Chap IV : Check your surroundings
It's all an art to wake up in the herd : there are the ones that love the extended sleeps, going on until the sun has hit its peak in the sky ; others prefer the divine periods, being the very early hours (unsurprisingly there are not many who have that routine) ; and there are some who simply just completely forgot to wake up.
Temperature was good, wind was moderate, but had some highs every 5 minutes, and every strong breeze was disturbing more and more an Acorn attached to its tree. Was it going to give up and fall ?
Suspense rising, folks, because you see : what was beneath the branches of the tree was another, and this one had snores beneath it.
It only took one last blow to make the object drop, and it really chose a great spot where to land :
- Ow !
Too late, damage done
- OK, now that's just the LIMIT ….
The poofy behemoth was now up, and ready to strike …
- How many times do I have to say this, possums ?
Lying unfazed close to him was his wife, half awake, sighing in a good way over the morning routines that ALWAYS begin with crescendo rants by her husband.
- NO MORNING PRANKS ON SUNDAYS !
As he finished his waking speech, he turned directly to the oak tree, and he switched like lightning
- Oh ….
The tree branch was empty, and while Manny was consciously thinking about where they would be, Ellie got up, her eyes blinking weakly and tired.
He noticed that when he cautiously turned towards her, and was looking slightly embarrassed. He just HAD to say something, to mask the weird impression he was portraying with his eyes right now.
"Sorry Hon' " the contrast of tone felt between his rant and this delivery was ridiculous.
'It's fine ….' You couldn't tell if her little smile had the warm or sarcastic tone to it 'I woke up worse to be honest'
Either way, she had a presence for that little moment
A pause was felt. As Manny squinted and lowered his neck towards the sleeping place of Crash & Eddie, he looked back, again perplex, to Ellie.
- Ok, where are they ?
After a shy yawn from the female Mammoth, she joined today's puzzle
A slightly confused look matched Manny's
'This feels oddly familiar …' this could sum up the exact resemblances of this conversation with yesterday's talk, yet Manny looked still in the phase of waking up. Despite that, he managed to join rapidly right after :
- I Shouldn't feel worried about their absence, yet I am ...
- Manny, it's because they're supposed to look after Peaches
The silence filled the morning breeze.
' "Top class guardians", my rear ….' He grumbled
The stomping pace kicked in as Manny rushed towards the high lands.
- I need Diego right now ….
He was gone, along with his temper. Ellie sighted lightly. She looked again at the tree branch
'Where are you, babe ?' she inquired in a low soft spoken voice
Shira was in position. Atleast that's where Diego told her to stay put.
'We're waiting for what exactly, soft spot ?' she sighted lowly. Hard to tell if she was invested in what she was doing right now : she didn't precisely regain much energy with that last night sleep, so the resistance to doze off was quite weak The eyelids were not even half closed that she heard the most out of place shriek you could ever hear
That would be worth to watch !
Atleast that would be the perfect way to illustrate Shira's reaction right that second
A scurry towards the source of the sound awarded her with an unexpected conversation
- I swear ! What is your thing with Sundays ?
- Routine, pal … It's called a routine !
The visuals caught her off-guard.
Frank the Gazelle was spending a heavy effort trying to escape from Diego's chase.
- You know you'll make it out alive, Frank
As occupied was he to run, he managed to return a reply
- And you know what ? I keep doubting that !
Shira, on the other hand, was so amused by what she was seeing, that his partner needed to remind her :
- Shira, you're late for the call !
Immediate response. No time to finish her yawn. In her lightning dash towards her objective, she forced her mouth shut to focus.
- Remember ! Close in ! We'll meet !
"Wait, we're what ?!" Franks ridiculous dehydrated voice barely echoed in the tight woods.
Tight was it indeed. The snow coated feline was having trouble navigating through the environment that was getting more and more unclear as she doubled the speed. Frank wasn't far, he wasn't far.
She didn't notice until now : Shira had her eyes meeting the ground since the beginning of the chase ; it felt surreal, like her head was a magnet attracted to the earth. Is it the cause of her sudden headache ? The burn felt deep, yet she was still able to scurry through the vines. Her eyes were not feeling right.
Lift them up, what do you see ?
That voice felt atrociously familiar. Her allure had to push on the brakes.
NO
The figure of a saber had his features hidden from the shadows. It was still, motionless, displaying hardly any emotions at all.
Shira's heart was in dead panic.
The horror she was witnessing felt painfully real.
Heart, taking control of her movements, taking control of her legs. The discomfort …. the helplessness … she was falling.
The figure reacted. It slowly revealed what were fear.
Fear has taken over.
The eyes, blood colored, were looking straight at her.
STOP IT !
It remained, staring back at her.
All joy has gone out, fear has taken over.
The jaw slightly dropped . It crept closer
Fear has taken over.
A pebble in the water
"I'll come along, sweet thing"
The impact, the collision, it felt painful. Fear felt gone.
"Little pest !"
Eyes open, face startled, she never regained conscious that quick in her life.
"Shira !" another voice pierced through the nothing
- Shira, all you alright ?
She snapped
- You !
Diego jumped a bit
- You're okay ? I was worried …
She looked at him, out of words. She had never seen his partner react like that. She was looking away to get back some fresh air. A sudden gasp changed the setting. She was now looking for something
- Diego, the pawprints …
He looked over where she was nodding at in despair. The moment he realized, he stood still. His back was all Shira could see, but the subtle spasm of his neck showed doubt.
- Shira, you have to wake up ...
- I'm not blind, it's …. There !
At that moment, Diego's face turned slowly towards her.
Scream of all screams
- Stop it !
The true horror was there.
Diego's eyes were bathed in blood.
Fear has taken over.
- Those are Frank's, there's nothing wrong ….
- Stay … AWAY from me !
- I was there waiting for it to happen. You couldn't catch him …
- Stay ….
- I would've never done this ….
- …. Away …
Why are you so concerned ?
Diego rushed In the den as soon as he heard the screams of despair.
- Kitty !
Shira was steaming. The sweat covered all of her body, while it continued to convulse uncontrollably.
'Stop it !' she cried
Diego could only stand there, panting, trying to find sense, a cure.
Finally, he decided to put his paw next to her neck to calm her, while his eyes were getting desperate and watery.
Shira was in the farthest deep corner of the den, trying to recollect what she just saw, and looking around her in desperation to see if any of that happened. She couldn't tell, she was unable to explain.
- I want to understand, Shira …..
She couldn't move a muscle of her head to react. Diego had his voice drowned by worry.
- I'm really lost right now
The tigress felt a little more responsive this time around : her head turned slowly towards Diego, he indeed looked deeply puzzled, standing just outside the main entrance.
The isolated impression she expressed through her body language made her look miserable.
"Something is wrong …." It sounded as if she was on the brink of breaking in shambles, but she kept it sturdy after the delivery. The thought of crying embarrassed her, because she wanted to stay metal, a mind of metal, able to cope with these situations. Right now it is the hardest feat she's trying to deal with.
Meantime, her eyes stood startled, but now looking straight and away.
Both sabers were unaware that the weather had drastically changed in so little time : the hitting sun was replaced by a moderate shower rain.
Diego's face, apart from the raindrops pouring over the top of his head and streaming down, no longer looked worried, but intrigued. The rain didn't get a reaction from him.
- What do you remember ?
Shira barely could lift her head, still looking at the ground with her mouth mildly open. She managed though once again to look back at him, but in no way she was going to tell about how she saw him, it would complicate even more the problem.
Just looking at him made her even more isolated. That however persuaded his companion to approach closer, but the change wasn't much from the initial position.
It hit her ; she whispered unconsciously :
- Frank ….
- Frank ?
Her eyes met his, amidst from a distance.
"You told me yesterday ….. that he was for the next lesson" as she said each word progressively, realizing how odd the familiarities were, the tone of her voice became lost.
- I …. I saw him
He frowned lightly at the sentence to avoid looking insulting. A slight step back preceded a processing from Diego's part that took him couple of seconds. His eyes were away right that moment, but you could see them widening in fear. He finally looked back at her, now having a look of small panic, his jaw slightly dropped :
- Frank, the Gazelle ?
She seemed more awake now ; the reply showed :
- Wait …. what is it ?
He had slowly returned to his senses, remembering why he had returned that fast in the first place.
- I can't find him ...
He now realized how much this morning was changing by the minutes. Shira was looking at him, voiceless, in disbelief. She was now two steps closer to Diego, her reaction close to lightning :
- Frank is …. ?
"Diego !"
That came from downhill, and both sabers had their head looking at the entrance, alert.
"That's Manny …" uttered Diego
Rain was pouring even more than before, that didn't stop some folks like Sid to wander around, looking for something
- GRANNY !
He could have sworn hearing her waking up 2 hours earlier than him, and that was pretty uncommon.
She could be ANYWHERE, and that was enough to convince Sid in looking for her. Now for the hard part.
- Granny, you forgot your teeth !
That was a pretty weak attempt, as the rain was reducing any chances for his voice to reach out.
No response eventually.
He's now been out there in the wild forest for half an hour, and every possible hideout has been examined.
That branch ?
Possibly ?
How about that trunk ?
Maybe this little ….
He stopped, his hands as immobile as a statue.
A large chunk of wood material was crushed.
Sid long face was struck, stuck looking at the devastated set piece. It was set of average tall trees, arranged in a circle, crushed by god knows how much weight, or strength of a mysterious beast. If the aftermath is any indication, it was big, massive, monstrous in might …..
Coming close carefully with his crossed twitching hands and his prudent pace.
"Oh man …." his soft spoken voice was still met with an ounce of fear.
It looked like there was a fight, only it didn't end well for one : claw marks filled a handful of trees, inducing serious damages for some of them.
However, that wasn't the biggest detail that was grabbing Sid's attention.
Red. Tainted red made him take a step back, shock seen from head to toe.
'Granny ?' he tried to mutter
His head now looking in every direction, he was now panicking. Granny can be anywhere near ….
A crack made him look again, by instinct inciting him to crouch low, being prepared to anything, and there was it.
A behemoth of a shadow was dragging a prey, his eyes glowing a sharp brown blood red.
Sid was unaware at what was happening to him : His legs were fidgeting at an alarming pace, making them run like wild. He couldn't control himself, and he certainly couldn't see what was awaiting him.
The next thing that occurred involved a vine, a cliff, bumps, lots of them, and a knock out of the most brutal kind.
The shadow stopped, it turned his head towards the commotion, his prey steady in his jaw. Sid was asleep, against his will, at the mercy of nature
Abroad, far from the coast, where the sea was at it's deepest, had, despite the heat, wondering ice polar caps floating about. You had them at all sizes : average, huge, and small. It may not look interesting, but as we dive deeper and closer to the water surface, there is one block that holds attention.
A unconscious being, grasping unto the sides of the object. A small, skinny but capable animal that seems biped, is in a deep sleep. His face was covered of a scar that was covered by a leaf patch. His back was however endorsed with a large neck scarf, red, reading a cross bone skull.
END
Really sorry for the lack of update of this story in a LONG time, but call me ready to continue very soon !
See you, Folks ! :)