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Author's Notes (FEEL FREE TO SKIP):

Oh, You Turn My Pinkies Blue, I love you just as much as Raconteur! I love feedback and suggestions! KEEP GIVING THEM! Also, if Eleanor is your favorite you're going to like this chapter...and really, really, really, hate me later on. You'll see why if you keep reading. I realize in the early going here there's almost nothing but boys, but if one is patient some gals are going to start shoving their way into the main scene. Also, this is where the flashback that show what happened in the past start. Almost every chapter is going to have one. Hope that doesn't drive anyone crazy. I have also noticed that Fanfiction is removing my markers, indicating that the scene was changing. Originally I put an asterisk there to indicate that the location and characters were changing, but the site won't let me put it in. If the scene changes are jarring, I'm sorry. The site won't let me put a marker, or an extra space, or anything. It's rather frustrating and I find it makes the story confusing, but there's nothing I can do.

Chapter 3

"You're gonna do what?" Richard shouted. He was the first, but certainly not the last.

"Why would you do that?" Chief Jacob yelled.

"Aw man...I wanted to live longer..." Ian muttered.

Ben had sat up in his seat and looked equally distressed.

"How could you think this is a good idea?" the albino cried.

"It's not good, but it is necessary." Alvin said simply. "He has too much support among the tribe. I am far too old to keep up with them anymore. One moment they are in the village and the next the entirety of them have run away to do some crazy thing. I'm just the oldest chipmunk in the world of a new generation."

"You can't possibly think...yours is a tribe full of warriors!" Ben complained. "We only have a few guards! The Theodore Tribe has none to speak of! They are going to crush us with sheer numbers!"

"That is why I'm giving you a week." Alvin replied.

"A week isn't...wait..." Ben fell silent. He began twitching his fingers in front of his face, as if he were counting. He was abruptly deep in thought. Seeing that he wasn't going to say anything else, Jacob picked up the conversation.

"This is madness elder!" Jacob cried. "I'm on my last leg, and my tribe is made up of nothing but gatherers!"

"There are so many more snacks I'd like to eat." Ian threw in.

"Not now!" his father shouted. "What am I supposed to do? My people will panic!"

"You have a week to calm them down." Alvin replied.

"You keep saying that as if it matters!" Jacob shouted.

"A lot can happen in a week."

"I doubt a week can turn my tribe into one of vicious killers!"

Ben, in his chair, began to smile. He was muttering to himself excitedly.

"Then don't try." the elder said to Jacob. "Simply be who you are."

"What the heavens does that mean?" the fat chipmunk yelled in response.

"Be the tribe that lives in the thicket." Alvin stated. "The tribe that gathers the fruits and nuts, the tribe that drops them from the trees to the baskets, the tribe that keeps boars away from their home."

At that statement, Ian's ears picked up and he turned his head. Through his blurry eyes, Alvin could still make out their gazes meeting. Ian wasn't slouching anymore, instead his ears were twitching.

"Elder Alvin," Jacob continued. "I respect your authority over your tribe, but I cannot see the wisdom in this. You are threatening the safety of everyone on this island and for..."

"IT'S PERFECT!" Ben shouted. He was so loud that everyone else, including his own guard, jumped in surprise. The albino had jumped to his feet and was excitedly bouncing up and down. He glanced around to see everyone looking at him. He then grinned and folded his hands together in front of him. "This is a great idea dear elder, and I am happy to be a part of it! I cannot tell you how happy I am that you will finally be retiring and enjoying the rest of your days!" Ben bounded over to Alvin, who shrunk back a little in surprise. Instead, the pale, white chipmunk grabbed the elder's hand and held it up to his face. He began kissing and nuzzling against it, causing Alvin to give him a sheepish look.

"I defer to your great wisdom, oh elder." Ben continued excitedly. "I look forward to dealing with Chief David in the future. You have my humble congratulations on a job well done as chief!"

Alvin pulled his hand away and briefly shook it in the air, as if it were dirty.

"Thank you for your kindness." Alvin said with very little conviction.

"Then I must depart." Ben said. "There are a lot of preparations to be made to welcome the new Chief David!" Ben took a few steps towards the jungle. He then backtracked and pointed at Alvin. "Oh, I'm sorry, was there anything else you had to say?"

"Yes!" Chief Jacob cried.

"No." Alvin said.

"Oh good, then I bid you farewell!" Ben said. He then bowed and dashed away. "Party's over, guard! Let's go!" The guard who had accompanied Ben had been standing still as a statue the whole time, fascinated by his leader's bizarre display. He quickly regained his composure and began chasing after his acting chief.

"Well, that went better than I expected." Alvin said. "Is there anything else?"

"YES!" Jacob shouted. He then had to cough for a few moments to recover. "Have you lost your mind? That insane albino might be all for it, but I'm not! You're handing the tribe over to someone who wants war! They will come for my tribe first! We will be easy pickings!"

"Well, I hope you're ready then." Alvin said. He then stood up and glanced at Ian. "I know you will be." The sardonic son of the chief twitched his nose and ears, but said nothing. "Richard, I'm ready to go."

"Huh?" Richard asked. He was still dumbstruck. "Oh yes, right this way." The dark chipmunk took his elder's hand and began leading him back across the beach.

"This isn't over!" Jacob cried. "You can't just do this!"

Alvin then stopped and turned towards the fat chief. He grinned, for the first time in a long time.

"Nothing you say will change my mind." the old chipmunk said. "I will give over command of the tribe one week from now. I suggest you go and get ready. Oh, and Ian?"

"Huh! Yeah?" the chief's son asked, turning his head.

"I actually do kind of like you." Alvin replied. Ian only snorted at him and rolled his eyes. The elder chuckled and began walking again, with Richard leading him. Chief Jacob was left dumbstruck.

After some distance along the beach, Alvin halted again. He was breathing much harder than before, and was actually beginning to sweat.

"Let's take a break here." he said to his caretaker.

"Oh, um, yes." Richard said. He led his elder over to some shade and sat him down. The dark chipmunk remained standing, nervously tapping his foot. "Soooo...?"

"Did I surprise you?" Alvin asked.

"Um, yeah!" Richard shouted, losing all of the pretext of being respectful. "You said you were going to prevent blood, not cause it! Handing the tribe over to a bloodthirsty David was what we were trying to avoid!"

"I said "less blood," not "no blood."" Alvin replied.

"It seems to me that this decision will have plenty of blood!" Richard shouted. "How is this teaching David anything? You're giving him what he wants!"

"Often, that is the worst possible thing." Alvin replied.

"What?"

"Richard listen, David is strong, powerful, and pound for pound probably the best warrior on the island. Despite all that, he isn't terribly bright. He thinks incredibly little of the other tribes. In reality they are the descendants of my brothers, as well as the island natives. He will underestimate them, and they will rise to the occasion."

"How can you be so sure?" Richard asked.

"Honestly, I wasn't until I saw those two." Alvin said.

"Ben and Jacob?"

"Ben and Ian actually."

"Ian? What do you mean?"

"Jacob is a good chief, but takes everything very literally. I was afraid he wasn't going to understand anything I said. I thought I was going to have to lay everything out for him, step by step. Fortunately, I have no doubt that his son understood everything I was saying."

"This is madness!" Jacob shouted after Alvin left. "Why doesn't he just order our deaths now?"

"Probably wants us to have a last meal." Ian said flatly. He walked over to the fire and blew it out. He then yawned and scratched his stomach. "Well, I don't know about you, but I have every intention of going home and eating everything in sight."

"What could he be thinking?" Jacob cried, ignoring his son.

"He probably figured that it was inevitable that he would die, so he figured it would be a better idea to give us a heads-up rather than him dying unexpectedly and David attacking us anware."

Jacob slowly turned to his youngest son, his eyes wide. Ian only picked at his teeth with one of his claws. He then spat out the excess food that he had scraped off.

"But I'm just speculating." Ian said flatly. Jacob stared at him silence for a few moments.

"What else do you think he meant?" the chief asked.

"Do you really want to know?" Ian asked in reply. He actually sounded serious with his question.

"Yes, that's why I brought you." Jacob replied. Ian clicked his tongue against his teeth and looked out at the ocean.

"When he was talking to us about our tribe he was trying to give us a hint as to what to do."

"How so?"

"How we gather fruit from trees."

"We throw it to baskets below us, what about it?"

"Then he mentioned how we keep boars away from The Thicket."

"We throw rocks at them."

A silence hung between them, only the soft roar of the ocean could be heard. As if getting impatient, Ian lifted up his fingers. He motioned to one of them.

"We throw fruits from trees." he said. He then motioned towards the other. "We throw rocks at boars." He then brought his fingers together, as if meshing them into one. "Put those together." Jacob finally lifted his head and looked as if had been struck by lightning.

"We use the thick trees and throw rocks at them!" he cried.

"Yep, or at least that's what I think he was saying." Ian replied with a shrug. "He could have been telling us to eat fruit and hunt boars. I'm cool with both."

"You picked all that up?"Jacob asked in disbelief. Ian only shrugged.

"There is also the possibility he wants us to throw rocks at fruit." he replied sarcastically. Jacob eyed his son again. He didn't know what to think about Ian anymore.

"What did you think of Benjamin?" the chief asked.

"The albino?" Ian asked, pointing with his thumb at the Simon Tribe seat. "He's really smug and sure of himself like David, but judging from the way he talks he's got a lot more smarts on him. He came in flippant and casual to keep us unsettled, in case Alvin was going to ask for something he couldn't give. He left excited because he found a way to turn all of this to his advantage. He's an opportunist."

"So you don't think Chief Ethan put him in charge?" Jacob asked.

"No, there's no chance of that." Ian replied firmly. "Did you see how casual he was when talking about his father? Ben didn't care an ounce about what happened to him. I doubt Ben even cared about him. Chief Ethan probably didn't like that albino either. In fact, I doubt very many chipmunks like him at all. His father fell into a coma and he seized his chance. If we all come out of this alive, it's that Ben fellow we have to watch. He's an outcast that gained power by seizing an opportunity, I don't doubt he would do it again."

Chief Jacob had no idea what to say. Had Ian always been like this? If he had...then his father had never been paying enough attention to him. Jacob sighed in defeat. He had too much on his mind today to think about it. He had to focus on his tribe surviving the week.

"You did very good today, Ian." Jacob said. "Thank you."

Ian smiled a little smugly.

"Well, you're very welcome fats." he replied. Jacob shot him a death glare that just washed over his son.

"Bring the cart here." the chief ordered.

"Hell ya I'm bringing the cart here."

Alvin and Richard sat in silence on the beach for quite a long time. After explaining the entire (and rather crazy) plan to Richard the dark chipmunk seemed to lose his steam. He thought it was a rather extreme thing to do, but couldn't argue with his elder for too long. He didn't have the strength for it. So now they sat without saying a word, allowing the warm breeze from the ocean wash over them.

It was an ocean breeze that Alvin was familiar with. He had felt it the moment he had washed up on the island. It was more years ago than he cared to number, but the images from that day still lived in his memory. He allowed his mind to drift...

Alvin stood up on the beach after climbing out of the ocean. He glanced to either side of him, to see that his brothers and the Chipettes had made it safely. Once he saw that they were fine he sighed and smiled.

"We're alive! We're alive!" Alvin shouted excitedly.

"Good." Brittany said as she turned around to face him. "Because now...I'm going to kill you!" She came rushing at him, her claws brandished. Alvin cringed, but fortunately Simon stepped in the way.

"Guys! Guys! Guys!" he shouted. He pushed the two of them apart. "Nobody is killing anyone, okay?" Brittany turned away in a huff, crossing her arms. Alvin grinned. "No matter how much he deserves it."

"Thank you, Si." Alvin replied. "Though I could have done without the passive aggression." He lifted up his hands. "Look, we've got nothing to worry about. Dave knows we're gone by now. He probably has the whole coast guard looking for us."

"After we got tossed around by that storm, I doubt it's as easy as you say." Simon replied.

"We wouldn't be in this mess if you had just behaved." Brittany muttered, her back still to Alvin.

"And we lost the donut in the rain..." Theodore said, kicking the sand at his feet.

"Forget the donut Theodore!" Alvin shouted. "Now listen, let's just chill on the beach until we're found. It'll be easy..."

Abruptly, Theodore screamed. Everyone else jerked their heads towards him. He was shaking and pointing towards the jungle.

"J-J-Jungle monster!" he shrieked. Everyone looked in the direction he was pointing, but they saw nothing.

"There's nothing there Theodore..." Eleanore said, walking over to him. She put her hand on his shoulder to try and calm him, but it didn't help.

"No! There was a monster!" Theodore insisted. "It ran back into the jungle! It looked like a chipmunk, but it was black and covered with bones!"

"Uh, bones are on the inside Theodore." Alvin said, as if it were obvious. "You're just seeing things! Come on gang, let's start a fire!"

"Who put you in charge?" Brittany snapped.

"Fine, don't make a fire." Alvin replied. "It's not my fault if we freeze." He began marching to the woods. Brittany rolled her eyes and threw up her hands, but said nothing. The whole gang followed after Alvin, who was still somehow acting as the leader. Eleanor had to lead the terrified Theodore by hand, as he seemed incredibly reluctant to take any step towards the jungle.

Eleanor gave Theodore comforting words every step of the way through the dense trees. The whole gang had split up and they were attempting to gather dry wood, but almost all of it was wet. The storm had already passed by this place already.

"Come on Theo!" Eleanor said as her companion trailed behind. "The sooner we find dry wood, the sooner we can leave the jungle."

"But...but the monster..." Theodore said, cautiously peeking out from behind trees as they walked.

"You said it ran away, don't worry." Eleanor said. Theodore looked unsure. He looked away from Eleanor, slightly embarrassed.

"I wish Dave was here..." he muttered. "He wouldn't be afraid of monsters." Eleanor's eyes melted into sympathy. She walked over to Theodore, who looked at her with a confused expression. Then she quickly wrapped her arms around him. She squeezed him against her body, putting her head on his shoulder. Theodore was temporarily stunned. He was frozen in place, not believing that the adorable Eleanor was holding him. After a few moments he finally managed to speak.

"Wha...what are you doing?" Theodore asked.

"You did this to me once, remember?" Eleanor asked. "At the high school."

"You um...kind of fell into me." he replied.

"Yes, but it still made me feel better." Eleanor said. "Then you told me that you liked me just the way I was. On that day, I felt like I was six feet tall." She squeezed him a little tighter. "So don't be scared Theodore, I'll be here for you." Theodore gulped. His heart had jumped into his throat, but he didn't know why. Finally he wrapped his arms around Eleanor and pressed his head against hers.

"Okay, I'll try." he said. They both sighed with relief. Eleanor finally began pulling away. Their eyes met. They paused, wordless for several moments. Then Eleanor giggled, leaned forward and kissed him on the cheek. Theodore stiffened and turned completely red.

"Wh-wh-what was that for?" he shouted.

"Because I felt like it." Eleanor replied.

"Well it's just that...tha...tha...tha..." Theodore seemed stuck. He was looking behind Eleanor. His eyes had widened and his mouth was stuck open. He began shaking.

"What is it?" Eleanor asked, deeply concerned. Theodore slowly raised his hand, pointing behind her. Eleanor went stiff and slowly turned her head. When she finally looked behind her she saw that only a short distance away was a massive creature staring at them intently. It had a flat nose, a hairy body, and tusks coming out of it's mouth.

"BOAR!" Eleanor shouted. She grabbed Theodore by the hand and began running. Both of them screamed and scampered through the jungle. The boar abruptly squealed. It then tore off through the woods after them, as if they were predators.

Some distance away, Alvin and Brittany were arguing furiously.

"We were going to the International Music Awards!" Brittany shouted. "We were going on a global tour! Why do you have to ruin everything?"

"Would you relax!" Alvin shouted in response. "I'm sure that Dave's looking for us! He'll find us in not time! We'll make it to the show on time!"

"How do you know?" Brittany was only centimeters from Alvin's face. It caused him to cringe. "What if we're stuck here for weeks? For months! For years! What if we're stuck here forever?" With every shout, Brittany stood a little taller, as if she were attempting to blow up. Alvin reached up with his hand and put it on her head. He lowered her back down.

"Easy drama queen!" Alvin said. "You're not rehearsing for the school play. Don't be so crazy, we'll be get out of here."

Brittany scoffed, turned away from him, and crossed her arms.

"You got us into this mess and you're just as happy as you can be." she muttered.

"Come on Brittany I don't...

They were interrupted. Eleanor and Theodore barreled by them, each of them screaming at the top of their lungs.

"BOAR!" Theodore screamed. Alvin and Brittany looked after them, confused.

"Well I'm sorry you find getting wood such a bore!" Alvin shouted in their direction. "But we need a fire!" Alvin scoffed and pointed in their direction. "Just because you're bored you shouldn't run like a maniac." Brittany glanced in the direction the crazed chipmunks had run from. She did a brief double take before gasping.

"PIG!" she screamed and then began running.

"Oh come on, what did I do to deserve tha..." Alvin was interrupted again. The boar was on top of him before he realized it. It attempted to gore him with its tusk, but missed. Instead it scooped him up with it's nose. Alvin shrieked, but was agile enough to recover. He reached out and seized the boar's ear. It squealed again and charged even faster through the jungle. It was now directly on the heels of Theodore, Eleanor, and Brittany. Alvin hung on for dear life, afraid that if he let go the boar would trample him to death. Now he was screaming from on top of the pig. He desperately looked through the jungle, seeking help. He saw Simon with Jeanette a good distance away, looking at the scene with bewilderment.

"SIMON!" Alvin shouted as loud as he could. "HELP US!"

Simon slapped his forehead in exasperation.

"Those guys..." he muttered. He turned towards Jeanette, who looked terrified. "Stay here, I'm going to see what I can see at the top of this tree."

Jeanette nodded, her ears flopping in that way that Simon thought was adorable. The male chipmunk shook those thoughts from his mind and scrambled up the tree. In a few moments he was above the canopy of the jungle. He quickly scanned his surroundings. He spotted a river flowing down from a mountain. At one point, it cut through some high cliffs. An idea popped into Simon's mind. He quickly scrambled back down the tree. He ran to a worried-looking Jeanette.

"Jeanette, I need you to find a strong vine for me and chew it free. I have a plan."

Brittany was running with all of her might, trying to stay ahead of the rampaging animal. No matter how hard they ran, it managed to keep up. She would try to dive for a tree, but it was so close on their tails that if she deviated even a little she was terrified it would catch her. That horror came to her sooner than she thought. Her foot caught on something. It all happened so fast that she barely had time to realize it. She stumbled and the boar was on her.

"BRITTANY!" Eleanor shouted. There was nothing anyone could do...except one. Alvin saw what was happening. The boar lowered its tusks, preparing to gore Brittany. He acted without thinking. He reached over to the pig's eye. He punched it as hard as he could. The boar squealed, and shook its head in confusion. It missed Brittany, but launched her into the air as well. As she sailed over the boar's head, Alvin reached out and grabbed her hand. Now they were both screaming in terror as the boar continued to pursue Eleanor and Theodore.

"OH COME ON! SERIOUSLY?" Alvin screamed. The pig hadn't slowed down at all.

"Theodore, jump over the rope!" Simon shouted. Alvin looked forward to see that they were charging into a clearing. Simon and Jeanette had wrapped a vine around two trees and were holding it tightly. It wasn't very far off the ground, making it difficult for large animals to see. Theodore and Eleanor briskly jumped over the vine. The boar was not so graceful.

The boar squealed once again as it tripped. Eleanor and Theodore ran in opposite directions to the right and left. Alvin saw why they did that a little late. The boar had so much momentum that it rolled like a car in a wreck. Alvin held on for dear life. They were heading directly for a cliff. He couldn't let go, or Brittany and himself could be crushed by its tumbling girth. Finally, the boar slowed, but just as it went over the side of the abyss. The creature screamed in terror and it clawed at the rock face, trying not go over. It failed and began falling.

"BRITTANY! JUMP!" Alvin screamed. Both of them took a leap just as the boar dropped. It was almost too late, but they managed to grab onto the edge of the cliff. Both of them struggled to get a proper grip on the wet rock face and to keep from falling. Fortunately, their brothers and sisters came running. They pulled Alvin and Brittany onto safe ground. After all of that excitement, they were out of breath.

"Well, I've had enough exercise for today." Alvin said.

"Good grief!" Simon said. "Boars aren't supposed to be that aggressive!"

Alvin pointed over the cliff.

"Tell him that." he said. All of them walked to the edge and looked over. The boar had splattered against the rocks below. "Ouch."

"We at least know humans have been here before." Simon said, adjusting his glasses.

"What, really?" Alvin asked, excitedly.

"Boars aren't native to this region." Simon replied knowledgably. Abruptly, a bird dove by them, heading for the remains of the boar. It caused all of them to jump, briefly afraid it was coming for them. "Neither are buzzards." Simon adjusted his glasses again. "Humans must have brought them here, either by accident or on purpose. They usually bring rats as well..."

"Gu...gu...guys?" Theodore asked. He was facing the jungle away from the cliff. He looked terrified again. "Th-th-th-th-th...!" The fat chipmunk found himself unable to speak.

"Use your words Theodore!" Alvin said, without turning around. Theodore abruptly grabbed his brother's head and jerked it around.

"Whoa!" Alvin shouted. Everyone else turned around and had similar reactions. Standing behind them at the jungle's edge were creatures just as Theodore described, ones with chipmunk faces, black fur, and bone piercings.

"Err...they could have brought chipmunks instead of rats..." Simon said. There were over a dozen of them, and they were all staring at the new arrivals. Their dark eyes were scanning them closely. Then one of them, a male, began walking forward. The new arrivals parted to either side as he gazed over the cliff. He then turned and looked at Alvin.

"He looks kind of cool..." Brittany muttered to Eleanor. The native male was muscular, handsome, and wearing a lot of bright stones around his neck. He also carried himself with the air of a warrior.

"Ma'at." the native said. He pointed over the cliff. "Pushta ma'at?"

"Huh?" Alvin asked. The native made motions with his hand, indicating the boar that fell over the cliff.

"Ma'at." he said, indicating the boar. Then he showed the fall. "Pushta." He then pointed to Alvin. "Pushta ma'at,"

"Oh um, yeah, we made the boar go over the cliff." he said. "Yeah we uh...pushta ma'at...ed." The native then smiled. He reached out and slapped Alvin on the shoulder, nearly knocking him over. He turned to his fellow natives.

"Pushta ma'at!" he declared. They all began hooping and hollering, as if they were at a concert. The new arrivals stared at them, perplexed. The native male turned back to Alvin. He tore one of the bright stones off his necklace and handed it to him. He pointed at Alvin again.

"Pushta ma'at." he said firmly.

"Oh, WE are pushta ma'at?" Alvin asked.

"I think he's giving us a title." Simon said. "Like we're..."the killer of boars" or something."

"Oh, well I can live with that." Alvin said with a smile. The native chipmunk smiled back and slapped Alvin on the shoulder again. It caused Alvin to rub his shoulder gingerly. The native male turned to leave, but his eyes caught Brittany. They both stared at each other for a moment. Then she smiled and giggled. He grinned back at her confidently. He continued walking away, keeping his eyes on her. Alvin noticed, his eyes going between the two of them.

"The heck was that?" he asked Brittany.

"None of your business." Brittany replied. She flicked her hair and turned her back at him. She had to admit, she kind of liked the expression Alvin had.

Later that night the six new arrivals laid on the beach they arrived on. They were now around a fire they managed to make. After that chaos with the boar, they spent the rest of the day singing around the flames. When the sun finally set they were all exhausted. They all laid on the sand, looking up at the stars in the sky. Theodore's stomach growled.

"I'm hungry." the fat chipmunk said.

"We'll get food tomorrow, Theodore." Alvin said. His fat brother only sighed in frustration. Brittany was laying next to Alvin in the circle of chipmunks. She turned her head and looked at him for a few moments.

"Hey." she said. He turned his head to look at her as well.

"Yeah?" he asked.

"I forgot to thank you for earlier." she said.

"Thank me? For what?"

"You saved my life, remember? That boar was going to gore me to death. You punching it in the eye it was...pretty brave."

Alvin smiled smugly and put his hands behind his head.

"Yeah well, you know, just another day of being awesome." Alvin said. Brittany sighed and rolled her eyes.

"Look at that," she said. "You get us stranded on an island and you're still full of yourself."

"Oh!" Alvin scoffed. "You're being dramatic! We'll be off this island and on our way to the International Music Awards before you know it."

"I hope you're right." Brittany replied. "Alvin, can I ask you a question?"

"Sure." he replied.

"When you thought you were going to die, what went through your mind?"

"Huh?" Alvin was genuinely perplexed by what she said.

"You know, when we were going over the cliff." Brittany elaborated. "Did anything go through your head?"

"Uh...that we should jump." Alvin replied. "That's why I screamed."

"You yelled my name first."

"You were on the boar with me."

Brittany shook her head and turned over, putting her back to him.

"Whatever." she muttered. Alvin didn't respond, he just turned back to the stars. He didn't understand Brittany sometimes. She had this tendency to act strangely around other guys in his presence. She seemed to do it just to annoy him. He didn't really understand what she was trying to accomplish. Alvin suddenly heard a loud chewing noise.

"What is that?" he asked, sitting up. He looked across the fire and squinted. Theodore was sitting up and there was a basket beside him. He was chewing on berries that he got from the container. "Theodore! Where did you get that food?" Everyone else, who had been half-asleep, jerked awake and sat up. Theodore turned towards them, his cheeks stuffed full of the jungle's bounty. He chewed slowly for a few more moments before swallowing.

"Um...it was just here?" Theodore said, more as a question.

"You just found some random berries and started eating them?" Simon asked.

"Well...they were in the basket so…" Theodore said.

Something abruptly dropped out of a tree beside them. All of the chipmunks shrieked and scrambled backwards for a few moments. When they gained their wits they saw that one of the natives was standing by their fire. It was female, with a basket in her hands. Several more dropped from the trees, all of them female and all of them with baskets.

"Wha...what are you doing here?" Alvin asked. All of the native women glanced at each other before turning back to them. They held out the baskets they were carrying. They were all full of berries, nuts, and wild onions.

"Pushta ma'at?" one of the females said.

"Oh, pushta ma'at, that's us!" Alvin said. All of the natives smiled and set the baskets around the fire.

"I think they're giving us food." Simon said.

"I'm all for that." Theodore said. The new arrivals gathered around the baskets and began picking from them. Alvin grinned at the native women who brought the food.

"Thanks for the meal ladies!" he said. He then growled in their direction. All of them giggled, understanding his implications. Brittany glared at Alvin until he noticed. He only shrugged at her.

"What?" he asked.

"You still haven't grown up." she replied.

"No I haven't." Alvin said.

"What?" Richard asked. Alvin jumped a little and turned his head. He had been so lost in his thoughts that he had forgotten where he was. The old chipmunk sighed.

"I'm sorry." he said. "This beach gets me lost in memories." Alvin held out his hand to his caretaker. "Help me up. We should get home." Richard took his elder's hand and helped him to his feet.

"Can you tell me what you were thinking about?" Richard asked, leading his elder along.

"No...some things are best left forgotten." Alvin replied.

"More of those stories you won't tell me? If you don't tell them to me and you die, they will be lost."

"It's better that way."

"I don't believe that."

"I know you don't. Take me home Richard, I feel very tired all of a sudden."

End Chapter 3

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