Well, this really wasn't as up any faster was it, but this is mainly because it's twice as long as long as the other scenes; plus it's another Diego and Shira chapter for y'all to enjoy and at least I finished it before Christmas eh.

Scene 6- The hunting lesson and race

Under a cloudless moonlit and starry sky Diego and Shira were searching for their first meal on Hyrax Island, the long grassy terrain was prime hunting territory because it would keep them well hidden, but it also made it difficult for them to see clearly turning their advantage into a disadvantage. The two sabers had not been searching for long and were relying on their sensitive sense of smell and hearing to pin point prey that was hidden in the shadow of darkness, since Shira was new to hunting on land Diego led the way; once they had reached the top of the hill they were able to spot a herd of gazelle in the distance that appeared to be settling in for the night.

Shira: "Think you're up for taking one of those guys down?"

Diego (Whispering): "Shh, if you alert them we'll be going hungry."

Shira (Whispering/Irritated): *Rolls eyes* "That doesn't answer my question."

The gazelle were about half a mile away and would not have been able to hear Shira and Diego knew this, he was just having a bit of fun by winding her up. Her reaction brought a smirk to his face, it amused him to see her fall for his little trick.

Diego (Whispering): *Smirking* "No problem, they should make for easy targets."

Shira (Whispering/Mocking): "Oh yeah, why's that tough guy?"

This comment quickly wiped the smug smirk of off Diego's face and this time it was Shira who was amused at Diego's reaction, a small giggle escaped her but if they were going to eat tonight they would both have to fully focus on the hunt, even small distractions could end the hunt in failure.

Diego (Whispering/Irritated): *Lowly growls* "Because we will be harder to spot in the dark and most of them are asleep. Now if you're done mocking me, do you want me to explain how to hunt prey on land or not?"

Shira (Whispering): *Quietly giggles* "Yeah I'm done for now, so where do we start?"

Diego (Whispering): "Well firstly we need to know which way the wind is blowing because if we're not careful it could alert the gazelle's to our presence."

Diego was deliberately vague on the details, he wanted to see if Shira knew this and if she didn't this was her chance to guess why; it was already clear that she knew how to silently stalk, pounce and pin animals down, but if to be a successful hunter knowing which way the wind was blowing is significant.

Shira (Whispering): "How would the wind give us away? If anything shouldn't it cover up any noise we make?

Diego (Whispering): "Yeah it will mask some of the noise we make, but if the wind is blowing towards our prey it will carry our scent to them and put all of them on high alert, and if that happens it will become really difficult to get close to them to make the kill. So we need to make sure we're downwind of the gazelle before we can get any closer.

Some luck seemed to be on the saber's side as they were downwind of the gazelle which allowed them to stalk closer to their quarry; once the sabers were down from the hill they began crouching low to the ground to conceal themselves in the long grass. Since this was just a demonstration for Shira because this was her first time hunting on land for years Diego told her to watch from a distance; however before he left her he had to tell her the other small details that would determine the success of the hunt.

Diego (Whispering): "Alright, you should watch from here, the gazelle won't be able to see you and you'll have a clear line of sight."

Shira (Whispering): "Anything else I need to know?"

Diego (Whispering): "Just a few basic tips, get as close as possible before pouncing because these guys can out run us, don't stand fully behind your prey unless you want to take a hooved kick and one of their kicks could shatter your skull, make sure your prey is subdued before making the killing bite, we don't need to lose one of our fangs and the young, injured or sick are the normal targets since they are easier to catch."

Shira (Whispering): "Yeah… I'll try and remember all of that."

After hearing these words Diego was about to stalk towards the gazelle when he suddenly felt his fur brush with Shira's, this froze him in his tracks and he glanced back toward Shira, he then immediately became entranced by the sight he was seeing. The moonlight was shining down right on Shira turning her once white fur into a radiate silver colour, her aqua eyes glowed and were alit by the stars, Diego couldn't take his eyes off of her for a second, he was in complete awe of the beautiful saberess in front of him and his mouth had begun to hang open. When Shira noticed that Diego was staring at her in a trance she smirked, for a saber that calls himself a remorseless assassin he really did get distracted easily, she began padding his way and leaned down to his ear.

Shira (Whisper/Seductive): "Good luck out there Softie."

Her words instantly snapped Diego back to reality, he started to shake his thoughts from his head and looked around trying to remember what he was doing a few seconds ago; once he spotted Shira sitting on her haunches looking expectantly at him he remembered that he was meant to be showing her how to hunt, again setting his sight on the herd of gazelle he began to pick out a target to aim for.

Diego (Thinking): 'Hmmm, that guys too scrawny, he looks like he's on his last legs; there, that one looks healthy and will feed the both of us for about 2-3 days.'

Shira (Thinking): 'Real smooth Diego, staring and letting your mouth hang open; hopefully he'll be able to keep focused on the hunt.'

Now that Diego had his target he crept closer and closer to the gazelle herd through the long grass being careful not to make a sound from stepping on twigs or kicking loose rocks; the gazelle he had picked out was a fully mature healthy buck that seemed to be acting as look out for its herd, even though it would be more difficult to take him down it would be worth the struggle and surly would impress Shira. The distance between Diego and the buck was becoming smaller and smaller until he was within striking range, twenty feet away from the buck; the tension was building as the bucks ears started to hear the saber stalking through the long grass, smelling the air only filled the bucks heart full of fear and dread as the scent of the predator came from close by. Before the Diego had a chance to pounce and strike the buck alerted the rest of the herd by calling out "PREDATOR!" at the top of his lungs, the heads of all the gazelle's in the entire herd shot up almost as if they were expecting to be ambushed on this night; as all the gazelle's started to run as fast as their thin legs could carry them Diego was left with no choice but to attempt to chase down his target.

Launching from his prone position Diego leaped through the air and made a ground trembling roar, from afar Shira could see the gazelle's running and Diego chasing them, leaping to her feet she began running toward the golden saber in an attempt to keep up. The mature buck was keeping to the back of the herd trying to defend them from the saber, his powerful back legs kept bucking at Diego when he got too close for comfort which kept the golden saber at bay and prevented him from being able to pounce on his target; if this kept up for much longer the gazelle would get away and the sabers would go hungry tonight. Being light on her feet Shira was able to catch up and appeared alongside the gazelle, it surprised Diego that she had already caught up and was keeping pace with the gazelle easily; the mature buck was even more shocked at the white saberess' appearance, now he had both of these fearsome predators to deal with as one closed in on his left whilst the other closed in on his rear.

Diego (Thinking): 'SHIRA? How did she get here that quickly? It doesn't matter, but if she manages to separate this buck from the herd it'll make going in for the kill easier.'

Shira (Thinking): 'Looks like Diego could use a bit of help; alright I'll give it a shot.'

When Shira began getting closer to the bucks flank the only way he could avoid her was by curving to the right and this meant he was getting driven away from his herd which made him more vulnerable since he would no longer have safety in numbers; with Shira herding the buck away from his herd it gave Diego the opportunity he was waiting for. Using his last reserves of energy Diego picked up his pace and when he reached the buck's right flank he went for the killing blow, throwing himself through the air he pounced managing to knock the buck down and pined it to the ground; without giving his victim chance to struggle he bit down hard into its throat, his razor sharp canines severed the jugular and crushed the windpipe taking all the fight out of the now helpless buck. Shira watched as Diego kept his jaws clamped around the buck's neck until all movement and signs of life ceased, once it had become deathly still Diego slowly started to let go of its neck, his once white canines were now stained a deep blood red colour; this was an excellent first kill for the two sabers especially since they were not familiar with their surroundings and Shira had seen what needed to be done in order to be successful hunter on land.

Shira: "What happened to the young, injured or sick being the normal targets?"

Diego: "Well, this is going to be our first meal on the island, I just thought that it'd be nice to have the best quality meat we could get our paws on."

Shira: *Smirking smugly* "And if I wasn't here that thought would have cost you that meal and you'd be going hungry tonight." (Teasing) "Don't worry I'm sure I'll think of a way you can repay me later on."

Diego (Irritated): "HEY, I just showed you how to hunt on land and took this guy down for us both…" *Calm/Teasing* "…But if you don't want your share then fine, more for me."

Shira (Teasing): *Pretends to think for a moment* "Hmmm, I suppose that does cover what you owe me."

Walking up to the buck carcass on the opposite side of Diego Shira sat down and took out the first bite, it did taste good and its flavour was completely different to the fish that she regularly fed on, she chewed it a few times before swallowing it then looked back at Diego.

Shira (Gentle/Teasing): "Thanks Softie."

Diego (Gentle/Teasing): "No problem, Kitty" *Begins feeding on the carcass*

Rolling her eyes at the hated nickname she let it slide this one time, after all he did put himself at risk for this meal and was sharing it with her as well.

Afterwards

Once the sabers had eaten their fill they hid the carcass the best they could by dragging it in to some bushes and kicked a bit of dust on it to disguise the scent from scavengers or other predators that could be prowling Hyrax island; now they were walking back toward the forest to see if they could pick up any tracks that the herd left, trying to detect a scent wasn't worth the risk of smelling Sid's repulsive scent. The walk back so far had been silent, neither saber knowing what to say to the other, they were enjoying each other's company but the silence was starting to make the atmosphere awkward between them; Diego was the one who decided to speak up to end the awkward silence.

Diego: *Clears throat* "Err, thanks for helping me out back there, you were right if you hadn't been here he would have gotten away."

Shira: "Well experience is the better teacher right; but what about you, have you had any help on your hunts since you left your pack?"

Diego: "No, it was a bit tricky hunting solo at first, but you adapt over time and eventually it feels natural. There was a point when I got stuck in a rout and kept failing on hunts, I started to feel like I was losing my edge and I was even about to leave the herd, but after a trip to the world of dinosaurs that quickly changed."

Shira: *Stops walking and looks at Diego in disbelief* (Thinking) "Dinosaurs? He can't possibly expect me to believe those beasts are still around, can he? They went extinct years ago, he must be joking." (Flat tone) "Dinosaurs, really? As in the overgrown lizards that went extinct millions of years ago." (Mocking) "Have you been taking history lessons from Sid or have you taken too many gazelle kicks to the skull?"

Diego: *Stops walking and looks back at Shira* (Serious) "Nope, I'm talking about an actual place where dinosaurs have managed to survive unseen by near enough everyone on earth; it's a shame you weren't there it was a great adventure. *Continues walking*

Shira (Heavy sarcasm): "Yeah, right." *Continues to follow Diego*

The conversation kept changing subject during the walk, it made them feel more at ease with each over as they joked and shared past experiences in their lives, but they did have to get back to the herd soon because it was pitch black and they'd been missing for hours. When they made it to the edge of the forest they found the herds tracks, it wouldn't be long until they were reunited with them and before their time together came to an end Diego had an idea to make it more interesting.

Diego: "That's the herd's tracks alright, they should be close by."

Shira (Sarcasm): "What gave that away genius, the mammoth sized footprints?"

Diego (Sarcasm): *Rolls eyes* "No, ya think?"

As Diego begins to follow the mammoth tracks Shira gets ready to pounce on him whilst he doesn't expect it, he may have countered her in a battle of words but he wouldn't get away with it that easily; as quick as a flash she pounced, she expected to be pinning him down with his face in the dirt, but this time Diego had anticipated this and ducked out of the way. Landing on her feet a surprised Shira turned around only to be met with a pouncing Diego who was already pinning her to the ground, his smug smirk really annoyed her because the way he did it told her that he had won this round and now he was gloating over his small victory.

Diego: *Smirking smugly* "Nice try kitty you're not getting me this time."

Shira (Annoyed): "Ya well don't get big headed, now get off me."

Diego: *Lets Shira up* "Hey, how about we have a little race to see who can find the herd first?"

Shira (Flat tone): *Continues walking* "In the dark when we don't know where they actually are or what else could be in this forest…" (Sarcasm) "There's no way that could end with one of us getting injured is there?"

Diego: "Come on, we'll pretty much just be following the tracks…" (Mocking) "But I get it, you don't want to lose to me in front of everyone right."

Shira (Calm): *Stops walking and looks back at Diego* "You really don't think that you can beat me in a race, do you?"

Diego: "We'll soon find out." *Bolts past Shira at top speed and shouts back* "Try to keep up now."

Shira just watched as Diego gained an early lead, then slowly she picked up speed into a steady jog and gradually she got faster and faster until she was in a flat out sprint; the distance between the sabers was large and when Diego looked back Shira was just a spec that was barely visible, her white fur was what kept her visible to him even in the dark. Slowly but surely Shira was closing the gap between them, Diego had now rushed past the tree Sid had gotten stuck in earlier that day, but Shira was now fully visible and gaining on him quickly; he knew she was fast but did not expect her to be gaining on him like this, using his last reserves of energy he picked up the pace and pushed his stamina to its limits. Ahead Diego could now see light in the distance.

Diego (Thinking): 'That has to be from a fire Sid lit.' *Looks back and doesn't see Shira anywhere in sight* 'Ha, I knew I could out run her, looks like I win again.'

Diego could hear Manny and Sid's voices as he neared the finish line of their short race and was confident he was still far ahead of Shira, in a few seconds he was going to have beaten her without too much difficulty when she was incredibly confident that he didn't stand a chance. Rounding the final corner and into the clearing the herd was now mere meters away, but before he could get any closer Shira burst through the right side of the forest and was ahead of him; glancing back at him Shira's eyes had a certain mischievous look about them. The herd had now seen the returning sabers and Shira took advantage of this opportunity, turning around extremely swiftly she ran towards Diego whilst he was distracted, seeing this Diego struggled to slow himself down, but it was too late; launching through the air she pounced and landed directly on top of him pinning him down with a paw over his head so he could not reverse the pin.

Shira (Confident): "I win tough guy"

The final chapter is all that's left to finish this story and I have to say I really have enjoyed writing this, writing stories is mostly new to me and I think it has gone really well, you guys seem to have enjoyed the story and I hope you enjoy this latest scene. Thank to y'all for reading and reading + reviewing and I just have one thing to ask:

Would you like to see bloopers included at the end of the story? I like them, but if you guys don't then there is no point for me to include them, either way you can tell me what you think in a review, if you leave one, and until next time see you in the final scene.