Thanks to Footrot Flats for reviewing the previous chapter, as always!
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Chapter Seven: Common Ground
Being alone with Shira was an odd experience for Diego. Having lacked female companionship for much of his life, Diego was unsure of how to act around her. He might've eased the tension between them, but he still felt awkward. Ideas on how to start a conversation rushed through his mind, but none seemed fitting. Somehow talking to Shira about the weather didn't seem appealing. It was times like these he wished Sid were there. The sloth would know how to start a conversation, after all talking was his strongest point.
The two sabres continued to walk in silence, the sound of their footsteps being the only noise. Diego glanced to his right, his eyes resting on Shira's face. She was focused on the road ahead, oblivious to his gaze. Diego was secretly thankful she hadn't noticed; the thought of being caught staring was embarrassing. "Diego, why did you leave your pack?" Shira said, turning her head slightly to look at him.
That caught him off guard. "I realized the errors of my leader's ways," Diego replied. Soto was difficult to work with; he never smiled out of joy. He wore a permanent scowl on his face, giving everyone the impression that he was a cold and ruthless.
"And then you joined the herd?"
He cast his eyes downwards remembering the day he led his true friends into an ambush. The expressions on their faces hurt and made him realize they were his real friends. "Manny saved my life." He closed his eyes for a brief second then reopened them again only to find Shira's eyes staring into his own. "What about you? What happened to your pack?"
Shira sighed. "I chose to leave my pack. When I was born, I was mocked by the other sabre cubs for having grey fur. The elder sabres believed I was cursed, and I would bring bad luck to them on hunting trips, so they excluded me from everyday life. Only my parents cared for me." She turned her head to the right and sniffed.
Diego lifted a paw and placed it on her back to provide comfort. Shira jerked her head around, and Diego withdrew his paw quickly. "I'm sorry," he mumbled, eyes looking at the ground. "I don't know what overcame me." His cheeks flushed red and he looked away hoping Shira didn't see them.
A soft laugh escaped her throat. "Its fine Diego, I don't mind."
Diego kept his paw on the ground, still embarrassed by the earlier event. Her state of vulnerability caused something inside him to awaken; the need to protect the female. "What happened after if you don't mind me asking?"
Shira wiped her eyes with the back of her left paw. Taking in a deep breath, she spoke, "I was kept in the nursery cave and prohibited from leaving. My mother would come back after each hunt with the scraps just so I would survive until the next day. This continued for a few months until I was of hunting age. The other sabres refused to let me join in, so once again I remained at the cave waiting for my mother to bring the scraps. Of course, she couldn't keep this up forever, so I made the choice to leave."
Diego was speechless. Hearing Shira's words made him realize how lucky he was to have the support of his pack behind him. Soto might've been a tough leader, but he protected the pack as best as he could. Shira had left her pack at a young age to fend for her own without support from anyone. "It must have been difficult learning to look after yourself."
She nodded. "It was. I came across other sabre packs after leaving, but no one wanted anything to do with me. I kept hoping that one day there would be someone out there that would give me the chance." She wiped her eye again and then looked at Diego. "That's how I found you. You're not like other sabres I've come across."
"What do you mean by that?"
She flattened her ears against her head. "At first, you acted like the typical male sabre, but you apologized."
"Are you implying I'm soft?"
Her ears perked. "You are pretty soft for a sabre," she replied, eyes shining with amusement.
Diego narrowed his eyes. "Excuse me, but I happen to be a remorseless assassin." Several beats of silence followed his words, as the two sabres glared at each other. Then, Shira laughed, and Diego found himself grinning.
"I haven't laughed in a long time."
"You should laugh more often," Diego replied.
A tinge of red appeared on Shira's face as Diego's words sunk in. "Is that an order?" she teased.
"I'm being serious," he said, green eyes gazing into Shira's sapphire orbs. "Laughing pushes aside the pains of the past. It might be a temporary fix, but it helps," he added in a softer tone. "You've been through a lot Shira, more than I have. I don't want to see you hurting." He was surprised with the words he spoke. He hadn't given them much thought; the words seemed to come out of his mouth naturally. Again, he felt a strong surge of emotion rush through his body.
She smiled. "You've been through a great deal as well." She closed her eyes and rubbed her head against his side taking the male by surprise. She pulled her head back and peered at him with concern. "Is there something wrong?"
He shook his head scolding himself. "I'm not used to ... err, female companionship," he said, his head facing the ground. He couldn't quite bring himself to look into Shira's eyes with those words. It was quite embarrassing.
She grinned. "It certainly shows." She nuzzled him again, chuckling at his sudden movement. "Did your pack lack females?"
"We had one female; Soto's mate, but she was killed by humans. Soto didn't want to find another female to replace her, so we remained a bachelor group instead." He remained in a group of males only until Ellie turned up. The thought of returning to a bachelor lifestyle felt strange now and he wondered how he had survived for so long without companionship of his own species. "Have you... thought about family life at all?" he said, finding the courage to look at Shira again.
Silence fell between them, as Shira stared at him. Diego wondered if he had said the wrong thing then remembered she had approached them earlier. "I... Err, have been thinking about it for quite some time," she admitted, ears flattening against her head again, "and I thought you might be a potential suitor."
Diego had to grin at her words. He wasn't the only awkward one when it came to discussing such matters. "A potential suitor, eh?" Now it was his turn to tease her, but his joyful mood was short lived.
"But I'm not going to settle for someone until he proves himself worthy."
Diego's ego deflated. Had he ruined his chance with her? Wait. What? Diego scolded himself for having such thoughts. He was a proud bachelor enjoying the single life. He didn't need to settle down and have a family. He wasn't Manny. Besides, Shira wasn't interested in him in that way anyway. She was only searching for a mate for biological reasons.
"There's Manny and Sid," Diego said, turning his attention forwards. The hulking figure of Manny wasn't hard to miss. He lowered his eyes to Shira's injured paw, feeling a pang of pain as he was reminded of the way he treated her earlier. "I'd race you back if you weren't injured."
"Good thing I'm injured slightly then – wouldn't want your fragile male ego to be hurt when I get to them first," she replied, giving him a wide grin.
Diego rolled his eyes. "Correction, you'll be the one hurting when I reach them first."
"Typical males; can't admit that female are the better hunters and faster sprinters," Shira said with the shake of her head. "Us girls do all the work."
"That's not true, male sabres hunt!"
"Only when they are forced to," Shira retorted.
"We're stronger."
"We're faster."
"Strength is more important than speed."
"Strength doesn't mean anything if you can't catch your prey first."
Diego stopped. She had him there. "All right, all right you win."
She gave him a wide grin. "You really are a softie." Before Diego could open his mouth to protest, Shira leaned in and gave him a lick behind the neck then winked. "I like the soft ones, they're sensitive." She giggled at his stunned expression then walked ahead leaving a surprised Diego trailing behind.
Feeling confidence returning, Diego trotted after Shira, a soft smile on his face. Although their situation was a dire one, at least there was still some light at the end of the tunnel.
Travelling with Oscar instead of Diego was a strange experience for Ellie. The only sabre she trusted was Diego, but Oscar had helped them escaped. But why? The thought bothered her. Why save two mammoths? The sabre walked ahead of them, occasionally stopping to sniff the ground. Would he lead them to safety, or did he plan to ambush them later?
"Why are you helping us, Oscar?" Ellie demanded, planting her feet firmly into the snow. She refused to move forward until he shared the truth.
The sabre stopped, glanced over his shoulder and spoke, "I don't trust Soto. He's not who he once was."
"Then why travel with him? If you had your suspicions, why didn't you leave him earlier?" Peaches snuggled up beside her mother, her eyes watching Oscar wearily.
Oscar shook his head. "Soto died, Ellie. Manny killed him. We travelled as a pack of three for a few months then found him again in an ice cave. There was a giant egg before us, and it cracked open revealing Soto... or what I thought was Soto. But it's not him; he can't reason. He lives driven by desire to seek vengeance," he explained, keeping his eyes trained on Ellie's face.
Ellie detected the fear in his predator eyes and knew he was speaking the truth. He was scared but tried hard not to show it. "That doesn't explain why you chose to help us."
The sabre glanced to his right, then left. "I know you don't trust me, but I swear I'm here to help you. If I didn't want to help, I would've left you behind to face the fury of Soto and those other three. I can help you find your family – that's what you want, right?" he said.
Oscar raised a good point and Ellie couldn't find any words to disagree with him, but he hadn't earned her trust yet. Besides, she wouldn't have a clue how to find Manny again. She knew nothing about tracking. "Well, thanks for your assistance then."
Silence fell. Each of the mammals was lost within their own thoughts. Ellie wondered if Oscar would be able to find her family again or if he would fail? What if Soto and those other three mammals caught up with them? How would they fight them off? Would it be possible? Questions continued to race through her mind, but she had answers to none of them. "Mum," Peaches said glancing up at her mother's concerned face, "Everything is going to be all right."
Ellie forced a smile for her daughter's sake. She had to be strong for her only child, but she couldn't fight off the fear that something could go wrong. "Peaches... can you promise me something?"
"Anything."
She took in a deep breath and looked at her daughter through blurred eyes. "When the time comes to fight, I want you to run and not look back."
Peaches frowned. "Mum?"
"Please, Peaches... don't look back."
"I'm not going to leave you ever, no matter how tough things get. We're a herd, we're family and we stick together," she said, stepping forward staring at her mother with determined eyes. "We always have each other's backs."
Ellie bowed her head. "This is different Peaches. We're not dealing with normal animals. Please... this is an order from your mother." It tore her apart inside to give up so easily, but she couldn't see how they could come out of this with a victory. The last thing she wanted was for Peaches to watch her mother die. "I'm not going to ask you again," she added.
Peaches nodded, sniffing. She lifted her trunk and wrapped it around her mother's, grasping it with a firm hold. She broke apart from her mother when Oscar spoke up.
"I hate to spoil the moment, but we have company." He arched his neck back and glanced up at the sky.
Ellie noticed a shadow above Oscar. The flapping of wings caused her to arch her neck back and glance upwards. There above was a vulture with two opossums attached to his talons. Ellie's eyes widened and she lifted her trunk. "Crash? Eddie?" she called out.
Oscar frowned. "You know them?" Just when he thought things couldn't get any stranger.
The large vulture landed in front of Ellie and Peaches and tucked his wings in while the two opossums climbed off his talons and hurried towards Ellie. Both the mammals threw their small arms around her foot, rubbing their faces against her thick fur.
"We're so glad to see you again sis!"
"Sister?" Now Oscar was truly confused.
Peaches gave Oscar a sideways long. "It's a long story."
"We thought the nasty sabres were going to kill you sis!" Crash said, pulling his head away from Ellie's thick fur.
"We feared we had lost you forever!" Eddie wailed, giving a dramatic sigh.
Lone Gunslinger rolled his eyes. "I had to listen to their complaints and random babbling for at least an hour," he mumbled, glancing down at the opossums. "I'm here to tell you of some important information regarding our situation." He stretched out his left wing and lifted a leg back balancing on one leg for a few seconds until he brought his leg down.
"You've seen the animals with the red eyes then?" Oscar said.
The vulture nodded. "I haven't seen them with my own eyes, but I've heard of their activities. I happen to know of a way to defeat them."
Oscar looked at the vulture with interest, but Ellie wasn't convinced. She glared at the black raptor. "And why would you help us? I thought your kind would enjoy this slaughter."
"At the rate they kill, there'll be no animals left for us to feast upon," Lone Gunslinger replied. "And if there are no animals for us to eat, we'll die out. I know you mammoths don't like our kind, but I'm here to help. The enemy of my enemy is my friend, right?"
Ellie couldn't argue with that. "What do you know?"
Lone Gunslinger lowered his head, digging his beak into his right wing. He plucked out a loose feather then spoke, "In the words of a friend... One day the earth would part, and evil doers would walk the land searching to kill and maim as they desired. A leader of this army would awaken in an eggshell made of magical components and a wave of death would occur. All animals will litter the ground and carnivores would die. I don't think I need to point out this is happening right now."
"So, these animals are rising up from the ground to seek vengeance?" Oscar said. "That explains Soto, but what about the other three? I can't see how Manny and Sid did any wrong."
The vulture shrugged. "There's damned and cursed souls. Damned souls are those animals that made bad decisions that led to their downfall while cursed souls are animals that attract trouble. Perhaps your friends fall into that category." A flash of irritation crossed the sabre's face, but he spoke no further. It was Ellie who stepped forward to carry on the line of questioning.
"How do we stop these supernatural creatures? We can't face them in battle head on, they'll destroy us."
"The blood of a noble mammal will stop them."
"How?" Ellie said with a thoughtful expression on her face.
"Spill their blood where the leader was born and everything will turn back to normal," Lone Gunslinger replied, stretching his wings again. "Of course, the hard part is convincing one of you to sacrifice yourself for the greater good... if you even get to the birthplace." A bitter dry laugh escaped his throat. "But I'm sure you'll save us all... you herd always had a way of defying the impossible." Again, he stretched his wings. "You'll need assistance from the other half of the herd. That sloth of yours will be good bait. I can be your eyes in the sky and your sabre friend here can keep track on the ground," he added, jerking his head in the direction of the sabre.
A deep growl escaped from Oscar's throat, but the vulture did not seem fazed at all. "Like it or not Oscar, we need his help. We're fighting a common enemy here," Ellie reasoned. Oscar nodded but remained silent lost in his own thoughts. Ellie sighed then looked at her daughter. Perhaps they had a chance after all.