Thanks to Footrot Flats for reviewing the previous chapter!
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Chapter Eight: The Plan
He was unable to sit still for even a second. Troubling thoughts raced through his mind, preventing sleep from happening. As much as he wanted to sleep, the fear they were being tracked for all the wrong reasons kept his eyes open. Why had three copies of themselves appeared out of the blue? For vengeance? Was it because he had committed a crime in the past by betraying his own pack?
"Diego? Something bothering you?" Shira said, opening a drowsy eye.
He halted then glanced at Shira resting nearby. "I can't sleep. What if this is all my fault?" He looked at her helplessly.
Shira stood up and walked over to him, rubbing her head against his neck. "We don't know that for sure... heck, we don't know anything about them. But that doesn't mean they will defeat us – as long as it's alive it can be killed," she replied. She settled back down on the ground again.
Doubt still lingered in his mind, but he could tell Shira didn't want to discuss it further. He sat down and rested his chin on his paws, as she placed her head on his side. Her eyes closed and soon she was asleep. Diego gazed down at her for awhile, a smile crossing his face. He waited a few more minutes to pass by until he was certain she was truly asleep. He gently pulled back then stood up, walking to the cliff side.
"You two were getting cosy over there," Sid remarked, grinning at the sabre. Sid's jokes usually struck a nerve, but this time Diego didn't bother to reply. Instead, he glanced at up the night sky admiring the stars. Not even one cloud in the sky. "So, when are you planning on having cubs?" Sid said.
That caught Diego's attention. He snapped his head around glaring at the sloth. "Don't even go there, Sid."
Sid rolled his eyes. "Touchy subject, eh?" The sloth glanced over his shoulder at Shira then looked back at Diego. "I don't think you have anything to be worried about, tiger. I think she's smitten with you."
"And how would you know?"
"I'm an expert."
"Right. What do you really want to say, Sid?"
"I'm happy for you, tiger. If anyone deserves to be happy, it's you. I mean, I know Manny has suffered a lot to, and myself as well. But you've gone through the most. Led by tyrant then having to turn against your own brothers to be friends with vegetations. It must be tough," Sid said softly, gazing up at the sky. "Having Shira as a permanent member of our herd will be great."
"If we survive," Manny stated.
"Don't be so negative, Manny. We will survive this!" Sid declared. "This will end on a bright note." He looked to Diego for some support, but the sabre simply shook shrugged.
Diego sighed then sat down on his belly. "You sure do know how to remain positive about everything, Sid." He closed his eyes. "I hope you are right..."
"Anyone willing to give a friendly vulture a ride?" Lone Gunslinger shouted, waddling behind the group. Despite having superior eyesight, a vulture couldn't see at night. His legs were just as useless as his night vision.
Peaches looked behind her then shook her head. "I'm not carrying a dirty vulture on my back. I'm already carrying two opossums."
Lone Gunslinger frowned. "Such discrimination! We do you vegetarians a favour, you know? We clean up the mess made by other predators so you vegetarians don't have to look at the corpses of your fellow friends."
"Ugh, whatever."
"Hop on my back, we can't afford to have you fall behind," Ellie offered, stopping temporarily to allow the vulture to climb on her back.
With wings outstretched, Lone Gunslinger hopped forward until he built up enough speed to lift himself up into the air. He flapped several times then landed on Ellie's back, gripping onto her fur with his talons. "Right."
"We need to move on through the night; I know we're all tired, but Manny needs our help. He doesn't know what we face yet. Besides, we don't want Soto and the others to catch up to us."
Crash yawned then stretched his arms collapsing on Peaches's back. "I'm so tired."
"At least you don't need to walk," Peaches retorted.
Eddie landed beside his brother. "You're a good friend, Peaches." He yawned as well then closed his eyes drifting off to sleep. As the opossums slept, Oscar scouted ahead tracking the scent of mammoth. Every few minutes he would stop, waiting for the rest of the herd to catch up then he would sprint ahead and continue his tracking.
"How much longer now?" Peaches said, stifling a yawn. Her eyelids were beginning to drop.
"Oscar believes we should reach them in the morning if we continue our current speed," Ellie replied.
"I'm so tired," Peaches mumbled.
"I know, sweetie. You'll have a chance to rest soon though. Keep talking to me that should keep you awake through the night."
"I've got a few good stories to share," Lone Gunslinger said, looking down at Peaches. He stretched a wing to the right. "It's about my time meeting with a group of pirates."
Peaches lifted a brow. "Pirates? Seriously?"
The vulture nodded. "Their spy happened to get a little too close to my territory once so I had to chase him off. Ended up flying towards a giant ship hidden in the mist. They caught me and threw me in a bird cage... can you believe it?" He shook his head. "Anyway, I had a chat to their captain. A giant ape called Gutt. We traded a few words and he released me."
"They released you? Why would pirates do that?"
"It was quite a few years ago. They were just starting out as pirates. There were four at the time including Gutt. A kangaroo, a skua and a fat walrus. A weird crew, but I've seen stranger. Like that herd of yours." He plucked a loose feather out of his wing and threw it aside, watching it float to the ground.
"It sounds like you're jealous because you don't have a herd," Peaches replied, with a smirk.
Lone Gunslinger narrowed his eyes. "There's nothing to be jealous of."
Ellie laughed. "Oh, I don't know about that."
"Please... enlighten me."
"In a herd, we always have each other's backs. You vultures on the other hand fight over petty things. There's no fighting in a herd, we support and share with each other," Peaches explained, looking at the bird.
"A little fighting can be useful," Lone Gunslinger retorted.
"You fight over food. The biggest or strongest vulture gets the best while the others get nothing but little scraps," Peaches argued. "In a herd, we share our food so we all get our fill. There's no fighting for leftovers or anything."
Well, that did sound pleasant. to an extent. It sounded way too peaceful for Lone Gunslinger's liking. He liked caused trouble and invoking fear into ground animals. Being part of a herd wouldn't allow that sort of mischief. "A strong argument, but not good enough to win me over."
"How about this, then? Would your fellow vultures help you take down those evil animals?" Ellie said. Peaches smirked in triumph. The vulture didn't have a response to that. "Herds are good. You should think about joining one."
"Is that an invitation?"
"It could do you good, you know. Life doesn't get boring with a herd, there's always an adventure around the corner," Ellie explained. A smile crossed her face, "We go to places the other animals would never dare cross. Like the dinosaur world."
"Whatever..."
"You could meet the love of your life travelling with our herd," Peaches teased.
"This discussion is over."
Both female mammoths looked at each other then burst out into laughter, leaving the vulture feeling somewhat rattled but giving him much to think about.
Diego opened his eyes and yawned. The bright rays of the hot sun fell upon him, bathing him in light giving his fur a shiny glow. He looked to his right looking for Shira, but to his surprise she wasn't there. Sensitive hearing caught the sounds of voices talking. Ellie? But she wasn't here... was she? He stood up abruptly and headed towards the source of noise. To his surprise, he found himself looking at Ellie, Peaches, Crash and Eddie, a vulture and... Oscar.
"Diego!" Ellie shouted, waving at him with her trunk.
Diego nodded in response, his eyes trained on Oscar. What on earth was he doing here? Where was Zeke and Lenny? "What are you doing here, Oscar?" Diego demanded.
Shira frowned. "They're here to help us. We've discovered a way to defeat the evil ones and it'll take all of us." She turned back to Oscar giving him a soft smile, "Oscar led them to us."
Although he was glad to see Ellie, Peaches and the two opossums again, the sight of Oscar dampened his mood. They hadn't exactly left on good terms. "I wish to speak to Oscar alone." In the corner of his eye, he noticed Manny and Sid looking at him, but Diego ignored them. The two male sabres wondered away from the group out of hearing range.
"That's a nice looking female sabre," Oscar commented, casting a brief glance in Shira's direction. She smiled at him again.
"Why are you here?" Diego snarled.
"I'm not chasing after female sabres if that's your concern," Oscar replied. "I'm here because I want to help. Soto has been reborn. The last we saw of him he was in a duel with three other dark mammals."
"Soto?"
"I was there when he was reborn. Hatched out of a giant egg. He's desperate for revenge, taking out his anger and rage on those copies of you, Manny and Sid," Oscar explained. "Lone Gunslinger told us of a way to defeat them so that's why he's here in case you are wondering." He looked over at Shira again. "Is she your mate?"
"No," he snapped.
Oscar turned to Diego again. "Defensive as always, Diego? Look, I'm not here to start a fight. Lenny and Zeke are dead. I'm just trying to do something good for a change, are you going to hold that against me?" The two males stared at each other, until Diego pulled away. "I thought so. Let's rejoin the others and discuss the plan of attack." Diego led the way back to the group where Manny was explaining the battle strategy.
"All right, Lone Gunslinger," he started, looking at the vulture sitting on the ground. "You can attack them from above, dropping things on their heads. Crash and Eddie can hitch a ride and help while the sabres can lead them on a chase back towards the place where Soto was reborn," he added, glancing at the three sabres.
"I won't be able to run far," Shira said, lifting her injured leg. "I'll help Sid collect the eggshells and lay them around the cave."
"All right, that leaves the chase to us then," Oscar said.
Diego snorted. "Think you can outrun them?"
"I should ask you the same thing. Has being around vegetarians made you slow?" he countered. Diego didn't respond.
"Peaches and I will trap the animals inside the cave with boulders," Ellie said. "That then leaves us with the last part... the sacrifice. Who will spill their blood to end this evil for good?" She looked around the circle of animals. One animal would leave the group for good.
There was complete silence. No one wanted to offer themselves up to be the sacrifice nor did they want the other animals to worry. "Well, it can't be me because I'm not a mammal and legend says it has to be a mammal," Lone Gunslinger said.
"Oh darn, here I was hoping you'd be the sacrifice..." Sid muttered.
Silence fell again. "I could be the sacrifice..." Shira started, stepping forward. Diego's ears perked. "We need blood to end it."
"You're not going to be the sacrifice, I won't let you," Diego said, before he could stop himself.
She turned on him with angry eyes. "You can't stop me."
"But you've just joined us!" Diego argued, temporarily forgetting other animals were present. "I thought we were friends..." he trailed off, ears dropping. Had the past few days of relationship building simply been a waste?
"Friendship doesn't last forever," she snapped back. "I don't have a strong connection to your herd being a newcomer, so it'll hurt less if I'm the one to offer my life to end this evil." Her expression softened. "It's the least I could do for the kindness you have shown me." She turned away from the group. "There's no discussion. It's settled."
Before Diego could protest further, Shira walked away.
Shira sat away from the group, her paws hanging over the side of the cliff edge. She looked towards the horizon admiring the beauty of the scene before her; wide open ocean stretching for miles never seeming to end, with the reflection of the sun appearing in the water. "Shira..." a voice spoke, snapping her out of her trance. She looked behind her. It wasn't Diego, but Oscar. "Diego's a good tiger, Shira," Oscar said, walking over to stand next to Shira. "He'll make you happy."
Shira snorted. "He can't decide anything for me, it's not like we're together or anything." Yes, she had grown used to his company, but they weren't mates. They never would be either. If he wanted to be with her it was simply for biological reasons, not for love. "I didn't mean to snap at him, but he has to understand. This is our only chance to end this."
Oscar sat down beside her. "Would you believe me if I said he liked you?"
Shira's eyes widened. "Diego... likes me? What makes you think that? We're friends, that's all."
Oscar lowered his head, hiding a grin. "Diego doesn't exactly have experience, but he has good intentions. He likes to think he's a big tough sabre bachelor, but really, deep down all he wants is a family of his own. We're litter brothers, I know him well." He looked back up, giving Shira a soft smile. "He'll never admit it – but he's chosen you, I can tell. He is showing signs of typical male sabre behaviour."
"I always thought males were a strange species..." Shira replied slowly. Oscar looked away again, seeming to find something interesting on the ground. "Is something bothering you?"
He lifted his head again, this time casting his gaze towards the horizon. The humour in his eyes had faded, replaced by an unknown desire. Shira wondered what thoughts raced through his mind. Bringing up Diego was a diversion. "You won't be the sacrifice, Shira. That would kill Diego and that herd will fall apart." He sighed, then took a deep breath, "I've done wrong in my life and I seek to make things right. This is my chance to redeem myself."
"What are you saying..." He couldn't be suggesting...
Oscar looked into her eyes. "I will be the sacrifice."
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One more chapter to go!