CHAPTER 2

ATTACK ON THE HUMANS

Dawn rose in the Ice Age upon the human tribe. A few of the men were up and around, about to start their hunt of the day. The first thing they woke up to was sabers trespassing in their village. The men took out their spears as the dogs started barking. Chief Runar woke up along with his wife, Kiko. She was worried about the commotion as much as her husband was. She looked to see that Cheril was still asleep as she looked up to Runar.

"What is it, darling?" Kiko asked.

Runar grabbed his spear, looking at his wife. "I don't know. Stay here with our child, my wife."

"Yes, dear."

Runar ran outside to lead his fellow warriors into battle. While Sierra and the other four female sabers were battling the humans, Shira was sneaking her way over to the chief's tent, looking inside to see that little Cheril was sleeping peacefully in her sleeping cot. As Shira slowly made her way over towards the child, Kiko saw this and grabbed Cheril quickly, grasping her daughter tightly. She looked to find a piece of bark and smacked Shira in the face with it, running past the saber as she knew her life depended on it. Shira felt a scratch was placed on her cheek. This made her angry as she ran after Kiko and Cheril.

"Runar!" Kiko shouted, "Help!"

Runar looked to see his wife and child were being chased by a saber. He ran over to try and help them, but Sierra and another saber, a red orange colored saber named Lucille, blocked his way from trying to stop him from catching up to his wife and child.

Meanwhile, Kiko continued running away from Shira. She was beginning to grow tired, but she wouldn't stop until she knew that she and her daughter were safe. She stopped when she came near a cliff. She looked over to see Shira, growling with her fangs ready. Kiko knew she only had one choice, but two different ones that she wasn't sure which to choose. It was either jump over the waterfall or stay and get eaten by Shira. There was only one thing she could do. Hugging Cheril tight, Kiko closed her eyes and jumped. Shira ran over to see the extreme jump Kiko just took. Not knowing what else to do, she ran back over to the human tribe.

The remaining sabers in the pack were still fighting off the humans. When Sierra saw Shira run back towards the village, Sierra shouted to the other female sabers. "There's Shira. Fall back." They ran off from the humans as Sierra made her way over to Shira, bewildered to see that she didn't have Cheril. "Where's the kid?"

"I lost it over the falls," Shira said.

"You lost it?" Before Sierra could say anything else, they looked to see that the humans were throwing spears at them. Once they were out of harm's way, Sierra glared at Shira. "I want that kid, Shira!"

"I'll get it!"

"You better. If you don't, I'll make sure one of those humans has a beautiful coat that looks like your fur color." She looked at the other sabers. "The rest of us will go up to half peak." She turned around to face Shira again. "Meet us there, Shira. It better be alive."

Lucille walked up to Shira. "Can we trust you with that, Shira?"

Shira growled as Lucille hopped off. Shira sighed as she knew this was something she was not going to enjoy. Walking off, she looked back over at the humans, seeing as though they were leaving that plot of land.

Good riddance. The only human I need is the helpless little girl. Shira thought as she made her way down the small mountain, unknown that an adventure was about to begin.

On the bottom of the cliff where the humans were, Ellie and Brooke were walking side by side toward the river. Brooke was peeling an orange as she spoke to Ellie.

"So we were having one of our traditional dances and this handsome male sloth came along and asked to dance with me. Well, at first, I thought it would be fun when I found out that he talked too much. I kept asking him if he had a pair of chattering teeth inside his mouth because he was chattering way too much."

Ellie scoffed. "Reminds me of somebody else I know."

"I never meant it to be offense of anything. He was a really nice guy and all, but he was always talking every second. He told me not to judge somebody by who they are. Oh, I didn't worry about it too much, though. After all, there are plenty of other guys where that came from." Brooke didn't notice that Ellie stopped walking and became concerned. "Ellie?" She looked up to see what Ellie was looking at.

In the river, hanging onto a rock, Kiko sat there with her little bundle in her arms. She looked over to see Ellie and Brooke staring at her with worried glances. Sighing, she looked down at her little girl, seeing as though she had no choice. Kiko swam over to the two female mammals and held out her arm.

"Please help me," Kiko said, "I need you to take my child. Protect my daughter. Do whatever you can to return her to her father." She slid the sleeping cot to Ellie, who placed it in her trunk and smiled at Kiko, who smiled back. "Thank you."

Ellie looked down at the little girl. She couldn't have been any older than four. Opening up her eyes, she looked up at Ellie with a smile. Brooke walked over there and gasped with relief. "Oh, thank goodness she's okay." They both looked up in the river to see that Kiko was there anymore. "She's gone."

Ellie sighed, looking down at the child. She couldn't leave the small girl alone. Instead, she started walking towards the trail that led up the cliff. "Come on. Let's take her back."

"Oh, so know you want to have an act of kindness? This better not be a joke, Ellie, darling."

"It's not. I'm not leaving her all alone. I still trying to forget one thing that was left alone. I'm not gonna let the same thing happen to this little girl. Besides, when I smile, that means I make a promise and I never break my promises."

"Well, whether you like it or not, I'm coming with you."

"I don't see why you can't. You've been following me around since yesterday. Tell you what. Since you're so eager to help, you can hold the kid while we take her back to the other humans."

"Did you just say 'we'?"

"Yes, I said 'we.' There may not have been a 'we' before, but there's one now. Besides, without me, there wouldn't be a you." Ellie poked Brooke in the chest.

"Ow!" Brooke exclaimed, rubbing her chest, "That was very uncalled for." She looked up on the cliff to see smoke coming coming from the top. "Ellie, look. There's smoke. That's her herd right up to the hill. Come on. Place me up there so we can get to them. Oh, we are so close to getting her home."

"Really? You expect me to risk your life just so you can return her and think you won't get out of there without getting speared. Sorry, sweetie. I do not risk other animals lives. That's the opposite of who I am."

"You sound more like a jerk to me."

"Okay, now you're just starting to make me mad. Of you wanna take a shortcut because you're so lazy, then go ahead and do it. Climb up there if you have to. Risk your own life. I'll just stand here and watch. If something happens to that girl, then I'll make sure something happens to you."

"We'll just see about that." Just like that, Brooke started climbing up the cliff, having trouble getting up there. She slipped a few times and did her best to keep little Cheril in her arms.

Ellie placed her trunk on her forehead. "You're an embarrassment to nature. You know that, right?"

"Oh, don't worry about me. I'm fine. I'm fine." She turned her head away from Ellie as she said, "I'm gonna die."

"I heard that!" Ellie exclaimed.

Brooke was still making her way up. She noticed that Cheril was slipping out of her paws. Brooke acted quickly and grabbed Cheril by the back of her dress. She looked over at Ellie with horror. "Ellie!"

Ellie ran up to them. Just as Cheril fell out of Brooke's grip, the child was caught by Shira, who grabbed her by the back of her dress with her teeth. Cheril was enjoying everything she witnessed. "Weeeee! This is so much fun!"

At that moment, Ellie snatched Cheril from Shira. Cheril giggled as Shira looked up at Ellie, clearing her throat. "That human is mine."

"Oh, no. Actually, it belongs to us, dear." Brooke fell off the cliff.

"Us?" Shira laughed. "You two look like an odd couple. Let me guess. You can't have any of your own so you decided to adopt."

"We're only acquaintances," Ellie said, "Nothing more, nothing less."

"We also apologize for interrupting your snack time, but we need to go," Brooke said.

"The kid. I was only taking her back to her tribe," Shira said.

"I don't believe you. How do we know you're telling the truth?"

"Are you calling me a liar? Don't said you didn't, because I know you're thinking it. Don't think I won't eat you, because I will."

"Please don't." Brooke became frightened as she walked over to Ellie. "I do not like this feline. I thought I was supposed to be the only one who reads minds."

"Did you just say that you can read minds?" Ellie asked.

"In case you're wondering, my name is Shira," Shira said, introducing herself, "Also, if you plan to get to the humans, you're wasting your time. They left this morning."

"Thanks a lot. I don't believe you, either."

"Can I go home now?" Cheril asked.

The three female mammals widened their eyes as they were surprised to hear an actual human talk to them.


IN THIS SWITCHEROO STORY, NOT ONLY DO THE HUMANS TALK, BUT THEY CAN TALK TO THE ANIMALS. THIS IS EXCITING! PLUS, ELLIE ACTUALLY HAD A HEART TO GET THE LITTLE GIRL BACK HOME. THIS IS REALLY GETTING GOOD.

WELL, THE NEXT CHAPTER WILL BE HERE SOON. WELL, ANOTHER DAY, ACTUALLY. ALSO, I MAY NOT UPDATE TOMORROW BECAUSE I PLAN TO DONATE BLOOD. SOUNDS SCARY, I KNOW, BUT I WILL BE BRAVE.

SEE YOU GUYS LATER.

PLEASE REVIEW.