Ugh. I don't know what it was about this chapter, but it was super stubborn. So! Much, much, later than I intended, please enjoy!
It only took about five minutes to realize that trying to track the thing was probably going to be useless. The scene of the fight was a jumbled mess, and any prints leading to or away from it had been reshaped by the wind and yet another small snowstorm that blew in overnight.
They still tried, though. For Merle.
The aridness that he could sense, hiding under layer after layer of snow, wasn't familiar to him. And apparently not to Cam either. The third in command turned and shook his head from a few paces away. They were standing at trail's end, where the last bit of strangeness that had led them there dropped off to the regular background smells. It was the tenth dead end. A few miles from base camp, they'd hit the limits of their range and their skills.
"We need Sidney," Cam had said that morning as they trailed through the trees in the crusty, wind-packed snow.
"I know."
But the triplets wouldn't be back for another week or so, and by then it would be too late for even her to pick up a trail. Besides, the weather was changing again, and they'd see another storm in a matter of hours. Whatever little luck that had spared Merle's life had run out.
Now Cam straightened and called to their other two packmates to go a little further and meet at the fork by the northeast point of the forest. Obedient voices answered him, and the three of them dispersed.
Jackson turned and slowly began making his way home to report what they'd found. Diego definitely wouldn't be surprised. More than likely, he'd just nod with his usual I-don't-actually-give-a-crap attitude, and they'd go on with the day.
Merle had announced what was happening last night, and the pack was not happy. But it also wasn't in chaos, and that was probably most important. Certainly more important than Jackson's own feelings, which were currently an embarrassing mess of relief and vague anxiety.
Merle was staying with Brian's herd to give him a chance to heal and rest without feeling pressured to help out with the pack. It was for the best; even if it left them more or less on their own.
Diego had asked that Jackson take over for the first half day to get a feel for how the pack worked, which was understandable, but he kept asking questions about what Jackson thought about this or that, or how Jackson supposed they should organize tracking teams. It was weird. The most apathetic saber that Jackson had ever met was actually paying attention to patrol rotations and meal schedules.
For as much as Diego's easygoing style would take some getting used to, there did seem to be a sense of intention under his impassive gaze.
Not that any of it really mattered. Second in commands were there to be commanded, not debated with. The one time he had dared to argue back, nothing came of it. Merle had been right that the attacker was long gone, and even if Jackson still felt uneasy about his pack leader's dismissal, only one of them was actually in charge. And it wasn't him. He'd been wrong to overstep.
The first flakes of yet another snowfall started dropping between the trees, and Jackson looked up. That was definitely a storm-laden sky. And the chill breeze that swept around him a moment later was a bitter warning. Time to head back.
000
Slender rays of light were finally beginning to stream through the clouds.
About time. Manny glanced up for what must have been the twentieth time at the glowing grey sky overhead. It had been stormy all morning, and the embers of their fire seemed blindingly bright when he'd opened his eyes at the usual time. It was still much too dark, too depressive. It reminded him of the haze of years between his first family and having a sloth run face first into his back leg.
But it was somehow worse outside of his head. Because his herd, his family, the animals he loved the most, were having to deal with it too.
They were spread out around him now, eating their breakfast quietly. Well, mostly quietly. Sid was flinching every now and again as the possums darted through the underbrush, switching between tag and a dozen other little games they made up on the spot. They'd magically gained more energy since the wedding. He hadn't noticed it much until the last few days, but their boundless antics loomed over the space between the morning his baby girl had turned her sights outward to the unknown, and now.
In response to her leaving, the possums had driven themselves inward, taking their mischief out on the herd. Picking on Sid. Hanging on Ellie until she eventually got sick of it and chased them off to amuse themselves elsewhere. Actually helping to clean up the lake area after the fire; even if they did get sidetracked for a while chasing each other through the mud.
Now they'd begun focusing their games on Sid. The sloth was muttering and yelping every so often in annoyance to a background of snickers. Manny reached up for another clump of leaves.
Snow was sitting just out of reach, frosting the tips of the leaves and gusting in cold, cold wind. He could smell it there, waiting. Meanwhile, it got colder. The waterfall was completely iced over at the top and bottom. The falling water grew fainter every day. And there were still tremors. They shook the ground casually, echoing the massive thunderclouds grumbling overhead.
Neither of them brought up the kids. He knew they were both hoping they were okay, but he couldn't tell where Ellie was at in her feelings. He was edging panic; maybe she was too. For the first time in their relationship, he didn't want to seek her help. The nagging sense that she needed him wasn't reassuring.
The crunch of leaves and snow signaled an approaching animal, and they all turned as a familiar long-nosed creature poked his head out from behind a tree, eyes narrowed, searching the group. "Have you seen anything…weird?"
Manny raised his eyebrow. "Yes."
"Manny!" Ellie whapped his shoulder with her trunk as the possums fell over themselves with laughter. Sid stuffed more leaves in his mouth, clearly to the point of no return in his annoyance.
Gary didn't react and pulled his head back from around the tree. A moment later he entered their breakfast area, walking his slow, slouchy walk. "Last night some of the folks on the outskirts of the territory said they heard something. You didn't hear anything, did you?"
"I'm hearing something no-"
"What did it sound like Gary?" Ellie put herself firmly between the two of them. Manny frowned for a moment in her direction.
"Leaves rustling, some growling. They sure didn't think it was anyone we would know," Gary answered dolefully. "Whatever it was vanished into thin air come this morning though. That's what worries me."
"So everyone's okay?" Ellie prodded at the same time Manny asked, "Do we need to be concerned?"
He widened his eyes at her innocently when she shot him a sarcastic look.
"We lost whatever it was moving farther into the area. Must have thought they'd better be more careful. I don't know. But all the neighbors have been checking up on each other. Everyone seems to be just fine."
Neighbors and locals. They'd invited the residents of the surrounding area to Peaches and Julian's wedding, of course. But that wasn't to say they were particularly close to any of them. Gary was probably their closest "friend" and Manny thought of him more as a Sid of a different variety than anything else.
He glanced over at his best friend. The sloth had gone back to eating.
"Well, let me know if you hear anything." Gary awkwardly maneuvered himself back around. "If someone's in our area, we should probably figure it out real quick."
With that uncommonly insightful comment, he left.
Manny rolled his eyes as soon as the sound of hoof steps faded. "No Gary, there's nothing to be afraid of around here. No predators, mild weather, if anything it's my own herd you have to worry abou-"
Manny had just been thinking he hadn't seen where the possums went, and suddenly they were screaming down from the trees, overripe berries clutched in their paws. The splattering went on for a good five seconds before Manny was finally able to sideswipe them with his trunk.
By that time Ellie and Sid were screaming with laughter. Granted, Ellie was making half-hearted threats in between, but it was clear whose side she was on.
Then, of all the gutsy moves…Crash actually had the audacity to bound up to him with berry juice dripping from his own fur and grab hold of one his tusks with a vicious light in his eyes and ask, "Can we go to the waterfall now?"
000
"But how do you know he's crazy?" Peaches huffed for the fiftieth time, crinkling her nose when Diego gave her a pointed look. "I mean, how do you know he's wrong about the dinosaurs?"
They'd been going round like this for half an hour. She'd had every intention of meeting Julian for dinner, but she knew he'd understand if she didn't show. This was more important. Even if Diego was less than impressed by her outlandish tale of sloths and dinosaur eggs and weasels.
"There'd have to be an entrance to this place somewhere nearby," she prodded, using her best demanding voice. The one that could successfully push Dad to crack if the conversation was long enough. "Has anyone actually asked him to show them how to get in?"
"No." Diego's tone was sulky. Based off his reactions, she was starting to notice when she got too close to a good point. Most of it was verbal cues, but she had gotten an ear twitch when she'd suggested that her no-nonsense father wasn't the type to make up a story like this.
"See you could ask Buck to show you! Or just track there using smells and stuff."
"Track there using smells and stuff?" Diego mimicked, smirking at her. "I'm guessing no one has ever given you a lesson on tracking."
"I could have, if someone had been around to teach me." She glared back.
"I'm sorry I took too long surviving a near-death experience after having almost betrayed half of your family." The more Diego tried to counter her arguments with inconvenient points, like how she'd been a baby at the time and that no proof seemed to exist on the surface for this underground world, the more she wanted to rub his own absence in his face.
It was petty, but she couldn't help it.
"When do you think you'll tell him?" Julian had asked that afternoon during their short hockey game. They'd decided to hide out on the ice; partly to get in some practice, but mostly to avoid their new neighbors. Shira and Diego had offered to let them stay in their clearing for as long as they were in the area, but everyone else just assumed that two unfamiliar mammoths meant new additions to Brian's herd. They'd had information dumped on them all morning. As if they couldn't figure it out for themselves. As if they weren't already staying with anyone else.
It made Peaches feel prickly. She knew it wasn't any of their faults. It was her own annoyance at the overall situation that made their assumptions so irritating. And Diego's dismissive attitude bugged her in a way she wasn't used to. Although she suspected it had to do with his relentless indifference. He didn't care about Buck; he didn't care that her father had never mentioned him. He wasn't listening to her now; he wouldn't listen to the one lead they had.
She wished that she'd talked to Buck when she had the chance. Maybe, in a way, a part of this was her fault.
"Are you and Julian doing okay?" Diego must have seen some change in her expression because that hint of worry in his eyes was back. He'd gotten it when she'd explained how Uncle Sid had overreacted out of loneliness and insisted on keeping the dinosaur eggs. Now, he wasn't trying to hide it.
"We're fine." Peaches rolled her eyes and relaxed her shoulders. If she was a part of the problem, then she'd just fix it. On her own. And since Diego didn't look totally convinced, she added, "Your friend Claire helped us find a good hockey pond earlier so we could get in some practice." We also talked. About things you won't like. But now was definitely not the time for that. "Oh, and apparently everyone thinks we're part of Brian's herd."
"You two chose to stay here."
"We were invited to stay."
"Not by me." Diego's sly look turned into a grin, and Peaches felt the tension in her mind release.
"How do we get them to stop fussing over us?" She whined in a much different demanding tone than earlier. This one was for joking and making Dad roll his eyes in that surly way he did when he was trying to concede an argument without actually losing it.
"Why are you asking me? I'm trying to run a pack here!" Diego snapped back sarcastically before grimacing. "I can't believe I just said that. This is all your fault."
"How is it my fault?"
"Because you showed up here and-" Before he could launch into one of his long-winded explanations that usually stretched and parodied the truth more than anything else, a saber Peaches hadn't seen yet entered the clearing.
He blinked a couple of times when he saw her, as if debating whether or not to mention Brian's herd – she bristled slightly – but then looked to Diego and dipped his head. "We tracked as far as we could."
"And?"
"Nothing." It seemed for a moment like he already knew what he wanted to say next. But then he closed his mouth and waited in silence as if he was used to cutting himself off in the middle of a thought.
"Right." Diego dragged the word out, eyeing him. Then he turned to her, "Peaches, this is Jackson. He's Merle's – I mean my second in command. For now."
"For now." Jackson cracked a bit of a smile at that before turning his attention to her. His dark blue eyes, deeper than Shira's, had a calm air. Diego had briefly mentioned that he was young and unsure and more or less the reason for all this. It occurred to her that her limited thoughts about carnivores had never included them being unsure about anything.
But she'd be willing to bet that Jackson had the type of confidence issues that she understood all too well. So she gave him a big smile back and introduced herself. "I'm sure you know already, but my dad…well, Diego's kind of my uncle."
There was a beat of surprised silence before Jackson said, "Oh," at the same time Diego spluttered. "What?"
She hadn't actually been planning on talking to him about this yet, but with everything happening so fast, maybe it was better if he started getting used to the idea now. Because if everything worked out, he'd need to get used to it eventually.
"Are you okay?" Jackson finally asked after a solid thirty seconds of Diego attempting to form a coherent comeback. He edged away a few steps when Diego fixed him with a dangerous look. "Anyway, I think I actually have some rounds to check on."
He dipped his head again, but it was impossible to miss the grin as he hurried away.
"I don't know where that came from, but we will be talking about it." Diego managed to spit out a few seconds later.
"Fine. I have to go find Julian." Peaches inched away a few steps. "I'll see you later."
If Diego noticed the sneaky glint she couldn't keep out of her eyes, he didn't say anything. Instead, he raised one of his paws in a wave before turning and following after Jackson. Peaches spun and marched into the trees back to their clearing.
He didn't want to talk to Buck? Fine. She was an adult. There was no reason she couldn't do it herself. No problem.
So like I said above, this chapter did not come easily. I had a little more I wanted to include, but I think it'll go better in the next chapter. Trying to wrangle a bunch of disjointed information together was, unsurprisingly, not working. I really should know better by this point.
Thanks for reading! (And waiting) Yikes.