Hello everyone!
At long, long last, here we are! This is the final chapter of this story! Just over two years from beginning with a little silly story about time travelling humans, it has somehow snowballed into an epic adventure, and you - the readers - are to thank for that. Your enthusiasm for this story, your active engagement, made me want to do this properly. All the ideas you threw at me made this story into what it is, and have made it a certainty that I'm not stopping here :D. I feel I should thank a few people directly; I cannot be more grateful, nor thankful, to Debit13 and ForTheKingdom, who have beta'd this story over its tenure and have corrected all of my many mistakes, and thus made this readable. Similarly, thank you to DiegoRedeemedLover, Kaktusic, Goldenpuon and yellowraccoon for reviewing this story all the way; your excitement, your criticisms, your nudges along the way and all your encouragements have definitely made this possible.
And last, but not least, to you who are reading this. I know, courtesy of the stats, that there are a lot of you who have read through this story but haven't reviewed along the way, but I still thank you for taking the time to read this and deeming it good enough to keep reading it. Just seeing the stats page is always encouraging, and so I thank you. I hope, if you haven't reviewed before, you could let me know what you have thought of the story before we part ways :).
Flip, this is a long A/N! Sorry - i was planning on having a 'thanks' chapter at the end, but it seems to have come out here! So now, for the last time this story...
Without further ado...
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Questions. Too many questions.
Sam's mind distracted her from the vista her office granted her,. She stared at the sword's hilt gripped in her hands dispassionately, recalling all that she knew of it; the forensics team had found it alongside Peaches, it was the genuine article, and nothing was as it seemed.
But of all she knew about the sword, it was the inscription that haunted her most, purely because it was so utterly out of place;
December 12th, 2072
The sword - gladius, she corrected herself - had been scrubbed clean, revealing the lettering that had been obscured before.
Their presence only added yet more questions to her lengthy list.
Leaning back, eyes now fixed to a vague point in the sky, she allowed the questions to flow over her - questions she had refrained from asking until that moment - hoping she would find the answers she desperately wanted. With every blink, the sun seemed to move further in the sky, but she granted it little more than a passing acknowledgement; her mind still trying - and failing - to find answers.
"What are you planning?" she thought aloud, mulling over the clues, veiled threats, and whispered horrors the Remnant had done, and promised to do. "What do you want?"
The distant lights winking into existence finally grabbed her attention. She looked through the window and blinked; the deep shade of the evening sky suggested the sun had long since gone. She could see the layered lights of London's buildings and skyscrapers, casting the city beyond in a faint haze. She switched on her desk lamp in search of a clock, unceremoniously dropping the gladius in the process. Finding one, she merely stared at it, disbelieving the time it gave her.
"That can't be right," She murmured.
"And a good evening to you too, Sam."
Her head shot up in time to see James emerge from the darkened hallway, his eyes glinting in the dim light. She shot him a weary smile that faded almost as soon as she gave it.
"Time flies when you're confused," she replied.
The wolf eased himself into a chair opposite her, eyes flickering pensively between herself and the sword on the table.
"And did sitting at your desk for seven hours help assuage that confusion?" he queried.
She smiled once more, leaning back into her chair.
"Not in the slightest," she said. Paused but a moment, she shot bolt upright, eyes probing the wolf with interest. "How about you? Did you find anything?"
"Regarding the inscription?" he replied, deflating slightly. "Unfortunately so."
The hairs on the back of her neck stood on end at the wolf's tone and body language. She leant forward, eyeing him intensely.
"What did you find?" she pressed.
He let out a sigh, rubbing his eyes with his paws. The strong, confident wolf that had entered the room dissipated. Even in the dim light, she could see just how tired James looked.
Like he hasn't slept in days, she noted.
"As you know, we are having difficulty maintaining communications with our agents and networks beyond the date inscribed-"
"Yes, and?" she snapped, her tone much more forceful than she intended.
"We have looked into it, and it seems the reason isn't technological or logistical...it's causational," he replied, his weariness now infecting his voice.
Causational.
Just hearing the word stunned her, her face turning expressionless in her shock.
"The reason we have difficulty contacting them," James continued ploddingly. "Is because, after that date, our timeline...is no longer the only probable one."
The room felt darker, more oppressive to her at that moment. In her mind's eye, she could finally perceive the meaning. She chuckled humourlessly, swivelling in her chair so as to see both Hudson and the city vista. The city beyond, still buzzing with life, calmed her unease.
"It's a signal of intent," she murmured. "They are moving their pieces into position even as we speak."
"Ma'am?" Hudson replied, evidently confused.
She smiled absently, eyes not fixed on several blinking lights in the distance.
"Chess, James," she mussitated. "They're toying with us; playing a game where whoever checkmates the other wins the control of time itself." She turned slightly, eyeing the sword cooly.
"And, it seems, they feel so certain of their victory that they kindly let us know when they plan on checkmating us."
Even as she noted Hudson's darkening expression, her mind turned to the herd. She thought of the village they had created, the lives they planned on living...
Realising, as she then did, the true nature of all of their circumstances; players in a battle yet to be truly fought.
She knew full well that the herd would eventually be targets in whatever dealings the Remnant had; too much had happened for them not to be...
"That won't happen!" Hudson growled, dragging her attention back to him. "We will find them and put a quick end to this before it has even begun!"
She gave him a rueful smile, wishing, with all her heart, it were that easy.
"A quick end," she murmured ruefully, leaning back into her chair. "No, there won't be an easy solution to this..." She held up a hand instinctively, silencing the arguments she knew were coming from the wolf. "We could throw all of the UNTC's efforts into hunting them down, but I bet we will only find ourselves chasing shadows again, just like the last ten years..."
An eerie silence filled the room as Hudson slumped in resignation, his eyes hidden in shadow.
"What can we do?" He said quietly.
She smiled slightly, eyes still trained on the distant lights.
"We'll do it all the same, and more," She replied.
"And more?" Hudson asked.
She could feel her old, mischievous smile creep onto her face as the thrill of defiance rushed through her.
"In the words of my brother," she said, her smile growing. "It can wait."
The wolf merely stared dully at her,
"What is it with Howards and questions?" He asked. "Are you capable of ever answering a question directly?"
She grinned,
"Sometimes, provided it's an emergency. Being annoyingly enigmatic just runs in the family," She glanced at her watch and grimaced. "Speaking of Frank, we're late."
"Late," Hudson replied, deadpan. "The ability to 'cast to any point in time and space, and you're saying we're late."
"Secretary General's prerogative," She replied, her mischievous smile once more fixed firmly on her face. "Now come along James; we have some answering to do."
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17,992BC
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Hudson blinked away retinal echoes, every blink revealing his surroundings; woods, hills, a half-finished building, and the unmistakeable - and unexpected - sight of a village rising out of the trees in the plains before him.
He squinted up at the sun in it's cloudless sky, and pondered. The air felt colder, but not unpleasantly so. Fresher too, he noted.
"This is the village?" He asked, knowing full well it was, that it had to be.
Sam placed her hand gently on his neck and gave him a squeeze, her eyes never leaving the vista before them.
"This is the village," She replied airily, grinning broadly. "Home of the herd, good times...and peace."
He returned the grin, taking in a deep breath of air, savouring its freshness.
"Beats London any day of the week." He remarked.
Movement in the corner of his eye caught his attention. Squinting into the plains below, amidst the mass of people, he could make out a human, sabre and two mammoths coming towards them. He craned his neck upwards and began to grin, but stopped himself. The sounds, smells and quiet had completely distracted him from the reason he was there. He looked up at Sam, her lips still creased in a goofy grin.
"Are you going to tell them everything?" He quizzed.
The smile had vanished almost as soon as the words left his lips, thought she still waved as furiously as she did before.
"No," She said quietly, eyes still cast over the valley.
"May I ask why?" He pressed.
Her hands fell to her sides, seemingly as weary as her face had suddenly become.
"It isn't safe for them to know...everything," She murmured. "If they know what we do, then things might turn out much, much worse."
He squinted at her. It wasn't like her to be so secretive, least of all with regards to the herd. The harder he looked at her, the more he wondered;
What does she know that I don't?
He knew it was expected that she - the secretary general of the most powerful UN branch on earth ever - would know more than he would. It was her job to keep - and act on - secrets.
But he never expected such secrets to surround the herd, even with all the veiled threats the Remnant threw their way. The fact that there even were secrets he didn't know regarding the herd - people he cared about - left him feeling uneasy.
"For us, or for them?" He quizzed tentatively.
She stayed silent, her mouth opening and closing but no words coming forth. He frowned, eyeing Sam with worry, waiting for an answer.
"I don't know yet," She admitted, her voice a faint echo of itself. "Maybe us, maybe them...maybe both. I don't know."
He let out a sigh, dragging his attention back to the approaching herd.
"Why keep them in the dark if you don't know?" He voiced quietly.
The weight of her stare on his back forced him to face her and her deeply perturbed eyes.
But the voice that answered was not hers,
"If someone else knew your future, would you really want to know?"
Hudson spun round, suddenly faced with a greying antelope. She held her head high, her eyes piercingly clear.
It took him a moment to realise who he was looking at; Keira, the village elder, was more stately in the flesh than any description Sam mustered over the months.
"Elder," He said, bowing slightly. "It is an honou-"
"Would you want to know, Colonel Hudson?" She asked, her tone softer the second time round.
"Depends on what that future holds," He remarked. "If it's good, then yes-"
"And if possibly bad?" She interrupted.
He frowned at the question, wishing he hadn't even begun the conversation. His eyes darted back to the herd - still edging closer and closer in the distance - and fought off the impending demands, questions, pleadings...
You're an officer, he thought firmly. Act like one.
"No," He replied mutedly. "I wouldn't want to know, because I would live in fear of that future."
She nodded absently,
"Precisely," She murmured. "Precisely."
Sam stepped in front of him, bowing down respectfully, as he did.
"Keira," She said. "I wish I could say I've come on more pleasant business..."
"I know, Sam," She said softly. "You came to tell me this morning, though you mentioned having seen me at this time before having visited me then, so your confusion is fair. Grieved as I am by the news, I cannot say I am surprised; of what little I have seen of the Remnant, I have seen enough to know they care nothing for life."
Sam nodded slightly, straightening herself out.
"Have you told them?" She asked.
"No," Keira replied. "I decided it would be best if you told them first. I will go to the pond and wait for Manny, as you told me I would do." A smirk crept across her face. "Having a friend beyond time is a bit of an adjustment."
Sam smiled,
"You can say that again."
Keira's eyes turned towards him, as if to include him in their conversation. Suddenly awkward, he cast his eyes to the floor.
"My apologies for being so blunt, Colonel Hudson," She replied softly. "It's just that I have little time; Sam's future-self informed me I was not present for the meeting and, seeing as they are almost here, I have to go."
He smiled, gratefully accepting the apology, and watched the antelope sprint away.
"Good luck!" She called back.
"See you later, I guess!" Sam shouted, waving her hand aloft.
Within moments, the antelope was gone, and the herd reached the base of the hill. He took a sharp intake of breath, steadying himself for the coming talk.
"James."
He snapped his head round, his gaze meeting Sam's.
"When this is done, remind me to make it procedural policy to enforce chronological meetings," She murmured. "I'm getting quite tired of finding out what I am going to do."
He smiled,
"Yup, definitely a Howard."
She shot him a grin just as the herd arrived.
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For all the openness their pavilion granted, Manny felt claustrophobic. The herd, crammed alongside several elders of the village, listened in utter silence to Sam as she conveyed the news they had feared to hear: the other herd was dead. To a disbelieving and dismayed audience, Sam unflinchingly told them of tales of betrayal, infiltration, death in ice caves in times long past...
If he didn't know the herd as well as he did, he would have feared for her safety.
Suddenly, his heart lurched into his mouth as Peaches' name - and the fate of her other self - crept into the torrent of revelations. Out of instinct, as well as for his own comfort, he clutched his daughter tightly to himself, silently thankful she was sleeping. He swallowed hard, stroking her hair gently, as he turned his attention once again to Sam.
"...and the evidence suggests that she - and all the members of that herd - died in that cave; there was too much blood to suggest anything else," Sam said. "But as to where the others' remains are...we don't know yet. All we know is that John..." She paused, her eyes glazed over briefly. "...ex-Commissioner Cartwright...betrayed the very values, principles...and people...he had sworn to uphold."
She scanned the room, her eyes finally falling on Manny before twitching away, but he had seen enough; she looked grim, weary, angry and dismayed.
Headstrong he may be, but Manny knew a lie when he saw it; Sam wasn't lying as far as he was concerned.
"What has happened is horrendous," She stated, her tone forcibly flat. "And an utter betrayal of that herd, yourselves, and myself...everything I stand for has been betrayed...everything the UNTC - me, Terry, Charlie, Nigel and James included - stands for has been betrayed. But we can find no reason for it; no traces of illicit activities in his actions, no evidence of any pro-Remnant opinions in either public or private. No signs that he was planning anything at all, much less anything suggesting the scale of the crimes he has managed to commit. But I will make no excuses for him. On behalf of all of us, I am truly, deeply, sorry. I hope this doesn't affect the UNTC's relationship with yourselves, or the trust you have in us."
The silence that followed felt deafening to him, making the open room feel even more claustrophobic. Finally, a slight movement snatched everyone's attention to Frank.
"You realise what I'm going to ask," He murmured with an almost menacing quietness.
Sam sighed, her eyes flickering briefly to Hudson, the wolf standing stiffly beside her.
"Yes I do," Sam said.
"Then how can we trust the UNTC?" He replied quietly, his voice turning harsher and harsher with every word. "If one of its commissioners can do this, then what about the rest of them? How can something this big go utterly unnoticed by everyone?"
"The Remnant have always worked in the shadows," Sam said. "For the last ten years we have been having to deal with them, give chase to them, and every time we find ourselves chasing rumours and ghosts. They never leave a trace tangible enough for us to find out who they are, or why they want to topple us so badly-"
"You haven't answered Frank's question, Sam," Diego interrupted.
Sam swivelled, her eyes bright as she met the sabre's own.
"True enough...fine. If you can't trust the UNTC, then at least trust in us," She stated. "Terry, Charlie, Nigel, James and me. Because we are on your side, even if you think everyone else isn't...They saved us too, Diego,"
For the first time in the entire discourse, Manny saw tears well up in Sam's eyes.
"They saved us too..." She continued, her tone infused with anger. "And I would want nothing more than to make these bastards pay for what they did to them. In the twenty six years I've been the secretary general of the UNTC, nothing like this has ever happened. The game has changed for us too."
Manny darted his eyes across the room, meeting the same look in Frank's, Diego's, Ellie's - even Sid's and Mark's – eyes: one of total confusion.
"Wait," He said aloud, shifting as much as his daughter's slumbering weight would allow. "How long did you say you have been in charge for?"
Sam gave him a weak smile, one that did not quite reach her eyes.
"Twenty-six years," She replied. "Ever since the Paris Accords were signed by all UN member nations in twenty thirty-eight, which brought the UNTC into existence."
"Yeah, right," Frank grunted. "You don't look a day older than you did at Fort Halstead."
Manny opened his mouth, determined to inquire further about Sam - how young she looked, given her implied age - but, as he began to talk, Buck's voice boomed out.
"Getting a bit off topic, aren't we? We ain't 'ere to discuss beauty tips, boys."
"Right, right," Manny replied, nodding as much as he could without awaking Peaches. "Back to the whole trust thing..."
He paused. Aware as he was that all eyes had settled on him, he took the opportunity to look everyone in the face; from Mark's bright eyed attentiveness and Sid's mildly bored expression to Frank's wearied gaze, he could sense - or thought he could sense - a similar feeling exuding from the whole herd.
"I..." He began, locking his sight onto Sam. "I can't speak for anyone else here, but I trust you. You, James, Nigel, Charlie...even Terry...we went through too much together for us to not trust you...but for now, we will only work with the five of you: at least until we know the UNTC can be trusted."
Sam smiled warmly, the tension in her body easing almost instantly.
"That's good enough for us," She stated, shifting her attention across the room. "What about the rest of you?"
"Do you even need to ask?" Diego replied, smiling slightly.
"You may be far off, but yer all still a part of this 'erd," Buck stated plainly. "An' you 'aven't given us any reason not to trust ya."
"We all trust you here, Sam," Mark, till then silent, said. "And we know you're on our side!"
Manny, smiling at the young sabre, added his assent to the mass of agreements that flooded the room. Hudson moved forward, sharing a grin with Sam as he did so.
"There is a reason for our testing of these waters," The wolf stated, his grin settling down into a satisfied smirk. "Since we are seeking an...alliance, with yourselves."
"An alliance?" Manny blinked in surprise, realising it was his voice that he heard resounding.
"Why do you want an alliance with us?" Frank chipped in, confusion registering in his tone.
"Well," Hudson said, coughing several times to clear his throat. "As it is, the twelve of you have become...well...erm..."
"You are legends," Sam said bluntly. "Some of the biggest myths and stories passed down to us as part of almost every tradition have been about you. Whenever the dawn of civilisation is mentioned, so are the Legends of the Twelve Guardians. Every religion has laid claim to you, as has every society and every great leader. Some deny you ever existed while others believe you to be real, but it does not change the fact that you are one of our oldest, and most enduring, myths."
Manny closed his eyes, willing himself to remain calm. It had hurt that so many people in his time had forgotten that the other herd had saved them, letalone hearing they had been forgotten to history as well. A part of him had hoped that - somehow - they would have been remembered too.
But, as Sam's words hit him, he realised it wouldn't.
Twenty thousand years later, and still we're regarded as the heroes, he thought acridly.
"It's not fair," He grumbled, his voice so quiet only Ellie could hear. "We didn't save anyone at Halstead Pass, they did. The other herd did."
"Why are you telling us this?" Frank asked, unaware of Manny's misgivings. "And why are you referring to us as myths?"
"Because we need to keep it that way," Sam replied. "Your existence is a secret. If anyone caught wind of the fact that the Twelve Guardians are in fact more than mere myth then we cannot guarantee your safety. In short, we need you to refrain from making any impromptu trips to the future; only with our express permission can you travel to any point beyond this time-"
"But the Remnant know we exist," Frank said quickly, cutting her off. "And they know where we are."
Sam held up her hands,
"True enough," She admitted. "But billions of others don't. And if there's a chance we need to call you forward, bring you to our time, then it would be much, much safer if people didn't know who you are. It only takes one fanatic to do damage, and the last thing we need is the image of a dead Guardian scrawled across every newspaper and social network. Hence we need to keep you here. In this time. And secret."
Diego let out a chuckle,
"Easy enough," He replied. "Isn't like we have a spare time machine lying around."
Manny shifted forward, eyeing Hudson and Sam intently, noticing the knowing smiles they exchanged.
"Or do we?" He asked pointedly, his eyes focussed on Sam's.
She checked her watch and smiled broadly at him,
"Well..."
It was then he heard it: faint whispers on the wind, as if being carried upon it. Manny recognised them: ghost voices.
Keen on keeping his sight, he clamped his eyes shut while trying as fast as he could to cover Ellie's eyes with his trunk. Through his eyelids he saw a brilliant flash of light even as his ears were filled with the shocked cries of his herd.
When he opened his eyes, his jaw hung slack, and he found himself simply staring, unsure of what to make of the sight before him.
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Frank's senses were assaulted by blinding light.
He chided himself, realising he should have responded faster when he heard the ghostly voices on the air.
But he didn't, and now his eyes ached from the brilliance of the light.
He blinked the retinal echoes away, eventually seeing several blobs of colours. Blink by blink, he saw it: helicopters - dozens of them - with cables sprawling out of them, attached to a massive device. At the centre of which was a disc...
"Good God," He exclaimed. "That's a time machine!"
Sam grinned, clasping her hand on Hudson's shoulder as she did so.
"Not just any time machine," She said. "But one that played a very big part in our lives! But Fort Halstead is a little far for convenience, so the Commission voted to move it here."
"Thanks for asking us about it," Manny remarked dryly. "And where exactly are we supposed to put it?"
"We have a couple of spots in consideration," Sam replied, shrugging slightly. "But the Commission - and myself - would prefer that you had at least one, so that we can continue and maintain our alliance easily. Besides, someone from this valley already gave us permission."
Frank felt Manny's eyes boring into him accusingly. He shifted to stare at him, shrugging in the same way his sister did.
"Well don't look at me," He said defensively. "I had no idea that this was happening!"
Manny blinked at the human in confusion,
"Well, if you didn't, and I didn't...who did?" He quizzed.
Frank shared a knowing smile with Diego, enjoying the growing look of frustration on the mammoth's face.
"What are you grinning so idiotically about?" Manny demanded.
"Have a wild guess, Manny, which elder of the village - perhaps a wise, old elder - who'd have the right to say yes to something like this," Diego replied patronisingly. "I'll give you three guesses."
He slumped.
"I'm going to kill Keira." He grumbled.
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For hours, Manny searched for the village's elder, seeking her out amongst the hundreds of technicians and thousands of inhabitants.
How does an antelope hide this well? He asked himself as all of his efforts turned up nothing.
The sun hung low in the sky before Manny - after more hours than he would like to admit - finally found her beside the side of the pool. Having stomped about for most of the day, Manny was unwilling to move; the air was so quiet, the leaves so still, the elder so peaceful.
As quietly as he could, he walked up to her, hoping he wouldn't be noticed...
"Sam told me you would be coming," She said, her voice positively loud in such a silent place.
He couldn't help but smile,
"Somehow I knew you'd make friends with her," He replied. Having broken the silence, he saw no need to tip-toe; the water rippled as he plonked himself beside her. "If you knew I was looking for you, why didn't come and look for me?"
She looked at him, her eyes full of humour,
"And stop you from having all that time to be all huffy and puffy?" She said, feigning shock. "I would never be so cruel as to deny you your chief pleasure in life."
He looked at her flatly,
"My friend is a tiger," He added playfully. "I could get him to eat you."
"And mine is the most powerful person in all of history," She replied lightly. "I could get her to erase you."
He blinked in surprise. He knew they were joking about the threats, but he knew Keira well enough to know she meant the first half.
"You and Sam?" He asked mutedly. "Actually friends? That was quick."
She chuckled in such a way that he knew instantly he was wrong.
"Oh, my dear Manny," She said, smiling widely. "We have spoken almost every day for the last six months. It is hard not to see someone daily and not become friends with them."
"She hasn't been here at all in the last six months." He retorted.
"Oh, but she has; she just couldn't resist seeing how we were doing," She replied. "And she wanted to see you all, but she told me that there are rules regarding her dealings with the Guardians," She looked him squarely in the eyes, her smile fading slightly. "In order for history to take its course, there are some periods of your history you have to work out alone, with only a little outside help."
He didn't know why, but Keira's statement stung; regardless of how huffy he seemed on the outside, the thought that people much more powerful than he ever could be were watching over him and his herd was comforting.
There are some things you have to work out alone.
"So what have you and Sam talked about?" He said, affecting as light a tone as possible.
She nodded, sensing the unsubtle change of topic.
"Oh, many things," She replied. "Her time and its wonders, our time and ours. How this village is the dawn of something new in the world..."
He sat still, mulling over what she had said.
"New?" He quizzed, suddenly worried that he ought to know the answer.
"We start to build houses, schools and streets - things we could not imagine before the humans came - and you think the old order remains?" She asked, evidently amused. "My dear Manny, everything has begun to change. In fact, Sam mentioned some weeks ago - about the same time I gave permission for the time machine, if I recall correctly - about some skill they mean to teach us... something that will guarantee our survival, she says, even in the coldest winters. Something called 'agri-culture.'"
"What is that?" He asked, noting mentally her admission; she is the blame for the gigantic thing now blocking my view, he thought.
"I have no idea," She chuckled. "But it sounds fascinating, wouldn't you agree?"
He nodded slightly, giving her a smile. Yet even then, his head resounded with her previous words:
Some things you have to work out alone.
The sudden presence of a hoof on his leg snapped him out of his thoughts, only to find himself looking deeply into Keira's eyes.
"Do not be troubled that Sam cannot always be there for you," She stated. "Just know that it is for your own good - and theirs."
"I wasn't troubled!" He said, even as he thought how are you reading my mind?
"She will help you when she can, but sometimes you must do so on your own, lest history turn out differently. And, were that to happen, then Sam might not even be there at all. It is hard to commune with the past, when doing so risks your present and your future. The village is our village, and was ours to build. Granted, they gave us what we needed, but nothing more. We were destined to build it ourselves, to learn how, so that we can build other villages in the future." She replied.
"Other villages?" He said weakly, his confusion deepening.
She chuckled heartily,
"They have a word for what is beginning here," She said. "A funny word, I'll admit, but it has a ring to it; they call this the dawn of 'civilisation'. And one day we'll be showing others how to do it too, in the Bredelands."
He sat bolt upright, memories of a blurred, alcohol sodden night returning to him. He couldn't believe he had utterly forgotten about the Bredelands - his home - for almost half a year.
Yet he had.
The Bredelands' borders are just a week away, he thought, feel his face flush with sudden shame at forgetting his homelands for so long. I could go and visit...
"You cannot go to the Bredelands, Manny," Keira said sternly. "Not until the time is right."
"How can you read my mind?" He demanded. It took him a moment to realise he had spoken aloud what he had meant to think, and thought what he meant to say.
Smooth, Manny, he chided himself.
"And why can't I go?"
She lifted her hoof, an enigmatic smile settling on her face.
"One question at a time," She replied. "First, it's not so much reading your mind as reading your face; everything you think is always clear to see there. Second, Sam has made it clear that some things within the Bredelands are not ready for you yet...some things cannot be forced, Manny. In time, you will know when it is right to go. But not yet. Not yet."
He tore his eyes away from Keira's as he let out a long, aggravated sigh, fixing his gaze on the still waters before him.
"Well that's just great," He grumbled. "So we can't go anywhere near Porcupine Gorge until some mystical 'right time.' What are we supposed to do till then? Sit?"
She shrugged,
"Perhaps," She remarked, smiling all the wider. "I'm not a fortune teller, I'll have you know."
Manny snorted.
"Coulda fooled me." He murmured.
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"Wrench! I need a wrench over here!"
Waist deep in the machine, Frank waited patiently, hand extended, hoping someone could hear him. Moments later, something heavy appeared in his hands. He let out the breath he had been holding in.
"Thank you!" He shouted out as he continued with his work.
He couldn't resist; even though his hands had been covered in callouses for six months from construction, as soon as he saw the machine lowered into place, he knew he had to help get it running again. Technology, gadgetry, electronics...they called to him.
And besides, he reasoned with himself, if this thing is going to be sitting in your valley, it's best to know how it works.
"How's it going in there?" A muffled voice asked him.
Snapped out of his thoughts – yet continuing to work – he tightened a screw as he replied,
"A few conduits, circuits and so on out of place - minor, considering it was lugged through space and time - but she's almost good to go!"
"That's good," The voice replied - unmistakably Sam's. "Are you able to get out?"
"Just...one...last..." He groaned, exerting every last ounce of strength he had. Finally, the wrench shifted; the bolt was tightly screwed. "Done! I'm coming out."
With all the grace of a flopping fish, he wheedled his way into the open air. Having shaken free of his impromptu prison, he stretched, only then noting how greasy, dishevelled and...disgusting...he felt as his skin met the fresh coolness of the evening's air. In the corner of his eye, he saw Sam's smirk all too clearly.
"How you manage to get this dirty in such a short space of time is...impressive," She said, amusement plastered on her face.
He shrugged, brushing off what little he could from his jacket.
"It's a rare skill, I'll admit," He remarked, "but I assume you didn't drag me out just to mock me?"
She checked her watch and smiled.
"I have a present for you."
He looked at her. She had nothing in her hands, and nothing nearby; several unsubtle scans of his surroundings confirmed it. In the end, he gave up, and simply stared at her.
"Ah...where, exactly?" He ventured.
She didn't answer immediately, merely giving him the mischievous smile he had long since learned to associate with the approach of something unpleasant.
"It should be coming soon," She replied, taking several steps back, "Any second now."
He looked at her as if she were mad. He craned his neck, looking for a trace something coming through time.
He could hear no ghost voices on the winds; there was no indication that something - anything - was arriving, through time or space.
He shot a smirk at his sister, her features still comfortably confident.
"Well!" He said, exaggerating his words. "And how long should we wai-"
Before he could finish the sentence, he crashed to the floor, blinded by white light. Through the confusion, he heard the distinct, unmistakeable noise of tyres screeching to a halt.
Followed by a more unwelcomely loud noise,
"YEAH!" Terry yelled ecstatically. "I gotta get us one of these, Sammy; ain't fair these prehistory hotshots get the coolest toys."
"It's not feeling so cool from here," Frank groaned, still laying perfectly still on the floor.
"Ah get over it, boss! Ain't like yer dead or nothin," Terry replied.
"Charmed, as always, Terry," he replied flatly.
He eased his eyes open, shielding his gaze from the painful light. The blur of a hand hung above him, which he gladly took, hoping the person would gently lift him to his feet.
The yank up - and accompanying shocked pain in his shoulder - disabused him of such grateful notions.
Once more on his feet, he blinked until his vision returned. At first, all he saw were blurs, focussing slowly into Sam, Terry, the valley and-
"What?" He exclaimed, attention finally falling on the object in front of him.
At first, he thought it was just an ordinary truck: wheels, windows, etc. He traced his hand across it, trying to figure out why it felt familiar. In the corner of his eye, he saw both Sam and Terry sharing amused - even excited - glances.
"She took quite a beating, after all the stunts you pulled in her," Sam stated. "Took a good few months - and a fair few strings pulled - to get the repairs completed."
He froze, suddenly recognising it for what it was. The truck that had carried him hundreds of miles, survived every fall and battle.
The truck that had saved their lives by somehow still working, even when it shouldn't have.
He spun round, eyes wide in shock.
"H-ho, wh-whe," He stuttered. "Wh-Wha?"
Sam grinned,
"Thought you'd like it."
He smiled, attention turned back to the truck, eyes darting everywhere, trying to take it all in.
"Made some improvements, too," Terry added. "No gun on the back, cos lets face it, ain't like ya need it. Same fusion engine, reinforced chassis, bullet proof glass-"
"And an in-built time machine." Sam added.
Frank's jaw hung slack, the words seemingly lingering in the air.
An in-built time machine, he repeated to himself.
Unknowingly, his eyes trailed away from the truck, from Sam and Terry, back to the machine he had just been working on. Towering over him, its visage a mass of tubes, plates and various other ungainly things, things even the builders of the device couldn't miniaturise.
He stifled the urge to laugh; it seemed ludicrous to him.
"You gonna keep standing there thinkin' its all a buncha' crap, or are you gonna do the sciency thing and test it out?" Terry quizzed.
Frank shot him a dubious smirk as he settled into the driver's seat, confident it wouldn't work.
"Good evening, Frank."
The voice, distinctly male, caught him utterly off guard. Jumping from surprise, he slammed his head into the ceiling.
"Goddammit!" He exclaimed.
"My apologies, I didn't mean to shock you."
Rubbing his aching head, his gaze fixed upon the central console, convinced the voice had come from it.
"Was that you?" He asked ambivalently.
"Of course," The console replied. "Who else could it be? Unless you expect a midget to pop out of me anytime now?"
"Right," He murmured sarcastically. "That's just brilliant." He glanced at Terry and Sam. "Thank you for giving me a sarcastic truck."
"I have a name, you know," The truck replied. Frank blinked; the truck's voice almost sounded...hurt.
"A-and that would be?" He stammered.
"Ian," the truck said calmly.
Frank merely stared.
"Ian?"
"Correct, sir. Ian. It stands for Integrated Autonomous Network...but Ian will suffice."
All he could do was gawp at Sam.
"You give us a sentient truck...and you called it Ian?" He said incredulously.
Sam chuckled.
"The technology was already there," she stated. "Except it was slaved to the network of the bases in this era...which, when we got here, wasn't exactly functioning like it was supposed to, what with years of wear and tear. All we've done to it is patch it up and, well, switched it on. It isn't fully sentient, just well-programmed to make it seem like it."
Frank blinked, trying to say something. Anything at all.
How about the sort-of-but-not-quite sentient thing? He thought.
"So how'd you fix it?" Frank queried, realising as soon as he said it how utterly dumb it was.
"We un-slaved it, moron," Terry retorted, smiling as he did so. "Call yerself a scientist?"
As he sat there, trying to absorb all the information he had suddenly been given, he remembered that the truck had spoken. But its voice was...it was...
"Female." Frank said aloud.
"Come again?" Sam said.
He winced as he realised he had said that aloud.
"The truck...ah...Ian...did speak. But it was female."
"I have a variety of voice settings," Ian - much to Frank's discomfit - replied in the female voice he remembered, before promptly switching back to a male voice. "Including the setting you recall. Though I do feel a male voice suits a name like Ian a little better, do you not agree?"
Frank remained utterly still. He wondered what he had eaten or drunk, whether he was hallucinating, whether he was still sane at all...
Or whether he lived in a world that made no sense anymore, at least not to him.
You're best friends are animals that can talk, his brain reminded him, why are you expecting anything else to make sense?
He took one last glance at Sam and Terry, knowing full well a smirk was growing on his face.
"So...Ian...what else can you do?"
-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-
Manny watched as the setting sun bathed the village - and its newly arrived time machine - in a warm glow. He couldn't help but shake his head at the...oddness...of such a sight. In the corner of his eye, he saw Peaches cuddled up against Ellie, fast asleep. He looked at Ellie, sharing a smile with her.
"Crazy day, huh?" Ellie remarked.
"Yeah," Manny replied. "I miss the normal days...ya know, when bloodthirsty sabres were hunting us down and everyone was trying to kill us."
"Ah, the good ol' days."
Both he and Ellie glanced up at Buck, slumped on top of a branch above them. The weasel didn't seem to notice the incredulous looks directed his way.
"I 'ave to say, chaps, you know 'ow to show a weasel a good time!" Buck exclaimed. "Ain't 'ad an adventure like that in, well, eva!"
"You could say that again!"
Yet again, Manny and Ellie turned, seeing the rest of the herd - except Frank, and including Hudson - join them. He shot a dubious glance at Ellie, who merely shrugged in return.
"Any reason why you've all suddenly come at once?" Manny quizzed.
"Frank told us to," Diego replied casually. "Said there's something we needed to see...and he was very specific about where we needed to see it."
He scanned his surroundings, confident in the certainty that Frank - and whatever he wanted them to see - was distinctly not in sight. He shot one last dubious look at Diego for good measure as he reached for his radio.
"Frank, this is Manny," He murmured into it. "What are you doing?"
"Frank here, is everyone with you?"
"Yeah, about that," Manny replied. "Any reason for this little get together you have going on here?"
"You'll see soon enough."
He rolled his eyes,
"Why am I not surprised that explaining can wait?"
"I will explain, by showing 'll see in a few seconds."
With Frank no where to be seen, Manny suddenly realised. As he listened, sure enough, he could hear whispering on the wind...
"Close your eyes NOW!" He shouted to the others as he clamped his firmly shut.
Sure enough, he could see the flash of light through his eyelids. But then he heard the sound he had come to associate with a truck stopping, and failing entirely.
Eye wide open, he saw a truck screeching to a halt, its rear swerving towards them. With no time to move, all he could do was stand there - and hope the brakes were strong enough.
With Sid's screaming filling his ears, he knew not every member thought the same.
He braced himself, watching the truck draw near, its speed slowing drastically as it did so. To his relief, it juddered to a halt, missing them by a few feet.
He turned to check on the herd, finding himself gazing upon Sid, fainted on the floor. He couldn't help but grin.
"The more things change," He murmured.
"The more they stay the same!" Frank added, jumping excitedly out of the truck, joined briskly by Sam and Terry.
Manny scanned Frank and the others, noting nothing distinctly out of place on their persons - nothing that could be something worth showing. Slowly, he turned his attention to the truck, realising he had been looking at it all along.
He couldn't help but feel underwhelmed.
"This is what you got us all together to see?" He remarked.
Frank grinned, making wild gestures that encompassed the truck.
"It's good, ay!"
"It's a truck," Manny replied flatly. "Like all the others we've seen."
"Ah, but its not just a truck," Frank stating, now face to face with the mammoth, still grinning like an idiot. "It's the truck: the one Diego, Buck, Sid and myself put through hell and back. Now fully repaired and - more importantly - ours."
Manny blinked.
"Ours?" He repeated. "As in, we keep it, get to use it, our own truck, ours?"
"No," Frank replied sarcastically. "I mean the other 'ours': you know, the one where we keep it for only a week and then it dissipates into fairy dust. Yes, ours!"
"Easy James," Manny retorted. "I was only asking!"
Without even realising it, Manny found himself grinning. He looked on as Ben and Mark jumped into the back of the truck, the possums swinging in and out of the windows. He looked back at Frank, Diego and Buck, knowing exactly what looked they all held in their eyes. He let out a chuckle.
-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-
Frank wanted to drive. A truck - their truck - now in their possession once more, he cast his eye to the horizon. He knew Manny could see it.
He knew Manny, by now, would understand.
"Well, enjoy yourselves," The mammoth stated. "And be back by morning; we still need to finish the school."
Frank laughed,
"Wouldn't miss it for the world," He replied. "See you all in the morning!"
Giving Claire a kiss, he prepared to set off with the boys.
Terry, Sam, James? He thought.
He spun round, moved over to his sister and gave her a hug.
"Thank you," He murmured. "For everything."
She hugged him back fiercely.
"It's what you do in a herd," she whispered back.
Now standing separate, he could see the tears of joy in her eyes.
"You look out for one another," He finished, hand extended to Terry, who took it firmly.
"S'bin a honour, boss," He said. "Do us a favour: don't get yourselves killed, cos I ain't gonna be happy cleaning up that mess."
"I'll try," Frank replied as he shook James' paw. "I guess this is the end of the adventure then."
"Not the end," Hudson said. "More beginning than anything."
He stood back, taking a good look at all three of them, and smiled.
"Keep safe," He murmured. "All of you. That's an order."
"Can't order a general around, cap," Terry replied. "But yes sir."
"Oi Frank! We going or not?" Buck called out of the truck window.
He ran towards the truck, taking one last sweeping look of his surroundings as he got into the truck. It was then that it struck him. Diego, in the passenger seat beside him, stared at him.
"What are you smiling about, buddy?" The sabre asked.
Frank placed his hand on the sabre's shoulder, gripping it gently.
"It's just...seven travellers, far from home and lost to their time..." He paused, quickly wiping a tear away. "Through all we've been, now I'm certain of something."
"That being?" Diego quizzed.
"We aren't far from home," Frank replied. "We found our home."
Diego returned his smile,
"Perhaps being lost in time isn't so bad then."
"Definitely." Frank beamed.
"So, where are we going?" Buck called out from the back.
He shifted the car into gear, placed his hands on the steering wheel, and stared out the window at the setting sun. Beyond, in his mind's eye, he saw nothing but open plains, hills, mountains, seas, entire worlds...
Freedom, he thought. Freedom, at long last.
"The horizon," He replied. "And beyond."
As they drove away, he saw Manny, Ellie, Claire, Terry, Hudson and Sam - along with much of the village, waving at them. Driving into the sunset, he thought on the adventures his herd had had together, and the ones to come. He thought of the village they were building, the future that waited for them.
Their future together: humans and animals working together.
Freedom, he thought once more.
Freedom at last.
-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-
The End
-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-
It is done. Well folks and folkettes, I hope you have enjoyed this yarn I have spun, it has been a blast :). And now, at long last, this story is finished.
Let me know what you think about the chapter, or the story, by clicking on the review button below!
Till Yesterday's Child is published, this is Trev signing out; peace out everyone, have a great week.
Cheerio!