CHAPTER 7
EVERYTHING WILL BE OKAY
Some time has passed by and the three mammals and Cheril had made it inside a cave filled with different kinds of paintings and drawings. They were amazed by what they saw. Various animals that were placed on the cave walls of history by the hands of humans. Brooke kept Cheril in her arms as they walked over to some drawings of mammoths.
"Oh, look, little Cheril," Brooke said, "Mammoths."
"Pretty," Cheril said, "Look at the little baby mammoth."
"Well, I'll be. This baby mammoth looks a lot like you, Ellie."
"You better be joking," Ellie said
"No, I'm not," Brooke said, "She looks a lot like you. So adorable. Aw, she's playing with her mother. Did you ever have a mother figure in your life, Ellie darling?"
Ellie sighed, looking away from Brooke as she stared sadly at the cave drawing of the baby mammoth and her mother. "There's something you don't know about me."
Shira scoffed. "I'm sure there's a lot of things we don't know about each other."
"That's not what I meant. There's a reason why I didn't want to leave Cheril out there all on her own after her mother handed her to us. I didn't want her to have to live the same way I did."
"What do you mean?" Brooke asked.
"I was only a baby mammoth when it happened," Ellie said, "It was a normal day. My mother and I were just happily playing like we usually did in the morning. When you're only a baby, you don't think anything can happen. Well, that day, humans came and my mother told me to run. The next time I saw her, she was...skinned. It was horrifying to look at." Ellie had tears pouring from her eyes. "I ran off. I was all alone. It felt horrible being on my own. I didn't belong anywhere. That's when I vowed that no soul should ever be left lonely."
Brooke was crying her eyes out. "Oh, Ellie dear, I had no idea. That's the saddest story I've ever heard. I have pity on you for living such a life."
"Don't cry, Brooky," Cheril said, gently patting the sloth, "Everything's going to be okay. I think I know something that might make you feel better."
"What, Cheril dear?" Brooke was wiping away her tears.
"Look over here. I found a picture of tigers." Cheril pointed to two sabers nuzzling each other. "See? This is the mommy saber and this is the baby saber. The baby saber almost looks like Shira and so does the mommy saber."
"So which is which?" Brooke asked.
"I think I can tell them apart," Ellie said, "Shira here wears a pearl earring. The mother here doesn't have an earring. There's only one other solution."
"Shira is the baby."
Shira sighed, keeping her eyes on the drawing of the mother saber and her cub. "You're right. It seems as though we have bumped into another mother daughter relationship."
"What do you mean?" Ellie asked.
"I was only a cub. I was born an only child. I had no father for he was killed before I was ever born. He was protecting my mother from humans. She gave birth to me near a cliff. That's where we lived. It was our home. We woke up at that cliff every morning. We played in the woods around the cliff, hunted for fish since we lived near the ocean, and every night, my mother sang me our special song that always lulled me to sleep. It was the best days of the beginning of my life. That was before humans took it all away from me. They killed her right in front of me. I was hiding so they wouldn't know where I was. Once they took her away, I was heartbroken." Tears formed in Shira's eyes. "That's why every night, I go out to find a cliff and sing to my mother wherever she is. It's just something I'm so used to and I wouldn't have it any other way."
Brooke started crying again. "Oh, what a sad story! It's so horrifying that the both of you suffered losing the one most special mammal in your lives. I just feel so much pity for the both of you."
"Brooke, please stop with the waterworks," Shira said, "You're gonna make me start crying."
"Honey, there is nothing wrong with shedding a few tears every now and then," Ellie said.
"Listen, Elaine, I don't know of you're aware of this, but if you haven't noticed, I am a saber. Seeing a saber cry is like watching a sloth eat tree bark."
Brooke gasped. "No! I wouldn't dream of eating tree bark."
"See what I mean?" Shira said, pointing to Brooke and trying to prove her point.
"Well, when you're ready for comfort, you know where to find me," Ellie said, "Come on, guys. Let's start making our way out of here."
"You know, I just now noticed that there are no cave drawings of sloths in here," Brooke said as she picked up Cheril and started following the others.
Some time later, they were close to their destination. This made Brooke smile and Cheril cheer. She was glad that they were about to see her father and the rest of her tribe again.
"Well, there it is," Shira said, "Half Peak."
"All we have to do is go through there and then make it to Glacier Pass," Ellie said happily, "I don't know what we would've done without you."
"I guess you would have no idea what to do."
"Did you hear that, Cheril darling?" Brooke said, "You're almost home."
"Hey, Brooke, so you mind if I ask you something?" Shira said.
"That depends whether or not you're trying to threaten me."
"No, it's about what happened this morning. I smelled something that was not pleasant. Please don't tell me that you have some kind of body odor."
"Oh, no, not at All, but there is something I must confess."
"What?"
Well, you see, I don't want you to get mad or anything, but I may have accidentally...broke wind."
"Oh, Brooke!"
"I'm sorry. I tried to hold it in, but since I needed to smell as though I was dead, that was the only solution. At least it was silent, though."
"That's disgusting!"
"Hey, at least it saved my life."
"Do you two mind arguing about it later?" Ellie said, "We need to concentrate on getting Brooke home."
"Fine," Shira said, but not before looking back at Brooke and saying, "We are not done discussing this matter."
"I had a feeling you were going to say that," Brooke said, moving along.
Later on, as they were getting closer to Half Peak, Cheril had walked over to Ellie. "Ellie, the ground feels warm."
"I have to agree with you, Cheril," Brooke said, "My feet are starting to sweat."
"Don't try to get attention, Brooke," Shira said.
"We know you're only trying to do it because you just want me to carry you on my back," Ellie said.
"No, I'm serious," Brooke said, tiptoeing on her claws, "My feet are burning up. Ow! Ow! Ow!"
A rumble noise sounded, making the trio stop. Ellie looked at Shira. "Please tell me that was your stomach."
"Shush," Shira said.
"I'm sure it was just thunder," Brooke said. The tumbling noise sounded again, this time making the ground shake. "Or maybe it was just a small earthquake."
Soon the ground started cracking, causing a barrier to separate the females from Half Peak. They looked around when Shira noticed an ice bridge in front of them. "Guys! There's an ice bridge up ahead. Come on!"
Soon they made it to the bridge with Brooke being the first one to try and attempt running on it. "Come on, girls. Keep up with me."
Ellie gave the sloth a glare and shouted, "I would if you were moving!"
Shira pushed Brooke aside, seeing a gap in the bridge. It wasn't too far of a jump, so the saber jumped it. Brooke was amazed. "Oh, I wish I could jump like that."
"Wish granted." At that moment, Ellie slung Brooke to the other side, causing her to hit a wall in the process. Ellie looked to see that the jump wasn't too far. Taking one look at a fearful Cheril, She held the human girl right as she jumped. She landed on the other side farther than Shira, but accidentally made another gap in the bridge. Shira saw that the jumping distance was too far, but she had to get to the other side. She jumped, but didn't make it all the way as she was hanging onto the edge of the cliff. Ellie gasped as she handed Cheril to Brooke. "Hold Cheril!"
Ellie made her way over to where Shira was, but saw that she was too heavy to make it to the edge. That was a risk she was willing to take. So she wrapped her trunk around the female tiger and placed her safely in the ground before the iceberg she was standing on cracked and fell down into the lava.
"Ellie!" Brooke shouted as the last thing they heard was Ellie blowing from her trunk.
They all feared for the worst for Ellie as they looked to see that she maybe gone. Cheril buried her face in Brooke's chest as Shira was close to years, but trying her hardest not to cry. What would become of them now?
OKAY, SO THIS CHAPTER ONLY TURNED OUT EMOTIONAL IN THE BEGINNING. I LOVED THE PART IN THE MOVIE WHERE MANNY AND THR BABY HUG. IT'S JUST SO SWEET. I DECIDED TO MAKE ELLIE AND SHIRA HAVE THEM BOTH LOSE THEIR MOTHER BECAUSE I HAVE A FEELING THAT SOMETHING WILL HAPPEN IN THE NEXT CHAPTER THAT WILL INVOLVE THESE THREE TO FINALLY BECOME FRIENDS. IT WILL DEFINITELY BECOME A TEARDRIPPER. I ALREADY HAVE A TISSUE WITH ME AS WE SPEAK.
I ACTUALLY DO, BUT IT'S NOT FOR MY EYES. MY SINUSES HAVE CONE BACK AGAIN. I HAVE A FEELING THAT THE SEASONS ARE CHANGING INTO WINTER EARLY, BUT I'M NOT SURE HOW THAT IS BECAUSE MY STARE ISGOING THROUGH A DROUGHT. WE HAVEN'T GOTTEN ANY RAIN IN A WHILE. WELL, JUST A FEW SPRINKLES EVERY NOW AND THEN, BUT NO HEAVY DOWNPOURS. WELL, HOPEFULLY WE'LL GET SOME RAIN. WE NEED IT.
WELL, SEE YOU FOR THE NEXT CHAPTER. WILL ELLIE BE OKAY OR NOT?
PLEASE REVIEW.
