Drowned

If I needed someone to control me, if I needed someone to push me around, I will change my direction and save myself before I drown - Three Days Grace

It was early in the morning during that event on the isolated island. The sun was just hovering over the horizon of the ocean, making it sparkle up the blue waters. Yes, some things never change... but some things just can't live without change.

That same morning, on that same island, herds of antelope took up the majority of the population. They did what they were pretty much made to do: eat grass all day. However, when there's a herd, there's a prey. When there's a prey, there's a predator. In the middle of the island's biggest forest, ten to twenty antelopes gathered to eat grass all day.

Lurking in the nearby bushes, was were the predator stood. A golden saber-tooth tiger was eagerly awaiting the perfect chance to have his morning meal.

Alright, just don't make any noise. Once his back is turned around completely, I'm gonna go for it.

The saber repeated to himself to assure that he didn't mess up. To the saber, this particular morning felt different. An adrenaline rush was pumping through him without a reason to do so. It didn't make much sense to him, but who was he to complain? If it meant an easier kill, then the task was his for the taking. As he continued to ready himself, the silence that was once enveloping him had vanished.

The saber looked around. He couldn't identify what he was hearing. It was too dim. Too quite. He continued listening until a motion of wind ran against his fur. He looked around to see the entire antelope group darting their way out of the forest. Gone.

Great. That's all I needed.

The tiger growled, frustrated that he was going to have to find an even further away group for food. The problem was, the herd didn't appreciate the way he ate. Hunting other animals was like cannibalism to them where he, on the other hand, saw it as the circle of life. He started to pick up another scent when he came across something very different than what he usually smelled.

Not antelope...

He started picking out animals that it couldn't be in process of elimination. He was getting even more frustrated at the fact that he couldn't even get it right.

Wonderful. Not only am I a bad hunter, but I'm a bad tracker too. If I were still in a pack, I would have gotten kicked out the first chance they got. To be honest... why didn't they?

Once again, the silence that flowed throughout the forest was killed off once more. It almost sounded like...

A voice?

The golden saber started sprinting off towards the sound. He hit about thirty feet or so until he began to slow down and come to a stop.

The hell am I doing? I'm wasting hunting time, that's what I'm doing.

He began to turn around when he heard the voice again. It was much clearer this time and it sure as hell wasn't his imagination.

Sprinting as fast as he could, he also noticed the unknown scent he had earlier was getting stronger. Clearly, this voice was also connected to the scent that was catching the golden saber's attention. As he drew closer and closer through the forest, he realized that it was a female's voice. To his admitting, a very pretty voice.

The farther he ran, the closer he knew he was getting to who ever was calling. He could eventually make out the words she was saying.

"Help! Someone! Anyone! Please Help!" The voice continued to say.

The emerald eyed saber finally came across a river. A rapidly fast moving current occurred through and it didn't take a brain to piece the calls for help and the fast moving river to figure out what was going on, but to the saber's surprise, it was another saber tooth tiger. A mild gray colored, blue eyed, female saber.

The golden saber looked at her and saw that she was hanging onto a log that was sticking out of the river in an attempt to prevent herself from getting forced any further down. To the golden saber's shock, about a couple feet more down the river was a waterfall.

Without hesitating, the male saber launched himself into the river, still thanking the sloth that taught him how to swim. He started paddling his way over to the female saber and grabbed onto her. He suddenly slipped out of the log's grip with his back legs and the two sabers were forced down the river, getting closer to the falls.

He looked around him to see if there was something, anything that would be of help to get him and the female saber out of that river. But by the looks of his surroundings, he had nothing of help. Usually, he wouldn't give up this easily, but today was no excuse. There was nothing he could do, so he hoped for the best and prayed that he and the other saber would survive the falls.

He let the water take him down until he felt a sudden force. The biggest force he'd ever felt in his life. He could see himself plummeting off the falls. With every strength he still had from the force of the falls, he looked around to see if she was still near him, but couldn't pick up anything. That's when he felt his body come in contact with the water down below, which was a lot more pleasant than the drop, to say the least. He reached the surface, and started looking for any gray color in the water.

"Damn! Where did she go?!" he struggled to say, still keeping himself afloat in the water. He finally came to rest his eyes on her, who was still floating down the river unconscious. Quick as ever, the golden saber forced his way to her, grabbed her by the scruff with his teeth, and took her onto dry land, rescued at last.

He started having second thoughts. He could have probably gotten a meal for the day if he just ignored the call for help, but then again, he couldn't remember the last time he actually saw a female saber. But then again, she was probably in a pack. But then again, there weren't even any saber civilizations on this island anyways, so what would the chances of that be? He sighed and got up, nudging her on the shoulder.

"Hey, you okay? Wake up." The male saber said, continuing to nudge her. It was then that he realized that it was getting dark, and better yet, he had no idea where he was.

Perfect, just perfect.

He blamed himself when he noticed that it was freezing cold out. He also saw a cave that conveniently rested near the cliff of the water fall.

It wouldn't hurt, right? He told himself as he picked up the female saber by the neck and brought her to the cave which was, out of luck, not taken.

He gently lied her down and walked back outside the cave to make sure that no one was using the cave for sure. He walked back in, only to see the silver furred saber awake and looking at him.

She looked really confused. She didn't know where she was. She had no idea how she got in this cave. Most importantly, she had no idea who this saber standing before her was.

"It's alright, you're safe." he tells her. The female saber lay her head down and relaxed.

"What's your name?" he asked her.

"Shira." she told him, "What's going on? The last thing I remember was... the river and..." she stopped as though she couldn't remember the rest.

"You were drowning. I had to do something didn't I?" The male saber said.

Shira looked up at him with curiosity, "Wait, you mean you..."

"Yeah, I... guess I did." The male saber said shyly, turning the other way.

"What's your name?" Shira asked.

"Diego." he told her.

"Well... thank you, Diego" Shira said, smiling at him.

The two sabers sat there pondering their thoughts until Diego spoke up.

"Where did you come from?"

"What do you mean?" she asked.

"Are you in a pack, or what?"

"Oh, um..." Shira started, trying to think of how to explain it. As she did, tears started forming in her eyes.

"What's wrong?" Diego asked, walking up to her and sitting down next to her.

"It's just that, I... don't belong anywhere. My parents... they... died. They got killed when I was just a cub. Those memories... they still haunt me." She said as she buried her head in Diego's fur.

Diego was about to get up for personal space, but for some reason, he just remained where he was.

"I'm sorry. I really am. I had no idea."

"And you still don't."

"What do you mean?" Diego asked, looking into her blue sapphire eyes.

"How I ended up in that river wasn't an accident."

"What do you-"

"It was suicide." She interrupted.

Diego started stroking Shira's arm up and down for comfort.

"Then why did you call for help?"

"Because I regretted instantly." she continued crying into Diego's warm body, while Diego continued comforting her.

"Shira, I promise everything will get better. I promise."

"Oh yeah? How do you know? Where do you come from?"

"A herd."

"A herd? How do you end up-"

"It's a long story, believe me. But that's not the point. The point is that there's always room for one more."

"Are you saying that I... can be a part of it?"

"It's your decision, not mine." Diego told her.

"Why would you do that? Everyone hated me, and once my parents were killed my whole world was-"

"Shattered." Diego finished for her.

"Yeah. Just completely torn apart. There was nothing left for me."

"There's always something left for everyone."

The complete bliss that night made it even more beautiful than ever. And to Shira admitting it, she really liked being in this sabers warmth. Her thoughts seemed to calm down as well.

Strange though...this saber... who I just met, is showing more care and love for me than anyone I've ever known for my entire life. Is that saying anything? I mean, sure it's been like fifteen minutes that we've known each other, but who said a good relationship takes time? If anything the one I've wanted isn't appearing at all. I'm sure he must feel the same way. Should I? Why not?'

Shira lifted her head and looked at Diego. She does that for a while, and got Diego to look at her. Both sabers got drowned in each other's eyes for an unknown period of time.

Wow, I never noticed before. Her eyes, her pink nose, those earrings on her ears. They're just so beautiful. She's really reaching out to me. She really needs someplace to go. I can't just leave her. Not after all she's been through. If there was any chance of fate being involved in this, I'd believe it.

"Shira..." Diego said, beginning to regret it.

"Yeah?"

"...I, uh...well, um..."

Shira lifted her head, "What? Something wrong?"

"No, it's just that...I mean, I know it's been about a half an hour or something, but...I..."

He gave up.

"Just forget it. Can you please pretend like I never brought that up?" Diego said walking out of the cave in embarrassment.

"Diego?" Shira asked, getting up and following him out of the cave.

"Diego, what's happening? What's wrong?" Shira continued asking, stepping in front of him and stopping him in his tracks. That's when she noticed Diego's right upper shoulder was bleeding a crimson red.

"When did that happen?!" She asked, completely concerned.

"Oh... this? I think I got it when I swam up to you when you were hanging on to that log. It must have cut me somehow."

"Here, let me see." Shira said, laying Diego down and looking at his badly cut arm.

"It's fine. Really. You shouldn't have to-" Diego froze where he was as he felt something. Shira. She was licking his injury to clean it off. Half of him said it wasn't right and he should get up to put a stop to it. The other half told him that it was the best thing he'd ever felt. Of course, the positive side won, so he remained there, letting Shira clean his wound for him.

"There. Any better? It's the least I could do."

The least? Diego thought to himself.

At that moment, a strong breeze of wind came in and made the area even more cold than before.

"It's getting cold. Can we go back in the cave?"

"Yeah, let's go." Diego said.

Both sabers got up and re-entered the cave. They lay down next to each other.

"Oh, sorry... you need space?" Shira asked, about to get up.

"Uh... no you're fine." Diego said, smiling at her.

Even though they were both in the cave, the coldness didn't seem to change.

Shira lay there shivering. It was so cold for her. Plus she still wasn't completely dry, so that didn't really help her either. Suddenly, she felt an extra layer of fur wrap around her. She looked over her to see a golden furred, masculine foreleg stretch out across her stomach, along with his body keeping her entirely warm.

She looked at Diego and smiled, "Thank you."

"It's the least I could do."

"Isn't that my line?"

"Probably?"

This is the stupidest idea I've ever had.

She sighed as she leaned in and started kissing Diego on the lips. Diego pulled away with a red blush on his face, same with Shira.

"I'm sorry! I'm really sorry! I have know idea why I-"

"It's alright." Diego tells her. Shira nods her head.

"No, really, that was pretty good." Diego said and instantly kissed her back.

Time seemed to freeze during that moment. Nothing else in the world mattered as much as what was happening right then and there. A whole new world of dreams and discoveries were suddenly flung open for the two sabers, who never let go of each other through that whole night.

Eventually, Diego released their lock.

"Think that was better?" He asked with a smirk on his face.

"Yeah. Definitely." Shira said, tilting Diego on his back and lying on top of him.

"Diego, do you think this is a little rushed? I mean, we've only known each other for like, what, an hour? I feel like this isn't right."

Diego kissed her again, "Shira, if anything, this didn't happen quick enough. We should have met sooner. But now, only this moment matters. Nothing from the past, and nothing in the future. Only here. Only now."

Shira didn't have much more to say. All was said that needed to be said. Except for maybe one thing.

"Diego, I love you."

"I love you too, Shira."

Once that was said, the two sabers continued showing their greatest affection for one another until they both fell asleep together. What would happen the next day was fate's decision.

The End