Alrighty, please enjoy! Even though I think it's kinda short… oh well. You know that Taz, Dex and Bronson belong to scoobs5601, and Rebecca belongs to Blumacaw13, don't you? So I don't need to say it, even though I just did… dang it.
Izzy: Ha, you failed.
Me: Watch it, bunny rabbit. Y'know, I wouldn't even mind, but three out of four of them aren't even in this chapter... *sigh* Anyway, enjoy! And treasure a fast update, they don't typically happen often with my work... including schoolwork...
Crash and Eddie sat on the cave floor in front of their sister, who was lecturing them on taking advantage of animals who can't fight back.
"Y'know, maybe teasing Shira yesterday wasn't the best idea…" whispered Eddie.
"Gee, ya think?" hissed Crash "Now shut it before Ellie hears!"
Buck sat on one of Ellie's tusks, casually sharpening his tooth knife with a pointed rock. He wasn't taking sides, so he felt it was easier to just stay out of things all together.
"-the poor sabre has just got off of that crazy ape's ship, and I can't believe you two were cruel enough to prank her less than a week after her return!" Ellie paused for breath, and suddenly realised how loud she'd been talking. It was only morning, and her daughter and Taz had both woken up during her speech.
"Hey, what's going on?" yawned Peaches. She was hanging upside down again, as Louis and Meghan had both gone home the previous night, but she'd had Taz secure the flowers into her hair beforehand, despite the fact that they weren't as fresh and pretty as they were at first.
"Sorry Peaches, Taz," sighed Ellie "I forgot how early it was. I was just telling my brothers that it's impolite to taunt sabres that can't fight back."
"Woah, woah, back it up a second," Taz sat up, interested all of a sudden "Now, how did they taunt said sabre, and why couldn't they fight back?"
"Yeah, and who was it?" agreed Peaches, just as eager as her possum friend. Ellie rolled her eyes.
"C'mon now guys, it's not important who was taunted or how. What's important is-"
"Diego tied Shira up and she couldn't go outside the cave, so we were making fun of her," explained Eddie, unaware of his sister's death glare in his direction. Crash was though, so he took a slow step away from his twin. Taz giggled softly, stroking her fringe back off her face.
"Possums…" muttered Peaches, rolling her eyes and smiling. Taz glared at her. "Oh, uhm, I-I didn't mean…"
"It's fine, I get it. You meant those two," Taz grinned "But I think what you meant to say was male possums."
Both teens sniggered, as did Ellie and even Buck, but Crash and Eddie seemed highly offended. "HEY!"
Mikayla woke up beside Kate and Izzy in the cave, momentarily forgetting where she was and wondering why such a vulnerable cub and a herbivore would be sleeping so close to her. She smirked when she remembered, gently patting Kate on the head.
"She's a cute little one, isn't she?"
Ears pricked, Mikayla searched for the source of the voice. She soon discovered it was a member of Soto's pack, Oscar. The somewhat normal one, in Mikayla's opinion.
"Excuse me?"
"Kate. She's a cute little cub."
"Oh, right. Yeah…" Mikayla trailed off, unable to think of anything else to say to the sabretooth. Apparently, he couldn't think of anything to say to her either, because he lay his head back down on his paws and seemed to fall asleep.
Knowing he was faking, Mikayla refused to let her guard down, until she heard soft snores from his direction. Satisfied that he was sleeping, she lay down properly and allowed her thoughts to wander.
"Mikayla," a voice snapped her out of her thoughts.
"Gutt?" she murmured, lifting her head again.
"Yes, I've been thinking, and I know of a way that you can get rid of Shira and possibly get Diego to love you," lied Gutt. He had a plan, but he knew that it would make Diego hate Mikayla more than he already did. Mikayla's eyes lit up with hope.
"You do? Well, what is it?"
"Shush!" hissed Gutt "Lower your voice, you don't want to wake the others!"
Mikayla nodded. "Yes, sir."
"Miss Mikayla, we are pirates. We say 'Aye Aye, Captain'."
"Oh, right. Sorry. Aye Aye, Captain!"
Gutt smiled. "Better. Now, about this plan…"
Raz hopped into the cave, pausing at the entrance in case Diego and Shira were, uhm… you know. They weren't, as they were both asleep, but Gupta was wide awake, playing long-distance peek-a-boo with Casper.
"Aww, tha's really cute, Guppy," she mocked him, with a smirk on her face.
"Vhy do you always call me Guppy, yet you respect that our sister doesn't like being called Shi-Shi?" demanded Gupta, but his tone was playful. Raz shrugged.
"Coz Sheila is deadlier an' scarier than ya," she offered, earning a scowl from her brother "Aw c'mon, i' ain't like Ah came in 'ere ta make fun o' ya!"
"Vell, then vhy did you come in here?" asked Gupta, pausing the game of peek-a-boo.
"Ta see if ya wanna come out fer a walk with me an' the others."
"Ooh, that sounds like fun," Gupta paused "Except I can't valk."
Raz rolled her eyes. "Ah'm aware of tha', as Ah've been carryin' ya around! Either me or Boris'll carry ya."
Gupta shrugged. "Sounds good to me."
"Alrigh', then," replied Raz, gently picking her brother up.
"Hang on, did Squint say this vas alright?" asked Gupta hurriedly. Raz sighed,
"Since when is Squint the ruler of us, eh?" when she saw Gupta's worried expression, she added "Yeah, 'e did, Guppy, ya shouldn't worry so much about wha he says."
"Vell, I get vorried that he vill get mad at us!" Gupta defended himself.
"Oh yeah, what's more terrifying than the Easter Bunny?" Shira spoke up, rolling her eyes "Just go, if Squint gets mad I'll cover for you."
"Thanks, Shira!" said Gupta gratefully, as Raz gave her the thumbs up. The kangaroo exited the cave, holding the badger in a way that his leg was still straight. Shira shook her head at her siblings as they checked to make sure Squint wasn't watching, before running off into the forest.
"They're crazy, aren't they?" sighed Diego, alerting Shira that he was awake.
She nodded. "Absolutely. Imagine how I feel, I grew up with that."
"Well, that does explain how you are now," shrugged Diego. Shira's eyes grew wide, as she'd taken him seriously.
"Really?"
"No, I was kidding!" he assured her, kissing her cheek "I love you just the way you are."
"That's good…" she smiled up at him "Hey, you know what we still haven't done?"
"What?"
"Introduced the herd to our seven little cuties."
Diego gasped when he realised she was right. How could he have been so stupid as to forget to introduce his children to his own herd?!
"You're right. Wanna go introduce them now?"
Shira shrugged. "Sure, why not? Could you wake the others for me?"
Diego nodded. "Course I can. EVERYBODY WAKE UP!" he shouted. Shira rolled her eyes.
"You could've been more gentle and calm," Shira informed him. He licked her nose.
"Yeah, but where's the fun in that?" he asked, as several members of the herd entered the cave.
"What's the problem?" Manny sounded concerned. Diego grinned.
"No problem, just thought you guys might want to be formally introduced to mine and Shira's little cubs."
This instantly perked Sid – and everybody else, even Granny – up. They surged forward, surrounding the rock where the two sabres lay. The seven fluffballs pressed against Shira's stomach squeaked in fright, unused to so many animals being so close at once.
"Don't worry," she whispered to them "You're safe. This is just the rest of the herd, they won't hurt you."
The cubs calmed down, understanding their mother's words. Diego gently ruffled Shira's ears, before gesturing for the herd to back up a little bit. They did so, and Diego carefully plucked his oldest cub away from his siblings for a moment.
"Okay, this is the oldest cub, we named him-"
"Diego, we're introducing the cubs, not auctioning them off!" Shira pointed out, rolling her eyes "You don't need to be so formal, you're among friends!"
"Alright, alright…" he muttered, trying again "This is Kendall, the oldest boy. Any better, Shira?"
"Much," replied Shira, taking Kendall away from Diego and handing Hope to her mate. Diego carefully held his daughter, showing her off to the herd.
"This is the second oldest, Hope," as he spoke, she batted at his face, as if to say "Dude, I deserve a better introduction than that!" Diego laughed softly "And as you can see, she's certainly a little princess."
Shira cradled Hope to her chest, after passing Ranger up to Diego.
"Here's Ranger, the third oldest, and the most independent by far!" Diego chuckled as Ranger batted at him with one paw "He's also, for reasons unknown, taken a dislike to his Uncle Squint."
This earned chuckles and giggles from the entire herd, much to Diego's pleasure. Ranger needed no comforting cuddle, and Lightning was eager enough as he jumped into his father's paws, ready to be displayed.
"You should be able to guess this cub's name just by looking at him," Diego shrugged, but seeing Sid's confused expression, added "Lightning."
"Oh…" sighed Sid, which got him a hit on the head from Manny's trunk. Lightning laughed softly, as did the rest of the cubs, who were lying peacefully beside their mother. Diego rolled his eyes, before returning Lightning to his mother and gently lifting Jade.
"This is Jade, named after her sparkling eyes," said Diego proudly, licking his child on the head. She smirked at him, batting at his tongue. Diego sighed and muttered "Just like your mother."
"Thank goodness," said Shira with a grin, hugging Jade close, before carefully giving Casper to Diego. The small cub shook with fear, disliking being away from his mother. He was very reliant on his mother's cuddling, and without her, he was very afraid. Until of course he realised that the large paws holding him where those of his father.
"And this little guy is Casper, but no loud sounds, he gets scared quiet easily," Diego warned the herd, who conceded without question. Except Granny.
"Aww, well ain't he a cutie? Precious! Come see the little kitten! Precious!"
Casper squeaked in fright, causing Diego to pull him close and snuggle him, to no avail. "Shira!" he said immediately, passing the frightened child to his mother, whose presence visibly calmed him.
"Anyway, the final cub is little Tina," Diego held the cub up to show the herd. There was a chorus of "Aww!" and "They're all so cute!" from the rest of the herd, but Diego had to give Tina back to her mother fast because Casper was whimpering, wondering where his sister was. As they were both so small, the two were quite close, born within minutes of each-other.
Taz was the first one to run over to the little cubs, fast followed by Sid. The possum cuddled Tina and Casper, while Sid tried to hug just about all of the others. Ranger wasn't having the mushy cuddles, and hit Sid in the face with his paws. Ignoring this, Sid attempted to pick up the rest, much to Shira's displeasure. She snatched her cubs away from Sid, except for Lightning,who didn't seem to mind being cuddled by the sloth.
Buck ventured over to the giggling cubs, and was soon pounced on by Jade, who seemed to have taken a liking to the one-eyed weasel.
"Woah, easy there lil' tiger!" chuckled Buck, ruffling Jade's fur "Don't wanna smother me, now do ya?"
"Actually, she probably does. She's kinda... crazy," explained Shira.
"Perfect for Uncle Buck then!" joked Peaches, as she watched her mother play with Hope. The herd continued to snuggle the cubs, with the exception of Ranger - who had pounced on Crash and Eddie instead of hugging them, to which Shira had no protest - but the rest of the young kids were more than happy to be cuddled by the herd.
After an hour or two, Shira sent Diego out to hunt down some food, which he wasn't too happy about, as he wanted to stay beside Shira in case she got injured again, but he knew he had to get food for his mate and cubs. While he was searching for some deer or something, he ran into Mikayla, who had not long left Gutt's new home.
"Diego! H-Hi!" stammered Mikayla. Man, I gotta get outta here!, she thought in a panic.
But you did tell Gutt that you'd put the plan into action the next time you saw Diego.
I didn't think the next time would be so SOON!
Doesn't matter, you don't want Gutt thinking you're untrustworthy!
I know but-
But nothing! You are doing this!
...fine... I can't believe I just got deafeated by my own mind.
"Mikayla!" Diego's voice snapped her out of her thoughts "You okay?"
"Hm? Oh, yeah... fine," she lied, taking a deep breath "Hey, how's Shema?"
"You mean Shira?" corrected Diego, slightly irritated.
"Oh, right, yeah. Her," Mikayla couldn't quite keep the venom out of her tone completely "How is she after the coyote thing?"
"They were bears." Even though Diego didn't believe his love's story about the attack, he still thought Mikayla ought to
"Oh, yeah, I knew that."
"Sure you did..." muttered Diego "Anyway, she's okay. Still hurt, getting better though."
Diego didn't want to give Mikayla any details, she seemed to be acting suspicious... even more so than usual. He made up his mind to get out of there as soon as possible, get the deer, antelope, whatever he decided on, and get back to Shira.
"Oh, so she doesn't need any help anymore? She's all fixed?" asked Mikayla hopefully. Or at least back to the way she was before the attack, she added in her head.
"No, she's not fixed, just healing," Diego rolled his eyes "Like I said."
"Meh, same difference," Mikayla shrugged. Diego looked confused.
"Same difference? How can you have a same difference?! Something's the same, or it's different!"
"No, I mean..." Mikayla tried to think how to explain it "It's like, if you had say an antelope, and another antelope, they're different antelopes, right?"
"Well yeah, but they're still the same thing!"
"No, there's the same amount of difference between them."
"There's NO difference between them! They're the same thing!" protested Diego.
"Okay, that's like saying that because me and Shira are the same species, we're the same thing," Mikayla attempted to make it clearer for him.
"No, it's not."
"Yeah it is!"
"It's not!"
"Alright, so how is there no difference between the two antelopes?" she asked. Diego chewed his lip, then continued.
"B-because, there, there are, uhm... there just isn't any difference! And anyway, it even sounds wrong when you're saying it: Same difference. They're two completely different words! 'Same' and 'Difference' are opposites! They can't exist together in a description!"
"Yes they can! It means there is the same amount of difference between two things!"
"But 'healing' and 'fixed' are entirely different concepts!" insisted Diego. Mikayla rolled her eyes at him.
"Yes, but they mean practically the same thing. There is the same amount of difference!"
"But if there's difference, then they're not the same, are they?" pointed out Diego. Mikayla cursed under her breath; she hated losing in an arguement, but she couldn't think of a counterpoint.
"Whatever, this arguement is seriously pointless anyway," she decided now was a good time to put her plan - well, Gutt's plan actually - into action. "So, about Shira..."
"Mikayla, I've not got time for another random debate, I need to go hunting!" interrupted Diego. Mikayla sighed and rolled her eyes.
"It's not a random debate, it's a serious question!" she told him.
"Okay, what?" he said bluntly.
"Well, you know how much you love your little cubs..."
"Yes?" Diego sounded wary.
"Uhm... how would you... like, some more?" she finally got it out. Diego shrugged.
"I'd be cool with it, but it would probably be putting to much strain on Shira, what with the bears and all... plus our seven cuties are still pretty young, so not anytime soon..." Diego mused, oblivious to Mikayla's intention.
"Not with her, silly!" cooed Mikayla, advancing on him. She nuzzled his shoulder lovingly.
"Then what do you-" Diego suddenly caught on: Mikayla wanted to have cubs with him.
"So... whaddaya say?" she asked softly, licking his cheek.
What will Diego say?
Izzy: Well, he says-
Me: Dude, rhetorical question! BTW, wanna know an interesting fact about the 'Same Difference Debate'? That actually happened between two people who work at the local Fish and Chips shop, lol! Anyway, I wanna apologise in advance for next chapter, because something happens, but you guys know me, almost everything gets resolved in my stories. Just bear with it for a short while and don't like, stop reading or anything... please. Alright, thanks for reading and please review :)
Kate: Hey, didn't you have something you wanted to say to, uhm... can't remember the name, but it was about OC's.
Me: Oh yeah, thanks Kate :) Guest and *ahem* Kaaaaren? If you guys want OC's in the story, just ask me and I'll be happy to include them, but I can't guarentee a big part for them, because of the plot and all, but I will include them if you want. I'll just need their bio :)