnar grew aggravated over her attitude towards him before looking at her with an evil smirk, "Well then, princess. If you think it's so easy why don't you give it a try"
"Oh, I will" Shira replied, hip-bopping the man to the side
(BUSHES RATTLING)
The sounds of rattling caused the twosome to stop in their tracks. Suddenly they heard another rattling sound as if someone…or something was watching them. Or even worse…an intruder.
(SHIRA SNARLING)
The sabress growled and quickly got into a crouching position, ready to attack. But Ragnar held a hand out to stop her. He held a finger to his lip gesturing her to be quiet.
"Shhh," Ragnar whispered, "Get the kids out of there. I'll handle this"
"Are you crazy?! You'll be dead without my help" Shira whispered, in an agitated tone
Ragnar then slowly went into his back pocket and pulled out one of his hunting knives for protection, "Get them out"
"Humie," Shira whispered, "Humie, get back here! You're gonna get yourself…Oh, forget it"
Another rattling sound, sounded-off from the bushes as Ragnar slowly made his way towards it. Just then the noise came to a stop. The man held his knife up as he was prepared to fight back with a look of determination on his face. Suddenly a creature popped out of the bushes revealing itself to be Bolt who had a corpse skull of an elk stuck to his head, unknown to Ragnar.
Bolt stood up and started freaking out, frightening Ragnar in the process.
(BOLT SCREAMING)
(RAGNAR SCREAMING IN TERROR)
"I can't see, I can't see!" Bolt screamed, "Everything's gone dark! The dark ages are rising!"
Ragnar quickly started backing away as Bolt began running around and banging into stuff, while screaming. Shira watched with a look of annoyance and she rolled her eyes by the scene.
Shira scoffed, "Some hero"
Shira placed her paws underneath the boulder, and with all her strength, was able to lift the boulder up and push it out of the way. The sabress looked inside the cave and saw Newt, Minho and Kodak, who looked very happy to see her.
"Hello boys," Shira said
"SHIRA!" all three exclaimed, with joy
As Newt, Minho, and Minho crawled out of the cave they soon caught sight of Ragnar being chased around by the Bolt, running and screaming at the same time.
"Someone help me!" Bolt cried, "I've gone blind!"
"You're not blind, Bolt" Kodak called, "You just got a skull stuck on top of your head"
As Ragnar continued running in circles, he looked back and realized he wasn't being chased by a monster, but instead by a clueless wolf. The man then came to a stop and got a hold of the elk skull's antlers, causing Bolt to keep pacing. It didn't take long once Ragnar was able to yank the skull off of the young Howler's head, throwing it away.
(BOLT CONTINUES SCREAMING)
"Hey-Hey-Hey, it's off!" Ragnar confirmed
"I can't see, I can't see!" Bolt cried
"WHAT'S THE MATTER?!"
"I've got my eyes shut!" Bolt cried
Ragnar frowned and placed his hand on top of the Howler's forehead, lifting the pup's eye-lids wide open.
"Ooh," Bolt said, with satisfaction. "There you are. For a minute, I thought I was blind for…"
Bolt paused when he caught sight of Shira, growling at him ferociously. The young Howler gulped and turned back to Ragnar.
"Blind me. Please, blind me! I beg you!" Bolt begged
"Sorry, but I'm afraid you're gonna have stay near that thing for a while, pup" Ragnar said, to the young Howler
Newt, Minho, and Kodak were stunned. The three boys looked at each other with bewilderment when they discovered Ragnar could understand Bolt. They just couldn't believe their eyes.
"Say, since when can you understand mammal?" Newt questioned
Ragnar sighed, "Let's just say you drink something your nephew makes but soon discover that it tastes like death poisoning your tongue, until you become dead with the roots" Ragnar explained
"You understand animals now?" Minho asked, "Just like us?"
Ragnar nodded, "I'm afraid so. It's scary though"
"You get used to it," Kodak said
"Okay. Since we're all together, like this, how about I ask what the hell happened out here last night" Minho questioned
"I don't know. The last thing I remembered was fire. It was spreading everywhere. Animals were running, screaming, and hiding" Ragnar said, remembering what he encountered
"Yeah, I remember I saw there were big rocks of fire hurtling from the sky…" Newt said
"It was night out. It was dark. I could barely see a thing except those giant flaming rocks…" Kodak said
"It started at Manny and Ellie's anniversary party. We were running alongside them and…" Minho said
"Yes-Yes, its all coming back to me! It was the night of the Anniversary party. We were all running alongside the gang until…until…" Shira said, until she slowly turned to face Ragnar with a scowl on her face. "And you were going THE WRONG WAY!"
"Excuse me?" Ragnar questioned
"Don't play dumb with me! I remember seeing you dragging the kids in a different direction. You abandoned the group. But worst of all…me made ME abandon the group, too! My mate, my cubs, they're out there alone somewhere because of YOU!" Shira yelled
"I was only trying to lead the kids to safety. I didn't expect YOU to come chasing after us. So if you're gonna blame anything on me, you're only blaming yourself because abandoning your family is kinda your fault" Ragnar pointed out
Shira's face fell stunned until her face turned into deadly expression causing the three boys and the Howler to step back.
(SHIRA GROWLING FEROCIOUSLY)
"Shira, wait!" Minho said, "Not that I'm going against you, but Ragnar's not a monster. He hasn't done anything bad at all"
"Well he's still suspect #1 in my book" Shira protested
"He's been watched over by Roshan's father and his men for a while now. What more do you expect from him?" Minho pointed out
"Probably her little ones. After all, he was the one watching…" Newt stated, before Kodak shoved him in the shoulder
(KODAK SHOVES NEWT IN THE SHOULDER)
"Ow!" Newt cried, "What?!"
Shira slowly turned her attention back to Ragnar with a much deadlier expression on her face. Ragnar chuckled nervously while trying to keep his cool.
"Well, genius…what about my cubs? My babies. The last time I left them was at your village. You probably abandoned them, didn't you?!" Shira yelled, accusing him
"Lady, please! I'm not a deserter. Of course I brought your cubs along and I can prove it too," Ragnar confirmed, setting down his backpack. "They're right in here just where I….uh-oh"
"Uh-oh?" Shira questioned
"W-w-well…I-I-uh…you see…" Ragnar stammered, "They were in my bag here…a-and uhh…one of them must've…uhh…cut a hole from the bottom and they probably…"
(SHIRA STOMPS ON THE GROUND WITH A FIERCE SNARL)
"…they're gone" Ragnar answered, dropping his empty backpack
(SHIRA ROARS WITH AGITATION)
"HOW COULD YOU LET THIS HAPPEN?!" Shira shouted
"It's not my fault! They must've got scared from all the sounds. The cubs probably tore a hole from the bottom of my bag and they escaped. I'm sure they're fine…" Ragnar assured
"FINE?!" Shira shouted, "I swear, I'm gonna rip out your carcass and chew on it while you bleed to death…"
Newt and Minho acted out quickly and they both grabbed a hold of the sabress, preventing her from attacking. Kodak quickly got in front of Ragnar, spreading his arms out.
"Shira, stop!" Newt yelled
"Easy, easy!" Minho yelled
"LET ME GO!" Shira roared
"Shira, calm down" Kodak told her
"JUST ONE BITE, IT WON'T COST YOU MUCH!" Shira roared
"He didn't do anything wrong" Kodak confirmed her
"SCREW THAT, I WANNA KILL HIM!" Shira roared
"DIEGO WOULDN'T WANT THAT!" Kodak shouted
Shira suddenly stopped, allowing her to catch her breath. Newt and Minho continued clutching onto her, making sure the sabress wouldn't try to attack Ragnar. As for Ragnar, he kept his distance staring at the sabress with fear in his eyes while Bolt hid from behind him.
"…the cubs wouldn't want that, either," Kodak pointed out, "Look, I can see how conflicted you are. But you're jumping to conclusions way too quickly. I promise, we'll find your cubs but you need to calm down"
Shira huffed with anger, "I don't trust him. Might I remind you that he almost killed your entire tribe"
"Might I remind you that he was also possessed by the Howler-serum that infected him," Minho said
Newt released his grasp and gently pressed his hands against Shira's face, whispering into her ear. "You need to listen to us, Shira…"
"But that man…" Shira roared
"…explained what happened. He doesn't know what happened to the cubs and neither do we. If you just calm down, maybe he can give us answers" Newt whispered
"You should listen to him, princess" Ragnar said, "I do have answers"
"And if he's lying?" Shira snarled
"Then you're gonna have to explain to Roshan what you did," Kodak pointed out, "And I'm sure Roshan wouldn't want that too"
Shira continued snarling at Ragnar who hid behind Kodak before looking right back at Newt. She was separated from her family and she knew her behavior was getting out of control. The silver sabress took a deep breath and sighed, calming herself down. She looked back at Newt and nodded, giving an 'ok' gesture, leaving Newt smiling at her.
She looked back at Minho and said, "You can let go of me now, spiky"
Minho looked back at his friend, who nodded to him, and he released his grip off the sabress's neck. Kodak then lowered his arms down and turned back giving Ragnar a look of reassurance. Ragnar sighed with relief but Bolt continued to shake in fear.
"Let me make something clear to you all. From now, I'm taking charge of this group. That means, none of you will disrespect my every command and you will not respond to make excuses" Shira announced
"Since when did you become leader?" Ragnar asked
Shira turned to the man, with a calm expression. "Have you every played pirate, humie?"
Ragnar rose a brow, "What the hell's a pirate?"
Shira scoffed, "For those of you who know or don't know. I was sailing on an ice berg working for a mad ape named Gutt. I was his first mate. He taught me everything I need to know about being a pirate. I knew one day one of us would had to carry on his teachings. And it looks like I'm gonna have to teach this time"
"So what are we?" Ragnar questioned, "Your slaves?"
Shira shook her head, "Think of yourselves as my newbies. And I'm your Captain"
Bolt gulped, "Sounds scary if you ask me"
Ragnar looked down at the pup, "Nobody was asking you anything"
Shira rolled her eyes and turned to face the two human boys, "Minho, Newt. You both show intellectual navigation and know how to keep people together. You'll be the Glue and my trusted crew members"
Both Newt and Minho saluted to the sabress, "Aye-Aye Captain"
Shira turned to face the older human teen, "Kodak. You're loyal, determined, and always listening to orders and taking them respectively. I hereby promote you as my first mate. And my MOST trusted crew member"
Kodak smiled and saluted to her, "Aye-Aye Captain"
Lastly, Shira turned face-to-face with Ragnar, who stood folding his arms together looking at the silver sabress with a look of calmness.
"And what about me? Am I chopped liver?" Ragnar asked, jokingly
"Right now, you'll just stick with the group. When a time comes when a situation may occur and if I'm not able to lead, YOU will step in and take my place. But this time…I expect you to REALLY help. Is that understood?" Shira explained to him
Ragnar sighed, "Yes"
"I'm sorry, I couldn't hear you. What was that?" Shira asked, raising her voice higher
"YES, CAPTAIN, I UNDERSTAND!" Ragnar said, raising his voice
Shira smiled giving him playful hip-bump, "Good"
Ragnar was uncomfortable by the hip-bump, and yet he felt very displeased that he'll be taking orders from a cat.
"Damn felines," Ragnar mumbled, "And it had to be a woman"
(BODY THUDS)
Hearing a loud thud, Ragnar turned around when he discovered Shira was laying on the floor; barely moving a muscle.
Ragnar snorted, "Hey, missy, this is no time to be napping. You're supposed to be leading"
Suddenly the three boys quickly dashed their way over to the sabress's aid. They tried shaking and tapping to wake her up but she wasn't responding. At first, Ragnar thought of it as hilarious until he came to full realization that something was wrong with her.
Ragnar quickly rushed over to the duo, "What happened?"
"That's what we're trying to figure out," Kodak replied
"She's not answering" Minho announced
"Its like she's bloody paralyzed or something" Newt said
Bolt examined the sabress by sniffing her out for any injuries. Suddenly a 'beep-beep' came to the tip of his button-nose when he discovered something he had never seen before.
"POINT" Bolt declared
Kodak examined the very spot Bolt was pointing, when to his shock, pulled out a small little-pointed missile that was shafted into the sabress's neck. This awed the group in confusion.
"THIS wasn't attached to her when she was awake" Kodak said, gesturing the dart he was holding towards the others
"Is that what happened her? She was taken out by a splinter?" Newt asked
Ragnar grasped the dart out of Kodak's fingers when he realized what it was, "A tranquilizer dart. One of man's hunting tools. One pinch out of this and you're drugged out, *snaps,* like that. This stuff was never meant to be, but clearly someone had beaten me to it…"
(TWO OTHER THUD SOUNDS WERE HEARD)
Suddenly Ragnar saw Minho and Kodak had passed out unexpectedly, too. All except Newt and Bolt, who've discovered two more tranquilizer darts have also been shafted into both of the boys' necks. Newt tried everything he could to wake them up: face-tapping, whispering, even slapping. Nothing helped. They were both drugged-out as Shira like a bunch of dead corpses just waiting to rot.
"Bloody hell?" Newt exclaimed
(WHOOPING IN THE DISTANCE)
Ragnar, Newt, and Bolt quickly turned to the attention of the remoteness whooping, spreading in the air. At first, the trio thought they were hearing random noises but this kind of noise was like no sound they have ever heard from. Suddenly it began to grow higher as if it had more sounds joining in like a chorus band. It got higher…higher…AND HIGHER. Soon enough, it was like one big alarm spreading through the entire area. Bolt's ears began to hurt and he clamped both paws to block out the terrible hearing.
"W-what is that?" Bolt screamed
Ragnar's fell face to shock, "Oh no. It's not possible"
"What?" Newt asked, who was also covering his ears
"They're coming" Ragnar replied
"Who's coming?" Newt questioned
Ragnar turned to Newt and grasped his hands into the boy's shirt forcing the boy to look at him straight in the eyes.
"Let me do the talking. No matter what happens do not try and stand up for me, do you understand?" Ragnar ordered
Newt didn't reply with his mouth but he nodded with his head. Soon Ragnar got in front of Newt along with Bolt, who scurried over to the two humans trembling in fear. As the trio continued to hear the whooping noises sweeping all around their ears, it began growing a lot closer…closer…AND CLOSER. Suddenly…everything dropped to complete silence. Not a sound was heard from or any of that matter. The trio was tensed up by the sense that something very bad was going to happen. But they made sure they had each others backs and were ready to take on anything. Ragnar kept a close eye on any movements around him; Bolt still had his paws covering over his eyes; Newt was all ears as the boy listened to every sound he could hear. Turning his head from side to side, he saw nothing. No shadowy figures, no bushes rattling, no nothing. It was like there was no one at all, watching them. However, Newt's attention was caught on something very peculiar. It was the sight of a very odd looking stone structure standing right in front of him. For some reason it was almost human-like. Newt studied it closely until suddenly two eye-balls popped up, frightening the boy, revealing it wasn't a piece of stone at all.
(NEWT YELPS)
The stone-like human pulled out a knife preparing to strike, but Newt kicked him right in the stomach, knocking him down. Ragnar saw what had happened and was bewildered by the scene. However, unaware to Ragnar, Newt saw someone else was behind him who was holding a spear and was aiming it directly towards at him.
"Ragnar, behind you!" Newt shouted
Ragnar quickly faced the direction of the spear pointing at him and he acted out quickly. Before the figure could strike him, Ragnar quickly grabbed hold of its spear. Ragnar then drove his fist into the inside of the man's elbow, a blow that should have left the other man's limb numb and useless, but that instead nearly broke Ragnar's wrist. But Ragnar wasn't giving up as he stepped inside the next blow, grabbing its wrist and using the big man's strength to flip him over his shoulder. The disguised figure hit the floor with a crash, plus, knocking him unconscious.
Newt was impressed by Ragnar's fighting skills, as Bolt was too (who peeked from under his paw). Suddenly two other disguised figures emerged from the bushes and grabbed a hold of Newt. One grasped him by the waist; the other caught Newt by the throat, choking the him.
"R-Ragnar…B-Bolt…HELP!" Newt cried, choking under his own breath
Bolt was scared but he wanted to help. So with quick reflexes, the young Howler went for one of the disguised figures by clenching his teeth into one of its legs, leaving a big crunching sound in effect. One of them cried out with pain, causing it to loosen its grips on Newt.
Ragnar faced the direction of the wailing when he saw what as happening to Newt and he acted out. He charged for the first guy punching him the face, knocking him down. Then he charged for the second guy, crashing his fist into the other guy's chin with all his strength, causing him to release its grip off Newt's neck allowing the boy to breath again. Both figures were on the floor, unconscious.
(NEWT GASPING FOR AIR)
"You okay?" Ragnar asked
Newt coughed, "YYeah…thanks"
Bolt licked his fangs, tasting the figure's blood, "Mmm, tasty. Not bad"
(WHISTLING IN THE DISTANCE)
"Crap" Ragnar muttered
Soon more figures slowly began coming out of the bushes, with sharp weapons in their hands. They all were revealed to be human; mostly men. They all wore green paint on their faces for camouflage. Their outfits were made out of the skin of saber-tooth tigers they once slaughtered and killed. They were small bones around their necks, ears, wrist, waist, and noses for style. They were indeed not like the people from their village. Ragnar and Newt slowly raised their arms in the air, in surrender. Suddenly they heard laughing coming towards them when a man, who was older and elder than the rest, stepped forward.
"HA-HA-HA! Hey there, prick!" The leader said, who's name was Grimm
"How's it goin,' ya bald-headed idiot?" Ragnar replied back
"Not so bad," Grimm replied, "I thank-you for allowing my men to capture this beast"
(SCAVENGERS START LAUGHING)
"For your information, I didn't do you crap!" Ragnar replied, "And furthermore the beast wasn't trying to harm us"
"HEY!" Newt yelled, "That beast is one of my friends!"
(GRIMM LAUGHING)
"What do we have here?" Grimm asked, walking over to Newt. "You got a nurse now, big boy?"
(HUNTERS START LAUGHING AGAIN)
Ragnar shook his head before Newt spoke out for him, "No, I'am not! I'm a student and…he's my teacher"
"Really?" Grimm said, smiling back at Ragnar. "So you teach now? That's actually very surprising considering I thought of you as underachiever. Always fooling with the girls instead of hunting with the rest of the guys"
"Well, he's an excellent teacher," Newt informed. "He was giving the class an important lecture until you and your savage inmates interrupted our session"
"Does this have to do with the beast I shot?" Grimm questioned
"Not to mention my friends that you also SHOT too!" Newt yelled
Grimm's men were about to confront Newt but Grimm held a hand up to stop them and he started walking towards the skinny boy face-to-face. Grimm only laughed revealing his crooked teeth before he made his hand into a fist and gutt-punched Newt, causing him to fall to the floor.
(GUTT-PUNCHED IN THE STOMACH)
(NEWT GROANING IN PAIN)
"HEY!" Ragnar yelled, until two of Grimm's men grabbed a hold of him
Grimm grasped Newt's chin and roughly pulled him towards his face, "You got tough spirit, kid. No one has ever stood up to me before. If you were a girl I'd never hit ya like that. To be honest, you almost look like one too"
(NEWT SPITS AT GRIMM'S FACE)
(GRIMM CHUCKLING EVILLY)
(GRIMM'S MEN LAUGHING)
"Grimm!" Ragnar yelled, "Leave the boy alone. He's just stubborn"
"I can see that," Grimm replied, "And yet you're still more stubborn than any guy I've met before in my life"
Ragnar sighed, "What the hell do you want?"
"Rumor has it that you're off to your no-good dirty tricks again. Seems to me that THIS is all the evidence I need to see" Grimm said, referring to the destruction all over the valley
"Grimm, listen to me. I didn't cause this" Ragnar persuaded, "I don't even know what the hell happened here last night"
"Guess what?" Grimm said, "You're damn word means nothing to me!"
"Then take ME instead!" Ragnar replied, "Leave the kids and the tiger out of this!"
Grimm stifled another evil chuckle, "Ooh, the beast is coming with us. And so are your students. Scavengers…TAKE THEM!"
"WAIT A MINUTE!" Newt exclaimed, "Ragnar maybe our teacher. But we mostly take orders from Charlie"
"Charlie? Who is this Charlie?" Grimm asked, curiously
"Sure, everybody knows good-time Charlie" Newt said, "He walks like this…"
Newt then starts demonstrating a very silly walk and walks past Grimm and the Scavengers. Bolt decided to go along with the gag and followed Newt from behind, who also did a very silly walk. At first, Grimm was very confused by the sight of the ridiculous walking; so were the Scavengers who were just quietly muttering to themselves. However, unaware to them, until the two were clear of the Scavengers, at which point they both started running away.
"THEY'RE MAKING A BREAK FOR IT!" said one of the Scavengers
"GET' EM!" shouted another Scavenger
(SCAVENGERS EXCLAIMING)
Grimm held out a hand to stop them, "Let them go, boys. They don't matter. We've got what we need"
Ragnar struggled to break free and he let out a snarl, "You won't get away with this!"
"Ooh, sorry ol' friend but…I already have" Grimm replied, before snapping his fingers
(FINGER SNAPS)
(ONE OF THE SCAVENGERS KNOCKS RAGNAR OUT WITH A CLUB STICK)
Ragnar was knocked-out unconscious then slung over the shoulder on one of the big Scavengers. Two other Scavengers then picked up an unconscious Minho and Kodak and slung them over their shoulders, too. As for Shira, she was tied-up and carried upside down hanging from her strapped paws and legs. Soon Grimm and his Scavengers began heading back to their campsite with their hostages.
Newt and Bolt watched from behind a tree watching the horror their friends were in right now.
"This is bad, This is bad, THIS IS BAD!" Bolt exclaimed
"We gotta go after them" Newt said
Bolt quickly turned his head to Newt's attention and exclaimed, "WHAT! You wanna go after the guys that beat us senseless?"
"They are family, Bolt" Newt informed, "We can't find Roshan, the Herd, and the others without them"
"But we're outnumbered, genius" Bolt informed back, mentioning how big their army is
"You're out-brained, too. But we have to try" Newt replied, "Are we mice or men?"
"MICE" Bolt replied
Newt rolled his eyes, "Don't be a coward. I promise everything will be all right. Trust me"
"Why?" Bolt questioned
"Because, I HAVE A PLAN" Newt announced
Bolt gulped and he began shaking in fear, "I was afraid of that"
Newt frowned and roughly yanked the Howler pup by the ear and began dragging him down a different direction in the woods so that the Scavengers wouldn't spot their presence following them.
PHEW! Holy cow, this chapter is finally finished! Looks like we have another group: Shira, Ragnar, Newt, Minho, Kodak, and Bolt. But will become of them? Will Newt and Bolt rescue their friends? What will become of the other groups? Who are the Scavengers? What has become of Diego and Shira's cubs? Please review and stay tuned for more fun and exciting action soon!
Michael Rooker as Grimm